Consistently updated "PRO Developer Road Map"

[Teerav]

Unfortunately I hear a lot of people complaining about PRO's development priorities, "Why are they adding cosmetics when x and y move aren't even working properly!?" or slightly more reasonable, "Why are they coding a and b when x and y aren't even working properly?!" And I am not excluding myself, I have made my fair share of complaining about decision making and how things are handled. But one thing PRO is really good at is constantly improving. You can argue its slow and buggy, but you cannot deny something is always being fixed, developed, added, or being built apon! It's what I love about PRO and why I ultimately continue to support the community after long thoughts of "maybe I should quit." So I wondered,

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What can PRO do to communicate with it's community about what is being worked on and why is being planned in the future?

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As it turns out, PRO actually already does a lot to communicate with it's community about what is being worked on and what is being planned in the future.

 

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PRO Discord

If you are not aware of PRO Discord, you should really be a part of that. PRO doesn't communicate on other social media platforms. Maybe the occasional Instagram post, but Developers and Content Scripters of PRO are extremely active in the Official PRO Discord. Specifically you should pay attention to #announcements channel. If you are Discord savvy and run a server of your own, you should "Follow" this channel to your own Discord to help PRO communicate their changes and updates.

 

Twitch Stream AMAs

My personal opinion, these are not very productive. They are interactive and fun, but its honestly more of the same questions each time and the answers are almost always found on the forums or Discord if you are truly curious. Additionally, a lot of questions answered in the Twitch AMAs can be answered by several staff, CC, or Discord Moderators.

 

PRO Forums

Right there on the foundation of PRO communication. I am sure if you dig deep into the forums, you could find answers to things, but only if you are searching for them. Instead, I will highlight a few helpful threads you can review or follow.

1. DEV to-do-list
   This is actually the closest thing you can get to a developer road map. Sadly, I am not sure how up to date this is as you cannot see when it was last edited. It would be best to combine this thread with the READ THIS BEFORE MAKING A SUGGESTION Additionally, the List of broken moves & abilities in pro suffers from the same issue. 
2. Update Logs, Content Update Logs, News Board
   When it comes changes already made to the game, they are typically posted here. However, that doesn't help communicate what is being planned for the future. Sometimes you can kind of guess, like if the developers add new functionality for Content Scripters, but that is just guessing.

 

 

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So what are some things PRO can do to help communicate with it's community about future updates?

 

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Step 1: Create a community readable project road map.

I was once a volunteer staff member, so I know PRO management already do this to help themselves stay organized. However, they are designed for internal purposes. You know how you can't find something, but your mom always knows where it is? That's because you don't do any cleaning, so your mom organizes the house for what makes sense to her. For the general community, though, our ape-like brains need simplicity and elegance. This would actually be a benefit to because concepts and deadlines can be simplified to avoid over-promising.

 

Step 2: Communicate the project road map in a simple way.

Again, our ape-like brains need simplicity and elegance. The project road map should include color matching (similar to how the DEV to-do-list does) and also be ordered (unlike how the DEV to-do-list is). I would avoid anything complex or difficult to keep updated. If you Google "Project Road Maps" images, you are going to find great examples of professional road maps. However, these are not easy to read for the average person. DEV to-do-list is actually a great template IMO. Reorder it. Group them by categories that the community cares about (for example, the community doesn't care if you update mod tools, but does care a lot about pvp or trade related subjects).

 

Step 3: Include things that will not be added as well.

The pinned thread in Suggestions sub-forum is a great post for things that have already been denied. However, there have been many popular suggestions throughout the years that are still constantly denied. Providing additional context and consistent messaging for popular suggestions that are denied would prove more useful than point-blank denials without much context or history.

 

Step 3: Keep it updated and easy to find!

As I mentioned in Step 2, it should be formatted in a way that is easy to keep updated so it is not a chore to do so. I would highly recommend making it a forum thread, so any staff member with proper permissions can be delegated to keep it updated. It is important this thread is kept up to date because of my Step 4 suggestion:

 

Step 4: Train staff and Discord Moderators to link the thread when appropriate!

You must train the community that this project road map is true and referenceable. It also focused a central point of communication. I am sure if you spent a few hours on PRO Discord or in-game after an update with new mounts or cosmetics, you will see a handful of players complain why PRO is spending time making cosmetics when x and y move still don't work properly. Or why they fixed a and b move instead of releasing the new region... In these scenarios, staff and Discord Moderators should respond with "PRO has a diverse volunteer staff force that specializes in different areas. They do plan on releasing a new region, you can view the PRO Road Map here: <link>"

 

Step 5: Understand the road map is a form of communication, not a promise.

I understand its wise to never over-promise future changes. The goal of the road map should be to communicate with the community that developers have heard the communities suggestions and are acknowledged them. Some parts of the community feel so disconnected from PRO's priorities that they feel PRO does not even listen to the them. I know for a fact that is not true. PRO Developers are stubborn, but they are not deaf or dumb. Spend some time creating a road map FOR THE COMMUNITY, then take half an hour each week to update it.

 

 

 

If you're too lazy to do all that, at least just update the DEV to-do-list so I have something to link to people to prove you guys aren't deaf and disconnected. Or maybe you are and I am hopeful and ignorant.

[Helloworldbot]

U have half knowledge of things they already have dashboard and according to me they should make more columns there and code more there to improve the dashboard I agree for organization and for a project map but that would be messy if u make one more site better add that on dashboard and code it to make it more beautiful 

[G3n3r4l]

I think one main thing is that a lot of players also don't concern themselves with staff duties, and when Walross is the only person making the announcements, a lot of people will believe that devs do all the work, while the other staff don't do much. That being said i think something like the Dev's To-Do list could be a nice thing for all the staff to have, however i think this also takes away from some of the surprises to be added.

 

I think a change needed to the Suggestions page, would be to include a list of the previously denied suggestions, rather than simply saying "Do not suggest something that has been denied in the past". For example, recently there have been quite a few of the "Nature reroll for non legendaries" suggestions, and while they've all been denied, a list like that could've simply prevented them from being made. Yes it lists some, just not all.

 

also on a sidenote, your signature is broken

Edited May 18, 2021 by g3n3r4l

[Fplayer27]

That's not how it works. Ditching something from a road map is going to make way more people complain compared to not having one at all. 

While I like the idea, I dont think it would have a positive impact overall. 

[Helloworldbot]

That's why I said 'half knowledged'

[Eaty]

6 hours ago, teerav said:

DEV to-do-list
This is actually the closest thing you can get to a developer road map. Sadly, I am not sure how up to date this is as you cannot see when it was last edited.

You can see the last edit time now.