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Always late?!
Anafiel
Member Posts: 8
in Guild Wars
I really like it a lot but one thing makes me wondering. As they are ex-blizzard guys, im just afraid that Guild Wars may be released about few months later. I want to know what do you think about it.
Comments
Blizzard are not the people that you should be saying that they would delay the release date. Sony is an excellent example of continuously delaying their release date.
These ex-Blizzard guys are releasing this game late only because they want the game to be near perfect when it comes out. It's a wise move in my opinion.
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All Your Base Are Belong To Us
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All Your Base Are Belong To Us
Achiever 86%
Killer 80%
Explorer 26%
Socializer 6%
What do you prefer? A game that is rushed and doesnt work? Or a game thats refined as much as possible?
DUH
Stop posting nonsense.
Every game developer should release games only when they think the game is ready for release. The game development process (OR ANY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THAT MATTER) is one in which it is always impossible to determine how long a project will take to finish if it is to be done well.
I don't care what it is you're doing. The best works are never rushed.
Plesae stop this release date deadline nonsense.
Wow what a fierce attack. I regret u didnt bother to be more open-minded person. As i said i really like GW very much and all my concerns flow from my good intentions.
If the programming of games is so unpredictable as u say, so why producers always give release dates. It is always well prepered schedule. U say about game producers as they were some amateurs working in their garage. Are u blind? Game industries are very profitable and well organised companies. And when they fix some release date they know what they are saying lets say in 90 %.
Dont think that if game is late it will be much better. I dont know how old are you but i think you dont have huge game experience. If u believe that during the time when game is late, programmers are trying to make YOU better game, YOU MUST BE DREAMING!! Sometimes delay is also connected with some marketing and logistic problems. You must realize that making a game isnt the only thing that company must think about.
I only hope that GW that seem to be a great game wont be late "thanks" to some decision-making stuff. Market economy sometimes becomes very brutal.
Ok, since you ask for credentials.
I am 25, I'll be 26 in June.
I studied computer engineering in Rose Hulman my Freshman Year
I studied computer science at Nova Southeastern University up till my Senior year.
I have been using computers since I was 10 and had my own computer at home since age 12 it was a Spectrum ZX.
Wrote my first programs at age 12 with some form of basic the Spectrum ZX came with.
One of the courses I took in university was about the software development process.
Now, I will continue to inform you abit about how game companies work in this area.
The game development process is a lenghty one and anyone who makes quality modern video games knows this.
These development teams work with schedules and deadlines and the teams are split up by departments.
You will have an arts department, a game engine department, a content department and a network department etc.
Each department has their goals and schedules.
It is very difficult to accomplish the goals in exact periods of time. When you set out to write code for a particular peice to work you do not know exactly what problems you might encounter, or what additional knowledge you will need to research for something to work.
Every department has its goals and whenever a version is released, the goals have to be redefined.
Maybe they planned for something to be a certain way, but when they implemented it it just didn't work out. So they had to redesign that peice. Well, that just sets you back to get it working the way you want it.
Schedules are generally imposed by Management who have bills to pay and want their product released by a certain date because that's when they know their funds run out and it's time to turn a profit.
Most games released follow the following logic:
Budget: $XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Approx cost for wages, expenses etc per month = $XXXXXXXX
Development process total time = Budget/cost per month
Example:
Total Budget $2.5million
Cost per employee avg = $5000 a month
20 employees = 100,000 a month
Servers, rent, expenses = 500 a month
105,000 a month expenses
Total months = Budget/cost per month
Total months = 2.5million / 105K
Total months = 24 approx
So, normally release dates are times when if everything goes to ORIGINAL plan the game should be released.
But one thing they teach you in computer science. THE LAST 10% TAKES 90% OF THE TIME.
WHY?
TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE AND REDESIGNING
There are many paradigms which can be used and they vary in complexity.
Basically the design process follows cycles. And the game gets refined through testing, buf fixing, testing, coding, testing, buf fixing, coding, testing, bug fixing, coding, testing etc.
No game (or any peice of software) ever gets finished completely, there are always many things that they just "didn't have time to put in".
So the more of what they want to put in, and the more testing and refining a game goes through generally the better (more complete) it will be.
Delayed games are due to the fact that the game is not in a state where everyone is happy with it and it can be released without too many problems.
This is especially the case in console games where there is no such thing as patching. A game must work virtually perfectly before it is released for a console.
MMORPGS have the luxury of affording to be released much less finished. So it is much more likely that an MMORPG will be released less refined than a regular pc game or console game. This is because the developers can finish adding content in patches and keep working on the game because EVERYONE has to download the patches to play.
You seem to think that because a game is delayed in release this means it's a bad developer. The truth is that it is alot more complicated than that.
A bad developer will have more trouble making a refined game however, a good developer that wants to launch a highly refined game will also take the trouble of taking "as long as it takes" to get it right.
Most games are so bad because the developers were rushed, or ran out of time to meet the deadline.
Everyone who has been playing online PC games for a long time knows that companies like Blizzard produce VERY refined games because:
1) Their development teams take their time and don't release a half-finished product.
2) They have a good development team.
IN THAT ORDER OF IMPORTANCE.
So the next time you buy a game that feals half finished and needs endless huge patches, hopefully you will know a bit better what went wrong.
Well im really impressed about your qualifications. I know this process as well. I know its hard to create a great game even if u got ages for making it. I never said im a fan of rushing in game development. But as u know from gaming history some games became late and when they appear on market it was too late for them. Many good games went rubbish cause the competitors were faster. And then many interesting ideas just disappear.
I really dont care how long do i have to wait for a game. If its worth i will be waiting.
By the way are you making any games?
Yes I agree with you. Timing is also very important.