Advice from the CEO

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

Wouldn't you have access to more private channels to reach the supercell crew? :smirk:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fette

Wouldn't you have access to more private channels to reach the supercell crew? :smirk:

---

Yes, but I'm not trying to reach the SC crew. I'm more complaining to the community because I actually play this game myself and I enjoy it. (less now, but I still do enjoy it)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Great post Any mods wanna foward this too mr greed or na they already no lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

Yes, but I'm not trying to reach the SC crew. I'm more complaining to the community because I actually play this game myself and I enjoy it. (less now, but I still do enjoy it)

---

I thought you said you quit. Or "suspended play" in protest? :smirk:

We have a BINGO! I've been questioning this exact thing ever since the update! As much money as SC pulls in, they can afford the top level employees in the gaming industry, top to bottom, in the entire world. As well as sand boxing this in beta. Yet they roll out this amateur stuff when billions of $$$ are on the line.... Why? How? If I'm CEO, or the investors, really, I'm NOT chancing killing my cash cow in one fell swoop.

Something isnt adding up. I wouldn't think SC would be that naive, but it could be possible. The investor has went crazy on a spending spree, and maybe demanded a change to gather a return on his investment? However, I feel that SC was at the apex of its earning ability, I mean after all, you can only squeeze so much cash out of the population. They could have made a huge mistake with trying to take that earning to a new level...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

Yes, but I'm not trying to reach the SC crew. I'm more complaining to the community because I actually play this game myself and I enjoy it. (less now, but I still do enjoy it)

---

Lol, fair enough but you are addressing sc.:smirk:

Idk, maybe I'm old fashioned but I don't think a ceo of a company in the same field would see it fit to be posting on an open forum like this. If we are supposedly have heard of your company then you can clearly be identified by someone. Isn't that a bit naff?


nevertheless however, I totally agree with your assessment as it happens:thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

---

Feel like we are going to need proof for a claim of this magnitude to be taken seriously. Unless you don't want your position as CEO of a substantial game dev co. to be factored in to your post. I would imagine you do though, since it was your opening line.

Wow . even a CEO plays this game and found it annoyingly balanced now.

I would love a TH snipe and the occasional appearance of dead bases with lots of loot back too. (But the bots are using this feature to snipe their own TH (via an alternate account (I think?)) and thereby giving themselves free shields and an unfair advantage.)

Seriously before update I could (as a TH10) saw many TH9 with 300k gold and elixir each (even if they are max) at silver and gold.

but now, almost all the Th9 I could see is not worth the effort to be attacked.

An excellent commentary, which sounds well informed and very professional. Frankly, I'd love to hear another "interview" with Jonas, responding to the real world changes in game play, and what, if anything, management is prepared to do to any and all unexpected consequences of this unfortunate update.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

Advice from the CEO

---

Hey, I have a forum account too. I'm the president of a country and a billionaire. I have created personally 10 #1 ranked game companies. Good luck on your substantial company. I hope someday you can achieve some success even remotely as close to SC. You probably won't.

Signed:
Sr CEO.

The basis of Fette being a CEO of a game company is irrelevant to this post, as it isn't needed to see his points. So I do not feel we should badger him on which company.

Please tell you're with EA canada :smirk:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by smolson

Feel like we are going to need proof for a claim of this magnitude to be taken seriously. Unless you don't want your position as CEO of a substantial game dev co. to be factored in to your post. I would imagine you do though, since it was your opening line.

---

meh, I think the content of the post is sufficient to substantiate the claim. If you need proof then feel free to discount that part as I know the rules of the forum and I'm not here to promote myself or my company.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

The basis of Fette being a CEO of a game company is irrelevant to this post, as it isn't needed to see his points. So I do not feel we should badger him on which company.

---

OP clearly feels that it is relevant otherwise he wouldn't have included it. In fact his "expert assessment" completely depends on his position in the field. (also, not sure where Fette claimed to be a CEO)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

meh, I think the content of the post is sufficient to substantiate the claim. If you need proof then feel free to discount that part as I know the rules of the forum and I'm not here to promote myself or my company.

---

PM it to me :smirk:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Well said. I was also surprised SC would change this many things all at once, and it was very unwise to do it when game play was going to peak over the holidays in conjunction with boost promo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

The basis of Fette being a CEO of a game company is irrelevant to this post, as it isn't needed to see his points. So I do not feel we should badger him on which company.

---

It's the title (which is wrong because he said 'the' and not 'a'). So obviously he does think it's relevant. I don't think 'The CEO' would make such a blunder so it must be relevant right?

