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24-03 Omerta for iOS / Android ?
Author: mmm
Last updated: 3657d 12h 42m 7s ago by MurderInc
Comments: 52
Views: 16,799
Votes: 0 (0 average)
Version: 4.5
article
Brando posted a news item about big new changes coming up for Omerta.

It seems they have been offered a chance to get funding to hire four new developers to make a Mobile version of Omerta.
Yet the funding doesn't seem to be enough. They're opening crowd fundings and are relying on your help!

...Are you in?

More info found on:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/brando-omerta/found-you-in-a-crowd/605532276198912
https://www.facebook.com/notes/omerta-mobile/day-one-its-all-about-the-money/299497223533013
comments

Add a YouTube movie Add an image Add a link/url Help
Anonymous (07:56:12 - 28-06)
Link Quote
Boas, monkey para Android e existe?
Anonymous (15:40:46 - 07-04)
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Btw maybe a stupid question..

If you invest 100k you would like to get it back.. What is your plan for that Brando?

Brando Hong Kong (07:18:23 - 01-04)
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I have to politely announce that I am getting to be too busy with the campaign to spend much time on here.

I would like to - once we are done with the build up.

Right now we are putting together a community pre-launch. This will determine how much we think we can ask for.

If you did not join already please *Like* Omerta Mobile and please invite your friends to do so.

Yes I find Facebook irritating too, but the devil took over so we all have to do business with...

*sigh*

Now forgive me I will have to get back to planning/journalists/1001 other things.

I will come back here and try to respond to questions and serious criticism/remarks etc.

Thanks
Brando Hong Kong (07:10:57 - 01-04)
Link Quote
Redspeert at 22:20:34 on 27/03:
MurderInc at 17:26:28 on 27/03:
Jerro at 12:20:09 on 27/03:
Playerbase of 3.000 paying people per version (all versions), rough estimate is receiving $2,5 per DC? Reset every 2 months, players buy average of 5 DC's per version (which is low at best). 3 ppl employed (Brando, Bramble, kCode)? $2.000 per month (average)?


3000(players) * 2,5(dc) = $7.500
$7.500 * 5(average DC's) = $37.500
$37.500 / 2 (months) = $18.750 per month
$2.000 (salary) * 3 (employes) = $6.000
Whats left: $12.750 per month for upkeep and other payments. ($153.000 per year)

Even if u employ 6 people for $2.500 per month ($15.000 per month) u have $45.000 left per year for upkeep. Say ur upkeep is $5.000 per year (hosting, new hardware, PC's for employes) u have $40.000 left per year.

You say money has gotten smaller per version but lets say u have $40k per year left (eventho u have 6 ppl employed and paid decently and get a new PC every year) * 10 years = $400.000,-
Eventho money was better like 7-8 years ago.. ofc there are taxes, and i dont assume ur building up a pensions for these people but come on.. -_- you can buy an entire house and still have enough to create ur APP which will make triple the money.

You need $200.000, you can't atleast stake half of it?
you think you can hire an experienced developer for $2k/month? including taxes? not even close.


It what kinda country can you hire someone for 2k dollar a month? That is about 1500 euro a month (correct me if im wrong, I use neither of them). if we're talking 100% work then its either a lowcost country or a shitty pay.

+1

I think that players/ex-players here are beginning to realise that we are not looking to rake in money for a speedboat and new shoes.

GOOD developers are NOT cheap.

Add that we need at least four (I want SIX) and we need someone VERY GOOD to manage those people (the rest of us are already 100% busy)

Then you can see why my estimated project costs of 200-250k are not totally crazy - but ofc this is an 'optimal cost' and if we MUST do it for less...

.... we will.

BTW if we get more money I may treat myself to a pair of nice Spats....
Brando Hong Kong (07:08:01 - 01-04)
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Solstice at 10:54:24 on 26/03:
'A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell.'

That group of players never spoke to Brando, we dealt with Kcode. We had come up with ideas to ensure longer versions and ways to make the game more fun for small families too (not being killskill practice or easy bait to boost account strength).
The most promising reaction we had on the ideas was 'oh nice we'll see what management has to say' ... after that nothing, I doubt Brando ever even read the plans.

I believe there is a so called 'user group' active since forever.... I've always wondered who is in the user group discussions, how communication goes there, what topics are discussed and above all... the frequency of the discussions.

This is a perennial problem which we tried (and I failed) to address.

