October Production Update
Admiral Prince
✭✭✭
Hello Captains,
I’m Erin Prince, Game Director (and previously Product Owner) for STAR TREK TIMELINES. My responsibilities include everything from leading the production team in creating new features like Starbases and Voyages to working with our designers to come up with Mega-Events and story arcs.
Last week, we had to say goodbye to some dear friends and colleagues at Disruptor Beam. It was a difficult time for all of us, and while I can’t go into any details, I wanted to reassure all of you that our commitment to Star Trek Timelines has never been stronger. Beyond more Mega-Events, crew and ships, here are some of the other projects we’ve been up to:
We also pay close attention to what you’ve been saying on the forums, social media, and in support tickets. One of the questions that’s been coming up lately is, “Why is it taking so long to post details about events?”
All of our Mega-Events storylines, characters, and rewards are tightly planned out in advance. However, this is the first time the Timelines team is working with content from a live TV show, Star Trek: Discovery. It requires coordination with all of our partners to make sure the information is up-to-date, but also that it’s spoiler-free (like Voq’s dinner with Georgiou…). What this means for the short-term is that we will reveal most of the event info on our usual schedule, but there are some details that we won’t be able to share until after the episode airs.
I know you have many more questions, but leading the development of Star Trek Timelines doesn’t leave me as much time as I’d like to spend on the forums, so I’d like to suggest something new: a Q&A with the Timelines team. Shan will start a new thread on the forums (here) where each person can post one question from Monday, October 16 through Friday, October 20. We’ll post the answers to many of those questions on Halloween, October 31. It’s likely that we won’t be able to answer everyone, but if this goes well, we can set up another Q&A later.
Thank you for your continued support. Your passion and enjoyment is why we make games.
Erin Prince,
Game Director, STAR TREK TIMELINES
I’m Erin Prince, Game Director (and previously Product Owner) for STAR TREK TIMELINES. My responsibilities include everything from leading the production team in creating new features like Starbases and Voyages to working with our designers to come up with Mega-Events and story arcs.
Last week, we had to say goodbye to some dear friends and colleagues at Disruptor Beam. It was a difficult time for all of us, and while I can’t go into any details, I wanted to reassure all of you that our commitment to Star Trek Timelines has never been stronger. Beyond more Mega-Events, crew and ships, here are some of the other projects we’ve been up to:
- You want the game to load faster, and so do we. We’re working on improving the load time so you can get into the game more quickly.
- You’ve been asking for more bug fixes. We’re addressing them and focusing on polishing major and minor features before we launch any major new features.
We also pay close attention to what you’ve been saying on the forums, social media, and in support tickets. One of the questions that’s been coming up lately is, “Why is it taking so long to post details about events?”
All of our Mega-Events storylines, characters, and rewards are tightly planned out in advance. However, this is the first time the Timelines team is working with content from a live TV show, Star Trek: Discovery. It requires coordination with all of our partners to make sure the information is up-to-date, but also that it’s spoiler-free (like Voq’s dinner with Georgiou…). What this means for the short-term is that we will reveal most of the event info on our usual schedule, but there are some details that we won’t be able to share until after the episode airs.
I know you have many more questions, but leading the development of Star Trek Timelines doesn’t leave me as much time as I’d like to spend on the forums, so I’d like to suggest something new: a Q&A with the Timelines team. Shan will start a new thread on the forums (here) where each person can post one question from Monday, October 16 through Friday, October 20. We’ll post the answers to many of those questions on Halloween, October 31. It’s likely that we won’t be able to answer everyone, but if this goes well, we can set up another Q&A later.
Thank you for your continued support. Your passion and enjoyment is why we make games.
Erin Prince,
Game Director, STAR TREK TIMELINES
4
Comments
I will set up the Q&A thread now
well meet, possible community concerns;
??? previously Product Owner ??? did DB get bought or some thing ??? what could this mean for us who are players ???
??? who all & how many code engineers are left ??? this makes any of us nervous as we the players are the ones on the reciving end of all those bugs ??? as you know we are adicts. !!!
*** addressing and fixing the bugs before adding major extras *** many of us are watching closly and will hold you to that.
like my signature suggests, there have been too many ferengi for the quality of product.
just ball parking this but, 200k * 1%~10% * 5 = 10000~100000 monthly isn't chump change just for teh monthly card.
[FSC] Peace Keepers
Gryphon [****] Adm
Curse you! :P
I'll start prepping my Q for the Q&A immediately and I'm very happy to hear about the bug fixes!
Cardassian wishlist:
Tora Ziyal - Thanks!
Natima Lang
Empok Nor Garak
Tekeny Ghemor
Mira
Makbar
Dejar
Ulani Belor
got it.
so when, exactly, is the funeral for this game scheduled? Pensions in lieu of flowers?
lol...No law of TUPE over there then?
Not to mention the intro blog post about event month mentioned several names way before they appeared in the show.
I don’t understand how telling the players crew names and type of event is a spoiler for things like “like Voq’s dinner with Georgiou…”. It’s not like Klingon Dinner Georgiou was event crew.
I take it you live in the UK then Ghost Dog? Here in the USA we have something similar called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 and is also known colloquially by the acronym the WARN Act (which somehow seems both fitting & appropriate as well). This US labor law protects employees and their families - as well as communities - by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to provide a 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees.
