• Anno 1800
  • Union Talk

Let’s talk about feedback!

  • 29.08.2017

To be honest: the vast amount of detailed feedback with the start of the Anno Union blew us away. We knew that you would be as passionate as resourceful but we underestimated the extent of your passion.

While we work to improve the final bits of the website and prepare ourselves to share videos and streams with you guys, we decided to answer some of your first comments at the same. For that, we pulled Creative Director Dirk Riegert and Community Developer Bastion Thun out of their offices and gave them a printed version of your comments. The weight of the ideas, comments and suggestions was breathtaking.

With over 1000 comments in the Anno Union already, it wasnโ€™t easy to pick a first set of comments. As we will explain development relevant topics in near future, we decided to concentrate on a few general questions about the Anno Union and Anno 1800. We will to react to your feedback more frequently in near future.

t_picklock
The Anno Union is a good idea in general.
But I think that the focus on communication via comments is not really optimal.

Basti: We got some feedback regarding the comment section. We will implement a few improvements soon and in addition, will offer different ways and formats to keep discussions going and to collect your feedback. From the general comments to votingโ€™s, questionnaires, the Ubisoft forum and media content such as live streams and video updates. There is always room for improvement so keep the ideas coming.

xTopsy
I am with the previous comment: Please donโ€™t make it too easy. I think it is an important part of Anno that you have to pay for mistakes being made and that one click shouldnโ€™t be an easy way out to revert everything.

Dirk: We are aware that Anno 2205 did not met all the expectations of our players. Especially the missing of some key features, which were relevant for the long-time motivation, was a problem for some of you. We analyzed exactly that feedback and checked all internal factors which lead to that situation. For that reason, we will set the focus for Anno 1800 on the essential elements of the game, such as a multiplayer mode or AI characters. Furthermore, it is of very importance for us that the game experience is as flexible as possible to ensure that new players are not lost in the sea of possibilities, while experienced players have a variety of options, ways to configure the game and freedom to create their perfect Anno experience.

jdredd62
Please dear developers, you have a vast amount of options but please donโ€™t forget new players in such games.

Dirk: The Anno series has many passionate fans, some of them sunk hundreds of hours in every single title. We want to bring a satisfying experience to all of them. But it is also important for us to win new players over to the Anno series. Especially Anno 2205 had, when we are talking about an easy first step into the game, excellent features but we want to improve that further. But it is important to say that we donโ€™t want to cut down the depth of the game for that.

yeti1962
This blog reminds me about the various โ€žforumblogsโ€œ in AO, where they ensured us that they read every comment, but feedback to the suggestions came rarely, even less in the form of direct answers.
With that in mind, a frequent โ€žQuestions and Suggestionsโ€œ would be a big improvement. At least I am allowed to dream here.
ย ย 

Basti: We will do our best to meet your expectations. But at the end of the day, actions will be more important than promises. Give us just a bit of time to catch up with everything. With nearly 1000 comments on the Anno Union alone, our team had a lot of work to through all Union comments, forum posts and other reactions on channels such as Twitter and Facebook. We cannot promise that we will be able to catch and answer everything. But our whole team is incredibly interested about your feedback. Nearly every day, co-workers stop by at my desk and ask for the current state of the union and read posts on their own during breaks. We want to use anything possible to get in contact with you. For that reason, will bring as many interactive formats as possible, from hangout feedback sessions to livestreams. While we cannot talk about the cadence of each content yet, we want to ensure that we are in a constant dialogue with our Union members.

Dorimil
Surprising announcement of a new Anno and even a new website. Seems like that Ubi/BB learned a lesson thanks to 2205. I hope that you take is serious and will follow that path tot he end (sorry but too many not fullfilled promises in the last yearsโ€ฆ)

Basti: We understand that you guys are skeptical. But we also hope that the future and our current activities for the Anno Union initiative show our passion and commitment, as we share the same passion for the Anno series as you. With the 2205 frontier DLC, we had the chance to invite players before the actual release of the content and the result was incredibly valuable feedback. For that reason, we want to get player feedback as early as possible. And we want that feedback for Anno 1800 as well as the Anno Union. So please, feel free to share all your thoughts and ideas with us.

