PC Ouch PCGamer.com!

The first thing I do when reading anything is look at the date it was written. That tells you a lot about it's context.

 
Everything that article says is still true.
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I didn't want to be the one saying it :D

I still love this game... but after this article was written we got A15, then a year pause, then A16, another one and a half year pause... and then ... well... A18 experimental.

Yes they introduced electricity. Great feature, but severely lacking and not touched on in 16, 17 AND 18.

Yes they introduced vehicles... but other than that? Only really small stuff or reverts.

OBVIOUSLY they have been working hard. I'm not saying they are lazy. I'm just saying that the game doesn't feel a lot more finished than A15 did (in some areas it feels like a step back like RWG). And the added content doesn't feel all that awesome as well when you look at what other games introduce in a 3 year timespan. Yes voxels are harder to do. Yes the team is quite small.

But I am sorry, paint and some pictures are not the same quality level as new maps, completely new mechanics and enemy types.

BUT!!! To soften the blow here, A18 looks REALLY promising. RWG, placable junkturrets, and the overhauled skill and mod system look promising. (Also new enemies?)

So yeah :D

 
No...It isn't accurate.

Alpha 17...basically had to be rebuilt. They were upgrading to the new Unity engine. I don't what skills you have as a developer but that takes some serious time. It's not just doing a copy/paste routine. It was rebuilt. They fixed the AI pathing (massively) going to A17. Doing little patches whenever someone throws a fit is not how a development cycle works. If they were an AAA title company, they'd have some massive coffers to draw from for completing the game and end up in the final beta before even announcing the game. Instead, they allow us to help them soften the development cost by letting us in early during the Alpha stages.

In other words...stop your whining and enjoy what you got or shut up and wait for the game to come out of Alpha and then voice your opinion on the final product.

 
No...It isn't accurate.
Alpha 17...basically had to be rebuilt. They were upgrading to the new Unity engine. I don't what skills you have as a developer but that takes some serious time. It's not just doing a copy/paste routine. It was rebuilt. They fixed the AI pathing (massively) going to A17. Doing little patches whenever someone throws a fit is not how a development cycle works. If they were an AAA title company, they'd have some massive coffers to draw from for completing the game and end up in the final beta before even announcing the game. Instead, they allow us to help them soften the development cost by letting us in early during the Alpha stages.

In other words...stop your whining and enjoy what you got or shut up and wait for the game to come out of Alpha and then voice your opinion on the final product.
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The article doesnt say "omg nothing ever changes!"

It only says "it still feels unfinished and unpolished after so much time". And THAT is still the case. It feels unfinished. I love this game, even if my hate for A17 is nearly boundless. But even previous alphas still felt... like there was something missing. Like it was not quite finished. Everything begun, but nothing finished.

 
It's in Alpha. It ISN'T finished. It should feel unfinished...because it is. I don't know what game you're playing, but I've seen progress where it needs to be and it is heading in the right direction. There's a difference between "progress" and stopping growth on an older engine and build it again in a new engine so the feature list of what they want can be put in and still be relevant. Things are being knocked off the "to do" list. Once again, not sure what you expect with a game in ALPHA. <- scratches head. I bought a game that hasn't finished development and is still in "rough stage" (alpha). I expect it be finished....sigh.

 
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It's in Alpha. It ISN'T finished. It should feel unfinished...because it is. I don't know what game you're playing, but I've seen progress where it needs to be and it is heading in the right direction. There's a difference between "progress" and stopping growth on an older engine and build it again in a new engine so the feature list of what they want can be put in and still be relevant. Things are being knocked off the "to do" list. Once again, not sure what you expect with a game in ALPHA. <- scratches head. I bought a game that hasn't finished development and is still in "rough stage" (alpha). I expect it be finished....sigh.
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Again. I wasnt saying there was no progress beeing made.

But let me give you a metaphor (yes yes I can taste the cake and take small parts of it home and stuff:

Suppose I was a baker.

You are a customer and you want a special cake.