There is a reason supercell made all the changes at once. They were all interconnected. They cut down PBT after wrecking TH sniping otherwise players who sign online all day would have all the loot and it would never be available. Bots would have existed to furthering the issue of the loot drought. If they increase loot bonus then everything is back to what it intended.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

The basis of Fette being a CEO of a game company is irrelevant to this post, as it isn't needed to see his points. So I do not feel we should badger him on which company.

---

* it's not me that's a CEO* :(, I just commented. ..

I wish tho:smirk:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

meh, I think the content of the post is sufficient to substantiate the claim. If you need proof then feel free to discount that part as I know the rules of the forum and I'm not here to promote myself or my company.

---

So what are you going to pretend to be later? an elf with gender issues?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinchello

Great post Any mods wanna foward this too mr greed or na they already no lol

---

Really? great post??

This guy is just as believable as you or anyone else on here. Oh look at me I'm a CEO of the DOH PC Game co. :rolleyes:

Seriously?

It's important to the OP, cuz it clarified his postion and relation to his findings... However, it isn't needed to understand the his point and see what he wants you to see...

Why does everyone on this forum look to pick a fight???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

---

IMO It was introduced because it was followed immediately by a holiday period meaning they wouldn't have to answer the uproar. It's the same reason many organisations announce redundancies on a Friday, they get a two day break to avoid having to explain anything. Gives time for a considered response, which hopefully we will get.

I agree with the OP. And you don't have to be a CEO to get it. Anyone who has worked in IT will know that you don't just drop in a major release and walk away for vacation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

Seriously?

It's important to the OP, cuz it clarified his postion and relation to his findings... However, it isn't needed to understand the his point and see what he wants you to see...

Why does everyone on this forum look to pick a fight???

---

You misunderstand. I am clarifying that there seems to be an increase in CEO, software engineer and those types all of a sudden that make bold statements about hard facts when they in fact have to real game data.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

Seriously?

It's important to the OP, cuz it clarified his postion and relation to his findings... However, it isn't needed to understand the his point and see what he wants you to see...

Why does everyone on this forum look to pick a fight???

---

Hey, I'm just sayin' if he doesn't post a picture of himself with his passport and today's newspaper I'm not gonna believe him. It's not like I'm being skeptical or anything.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

Seriously?

It's important to the OP, cuz it clarified his postion and relation to his findings... However, it isn't needed to understand the his point and see what he wants you to see...

Why does everyone on this forum look to pick a fight???

---

You mean to tell us, that "pretending" to be a CEO of a MAJOR game software, think Capcom, as it's the best one there to fit his pretend story, is not the OP's way of picking a fight?

This thread needs to be deleted, IMHO.

This guy's fake post from a CEO, so full of typing errors that no CEO would ever let their secretary get away with, could do more harm to SC, if the real CEO of the company this guy pretends to be from, sees it.

I'm trying to take this as seriously as possible but I just wanted you all to know that I'm a dinosaur.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danielealy

I agree with the OP. And you don't have to be a CEO to get it. Anyone who has worked in IT will know that you don't just drop in a major release and walk away for vacation.

---

My husband owned (he sold it) an IT company and there is no way he would ever drop anything new and go on vacation. We would not see him for several days after the start of a project except FaceTime and to drop off care packages to his employees. He is under contract to the company that bought him and it's still the same.

He added the ceo thing to make the point that he has experience in the area and is not talking about things he doesn't know about.

Now whether or not his credentials are legit can be debated. As many have pointed out, anyone can say whatever they want on the Internet. I have no idea who the OP is, but he presents some valid points. Points that are so basic, you don't need to be a ceo of a gaming company to realize.

Which leads us to the real point of this thread: What the hell was SC thinking with how they handled this update?

(Regardless of of who the OP is irl, that is a legitimate question)

Why people saying they dropped the update and just left.

They patched.

PBT was bugged - They fixed it.

Donating troops in war was bugged - They fixed it.

Right now the only things going on were thought out by supercell and they realized some people would be unhappy. Nothing requiring immediate attention.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by moriteq

He added the ceo thing to make the point that he has experience in the area and is not talking about things he doesn't know about.

Now whether or not his credentials are legit can be debated. As many have pointed out, anyone can say whatever they want on the Internet. I have no idea who the OP is, but he presents some valid points. Points that are so basic, you don't need to be a ceo of a gaming company to realize.

Which leads us to the real point of this thread: What the hell was SC thinking with how they handled this update?

