Okay, that was a dumb thread title. With the launch on the horizon, and press build sent out to reviewers, our cozy little corner of the Internet is about to see the withering scrutiny of the entire Internet. Tremble, brief mortals! All those things I put off until launch, specifically the Wikipedia page and the Clockwork Empires Wiki are going concerns. Those pages will likely see the most use in the immediate period following the game launch, so if you have any inclinations with regard to contributing to either of those, now is the time. DEVS: Is there any way we forum visitors and early testers can help / contribute to testing, promotion, whatever, both now and / or post launch? FORUM FOLKS: As above, consider helping out with the respective wikis, and if you're the sort to leave comments after video game articles, I suspect an informed opinion will have a lot of weight for the many other folks who are likely to be asking questions or generally on the fence about purchasing the game.
I will do what I can to help! (But not until Monday I'm afraid, away from my PC) Well, I guess I can still leave comments after articles and such with my phone.
My immediate train of thought as to things that would be useful: Steam reviews (both pre and post-release; I *believe* as soon as we throw the switch off from Early Access to Access our reviews go blank, which means posting new ones will be important), tutorial videos (which we can post/link from the company Twitter and weblog), some sort of cleanup for the Wiki, asking/answering questions for new players, and generally just trying to be presentable. More importantly: if you have friends, family members, or belong to other online communities who like this sort of game, or who you think would like this sort of game, tell them to buy it on the 26th of October! The biggest and most challenging problem for a game developer in this modern day and age is just optics, and making the game visible. I don't think we'll ever see Pewdiepie making a "FISHPEOPLE! CLOCKWORK EMPIRES FRIGHTENING SCREAM VIDEO" or whatever it is that Youtubers do, but I think that there is a good sized audience of people who appreciate games like this and would enjoy Clockwork Empires, if they were made aware of its existence, and they probably aren't. So go spread the word of Quag'garoth!
What about early game in the final release? Is there much difference compared to now? Then it would be good to know that so said Wiki can be updated before the, hopefully, hordes of new players gain access to it. And by the way, the way Stellaris Incorporated it's Wiki in-game is a genius move.
A Changelog has now been posted from 55A->1.0. I think the Wiki is an ongoing concern; my main worry here is that there is out-of-date information on it.
Doing the Steam Forum dance! Helping as many people as possible with legitimate questions while avoiding the minefield of awful/insensitive comments.
Honestly, I have a hard time reading them some days; I only deal with them on the days when I can handle negativity. So you're all braver than I am, although I made a stab at it this morning.
They're mostly people asking about carpets or being confused right now. Don't feel too bad about someone who hates Kerbal Space Program and Dark Souls too. You're in good company
I try to be helpful on the Steam forums when I'm able; honestly, most of the negative commentors just want to be acknowledged. I find they are generally much more reasonable human beings when you a) acknowledge the validity of their concerns, and then b) suggest the Devs are aware of the issue (where applicable).
Try to take the Steam forums in stride. They really don't represent the majority of people who purchase games there. There's a small but vocal group of misguided consumer rights warriors and trolls, but they appear large because much of the gaming community is gathered on a single service.
Worse has arrived - not naming names, but it's clear. I cannot respond, I will not respond. I am 40 years old and not prone to Internet battles. *draws in deep healing breath*
Typed out something pointing out someone's claims was closer to an internet equivalent of teen-angst with the extremes of their claims, sadly a moderator deleted the entire thread before it could be posted.... Which is sorta good in that moderation is getting done pretty quickly, but also kinda bad as if entire threads from emo-kids trying to make exaggerated claims get outright deleted rather than just locked and kept technically public for all to see just how much BS it really was, it's just gonna ramp up dramallama herds over 'censorship' and give those just looking for drama and attention that extra ignition to their rear ends.
I know which one you're talking about, and so far it's the only thread/post I've deleted. That one was just... special. I also subscribe to the "let people see other people see how bullshit some arguments are" philosophy and I want to avoid cries of censorship.
