All of this equates to actual release dates being very hard to pin down, lead times being very long (mostly from the approval process) and the whole thing being at the whim of the schedule and any pressing issues that come up. The art/modeling part, from what it sounds like, is probably the quickest. The rest of it is plagued with bugs, waiting on meetings, waiting on the grace of some exec from another company who has bigger fish to fry, etc, etc.
So, try to understand the development process, and that it'll take an indeterminate amount of time. I know Klingons are honor bound, like to make things happen, hate delays, and get impatient with bureaucracy slowing down success, but Klingons DON'T whine.
If that's the case, then the devs shouldn't be putting out any target dates at all on stuff. Giving us a hard date or a set month or whatever just makes those of us who are getting fed up with getting little-to-nothing that we won't believe anything promised to us until we see it happen. We're not whining...we just want information, not silence.
If that's the case, then the devs shouldn't be putting out any target dates at all on stuff. Giving us a hard date or a set month or whatever just makes those of us who are getting fed up with getting little-to-nothing that we won't believe anything promised to us until we see it happen. We're not whining...we just want information, not silence.
Yes, that's exactly what we are looking for. Not that I wasn't entertained by looking at Spots' summary of what comes next, but I was a bit offended by the simple fact that it sounded as if he intended to say we don't know the process. Anyway, I like Armstrong hate the fact they pull dates our of thin air (or out of their #$%...however you were taught the line) and then when they come and go, not tell us squat about what is going on...You have to admit Spots...that is shoddy...even for a small team of individuals.
As it seems to me that the "main work" on the art for the ships is done, we should see screen shots, or something (not taken from the NPC ships) so we know how nice the outsides have become, or we should see something about possible special powers so we can plot and plan against the feddies....
Come on devs and quit pushing us to the back of the bus...
So, what are the 2 new fed ships (other than Nebula), 6 new fed uniforms, and 3 new fed races are we going to see pop up before we even get the BO setup of these so called new Klingon ships that are supposedly coming "soon?"
I think Cryptic needs to learn that "soon" doesn't mean "much much later."
The more I hear from Cryptic about what they are doing for us, and to be fair there is a lot in the pipeline due soon-ish, the more I think they are gonna give a a single love-bundle. Possible season 3 all as a job lot. New missions, new ships, new love, maybe even new beards. Then they will steal Gozer to work on the STFs and the ship artists back to making things for the C-Store to sell to Feds.
The more I hear from Cryptic about what they are doing for us, and to be fair there is a lot in the pipeline due soon-ish, the more I think they are gonna give a a single love-bundle. Possible season 3 all as a job lot. New missions, new ships, new love, maybe even new beards. Then they will steal Gozer to work on the STFs and the ship artists back to making things for the C-Store to sell to Feds.
You mean like what the 45-day patch, Season One, and Season Two were touted to be? While I'd love to see a Season Three huge KDF release, I seriously doubt it's gonna happen. At BEST, things are going to be released at a trickle.
Well its all conjecture on my part, but I suspect after our legitimate maoning for so long they will want to make somethnig fo a show saying 'look, we listened and this is what you got'. If they release dribbles we will still moan about otehr promises. If they release a bundle we might leave off for a few days while we gobbleup to new features.
Then answer me this .... Why is it that we have been given hard dates for August and then October then? .... And what became of the Vorcha and other Klingon retrofit ships that Dstahl told us back in August he had already "seen" and were about finished?
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
The Development process is incredibly dynamic, and timetables can change in the brink of an eye. When making a new ship, our artists have to create the art, and the development team the design concept, which then needs to be approved by CBS. Then, we start working on the design of the ship. It needs to have attributes assigned to it. It needs to be flagged to receive the proper bonuses based on it's archetype. If the ship is supposed to have a new power, that power needs to be created. FX and animation need to create the visual components of the power. The Producers have to prioritize all of this, and schedule people's time to create these different pieces.
A snag can happen at any time, and anywhere in all of that. Maybe We're not happy with how it looks, or how it feels. Maybe we don't like the final art after it gets approved by CBS and we improve it. Now we need to resubmit for approval. Maybe the dev creating the special power has a baby. Maybe they get sick. Maybe a family emergency comes up and they're OOO for a few weeks. Maybe the powers designer hits a snag and has trouble making the power do what he wants it to do.
