2 years and waiting

Read all my posts in this thread...do you really think I'm asking them to rush the game? I'm defending them taking their time.

 

No promise was made that Unity would allow anything to be built rapidly.. which in itself is relative. It just means Portalarium didn't have to build their own engine.

Here's the problem I'm having with comparing Shroud to other industries and such.. first.. in the case of other industries.. they're not the same to begin with.. but when you start a project and pick a date you have to stick to.. and correct me if I'm wrong here.. but you have a fixed budget and a fixed time frame and fixed goals and who knows what else that is already known before your delivery date is finalized. Shroud doesn't have that. There is no fixed budget here.. no one holding the purse strings saying "must launch no later than for X, Y and Z" and most of the game wasn't even designed until after KS.

If you're going to hold someone to standards that don't apply to their situation you're just setting yourself up for the disappointment.

 

SotA coming in 2020. jk, at this point what's another year. It will be here soon™.

 

As I've said a few times, I expected them to get the game out near when they said they would.
I've learned that it was a mistake.
I still think they should be able to estimate when they could release the game, if they would lock down the scope.
But it is evident they aren't going to do that, so as I've also said a couple of times, I am waiting.

Again, the question asked was if we thought we'd have the game by now.

 

And I'm only questioning the comparison as Unseen saw fit to support it by quoting me.. then you chimed in again so.. here we are.

 

I don't agree with more money = more features in ep1. If additional funds were made past their base requirement, they could be applied to further polishing the initial set of planned features, ensuring that the best possible game within the scope that was originally pitched went out, on schedule. Money beyond that could be invested in future episodes, and building a clear plan for what features will be going into those episodes, based on their desires + customer feedback. This could have built them a reputation of reliability (reliable in what will be created, when its released, quality of work, etc) that would help them with any additional funding needed for the ep 2-5 that were promised.

I am not in the industry, but I did have the impression when I pledged that they would operate similarly to other businesses, and I thought they did have a game design, and they did state a planned release date. Perhaps that was an incorrect assumption to make. So my answer to the OP question is, yeah, I did think that EP 1 would have been completed and we'd be closing in on EP 2 by now. But I have no ill feelings about things being different from my expectation because I like the team and I made priceless friends over the past couple of years.

 

Didn't they recently say something along the lines of "we'll release when our backers say we are ready"? Kinda makes it seem like they haven't a clue as to when the game will be finished, and sounds a little like they want to pass off the responsibility of deciding when it is. Not a great sign.

Just want to point out how ridiculous that kind of statement is and how far it shows we still have to go. I'd say beta around end of next year and release the year after, and probably very late that year.

And yeah, using Unity was supposed to make this faster, and indeed it has since the time it would take to make an engine from scratch is about 4 years and alot more considering their size. 4+ years for just the engine, not even counting having to fix countless bugs with the engine on their own, so its undeniable that Unity will make this dev cycle MUCH faster. Still doesn't excuse their inability to give a new detailed estimate, especially when this whole thing is supposed to have transparency for the backers. If they have no idea when it will be done they should say it, not say silly things like "it's up to the backers".

 

No, it took 5 yrs to develop UO and this game is far more complex...

 

Finally, someone mentions PFO; I was about to. One of the biggest problems that PFO had was that they tried sticking to the timeline they outlined in the Kickstarter (and they likely had to do that due to financial reasons - it is presumed that they lost a key investor soonafter the KS). In any event, they moved from Pre-Alpha --> Alpha --> "Early Enrollment" (Paid/monthly Beta access, really). And I personally believe that the game is still only Alpha-like quality.

Granted, these days, the terms are all kinda mudded-up. Alpha used to imply internal testing only, and Beta was more-or-less a bug-hunting/polishing effort. These days, with Kickstarters and crowd-funding methods, the players have come to expect these kinds of early-access, and to be able to participate in the creation process.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it definitely changes the meanings of "Alpha" and "Beta" as we know them.

From the sounds of what the others are saying in this thread, it was less than 5 years. However, you are correct that this game (and really ... any online-enabled OR 3D game since then) is going to be far more complex, and will require more resources and/or more time. In most cases both.

 

trust me, we are going to see this project come together like an Amish barn

 

Hope they have wi-fi in the nursing home when that happens.

 

Well just my 2c...

Many people launch into projects (especially huge ones) with great plans and expectations. Then the difficulties crop up, things are more complicated than they initially seemed, and projects run over time and budget. In the construction industry (especially with government contracts) a year or two overtime and triple budget is about the norm

Portalarium started with a plan. Then they chose to share the development with the community (great idea, IMHO).

The community said
We want jumping and swimming in the game!
We want radio (Avatars Radio, aether vibration amplifier)
We want lots of other things...
We love POTs - we want 'em .....lots of 'em......

So the devs took time to incorporate many or most of these requests to make the game even better. And dear oh dear, this delayed the launch!! Tragedy!!

Also, Unity 5 came on the scene. Devs think "If we migrate to Unity 5, the product will be much much better....."
So more time "wasted"

As I look at the game and its development I see a dedicated (small) team that is determined to deliver the best product possible, in close, constructive, two-way consultation with the stakeholders (us). And I recall with horror the Ultimas that were pushed out the door too early because EA said "You will deliver on time or else!!"

I would love to see the finished product, especially as it will be permanent, with no more wipes. But in the meantime I am having a ball playing the monthly releases - it feels like a game already!

Devs: Please do NOT release until the game is ready! And don't be pressured by anyone!

 

My playstyle is a bit different. I am an in character role player. I am waiting for the story so I can fit it into the lore. Unfortunatly the lore will not be shown to us until launch. I have not fought the troll, or the dragon, or anything else because I am waiting. I do not use teamspeak unless I have to, I do not want to listen to real life stuff. So I am just hanging out waiting for launch.

 

That is really the key. I would probably be a lot more comfortable if I knew why so many things have been added in over time. Quite honestly this is not the game I kickstarted and I lack the information from the team to actually determine for myself if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

So just like Sir Frank. I'm waiting.

 

x1000

 

Why the panic now of all times? The amount getting done per release is snowballing and beta/alpha is looking imminent. We had a tight focus on combat resulting in massive changes that most are happy about, now we are seeing the same for crafting. We have devs working 24/7 on wrapping up bugs (not just a bug report forum, devs logging in and asking "whats broken?"), mob loot getting added, pledge rewards being completed... right now just seems like a strange time to get frustrated about release dates.

 

I only wish I'd ever had this much fun in most of the games I played in the past! Can't wait till launch!

 

I cant wait either! I can't say its the most fun I have had though. I can only speak for myself. For an RPG game it sure is MMO now.

 

Speaking only for myself, I am not just now getting frustrated about release dates. I've been frustrated ever since they started this whole "nobody cares when we launch" junk. This post just gave me an excuse to vent a bit. The entire story driven RPG has been put on indefinite hold while we build an MMO that was not pitched in Kickstarter. "Even in its most MMO like state, it still isn't an MMO", Richard said. They're not saying that now.

 

Thank you.