We've got something interesting in the works...

[wreck]

Originally Posted by Sepioth OK .. I'm a current supporter .. have donated and subscribed in the past. But I must say I think this is a stupid waste of resources. You said it yourself "It all takes time which is a scarce commodity" If time is scarce why are we wasting it on this stuff.. Implement new features and update Carbonite.

Have to agree with Sepioth on this. The voting system was a major waste of someone's energy, if it delayed the next release of Carbonite by even a few minutes.

[Apraxia]

What kind of crap is this shiznit? I check the source coding on the vote page and find it's a very basic polling/vote system done by and taught by any html/forms for dummies or even the public response you could get from asking some mass public like yahoo! answers. Not only that, there's not even any real 'email match authentication' coding at all except the fact that whatever smash face to keyboard characters you get in that field are all emailed to a 'hidden' (and it's not hidden by the least bit fyi) email address to check at a later time to verify the vote to what... a printed list on a desk? which come on now, would take about 20 min max of your day to check against something like a excel sheet sorted alphebetically by email supporter address?

Maybe instead of comparing who was theoretically allowed to vote for any of that crap on the list you guys could process some sort of an update here? or better yet stop wasting time with basic html BS facade feature voting and just implement a damn feature instead!

Like if there is something that you guys can't keep up with or RL interfere's you should communicate that to supporters, and not just throw out smoke screen's like this cause people are GIVING YOU there money who do wish to see actual DEVELOPMENT AND MAITENCE.

I hate to get grouchy like this towards carbonite staff, I've loved and supported for near year + now however there really is nothing to show for anybodys donations to help advancement, unless you got 10 bucks in a month which might just cover the 20 minutes to set up the fail vote system

/endemorant

[Haavok]

Not exactly the reaction I was expecting.

We had planned to have version 3.12 out last Thursday but it was delayed because Faatal had some personal matters to deal with, namely a funeral.

Various bugs & issues have been addressed in 3.12 and the details will be included in the release notes.

Check the quests/database forum – every quest issue that has been submitted has been fixed for this next release.

The voting feature did not take significant time to implement (yes it is basic – we are not web designer/programmers). We thought it would be a nice way for supporters to participate in the direction of future features and to hopefully motivate others to donate. We have a few things we were thinking of offering supporters and implementing this was the easiest.

A lot has happened since the Blizzard UI policy change. We have had to work on a lot of things other than just the addon code. We have had to answer a massive amount of email regarding the policy change, subscriptions, etc. We used to have a dedicated server to support building custom versions of the addon back when had the subscription – this came at a premium and we have since migrated over to our own hosting. We launched the voting feature after we switched our hosting.

As things settle down we expect that more time will be devoted to the addon itself.

[carboniteaddon]

We will be showing some type of vote status chart, with relative levels for each item being voted on.

[carboniteaddon]

Originally Posted by Sepioth You haven't even fixed the Carbonite website yet .. it still shows info for Carbonite and CarbQuest .. seriously .. someone priorities are in the wrong place.

There is nothing to fix, since I left that info in the new website on purpose. I want all the people who upgraded from Carbonite Quest to still be able to see what the difference was. Many people did not even know there was a difference.

[carboniteaddon]

Originally Posted by Apraxia I check the source coding on the vote page and find it's a very basic polling/vote system done by and taught by any html/forms for dummies or even the public response you could get from asking some mass public like yahoo! answers.

Which was exactly the point. It is a simple vote system that took little time to create and does what WE want it to do. All items on the list are features people have expressed an interest in. Hundreds of people have already taken the time to vote, so they do care about something on the list. If you don't like any of them, then don't vote. Post a forum message about a feature you would like to see and maybe if 5 other people say they would also like it, then we may add it to the vote list. We are not going to be spending time on a feature that few people care about.

[Apraxia]

I'm sorry I really wasn't TRYING to chew into you guys I'm just frustrated and not understanding something somewhere then? It was nearly two weeks ago something 'in the works' was announced that would be exclusive to those who have supported. So naturally lack of response from you guys built up a bit of hype and then well.... we got this.

I guess what I don't understand then is if it was so simple to put together and it's purpose is to help you streamline and prioritize feature implementations then why the two week build up? IMO should of thrown it out there some time ago then sounds like it's more a productivity tool.

Don't get me wrong it's not a lame, bad, or stupid thing at all. It is rather neat the voting and all. It's just the timing, the length of dragging it on as to what it was, current assumptions and concerns everywhere... it just perhaps should of not been the two week 'this is it guy!' announcement. heh.


Also, if you guys are currently working on the next release and even close enough to put that 'hoped to have it out on xx day' label on it, why the secrecy? I think I'd of shut the hell up a few posts ago and not said anything at all if I had a bit of that info sooner.

Originally Posted by Haavok Not exactly the reaction I was expecting. We had planned to have version 3.12 out last Thursday but it was delayed because Faatal had some personal matters to deal with, namely a funeral. Various bugs & issues have been addressed in 3.12 and the details will be included in the release notes. Check the quests/database forum – every quest issue that has been submitted has been fixed for this next release. The voting feature did not take significant time to implement (yes it is basic – we are not web designer/programmers). We thought it would be a nice way for supporters to participate in the direction of future features and to hopefully motivate others to donate. We have a few things we were thinking of offering supporters and implementing this was the easiest. A lot has happened since the Blizzard UI policy change. We have had to work on a lot of things other than just the addon code. We have had to answer a massive amount of email regarding the policy change, subscriptions, etc. We used to have a dedicated server to support building custom versions of the addon back when had the subscription – this came at a premium and we have since migrated over to our own hosting. We launched the voting feature after we switched our hosting. As things settle down we expect that more time will be devoted to the addon itself.