(Regardless of of who the OP is irl, that is a legitimate question)

---

Releasing an update before holiday seasons when more people are downloading apps and more people are spending is common sense. We do not know what their employees are doing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gorto

Why people saying they dropped the update and just left.

They patched.

PBT was bugged - They fixed it.

Donating troops in war was bugged - They fixed it.

Right now the only things going on were thought out by supercell and they realized some people would be unhappy.

---

Yeah see the debbie downers missed that part. They actually think they dropped the update and as soon as it said download complete, welp time for three weeks in the alps...:rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by moriteq

Which leads us to the real point of this thread: What the hell was SC thinking with how they handled this update?

(Regardless of of who the OP is irl, that is a legitimate question)

---

Why does that matter at this point. Hindsight is 20/20. They can't go back in time and not release the update. What's done is done. I'm sure if they had it to do all over again they might have rolled out these changes differently.

Thread disregarded after the opening statement.

If you can't provide substantiated credentials, then why include it in the post. It makes the other points have less impact and credibility.

so you live in your moms basement.
Why don't you name the company you work for?
honestly these type of posts are a joke.
bye trollololololol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by logos

so you live in your moms basement.
Why don't you name the company you work for?
honestly these type of posts are a joke.
bye trollololololol

---

Read the forum rules and you will see why he didn't name the game company he works for. Use your head and stop trolling.

He might as well said it's advice from the last son of Krypton. It's him attempt at trying to make his forum account opinion more important than another forum account.

I got the PM in regards to his company. I'd say it's plausible at this point. Doesn't really matter, I'd say disregard the opening claim and take the statement at face value after that.

Personally I agree that SC has themselves to blame for this backlash because it was simply too much at once. I like the changes myself but I can see how it would be too much for some to handle.

/deuces

I am the CEO of an even more substantial game company and I think the exact opposite of what the OP said.
In fact, my game company is going to buy his game company and fire him. I will promote one of his employees who secretly loves the update and together we will make games that are very fun to play and make lots of money.

P.S. for those of you unable to progress in the game after the update: my post was sarcasm. I am not actually a CEO of a game company. I am not going to buy another game company and fire that CEO. If you were able to read this far, you do not need to post your doubts about my claims of being a CEO.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Very well said!! I like the update and have made great loot since it was dropped on us. With that being said, I agree 100% with this post!! Clash on!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Genos1213

Releasing an update before holiday seasons when more people are downloading apps and more people are spending is common sense. We do not know what their employees are doing.

---

OP addressed that in his post.

Releasing th11 upgrade would've made sense. Releasing the plethora of game changing/breaking elements they did all at once was not so "common sense".

SC has said it themselves - they knew this would be an issue. So why did they do it all at once? Right before the holiday break when they would not have the time/resources available to "fix" it if necessary? That's not common sense. Quite the opposite, actually.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by smolson

Personally I agree that SC has themselves to blame for this backlash because it was simply too much at once. I like the changes myself but I can see how it would be too much for some to handle.

---

I dont know about that.

Blacklash on a forum doesn't really mean anything.

Right now if you go to any games forums you will find the same things. Battlefront, Heroes of the Storm, WoW ETC.

Forums are full of I quit posts, this particular thing is OP or under powered, your matching sucks, your game is a rip off.

At the end of the when it comes to feed back its always the same. You could have 100 consumers using your product 98 are satisfied, but you are only going to hear from the 2 who are not.

what if he made some struggling apps of from his one man company up in Canada? I hope he doesn't take it out on his dog who might also be his COO.

I'm not a CEO of a major gaming company but I did stay at a holiday inn last night. With that said it makes perfect sense any greedy money hungry company would petal their product before Xmas for one simple thing. $$$$$$$$! Think about all those wonderful gift cards SC just cashed...

So it doesn't matter what testing has been done or what focus groups has to say about the new update. There is only one saying that matters and that is MOB...

That's right, Money over Bioches! Folks can complain all they want but SC is taking this Xmas to the bank.

Happy holidays!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dkaoboy

So what are you going to pretend to be later? an elf with gender issues?

---

Nothing that the OP has said warrants such a comment. As a matter of fact, this comment is in blatant disregard of Forum rules. Either keep the discussion civil and on point or move on.

Everything about this update is working as planned. That is why this game is number one. OP is a sad example of a CEO.
SC is very pleased about this update. All goals have been met. Great income. Players slowly getting used to more challenging loot. Defections and new players within acceptances levels.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gorto

I dont know about that.

Blacklash on a forum doesn't really mean anything.

Right now if you go to any games forums you will find the same things. Battlefront, Heroes of the Storm, WoW ETC.

