Firstly i do feel there is a select few (though not so much as an 'elite' group) but a few 'selected' guys who have been lucky enough to be able to run and test the program while the rest of us dream and wait for the next beta. I doubt it is like that, but it certainly feels like so and why have us - let say 'regular' - users been left out of the beta testing this time? Its a beta not a full complete simulation - why the closed beta? We could all be contributing and error reporting by now and that's the whole POINT of beta testing is it not?
At least a few dozen people give me the impression they deserve beta and think there aren't that many testers.
Here is a list Vladimir and myself have kept, we log keys and users who have used them and have links to their profiles. You might notice a lot of shared user names with the beta testers here on the forum. (This is just for Steam)
We have more than enough testers and while the screenshots and video may look nice, 0.9.9.0 is not in a state to be released to a wider audience, there is a lot more work to do.
This ridiculous 'Be ready when its ready' attitude is so juvenile and I have to fully agree with the previous poster it is a poor way to run a business
When you have as bad of crash issues and performance issues, it is the appropriate attitude. I have had 0.9.9.0 crash my PC and lag my system badly, I doubt you or most people who would be using the software have a much better PC. The more recent builds are
more stable and its getting closer to a release but it is definitely not ready for the larger public.
And lets not forget, SE is not a business at this point in time. You are donating, you are not buying a product, even if donations guaranteed getting into the beta, you made that choice to donate. I get the frustration, but this isn't kickstarter or patreon.
I could not care less if it takes 2, 3 or even 4 years for the next beta - JUST KEEP US INFORMED!? SE is losing donations because of this attitude.
I agree somewhat with keeping people informed, the news on the front page is part of an effort to do this. On the other hand, donations tend to be fairly stable, so the only money being "lost" would be people who feel like by donating it entitles them to something, which as a person who has donated and invested a lot of time and energy into SE, it doesn't entitle you to much of anything.
You OWE that at least to all those who have donated their hard earned cash to your project.
Updates yes I would agree there aren't enough, but a large majority of the current testers are donators and community members who have been around for quite some time. Anyone who has donated sufficiently large sums of money has received beta access and those who are given or buy a commercial license are also given access to the beta. So to some extent there is an effort to be involved with the community but it could be improved.
These forums are by far and away one of the most poisonous forums since.... well the Ubisoft forums i suppose!! lol. The moderators are arrogant, ignorant and utterly unhelpful 'Hitlers'
Show me some examples where users were unfairly punished or treated poorly, send them in a private message to me. I consider these forums to be one of the more relaxed settings and I have been on a lot of forums over the years.
Same goes for ettore, mosfet - good guys and great mods that they made for 98 and looking forward to their mods for the next releases - BUT QUIT moderating guys! Your useless at it.
They may not be the best mods, and I think in regards to experience at such things I would be at the top of the list having run many communities in the past, but they were added because we have a bit of a bot problem and I can't always be active. I haven't had any issues reported on any of them and they seem to do a good job cleaning up the forum when bots spam.
If you would like to point out some of their problem posts, I would be open to reviewing their moderation, but I request that you private message me such concerns.
You can just template you're replies you know - i.e a 'Check the F&Q' or 'Lookup the troubleshooting list' templates with all the information and links.
I don't know about the rest of the moderators but when I have mentioned such things to people I have always tried to put in the effort to link directly to those sections. I am not as active in the forum as much as I used to be as I have many other things going on, including Discord, reddit, and Steam so I need help on the forum.
Firstly do the two obvious points above but instead of moaning and throwing your 'Nazi' orders at regular users, instead 'Engage' with them on their level. Agree with everything they say even if you disagree. It will help raise more donations. Think 'Customer Is Always Right' - Just think along those lines and the donations will roll in.
In regards to Vladimir, if he seems a bit blunt thats more of a cultural and language barrier. He is most certainly not trying to come off as a jerk. Vladimir is probably one of the nicest individuals here. If you are referring to others on the team, feel free to private message me examples and if its actually that big of an issue I will discuss it with those people.
Politeness = More Donations
Help & Assisting = More Donations
Kind positive forum = More Donations
Effective Moderators = More donations.
Sadly this is not the case. It sounds reasonable and yes some people have decided the community is not the place for them and they don't want to support it and that is fine. Having run fundraisers before and managed servers that relied on donations, if you are a flat out harsh jerk you still get people donating who support that serious approach, just as you get donators for being as nice as possible. Unless the forum sways to one extreme or the other, it won't really affect donations sadly, or not sadly depending on your perspective.
Moderators like HarbingerOfdawn, ettore, mosfet etc etc - they are LOSING you donations Vladimir! And i hate to say it, cos i like them guys but its true...
I disagree. Harb's streams and effort in the community tends to bring in more people than it causes to leave and donations tend to increase around his streams a bit. He may be a bit blunt on the forum and in Discord, but that hasn't really been an issue and the community in the last year alone has grown quite quite a bit through his and my own effort.
So taking SE to that next level even if you have to effectively 'Sack' your entire moderating team.
All I can say to this, is that would be a very unwise move for a multitude of reasons. Trimming down some of the newer mods might be something worth looking into and if you are serious about your suggestions please do private message me your issues, linking to posts.
Show me the same respect you want to be shown and I will do my part on helping to resolve these issues.