This morning like others I had an issue connecting to the patch server, BUT I tried again and it worked the 2nd time and has only happened once since it came back friday. I have been on and off several times a day since Friday afternoon.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
The only hiccup I've had today was earlier when I first tried to login; the connection had timed out, but I got in the second time.
Just a few minutes ago I was able to complete my events for today and do a few minutes more work on one of my oldest toons here, which added up to over an hour online without getting kicked out.
I'm just hoping my luck holds out until Tuesday (probably.)
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I wonder how much of the original code is duct taped together to begin with since IIRC STO was rather rushed due to Cryptic getting the job on the condition they'd do it within a certain timetable that was shorter then typical for MMOs, so you probably had things that are "this sort of works as long you don't try to do this" that also got poorly documented and thus causing the issues we're having currently due the devs not really knowing how the thing worked in the first place.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I wonder how much of the original code is duct taped together to begin with since IIRC STO was rather rushed due to Cryptic getting the job on the condition they'd do it within a certain timetable that was shorter then typical for MMOs, so you probably had things that are "this sort of works as long you don't try to do this" that also got poorly documented and thus causing the issues we're having currently due the devs not really knowing how the thing worked in the first place.
I remember hearing that too. From what I remember the timeframe was apparently pretty ruthless. No wonder we nearly didn't get the KDF at all on launch. I'm extremely glad Cryptic hung in there and we have this game in a much better state now, despite issues like the black-boxed code.
Great job!
I'm sure you logged quite a few hours of overtime sorting this out.
Thank you all for the hard work.
except I doubt they are hourly.. Salary is far more likely
In the U.S. with most salaried positions, they still get OT if they work beyond a normal 40 hour week.
(I'm on a salaried IT position but get time and a half if doing more than 40 hours for the hours over 40 - and double-time if they call me in on a weekend/holiday.)
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I wonder how much of the original code is duct taped together to begin with since IIRC STO was rather rushed due to Cryptic getting the job on the condition they'd do it within a certain timetable that was shorter then typical for MMOs, so you probably had things that are "this sort of works as long you don't try to do this" that also got poorly documented and thus causing the issues we're having currently due the devs not really knowing how the thing worked in the first place.
I remember hearing that too. From what I remember the timeframe was apparently pretty ruthless. No wonder we nearly didn't get the KDF at all on launch. I'm extremely glad Cryptic hung in there and we have this game in a much better state now, despite issues like the black-boxed code.
I suspect the black-boxed code is a direct result of how rushed the launch was, there was no time to document things properly (anyone who has worked in even a semi-large project knows that's the first thing to go if there's a time crunch) and when there was time to document things people who did the code had either left or didn't quite remember what they were thinking at the time. As a result we got code that sort of works for purpose it was intended to work back in the day but may break badly if changed or used for something else then it was originally intended to be used for and anyone present isn't really sure how or why the code works due to lack of notes from the original programmer.
I'm really scared for the wellfare of the game if so many core pieces of code are black-boxed from being made by people who don't work at Cryptic anymore and... how apparently EVERYONE kept their work absolutely secret.
It's awe inspiring that Cryptic has been able to keep the game working as well as they have, considering. And improving it, to boot!
Even if I get worried when issues like this happen.
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
^^^
yep. It's probably an issue with Cryptic Management in that the Supervisors and Managers AREN'T requiring or giving time for new feature code to be properly documented. As a programmer, it's seen as 'job security' (IE - If you're the only one who really knows how a mission critical function works, they aren't going to keep you around; so yeah, you only really document if they make it a requirement and follow up with you to make sure you did it; AND that what you documented is proper and understandable by others.
But that doesn't seem to be a part of Cryptic development culture, which is why you see major inconsistencies in STO UIs. There no real standard to anything, it's just whatever they could 'throw together' in the development time they were given and documentation take time -time that could be used to throw another feature/lockbox item into the game.
So yeah, documentation suffers and they just hope everything hangs together while they carve out every bit of profit they can.
And if a feature becomes to much of a burden to maintain; they just remove it completely (see: The History of STO's Foundry.)
This last incident probably scared management enough that they MAY put time for multiple programmers across their 3 games to look at their patching system and do some real documentation on it; but we'll see.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Tonight, at 4:30 PT, it's a new #TenForwardWeekly, that we're lovingly calling "What the *%^*)@#$ happened?" We'll be joined by @trianakvetch and Lead Product Manager Misa Ganz to talk through the issues last week.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Tonight, at 4:30 PT, it's a new #TenForwardWeekly, that we're lovingly calling "What the *%^*)@#$ happened?" We'll be joined by @trianakvetch and Lead Product Manager Misa Ganz to talk through the issues last week.
I WAS going to bed early, but think I will join this week...it's 12.30am for me. Glad they're gonna talk about it and put end to the conspiracies
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Yes, and with that, we'll be closing this discussion, as the outage itself is over. I'm sure, once the usual Ten Forward Weekly summary thread is up, there will be plenty of continued discussion there about the ACTUAL issues involved with the outage, rather than continued speculation and conjecture. Thank you all for your patience and civility during the outage. Your cooperation and understanding has been greatly appreciated. Thank you. /thread
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Comments
From what I've read, it's "not properly documented" not "kept secret."
