Somalian Pirates

Rapid blogging… Jeez…. I could almost be confused for regaining a little enthusiasm. And the confusion would be correct.

As already posted before, I think SI MUST be more active on the forums in responding to suggestions, issues & moans- often from irrational humans that are barely registering on the ‘sentient being’ scale.

Additionally, more Official GW Emails outlining things to look forward to, or explanations, perhaps…. Many people don’t look at the forums- I know in Beta a lot that approaches this is being trialed, I hope it comes out to live and, if so, in an accessible format.

All this aside, something happened. It was deep, meaningful and all very satisfying. I think I have become, over the last 3-4 months, tired of the same arguments, from the same protagonists, and as frustrated with the lack of official response or action from SI… about pretty much most things, until now.

A pro-active decision was made by SI, and action taken. It was like that first appointment that you had with the dominatrix  … oh, errr,  that might just be me.. but in this instance was all about the Somalian Pirates of Valderrama (as per this thread…. http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/249828-The-somalian-cheaters) and some managers that had purposely exploited a bug.

Aside from the teams caught in the crossfire of Somalians being removed due to their over-production of quality players (often 4*+), and the numerous managers that were satisfied with the main protagonist/s getting screwed with their pants on, it was good to see action. Okay, it was slow coming, but action all the same.

Regardless of your standpoint on the Somali YA's, to see a Raft of Super Admins arrive and be executive in decision-making was a joy to behold.


Add in the Emails sent to entice managers back (time will tell if they stay, obviously, but trying to be positive), and things are looking up.

So a plethora of hats off to SI... hmmm.. two positive posts in a row, I'm in danger of becoming a Fanboi    :o

**Hold the Front Pages**

We have an RFA that has increased to 34 teams for the 2nd run!

The last 2 seasons have been dismal for any increase in numbers of new teams, whilst seeing teams leave through natural wastage-although I know that some managers leave on principle of them thinking the game is pants, I think that, bearing in mind a lot managers have been playing for a couple of years, most are just FML burnt out. With that in mind, there is a huge market out there to tap for the next generation of addicts.

Emails sent to old innactive teams by SI, though, have enticed many back with the news of riches in many finance projections- although, if you have lost your players in WA's and have less than £3mil in your account, you might want to consider whether you really should restart.... (with there being a wider range of players to select from when you see the whole database after a restart).

Anyway, hats off to SI, finally a significant and overt attempt to increase the GW numbers. Valderrama still often has 100+ managers on during various evenings, but boosting this was a necessity. Now they need to kick on from this and get the numbers up more, even if by 10-20 a season NET.

I understand further mailshots may be sent out soon. More of the same in increases would be a welcome addition.

The Continued black-out from SI on plans and lack of positivity on the future

I have been trying to stay away from the forums more recently- particularly the Subbie one- but, when I need to look at them to keep up to date with changes, this is difficult. They are awash with negativity but very little rebuttal from SI. This then spreads to the GW’s and, to be honest, to me a little. The lack of SI comment fuels chat of the game being in turmoil, on its last legs, considering reset pending FMO being rolled out in Europe etc. etc. wibble. etc…  

I want to defend the game, I want to refute comments- just by nature this is my starting point as I like playing the game and, although accepting there are some poor areas, would rather it succeed than slate it constantly like some of the imbeciles- but there is nothing I can refer to from SI that holds weight in an argument, as they have said little (Referring to a post made months ago about there being no reset doesn't begin to reason with some people...but I wonder what would....)

I appreciate it takes time out from other tasks, but keeping the positivity and support is imperative for the long term of the game. SI may feel that a blanket ‘no comment’ is a good route but, really, they need to revisit this stance.

Just looking at the Subbie forum today we have titles such as:

The Restart is near :)  (Just say it isn't.... unless I missed a memo)

The somalian cheaters  (Say something.... other than the unspoken 'its fixed now... please forget the issues this has caused')

Manual  (More clarity needed for some time)

.... that are asking either pertinant questions or ones that need to be clarified asap to dispel the negativity.

Then you have the ones either trying to be productive, needing clarification as to why it can't happen or just nice for some comment to offer positivity:

Fast Paced GW.  (Yes/No?)

Fmlive legends  (acknowledge those that put time in....)

Request: Seperate 'real' mail from 'spam' mail  (A valid suggestion... yes/no, acknowledge it)

Suggestions for new features  (More ideas, valid or not, with time taken to post...)

2000 user gameworld?  (Is it possible, I think not, but say so)

etc. etc. etc...

I remember the plethora of posts when RP's were installed. The dozens of good ideas that were taken time over, offered in good detail and then completely ignored. I guess an argument is that these suggestions could be made in Beta Forums, but not all are on Beta and why duplicate?

If people get no feedback = they stop posting ideas

I would suggest a sticky at the top, effectively a general Q & A. Collate quotes, comments, gems of wisdom from SI Devs/Staff, which would be a reference point for both new managers to look at, but also managers to refer others to if they keep asking the same inane questions- to refer though, you need comments to refer to... I may suggest this, so over to SI....