Objective: community participation. Ownership. Representation. 'Democracy'

Obstacle: 1000s of people have a variety of opinions.

Method #1 'Forums/discussions'

Drawback: Dominated by opinionated and well-spoken people, they can be mislead too easily by personality and are *incredibly* time-consuming to monitor. At best you get a small percentage of the community 'really involved' and the rest gain the impression that they may have been deliberately ignored!

Method #2 'Votes'

Drawback: too top-down. Usually one individual chooses what can be voted on. That's not very democratic.

Actually for Method #1 'one person interprets' and for method #2 'sometimes elements of the community cheat'

USMS was supposed to be the fix for this but DG never had the time to fix it up as specified by me.

*I am now considering making USMS a pre-requisite of the app-design process*

- So we would have to build that properly first.


Aart at 13:08:54 on 27/03:
p.s. Brando, despite the fact that I feel your 'all of a sudden' presence on this forum/website is merely to gain sympathy and understanding for an app advertisement campaign (read fundraising), I'm glad you've finally decided to get into proper discussions with your community without the option to ban someone when they hit a soft spot.

Thanks – of course it is driven by necessity – we *do* need the community's help – and I don't like banning people (I am more free-speech than most people and only draw the line at hate-speak)
Solstice at 13:36:43 on 27/03:
I kneu. Just saying, a bunch of experienced players exchanging thoughts with admins, devs whoever on a regular basis would be good. Only works when you actually do something with the input offcourse.

Also i see what you did there in that last sentence. Soft spot.... Cause he says he's fat.... :D


I'm on a diet actually *D

I will add a 'developers forum' to the crowd-funding bid. It won't be for tiny money – or too far out of the reach of anyone who plays consistently and used scripts/uses lackeys etc.

We will probably offer a 100% like-for-like voucher for DCs for those who back us – this is a gesture of faith and helps us to deflect the idea that we are just trying to 'coin it it'.

And setting the bar a little high for discussion excludes some of the time-wasters who might otherwise get involved.

We want one of the hires to be someone experienced who will administrate that forum and lead and shape the deve process.

We will probably also used a revitalised USMS.

NB.

I am reading as much as I can here, as often as I can, but I am only human and cannot possibly hope to commit a large part of each day to this.

Forgive me if I don't respond....

And try my again with a shorter version?

Thanks!

Brando Hong Kong (06:43:41 - 01-04)
Link Quote
Anonymous at 23:10:42 on 27/03:
And still not even a newspost about this on .nl
Why should we care about your passion project if you cant even be arsed to write a newspost on your second biggest version?
Goodluck getting those 15k supporters you need from just .com!


Well that's because there has been no official newspost, yet.

I made an impulsive one on .com and it was poorly-received. I will coordinate release of a 'proper' one today.

Thanks for the reminder!
Anonymous (23:10:42 - 27-03)
Link Quote
And still not even a newspost about this on .nl
Why should we care about your passion project if you cant even be arsed to write a newspost on your second biggest version?
Goodluck getting those 15k supporters you need from just .com!
Redspeert Syrian Arab Republic (22:20:34 - 27-03)
Link Quote
MurderInc at 17:26:28 on 27/03:
Jerro at 12:20:09 on 27/03:
Playerbase of 3.000 paying people per version (all versions), rough estimate is receiving $2,5 per DC? Reset every 2 months, players buy average of 5 DC's per version (which is low at best). 3 ppl employed (Brando, Bramble, kCode)? $2.000 per month (average)?


3000(players) * 2,5(dc) = $7.500
$7.500 * 5(average DC's) = $37.500
$37.500 / 2 (months) = $18.750 per month
$2.000 (salary) * 3 (employes) = $6.000
Whats left: $12.750 per month for upkeep and other payments. ($153.000 per year)

Even if u employ 6 people for $2.500 per month ($15.000 per month) u have $45.000 left per year for upkeep. Say ur upkeep is $5.000 per year (hosting, new hardware, PC's for employes) u have $40.000 left per year.

You say money has gotten smaller per version but lets say u have $40k per year left (eventho u have 6 ppl employed and paid decently and get a new PC every year) * 10 years = $400.000,-
Eventho money was better like 7-8 years ago.. ofc there are taxes, and i dont assume ur building up a pensions for these people but come on.. -_- you can buy an entire house and still have enough to create ur APP which will make triple the money.

You need $200.000, you can't atleast stake half of it?
you think you can hire an experienced developer for $2k/month? including taxes? not even close.


