Right now there are 18 questions Seble is taking polls on in the Beta. He has already implemented several new ideas that have been discussed.

I think that the new system is going to turn out well, because I can see a real desire to get it right and to listen to the opinions of those in the Beta Testing. There have been 332 topics and 4232 posts on the topics. It seems like a very thorough process that is evolving.

It looks like there may be a much longer than 2 hour window to start recruiting. This is something that many people have been pushing for over many years.

It also appears that recruiting cycles may go to 6 hours, instead of 3, so that it is easier for coaches with busy schedules. If the cycles are at 8 AM and 8 PM, you could really recruit just before and just after 8 AM and 8 PM and you will have recruited in all 4 cycles

Here are some of the other changes that have been made so far: (there are many others that will probably occur based on poll results)

Based on recent discussion and poll results, here is my near-term list of changes. I want to get all of this in place for next season of testing. NOTE: this is not the complete list of changes I have on the list.

1. Give recruiting resources on rescind if you didn't recruit the player.

2. Make signing tendency available during scouting. I know quite a few would rather it be based on recruiting interest level, but let's try this first.

3. Give full recruiting resources for walk-ons.

4. Adjust scouting budgets to bring divisions closer together, so DIII would be increased and DI decreased.

5. Increase recruiting budgets a bit across all divisions.

6. Restrict interest level to Moderate until certain level of credit is accumulated.

7. Lock scholarship offers until certain level of credit is achieved.

8. Change allocation model of recruiting resources to match scouting (base + bonus per opening)

What I don't understand is why NOW seble is so interested in feeling out the opinions of the user community, but he didn't even consider coming to us before he put in the time and effort to write up a recruiting overhaul and float the rough outline of the idea, see if it was something people wanted? In a scenario like this with a small but loyal and generally long-term user base, cultivating a positive relationship with the users should be job #1 for the game administrators. Coming to the forums when you're ready to set up a beta test was an obvious and easily avoidable mistake in the first place.

I really believe that if he'd told us about the update in advance, before it was inevitable, it might have received a more positive response. If you sell the users on something being a good idea they might get behind it and be happy to help you streamline the update. Long-time many-team HD players feel like they are serious stake-holders in this game, and in at least some sense they are. So when you just come to them and tell them "I made an update, here it comes," they feel slighted. That's a fairly natural response.

Posted by dahsdebater on 6/15/2016 6:13:00 PM (view original):
What I don't understand is why NOW seble is so interested in feeling out the opinions of the user community, but he didn't even consider coming to us before he put in the time and effort to write up a recruiting overhaul and float the rough outline of the idea, see if it was something people wanted? In a scenario like this with a small but loyal and generally long-term user base, cultivating a positive relationship with the users should be job #1 for the game administrators. Coming to the forums when you're ready to set up a beta test was an obvious and easily avoidable mistake in the first place.

I really believe that if he'd told us about the update in advance, before it was inevitable, it might have received a more positive response. If you sell the users on something being a good idea they might get behind it and be happy to help you streamline the update. Long-time many-team HD players feel like they are serious stake-holders in this game, and in at least some sense they are. So when you just come to them and tell them "I made an update, here it comes," they feel slighted. That's a fairly natural response.

I agree. But let's face it. This game and the attitude towards it was never from any sort of Internal or External successful marketing principle in my years of paying-playing. Thus the steady decline in customers...which I believe will happen again if only in the # of teams that people have.

The game was ignored and the customer's complaints were equally ignored. Now they pick and choose the less complaining customers to decide what to do (when a portion of those customers are relatively new and dont have a clue on the old product to compare).

That makes a lot of sense dahsdebater. Perhaps things are changing now and they are becoming more sensitive to the desires of the customers. That would be a huge plus, as this game has so much potential. I liked the term stakeholders, because for those of us who enjoy the game, it is an important part of our lives, and when something very important in your life changes and seems out of your control, it can really be upsetting.

Tania - in this update they actually allowed everyone who signed up for the testing to participate, so in this case they didn't pick and choose, which is a good thing. It's probably good to have some new users involved. I am glad that so many of the long term players are involved in the testing too. Old Resorter has had some great insights as has Gillispie, and they both are very well respected.

I feel really comfortable with how it is heading. The new changes are going to be implemented for this second beta season, and tested, and then more changes are planned if needed.

chap - that would be the best-case scenario, and is what should happen. But with seble insisting rollout is starting in a month, there isn't time for multiple rounds of additional testing. It's pretty much got to be pretty close to where it is now, because there won't be time for numerous more seasons of testing.

As I posted last night in the beta world forums, there is an inherent disconnect between Seble's statements - on the same afternoon - that we were "still early in the (beta) process" and within a month of getting ready for rollout.

To be perfectly frank, a few months ago I would have said Seble was overworked and not given time to dedicate to HD, and that was really the problem that led to most of the problems some users have had with him. But as we've gone through this beta process, I've been getting an increasingly strong feeling that he's frankly just not a very good developer. His timelines are ridiculous and he doesn't seem to see more than a step or 2 worth of consequences of code changes he makes. A good developer is generally judged not by their coding proficiency but by their logical design. I don't think seble sees very deeply in that aspect of development. I think he frequently understands very poorly the ramifications of changes he makes (or suggests) to the game. It's been eye-opening for me.