Forums are full of I quit posts, this particular thing is OP or under powered, your matching sucks, your game is a rip off.

At the end of the when it comes to feed back its always the same. You could have 100 consumers using your product 98 are satisfied, but you are only going to hear from the 2 who are not.

---

You're quite correct. I've been on a lot of other forums myself and found that to be true. It's a minor backlash if anything, at least in comparison to the normal amount of complaining.

Lol @ this post. No CEO is going to come these forums and post their concerns for a competitor.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Anyone who read past the line "I won't name the company but you've heard of it." And believed it Is so gullible. I need the OPs name and name of business, otherwise in my mind you are a 12 year old who just learned about the scientific method.

Cut him some slack. Lets just say that "significant" and "that you've heard of" were probably a poor choice of words.

Look beyond the first sentence at this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by moriteq

OP addressed that in his post.

Releasing th11 upgrade would've made sense. Releasing the plethora of game changing/breaking elements they did all at once was not so "common sense".

SC has said it themselves - they knew this would be an issue. So why did they do it all at once? Right before the holiday break when they would not have the time/resources available to "fix" it if necessary? That's not common sense. Quite the opposite, actually.

---

The fact that they did release a patch refutes your post. We don't know how many hours they're putting in. The changes were interdependent and had to be released at once. We also don't have a clue of their internal structure and any other reasons they would have had. The op is quite baseless imo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by smolson

You're quite correct. I've been on a lot of other forums myself and found that to be true. It's a minor backlash if anything, at least in comparison to the normal amount of complaining.

---

This is why the complaining here is pointless, will changes be made to CoC? Yes, but they will be made off numbers crunched of the millions of global players. Not off the opinion of a couple hundred forum users.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gorto

Why people saying they dropped the update and just left.

They patched.

PBT was bugged - They fixed it.

Donating troops in war was bugged - They fixed it.

Right now the only things going on were thought out by supercell and they realized some people would be unhappy. Nothing requiring immediate attention.

---

Yup...and currently they are collecting feedback and data upon which to make any necessary adjustments for those in unbalanced stages of the game post-update. Just like they have for ALL 3 YEARS since the game's release in 2012.

And those who are unhappy, impatient or simply do not understand SC's operating procedure are ranting just like they do EVERY SINGLE UPDATE since the game was first released in 2012.

Top Grossing in App Store pre-update...Top Grossing in App Store every day since....awful job indeed lol

i agree with your points, but i do have doubts that your a ceo of x company for 12 years not that it really matters.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chitlins37

Top Grossing in App Store pre-update...Top Grossing in App Store every day since....awful job indeed lol

---

Agreed CEO of SC went from a cardboard box desk, to one of the richest guys in gaming. He may know a little something.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Regardless of whether you believe his claims of being a CEO or not is irrelevant. The OP brings up issues that have much truth.

1. It is clear, even to YouTubers like Chief Pat that the update was not tested. I have been a gamer since 2004. Every major update for successful games generally includes a beta or at least massive testing before it goes live.

2. His point about communication is spot on. You'd have to be in denial to argue the fact that there is massive dissention among players regarding the update. Many players feel that they are in limbo and they are unsure of where the game will be in the coming months. All you have to do is scroll through the 1000+ pages of Feedback in the sticky posts or look at the app store ratings for the update.

3. There should NEVER be wide sweeping changes in 1 update just as the OP suggests. They should be tested individually over time to avoid the storm that you are currently seeing on the forums, reddit, app store ratings, etc.

These points are why you see massive outrage from a good portion of the player base.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheJudgedClan

Regardless of whether you think his claims of being a CEO or not is irrelevant. The OP brings up issues that have much truth.

1. It is clear, even to YouTubers like Chief Pat that the update was not tested. I have been a gamer since 2004. Every major update for successful games generally includes a beta or at least massive testing before it goes live.

---

I agree. And it seems that some people forget that there are really two types of testing. One it to test the application to make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do. The other is playtesting to see how well the game plays is the code is​ working.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Genos1213

The fact that they did release a patch refutes your post. We don't know how many hours they're putting in. The changes were interdependent and had to be released at once. We also don't have a clue of their internal structure and any other reasons they would have had. The op is quite baseless imo.

---

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Fine. The holiday season has no impact on SC's ability to service their product. That makes them different from every other online gaming company out there. Their emergency patch a few days later to fix the shield issue is CLEARLY definitive proof that completely discredits all arguments to the contrary. :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danielealy

I agree. And it seems that some people forget that there are really two types of testing. One it to test the application to make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do. The other is playtesting to see how well the game plays is the code is​ working.

