Game development decisions to be more flexible going forward

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Arkah EMPstrike, May 19, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

    Messages:
    4,542
    Likes Received:
    8,100
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Soemthing I heard in chris' stream that was interesting is that they plan to make development for the game more flexible going forward.

    He said this means having more freedom to decide on-the-fly if a particular feature or bug needs to be picked up right now or prioritized for later, without adhering as tightly to their schedules.
     
  2. macnlos

    macnlos Avatar

    Messages:
    442
    Likes Received:
    1,310
    Trophy Points:
    43
    More flexible is code for we have to scrap everything we planned and do things as we can.
     
    StarLord, Hornpipe, GivenUp and 9 others like this.
  3. Scoffer

    Scoffer Avatar

    Messages:
    905
    Likes Received:
    2,651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Goodbye crafting specialisation....
     
  4. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

    Messages:
    4,542
    Likes Received:
    8,100
    Trophy Points:
    153
    According to what was said, there will continue to be planning, but it will not be adhered to at the cost of things that they think should take immediate priority.
     
  5. Jezebel Caerndow

    Jezebel Caerndow Avatar

    Messages:
    3,118
    Likes Received:
    7,912
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Classic scoffism :).
     
  6. Girlsname

    Girlsname Avatar

    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    532
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Oregon
    Hello Episode 2, this is Episode 1 calling, from the year 2069.

    Edit: lol
     
    Amelli, Beaumaris, arcdevil and 2 others like this.
  7. Astirian

    Astirian Avatar

    Messages:
    614
    Likes Received:
    1,494
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Someone's had their scoffee this morning!

    ..
    ...

    :D
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
    rebbieforever and Mac2 like this.
  8. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    3,333
    Likes Received:
    11,010
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Goodbye Episode 2 and more importantly, an Episode 1 Quest/Story Overhaul.
     
  9. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

    Messages:
    10,347
    Likes Received:
    24,869
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    United States
    Well flexible is good imo. I don't think popular upcoming systems should or will stop coming. Devs being more hands on in game should help to make systems better to include details that make them more fun. I'm sure specialization will still come in and it will come in even in a better form if devs work with players during the process to improve it right then and there.

    Much better than how things were developed before where things got added in then took years to make them anything people want to do or well many things it never happened like brewing. If this is the fun making time then let's bring it on.
     
    Daigoji Gai likes this.
  10. oplek

    oplek Avatar

    Messages:
    1,238
    Likes Received:
    3,017
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    More chaos! Less order!
     
    moko, Amelli and Daigoji Gai like this.
  11. GMDavros

    GMDavros Avatar

    Messages:
    290
    Likes Received:
    391
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Wish i'd heard that discussion. More freedom for whom to decide? Who do they consider the single product owner? If it comes down to anyone on the dev team deciding at any given moment, i don't see how it will make things better. They are operating in an agile framework. Agile delivery can be very powerful but if you cannibalize it for expediency it will be a straight up nightmare.

    Fenris
     
  12. Gravidy

    Gravidy Avatar

    Messages:
    257
    Likes Received:
    613
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    > "I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Dwight D. Eisenhower
     
  13. Daigoji Gai

    Daigoji Gai Avatar

    Messages:
    484
    Likes Received:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    NYC & CT
    Arkah, it is well known you are awesome, but you are performing a huge public service transcribing the goodies Chris seeds in his streams for those of us that occasionally have to miss them.

    Bravo good sir. You deserve a hug and a fruit basket!
     
  14. Daigoji Gai

    Daigoji Gai Avatar

    Messages:
    484
    Likes Received:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    NYC & CT

    I think a lot of people are overthinking this. This is just Jira re-priortization which takes a few clicks in Portfolio. Much ado about thing.
    They aren't being 100% beholden to currently defined tasks in their scope table to quickly address "low hanging fruit."
    [​IMG]
     
  15. Leinad Laurelwreath

    Leinad Laurelwreath Avatar

    Messages:
    253
    Likes Received:
    575
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Jaaanaford
    And will we get some information about how is this gonna change @Chris ?

    Spreading rumors and incomplete information in livestreams is not a good way to communicate.

    (Also thanks a lot @Arkah EMPstrike for your work on this!)
     
    Amelli likes this.
  16. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

    Messages:
    6,331
    Likes Received:
    12,109
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Seriously folks. If this would be a normal dev process you wouldn't even be privy of that kind of stuff. So don't blow it out of propotion.
     
  17. Scoffer

    Scoffer Avatar

    Messages:
    905
    Likes Received:
    2,651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    And this is exactly what worries me about the whole thing. Crafting is pretty much dead until specialisation comes in but it was scheduled for next release. With this model if you give one of developers a choice between making a blue muffin (3 hours work) or fixing crafting (1 month work) the low hanging fruit will always win and complete system changes will get re-priorritized into the great black void (Jira) never to be seen again.

    If there is no deadline or roadmap for certain features they will never get done.

    A much more sensible approach would be to stagger the releases and alternate what type of work is being done:
    R66 = Crafting changes
    R67 = non critical bug fixes, quality of life improvements and low hanging fruit
    R68 = New land / scenes for Episode 2
    R69 = bug fixes, etc etc
     
    Osiris3, Amelli, Gorthyn and 2 others like this.
  18. GMDavros

    GMDavros Avatar

    Messages:
    290
    Likes Received:
    391
    Trophy Points:
    28
    That was kind of my point. Sprint level prioritization/re-prioritization needs to be done by the Product Owner. Presumably the individual who has the overall vision of the product road map, not the individual developers in the scrum. Having said that, it's entirely up to Portalarium. It's their company, their product. I'm in no position to tell them how to run their shop.
     
  19. Daigoji Gai

    Daigoji Gai Avatar

    Messages:
    484
    Likes Received:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    NYC & CT
    That isn't necessarily the case. On the flip side you could argue 20 minute quick bug fixes can be overlooked with being solely focused on big updates and new features.
    You can find pros and cons with any process - no solution is a perfect fit for everything and the process needs to be tailored to the team skills and resources available.
    IMHO: Chris' videos over the past few weeks, as he squashes bugs and fixes things including on SATURDAYS, has provided compelling evidence this decision may work best for them. I say wait and see; it is not worth worrying about this change.
     
  20. Tiina Onir

    Tiina Onir Avatar

    Messages:
    1,103
    Likes Received:
    1,900
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Location:
    Bramble, South Paladis
    A proper Ep. 1 quest overhaul has never really been in the works as far as I can tell, and by "as far as I can tell" I mean I asked @Lord British about it during one of the panels at SotACon.
     
    Vladamir Begemot likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.