In what is turning out to be a very well timed article (with just a little over 2 weeks until Trion Worlds shuts down Devilian), PC Gamer takes a look at what it is like to kill a game from the perspective of a developer, publisher, and community manager.
The article is an interesting read especially when it highlights an example of community management (Club Penguin) that happened to be much more involved with the game and its community.
This is in complete polar opposite to what the last few remaining players in the Devilian community are experiencing with Trion Worlds (besides their transition offer to one of their other games). As noted before, I will be posting in detail about this with proof of their neglect of the community for the majority of 2017, their neglect of the community since their sunset announcement, their lack of actually playing/understanding the game (further exasperating the lack of internal support/care for the game and how it reflected on their lack of involvement with this community).
Unlike many other titles that have sunset where there is at least a sizable contingent that are online when the servers went offline (just search YouTube for “last moments of <insert video game name>”, Devilian (both EU and NA servers) will be lucky to see even 20 players around online to say goodbye. And I will be there to record how moribund announce chat and Asperon will be when the plug is pulled.
Sure, part of it is a reflection on the community who just never got the clue that there was a time to unite and speak in unison (some chose instead to use those opportunities to attack the ones trying to bring awareness early on about the state of the game). And over the last 10 months, there were some who chose the perpetuation of drama which is why there will forever be a rift with a bunch of individuals that I cannot trust.
Another part of it is the fact that more just cannot launch the game due to the issue with the game crashing with the 1709 build of Windows 10 adding insult to injury in the process. With the sunset announcement, it’s no surprise many just gave up the ghost at that point.
Finally though, this is all superceded by how poorly Trion Worlds interacted with this community after Drewcifer and Kiwibird chose to depart Trion when the Devilian team was downsized in July 2016 as opposed to being given the pink slip (which will look worse on a resume). After that, it was a haphazard cast of temporary community management that barely did their jobs because the decision makers decided the game was low on the priority list.
It’s why I am in the process of archiving the entire Devilian forum; someone has to show just how poor of a business partner Trion Worlds was on the publishing side of the equation. It’s why I’ve had an in-game alt logged in where it shows almost ZERO announce activity from the prior weeks maintenance restart (yes, I am going that far to show proof that not even anyone from Trion, is active in-game these last few weeks).
It’s also why how unlike the heart wrenching feeling that was expressed in the PC Gamer article, only a few at Trion Worlds will actually feel any deep sadness or loss when the plug is pulled on Devilian. It’s why many players have zero feelings for Trion Worlds, the remaining games it publishes, and those who are the face of the company. You Trion Worlds, didn’t really give a damn about us except for the money spent. So why should we give a damn about you? Your other titles may be safe for now but crap on your player base often enough, and they will eventually vote with their wallet. What comes around goes around…. it just takes time.
P.S. for the record, I will be moving my remaining credits (not much) over to ArcheAge as well as applying for the Erenor Eternal Starter pack as part of their transition offer. That is being done to document their honoring that offer with no strings attached. Once Devilian sunsets though, I will be stepping away from Trion Worlds. I personally don’t give a rats ass what happens to my Trion account after March 5th.