Maybe you've reported a bug that is bad enough that we need to readjust the schedule, pulling people off of this ship to solve a high priority problem.
How does the new ship compare power wise to other vessels? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? We have to playtest the ship, and make sure the devs are happy with it. Then, QA has to look at this, and they inevitably find a bug or two that needs to be fixed. So, the ship goes back to the dev team for repairs.
In the end, creating the ship which, in the perfect world, should have taken 40 man hours and one week to complete may well have taken 80 man hours, and one month to create and release to you.
It's not always like this, sometimes, everything clicks together, and that initial time investment is halved. Sometimes, everything goes exactly as planned.
So I am glad I missed it and that the two retros are in the mix ... still ... It does get frustrating with having been given promised release dates and having the put off time and again.
We couldn't agree more! It's incredibly frustrating to us as well! In the end, this is the price we all have to pay for having such an open development process. It's a decision we made because we feel that you like to know these things, and that honesty is the best thing that we can bring to our relationship with you.
We know that players don't like it when something slips. We also believe that you guys are awesome enough to understand why things slip sometimes.
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
The Development process is incredibly dynamic, and timetables can change in the brink of an eye. When making a new ship, our artists have to create the art, and the development team the design concept, which then needs to be approved by CBS. Then, we start working on the design of the ship. It needs to have attributes assigned to it. It needs to be flagged to receive the proper bonuses based on it's archetype. If the ship is supposed to have a new power, that power needs to be created. FX and animation need to create the visual components of the power. The Producers have to prioritize all of this, and schedule people's time to create these different pieces.
A snag can happen at any time, and anywhere in all of that. Maybe We're not happy with how it looks, or how it feels. Maybe we don't like the final art after it gets approved by CBS and we improve it. Now we need to resubmit for approval. Maybe the dev creating the special power has a baby. Maybe they get sick. Maybe a family emergency comes up and they're OOO for a few weeks. Maybe the powers designer hits a snag and has trouble making the power do what he wants it to do.
Maybe you've reported a bug that is bad enough that we need to readjust the schedule, pulling people off of this ship to solve a high priority problem.
How does the new ship compare power wise to other vessels? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? We have to playtest the ship, and make sure the devs are happy with it. Then, QA has to look at this, and they inevitably find a bug or two that needs to be fixed. So, the ship goes back to the dev team for repairs.
In the end, creating the ship which, in the perfect world, should have taken 40 man hours and one week to complete may well have taken 80 man hours, and one month to create and release to you.
It's not always like this, sometimes, everything clicks together, and that initial time investment is halved. Sometimes, everything goes exactly as planned.
We couldn't agree more! It's incredibly frustrating to us as well! In the end, this is the price we all have to pay for having such an open development process. It's a decision we made because we feel that you like to know these things, and that honesty is the best thing that we can bring to our relationship with you.
We know that players don't like it when something slips. We also believe that you guys are awesome enough to understand why things slip sometimes.
Sorry, but the wing animations are not optional if you choose to fly one of those ships.
Thanks,
Stormshade
I can respect this .... Thanks for the response .... ::: watches the respect meter rise on the bridge console in front of him ...
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
Ohhh....is this is the patch with the Carrier changes? If so I would wuv you and give you all my Bolian Burgers and Tribble pies to eat.
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
The problem is that things keep changing into one direction only. may I remind you that the Klingon refits originally were announced to be released by the end of August, if not earlier? Then it was around October 10, and now there isn't even a date. Then look what is being worked on right now.
The Development process is incredibly dynamic, and timetables can change in the brink of an eye. When making a new ship, our artists have to create the art, and the development team the design concept, which then needs to be approved by CBS. Then, we start working on the design of the ship. It needs to have attributes assigned to it. It needs to be flagged to receive the proper bonuses based on it's archetype. If the ship is supposed to have a new power, that power needs to be created. FX and animation need to create the visual components of the power. The Producers have to prioritize all of this, and schedule people's time to create these different pieces.