---

What needed to be beta tested that is not working?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gorto

What needed to be beta tested that is not working?

---

1. PBT is still bugged.
2. Player reaction? - Part of beta testing is getting feedback from your loyal players. If they had allowed actual players to comment on intended changes, then some of this nonsense may have been avoided.

To those of you who like the update, great. The rest of the player base has opposite feelings. My entire clan is made up of adult players who would fall into the "casual" category. 100% of them hate the changes and are unsure if they will continue to play long-term. Every one of them at one time or another has purchased gems for Hero upgrade finishes during war.

This is the type of information they could have solicited before taking the update live. Maybe they would have altered some changes, maybe not.... but it would have at least given the player base and idea of what was coming instead of being slapped in the face with wide-sweeping changes.

did you also graduate in the top of your class in the navy seals?

It's amusing that people here are questioning whether the OP is actually a CEO, not whether the points are valid.

I'm not a CEO, but my livelihood heavily depends on software development, and tend to agree with the major points (ie their strategy was not reality-tested and ill-timed).

And I agree, there's a more-likely-than-recognized shot that the game's success thus far has been more luck than skill. Supercell has tried to over-optimize CoC to suit their vision and introduced needless complexity - which is the cardinal sin of good software (game or not).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danielealy

I agree. And it seems that some people forget that there are really two types of testing. One it to test the application to make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do. The other is playtesting to see how well the game plays is the code is​ working.

---

We can say one thing for sure: they only gave th11 2 new troop upgrades and anyone with any sense at all would have tested the all witch attack. Our th10s do it on any idiot with both infernoes to single.
so they nerf witches , now th9& th10 have to pay for that mistake with less powerful gowiwi's.
if they didn't test witches thoroughly, what else didn't they test?

The OP is spot on, irregardless of his professional status or your disbelief. The change was too comprehensive, poorly planned in it's implementation, and has alienated a segment of it players (the percentage is unknown, but exists). Change for the sake of change is never good. The introduction of TH11 was predictable, and necessary to keep money coming in from the whales that buy their bases and upgrades. Changing the rest has only resulted in the slow of forward progress for newer players that is frustrating and will ultimately lead to their departure from the game. If you want further proof, look at what a wonderful job GREE is doing at destroying Knights and Dragons.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

I would think a "CEO from a substantial game development company" would rather be managing their company or relaxing in a mansion with their wealthy family getting fed turkey, steak and lobster, or out enjoying the great things in life like nature, traveling, and being with other great friends and family of upper status rather than being heavily drawn to a video game and its forums.

Then again.. I suppose my idea of CEOs is for them to be "filthy casuals" 😉

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xyzzjp

did you also graduate in the top of your class in the navy seals?

---

LOL good one

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ConvexityEffects

It's amusing that people here are questioning whether the OP is actually a CEO, not whether the points are valid.

I'm not a CEO, but my livelihood heavily depends on software development, and tend to agree with the major points (ie their strategy was not reality-tested and ill-timed).

And I agree, there's a more-likely-than-recognized shot that the game's success thus far has been more luck than skill. Supercell has tried to over-optimize CoC to suit their vision and introduced needless complexity - which is the cardinal sin of good software (game or not).

---

His points are terrible and sound like someone with no real experience in business, which brings into question his assertion of CEO which he is clearly using as a way for his poor analysis to be taken seriously.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ThatAsianBradah

I would think a "CEO from a substantial game development company" would rather be managing their company or relaxing in a mansion with their wealthy family getting fed turkey, steak and lobster, or out enjoying the great things in life like nature, traveling, and being with other great friends and family of upper status rather than being heavily drawn to a video game and its forums.

Then again.. I suppose my idea of CEOs is for them to be "filthy casuals" 😉

---

CEOs are just like you and me, they're nothing mythical and not above complaining on the internet.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by moriteq

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Fine. The holiday season has no impact on SC's ability to service their product. That makes them different from every other online gaming company out there. Their emergency patch a few days later to fix the shield issue is CLEARLY definitive proof that completely discredits all arguments to the contrary. :rolleyes:

---

So since the OP is criticising the update and it's timing. What do you know about why sc did it the way they did? What is your silly opinion based on? If this update was made at a different time what would have been different? Do you have evidence to support your claims?