It what kinda country can you hire someone for 2k dollar a month? That is about 1500 euro a month (correct me if im wrong, I use neither of them). if we're talking 100% work then its either a lowcost country or a shitty pay.
MurderInc Austria (17:26:28 - 27-03)
Link Quote
Jerro at 12:20:09 on 27/03:
Playerbase of 3.000 paying people per version (all versions), rough estimate is receiving $2,5 per DC? Reset every 2 months, players buy average of 5 DC's per version (which is low at best). 3 ppl employed (Brando, Bramble, kCode)? $2.000 per month (average)?


3000(players) * 2,5(dc) = $7.500
$7.500 * 5(average DC's) = $37.500
$37.500 / 2 (months) = $18.750 per month
$2.000 (salary) * 3 (employes) = $6.000
Whats left: $12.750 per month for upkeep and other payments. ($153.000 per year)

Even if u employ 6 people for $2.500 per month ($15.000 per month) u have $45.000 left per year for upkeep. Say ur upkeep is $5.000 per year (hosting, new hardware, PC's for employes) u have $40.000 left per year.

You say money has gotten smaller per version but lets say u have $40k per year left (eventho u have 6 ppl employed and paid decently and get a new PC every year) * 10 years = $400.000,-
Eventho money was better like 7-8 years ago.. ofc there are taxes, and i dont assume ur building up a pensions for these people but come on.. -_- you can buy an entire house and still have enough to create ur APP which will make triple the money.

You need $200.000, you can't atleast stake half of it?
you think you can hire an experienced developer for $2k/month? including taxes? not even close.
Solstice (13:36:43 - 27-03)
Link Quote
Aart at 13:08:54 on 27/03:
Brando at 03:14:57 on 27/03:
Solstice at 10:54:24 on 26/03:
ElIndio at 10:28:28 on 26/03:
Haven't you got more adequate platforms for doing what you now do here? Just asking.

Personally I like the 'Latest news' section on Omerta Forums as long as players don't have to talk to a wall.

The quality of the reactions here show he made the right choice, i think.

What everything boils down to is communication imo. There's this other indie-game i've been waiting for, for ages. Just like waiting for New omerta now. The difference between this and that game(that i have donated to) is that there have been regular updates about that game and the devs of that game have been forthcoming about the progress and the snags they were encountering.

The secrecy about this new omerta doesn't help you guys imo. Explaining what you are up to, aswell as regular progress updates would go a long way in restoring some of the faith. You coming here and opening the dialogue is a good first step.

Another thing i would add is a klankbordgroep, forgive me but i don't know the english word for it. A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell. The midversion removal of rp for busting f.e. is something that frustrated a lot of people. There have been a lot of similar incidents like that, which lost you a lot of goodwill.

But most of all it is the communication. I think most of all get that you can't work in every idea we've good, but a simple, that's impossible at the moment with a bit of explanation how it is to hard would go a long way.

+1 and thanks. You are correct.

'A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell.'

That group of players never spoke to Brando, we dealt with Kcode. We had come up with ideas to ensure longer versions and ways to make the game more fun for small families too (not being killskill practice or easy bait to boost account strength).
The most promising reaction we had on the ideas was 'oh nice we'll see what management has to say' ... after that nothing, I doubt Brando ever even read the plans.

I believe there is a so called 'user group' active since forever.... I've always wondered who is in the user group discussions, how communication goes there, what topics are discussed and above all... the frequency of the discussions.

p.s. Brando, despite the fact that I feel your 'all of a sudden' presence on this forum/website is merely to gain sympathy and understanding for an app advertisement campaign (read fundraising), I'm glad you've finally decided to get into proper discussions with your community without the option to ban someone when they hit a soft spot.

I kneu. Just saying, a bunch of experienced players exchanging thoughts with admins, devs whoever on a regular basis would be good. Only works when you actually do something with the input offcourse.

Also i see what you did there in that last sentence. Soft spot.... Cause he says he's fat.... :D
Aart (13:08:54 - 27-03)
Link Quote
Brando at 03:14:57 on 27/03:
Solstice at 10:54:24 on 26/03:
ElIndio at 10:28:28 on 26/03:
Haven't you got more adequate platforms for doing what you now do here? Just asking.

Personally I like the 'Latest news' section on Omerta Forums as long as players don't have to talk to a wall.

The quality of the reactions here show he made the right choice, i think.