Stormshade
This explains a lot about the ship design process, but I am sure you guys were aware of it before the expected release dates were given.
A snag can happen at any time, and anywhere in all of that. Maybe We're not happy with how it looks, or how it feels. Maybe we don't like the final art after it gets approved by CBS and we improve it. Now we need to resubmit for approval. Maybe the dev creating the special power has a baby. Maybe they get sick. Maybe a family emergency comes up and they're OOO for a few weeks. Maybe the powers designer hits a snag and has trouble making the power do what he wants it to do.
Stormshade
Babies, family emergencies, sick employees, etc. happen in every company on this planet. However, most, if not all of them work around things because they still have to fulfill their daily quotas, bussiness goals, or however you may call it. But they won't switch into snail mode if something unforeseen happens to happen.
How does the new ship compare power wise to other vessels? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? We have to playtest the ship, and make sure the devs are happy with it. Then, QA has to look at this, and they inevitably find a bug or two that needs to be fixed. So, the ship goes back to the dev team for repairs.
Stormshade
While this is true, it's not a reason why the Klingon ships are not on Tribble, because this is where they could be tested. Bottom line here is that they are not even ready for testing yet.
In the end, creating the ship which, in the perfect world, should have taken 40 man hours and one week to complete may well have taken 80 man hours, and one month to create and release to you.
It's not always like this, sometimes, everything clicks together, and that initial time investment is halved. Sometimes, everything goes exactly as planned.
Stormshade
This should not be a man hour but a man power issue if you have announced release dates to your customers several times already, but didn't deliver yet. If it didn't go as planned, then add manpower, even if it's only temporary, to stick with the given time frame.
To sum it all up, Cryptic has promised these ships, that's besides the fact that we should have gotten at least some of them when the first federation refits were released, and announced at least 2 different release dates that are behind us now. Nothing has happened, except some posts trying to play the situation down. Now we are given not even answers anymore on our questions about release dates, BO layouts and special abilities. All we hear now is soon and that we won't be disappointed. We are disappointed, and a soon at this moment in time won't cut it anymore.
What? A developer said something! Hmm, I wonder how I can be upset about this and make it so that I feel that after that last slap in the face I really feel thrown under the bus.
Dear Cryptic,
I want perfect and innovative content. And I want it yesterday. Also, you should be able to make more content than I can play there and here is my reasoning. You have what, 50-ish employees there on the STO team? Well there is one of me, so I don't see where the problem is that you cannot just create stuff fast enough so that I never run out of flawless content. I mean you guys keep claiming you have all these awesome tools to create content quickly but honestly I'm not seeing it. Past content doesn't count, I've completed it already, so its like it never existed anyway. If you can't be perfect, stop telling us stuff, it only makes me sad on the inside when it doesn't happen the way I want. But also, if you stop communicating with us that I will know that you are just another evil money-grubbing corporation that hates its customers. A real company would communicate with its customers and be transparent about stuff. We can handle the truth, we aren't twelve you know. I mean as long as the truth is actually what I want to hear. If it isn't what I want to hear then I know you are obviously failing hard. I am reasonably certain I can get "Developing Video Games for Dummies" at my local bookstore and master that within a few weeks and do a better job than you guys can.
Well, there you all go. Now that StormShade said it, maybe you guys will believe it. But some of you probably won't. Some day I'll figure out the psychology behind why some people just can't believe others, and get hung up on unforeseen problems. Life happens.
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
You should take a lesson from Scotty. Give longer estimates, that way when you get the job done before the deadline, you get the reputation of a miracle worker.
And FYI - it doesn't only affect KDF ships. The Federation Nebula Class was supposed to be (and was even shown on the Calendar for a time) released on September 21, 2010 - yet it's going to be in with the next patch - 3 weeks late.
My point: There ISN'T some STO Dev conspiracy to deprive or frustrate KDF players; it's just the way development on a VERY complecated piece of software goes (as Stormshade posted). And if this Dev team handled communication like the majority of MMO developers out there; we'd NEVER know what was coming until we saw it in a patch note (either for Tribble or the live Holodeck server).
