Shira d'Radonis
Amarr
The Amarr Mission
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Posted - 2010.02.26 17:12:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: CCP Greyscale
I'd argue that the degree of emergence a given ruleset allows for is determined by the breadth of its functionality, not the complexity of its mechanics...
And I appreciate your striving for elegance and simplicity without reducing functionality, but at this point you've already been provided with compelling reasons why reducing complexity this much will necessarily reduce functionality. The question is whether you listen. You've even been given good alternatives.
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1) Adding the option almost always requires more programming work. As our software engineers like to tell us, anything is possible, but everything costs something. Given finite programming resources, we have to prioritize in terms of what will give us the most value for a day's work; frequently, giving the user more customization options means giving up something else.
Then that's just an argument for not making corp/alliance info displayed on Eve Gate AT ALL. If players want to display that info, let them include that in their profile text. Everybody wins and you don't need to add more "programming work" for a checkbox  .
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2) Giving the user more options is a tradeoff between complexity and functionality (see above).
With all due respect, if you can't see how the addition of a single checkbox has greater functionality than complexity in this case, you should not be doing your job. But this vague reference to design philosophy seems more like a dodge than an opinion on this particular question.
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As a result, it's often the case that adding options will both reduce the accessibility of a feature, and require us to drop something else we wanted to do.
How much did you have to sacrifice when you added checkboxes for race, corp, & alliance on the forums? How many new players found the forums "unaccessible" by this terribly complex configuration? 
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There has to be therefore a compelling reason to add that option, and in our previous discussions on this issue we haven't found a strong enough reason to commit to doing so. This does frequently mean saying "yes, there are edge cases where doing it the other way would be better, but we can't accommodate them".
Then why isn't the default required to have compelling reasons as well? I haven't heard one for why all of the info available in a user's in-game info should be available in Eve Gate. And the player opposition seen already to its inclusion should be a compelling reasons enough to add this minute degree of customization or not display the info at all. Acknowledging that your design is flawed does not give you a pass to move forward with it anyway.
You explain the cons of all your changes in stark, clear terms, but whenever you talk about the pros its always vague and philosophical. Are you just keeping them close to the vest because they will tie into as yet unannounced new features, or is it just because there just weren't any good reasons to do it this way?
But I would like to say that it seems clear you have all invested a lot of work in this, and it looks like it's going to be a great addition overall. But I would hate to see a great system mired in controversy because of a few things that add very little while causing a lot of problems. You may feel the need to take a principled stand and not compromised on this, but as a game company, it is in your interest to make things people WILL enjoy, not things you think they SHOULD enjoy.
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ōąquod ad ius naturale attinet, omnes homines aequales suntö
"Our histories, one day, will absolve me..."
- Shira d'Radonis
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