Let Down Again

[TheMaestro]

Several websites are not posting the release is beying delayed to 1/16/03 in USA.

From August...to November...to December...to January.

Back to Dark Age of Camelot.

[Sarxis]

Links.

[PriestOfDiscord]

People complain when a game is released too quick and is a bug hive.
Now people complain that a company wants to start out publishing a refined product even before it releases the first patch...as taking too long.

Some people just want to complain for the sake of complaining, I think.

[Corentor]

I really really wish people would stop whining about a game being delayed. Especially when it is clear that it is to make the game as stable and as bugfree as possible.

These retards whining right now that the date keeps getting pushed back are the same retards that will be flaming and demanding patches had the game been released sooner is a less polished state.

I used to slam companies for releasing shoddy products, but I mean, WTF? its lose lose for them. Release the game buggy, they get crapped on, release the game late to fix ****, they get crapped on.

Give it a rest already.

I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather they keep me waiting now when I HAVEN'T SPENT A DIME rather than release it, have me plunk down money for it and then sit there and wait for a freakin patch.

[wervdon]

The only january date ive seen so far is ebworld.com's, and well Ive already posted the email I got from eb about my pre-order status back when it was moved from dec 4th to the 17th on their site, and they flat out said the publisher told them nothing and its their best guess.

This is very likely no different, all the january dates now mean is that the publishers have either decided they can't/won't make it by whatever date they had listed (the 17th of dec for eb) based on either a guess or their knowledge of how long it takes to go from gold to their stores, or just a flat out guess. Or dec 17th (and christmas in particular) is getting too close to be comfortable to them to have listed as the "date" when it was just a guess to start with.

So all they are really saying "We don't think its going to come out between now and what we had listed before, but we definately feel safe with saying it'll make it before january 16th" (which happens to be their old guess + a month).

Which is a safe assumption if you think about it. Im not even in the business and just based on the "very soon" on the official website, id guess anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks from now as a street date depending on if very soon means gold Monday or if it means gold within 2 weeks

[kalbear]

This is a standard CYA ploy in the industry. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

A company is coming up to x-mas. There will be people ordering presents for their loved ones, who are counting on those things being delivered by a set time. If that company cannot absolutely guarantee that those products will be out, they should likely tell the customer that they won't likely be out, and err on the side of post-xmas. That way they'll keep their customers happy, in theory.

Basically, Moo3 has missed the xmas window for all but the most dedicated. Not that it'll matter all that much; I doubt very seriously that it'll dent overall sales by a significant factor, though it might eat into early sales a bit.

[Kc7mxo]

Come on, can you tell me you this actually caught you off guard?

This game has been delayed many many times. I personally no longer pay attention. Its hard at first, I know, but oh well. Its probably better that I don't have it, as I still need to finish programming my minix shell and serial port control system for one of my comp sci classes, and finish building my apache for my opengl class. :-)

Not to mention finals.

Moo3 will be out when its out, and I won't believe its been released until I'm playing it.

[Sherlock01]

Yes, it would be nice if they could get it out earlier. But I'm with (most) everyone in rather having a great game that doesn't get all wiggy on me, which is the seventh most annoying thing in the universe.

Oh well. I'll just dust off something I haven't played in a year or two - SimCity 3000. Build a nice town and burn it to the ground in a fit of despotic rage when the citizens dare to ask for lower taxes. That'll keep me occupied until MOO3 finally descends from on high.

[Randolph]

I wonder if all the people saying “do you want it done now or do you want it done right?” have the same attitude for their own work?

Do you tell you boss/professor “stop whining about me not having the report ready, if you don’t want me to give you a piece of crap you’ll just have to wait patently”? I really don’t see why we (the consumer) can’t expect something to be on time and done right.

Sure I would prefer late than done poorly, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t screwed up by being late. At work and school I’ve always been expected to have things done both on time and correctly, I see no reason why I shouldn’t be able to expect the same.

[Unspeakable Horror]

If they release it in 17/1/03 it will be for my birthday! QS

[Don K Hotay]

Originally posted by Randolph
I wonder if all the people saying “do you want it done now or do you want it done right?” have the same attitude for their own work?

Do you tell you boss/professor “stop whining about me not having the report ready, if you don’t want me to give you a piece of crap you’ll just have to wait patently”? I really don’t see why we (the consumer) can’t expect something to be on time and done right.

Sure I would prefer late than done poorly, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t screwed up by being late. At work and school I’ve always been expected to have things done both on time and correctly, I see no reason why I shouldn’t be able to expect the same.

Yeah, you know what, in the real world (in the working world) things have to be done right AND on time. Many master's and phD candidates assign themselves deadlines to present their thesis and/or research, and the their work is only as good as sticking to the schedule of presenting what they've done over the last so many months or years. Its important, then, when doing extraordinary work to post a reasonable presentation date. Lets say that Ford or GM envision an entirely fuel efficient, revolutionary car. How often are they allowed to pushback the release date on such a car before the consumer's begin losing faith!!! This company has done nothing but fouled things up from the very beginning, in terms of PR. I mean, do I have to spell it out? DON"T MAKE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT RELEASE UNTIL YOU"RE DAMN SURE ITS READY

Quixote

[TheMaestro]

At least this forum proves ignorance is bliss.

The Computer gaming industry is not the same as real life, they get paid 85,000$ to make and play a game. While police officers get paid 35,000-40,000 to get shot at and deal with ******.

So don't try and say, "but...but it's there job to do it right! The next person who complains I'll laugh at cause I get my thrills like that online."

As consumers, it is not only our right to disagree with what a company does, but our obligation to do so.

Delaying a game proves nothing, and the majority of bugs will always be there -- they don't find them all by playtesting 25 people...they find it by selling 250,000 copies, and have 250,000 people tell them, "Hey -- this is broken."

Take NWN for example, Bioware finally said, "It's not bug-free, but the longer we delay the less we get done. So we'll ship it now, and work with the people and what they think."

The fans, the people who PAY the money have every right to say what they want. Freedom of speech is paramount, if you don't like it try living somewhere that doesn't have it.

If there are bugs present in the game, that they JUST found, they won't magically fix them in one month. And if you think they can -- why didn't they discover these bugs before? It's not as if they started the game last year --

Ask yourself this, what would you prefer? Playing a game with a couple bugs over X-Mas break, or waiting more months to get a game...and you have to admit it, 90% of you couldn't find a bug in a game if you tried.

[Don K Hotay]

I agree a hundred percent Maestro. Though I look forward to the day where a game released is bugless, none of us should strain our eyes too hard, because it will probably never happen, especially games that at the level of MOO3 (I hope that the level of MOO3 is worth mentioning). I think the bug that we've been told about is pretty serious, to the effect that it makes a whole part of the game unplayable (multiplayer) because you can't save games.

I'm just saying that having updated us all along the way with so much, its only fair that towards the end, with the finish line so near, that we get more frequent updates....for no other reason than they themselves have proclaimed gold status to be really close.

Quixote

[PriestOfDiscord]

Bloody hell, I'm looking forward to it myself but it is just a game. Riots will not occur if it misses it's deadlines. Gain some perspective, man.

[wervdon]

85,000$ Maybe some do, but Ive always heard that salaries in game programming is less than elsewhere in the industry, especially starting out. As in closer to 35k than 85k.