German v 'English' version of the game

  • This is very controversial.

    I recently compared both the German and English version, and while discussing the huge lagging behind of MissionChief, I spoke to someone who I'll not name. They said:


    I knew someone that worked for the dev. He said, "if the users knew how easy it actually was to implement new calls, they would riot at how little calls there are"

    So I took the time to further look into it. We are really lagging behind; though I am not exactly a web developer, I fail to see a way that this version can be so behind. It has been discussed before and I am aware it is controversial, but can we not get at least close the same level of features (as well as interaction on the Facebook / forum) that the German version has?


    Thanks.

    Hi, I'm Cameron.
    I cover the operational area of the West Midlands, Guernsey, Jersey, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the North West.


    Chief Operations Manager for AllianceUK.

  • It’s interesting because as far as I am aware Sebastian at least for the past few years has only ever been a one man band when it comes to his games with no one else working for him. Obviously I can’t confirm this.


    Sebastian will only do one update at a time whether that is part of a larger update or not and will specifically request that things are broken down. As for missions. Missions are done every Friday which is the same across all versions of the game as far as I am aware.


    I personally went through all missions that are in the German version and added them to the list of future missions for this game. Yes you can argue that the German version has more missions but there are also counter arguments to this. The German version is older and has had a lot more mission Fridays. Also you could just say “just bring the ones over and translate them”. Look at what happens with missions that may use uncommon phrasing, terminology or maybe something that is not considered an emergency in the US that is considered one in Germany. People don’t like it (cladding mission).


    It isn’t as simple as just taking code from one and putting it into the other. This is completely possible but it has to fit into a US theme and be correctly translated.


    Also talking about features rather than missions. Again there are features in the German version that would have no place in the US version such as THW.


    If the German version has a feature that isn’t in MC but you (and others) would like to see, post it here, get community feedback on it and if people like it as a community then we can go about asking Sebastian if he will allow us to translate it and transfer it to this game.


    I would also argue that the comment about people rioting if they found out how easy things were is not accurate. Everything is easy to someone however not everyone will have coding knowledge. Large mobile games such as Clash of Clans is probably very easy coding as well. Everything is relative.


    The reason there is less Facebook interaction is because the moderation team for MC don’t have access to it unlike the German version where they do. I guess again this is down to the fact that the German version has been around longer so he has higher levels of trust in the team over there.


    You have to also consider Sebastian’s view on it. He mainly sees Facebook comments so when he sees comments asking for something and then when it is released moaning about it, and then it was fixed because they moaned about it they continue to moan about it, it becomes very disheartening and obviously I can’t speak for him but maybe he does feel that his work on this game is not appreciated so he doesn’t spend as much time on it as the German version. Just look at the amount of positive feedback the German version gets, people would rather give constructive criticism on the forums than slag it off.


    Finally I would like to say that we (the mod team) is pushing Sebastian harder than ever for mod updates, we are submitting content up to him sometimes every day and content has been coming out a lot quicker than when I first started playing however we can only go as fast as the developer will let us and in reality all we are are translators and messengers.

  • As an european player, I'm wondering if the main reason this version isn't just a copy-paste because "german emergency's are different to american" and other little things people might find non-relative, then why don't we translate the german version to our local languages (or english) so european players can play there?
    Since I've started playing I've wanted to play in my own country (Bulgaria), but since there aren't that many european alliances and players in here I just started in USA, and from my experience playing without an alliance is so bad and time consuming.

  • I would like to concur with TACRFan, and also highlight one specific point. We want to see updates as much as you do! The biggest issue is that Sebastian works at his own pace on some things. For example, at one time we pushed for a highly requested update that would have to be implemented in multiple sections (7 to be exact) and Sebastian requested that we table that update to focus on another aspect of the game. We compromised with him and proposed the update that was “teased” on the forum exclusives thread and then didn’t hear from him for about a week. After a week we asked again and he said he had not begun the update yet.


