[Spinner]

Originally Posted by Appocomaster

JageX has pending news which hasn't been finalised.
I know roughly what it is but not the detail; we can't really move on it until it's been finalised. p.s. I am equal to the other PA Team members in terms of ultimate authority.
I believe the posts were deleted due to discussing what has to be a close rival and non-constructive anti sentiments about the game; I am not sure that all the relevant information has been posted.
My understanding is that there is no plan to close Planetarion; this hasn't been absolutely guaranteed but my understanding is that there is no plan to shut down Planetarion at the current point in time.
I understand that, apart from shifting us to far better servers, Jagex have not changed the status quo or provided new support. I know it is not an ideal situation by far, and unfortunately I can't comment on it further.

Earlier in this thread, it was mentioned that MarkG no longer works for Jagex. I have pointed the Jagex official rep to this thread; I believe they're waiting for official news to comment. I can only ask again for comments.

Ok, so there is pending news that hasn't been finalized...

For two years, there have been plans, intentions and communication between PaTeam and Jagex.
For two years, while running a community-based game, nothing has been done for the community. They have been kept in the dark or filled with hints of big things to come. There are plans, and there is news, but unfortunately we can't share it with you.
I am the first one to admit there are times, or kind of "news", that one doesn't want to blurt out with without carefull wording and consideration. There are pieces of information that one might not wish to make public.
But really, not having communication for, what, 2 years, after the introduction of the new "mods", is extremely poor treatment of a small but loyal and spending user-base.

Allow me to bring up some quotes from August 2010, then Jagex was introduced:
1: "- Our primary focus now is to see how we can improve Planetarion in its current incarnation."

"Will there be official Jagex representative for PA? and will we be able to bring our issues to jagex directly?
2: - Yes and yes! Initially Mod Mac (me) and Mod MarkG will be working with the PA team to decide how best to move the game forward. More Jagex staff will be introduced to the Planetarion community as and when they are assigned. At this time, all issues should be still passed to the PA team who will contact us."

"<Kargool> as many people is wondering about how Jagex will run the game from now on, have you been able to establish a timeline for what you intend to do with the game in the future?
3: - We are working with the PA team now to finalise a timeline for any changes (including IRC usage) immediately following the server move. We will let you know as soon as this is agreed."

"<Reincarnate> has there been an actually budget set for Planetarion development? Will planetarion stay the same code based as it is now or wil it go to java like many of the new owners games?
4: - We have a budget we can tap into for Planetarion; the key thing for us next is to work out how we should spend it. There are no plans to move to Java. "

"<Reincarnate> can we expect Jagex to do some for of advertising PA? whether that is in their current games or elsewhere?
5: - As far as advertising and attracting new players is concerned: yes, we are definitely planning to introduce new players to the game in the future, although we need to be mindful of how this will affect the current game and community as well as how new players will integrate."

"<m0rph3us> could we have in future...a comment from pa crew/jagex about suggestions on the suggestion forum, such like "no **** off" "sounds cool, we are thinking of it" "will be implemented shortly"
6: - We are keen to collect all suggestions however big or small. At this time please post on the suggestions forum and we will be avidly reading through all of them."

7: "They're not promising anything; they'd prefer to let their delivery do the talking. I think they'd not prefer to say "ok, we're doing this" and then have to backtrack at a later date. They want to plan twice, announce once, or whatever."

1: Now, after 2 years, one would expect their primary objective to have gotten somewhere. Admittedly, their primary objective was not to improve PA, but rather to see how it could be improved. Surely their primary objective must have come to something? Is this something the community can be part of?

2: I guess "at this time" can be interpreted as a very long time indeed. One of the mods is apparently not working there anymore, and the other official representative hasn't said a word. Yes and yes? Hm, I suppose maybe and maybe might be more accurate, hmm?

3: 2 years to "finalise" a timeline? I can't wait to see the fantastic timeline that takes 2 years to finalize, it has to be absolutely spectacular! Cheekyness aside, is there anything to see for the loyal community?

4: A budget, good stuff. I assume this is still largely untapped. Will the timeline hint as to how it will be spent?

5: We are now 2 years into the future that was mentioned. No marketing-activities has been registered on my radar.
It could be just mindfulness, of course, and concern for new players and their integration..But, if this is a concern, why has nothing been to done to meet this concern? What exactly is the concern about, and what has your mindfulness taught you about how to find the best marketing-strategy? And it that something that can be shared with the community?

6: Avidly reading, perhaps. Responding in any way, not so much. I am supposed to be an evil competitor with a hidden agenda, yet I have posted much more in the suggestion-forum for the past week than all Jagex-officials since their acquisition, to help Planetarion, just because I care.

7: Kudos to you, Appoco, for being loyal, polite, patient and politically correct. I am afraid though, that you might be wrong. You see, they have indeed promised...
They promised that their first priority was to find out how PA could be improved. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but they have decided not to tell the community if they did.
They promised that the community would be able to communicate directly with Jagex.
They promised to finalize a timeline " immediately following the server move". Ok, they didn't promise to show it to anyone, fair enough, but they should have a pretty good reason for wanting to keep their entire community in the dark...
If not a promise, Jagex pointed out that there is a budget to tap into for Planetarion. I hope this will result in something tangible very soon.
They promised to market the game, to introduce it to new players, after being mindful of course.

And now there is pending news that hasn't been finalized...It is very difficult to relate to that claim.

I have feelings for Planetarion, no doubt, as it was the first game I designed and produced from nothing. I do not want it die this slow death of strangulation. I have no hidden agenda, no desire to compete it to death, if I did why would I want it back? Why would I bring suggestions to the corresponding forum here?
The game, being a small but funny part of the "netstory", deserves more than this. The small but loyal player-base deserves more than this. The mods, the MHs, everyone deserves more than this.

There were no plans to close down Stellar Dawn either, before the decision was taken. It's not something you "plan on doing".

I have the utmost respect for "plan twice, announce once", but when it leads to "do nothing", it's no longer that impressive. Jagex had all the opportunities they could want for a flying start, and I believe they had great intentions. Then something got difficult, and they vanished completely, at least that is how it looked to the community. Not communicating is always the worse alternative, much worse than bringing bad news.

What they are doing, what they have been doing for 2 years, is simply to kill the game, intentionally or not.
Jagex know much about communities and games, so of course they have known what is going on, and what would happen as long as they stayed on their course. No, it is wrong to say they have not communicated here just because they are busy with Transformers. If they wanted to, someone there would have found the 30 minutes it would take to leave a post once a month. And show up during EORC. And send a diploma or something to the winners. Someone would.

I had hopes when Jagex bought this 2 years back. Finally a serious owner, someone who COULD do something, who WOULD do something, who understood the market, the scene and eventually the game and the community. Someone who was well equipped to take good care of my baby. I was happy.

Now I'm just sad. I don't understand why they outbid me, when this is what they have done afterwards.

I know I have no rights, I know Jagex has no reason to listen or care, but I am allowed to hope; Hope that they will make good on their promises, deliver what they should, or, if not, allow the game to find its way into the hands of someone who is willing to take better care of it. Is Jagex served by a broken community and a dying game? I doubt it. So I beg of you, Jagex, if you reach the conclusion to close it down, at least consider the possibility to let PA retire in the hands of it's creator. It would mean a lot to me, and it would be very "right" and a fitting end. And I do believe you could gain something from it too, if nothing else, it feels good to do the right thing.