Tuesday, September 27, 2011

R.I.P. Robe of Viisaus :(

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Despite the big protest on official forums, violent tantrums on fashion blogs and numerous bug reports in Rise of Isengard beta, Robe of Viisaus' changed appearance made it to live.

Nothing much to talk about - there was no official word from Turbine about this as far as I know, the robe's change wasn't even mentioned in the RoI release notes (even though many other cosmetic changes were). I still hold a tiny chunk hope that this is just a very low priority bug and we will get the robe back.

Until that happens - rest in piece my beloved robe :(

 (screenshot by Hymne)

Comparison of the old and new version of Robe of Viisaus available here

12 comments:

  1. Frankly - as you may remember from our discussion on the topic from long ago -, i believe the original appearance was the bug and not the new one. The way it dyed was definitely inconsistent with the rest of the game and even though the community of 'fashionistas' loved it for being "unique", they admired a low-priority bug...

    ^- my opinion only... aka 2 copper pieces :)

    B

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  2. Interesting theory.

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  3. *aww, can't edit my comment*

    In the screenshots from the linked forum topic it's even more clear. The old version's textures were visibly blurry and getting partially overridden by the dye.

    B

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  4. If it's truly a bug-fix, they omitted to put it in the patch notes though. That is the strangest part of this whole story, there is not a mention of it either in the patch notes or on the known issues list, where as other cosmetic changes (like "we fixed the cloak bla bla") are clearly written. If it's a fix, why is this fix not mentioned?

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  5. I'm afraid i don't have an answer for that :)

    As mentioned this theory with fixing a bug is just my opinion which may or may not be correct.

    Wouldn't be the first time a fixed bug didn't get a dedicated bullet in the patch notes though. We can't realistically expect the devs make it happen for every single one they do fix.

    *If* it was truly a bug, then - from a developer perspective - it was a pretty low priority one, despite the fact that it's a significant issue for a - arguably minor - part of the player community. Minor bugs mostly don't get their own 15 minutes of fame in the patch notes.

    Another possible explanation might be that the developer simply didn't know/care about the particular issue. They same fix can appear in that particular dev's work log as (and i'm making these up)

    "Reworked the textures on Robe of Viisaus. The robe's patterns are now more emphasized than before. This is also brought the dyes' effect in line with what can be seen on other robes."
    When assembling patch notes, this version has a shot to get in.

    But it can be...
    "Refreshed the textures on asset arm_chp-l_rb1952_dy. Tested, it works fine."
    Highly unlikely the person putting the patch noted together would take the time researching what the particular asset is and what is the effect of the fix. He'll dismiss it with a wave of a hand and continues to incorporate the more readable and straightforward changes.

    Above scenarios are fictional and any and all similarity to real people or events are unintentional and for illustration purposes only. :)

    B

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  6. "Above scenarios are fictional and any and all similarity to real people or events are unintentional and for illustration purposes only. :)" <<< a big LOL, i think i recognized some of the similarities :D

    however, there's one thing about bugs devs should realize - if most of customers consider it a (good) feature, despite it's a bug from requirements perspective, they should not fix it. as simple as that.

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  7. I had quite an extensive reply typed for this - and you can tell i *do* write in length often - then i hit some wrong hotkey-combo and lost it all... :(

    However, here are the main topics i'd have "discussed":

    - i've been taught that anything what was a bug from requirements perspective was to be fixed. Without exceptions.

    - there's no evidence "most customers" considered it a good feature. A small - albeit vocal ;) - blogger community did, yes. A reasonable assumption would be that *most* players didn't know and/or didn't care. For example, how many times is the 'old robe' featured in guest submissions on this very blog? Or even in your own creations, Frey?

    - If anything, the linked forum thread shows mixed results, quite a few people prefer the new looks. Myself included. I just happen to like clear textures and consistency.

    - I can totally see Turbine making both versions available. It'd create a - false? - impression that they actually care about the players. It's also good business ($$$!).

    - Please ignore the bitter negativity of this disenchanted (former) LoTROer. Naturally, everything is grim in my view which means i'm mostly subjective therefore wrong. :)

    B/Anda out

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  8. - geez how do i hate hotkey-combos :D i feel your pain :D

    - i was trying to find a very nice article from mr. bach/bolton (don't remember) about SW bugs and that bugs which became liked among customers should not be fixed (if they don't have other consequences). unfortunately i found only this one (http://agilesoftwaredevelopment.com/blog/jurgenappelo/oh-my-god-they-fixed-bug), but principle is the same. that's also a matter for big discussion, but especially when it comes to customer experience (UI/design stuff), customers should be listened to.

    - i'm also sure turbine knew how popular robe of viisaus was, as they added its cosmetic version to the store (and i'm also sure they could track number of its purchases, which would be quite high).

    - as for the robe featured on my blog, it was featured three times (+ 1 guest submission i didn't publish because i asked for better screenshots and didn't get them):
    http://lotrofashion.blogspot.com/2011/09/guest-brrokk-of-snowbourn.html
    http://lotrofashion.blogspot.com/2011/05/guest-inspiration-gandalf-grey.html
    http://lotrofashion.blogspot.com/2011/05/evil-burglar.html

    considering there are 41 (predominantly) light armour outfits published, one tenth of them is not a bad number. if i count right, all other chest pieces in "light" category were featured 2 times at max.

    - you are a bit wrong with the forum petition. i counted the votes and got these results:
    people who like old robe: 33
    people who like old robe better and explicitly voted for having both versions (old and new): 22
    people who like old robe better and explicitly people who like both robes and explicitly voted for having both versions: 9

    compared to:
    people who like new robe better: 5
    people who like new robe better and explicitly voted for having both versions: 4

    so it's basically 9:64 votes (or 10:64, because i didn't see your vote there ;)

    out of those, 7 people wrote they bought the robe in the store and threw violent tantrum about the change.

    so basically - the only reason for changing the robe without keeping both versions would be that they didn't wanted to create a false impression that they actually care about the players, as you said ;)

    - anyway, peace (and i still hope at some point of the time they will bring the old robe back) :)

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  9. ...part of my maths is wrong, because 9 people who like both robes should be excluded from both "camps" (and i also copypasted it wrong, it should be: "people who like both robes and explicitly voted for having both versions").

    but you know what i meant anyway :)

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  10. I'm still of the opinion that forum topic is nowhere near a representative sample of the overall player (or better yet, customer) community. We can and apparently are crunching numbers from a gaming forum which have a tendency of being full of complaints. :)

    I still don't see any evidence that the majority liked that robe. On the contrary, the fact that it got fixed, *despite* being featured in the Holy Grail of Turbine's (aka: Store) tells volumes about the customer feedback they may have received regarding the particular asset in the past month.

    And i still don't care about any version of any robe in LoTRO... :) It's the artificial problem created by a - no offense, but in my perspective - vocal minority that steers me to 'swim against the tide'. You seem to have chosen to worry about fluff rather than the game itself.

    Too bad i still miss my favourite hobbit/elf couple :)

    B

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  11. well, i definitely don't consider the change of the robe a dealbreaker - for me, it's just spoiling one very unique cosmetic item i liked to use. so yes, i will complain loud, but i won't stop playing the game because of it ;) it's just a very bad practice that turbine doesn't listen to the community (at least the vocal part, as the silent part remains silent and they don't get feedback from them).

    as for "Too bad i still miss my favourite hobbit/elf couple :)" - i'm currently leveling up both hunter and minnie and have quite a few warden items i kept for one very special hobbit ;) if he ever decides to come back :))

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