Process for Writing Character Ability Descriptions
This is part question and part feedback - but the two are inextricably tied together so I am posting here.
The written descriptions for abilities are often ambiguous, and sometimes even inaccurate. Some of the advanced players have the ability to look at the psuedo-code descriptions to understand how abilities work rather than the written in-game description. The average player cannot access this psuedo-code let alone understand it.
An example is the 50RT ability Sabacc Shuffle below:
in-game wording:
"Deal Physical damage to all enemies 3 times and inflict Defense Down for 2 turns. At the start of battle if all allies are non-Separatist Droids, this attack has a 60% chance to inflict Target Lock and will remove 10% Turn Meter for each instance of damage (max 30%). Additionally, allies gain 10% Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter each time this ability is used."
Anyone with a reasonable grasp of language would read that as the middle sentence, "At the start of..." being limited by the 'all allies being non-Separatist droids'. So this limitation would apply to 60% target lock and 10% tm removal. The last sentence starts with "Additionally,..." but it is unclear whether that means in addition to the middle sentence limitation, or in addition to all of the abilities in that paragraph, for which the limitation doesn't necessarily apply.
The pseudo code (available in swgoh.gg and shown below) reveals that the context is undefined, so the 10% offense gain gets skipped if not all allies are sep droids.
Therefore, the description would be MUCH clearer, if it read like this:
"Deal Physical damage to all enemies 3 times and inflict Defense Down for 2 turns.
Also, if at the start of battle all allies are non-Separatist Droids:
- this attack has a 60% chance to inflict Target Lock.
- this attack removes 10% Turn Meter for each instance of damage (max 30%).
- allies gain 10% Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter each time this ability is used."
This version is MUCH clearer that the all of those actions are contingent on all allies being non-sep droids.
There have been issues with the Bane description as well as many others.
What is the process your technical writers use to construct the descriptions? Do they review the psedo-code or at least the requirements AND then have the related engineer(s) review those descriptions for accuracy? From reading the bug reports, I know that a lot of perceived issues would be preempted by having better written descriptions so people knew exactly what to expect in the game.
Having experience with managing technical writers and writing requirements, I know the value of setting customer expectations properly. This often reduces time and cost in the support and community outreach departments. It also engenders better user sentiment, which translates to increased revenue - if you are looking for the business case.
The written descriptions for abilities are often ambiguous, and sometimes even inaccurate. Some of the advanced players have the ability to look at the psuedo-code descriptions to understand how abilities work rather than the written in-game description. The average player cannot access this psuedo-code let alone understand it.
An example is the 50RT ability Sabacc Shuffle below:
in-game wording:
"Deal Physical damage to all enemies 3 times and inflict Defense Down for 2 turns. At the start of battle if all allies are non-Separatist Droids, this attack has a 60% chance to inflict Target Lock and will remove 10% Turn Meter for each instance of damage (max 30%). Additionally, allies gain 10% Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter each time this ability is used."
Anyone with a reasonable grasp of language would read that as the middle sentence, "At the start of..." being limited by the 'all allies being non-Separatist droids'. So this limitation would apply to 60% target lock and 10% tm removal. The last sentence starts with "Additionally,..." but it is unclear whether that means in addition to the middle sentence limitation, or in addition to all of the abilities in that paragraph, for which the limitation doesn't necessarily apply.
The pseudo code (available in swgoh.gg and shown below) reveals that the context is undefined, so the 10% offense gain gets skipped if not all allies are sep droids.
Therefore, the description would be MUCH clearer, if it read like this:
"Deal Physical damage to all enemies 3 times and inflict Defense Down for 2 turns.
Also, if at the start of battle all allies are non-Separatist Droids:
- this attack has a 60% chance to inflict Target Lock.
- this attack removes 10% Turn Meter for each instance of damage (max 30%).
- allies gain 10% Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter each time this ability is used."
This version is MUCH clearer that the all of those actions are contingent on all allies being non-sep droids.
There have been issues with the Bane description as well as many others.
What is the process your technical writers use to construct the descriptions? Do they review the psedo-code or at least the requirements AND then have the related engineer(s) review those descriptions for accuracy? From reading the bug reports, I know that a lot of perceived issues would be preempted by having better written descriptions so people knew exactly what to expect in the game.
Having experience with managing technical writers and writing requirements, I know the value of setting customer expectations properly. This often reduces time and cost in the support and community outreach departments. It also engenders better user sentiment, which translates to increased revenue - if you are looking for the business case.