Annothek
A small suggestions for the comments.
Wouldnโ€™t it be better to limit the amount of comments to maybe 10 per page before the Site creates another page? Currently, we are spending a lot of time scrolling on the page.

Basti: We understand that it is a too much scrolling right now and will perform ongoing improvement on the site such as limiting the comment section. We will try out several options for page size until we find the one that works best.

eroark79
I am the owner of ALL the Ubisoft Anno games starting with 1602. These games are AWESOME!!!!!! I would love to be in the Alpha and Beta testing phases of the game. I cannot wait til this one is released

Basti: Playtesting is a crucial part of the Anno Union initiative. These playtests are an important part to test the game in an early stage. With that said, if you are an active member of the Anno Union and if you share your feedback frequently, there will be a good chance that you get to test the game early!

philriggin
I read on Game Spot that โ€œWinterโ€ means first quarter 2018. So not too far off!

Dirk: That was a misunderstanding. We are not talking about this winter as more about the winter coming next year. It wouldnโ€™t make sense to invite players to join us becoming a part of the long-term development of the game if it would be almost finished. 6 month up to the final release wouldnโ€™t give us enough time to take your feedback into account. We are more than one year away from the final release and Anno 1800 is currently in the so-called โ€œPre-Alphaโ€ state, where the various game elements getting build to come later together as a complete game. We have enough time to check your feedback, share our progress and to discuss about the game itself.

Bre2d

Waiting for it.
Like the other.
My first ship will be called Titanic.

Dirk: Titanic? Then we are lucky that there are no icebergs in the game!

Comments

Leave a Reply

28 Comments
  1. L Line541

    I really wish that Anno 1800 dont end in weird way. leet end with a content about china or india and make more dlc but huge one. wrap it up. if you want to go and create something new.

  2. i iruet

    I have a request for you guys, since most people don’t know the BB staff behind Anno 1800 yet, could you please introduce the people we will see/have contact with in the future?

    If you do so, please also tell us how you gotten into anno, and what being part of the creation of the new anno version means to you

    Lookin’ forward for some introductions โ˜บ

  3. T Twidlledee

    I would definitely advocate for a more complex game. The beginning can be easy as past games have been. I would be for more port and harbor building. In Anno 1404, you could build piers and a nice harbor but I would be all for more and a lighthouse like in Anno 1701. In regards to Military, it would be awesome to combine 1404 and 1701 where troops fight directly and also capture things. It can be like in 1404 where there are camps but then have units come out of them and you can directly control them like in 1701 in a certain radius around the camp.

  4. H HoLoDreaM44

    Hi, please please please just bring the military side of the game back. Without it feel empty and not intense. Like in 1701 it was so great, with the IA politics and confrontations.
    An idea would be to add a politic system like democratie or dictature where you can choose to love and help your population or just repress them and take all the money from them (with a police sytem of repression).
    Anyway thanks for this new Anno 1800, I m sure it will be an awesome game ! ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. S SKnight1233

    The thing i’m really concerned about, is the military aspect of the game.
    In 2205 you could only fight with a few ships max, that you could upgrade, and obviously, you couldn’t fight on land, while in other annos you could (except for 2070, because aircraft). So i’m just wondering, how will it work in Anno 1800?

  6. Z Zangetas

    I really hope the mass upgrading thing we had in 2205 will make it to 1800 as well

    Made it less fustrating to upgrade the houses you want (and not one by one)

  7. B Boldzmann

    Sorry part of the text was not included in the first comment and it
    turned out not quite clear, I corrected:

    1. Add the parameter MaintenanceCost for House.

    2. Return buildings InfluenceRadius, make it so that it can be
    Enable or disable in the settings.

    3. In an endless game, make it possible to add ComputerPlayers
    Not only at the beginning of the game but also later at any time,
    with Setting the InitialPeace Treaty (Off, Shortterm, Midterm,
    Longterm, Endless) for such ComputerPlayers.