Your sarcasm just makes you look like an idiot, but I suppose that was what you were going for.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raynestorm2

We have a BINGO! I've been questioning this exact thing ever since the update! As much money as SC pulls in, they can afford the top level employees in the gaming industry, top to bottom, in the entire world. As well as sand boxing this in beta. Yet they roll out this amateur stuff when billions of $$$ are on the line.... Why? How? If I'm CEO, or the investors, really, I'm NOT chancing killing my cash cow in one fell swoop.

Something isnt adding up. I wouldn't think SC would be that naive, but it could be possible. The investor has went crazy on a spending spree, and maybe demanded a change to gather a return on his investment? However, I feel that SC was at the apex of its earning ability, I mean after all, you can only squeeze so much cash out of the population. They could have made a huge mistake with trying to take that earning to a new level...

---

Softbank
10chars

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hoopstime98

His points are terrible and sound like someone with no real experience in business, which brings into question his assertion of CEO which he is clearly using as a way for his poor analysis to be taken seriously.

---

Why don't you share specifically which of his points you consider terrible and poor analysis?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hoopstime98

His points are terrible and sound like someone with no real experience in business, which brings into question his assertion of CEO which he is clearly using as a way for his poor analysis to be taken seriously.

---

Not sure I totally agree... The writing doesn't sound like someone who runs a successful company, I agree with that.

The main points, I think, are mostly right. I don't work for a gaming company, so my context may be off. But all of our production changes have rollback plans, in case updates are dysfunctional or this poorly received. Our business is far more cut throat than Supercell's, so we can't insist we're right when our clients disagree.

I could care less if the dude is a real CEO, its a damn good post and it would do supercell justice to read it, REGARDLESS of who posted it. The dude put his title to give a background, if you're so lame as to disregard an entire msg based on that then you probably haven't seen the sun in weeks and should put your tablet down and slowly back away. And I am an actual CEO BTW, I own a small business, feel free to search me on fb if it'll make you feel better about the content of my msg.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

12 years ?
sorry but never heard of you.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.
kind regards
sneakymaori

http://www.candevs.ca/bc.html

Feel free to search for this guy :p

Anyway, he makes good points, even if i don't believe this whole "I'am a CEO" thingy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Whatever job you have, it doesn't matter. It is a good post.

I could see all these anti bot changes if they actually stopped bots, but bots are still working much like the failed anti bunny update SC did 10 months ago. This game has 2 fatal flaws. 1. It's client side. 2. The developers cannot stop bunnies, and I'm not sure if it's because they aren't skilled enough? Or it's impossible with a client side game. I believe it is the former as I agree with the OP and believe SC lucked into this game being a big hit

Nice post, CEO. Your company deserves to be more successful than ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheJudgedClan

Why don't you share specifically which of his points you consider terrible and poor analysis?

---

The complete misunderstanding of the scientific method and its application to game development, not understanding why you'd want to coincide something the community would dislike with something that would keep profits incoming rather than separating them, the idea that all of this change outside of TH11 is purely to somehow "stop bots" (you could do the PBT stuff completely separate from shielding items if you'd wanted to, the motivation for this was clearly not just to "stop bots").

Mostly though, as a CEO, the goal is to drive profits. Not one word about that, just complaints about not liking the update basically with some business sounding words thrown in but not really used in the appropriate context.

Nice post :) I'm from Vancouver haha

That's it, just lol.

edit: now I'm waiting for a senator or even the u.s. president comment.

i dont need to be a CEO to understand basic customer satisfaction issues. I agree with your points, and hope that SC will fix. I doubt it, but still hope.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sneakymaori

12 years ?
sorry but never heard of you.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.
kind regards
sneakymaori

---

What a joke, if it makes you feel better to disregard the entire post based on that then more power to you friend but as a moderator I would expect more. Get over yourself, and best regards to you and your moderating as well, keep up the good work! Lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hoopstime98

The complete misunderstanding of the scientific method and its application to game development, not understanding why you'd want to coincide something the community would dislike with something that would keep profits incoming rather than separating them, the idea that all of this change outside of TH11 is purely to somehow "stop bots" (you could do the PBT stuff completely separate from shielding items if you'd wanted to, the motivation for this was clearly not just to "stop bots").

Mostly though, as a CEO, the goal is to drive profits. Not one word about that, just complaints about not liking the update basically with some business sounding words thrown in but not really used in the appropriate context.

---

1. Regarding the method for testing....incremental was his thought. Whether you want to say he doesn't know about the SM or not doesn't change the fact that this wasn't sufficiently tested and it wasn't tested incrementally.

2. In theory, abandoning a portion of your player base is counter-productive to profits. You have no proof that this change will not negatively effect profit margins. Effects from this update won't truly be known for months or even longer.