Personally, I really enjoy the fact that these guys lest us know what's 'in the works'; and DO understand that any timetables or dates given are EXTREMELY tentative at best; but again, I LIKE that they communicte early so that we can give feedback that they look at and consider as they are developing what they tell us about (Player feedback did indeed influence the final version of the Nebula Class; and had the playerbase not know of it as early as they did, tweaks would instead have been made AFTER it went live.)
I for one hope that the STO dev team continues to keep the player <---> dev communication manner and frequency at the high rate is is now; despite the rants that a few players will make whenever a tentative date is moved back.
Well, there you all go. Now that StormShade said it, maybe you guys will believe it. But some of you probably won't. Some day I'll figure out the psychology behind why some people just can't believe others, and get hung up on unforeseen problems. Life happens.
After I would tell you three times that I will give you candy and I didn't give it to you, will you believe me the forth time?
Lets see if you understand that.
And FYI - it doesn't only affect KDF ships. The Federation Nebula Class was supposed to be (and was even shown on the Calendar for a time) released on September 21, 2010 - yet it's going to be in with the next patch - 3 weeks late.[/qoute]
Do we need to point out the obvious again? The difference between how many ships federation side has and how many klingons do?
My point: There ISN'T some STO Dev conspiracy to deprive or frustrate KDF players;
Conspiracy? I don't know about that, but it seems that they are doing a hell of a job when it comes to frustrating KDF players. I think it's all over these forums. And yes if it was not for deprivation and frustration we would not have this conversation.
Personally, I really enjoy the fact that these guys lest us know what's 'in the works'; and DO understand that any timetables or dates given are EXTREMELY tentative at best; but again,
I like the way they communicate with us. But I would rather see it, that I'm told *you will get your ships in 6 months* and then actually deliver, then to be told that you will get it next month and nothing happens.
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
The Development process is incredibly dynamic, and timetables can change in the brink of an eye. When making a new ship, our artists have to create the art, and the development team the design concept, which then needs to be approved by CBS. Then, we start working on the design of the ship. It needs to have attributes assigned to it. It needs to be flagged to receive the proper bonuses based on it's archetype. If the ship is supposed to have a new power, that power needs to be created. FX and animation need to create the visual components of the power. The Producers have to prioritize all of this, and schedule people's time to create these different pieces.
A snag can happen at any time, and anywhere in all of that. Maybe We're not happy with how it looks, or how it feels. Maybe we don't like the final art after it gets approved by CBS and we improve it. Now we need to resubmit for approval. Maybe the dev creating the special power has a baby. Maybe they get sick. Maybe a family emergency comes up and they're OOO for a few weeks. Maybe the powers designer hits a snag and has trouble making the power do what he wants it to do.
Maybe you've reported a bug that is bad enough that we need to readjust the schedule, pulling people off of this ship to solve a high priority problem.
How does the new ship compare power wise to other vessels? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? We have to playtest the ship, and make sure the devs are happy with it. Then, QA has to look at this, and they inevitably find a bug or two that needs to be fixed. So, the ship goes back to the dev team for repairs.
In the end, creating the ship which, in the perfect world, should have taken 40 man hours and one week to complete may well have taken 80 man hours, and one month to create and release to you.
It's not always like this, sometimes, everything clicks together, and that initial time investment is halved. Sometimes, everything goes exactly as planned.
We couldn't agree more! It's incredibly frustrating to us as well! In the end, this is the price we all have to pay for having such an open development process. It's a decision we made because we feel that you like to know these things, and that honesty is the best thing that we can bring to our relationship with you.
We know that players don't like it when something slips. We also believe that you guys are awesome enough to understand why things slip sometimes.
Stormshade
Stormshade thank you for posting this. I have gotten frustrated for the last week with the anticipation for release of these ships. I can't tell you how reassuring it is to get this peek into the process. I highlit the sections I felt were most pertinent to my concerns in a light blue, (as it is a color that soothes me). It has refreshed me to read such a concise and courteous response.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that I and many others asked that deadlines be set aside if it assures a better out come. It is great to see such due diligence applied to these ships that really are extensions of our gaming personas.
