Wisdom and release dates

A7C7E7 · 03-09-2008, 03:40 PM

As you all know in the world of video games marketing can either make or break your product. Players and the community have been hopefully awaiting for JGE. I have just read that the release date has been moved from fall 2008 to spring 2009. I don't think that is a "Wise" move. As you all know there are a couple of space sims that are about to be released in this quarter and that in an attempt to stay competitive they might extend, patch, or modify their Multiplayer component to insure the relevance of their product. Necessity is the mother of invention. That might point towards a very difficult start for JGE. Especially if they can capture the player attention long enough as to snuff out any other competing products.
I think that there are 2 options Netdevil can do to avoid any trouble. They can either release it in December 2008 and offer future patches as to ease the hunger of anxious space sim players( Microsoft does this with great success with releases of most of their products) or they can widen and deepen the Beta experience by handing out more beta slots and making the beta larger, respectively.

Asylus Darkhand · 03-09-2008, 04:41 PM

I disagree with it being a 'not wise' move. Now; we as the consumers may dislike it; but the fact is- I would rather wait a little longer for a polished game at release than have them hurry too much and miss something- or worry about a buggy system at launch...

Also; as far as I know (and correct me if I am wrong...) but I never saw anyplace where they mentioned how many they would let into the beta... it may be plenty large as is- they still aren't IN beta; so that point is kinda moot, at least until the beta is up and running.

Soulmirror · 03-09-2008, 04:44 PM

For your comments on releasing early, just head over to the Age of Conan forums and read what happens when you release a product with bugs and not all the content that was promised.... nuff said.

Tranca · 03-09-2008, 05:35 PM

Totally wrong mate. The WORST thing they could do is release a game that isn't ready. You only get one chance to make a first impression. If the game isn;t dompleted or is buged to hell, your shot is gone and your game will die.

I don't know of any other big space based MMOs that are comming out next year. Not any worth a damn anyways. Only big one with a name to is is StarTrek Online and the relesase date hasn't even been announced yet.

But anyways....delays, even though they suck usually=a better end product and better launch.

Taymar · 03-09-2008, 05:44 PM

Totally disagree with an early release, sorry OP (Who's name I can't even make out as I'm old and have no time for 1337 speak).

Net Devil should take a leaf out of Valve's book and release the game when it's ready although I wouldn't advise telling fibs to the public if it's going to be delayed. . . Jumpgate already has a community, what ND need to do is keep the community and give it a game that keeps them coming back for more. . .

Just like HL2, I'll be happy to wait another 24 months if it means we all get the game we're hoping for.

Asylus Darkhand · 03-09-2008, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taymar

Just like HL2, I'll be happy to wait another 24 months if it means we all get the game we're hoping for.

Whoa there; we all want it to be released when its ready... most of us... but don't encourage the delays either XD

bemil · 03-09-2008, 09:34 PM

I too am of the opinion that delay can be good. You do only get one shot, and people are tired of having a SoE pulled on them. I would prefer a fully deveeloped and mostly working game to an early release. Being a developer myself, i expected this slippage. There is no other space game, that i know of anyway, that will be able to compete with this one. Startrek online got sunk and stargate worlds is land based only, well for release right now.

Huntar · 03-09-2008, 09:38 PM

Richard Gariott said one of the factors that hurt Tabula Rasa's release was too early of a beta and too many people in beta. Many "beta testers" had a negative impression of TR when it was in early beta and never went back to it in release. Worse, it hurt the word of mouth advertising. So I definitely don't agree with the early and bigger beta test.

Tyndaleon · 03-09-2008, 10:24 PM

I don't know what other 'space sims' you are referring to, but I can guarantee you the fact that I don't know means they don't have anywhere near the following nor pre-launch marketing/viral word spreading that JGE does. I wouldn't worry about whatever these little known games you're referring to are. JGE is getting a good deal of pub and almost always positive as it progresses.

zenojin · 04-09-2008, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A7C7E7

As you all know in the world of video games marketing can either make or break your product. Players and the community have been hopefully awaiting for JGE. I have just read that the release date has been moved from fall 2008 to spring 2009. I don't think that is a "Wise" move. As you all know there are a couple of space sims that are about to be released in this quarter and that in an attempt to stay competitive they might extend, patch, or modify their Multiplayer component to insure the relevance of their product. Necessity is the mother of invention. That might point towards a very difficult start for JGE. Especially if they can capture the player attention long enough as to snuff out any other competing products.
I think that there are 2 options Netdevil can do to avoid any trouble. They can either release it in December 2008 and offer future patches as to ease the hunger of anxious space sim players( Microsoft does this with great success with releases of most of their products) or they can widen and deepen the Beta experience by handing out more beta slots and making the beta larger, respectively.