[Spectral2k]

Originally Posted by Apraxia I'm sorry I really wasn't TRYING to chew into you guys I'm just frustrated and not understanding something somewhere then? It was nearly two weeks ago something 'in the works' was announced that would be exclusive to those who have supported. So naturally lack of response from you guys built up a bit of hype and then well.... we got this. I guess what I don't understand then is if it was so simple to put together and it's purpose is to help you streamline and prioritize feature implementations then why the two week build up? IMO should of thrown it out there some time ago then sounds like it's more a productivity tool. Don't get me wrong it's not a lame, bad, or stupid thing at all. It is rather neat the voting and all. It's just the timing, the length of dragging it on as to what it was, current assumptions and concerns everywhere... it just perhaps should of not been the two week 'this is it guy!' announcement. heh. Also, if you guys are currently working on the next release and even close enough to put that 'hoped to have it out on xx day' label on it, why the secrecy? I think I'd of shut the hell up a few posts ago and not said anything at all if I had a bit of that info sooner.

Its possible the delay was partly deciding which features to list and which requested features were even feasible. PLus they've obviously done all this when they can fit it in around developing carbonite itself.

[Torment]

Well, I for one think the voting system is a cool idea! I say, good job! Maybe at some point you guys could add an entry field on the voting page so that we can submit ideas for what to include on the voting list? Thanks for all your hard work. It's appreciated!

[x Hexagon x]

Not really sure what people expected; not like there is a way around the Blizzard policy and yet many seem to have expected an attempt at that.

[carboniteaddon]

Originally Posted by Apraxia It was nearly two weeks ago something 'in the works' was announced that would be exclusive to those who have supported. So naturally lack of response from you guys built up a bit of hype and then well.... we got this. I guess what I don't understand then is if it was so simple to put together and it's purpose is to help you streamline and prioritize feature implementations then why the two week build up? IMO should of thrown it out there some time ago then sounds like it's more a productivity tool.

If you look at our website now, you will see the background image, border, Sign In and Sign Up are gone. That is because it is a whole new website that I put together myself from content on the old website. We wanted to move our website, because the old hosting was costing $850 a month. The new hosting of a simpler non e-commerce website is a mere $10 a month. We could not add the voting page to the old website. We did not have that type of control. The website switch had to be done first before the voting page was made public, which is what took a fair amount of time.

Originally Posted by Apraxia Also, if you guys are currently working on the next release and even close enough to put that 'hoped to have it out on xx day' label on it, why the secrecy? I think I'd of shut the hell up a few posts ago and not said anything at all if I had a bit of that info sooner.

Not secrecy, but simply being conservative with announcing dates. I thought it was going to be out last week, but if we had said so, then people would be complaining that we didn't release it like we said. My grandmother's death on Wednesday, family coming into town, wake, funeral and family leaving was certainly not something I was expecting to happen at the beginning of last week as we were preparing to launch the new website and finish the new version. The website did launch on Thursday, but I was very busy Friday through Sunday and much of today. The new version needs some more testing and I may get it out late tonight.

[Jezzabel]

Personally, I wish you take all the time you need.

I hope we are not so selfish to ask you to think about us gamers when you are going through this.

My thoughts are with you.

[carboniteaddon]

I took my brother to the airport this afternoon, who was the last of the out of town family members to head back to their homes, so things are back to normal now.

Thx.

[Apraxia]

Sorry to hear about your grammy.

[Mossclaw]

The surprise is well received by me. It helps balance out the transition from secure paying customer to "we're all in this together" donation thing that Blizzard has forced upon me.

Thanks for this. I feel more a part of the crew, rather than an accidental stow-away who, upon running to the rail, sees the dock receding rapidly.

Oh the Trauma! <tongue firmly in cheek>

But in sincerity, I hope you may find time to ground and center in light of your recent loss. My condolences.

[carboniteaddon]

Thanks.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nwi...&pid=127041607

[Unbelievable]

I'm sorry for your loss. You have my condolences.

[Unbelievable]

Personally, I think the voting system is a great idea. I feel I've contributed to the hype with my earlier comments about gifts etc. That wasn't my intention, although I stand firmly by my comments.

One question though: Wouldn't it be easier to speak to the folks at wowinterface.com and post a simple poll in this subscribers only part of the forums? That way the validity of the vote is pretty much checked for you - after all, if someone can't access the subscriber forum then they can't see (let alone vote) on a poll.

Still, I welcome the poll in whatever form it takes.

[Silverloch]

I think I echo the sentiments of most of us, our sympathies kid.

[askjosh]

Originally Posted by Unbelievable Personally, I think the voting system is a great idea. I feel I've contributed to the hype with my earlier comments about gifts etc. That wasn't my intention, although I stand firmly by my comments. One question though: Wouldn't it be easier to speak to the folks at wowinterface.com and post a simple poll in this subscribers only part of the forums? That way the validity of the vote is pretty much checked for you - after all, if someone can't access the subscriber forum then they can't see (let alone vote) on a poll. Still, I welcome the poll in whatever form it takes.

I second this idea.