    Trust me when I say we (the Moderation Team) are your best advocates. While some of us (especially me) can get into little spats and be sarcastic, we pour our heart into improving this game for YOU guys, and even ourselves as fellow players! It is a frustrating position to be in because we can’t control when Sebastian decides to talk to us. That’s why it feels like we’re stalled right now with content updates. I can assure you that we have our bets interest in mind. We just constantly have to compromise to align US firefighting with a German Developer while still considering other English-speaking countries, and Sebastian doesn’t always understand that.

  • Quick question, what is THW?

    I would say the closest thing to THW in the US is FEMA.


    The are basically a federal civil defence agency however unlike FEMA they respond to a lot smaller incidents instead of major catastrophes such as hurricanes. The smaller incidents they attend would be attended by fire departments etc.


    This is a list of their capabilities off the wiki.


    Technical threat prevention

    • Area lighting
    • Clearing and blasting
    • Combating flooding and inundation
    • Search and rescue, and salvage
    • Water rescue

    Infrastructure technical support

    • Electricity supply
    • Emergency bridge work
    • Drinking water supply
    • Waste water disposal

    Command and communication, logistics

    • Catering and care of operational staff
    • Command center establishment and operation
    • Command support
    • Creation of temporary telecommunication systems
    • Establishment and operation of logistical bases
    • Maintenance of material, repair and maintenance work for mission equipment
    • Transportation of consumer goods for mission demands

    Technical support in the protection of the environment

    • Fighting against oil damage
    • Water analysis

    Provision of the population

    • Electricity and drinking water provision
    • Establishment and equipment of emergency accommodation and collecting points with matching infrastructure
    • Waste water disposal

    Technical support

    • Diving
    • Makeshift road works
    • Maintenance of civil protection facilities such as emergency wells and shelters
    • Rescue from heights
    • Technical help on traffic routes
  • I think, the main reason for having those differences at vehicles and calls is the huge difference between german and US Emergency System. Just a simple reason with huge effect for the game.
    There is also a dutch Version it has more calls than missionchief but also less than leitstellenspiel. This is also because of a different emergency system and because of how old the game is.


    Yes, there may be feautures in leitstellenspiel that you may would like to see here but its the same the other way round. For example we are requesting this nice grey field in the alliance members list. It is in missionchief, it is in meldkamerspel but not in leitstellenspiel.


    I think Sebastian mainly goes after german community as it's his language so communicating is very easy.
    I don't know how much he knows dutch but probably he "ignores" dutch request the most.


    That's my point of view why we got those differences.


    Jan :)

  • This was probably the most well formed response I've seen - thank you for taking your time to write this. Though I do wish we could have (almost) everything the German game had, I understand why we can't. Cheers :)

    Hi, I'm Cameron.
    I cover the operational area of the West Midlands, Guernsey, Jersey, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the North West.


    Chief Operations Manager for AllianceUK.

  • Here might not be the correct place for this question. But is there a list of planned updates and missions being worked on? Like a Trello or something. That way, us players could see and follow along with what is planned and being worked on.

    This would be cool to see as well ^

    Hi, I'm Cameron.
    I cover the operational area of the West Midlands, Guernsey, Jersey, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the North West.


    Chief Operations Manager for AllianceUK.

  • Here might not be the correct place for this question. But is there a list of planned updates and missions being worked on? Like a Trello or something. That way, us players could see and follow along with what is planned and being worked on.

    Generally speaking, we don’t publish that list because it ruins the surprise and anticipation. However, I would refer you to the “Forum Exclusives” thread where we will drop hints at incoming updates.

  • Here might not be the correct place for this question. But is there a list of planned updates and missions being worked on? Like a Trello or something. That way, us players could see and follow along with what is planned and being worked on.

    Sebastian does not like such things as he will be obligated to actually do these features since the community thinks they can requested and force him then. Everything he does will shortly be announced beforehand.

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