VWBB - Volition's Todd is a SMARTEY

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VWBB (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/index.php)
- General Discussion (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=7)
-- Volition's Todd is a SMARTEY (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/showthread.php?threadid=8268)

Posted by Todd on 02-14-2003 09:40 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Xanthen
heh,

I haven't met you yet Todd.
My name is Eric Braun, I'm tentatively scheduled to start March 31st.

Ah yes, you will be adding to the collection of Volition's Erics. We now have

Eric A
Eric B

Soon the Erics will outnumber the Daves!

Dave A
Dave B
Dave C

Congrats, btw

Posted by Xanthen on 02-14-2003 09:49 PM:

OH THE INSANITY!

It's going in alphabetical order too!

I thought you were just lettering them as compared to numbering them.

I certainly noticed that there are a large number of people at Volition with the same first name

Posted by Fetty on 02-15-2003 03:25 AM:

so what u doing for volition anyway coding, graphical stuff, artistik stuff ?
cleaning the toilets ? (j/k)

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Posted by Xanthen on 02-15-2003 03:45 AM:

programmer

Posted by Knight Templar on 02-15-2003 04:10 AM:

I retract my previous statement.

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Posted by Fetty on 02-15-2003 01:46 PM:

thats cool

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Posted by ThresholdRPG on 02-16-2003 07:51 AM:

Getting back on Topic....

Todd, or any other Volition employee, is there any talk within your company to improve your customer relations?

I personally think the games you make are excellent and are deserving of far more sales and popularity than they get.

IMHO, your Summoner series beats the PANTS off the Baldur's Gate/Infinity Engine games, as well as Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights.

Sadly, those games have sold far more copies ;(. I recently read that the Infinity Engine games have sold more than 30 million copies (and there hasn't even been an Icewind Dale II expansion yet).

A big difference between Volition and Bioware is that Bioware provides EXCELLENT customer support on its web site. You constantly get information and feedback from employees that really keeps the fans and the company connected.

That is why you better don your Full Asbestos Suit if you ever say ANYTHING bad about their games on any discussion forum. Their fans are, well, fanatical.

If you mention Summoner or Volition in web or usenet RPG discussion groups you are most likely going to be met with "huh?" "who?" rather than "Yeah, their games rock."

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Posted by ns33 on 02-16-2003 02:33 PM:

When you say customer support, what do you mean? Volition PROGRAMMED the game; Interplay MARKETED it. If you're saying that the GAME has problems, then call up Volition (I remember I got an email from you once Todd... I feel so... special now ). If its a problem relating in any way to how the game has been marketed, then dont call Volition, because they cant do anything about it.

God its snowing like hell outside.

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Posted by Remora on 02-16-2003 04:19 PM:

Interplay didn't produce Summoner. THQ did. I imagine it's hard to find the light when under a huge publisher's blanket of products, not to mention when producer execs would rather see a "Britney Spears rocks the town again, again!" than something that's cool to us.

Posted by ThresholdRPG on 02-16-2003 07:36 PM:

Nobody controls Volitions customer relations other than Volition.

Blizzard is owned by the GARGANTUAN company Vivendi, but that doesn't stop them from having excellent customer support and customer relations.

Bioware's games were published by the huge Interplay, and they still had excellent communication with their customers.

None of those companies in the publishing chain would stop Volition from having a message forum on their site, or from having their employees pick a fan site's forums to frequent.

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Threshold RPG - Where Role playing isn't a feature, it's a requirement!

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Posted by kode on 02-16-2003 07:46 PM:

hmm... VBB got shut down because the V people didn't have time to visit it, and thus were flooded with spam and flames. no board is better than one with only spam and flames, IMO.

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Posted by ThresholdRPG on 02-16-2003 08:58 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by kode
hmm... VBB got shut down because the V people didn't have time to visit it, and thus were flooded with spam and flames. no board is better than one with only spam and flames, IMO.

Well, their lack of "time to visit it" is similar to the widespread lack of sales of their games.

That is the point. They don't make time to support their fan base and develop a community around their franchises.

As a result, they are a insignificant and irrelevant in the gaming industry compared with companies like Bioware, Blizzard, iD software, and others who *DO* build a community around their games.

There is no excuse for ignoring your customers.

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Threshold RPG - Where Role playing isn't a feature, it's a requirement!

http://www.threshold-rpg.com

Posted by Stealth on 02-16-2003 09:56 PM:

Xanthem, see if you could get me a job at Volition.

i can do anything they want: program, etc.

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Posted by Xanthen on 02-16-2003 11:40 PM:

Like I have any influence on them, I haven't even gone in to work a single day yet.

You'd be better off soliciting something from Todd or daveb

and I suppose you're a little too late. They took down their advertisement for entry level programmers the day they hired me.

I don't know about you all but I'm stranded because of freezing sleet and rain. its about 2 inches thick and its like a semi solid block of ice. You can walk around without making dents in it, if you can manage to open the door...

Posted by GalacticEmperor on 02-17-2003 02:54 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Stealth
Xanthem, see if you could get me a job at Volition.

i can do anything they want: program, etc.

HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I guess that's one of the reasons they were hiring recently. More staff=more people to interact with the community, yes?

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Posted by ThresholdRPG on 02-17-2003 03:44 AM:

Getting us back on topic......

quote:
Originally posted by kode
hmm... VBB got shut down because the V people didn't have time to visit it, and thus were flooded with spam and flames. no board is better than one with only spam and flames, IMO.

__________________
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Threshold RPG - Where Role playing isn't a feature, it's a requirement!

http://www.threshold-rpg.com

Posted by Knight Templar on 02-17-2003 09:56 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Stealth
Xanthem, see if you could get me a job at Volition.

i can do anything they want: program, etc.

oh no...

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Posted by Slasher on 02-17-2003 10:06 PM:

I always thought it was the mass wave of idiots rather than the admins lack of attendance that doomed the VBB. If the morons hadn't ruined all the fun in the first place they probably wouldn't have seen a resaon to shut it down.

Posted by ThresholdRPG on 02-17-2003 11:59 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Slasher
I always thought it was the mass wave of idiots rather than the admins lack of attendance that doomed the VBB. If the morons hadn't ruined all the fun in the first place they probably wouldn't have seen a resaon to shut it down.

First, that is irrelevant. It doesn't matter WHY Volition shut down their forums. The point is, it is THEIR DUTY to maintain quality relations with their customers if they want to be rewarded in the marketplace.

Second, there are a variety of steps forum admins can take to lessen the problems caused by such individuals. For example:

1) Get rid of post count totals: It is pretty standard for twinks to farm titles, stars, dots, post # counts, etc. because they somehow feel this makes them "uber." Thus, they will post drivel in every thread just to get their post count up. When this happens, wise forum admins stop displaying the post count.

2) Allow only one account *ever* per email address. If an account is locked or deleted, that email account can never be used to make a new forum account. Sure, people can get more free email accounts, but this definitely slows them down.

3) Ban IP addresses of abusive users.

4) Limit the number of posts someone can make per day until their account has been in "good standing" for a certain period of time. See GAMEFAQS.com for an example of a very complex system that does this sort of thing.

There are many other things that can be done as well.

The point is, if you ignore your customers and make no effort to cultivate a community around your game franchises, you will suffer in the marketplace.

Volitions games are BETTER than their sales and popularity would seem to indicate, and I believe this lack of community building is the big reason.

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-Aristotle

Threshold RPG - Where Role playing isn't a feature, it's a requirement!

http://www.threshold-rpg.com

Posted by Hades on 02-18-2003 12:30 AM:

OT - Can an admin change the title of this thread, it's sort of bothering me...

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