Josh Foreman.8250When I made this map I was HOPING that people who aren’t into jumping would do exactly this. They’d see a fun Halloween looking environment, maybe get to the first chest and snag a goodie, then be on their merry way. I see now it was a mistake to make the hardest jumping challenge in the game part of an in-your-face update like a holiday event. I’m not going to stop making difficult stuff like this, they just won’t be so prominent in the future. I honestly hate making people upset and have a very high level of empathy. So it’s been hard hearing all the people that are so angry, frustrated and sad because of something I’ve made. But it’s just another lesson learned.
Josh.
Josh, Josh, Josh. Someone go get Josh and tell him to read this.
This post made me so sad, that I am now posting for the first time in these forums. Your post has de-lurker’d me.
THE CLOCKTOWER WAS FANTASTIC. Please hear me out.
I have never wanted to see an apology redacted before, but Josh, you did a d& good job. You should not apologize for this. It is a masterpiece. It is a difficult puzzle open to everyone, that everyone will know about, and that will be talked about for quite a while – and it’s OPTIONAL. It is innovative, painful, and satisfying to complete. The high-profile nature of this puzzle means I got to see my girlfriend go all “ARGOBARGLE BLLTHIBBLE” over it. You can go to Lion’s Arch and talk about it.
I love that people are there with you – it makes it HARD AS HELL to see with Norn and Charr, but video games should CHALLENGE YOU. When you get up to the chest and celebrate, and SOMEONE ELSE IS THERE WITH YOU, and yet another person is going to make it in five minutes – it feels good. It feels good not because you did something tough, but you did it and SO DID THAT GUY. At the same time. You connect with someone random. You both sit in the chest and yell ‘boo!’ at the next person to get it. Or, if you don’t make it, you all /cry while you wait. Someone puts up a food fight table. None of this would be true if it weren’t high-profile.
The high difficulty is AWESOME. The high availability (no gear requirement, open to everyone) is AWESOME. The high profile is AWESOME. Look at how much debate this sparked! Look at all the people talking ABOUT YOUR GAME! Yes, it’s hard, but the complaining will only last so long! And you stuck true to the design principles – everyone can get to it, everyone knows what it is, and there’s no REQUIREMENT to do it to advance to something else!
People are going to complain about things. It’s their right. But PLEASE remember – more people complain than praise. A lot of people love this clocktower. You made a great thing well known and available to everyone without compromising challenge and fun. So if you really do have a high degree of empathy, please feel what the fans of this tower feel. Don’t you dare beat yourself up about this.