[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Aradune Mithara

Boats, player owned ships, pirates, ever increasing AI complexity, etc. are all going in right now or have been in.

Perfect! So I can expect that when the game goes live. Last I had heard as of 6 weeks ago, talk was that these features were not going to make release.

Right now we're adjusting wind speeds, tweaking travel time between Thestra and Qalia, fixing a few bugs when ships travel between server regions, etc. Tweaking and smashing bugs, not implementing core systems.

How about advanced housing?

I've watched beta testers sail up and down the river outside of Tursh. I've seen the AI using water pathing to move an NPC driven boat (e.g. pirates) displayed to me by the programmer working on it. Under no circumstances are they going anywhere but into this game by launch (and not just by launch, but people will be sailing them between continents and through archipelagos in the next phase of beta).

Great! I expect to see it in launch.

Lastly, flying mounts are something we plan to do for sure after launch, but may possibly get in before launch, but no promises. I have been crystal clear about managing these expectations on our message boards and elsewhere.

Can you point me in the direction of where that was stated other then right here and now, and not on a beta board?

You exhibit a fundamental misunderstanding here between implementing a system and then later tweaking it based on feedback from beta and completely starting from scratch and throwing out everything that existed before.

I completely understand the differences. When I hear you have maybe 100 people tops out of roughly 3,000 people actually caring to log in, then you hear the word combat/class revamp, with beta forums being a complete and utter complaint fest, just what do you think anyone with the IQ over 50 will think?

It seems as if there is no in-between for you, that a system is either implemented perfectly the first time or if that fails, a completely new system must be created from scratch to replace the old. This is patently false.

When you have to take people off task for God knows how long to work on poor design decisions, while your lawyer already came in to talk about cut features of which no one has a concrete number because it will hurt future sales, threatening "immature" gamers for breaking an NDA in which most everyone that is doing it has really said nothing positive about the game, and that being scapegoated by saying the "Mature" NDA abiding players understand (which one look at your beta forums will tell you otherwise), it's just a flat out shitty thing to do. Then take that with two of the most valuable designers you had gone like a fart in the wind, one of which was responsible for the coolest quest EQ ever had, another for some of the best zones and storyline content ever created, one can only wonder what in the fuck is going on.

MMOGs are so complex, with so many variables interacting with each other, that until you have at least hundreds of people using multiple systems at the same time, you cannot simulate much of the feedback you really need (despite attempts to use automation, bots, etc. to help with some of these issues). Others still require thousands and a full server/world/shard.

I completely understand that point. My posting does not dispute that either. Scan my history and I will be saying the same exact thing about not being able to simulate a live server load.

Did it in EQ, and doing it in Vanguard.

Yeah. That worked well.

We’ve no intention to launch a game before it’s ready.

Too bad you didn't hold that same mindset with the Velious expansion and an unfinished Sleeper's tomb combined with a completely unfinished Plane of Mischief. Finishing that on customer dollars 6 months later and purposely breaking content to do so (In this case the 4th warder buff)

Will that mean that the game is ‘done’? It depends on how you look at it.

How about you promise your customers this. Tell them the content in the game will be finished on release, so when they get there, they are not stalled out with some cockblock. Solidify the zone design, mob population, zone access, etc., and when the game ships, honestly be able to say that you will be fixing bugs, and adding content. Instead of finishing a half assed zone that wasn't complete on release.

The beauty of MMORPG's is that it is a living breathing world filled with room for growth and continued added content and changes. Just remember this time, unlike last time with EQ, it doesn't give you the right to release unfinished shit in a box because you have a live patching process and a long leveling curve which will give your designers an extra 3 months to finish an expansion banking on players not reaching the content before anyone knows it was never in to begin with.

The key, however, is that we never promised player driven flying mounts as a component of Vanguard that would be available by launch. So an MMOG is not only done when there is enough content and features and balance to make a compelling and fun game for your target audience at launch, but also when you’ve done your best to manage expectations… have done your best to make sure the features you felt were truly necessary are indeed there at launch and that while you’ve talked about future features or content, that if you are unsure as to when they’ll realistically be ready, that you are up front with your future playerbase about those items well before launching the game.

As long as that happens, I am fine with it. What I would suggest is an actual page listing some of the most important and awaited features in the game, and stuff that has been hyped for quite some time, and let the players know flat out, a month before release, if those features will make it into the game so they can know for sure. Either that, or lift the NDA 2 months before retail.

This shit got old last time, do you need us to lock a special little retard tag as your avatar so that everyone knows you ride the short bus?

And the last time you PM'd me to make sure I settled down because you said people here were busy kissing ass to get a job and those people were getting worried that the FOH boards would lose exposure. Let me clue you in, if you think that these people who design games and post here are going to quit because they feel threatened by me, and it will hurt people's chances who are busy kissing ass to get hired in the gaming industry, you need help.

My advice is quit kissing ass and speak your mind.