    4. Do not limit the parameters of MilitaryClaimNeeded and
    ShipClaimNeeded make independent of the number of inhabitants.

    Sorry for the translation through Translate google.

  8. B Boldzmann

    Hello! I’ve been a big fan of Anno for many years. Be sure to buy
    New part of the series. I have a few ideas that I would like See in the game.

    1. Add the parameter for House.
    Example:
    ResidenceRuin – 0
    PeasantHouse – 1
    CitizenHouse – 2
    PatricianHouse – 3
    NoblemanHouse – 4

    2. Return buildings , make it so that it can be
    Enable or disable in the settings.

    3. In an endless game, make it possible to add ComputerPlayers
    Not only at the beginning of the game but also later at any time, with Setting the InitialPeace Treaty (Off, Shortterm, Midterm, Longterm, Endless) for such ComputerPlayers.

    4. Do not limit the parameters of and
    make independent of the number of inhabitants.

    Sorry for the translation through Translate google.

    Sergei. Russia.

  9. g gabrieltorress

    when and where are you going to make the blog / website available so that we can express our opinions and ideas?
    personally I already have entire pages full of ideas and topics that I’m crazy to discuss

    • B BB_CR

      You are, in fact, posting on our blog/ website so shoot away with any feedback ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. A Arkenophas

    I agree with the first comment, it is a huge work to read all of the comments, and maybe you will miss something ? :/ (or maybe you have bionic eyes ๐Ÿ˜ฎ ). But it is a really good idea to create a forum for have some feedback, keep it up ๐Ÿ™‚

  11. W WilsonK170

    Please, do this

    Waypoint move to ships ( in 2070/1404 there was no such thing, would really help bringing all those quest boxes in one go)

    Upgradable ships ( i dont want my small tradeship to be useless afther i reach a later stage in the game)

    (Idea) If the game is in the 1800, why not play with the diferent builds of that era? I imagine that we would build diferent in Europe than america (faction somewhat like you did with ANNO 2070) (or even Asian style, witch has been totally forgotten in the ANNO series)

    If you complicate a bit of the warfare ( basicly to win a fight we just needed to add more/bigger ships), that would be something interesting…! Maybe a button on a ship that made him raise the rate of fire but that would slow down the ship while it is on, i dont know, the world is your oyster here xD

    Has ground units, would fit perfectly to have those american artilhery guns, maybe armies of shooters!?

    Has for harbor, make sure we can do it like 1404, big cranes, turrets, everything on the harbor is very complete, and i enjoy that

    Has for buildings, Add politic? for instance, if you influenced your people to follow a politic (ex : republicans vs democrats) they would have diferent needs, or maybe consume more of some, and less of the other, or simply would tax more or not, changing the income.

    Gold mines should defenitly be there, ( California gold rush for exemple)

    Goods has oil, hemp, coal, are a must

    Another idea (for “nobles” ) would be high end furniture has people in those days loved to show off the luxury of their homes

    Another good need would be Olive oil, for the ligh

    Just ideas, hope someone reads this wall of text xD

    Im trully enjoying how you guys are developing this game, keep it going!

  12. X XenoAnno

    So far, the communication seems a lot of better than the previous Anno games ! I can’t wait to see more of the game ! But yeah, we really need to limit the amount of comments per pages x)
    And will we have a forum on Anno Union ? Because I know some friends who wait for it to discuss and give their feedback ^^

  13. P Ptit_Pois45

    If Ubisoft is its line as in other Anno then the game will only be on Windows but otherwise using Wine may be an alternative.

  14. r rabbitdragon

    You really should put icebergs into the game ๐Ÿ˜€

    Btw I’m hoping for linux support too.

  15. f fredlangva

    I liked the bigger building blocks in 2205. Bigger islands than 2070 would be more fun giving us the ability to build more “realistic” cities for 1800 time period. I never had the chance to play a multiplayer game as I came a bit late to 2070. It has still been enjoyable playing 1404 and 2070. I have put more time in them than 2205 as I wasn’t really that excited about 2205.