It's obvious you have know idea what is going on in the mmo world and I mean no disrespect as I think you have good intentions . We all are anxious to play JGE but we also want it to be the best mmo it can be and why the hell would we want to pressure a company that is willing to put the effort into an mmo to make it great , especially 1 with so much promise . But thankfully they are aware that if they release to early they would end up likely with many serious problems as has plagued every SOE mmo that i know of and most recently AOC . It's far better to take the vertical slice approach to development and make sure it works and is fun before you push it out the door . People simply get a bad taste in their mouth and tell everyone they can about it if the game is not good at the time they let people play it ; and then you have more people ****ed off when you try to corect problems and change the game on them !

Is there going to be a space sim released before JGE , maybe , but i would hate to think of the state it will be in cause there has been no news of a space sim even close to done , There is another but the company is kinda belly up and it is no where near close to launch and does not have the already tested dancer engine , so this is the only real hope for at least a year or 2 . As far as Stargate , its not a space sim and won't have space flight in any form at launch and Star Trek has been picked up again by those dudes that made CoH and has stated that space is going to be a slower place and not twiched based so actually ND has a big head start ; so they could slow down even more if they wanted .

I'm glad for the enthusiasm as we all want to play this game but I support ND's decision to take their time and get it right , if only all developers did that we would have less crap games to chose from . The head developer plays games and seems to have a good head on his shoulders so we should be happy with this one .

03-09-2008, 03:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
A7C7E7 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: United States of America Posts: 2	Wisdom and release dates As you all know in the world of video games marketing can either make or break your product. Players and the community have been hopefully awaiting for JGE. I have just read that the release date has been moved from fall 2008 to spring 2009. I don't think that is a "Wise" move. As you all know there are a couple of space sims that are about to be released in this quarter and that in an attempt to stay competitive they might extend, patch, or modify their Multiplayer component to insure the relevance of their product. Necessity is the mother of invention. That might point towards a very difficult start for JGE. Especially if they can capture the player attention long enough as to snuff out any other competing products. I think that there are 2 options Netdevil can do to avoid any trouble. They can either release it in December 2008 and offer future patches as to ease the hunger of anxious space sim players( Microsoft does this with great success with releases of most of their products) or they can widen and deepen the Beta experience by handing out more beta slots and making the beta larger, respectively.

03-09-2008, 04:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
Asylus Darkhand Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: In the darkest recesses of Insanity. Posts: 99	I disagree with it being a 'not wise' move. Now; we as the consumers may dislike it; but the fact is- I would rather wait a little longer for a polished game at release than have them hurry too much and miss something- or worry about a buggy system at launch... Also; as far as I know (and correct me if I am wrong...) but I never saw anyplace where they mentioned how many they would let into the beta... it may be plenty large as is- they still aren't IN beta; so that point is kinda moot, at least until the beta is up and running. __________________ You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something. -Richard Feynman

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03-09-2008, 04:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
Soulmirror Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United States of America Posts: 137	For your comments on releasing early, just head over to the Age of Conan forums and read what happens when you release a product with bugs and not all the content that was promised.... nuff said.

03-09-2008, 05:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tranca Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: United States of America Posts: 7	Totally wrong mate. The WORST thing they could do is release a game that isn't ready. You only get one chance to make a first impression. If the game isn;t dompleted or is buged to hell, your shot is gone and your game will die. I don't know of any other big space based MMOs that are comming out next year. Not any worth a damn anyways. Only big one with a name to is is StarTrek Online and the relesase date hasn't even been announced yet. But anyways....delays, even though they suck usually=a better end product and better launch.

03-09-2008, 05:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
Taymar Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: On your six Posts: 458	Totally disagree with an early release, sorry OP (Who's name I can't even make out as I'm old and have no time for 1337 speak). Net Devil should take a leaf out of Valve's book and release the game when it's ready although I wouldn't advise telling fibs to the public if it's going to be delayed. . . Jumpgate already has a community, what ND need to do is keep the community and give it a game that keeps them coming back for more. . . Just like HL2, I'll be happy to wait another 24 months if it means we all get the game we're hoping for.

03-09-2008, 09:34 PM	#7 (permalink)
bemil Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: United States of America Posts: 14	I too am of the opinion that delay can be good. You do only get one shot, and people are tired of having a SoE pulled on them. I would prefer a fully deveeloped and mostly working game to an early release. Being a developer myself, i expected this slippage. There is no other space game, that i know of anyway, that will be able to compete with this one. Startrek online got sunk and stargate worlds is land based only, well for release right now.

03-09-2008, 09:38 PM	#8 (permalink)
Huntar Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United States Posts: 137	Richard Gariott said one of the factors that hurt Tabula Rasa's release was too early of a beta and too many people in beta. Many "beta testers" had a negative impression of TR when it was in early beta and never went back to it in release. Worse, it hurt the word of mouth advertising. So I definitely don't agree with the early and bigger beta test.

03-09-2008, 10:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tyndaleon Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United States of America Posts: 42	I don't know what other 'space sims' you are referring to, but I can guarantee you the fact that I don't know means they don't have anywhere near the following nor pre-launch marketing/viral word spreading that JGE does. I wouldn't worry about whatever these little known games you're referring to are. JGE is getting a good deal of pub and almost always positive as it progresses.