What everything boils down to is communication imo. There's this other indie-game i've been waiting for, for ages. Just like waiting for New omerta now. The difference between this and that game(that i have donated to) is that there have been regular updates about that game and the devs of that game have been forthcoming about the progress and the snags they were encountering.

The secrecy about this new omerta doesn't help you guys imo. Explaining what you are up to, aswell as regular progress updates would go a long way in restoring some of the faith. You coming here and opening the dialogue is a good first step.

Another thing i would add is a klankbordgroep, forgive me but i don't know the english word for it. A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell. The midversion removal of rp for busting f.e. is something that frustrated a lot of people. There have been a lot of similar incidents like that, which lost you a lot of goodwill.

But most of all it is the communication. I think most of all get that you can't work in every idea we've good, but a simple, that's impossible at the moment with a bit of explanation how it is to hard would go a long way.

+1 and thanks. You are correct.

'A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell.'

That group of players never spoke to Brando, we dealt with Kcode. We had come up with ideas to ensure longer versions and ways to make the game more fun for small families too (not being killskill practice or easy bait to boost account strength).
The most promising reaction we had on the ideas was 'oh nice we'll see what management has to say' ... after that nothing, I doubt Brando ever even read the plans.

I believe there is a so called 'user group' active since forever.... I've always wondered who is in the user group discussions, how communication goes there, what topics are discussed and above all... the frequency of the discussions.

p.s. Brando, despite the fact that I feel your 'all of a sudden' presence on this forum/website is merely to gain sympathy and understanding for an app advertisement campaign (read fundraising), I'm glad you've finally decided to get into proper discussions with your community without the option to ban someone when they hit a soft spot.
Jerro Netherlands (12:20:09 - 27-03)
Link Quote
Playerbase of 3.000 paying people per version (all versions), rough estimate is receiving $2,5 per DC? Reset every 2 months, players buy average of 5 DC's per version (which is low at best). 3 ppl employed (Brando, Bramble, kCode)? $2.000 per month (average)?


3000(players) * 2,5(dc) = $7.500
$7.500 * 5(average DC's) = $37.500
$37.500 / 2 (months) = $18.750 per month
$2.000 (salary) * 3 (employes) = $6.000
Whats left: $12.750 per month for upkeep and other payments. ($153.000 per year)

Even if u employ 6 people for $2.500 per month ($15.000 per month) u have $45.000 left per year for upkeep. Say ur upkeep is $5.000 per year (hosting, new hardware, PC's for employes) u have $40.000 left per year.

You say money has gotten smaller per version but lets say u have $40k per year left (eventho u have 6 ppl employed and paid decently and get a new PC every year) * 10 years = $400.000,-
Eventho money was better like 7-8 years ago.. ofc there are taxes, and i dont assume ur building up a pensions for these people but come on.. -_- you can buy an entire house and still have enough to create ur APP which will make triple the money.

You need $200.000, you can't atleast stake half of it?
Brando Hong Kong (03:14:57 - 27-03)
Link Quote
Solstice at 10:54:24 on 26/03:
ElIndio at 10:28:28 on 26/03:
Haven't you got more adequate platforms for doing what you now do here? Just asking.

Personally I like the 'Latest news' section on Omerta Forums as long as players don't have to talk to a wall.

The quality of the reactions here show he made the right choice, i think.

What everything boils down to is communication imo. There's this other indie-game i've been waiting for, for ages. Just like waiting for New omerta now. The difference between this and that game(that i have donated to) is that there have been regular updates about that game and the devs of that game have been forthcoming about the progress and the snags they were encountering.

The secrecy about this new omerta doesn't help you guys imo. Explaining what you are up to, aswell as regular progress updates would go a long way in restoring some of the faith. You coming here and opening the dialogue is a good first step.

Another thing i would add is a klankbordgroep, forgive me but i don't know the english word for it. A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell. The midversion removal of rp for busting f.e. is something that frustrated a lot of people. There have been a lot of similar incidents like that, which lost you a lot of goodwill.

But most of all it is the communication. I think most of all get that you can't work in every idea we've good, but a simple, that's impossible at the moment with a bit of explanation how it is to hard would go a long way.

+1 and thanks. You are correct.
Solstice (10:54:24 - 26-03)
Link Quote
ElIndio at 10:28:28 on 26/03:
Haven't you got more adequate platforms for doing what you now do here? Just asking.

Personally I like the 'Latest news' section on Omerta Forums as long as players don't have to talk to a wall.

The quality of the reactions here show he made the right choice, i think.

