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[Suggestion] @Heintzer, Morello, and Ironstylus: More ideas regarding RIot-Player communication

Hyrum Graff·8/21/2014, 4:18:33 PM·6 votes·1,549 views

#The problems:

#1) The same posts keep coming up over and over again

This is a problem because players feel like Riot isn't listening, while Rioters have to choose between actually doing work and addressing the same issues over and over again.

Examples:

#The solution: R^3, the Rioter Response Repository

How does it work?

  • The Repository functions as a kind of FAQ, with a list of commonly posted topics and links to the threads where Rioters have responded to those topics.
  • When Rioters post, they have an opportunity to add that thread to the Repository.
    • They are not required to do so.
  • When I create a new thread, there's a comparison between my thread title and threads in the repository, and a "Check out these threads before you post" message

#2)

Originally posted by: Daen It's a feedback loop, essentially. This is a trend I have noticed over my four years participating in League's community:

Community wants information Riot gives information Community gets mad at Riot Riot becomes more reluctant to give information Community wants information etc.

This is obviously oversimplified, as it doesn't happen for everything (or even most things).

It seems like, no matter what Riot does here, they can't win. But let's take a closer look...

#Scenario 1: Riot doesn't give information.

Possible outcomes:

  • Community wants information, gets mad at riot for no transparency.
  • Community understands that Riot just wants to avoid setting expectations and isn't mad.
    • Yeah, right.
    • Even if this happened, the community would still feel resentful that Riot isn't able to give info.

tl;dr, this is a bad solution.

#Scenario 2: Riot does give information

Possible outcomes:

  • Community gets false expectations, then is disappointed and mad when they inevitably aren't met
  • Messaging is done in such a way that the community doesn't get false expectations.

Of course, there's a chance of community backlash if messaging is done wrong. But the important thing to note here is that, in scenario 1, there is no realistic success story.

#If messaging is done, rather than avoided, there is at least a chance of success.

So then, the question becomes, What is required for successful messaging?

#I think the answer is more transparency.

  • Riot needs to have more high-level discussion with players.

    • There are no promises to be made of expectations to be set or broken here. It's just a discussion of philosophy.
      • You can commit to fixing [the jungle] while simultaneously being honest that you may not get it right the first time.
    • Morello does a great job of this here.

  • Riot needs to be clear about both what their priorities are AND how likely those priorities are to change. Example: Champion Updates.

    • The Champion Update Schedule is a great start.
    • The problem is, the list seems fixed, but it's not. Fiora used to be on that list, but has since fallen off.
    • I suggest a system like this:

#Champion Update Schedule

|Up Next|Priorities|On the List|Not On the List| |- |We're committed to releasing these champion updates next. We Promise.|These champion updates are high on our priorities list right now, and we're playtesting potential changes, but we might end up dropping them if our priorities change. NO PROMISES|These champions need work, but they're not our top priority. We're thinking about them, but probably not playtesting changes.|We think these champs are in a good spot right now, and we're not looking to make any kit changes (balance/number changes are still on the table). |Soraka|Viktor|Diana|Lucian| |Sion|Fiora|Morgana|Leona| |||Leblanc|Thresh| |||Talon|Nidalee|

  • This system has increased clarity.
  • It only promises that which you actually have in line to deliver.
  • It provides a framework around which to have discussion.
    • "Thresh isn't on the list, but I think he should be because his kit is overloaded" is a much more constructive thread than "Thresh has been a top pick all season and still no nerfs"

One final thing to address:

Why is this post in Boards Feedback?

I put it here because I think the closer the people creating content are working with the people delivering that content, the more the form of delivery makes sense, and the better the delivery is.

######Thoughts?

6 Comments

Worgslarg8/21/2014, 7:01:57 PM2 votes

I like it. I always love seeing what riot plans to do, from an engineering perspective(How would riot change something relating to X issue)

The one danger I see, is riot posting a thread about some of the problems they face with the game, without really answering questions on a specific point. While I would love to gain a larger insight into the process of balancing, something that is more the musings of a rioter on an problem would most likely be taken out of context by the community.

Example: A rioter writes something about the troubles of balancing bruisers vs tanks, and how itemization is a problem( for this example) Now people expect itemization reworks while the post was simply mentioning that itemization is a major factor in the bruiser vs tank problem.

Daen8/21/2014, 9:49:05 PM2 votes

#Scenario 1: Riot doesn't give information.

Possible outcomes:

  • Community wants information, gets mad at riot for no transparency.
  • Community understands that Riot just wants to avoid setting expectations and isn't mad.
    • Yeah, right.
    • Even if this happened, the community would still feel resentful that Riot isn't able to give info.

tl;dr, this is a bad solution.

This would of course be the worst possible thing, as you mentioned.

#Scenario 2: Riot does give information

Possible outcomes:

  • Community gets false expectations, then is disappointed and mad when they inevitably aren't met
  • Messaging is done in such a way that the community doesn't get false expectations.

Of course, there's a chance of community backlash if messaging is done wrong. But the important thing to note here is that, in scenario 1, there is no realistic success story.

It really depends on how it's done. Information such as "Here is what we are working on" doesn't lend itself to false expectations, but it promotes trust and encourages communication. I know this is the point of your thread, but I'm just elaborating upon it.

  • Riot needs to be clear about both what their priorities are AND how likely those priorities are to change.

Agreed.

  • It only promises that which you actually have in line to deliver.

I actually disagree with the general premise behind this. We (the League of Legends community) have this weird obsession with promises and failure to deliver. One of the best forms of communication I've seen between developers and players is from SOELive with the Landmark beta, and they never promise anything. The community has things they request, the developers have things they want to see, and there is a lot of collaboration between everyone to figure out what would make the game as badass as possible.

There are two features I'll touch on with SOE and Landmark; caves and oceans. These features had been requested by the community for months, and the developers had been constantly talking about caves and oceans for just as long. They didn't even really talk about what they wanted to work on, it was mainly just discussing different ideas and problems to solve with the community.

What I'm getting at here is that promises are really unnecessary. A developer can accomplish so much just by being transparent about what's being worked on and showing that they haven't forgotten about it. With Riot, let's use Honor as an example. I am guessing that Riot's been working on it or considering possibilities since its release, but the players haven't seen any of that. There is almost zero trust in any work being done with that system, and it all stems from the fact there's this divide between internal affairs and external discussion.

Thunder Dreamss8/22/2014, 2:35:27 AM1 votes

You make some very good points. I would add on that Riot could probably benefit from a community liaison. I don't mean a PR droid to respond to player posts without saying anything but someone who's job it is to, for example, manage R^3.

Someone who would look at the Boards, pick a topic players keep asking about, and then go to the department in Riot to get answers. This way the people working at Riot aren't torn away from their work or forced to field questions in their free time, altho nothing would stop them if they do want to get involved.

I think it would help Riot's public image immensely if there was someone who was simply responsible for helping to bring players and the information they want together.