Still for us Klings living through the equivalent of the Folker Scourge, a disparity of ship options that favors the Feds and the wider range of tactics that come with those options is a prime breeding ground for impatience wrought from frustration.
After I would tell you three times that I will give you candy and I didn't give it to you, will you believe me the forth time?
Lets see if you understand that.
And yes, life happens
Unortunately content development isn't candy. It's more like harvesting crops. You plant the seeds, work the field and hope it all works out. Sometimes crops are late, sometimes they fail. Sometimes you get a run of bad luck and nothing works out like you plan. All they can do is learn from it and keep trying. Don't hound them for giving their best effort to be open. It'll take time for them to get used to figuring out public estimates. Personally, I'd rather them pitch wild guesses and update as things change rather than keep us totally in the dark.
There have been significant updates to the Karfi since the Season 2 release. The additional LG (lvl 51) Klingon Ships are tentatively scheduled to hit the game November 4. They are the B'Rel, Orion, and Gorn ships. They can be purchased per character for the LVL 51 ship token or for Emblems (similar to the VA Fed ships). They can also be unlocked for the account via the C-Store.
It's not exactly getting smaller. I would have expected the Orion, Nausicaan and Gorn ships to be released together, with the B'rel and Vor'cha coming way later. I'm a bit surprised to see the B'rel exchanging places with the Nausicaan Raider.
Ok, Stormshade says that new ships take time, especially new models with unique layouts. KDF is given "tentative" release dates on many occasions for a variety of ships. The Vor'Cha is a refit with no special abilities and the BO layout of a FED Assault Cruiser.
So, essentially the Vor' Cha is a model revamp with existing model frames and existing game bridge officer schema. There are no special abilities on this ship to implement or test. However, it is now delayed and not mentioned in the Stahl update. Gotcha. I think it's easy to understand the frustration with trivial double talk expressed concisely in this thread.
Yeah I don't expect to see the supposed new KDF ships til at least feb/march if at all honestly. The devs have a history of making dates up and not sticking to them when it comes to the KDF so this will be no different.
Some call for patience, some call for battle, some demand, some bicker, some speak reason, some nonesense.
In truth each of us waits. It is i the waiting, that truth comes. So we shall see if indeed the wait was worth it.
If it was not, then they shall reap the rewards of such, if they do, then it is we who shall reap the rewards.
Yes you can point out mistakes of the past, and difficulties as well. It is still up to each to be choose how they will be. This is how each handles the anticipation and stress.
Myself, I will wait again in the shadows and just watch. The smith works, yet it is we who will judge the metal.
Nice speech eh? :rolleyes: now if I can get the wife to be patient... :rolleyes::eek:
The T1 B'rel got some visual updates (head pipe, geo on wing undersides, reshaping of hull underside and such) it looks awesome. I think the Vor'cha model looks kinda meh...but im all for a Chancellor/Qang class variant for it if possible.
Comments
If that's the case, then the devs shouldn't be putting out any target dates at all on stuff. Giving us a hard date or a set month or whatever just makes those of us who are getting fed up with getting little-to-nothing that we won't believe anything promised to us until we see it happen. We're not whining...we just want information, not silence.
Yes, that's exactly what we are looking for. Not that I wasn't entertained by looking at Spots' summary of what comes next, but I was a bit offended by the simple fact that it sounded as if he intended to say we don't know the process. Anyway, I like Armstrong hate the fact they pull dates our of thin air (or out of their #$%...however you were taught the line) and then when they come and go, not tell us squat about what is going on...You have to admit Spots...that is shoddy...even for a small team of individuals.
As it seems to me that the "main work" on the art for the ships is done, we should see screen shots, or something (not taken from the NPC ships) so we know how nice the outsides have become, or we should see something about possible special powers so we can plot and plan against the feddies....
Come on devs and quit pushing us to the back of the bus...
I think Cryptic needs to learn that "soon" doesn't mean "much much later."
You mean like what the 45-day patch, Season One, and Season Two were touted to be? While I'd love to see a Season Three huge KDF release, I seriously doubt it's gonna happen. At BEST, things are going to be released at a trickle.