What everything boils down to is communication imo. There's this other indie-game i've been waiting for, for ages. Just like waiting for New omerta now. The difference between this and that game(that i have donated to) is that there have been regular updates about that game and the devs of that game have been forthcoming about the progress and the snags they were encountering.

The secrecy about this new omerta doesn't help you guys imo. Explaining what you are up to, aswell as regular progress updates would go a long way in restoring some of the faith. You coming here and opening the dialogue is a good first step.

Another thing i would add is a klankbordgroep, forgive me but i don't know the english word for it. A group of players that you discuss with on a regular basis, like you had with aart, saros etc. Not just to discuss mayor changes, but to discuss ongoing affairs aswell. The midversion removal of rp for busting f.e. is something that frustrated a lot of people. There have been a lot of similar incidents like that, which lost you a lot of goodwill.

But most of all it is the communication. I think most of all get that you can't work in every idea we've good, but a simple, that's impossible at the moment with a bit of explanation how it is to hard would go a long way.
ElIndio Germany (10:28:28 - 26-03)
Link Quote
Haven't you got more adequate platforms for doing what you now do here? Just asking.

Personally I like the 'Latest news' section on Omerta Forums as long as players don't have to talk to a wall.
Brando Hong Kong (01:03:59 - 26-03)
Link Quote
Jerro at 00:40:59 on 26/03:
Maybe log in before posting so we actually know who we are talking to.


Opps. I am a noob as ever. Naturally *that was me*
Anonymous (01:02:03 - 26-03)
Link Quote
Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:

There have been a lot of people that wanted to volunteer for Omerta. Me and at least 1 other person that replied in this thread included.
Why didn't you guys even seem to consider the applications?

Thanks for volunteering. I can't say why these were not accepted. There's a mentality of opposition between crew and players, sometimes I think. Crew applications get turned down because players have hardcore record of cheating or because of a history of abuse. I don't know if this is you.

We do need a full shakedown - my coming here is an indication that I am taking this seriously!


Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
I've repeatedly sent you guys several e-mails with my concerns about the game. Last time I've sent one it was 3 pages long.

3 page emails are a nuisance. As a team we struggle with information-overload. Stuff that is 'easy to know' for players because they chat about it can be very hard for crew and management to learn efficiently.

Sitting on IRC is not a luxury time permits me - by the time I have been there for three minutes I get someone begging me to read a log, revive his brother/sister/cousin/dog or give some donate codes.

We ought to better-exploit the USMS idea - it was never really satisfactorily finished off and should fill the void between noobish, arse-lickers like some past-UG members and angry gobshites who think they pwn the forums.

USMS, running properly should process the most important issues in the way that the community wants - we are too busy to spend half of each day reading and responding in forums *like this*

Sadly.

Can you send me a bullet list, instead? :-)
Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
Talking to Bramble about this doesn't seem to have any effect. She promises a sitdown with devs, admins and crew but doesn't seem to even want to fulfil this promise.

Again - I can't see or say if she did this but I can tell you that she is twice as busy as I am, administratively.

Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
There have been a lot of things going wrong at OG Ltd, and at some point you get reactions like this.
People get frustrated because they don't seem to get taken seriously.
Also, maybe it's an idea to do something with the usergroup. I've heared several stories from people in the usergroup that the ideas that come up there are far from relevant to what really matters.

We have struggled. Historically it went like this.

Early game - big player base. Few online games. Love and peace. Shitty code but nobody minded and the management team were blissfully unaware.
Enter Oyaji era - paranoid top-down management of customer support. Ill-considered measures against 'cheats' (frustrated players) Rise of scripting. Inability to deal with this. Scripting takes over.
Weak development team. Scripting dominates the game. Community begins to atrophy.
Crew become entrenched front-line with little influence over events and nothing to offer the community.

More recently:

Personnel changes at the top.
Begin MASSIVE job of a full re-write.
Fluctuation in the dev team caused by 'Old vs new' thinking wars in the background. (New won!)

Lackeys completed and destroy scripting but at a terribly bitter cost. Income goes up but per-capita income goes down and the player base shrinks further. Scripts are dead (more or less), but the company becomes dependent on the income derived from lackeys.

^^ That's an important point. In order to get rid of lackeys (probably more likely to make these 'ingame-cash only') we need to improve the game/community size & therefore the income - which has to go up overall but down per -capita.