I tell you that I can't make exact statements when it will be finished, so you go and look up an "industry standard" which varies based on complexity and amount of ressources, but you see 2-7 weeks.

Now after 2 weeks you come by my bakery and you see the base of the cake, and are quite confused. I tell you "its just not finished yet! It takes a while for such a complex cake".

So you go, trusting it will be done.

After 7 weeks you come by again and you see some extra glace and some fruits on it.

You ask me why its not finished and I tell you that "I told you there is no exact time it will be done"

so you ask for a date now that so much time has passed. And I tell you "maybe between 4-6 weeks" and you are outraged, because this is sooo much longer than it should be.

I tell you that quality takes time, so you leave and come back 4 weeks later.

It has has all the different ingredients in and most of it is decorated, but you say that you are going to remove some stuff and add it back in a little different later...

(yes yes I can taste the cake and take small parts of it home and stuff but its just a metaphor not a 1:1 example)

Cutting that story short: at what point is "I didnt give an exact date" not a valid argument anymore?

Industry standart for EA games is ~3 years. This game has been in development for about 6 and there is an A18 and probably an A19 coming and then the release after which they will still add content.

The problem is not that they aren't working on it or that they are "lazy".

And I personally don't mind it too much, but I understand the argument:

WHEN is too much time spent on developing so that it is reasonable to complain?

 
Again. I wasnt saying there was no progress beeing made.But let me give you a metaphor (yes yes I can taste the cake and take small parts of it home and stuff:

Suppose I was a baker.

You are a customer and you want a special cake.

I tell you that I can't make exact statements when it will be finished, so you go and look up an "industry standard" which varies based on complexity and amount of ressources, but you see 2-7 weeks.

Now after 2 weeks you come by my bakery and you see the base of the cake, and are quite confused. I tell you "its just not finished yet! It takes a while for such a complex cake".

So you go, trusting it will be done.

After 7 weeks you come by again and you see some extra glace and some fruits on it.

You ask me why its not finished and I tell you that "I told you there is no exact time it will be done"

so you ask for a date now that so much time has passed. And I tell you "maybe between 4-6 weeks" and you are outraged, because this is sooo much longer than it should be.

I tell you that quality takes time, so you leave and come back 4 weeks later.

It has has all the different ingredients in and most of it is decorated, but you say that you are going to remove some stuff and add it back in a little different later...

(yes yes I can taste the cake and take small parts of it home and stuff but its just a metaphor not a 1:1 example)

Cutting that story short: at what point is "I didnt give an exact date" not a valid argument anymore?

Industry standart for EA games is ~3 years. This game has been in development for about 6 and there is an A18 and probably an A19 coming and then the release after which they will still add content.

The problem is not that they aren't working on it or that they are "lazy".

And I personally don't mind it too much, but I understand the argument:

WHEN is too much time spent on developing so that it is reasonable to complain?
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It is very clear that the development team for this game are working hard and within reason for the size of their team. It isn't reasonable to complain about the development time...at all. They're working on it and working toward a finished project. We should be completely satisfied that it is on course for completion.

 
It is very clear that the development team for this game are working hard and within reason for the size of their team. It isn't reasonable to complain about the development time...at all. They're working on it and working toward a finished project. We should be completely satisfied that it is on course for completion.
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Well... that is your opinion and you have the right to have that opinion :D

I can tell you that I got an F (A 6 in my school system) for my art project, if I didn't finish it on time. No matter how beautiful or how hard I worked on it. And I worked really hard on some.

As I said, I don't really mind. But there is an argument to be made, that 2 overhauls of the graphics and 2 overhaul/reverts of the character progression and what feels like 100 overhauls of the crafting system are NOT ideal project management.

Yes they experimented and I personally (again) don't mind too much. BUT there is an argument (a valid one at that) to be made, that they don't know what they want and therefor draw out the development time unnecessarily.

If that is their way of doing things, that is their descicion. That does NOT however, make them immune from criticism.

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