Dear Brothers and Sisters, I wanted to break this week radio silence before I am leaving today the 4th of July to be back the 14th of July. First. THANK YOU for the overwhelming support and TRUST that the financial result of the Founders program first 9 days. Yes, I said TRUST in Capital. Why? Well because we know that parting away with your hard won money and time for a Game that is coming out in 18 month is a show of TRUST. Especially since we know and agree with you as well that the current WebSite looks, UI and Store/items pricing is far from being perfect. Like any MMO, the launch is the START of the real work and thanks to YOU founders we know more everyday what we need to fix NOW and what can be fixed later. I recommend for those who have not yet read my last Friday post, 3 days after the launch, to read it now here: http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/thr...arding-your-feedback-on-issues-and-faq.21281/ UPDATES Store/Items/Price Already Turbulent (WebSite/Store Partner) and the team have corrected some of the changes we committed to but PLEASE be patient. I told you we try to keep ANY cost not related to the Game low. This philosophy is even MORE important now that we have Founders/clients. We are reviewing now ALL the last 9 days of data and like last friday we will soon update you on all your major comments or suggestions with the same format I did Friday: i.e. You we right, we are changing it OR We hear you but here is why we think this way make more sense OR you are right but right now there is no real impact and we will change it later. Warrior Pack lack of reconnaissance. I got an amazing and very professional personal message from Roboute_Guilliman who is one of our Founder. His message made me realize that, without intent, we are not showing FAIRNESS with our Warrior founders (40$ Pack). For the sake of precision, I am quoting below one of Brother Guilliman (yeah!, I know.. Perfect Founder name lol) that, in retrospect now, I fully agree with and that does not breach his trust in sending me a personal message. He just wrote what I think in a better English! Miguel I sincerely feel there is a real lack equal of appreciation for all founders. While I may not be donating the substantial amount that other members are and their donations do deserve additional recognition and perks I do not feel that ignoring people that have shown their support through the warrior package is appropriate. All founders are founders and as such have shown their dedication and support long before the game has released and should each be shown their own respective level of appreciation. Along with the title I do feel there should be a banner for the warrior package even if it is not as cool or identifying as the larger packages. First, when case are presented the way this Brother did.... How can we say NO and keep saying after BeTrue, BeFair, BeTransparent. We did NOT do this on purpose and thanks to Brother Guilliman we will address this issue. We love you ALL and we know that not everyone has the same financial means. 40$ for certain Founders might means 1 month of saving and for others 120$ might be pocket change. We will correct this in the next few weeks and PLEASE accept our humble apology regarding that. Thank you Roboute! Your comment could of come from the real Primach! Game The team was kind of getting upset with me this week. :-( and they told me I was getting grumpy and stressed out... and I know why. I am going in Vacation NOW but down deep I really did not want to go since we are still in our ''seduction'' period with all of you. This is our first diner out and I felt that if I leave that beautiful DATE for 10 min, she will be gone when I come back. ;-) So the team and I made a compromise. I am only taking 1 week instead of 2 and the team has PROMISED me (yes it was an Oath) that while I am gone next week, they have planned many Surprised for ALL of you. When I asked them what? They told me... its passed 17h now so you are on Vacation... go away and trust us that our fans/Founders will be very entertained while you are away. (yes, I am romanticizing it a bit lol) Soon this summer, Stephanie, the all in one Project Senior Producer, the team's Mom and Father, will provide you with a Production update since she is soon getting ready to switch from Pre-Production to Full Production. Client Engine Regarding our Game Engine, Obviously we are using one now but we are reviewing the business proposal from them as well as from others since you know that all engines have recently updated both their price and their business model. Once we have a firm business deal (licence vs royalty, etc..) Patrick our Lead Programmer will confirm our Engine.... for those few who does not have a guess it yet! Self-Publishing/Partner/Publisher Regarding Partner/Publisher, I know that their is some rumors but allow me to kill those rumors now. Until we say other wise, we are self-publishing Eternal Crusade (yes, thanks to YOU and the positive result we have now more argument to make sure we find the BEST partner for YOU with the BEST Value). We are still talking to ALL of them but on our terms.... OUR meaning both yours and ours. So even if you see some Media saying we are published by XYZ it is NOT true. Its called creative journalism. CUSTOMER SERVICE For ANY issue regarding bug, payments, accounts, etc... Please use the CONTACT US on the site. Again to keep cost low, to have a direct ''feel'' of your issues as well as making sure you are well taking care of we are answering all your Support tickets OURSELF with the help of Turbulent who has an amazing backend system that they are training us on NOW. So please dont judge our current speed of processing your ticket has our norm. We are learning the system to be able to provide you TOP notch customer support. REFERRAL SYSTEM This is VERY important to us. Since Stephanie is the gate keeper on our Budget so it is spent making GAME Features we are still keeping Marketing Expenses very low and Publicity expense to 0$, we need your help recruiting YOUR army. Soon we will have the Guild system in place on the site where Founders Guild we will be able to show how many StrikeForce and Squad they can field as well as recruiting NEW members with the Guild OWN customizable micro-site. Each time you convince one of your friend to buy a founder's package, you make us save money that Stephanie can spend in Game Features. Hence why we pay both you and your friend 4000 pts (4$) for each referal. That is a good FREE way to upgrade your 40$ pack to a 120$ Pack with all its benefits. VARIA Please ALWAYS try to ask me or the devs ONLY questions you feel are PERSONAL and not questions you feel other person may have as well. for those use a THREAD and NOT a PERSONAL message. We really want to keep our 100% accessibility but if I am stuck spending hrs answering ''Please go read the FAQ or The Founders Program will last until the game is launched'' It wont work long terms. And PLEASE, It only happen twice in 2 years and I did not think I needed to say this: Dont post a private discussion between you and the devs on social network or forums like REDDIT. We will NOT act on this. We wont even mention it to the culprit but we find this rude and disrespectful. Obviously, except if like I do often ASK you to share it and help me pass the message. So... That is it for now, leaving office for Vacation and this weekend I will answer all your private message to me. Please forgive if I answer in short sentence.... but you will ALL be answered! Take care, be KIND with the team while I am away ;-) and like you I CAN'T wait to see these ''surprises'' they are planing for your next week Entertainment! Love and Respect to ALL our WARRIOR, Sergeant and Captain Founders ;-) Miguel xx
Fixed it a bit there, did not uppgrade to heresy for nothing. Loved reading what you informed us, and i do think i do not speak for my self when i say we all are excited to see the surprises and especially the game engine.
Oh hey, we're going on vacation at the same time! If by any chance you're also going to the Virgin Islands, I'll meet you there . Relax well Miguel, by the time you come back we'll be ready with even more fierce questioning methods!
Miguel, In all honesty it is posts like this (and the real follow up from your team) that has me truly excited about Eternal Crusade. This is also the reason that I'm steadily pushing this game to as many of my contacts as I have spread across several gaming communities. You have a very positive tone and if you continue to work with the community and view the development of this game as a collaborative event with us....it's an incredibly powerful combination. I really do encourage you to check out this Founders Lounge thread and you'll get a good idea where we are all at in terms of the next 18mo's and the ride to Arkhona we are sharing with you. - Jaysen
This is why i invested in the founders program you and your team have been professional through the development of this much needed MMO. Get some good R & R!
Miguel thank you for taking the time (before your vacation no less) to do an update. This is one of the many reasons I was so willing to part with funds 18 months early.