In the matter of events, I also appreciate where you are at with the Live Show. HOWEVER, it has taken a lot of consternation on our part to get non-spoiler information, and this is not the first time. When y'all decided to be cute about the Borg mega event first part you did the same thing. I get that you want to have an impact and be in sync with your partners, but you keep forgetting that preparing to play is part of the game for us. I would truly appreciate if we can firmly establish that things that do NOT impact your external contracts, etc be ALWAYS posted on a regular basis, not just after we get all the pitchforks out. Yeah, I know you'll do fine with this throughout this mega, but will you remember it next month, next mega, or next quarter? If it had just been once, I'd have better hopes, but it hasn't.
It is excellent that you are working on bug fixes. I've seen several fixed already in Voyages. However, in addition to fixing more bugs, y'all need to communicate better when something is fixed. The only reason I know that some issues have been addressed was due to back and forth here on the forums with fellow players. That is not only not ideal, but it is a level of frustrating that comes out in other ways. It gives the impression that things may or may not actually being addressed and that we've gotta keep doing whack-a-mole to find out if y'all are listening or not.
This is a fun game, and one I've not felt remorse on when I've spent money on. But these pieces decrease at least my personal enjoyment of this game, and I imagine they affect others as well. (Though I will not be arrogant enough to assume what portion of the population.)
And I know y'all are busy, and that's why the Q&A is going to be limited as well as other communication, but frankly, that's becoming your Achilles's Heel right now.
"You’ve been asking for more bug fixes. We’re addressing them and focusing on polishing major and minor features before we launch any major new features."
I translate that Corporate speak into " We got rid of half the staff, so don't expect anything new in game now (or ever). We will pretend to be working on the back end, whilst we milk the last pennies, before it all comes crashing down"
I hope I'm wrong, but my 50+ years on Earth (a lot spent in major organisations and writing exactly this sort of stuff) gets my Ganglia all on edge
regards
Cpt. Slog
How about you actually try for some truth and honesty, instead of more soft soaping and misdirection. A lot of us who spend money in this game are about to become those who SPENT (PAST TENSE) money in this game.
And frankly, Shan and her quick draw moderate when she personally has an issue with something being said directly or without proper flowery sentiment, even though there are numerous awesomes on a post (now the post, and the ability to put awesomes on it have since been removed) does not fill me with confidence that any real pressing questions will get by the censor, because it seems that the people who are PAYING YOUR SALARIES opinion only matters if it is placed in nice terms.
Another way to look at it is that it's exactly what's been requested on the forums multiple times very recently.
Awesomes are back.
It's not about flowery sentiment, nor saying something in nice terms, nor censorship. It's about following the community guidelines. You do it, or your post gets moderated.
There is a big difference between directly said things and your constant insults of Shan/the creators + your 100% trolly and negative attitude about everything. You violate the Community Guidelines time and time again. And hence should count yourself lucky that you can still spread your negativism and did not get kicked for good already
Here's the thing... actions speak far louder than words do. You say you're committed to the game, but at the same time, we're now a full 24 hours since the event ended with a screen popping up to tell us that it's live.
Support times went from a few hours to a day at most to two-plus weeks. More than that, support stopped being helpful in a lot of cases... going towards a "we can't find an issue" or "it's this or nothing" instead.
For the second week in a row, there were no store updates. Packs in the portal have gone stale, and there's a lot of duplication of what's available.
Special Offers have been broken for people since they were added... offering the same offer week after week, even though they are "limited time only."
You say you listen to us, but it seems to be pretty selective. Long-standing complaints, like the VIP ceiling, are ignored outright. I'm not sure I've ever even seen someone want the game to load faster in comments on the forums, so curious that it's the lead bullet point.
People that have spent time and/or money on the game are worried about its future, and it words about commitment don't mean much when there's a lot of things to get us to question them. I'm sure that the official people here are very committed to it, but I'm rather uncertain that the company cares at all.
You are right. Actions speak louder than words. And, while this is only a lil detail maybe, it says something. Cause removing such a pop up is a matter of seconds...
In their defense, I have seen this complaint on the subreddit.
And this thread from September, where several of us mentioned loading/startup times of over 3 minutes for STT.
Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
Really, get kicked because I speak the TRUTH? Wow, how sad for you that, in the words of Col. Jessup, "YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!" And even Shan, when directly pressed in a conversation with me, will not state what community guideline I specifically broke, just that it was her judgement. No statement of what even in her judgement the violation was. So basically, if she is having a bad day, ANYTHING could be moderated "in her judgement." Sorry, kind of lame when you are asked directly what the issue is, and you cant answer for it.
And as far as looking into my post history for the last 3 weeks since they downgraded the forums to this simplistic, basic forum from the ones before that at least looked like they had a relationship to Star Trek, instead of now, where they look like the walls on a government building, you would find someone who put forward thoughtful discussion, and honest questions and suggestions. But now that a CS request takes 2 WEEKS to even get a response (or they try to close it since they have not heard from me in 5 days, when I WAS THE LAST COMMUNICATION ON THE TICKET), or that they can't even give us correct information on an event (not talking about the mega event, because the issues of dealing with CBS and privileged knowledge to not spoiler the new show is at least understandable) shows that they are earning all of the distressed and angry commentary they are getting. And these distressed and angry comments are the results of OVER A YEAR OF IGNORING SOME BASIC ISSUES! Then for the former owner, and now paid drone for the company that bought him out to come in and act like it is all rosy? Not even close.
I don't know whether to believe that you are a paid shill, or just totally clueless.