When you're making software, there's no such thing as a "hard date". Please understand this. Any time Stahl, myself, or any other dev actually gives a date, it's according to the current plan, and subject to change.
Things can happen very fast around here. We were planning on pushing a patch last night, which included the Nebula, and several other important changes. It got pushed back when we found some nasty bugs in it.
The Development process is incredibly dynamic, and timetables can change in the brink of an eye. When making a new ship, our artists have to create the art, and the development team the design concept, which then needs to be approved by CBS. Then, we start working on the design of the ship. It needs to have attributes assigned to it. It needs to be flagged to receive the proper bonuses based on it's archetype. If the ship is supposed to have a new power, that power needs to be created. FX and animation need to create the visual components of the power. The Producers have to prioritize all of this, and schedule people's time to create these different pieces.
A snag can happen at any time, and anywhere in all of that. Maybe We're not happy with how it looks, or how it feels. Maybe we don't like the final art after it gets approved by CBS and we improve it. Now we need to resubmit for approval. Maybe the dev creating the special power has a baby. Maybe they get sick. Maybe a family emergency comes up and they're OOO for a few weeks. Maybe the powers designer hits a snag and has trouble making the power do what he wants it to do.
Maybe you've reported a bug that is bad enough that we need to readjust the schedule, pulling people off of this ship to solve a high priority problem.
How does the new ship compare power wise to other vessels? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? We have to playtest the ship, and make sure the devs are happy with it. Then, QA has to look at this, and they inevitably find a bug or two that needs to be fixed. So, the ship goes back to the dev team for repairs.
In the end, creating the ship which, in the perfect world, should have taken 40 man hours and one week to complete may well have taken 80 man hours, and one month to create and release to you.
It's not always like this, sometimes, everything clicks together, and that initial time investment is halved. Sometimes, everything goes exactly as planned.
We couldn't agree more! It's incredibly frustrating to us as well! In the end, this is the price we all have to pay for having such an open development process. It's a decision we made because we feel that you like to know these things, and that honesty is the best thing that we can bring to our relationship with you.
We know that players don't like it when something slips. We also believe that you guys are awesome enough to understand why things slip sometimes.
Sorry, but the wing animations are not optional if you choose to fly one of those ships.
Thanks,
Stormshade
I can respect this .... Thanks for the response .... ::: watches the respect meter rise on the bridge console in front of him ...
Ohhh....is this is the patch with the Carrier changes? If so I would wuv you and give you all my Bolian Burgers and Tribble pies to eat.
The problem is that things keep changing into one direction only. may I remind you that the Klingon refits originally were announced to be released by the end of August, if not earlier? Then it was around October 10, and now there isn't even a date. Then look what is being worked on right now.
This explains a lot about the ship design process, but I am sure you guys were aware of it before the expected release dates were given.
Babies, family emergencies, sick employees, etc. happen in every company on this planet. However, most, if not all of them work around things because they still have to fulfill their daily quotas, bussiness goals, or however you may call it. But they won't switch into snail mode if something unforeseen happens to happen.
While this is true, it's not a reason why the Klingon ships are not on Tribble, because this is where they could be tested. Bottom line here is that they are not even ready for testing yet.
This should not be a man hour but a man power issue if you have announced release dates to your customers several times already, but didn't deliver yet. If it didn't go as planned, then add manpower, even if it's only temporary, to stick with the given time frame.
To sum it all up, Cryptic has promised these ships, that's besides the fact that we should have gotten at least some of them when the first federation refits were released, and announced at least 2 different release dates that are behind us now. Nothing has happened, except some posts trying to play the situation down. Now we are given not even answers anymore on our questions about release dates, BO layouts and special abilities. All we hear now is soon and that we won't be disappointed. We are disappointed, and a soon at this moment in time won't cut it anymore.