So we tried to make mobile versions in-house (fail) and using freelancers (fail)

I think that if we can make mobile apps with a new team financed by KS or IGG and the RGF, we can achieve the aim of bringing about big change at Omerta.

At the same time as all of this we never really got over the sudden rise of Facebook/Zynga etc. Poor Brando here told Oyaji and Drunken gamers 'Facebook has 60 million members and no Mafia themed game. We should adapt to Facebook'

But they told me I was wrong and that Facebook was a fad. Meh. I respected their opinions. Double Meh.

Now I think that we have the right team and the right ideas. Well - maybe *I* should go, but first need someone better than me*

* No, not Mudbone's sheepdog.


Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
Maybe it's an idea to get people like the ones you've banned for bug abusing to do little programming jobs and security fixes for you. Reward people that are able to find security holes in your game instead of punishing them. Maybe even employ them. These people love Omerta. If they have a certain passion for the game I'm sure they're motivated enough to help making the game better. Because that's what we all want.

This has been quietly happening in the background for over two years. I made it happen. I had to fight wars to make it happen.

I totally agree.
Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
Maybe it's also time for a certain change in the company's image.
I mean, if I didn't get the impression that the company is unstable, I'd love to back you guys for a decent mobile version. But how do you expect us to believe things like this after all that happened? A little bit of transparency is necessary in a small community like this.

Actually the company is very stable. Think about it: here for 10 years now. Same team at the top. It is the game management which was unstable.

That is what is changed most of all in the background in the last months and will continue to improve.


Critycal at 08:56:40 on 25/03:
If the offer for Redspeert for a 1 on 1 talk counts for me too, I'd love to have a chat with you. Maybe that way my 3 page long suggestion mail can make a difference after all.

I sincerely hope you will send a bulllet list.

I am happy to talk to anyone 1-on-1 and will make time for this during the coming weeks. Grab me on Facebook to arrange this.

Now: I am going to watch the Manchester Derby (I recorded) and will be back to Omerta in 2 hours.
Jerro Netherlands (00:40:59 - 26-03)
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Maybe log in before posting so we actually know who we are talking to.
Anonymous (00:36:19 - 26-03)
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Anonymous at 11:15:59 on 25/03:

That dwindling community might have something to do, with the management running the game to the ground. Now said management runs crying to remnants of a once bigger community and asks for more money to turn the (almost?) sunk ship around.
Some fundamentals in crowd funding.
To find backers you need an appealing product, in which your mini-investors believe in, and are at best emotionally attached to.
Making a movie out of a canceled, but beloved series like "Veronica Mars". Fans wanted to see it, thus they spent money on it.
Now let's look what you offer and who are your potential backers.

Let's start with the backers. A dwindling online community that has either quit on your product or are contemplating to quit, because they are so frustrated with the state of things and how their once beloved game is run.

What do you offer? A mobile version for a bugged as hell "tired looking web1 game" with a dwindling community.
Given your personal and your crews' record, your limited ability to listen to or accept critique without throwing a tantrum. That's a bit like Captain Schettino trying to use crowd funding to start up his own ocean cruise company. Even worse, he is asking the persons who were aboard the Costa Concordia to fund him.

That's a gaudy comparison.

I'll admit that we have had a struggle to keep the whole thing together - and aluded to senior management's lack of experience and insight into such responsibilities. If you say my 'personal record' sucks so hard then I have to take that seriously.

So what we need is like this (as I see it)

1. A proper re-write of the existing code base (underway = newlook Omerta)
2. Sharper senior management of the game itself (not me. I have occasional good ideas but that's about it)
3. Different working practice for customer services (this is all very much a legacy of the cheat-fighting mentality of yore)
4. To focus remaining community goodwill on improving things.

One problem which strikes me is that forums are spoiled by bad practice by both crew and players. Players who are upset about one thing or another flame and abuse and get banned and deleted - and crew, who are all just 'ex-players in the firing line' overreact to useful information which they then don't pass down the channels to decision makers like me.

Maybe we should run an open discussion *here* - where I am not a moderator and I can get to read your woes *unexpurgated*.

Do you think that this would be a good idea? Do you welcome the suggestion?
Anonymous (00:28:09 - 26-03)
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maddoxx at 11:40:17 on 25/03:
hey brando,why dont u tell paul to unblock my paypal acc,then i will think bout it

Haha - is your paypal account banned? Must have been up to no good or used by someone who was so...

OFC you can use feedback@bara to get this reinstated, if a lot of time has passed or you think there's some error on our part!