| Dubhthaigh | Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - 01:08 pm 
Since playing again i've been making note of some game aspects and mechanisms that seem 'clunky,' especially to a new player. Hopefully the game gods will take a look and consider implementing some of these changes. They aren't designed or anticipated to be player controversial.
1. We need an easy search function for presidents, countries, CEO's and enterprises etc, preferably on the side bar. The current functionality leads to a feeling of isolation/insularity and also slows down other aspects of the game such as share trading.
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2. Multiple choices for the listing order of corporations within countries and CEO's. For example alphabetical, by product, by value etc. This would speed up a number of secondary tasks that rely on the corporation list.
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3. The ability to define and create groups of corporations in both countries and enterprises. We would be able to set all the basic parameters (trade strats, supply quality etc) for each group. Perhaps the ability to assign a 'group' in the 'new corporation automation settings' dialogue, and have new corporations enter said group upon creation, and thus also inherit the specified group settings.
This would be particularly useful in situations where players of all levels want to set different options for new corporations, corporations of different product types, or simply to stop them clunking up the corporation page (being able to collapse/minimise the group).
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4. Another grouping mechanism, this time for share portfolios in countries and enterprises. Rather than setting targets, this would primarily be for organisation and labeling purposes - including collapsing/minimising the list so that new and active share trade projects take priority and are easier to find.
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5. Option to disable share splitting in the IPO dialogue (and to enable/disable within the corporation page).
I feel share splitting is somewhat unnecessary for players just entering the share trading area of the game, and can actually be quite a turn off especially when it catches one unawares. It is very easy for a new trader to come to terms with 100,000,000 shares total, and plan how to reach portfolio targets of 51,000,000, 24,900,000 etc. To have these plans foiled when suddenly there are over 1 billion shares (despite no permission from the majority share holder) can lead to disillusionment and a sense that this area of the game is too finicky to be worthwhile - when it is in fact the opposite. This is particularly the case when it is not made clear that share trades are instantaneous and unlimited in terms of rounds per month, rather then 'one sale per month' (most other game actions aside from military ones are one per month).
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6. Option to enable/disable the share target portfolio.
This page and system in general is terrifying, and virtually useless unless you want to sell your shares to countless investment funds all over the world. Accidentally entering the wrong number of shares in a sale means you have to click a button, on the share portfolio target page, that potentially modifies the target % of all stocks you own (!!!).
Additionally, I am sure many newer players have set their targets to 51% in one entity, 49% in another, and come back to find that everyone in the game world (except their intended buyer) has a stake. There is no warning that the targets sell and buy at market price and thus leave one open to IV's.
I'd suggest just getting rid of it and replacing with a 'batch sell shares on open market' system. Rant over.
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7. Improved linkage and progression between actions on the building schools/high schools/unviersity pages of the education system, and its counterparts in transportation etc.
Currently we have to use the top bar to build schools, then again to build high schools, then again to build universities. This is a batch task and all actions should thus be on the one page or only a single click away. This might also include a target % that you type in and it tells you how many more of each you will have to buy to reach it.
I know this is a UI change and it might not be compatible with your app UI plans.
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8. Improved code to move backwards and forwards between pages, and being able to open all links in new tabs.
This may be a Google Chrome issue, but in many situations pressing the browser backwards or forwards button does not return you to the intended page. This is particularly noticeable during intensive search/browse activities, such as share trading or trying to look at the countries of other presidents. Currently to explore other nations on a world we must request the game to display countries between ranks 1 to 9999 (as we lack a search function). The countries on this list will not open in a new tab (another issue), and so must be opened in the same tab. If one browses to the corporation list of that country, but then wishes to see e.g. the transportation information, there is no 'back to country' link and pressing the browser back button takes us back to the ranking list instead of said country home page. This is just one example.
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9. Improved country flag and president image display.
This is a suggestion another player posted on another thread, I can't remember the name or thread so apologies to him/her in advance. The current image layout makes the game look dated and less appealing, and also limits the personality and thus player attachment of a country. Using Facebook as a guide might not be a bad idea, president image = profile picture, country flag = cover photo.