    I might start a 1602 game again for fun ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. P Ptit_Pois45

    Do not forget your Linux community! I am a great enthusiast of the anno series and I am waiting for anno 1800 with entint, but I’m recently going under Ubuntu so I hope not to be put aside as is often the case. (Sorry if the translation is not very good, I use google translate :))

  17. g gerwinbergsma

    Hello devs! I’ve been a long time Anno fan ever since I started with Anno 1404 in my youth. I truly hope you guys are able to give that same old Anno magic in Anno 1800! Though as you may know, there is concern about making another Anno 2205. Reading through the older replies, it seems like you are aware of that and trying to avoid such thing. This gives me hope and makes me dubbly excited for the next game in this franchise!

    • B BB_CR

      We definitely want to make a true Anno experience that fans of the classic games will love!

  18. S Supremegod99

    i would hope blue byte use 1404 as a base and build on top of it as it was the best of the series with a strong campaign and a nice learning curve that didnt make it a brick wall to learn.

    but please just create a forum for feedback using a comments section is terrible

  19. X Xenitharian

    The process between different parts of a planet was my favorite added difficulty and challenge to the game in Anno 2205. I understand that in 1800 such a thing might not be possible but if simultaneous towns or better yet colonies can be managed i think that would make it much more interesting as it requires more planning since the travel speeds aren’t as high as one would hope in the era… and that (travel speeds for commercial purposes) should also be focused on in the game.

    a long time anno fan Xenitharian.

  20. t thesponsduke

    Hello dev and the rest!

    I wanted to say im very excited to see this feedback on the feedback ๐Ÿ™‚ I think its very positive to see al this good ideas and i get a good feeling as a returning player ๐Ÿ™‚

    Cheers from your neighbor! Aka, holland ๐Ÿ˜€

  21. j joe_zavala

    Welcome Anno developers ๐Ÿ™‚ I will definitely buy your game and look forward to a wonderful collectible edition with gold edition ๐Ÿ™‚ I am your constant fan – I greet you

    Tomasz Garczyล„ski (Poland)

    • B BB_CR

      Hi Tomasz, dziฤ™kujฤ™ bardzo! We are always happy to see that Anno has its fans all across the globe ๐Ÿ™‚

  22. U Underp4ntz

    About gaining new players i understand that. but you can add a “casual” mode / tutorial for those players so they can learn the mechanics (or make short videos). The problem with gaming nowadays is they are tooo casual and dev’s need to spoon-fed every player… I remember 1602 I struggled a lot but i did not mind it. it was a sort of challenge for me and already have over 11k+ Hours in Anno 1404 + Venice and 2070 + Deep Ocean.

    Even for 1404 I thought it was casual on a long term since we ran a multiplayer session for 2 days straight without sitting behind the PC and everything was setup perfectly so the economy of the game was running on itself.

    watering down / make a game casual is a bad thing. This happens with every game nowadays and its a bad thing (but a good thing for money).

    • E EricCartman3470

      You are completely right. I think Anno 1404 and 2070 were casual enough – you were able to start an easy endless game(with many resources, etc.), having one of the harmless Jorgensens as NPC. The players were able to learn about the production trees in the same speed they were able to gain population, as the complexity of the trees increased with the next population class.
      On the other hand, if you were already experienced and you want something challenging, you can either play against other players or you made your own endless game with limited resources and hard enemies. In the late game you were forced to use the space of your islands efficient what made it even more challenging. I loved building complex space efficient production layouts.

      I hope Anno 1800 will include the same challenge of space management but also possibilities to make beautiful cities, with decoration.
      Personally, I liked the challenge of power production and enviromental balance in 2070 – I hope that there will be similar challenges in 1800.

  23. d djakob1

    Anno 2205 and the anno games before were very different, does this mean that Anno 1800 is going to be a bit more like 2070 and those before?

    • B BelannaerTV

      Image I got from Bastion was that they are taking a step back towards the older ones while keeping the best parts of the Anno 2205 and fixing problems of both ๐Ÿ™‚

You may also be interested in