Let’s not forget that while a number of users do write detailed posts with concerns they have, many of those also editorialize along with the info given by adding in value judgments and assumptions about the programmer’s ability or intentions, some rather rudely and dismissive. When that happens, you get this string of posts of people jumping on the condemnation bandwagon.
So, imagine yourself as the Asobo staff reading those comments. Human nature when you sense your integrity or abilities are being questioned is to not necessarily put tons of effort into making all those people happy but instead to get defensive. Often I believe that’s where the informational stuff likely gets lost.
My suggestion, if you truly believe you have an issue you actually believe there’s a fix for, is to state the issue clearly, make suggestions based on research you may have done, PRAISE THE STUFF THE PROGRAMMERS GOT RIGHT, and stay far away from those assumptions that someone is ignoring you or basing their priorities on profit, or are marginal in their programming abilities.
There’s a major difference IT staff members have in reaction to a comment comes in that says “you’re doing it all wrong. ABC software has that feature working well and so should you…” and “I don’t know if you’ve noticed in all your other work but palm trees in this location show up as lumps in the terrain instead of as a tree. Perhaps that type of foliage is not expected in this area and with millions of square miles you’ve overlooked this. I would hope this can be addressed.” The first comment is confrontational. The second simply states an issue that can be further investigated with some information to help track it down.
And when you post a respectful issue and 5 people jump on that issue bandwagon with condemnation, then try to dial them back and bring the discussion back down to Earth.
And news for you. Even if you do everything right in how you put in an issue, the importance you place on that fix, may end up way down the priority list the Asobo staff is facing. They are looking at big picture based on input from thousands of users, resources they have available to them, corporate pressure and contractual obligations. For any of you that have ever worked in a software production environment, all of this stuff should sound very familiar to you. Customers often send in requests that to them sound simple and quick and once you get into the code and QA processes, the work takes far longer to implement.
Bottom line to this is have patience and respect. The sim we have today just a few decades ago would have only been available to massive governmental or industry simulators and cost incredible amounts of money. Technology in our world has exploded in our lifetime and frankly we’re all a bit spoiled by it all. Programmers want to be challenged and most I know are their own strongest critics continually pushing the envelope. They want suggestions but like any other human don’t respond well to bullying and derision.
