Macintosh

Thank you for the work on the bug reporting I stopped filling them out last year when two of mine that I filled after a patch stayed opened and unfiltered right up through the next patch three months latter. It's pointless!

But the "Mac client is not a high-priority item for CCP" is really not an excuse. Just a heads up, but a lot of people (not just on the mac forums) are stating to see through the "not a high-priority item for CCP" excuse the CSM members use now for things they or the CSM doesn't care to push. The CSM has no problems pushing for some things, while saying they can't push for others. It's becoming quite obvius.

Such as, your thread on PI, something that CCP doesn't seem to care much about anymore. "I thought I'd write them down and see what support they generated; if it's sufficient, I'll write up a CSM proposal and start bri... er, lobbying the devs. Your CSM tax ISK at work, etc., etc." So you'll lobby for PI improvements, but can't lobby for the MAC client?

From your re-elect thread

"I will in particular continue to push for improvements in the User Interface, for iterations on widely-used parts of the game (such as Trade, Industry, and Mission gameplay), for increased resources to be devoted to game performance issues (both on the server and in the client)"

From you own blog.
"All in all, these tidbits are great news. As long as players and the CSM keeps the pressure on, I think we're going to see interesting stuff on SiSi in the coming months." I think what the MAC users are asking for is a little "pressure" love from the CSM on the state of the MAC client.

Look, Trebor, please don't feel i'm attacking you here, that is not my intent. Frankly all the CSM members are doing this and I could point out the contradictions they do as well. I'm just saying you guys need to stop blaming CCP for things the CSM doesn't care about. If SOV warfare, or PI improvements are more important to you fine, just say so. Hell I might even agree. But don't act like your hands are tied on some things, and miracle workers on others.

The simple fact is the MAC client is fundamentally broken for many people and it's frustrating! The crashes, and freezes Crucible brought have been going on now for what three months now. Konflict has done a great job, but it seems like he's the only one working on the MAC side at times. I see more de-bugging by users on the forums than I do CCP. Just the the other night I was getting "space lonely" and really started missing the old small gang I used to fly with when I realized the gang broke up because most of the guys where on MACs and could no longer play the damn game after last summer. There's some sort of "butterfly effect" reference here but I think we all get the point that the MAC client is ruining the game experience not just for the people it directly effects. I would think that would be an easy thing to convey to CCP.

This was an excellent post; lots to comment on.


I 100% agree, and I've had experiences with it that makes yours look like a cakewalk. I had a repeatable Mac UI bug repeatedly filtered for something like 18 months and then "closed due to age".


I would love to get more effort put into the Mac client, but I have to face the reality of the CCP development process. During their everyday development process, CCP targets and tests the Windows client. That's why -- for example -- there isn't a Mac version of the latest SiSi client; it's a secondary issue.

From their perspective, this is an efficient use of their resources. Whatever we would like, the fact is that the Mac client is the Windows client bolted onto a Cider emulator, and if that combination is causing a bug, they don't have a lot of resources available to track stuff down and find a fix that works both on native Windows and Mac. And sometimes the problem is being caused by Cider and can only be fixed by TransGaming.

This is why, in my judgment, the "Mac client needs much more love" argument, whatever we as Mac users might think of its merits, isn't going to fare well in the vicious PvP that is CCP resource allocation.

After I got on the CSM in 2010, it quickly became obvious to me that this was the case (and this was in the dark days when even FiS couldn't get a lot of love!), so I stepped back and looked at the situation more globally. One thing that quickly becomes clear is that the bugginess of the Mac client is in part a symptom of the sh*tstorm of fail that is the bug reporting system -- which actively prevents devs from getting the information they need to efficiently fix things -- Windows and Mac bugs alike, but Mac bugs in particular.

So I decided the best bang for the buck in terms of my lobbying time was to lobby for improvements to bug-reporting -- in particular, public bug reporting so players can cooperate to provide good test cases -- and use the problems with the Mac client as a case-study on why it was important. In my estimation, throwing a lot more resources (devs) at the Mac client without providing them with a good source of feedback to work from isn't efficient, and won't fare well in the allocation wars.

It's easy for a space politician to say "The Mac Client needs more love!". There, I've said it! But the hard part is trying to figure out how to get something done that actually does help it out.


Read the entire thread; the whole point of that proposal was that it was a micro-fix that could be wedged in somewhere if a dev had some spare time -- a "stocking stuffer" if you will. Those kind of things have a shot at getting picked up on the spur of the moment -- totally different from a big project like fixing the bug-report system.

(continued)

Dear CSM member and candidate Trebor Daehdoow, your lack of response in either the affirmative or the negative to my very limited specific question speaks volumes as to your desire to address the needs of your constituents.

I went to your re-election site and was impressed by your back ground ..... however ignoring direct requests is exactly what is wrong with CCP in regard to a multitude of player issues and you seem fully inline with their tactics.

As a last resort do you have any suggestions as to how MAC players might be able get CCP's attention long enough for them to address our legitimate well documented issues that cut to the core of basic playability?

Power To The Players!

I have to admit being unable to stay logged in really makes rioting problematic. lol .... my frustration level is pretty high with this situation.