3. Nearly everything outside of TH11 was designed to stop Bots....even the major YouTubers agree with this. Removal of the shield for TH destruction, increase of TH resource holdings and PBT changes were all designed to stop them.

4. Profits seemed fine. There's an old saying, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." CoC was at the top of the charts in regards to income. You cannot prove that their intentions were to increase profits...that's pure speculation. The simple fact is that they were sitting in a position where $$ was flowing in regularly so they really didn't need to do anything except add new content to ensure that the $$ kept flowing in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sneakymaori

12 years ?
sorry but never heard of you.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.
kind regards
sneakymaori

---

I also find this condescending and unwarranted.

Lol a game development expert. TH11 with the old loot system would not have worked at all. Before the update loot went extremely dry in higher leagues because there have been too few bases to attack. If they did not fix loot in master+ they had to do much more changes like readjusting all costs, making new collector levels for th10+, which would break much more.
Honestly loot is good if you have a bit of attacking skill. I really love the new system.

I dont think they changed anything about the dead bases algorithm. It is just a combination of them moving down in leagues because of th outside and more bases in the queue in gold+ so the algorithm has plenty of active bases to show first. Go to sub 800 and you will find all those dead bases.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andrgin

Lol a game development expert. TH11 with the old loot system would not have worked at all. Before the update loot went extremely dry in higher leagues because there have been too few bases to attack. If they did not fix loot in master+ they had to do much more changes like readjusting all costs, making new collector levels for th10+, which would break much more.
Honestly loot is good if you have a bit of attacking skill. I really love the new system.

I dont think they changed anything about the dead bases algorithm. It is just a combination of them moving down in leagues because of th outside and more bases in the queue in gold+ so the algorithm has plenty of active bases to show first. Go to sub 800 and you will find all those dead bases.

---

The new system works great on offense, but awful for defense and getting loot into the economy. This system hurts the very casual to casual players who did make up a good portion of the game.

Wow, what a great post, and so true!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheJudgedClan

1. Regarding the method for testing....incremental was his thought. Whether you want to say he doesn't know about the SM or not doesn't change the fact that this wasn't sufficiently tested and it wasn't tested incrementally.

2. In theory, abandoning a portion of your player base is counter-productive to profits. You have no proof that this change will not negatively effect profit margins. Effects from this update won't truly be known for months or even longer.

3. Nearly everything outside of TH11 was designed to stop Bots....even the major YouTubers agree with this. Removal of the shield for TH destruction, increase of TH resource holdings and PBT changes were all designed to stop them.

4. Profits seemed fine. There's an old saying, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." CoC was at the top of the charts in regards to income. You cannot prove that their intentions were to increase profits...that's pure speculation. The simple fact is that they were sitting in a position where $$ was flowing in regularly so they really didn't need to do anything except add new content to ensure that the $$ kept flowing in.

---

2. It isn't about increasing or decreasing profits because you are right, we won't know. A real CEO would understand why you give the sweet with the sour.

3. The major youtubers don't all agree, and even if they did, SC has given clear direction on the reason.

4. Profits seem fine-lol, I don't even know how to rebuke this. Nobody involved in business would ever say or think this. That's stagnation. That's purely a consumer perspective..."you're making enough money corporation, don't try to make more"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

Very nicely said. Agree with you completely.....we can all feel CoC quickly slipping away.

Where does all the money go?

Im a senior developer in a tech company (not in the games industry) and I can confirm what OP said.

How can they earn so much money and not hire one competent employee who knows these basics. Are they all afraid to speak up against the management?

My only other guess: everything is going as planned. They did the math and deliberately made these decisions, including the silence.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JREC

What a joke, if it makes you feel better to disregard the entire post based on that then more power to you friend but as a moderator I would expect more. Get over yourself, and best regards to you and your moderating as well, keep up the good work! Lol

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheJudgedClan

I also find this condescending and unwarranted.

---

Both of you.... So wrong...

No offenses meant, but the OP pretending to be a CEO of another company.
Comes in here, to make basically the same thread that has been on this forum, since the update.

What the mod said, was right on!
If that CEO does not like the update, and wants to quit, so be it.
Let him go play his own "company's" games.

Electronic Arts anyone? Lol
Good post! Might cause u some professional grief, but a big thanks from everyone for having our backs!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HoRider

Where does all the money go?

Im a senior developer in a tech company (not in the games industry) and I can confirm what OP said.

How can they earn so much money and not hire one competent employee who knows these basics. Are they all afraid to speak up against the management?