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10. Improved statistics on the employment page.
It is currently difficult to work out how many workers are involved in government as a whole, and within each department of government. It would be very useful for players to have a simple breakdown of employment statistics: Workers in corporations (subdivision: private, state), workers in government (subdivision: health, education, army etc). Unemployed. Retired, disabled, too young to work.
I would also be eternally grateful if this information could be added to the downloadable statistics for countries on a world, but understand this request may be something of a long shot ;-)
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*EDIT* 11: Grouping for products within the 'Products in Stock: Order Strategies' page, along similar lines to the grouping ideas listed above.
This would allow players to put certain types of products into user defined groups and assign purchase strategies, targets, and supply quality for each. This would be particularly useful for ordering military products of a certain quality and target level, and similarly government products and goods for the population. This ought to provide an easier way for newer players to get involved in the more 'advanced' policy of manipulating the consumption quality stats and overall military quality.
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12: Create a guide for the forum which includes code for bolding, quotes, tables etc.
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Anyway, those are the things that come to mind now, but I suspect there will be another list shortly.
I hope a little of this kind of feedback will be taken as constructive criticism rather than interference!
Dub. |
| Madoff | Thursday, September 3, 2015 - 12:23 am
Allow me to add a few notes.
Regarding #2:
I suggest these multiple choices also be available for viewing the corps of other players. That would help tremendously when one is looking for corps to buy. For that same reason, I also suggest including the PE of corps as one option for organizing the list.
Regarding #5:
Share splits or reverse splits don't affect portfolio targets because the targets are percentages.
The problem with splits is that many shares show negative or dubious purchase prices. For example, my share portfolio shows that the lowest price I've paid is -196,331.52/share and the highest price is 632,320.00/share.
Splits distort the prices paid and make it difficult for shareholders to know if we have capital gains or losses. If these problems can't be corrected, then I suggest eliminating share splits and reverse splits.
Regarding #6:
Yes to the option to enable/disable the share portfolio target. No to the suggestion to eliminate this feature.
I understand that it's a disadvantage that targets may force one to buy or sell shares at an undesirable price. The enable/disable option would address that.
Still, share portfolio targets work fine and are very helpful. My enterprise only has public corps and sooner or later they all reach their targets of 24.99% or lower. Targets higher than 50% would be difficult for some corps. Players who make mistakes with targets can correct most of them sooner or later.
Regarding #8:
Are you using right-click on Chrome? That allows you to open all non-menu links in a new tab.
Using Chrome, I haven't encountered any problem with the back and forward buttons when looking at links within countries or enterprises. Maybe your browser or computer have issues.
But if your problems occur when using the cell phone app, then I don't know about that.
Regarding #12:
The formatting guide for the forum is on the left-hand menu of the forum. That includes everything you requested. |
| Dubhthaigh | Thursday, September 3, 2015 - 01:37 am
Hi Madoff, thanks for your reply :-)
#2: I totally agree. A global setting for all corp lists would be ideal.
#5: I don't use the portfolio targets but was aware share splits don't affect the resultant %. They do when one is trading corp stock manually across a number of months, however. Pretty sure this catches out newer players who don't realise one can perform an unlimited number of share trading rounds per month, or that selling/buying at market price is risky if you are aiming for clean trades. I thus still think share splits are fairly useless.
#6: Perhaps I was a little too harsh suggesting share portfolio targets should be got rid of entirely. I trade shares manually and month round with the aim of having no IV involvement, so find it difficult to understand the utility of that page other than as a quick selling mechanism. Either way an enable/disable feature would be nice, as you say.
#8. Have you tried viewing the corporation list of another country then clicking back on your browser? It will bring you to a page at least once before the home page of that country. This happens for me in two browsers on two computers (not tried the app).
Also, you cant open a country in a new tab from the "best presidents" ranking list of players.
#12: I've no idea how I managed to miss that, doh! |
