horrible staff
horrible company
don't know what they're doing
unprofessional
list goes on and on  

Hmm... looking through this thread, it seems like I'm hearing a lot of complaints about gameplay issues, things I believe are mainly dealt with by the game's programmers, rather than Aeria specifically.

In my own experience, which I'll admit is limited to a fairly small part of Aeria, I've found the Game Sages and Game Mods to be friendly and helpful. In particular, GMPizza's held some fun events in Eden Eternal, and I've seen him doing things like accepting player duels and taking players for rides (in the Alpaca Gathering event from a bit back). Thus, my overall impression of Aeria itself, outside of all gameplay issues, is generally positive.

However, it looks like some aspects of the community are experiencing persistent issues with the games they're playing. While I know it's difficult for you to hurry some things, may I suggest working to expand your communication with players when it comes to games? This should have a relatively low cost, even in employee work hours, but may significantly improve your image. Please allow me to elaborate.

When I say that I think you should communicate with your players more, what I mean is that you should more frequently post updates and commentary on issues. Just as an example, I know a lot of people are waiting for Lime Odyssey... so, instead of a long time with no word, you could give semi-frequent smaller updates, along the lines of things like "All NPCs now have their dialogue fully programmed into the game" or "Such-and-such region has been fully tested for Aeria's release and is now considered finished". You could also do this between things like bugfix updates; when a particular bugfix is done (but not actually in the game yet), you can add a post to the appropriate game's site explaining the fix and that it'll be included in the next update of the game. By doing this, I think it will help to convince players that problems are being taken seriously (and actually fixed), and that the things they're waiting on are actually progressing.

I can't think of many ways more likely to annoy players than to make them feel like they aren't being listened to, and by the same token, making them feel that their concerns are being taken into account will probably make them a lot happier. And, like I said, this would require minimal additional effort to actually do; just have somebody who talks with your companies more and then tells the rest of us what's being done. I really do think it would help your company's image.  

TL;DR of this post: Constructive Criticism helps more than Complaining.


Hmm... Well, I don't pay too much attention outside of where I'm normally at, but I do understand that other people may have had different experiences or interpreted similar experiences in different ways. What one person thinks is a reasonable time for a Ticket to be answered may be far too long for somebody else, for example. I'm trying to keep in mind how perception may play into it.

For these "stupid acts", would you mind giving some specifics? Please avoid simply blaming Aeria, too; I think it's more constructive to state what happened, why you feel it was the wrong thing to do, and how they could have done it differently. Don't forget the cost/profit thing, either. Most companies want to make money, so if you can reasonably demonstrate that they're likely to have more sales or something, I think they'll listen.

I don't know enough about the GM's workload or their feelings on it to have any real opinion, though on general principle I'd agree that if anyone has too much of a workload, it would probably be best to hire more support or find ways to simplify things. A good balance of cost and efficiency is usually best; too far either way makes things worse for everyone.

For the Item Mall... um... I've had no problems with it myself, and it hasn't bothered me much, though I am a bit puzzled as to the fact that EE, at the very least, has two of them. I also disapprove of chance-based Real Money purchases (I prefer to directly buy the items I want), but my simple response there is to not buy what I don't actually want. Vote with my wallet, as it were.

...Though I'm totally one of the people who'd rather the Free Loot Box go back to the Item Mall, and not in Ignite. XD; I just... have no need for that program. I don't even understand why it's there.

As for shutting down a game before it goes into Open Beta... which game are you referring to, exactly? If it's a complete cancellation, then they may have decided that the game simply wasn't going to be profitable for them, in which case I can understand cutting it. If it's simply "Down For Now" until the Open Beta while they work to fix things, well... see my above commentary about talking to players more and telling them what's being done.

Don't forget, it may also have been out of Aeria's hands. The developers may have insisted on a total shutdown, for example, until the Open Beta was up (or decided they couldn't spare the resources to support Aeria's version, or any of a number of other reasons). I'm not saying that nobody made a bad choice here, I'm... saying that I don't personally know enough about what they did, and why, to make a fair judgement.

To be sure, persistent complaints mean that Aeria's probably doing something wrong, and I won't deny that. My goal, as a player, is to suggest things that would be cost-effective fixes, since I'd much rather see needed changes made instead of being endlessly frustrated that things aren't how I'd like them to be. My end goal, after all, is to have fun playing the games they run. That's why I'm here. If I'm not having fun, I'll leave.