Not sure who this gentleman is, other than he used to be a game developer. He brings up some interesting issues and facts about the strategy of releasing unpolished mmo's. Not just AoC, but most mmo's that fall victim to this trap. http://www.massively.com/2008/07/03/ask-massively-be-careful-what-you-ask-for/  SWG was a big violator of releasing too early..  Anyway, thought some might like to read it.

He is so right... lets have movies that are too expensive released with a bad audio track, or missing scenes because.. well they ran out of money. Or cars with some gears not working or three wheels. We have to understand the problems the companies have. And pay and make them rich

Definitly interesting artical, but it's a shame that i feel not everyone will understand it. I already just saw the first reply.

Originally posted by altairzq

He is so right... lets have movies that are too expensive released with a bad audio track, or missing scenes because.. well they ran out of money. Or cars with some gears not working or three wheels. We have to understand the problems the companies have. And pay and make them rich

Yeah, it sure brings up and interesting debate. How is it, this one of the few industries that can get away with making a profit on an incomplete product. What's even more interesting, why do some hand over their hard earned money for a product that is half-assed?   I'm guilty!  however, it can't be avoided when dealing with computer software.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Definitly interesting artical, but it's a shame that i feel not everyone will understand it. I already just saw the first reply.

I probably should have posted it in 'general" not to single out AoC , but all mmo's in general.  It's kinda a rhetorical question also, that we pay for something that is not complete.. but that's the nature of the beast when it involves comuter programs.

I read it all. It was interesting.

Originally posted by airborne519

   however, it can't be avoided when dealing with computer software.

Sure it can.

It's always been my rule to not play MMO's when they are released. Even ones that get good reviews, because they all get good reviews and the reviews are always BS.

I did pay for AOC at release though because I work with some impatient types and we play these games together and now they know better. I will also buy Warhammer but thats only because it's Mythic and I've played DAOC since Mid 2002, about 6 months after release. That was one of the few MMO's released without 1000000 bugs and instability issues.

Nice article, shame he didnt bring up the more serious issues like missing out features and content on release. They cant go under bugs since they dont fail to work, they dont exist yet. Else I can agree on that Funcom released it at a good time to try and maximize profit cause lack of competition. Problem is just that they lied about what would be ingame at release and wasnt and alot still isnt.

Originally posted by airborne519

Originally posted by Reklaw

Definitly interesting artical, but it's a shame that i feel not everyone will understand it. I already just saw the first reply.

 

I probably should have posted it in 'general" not to single out AoC , but all mmo's in general.  It's kinda a rhetorical question also, that we pay for something that is not complete.. but that's the nature of the beast when it involves comuter programs.

Nah.....this is a good topic and intresting, he does cover mostly AoC so it's pefectly alright to see it in this section. Just wish/hope that people would actualy read AND understand what is been said in that articel.

Originally posted by lolhahaha

Originally posted by airborne519

   however, it can't be avoided when dealing with computer software.

Sure it can.

It's always been my rule to not play MMO's when they are released. Even ones that get good reviews, because they all get good reviews and the reviews are always BS.

I did pay for AOC at release though because I work with some impatient types and we play these games together and now they know better. I will also buy Warhammer but thats only because it's Mythic and I've played DAOC since Mid 2002, about 6 months after release. That was one of the few MMO's released without 1000000 bugs and instability issues.

You dont seem to follow your rules very often mate.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Originally posted by airborne519

Originally posted by Reklaw

Definitly interesting artical, but it's a shame that i feel not everyone will understand it. I already just saw the first reply.

 

I probably should have posted it in 'general" not to single out AoC , but all mmo's in general.  It's kinda a rhetorical question also, that we pay for something that is not complete.. but that's the nature of the beast when it involves comuter programs.

 

Nah.....this is a good topic and intresting, he does cover mostly AoC so it's pefectly alright to see it in this section. Just wish/hope that people would actualy read AND understand what is been said in that articel.

I have read it and do understand it. But why should i trust in a blogger on the net ?

This is all nice talking but one of the biggest time and money sink are bad/outdated developing methods.

Look at stack sizes. Why does almost any game has to patch stack sizes after release ? Any database designer knows that a stack of 10.000 is the same as a stack of 5. Its one record, but two stacks of 5 are two records. The database interface and backend of an mmo is nowadays one of the critcal bottlenecks. Loot lag anyone ? Still devs release games with placeholder stacks of 5. It doesnt cost money or time to just release with a freaking stack size of 99 per default. Does it ?

The same with icons. Yeah i know, two different dev teams. Still, cant they come up with a system that makes sure that at least 98% of all items have the right icons from start and not placeholders ? I bet i could.

Ofc a game needs some artistic freedom and room for changes. But its such a waste to fix things by going through endless iterations. Things that could have been done right the first time. That would save iteration cycles for the real problems.

Originally posted by huxflux2004

Originally posted by lolhahaha

Originally posted by airborne519

   however, it can't be avoided when dealing with computer software.

Sure it can.

It's always been my rule to not play MMO's when they are released. Even ones that get good reviews, because they all get good reviews and the reviews are always BS.

I did pay for AOC at release though because I work with some impatient types and we play these games together and now they know better. I will also buy Warhammer but thats only because it's Mythic and I've played DAOC since Mid 2002, about 6 months after release. That was one of the few MMO's released without 1000000 bugs and instability issues.

 

You dont seem to follow your rules very often mate.

lol, at least he is not naive and knows the score, unlike a lot of trolls you find on the AoC forums!