Dear Cryptic,
I want perfect and innovative content. And I want it yesterday. Also, you should be able to make more content than I can play there and here is my reasoning. You have what, 50-ish employees there on the STO team? Well there is one of me, so I don't see where the problem is that you cannot just create stuff fast enough so that I never run out of flawless content. I mean you guys keep claiming you have all these awesome tools to create content quickly but honestly I'm not seeing it. Past content doesn't count, I've completed it already, so its like it never existed anyway. If you can't be perfect, stop telling us stuff, it only makes me sad on the inside when it doesn't happen the way I want. But also, if you stop communicating with us that I will know that you are just another evil money-grubbing corporation that hates its customers. A real company would communicate with its customers and be transparent about stuff. We can handle the truth, we aren't twelve you know. I mean as long as the truth is actually what I want to hear. If it isn't what I want to hear then I know you are obviously failing hard. I am reasonably certain I can get "Developing Video Games for Dummies" at my local bookstore and master that within a few weeks and do a better job than you guys can.
Love and Kisses,
Zaphod
You should take a lesson from Scotty. Give longer estimates, that way when you get the job done before the deadline, you get the reputation of a miracle worker.
My point: There ISN'T some STO Dev conspiracy to deprive or frustrate KDF players; it's just the way development on a VERY complecated piece of software goes (as Stormshade posted). And if this Dev team handled communication like the majority of MMO developers out there; we'd NEVER know what was coming until we saw it in a patch note (either for Tribble or the live Holodeck server).
Personally, I really enjoy the fact that these guys lest us know what's 'in the works'; and DO understand that any timetables or dates given are EXTREMELY tentative at best; but again, I LIKE that they communicte early so that we can give feedback that they look at and consider as they are developing what they tell us about (Player feedback did indeed influence the final version of the Nebula Class; and had the playerbase not know of it as early as they did, tweaks would instead have been made AFTER it went live.)
I for one hope that the STO dev team continues to keep the player <---> dev communication manner and frequency at the high rate is is now; despite the rants that a few players will make whenever a tentative date is moved back.
Lets see if you understand that.
And yes, life happens
Stormshade thank you for posting this. I have gotten frustrated for the last week with the anticipation for release of these ships. I can't tell you how reassuring it is to get this peek into the process. I highlit the sections I felt were most pertinent to my concerns in a light blue, (as it is a color that soothes me). It has refreshed me to read such a concise and courteous response.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that I and many others asked that deadlines be set aside if it assures a better out come. It is great to see such due diligence applied to these ships that really are extensions of our gaming personas.
Still for us Klings living through the equivalent of the Folker Scourge, a disparity of ship options that favors the Feds and the wider range of tactics that come with those options is a prime breeding ground for impatience wrought from frustration.
Unortunately content development isn't candy. It's more like harvesting crops. You plant the seeds, work the field and hope it all works out. Sometimes crops are late, sometimes they fail. Sometimes you get a run of bad luck and nothing works out like you plan. All they can do is learn from it and keep trying. Don't hound them for giving their best effort to be open. It'll take time for them to get used to figuring out public estimates. Personally, I'd rather them pitch wild guesses and update as things change rather than keep us totally in the dark.
More cheesy metaphors to come.
Why is it everytime Dstahl talks the ship list gets smaller and smaller?
So, essentially the Vor' Cha is a model revamp with existing model frames and existing game bridge officer schema. There are no special abilities on this ship to implement or test. However, it is now delayed and not mentioned in the Stahl update. Gotcha. I think it's easy to understand the frustration with trivial double talk expressed concisely in this thread.
One word: Akira
Yeah I don't expect to see the supposed new KDF ships til at least feb/march if at all honestly. The devs have a history of making dates up and not sticking to them when it comes to the KDF so this will be no different.
Some call for patience, some call for battle, some demand, some bicker, some speak reason, some nonesense.
In truth each of us waits. It is i the waiting, that truth comes. So we shall see if indeed the wait was worth it.
If it was not, then they shall reap the rewards of such, if they do, then it is we who shall reap the rewards.
Yes you can point out mistakes of the past, and difficulties as well. It is still up to each to be choose how they will be. This is how each handles the anticipation and stress.
Myself, I will wait again in the shadows and just watch. The smith works, yet it is we who will judge the metal.
Nice speech eh? :rolleyes: now if I can get the wife to be patient... :rolleyes::eek:
Not even Q could make that happen.