Release Date Pressure - Selfmade - Take away some Steam

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Go ahead and postpone for a year, that's fine with me. Please definitely deliver a robust, finished, polished product.

I would be happy to just play these monthly releases and the Beta, till the game is really ready, even if it means waiting till the end of 2015. That also allows more time for the Unity upgrade, which I think this game will benefit from.

I agree with the posts that say just keep the game in Hidden Vale, for a couple more months, to get the programming mechanics solid.

 

As long as the ever-growing backer community keeps funding the game for however long it takes to make a highly polished complete Episode 1, then I don't see Portalarium rushing out any release. They, as much as anyone, care about the quality of the game as well.

Funding is going very well and the team is growing. So as long as those funding levels can be sustained, it's now really just a question of time to do everything they committed to, including all the stretch goals, by the end of 2014. And if they need to delay, they'll be fine financially for a little while post-2014. Worst case, split Episode 1 in half like Broken Age did and you can still have a high quality game.

 

I'd rather see them delay by 6 months and launch with a complete game. After playing R5 and seeing the deliverables that were missed I'm pretty sure an October release date is very ambitious.

The team are doing a great job, I just think they need more time!

 

I don't think the game should be postponed.

First of all, when working as a team, it is useful to have a "goal date" in mind.

People work harder when they know they only have a certain time to meet a bar, basic psychology.

It's not like the game will be finished at this time; Just ready to be persistent and a game.

There will likely never be a time where it is "finished". Well, when the money runs out and game is shut down of course.

 

I agree. I believe they'll get to a point where most of the systems are in place and mostly finished. The world will become persistent, playable 24 hours a day, and nothing will get wiped. And they may announce to the world that something good has been made and people should come and visit. And there will be some patches adding content and what not and one day they will pronounce that we have a version 1, playable game. And people should see what we've done. And that's how I think crowd funding and indie development is likely to evolve differently from producer developed finished and ready to be published games models.

 

That would be great if it wasn't promised to actually be a story line game...they have to have that part done before saying "here it is".

 

SotA will be judged as it is presented on the day called "release day." It wasn't advertised as a game that will start bare bones and have features added as time permits, while people are actively playing. It was advertised to have a set of [x] multiplayer type features and a 40 hour storybased plot/questline. If any of that is missing, and if people pay $25-50 and then log in to an unfinished world ("unfinished" based on the criteria they laid out in KS) on the day they say "go!", it will be called a failure and it will ruin funding attempts for the next episodes. This model allows for new features to be added easily after launch - which is awesome- but those should be -additional- features that build upon the core set that was advertised... they really can't say "OK world, here it is!" without most of the key components and features that are intended to be there.

If Shroud is going to be reviewed and possibly criticized, it should at least be based on its actual features... it would be an awful shame to put in all this work and have people pissed off and bash the game because it's just not done when they open the gates. It's not easy to recover from that, many people will remember that failure and it won't be easy to get them back to give it all a second chance later.

 

Chris stated the they didn 't make progress on the 3D map fast enough which could be an indication that they are unter some kind of pressure...

 

Couldn't agree more, do not rush a release just because you set an arbitrary date over a year ago. I want a solid game first, if I have to wait till next summer so be it. I want to enjoy this game for years, so waiting a bit longer for a stronger release is so important.

 

Gameplay is king NOT release schedules.

Look, I think at this point we need to talk to the developers as a matter of urgency over exactly where the game is going, I for one am prepared to wait and let them develop the best game they can as opposed to an unplayable mess consisting of contemptible maps, broken combat and a boring experience.

 

There is a difficult situation developing. IMO it is critical to launch the single player offline game close to promised launch date. It must be polished, and offer a suitable number of hours of gameplay. Unfortunately the money to support this launch comes mainly from people interested in online play. It is a ticklish situation. The money flow is from online interested people now, but will be from offline people later. I think the best and honest solution is to get the offline mode done. All needed resources should be allocated thus. The online and multiplayer people can wait a little longer, and they will get a much better game if the offline standalone is up and running, providing cash for proper development.

 

Exactly this, they need to do this right the first time. If the game launches badly it is unlikely to recover even if over several months things are "fixed" If they can make the October date with a solid game then that is great. I just think looking at the state of the game now that is highly unlikely to happen.

 

I'm not sure if you are aware how this game works....the single player(playable both online and offline) is tied into the rest of the game. The money flow at the moment isn't just from the online people, it's from people who want both. The game won't stand up as an offline only game with a ton of features missing.

 

Hmmm. Perhaps I don't understand, as you say. I am under the impression that the offline mode is a standalone adventure. You can finish it without ever updating it with player data and results from the online game. Hence my assumption that the offline mode needs to be complete and polished before issue. The online mode can be updated and improved at intervals to be determined. It is expected. But who that buys a game for offline play expects to have to update, upgrade and have unknown players in another universe alter his progression to the end? If anyone can point me to evidence that single player offline is dependent on online developments, please do. I would appreciate it.

 

The offline isn't really...but if you do the offline why not do the online as well since it is the exact same game.

 

I have no problem if Portalarium needs more time beyond October 2014 to get the game completed. These monthly alpha/beta tests will keep me satisfied. I would rather have a complete Episode 1 and wait for it. @RichardGarriott take all of the time you guys need.

 

Immersion. Seeing twenty thrones of bones in every courtyard is really not how I imagine a "normal" looking town...

 

Why do I have no idea what you are talking about. That has nothing to do with what i said.

 

After seeing how some people decorated the courtyards of their houses I think that I stick to single player offline. So single player online and single player offline offer different gaming experiences in terms of immersion. Therefore both modes can be different.

 

There were a few things they didn't implement in R5 that they said would be in, but i they seem to be sticking to their schedule pretty well.


October isn't far away really though, just a few months of warm weather in the northern hemisphere. Think summer holidays less time for work. And i think you really need to have a good polished game when it receives its first reviews. There is so many games out and coming out, always something new to attract attention nowadays, for people to not give SotA a chance if the initial reviews aren't favorable. So i don't mind at all waiting a few more months if that's required to get a game most are happy with out of the door. I know lots can be added after release and i would play whatever the state of release, but to attract others with a feature rich and polished game i think if more time is needed so be it.

Personally id like the game to come out for at least Christmas this year, another 2 months of polish would help alot. If they decided to extend development a year i wouldn't be unhappy though, but i would maybe like to have access to offline mode with maybe no story so we can have a fiddle in that time, that would be nice.