My only other guess: everything is going as planned. They did the math and deliberately made these decisions, including the silence.

---

This! Agree wholeheartedly. Goes with the post I made earlier

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BurkeKnight

Both of you.... So wrong...

No offenses meant, but the OP pretending to be a CEO of another company.
Comes in here, to make basically the same thread that has been on this forum, since the update.

What the mod said, was right on!
If that CEO does not like the update, and wants to quit, so be it.
Let him go play his own "company's" games.

---

I'm going to say this real slow so you understand. We. Don't. Care. Job description was to give background into the industry and its meaningless, the msg is what matters. If you think it's repetition your right, that's because there are a lot of ppl who love the game and know this update is killing it. We don't want to quit and hope supercell hears our voices. Isn't that the whole point of forums!?!?!? Ugh....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obsidian99

I'm the CEO of a substantial game development company in Vancouver, BC.

I've been in charge of the company for 12 years now, and we mostly produce PC games. I won't name the company but you've heard of it.

SC - it is clear that you broke your top game. Without discussing (too much) my amazement that you don't have a beta server that is open to players (we focus group and include every category of our players on our beta servers) who could have tested your update properly - I will say that I'm surprised that you changed as many things that you did within a single update. Do you not understand scientific method?

With Scientific Method (very applicable to game operations) you change one major element at a time and gauge the response. In this way, you can ensure that you maintain the game balance for ALL PLAYERS in all areas before you change something else.

Here, you introduce TH11 along with new hero and new defences. That is a huge update by itself. Why in the world would you also try to get rid of bots in the same update? The bot killing content was so overbroad that it destroyed the ability for TH7-9 to maintain casual gamers. That was reckless imho

But my main issue, the one that demonstrated to me that you are not a professional operation (in the sense that you must be run by inexperienced management and C-level staff) is that you made these changes in the holiday season.

Why in the world would you have made ANY change other than introducing new content (TH11) over the holidays when you KNEW you wouldn't have the staff to respond to complaints, and when you knew you wouldn't have the staff to correct issues and re-patch or revert to prior, and when you most needed to keep the community happy because all the players have extra time to play???

In my opinion, doing a major patch over the holidays and even risking user unhappiness is incompetent. A community will forgive a game developer for ruining their ability to enjoy a game for a few days or even a couple of weeks if there is COMMUNICATION about the issue, and a somewhat quick resolution to it. But once a few weeks goes by, the most disenfranchised users will find a new game to play and you will have lost them forever.

Sadly, I believe this game was balanced well, but it was luck not skill on the part of SC. The game balanced for casual players by allowing loot from dead or suspended bases that could be snipped. The cost of progress was balanced because sniping gave sufficient loot that upgrades could be made even by casual players, but they would then gem to speed the update or speed army build-time. That was unintended, but it was very lucky on the part of SC.

The game was balanced for serious gamers by the introduction of clans and wars, as well as win bonuses at high levels - not luck, but as intended by SC.

In these ways, game balance worked at both the low and high end for gamers, and SC got the Whales and small fish to pay for gems.

I would have fired (not joking) anyone who pushed this update between Thanksgiving and New Years. It never would have happened here, of course, as we would have just pushed the TH11 component, and then tested the rebalancing one patch at a time over about 3 months. But shoot, I guess that's what happens when you get a game that works because of luck and not design.

---

If you are in charge of a game development company can you make a game that is exactly the same as CoC pre update you could change the name & other stuff so you don't get busted for copyright infringement

I'm a dreamer

Wow even some so called ceo came to whine here. The update isn't bad at all. This forum is hilarious.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JREC

I'm going to say this real slow so you understand. We. Don't. Care. Job description was to give background into the industry and its meaningless, the msg is what matters. If you think it's repetition your right, that's because there are a lot of ppl who love the game and know this update is killing it. We don't want to quit and hope supercell hears our voices. Isn't that the whole point of forums!?!?!? Ugh....

---

I'm going to say this real slow so you understand.

I... Was... Not... saying... for... you... to... quit.

I was saying, your picking on the mod, for calling the guy out a bit on his LYING, was as much not needed, as you are basically saying MY post was.

And if the OP wants to make a meaningful post, with the information, he could do that without tarnishing his reputation with that "I'm a CEO" line.

I also, hopes SC reads and listens to us, but I have better sense, than to say I'm a CEO of another gaming company, and hint around to what company.

I bet if someone did make a game exactly like CoC pre update (some changes to not be in trouble w/ copyright infringement) it would kill in ratings compared to CoC