Writing up a design and maintenance document for a feature takes time, which can be in short supply for a small team. Does developer A spend a day writing that up, or working on the next feature on the list that needs to be finished in time for the next patch? The document will help a year from now, but the to-do list is needed by next week,
Something being a black box doesn't mean it can't ever be changed, it means the cost to change it is much higher than for well-structured and well-documented code. Someone who didn't work on the original design needs to go through the code slowly and carefully to figure out the other developer's intents and methods. It goes even more slowly if they then take the time to create their own documentation.
When someone mentions in the livestream that they tried to change something and it broke in the process, I highly doubt that it means they could not do so if time was no object. It means they had x amount of time assigned to make an attempt, and the quick change they tried wasn't good enough. Give them weeks or more to tease apart the design and I'm sure they could do it -- at the expense of all the other things they need to accomplish in that time.
Speaking only as a developer but NOT a Cryptic developer: relax. They can't easily fix some of the old systems, but if they (not we) decide something is critical to the game they can eventually update it.
Each bit of coding has to be accounted for in the bottom line. That means that not only does a developer need to have the time to do it, the beancounters have to be persuaded that this would be an effective use of the money they're devoting to the dev's time. If the two factors don't align, then it probably won't be fixed.
Calling back to my own experience, I was a programmer at HQ SAC back in the '80s. Our software was designed to ensure that nuclear weapons wouldn't detonate each other on the way in, in the event of World War Three. Some of the code dated back to the late '60s and early '70s, and at one point someone decided we needed to "translate" all the old FORTRAN programs that were used to COBOL (the language used at the time). We spent about three weeks trying to "translate", and came to the conclusion that it would be quicker and easier to figure out what the modules were doing and rewrite them from line 10. Fortunately, this was a military shop, so we didn't need to account for every minute of software work we were doing. Cryptic's got a more problematic relationship with Gearbox than Strategic Air Command did with the DoD.
Just a few minutes ago I was able to complete my events for today and do a few minutes more work on one of my oldest toons here, which added up to over an hour online without getting kicked out.
I'm just hoping my luck holds out until Tuesday (probably.)
Yep, for some of that 10+ year old STO code re-writing from scratch would probably be better than adding another layer of duct tape.
The main app I work on is 8+ years old and is a re-write of an older app from 2005. 8 years of new features have made part of it hard to maintain so I'm always happy when I can fit in some refactoring into the schedule. Sometimes I can do that as part of adding a new feature -- if the code is going to change anyway, then we can spend a little extra time to improve how those 8 years of features fit together. Sometimes we need that new feature now! and I have to grab the duct tape.
I wonder how much of the original code is duct taped together to begin with since IIRC STO was rather rushed due to Cryptic getting the job on the condition they'd do it within a certain timetable that was shorter then typical for MMOs, so you probably had things that are "this sort of works as long you don't try to do this" that also got poorly documented and thus causing the issues we're having currently due the devs not really knowing how the thing worked in the first place.
I remember hearing that too. From what I remember the timeframe was apparently pretty ruthless. No wonder we nearly didn't get the KDF at all on launch. I'm extremely glad Cryptic hung in there and we have this game in a much better state now, despite issues like the black-boxed code.
In the U.S. with most salaried positions, they still get OT if they work beyond a normal 40 hour week.
(I'm on a salaried IT position but get time and a half if doing more than 40 hours for the hours over 40 - and double-time if they call me in on a weekend/holiday.)
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
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What's a Victus?
Seriously, though, speaking of misspelled things, will InvalidEntityName get addressed too on Tuesday?
LOL.
Why is it that every painful truth is seemingly a derivative of Murphy's law?
yep. It's probably an issue with Cryptic Management in that the Supervisors and Managers AREN'T requiring or giving time for new feature code to be properly documented. As a programmer, it's seen as 'job security' (IE - If you're the only one who really knows how a mission critical function works, they aren't going to keep you around; so yeah, you only really document if they make it a requirement and follow up with you to make sure you did it; AND that what you documented is proper and understandable by others.
But that doesn't seem to be a part of Cryptic development culture, which is why you see major inconsistencies in STO UIs. There no real standard to anything, it's just whatever they could 'throw together' in the development time they were given and documentation take time -time that could be used to throw another feature/lockbox item into the game.
So yeah, documentation suffers and they just hope everything hangs together while they carve out every bit of profit they can.
And if a feature becomes to much of a burden to maintain; they just remove it completely (see: The History of STO's Foundry.)
This last incident probably scared management enough that they MAY put time for multiple programmers across their 3 games to look at their patching system and do some real documentation on it; but we'll see.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Tonight, at 4:30 PT, it's a new #TenForwardWeekly, that we're lovingly calling "What the *%^*)@#$ happened?" We'll be joined by @trianakvetch and Lead Product Manager Misa Ganz to talk through the issues last week.
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I WAS going to bed early, but think I will join this week...it's 12.30am for me. Glad they're gonna talk about it and put end to the conspiracies
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VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
You Will be Assimilated.
Assimilation is the Key to Happiness.