Previous release date delays

I don't think anyone (Unless they are incredibly tacky) here wants you guys to rush through this game. And when and if I get around to finishing the games my small company is planning on, I'd follow your example and not rush any of it!

Keep up the good work guys!

 

It wasn't worth it.

 

I'll wait like Seymor Asses (See: Futurama )
This game will be a god send, my hopes are set at "Whatever you feel is worthy to grace our presence", honestly I just can't wait to touch this piece of art and just sit in wonder while I die because I accidentally passed out from joy.
Brilliantly spoken, and a perfect representation of the real reasons behind delays.

 

Do take your time to make and shape the game you would like to create without needing to worry about an estimate beta-release date. It is ready when you the developer says it is, and not from a numerical stand-point! I'd much rather experience the fully fledged beta-release as intended by Chucklefish, and not one forged from impatience veiled under various sugar-coated terms. Full guns blazing!

 

screw it I can wait
well ill see you guys later then
*freezes himself in stasis*

 

You ALL heard it! if someone had been nice enough to lend them apartments near their main office and someone had given them plane tickets to get their in the beginning we'd be playing starbound!

 

Some people were happy playing Minecraft in Alpha and Beta. Some people were not. Some people were fine with it being buggy and unplayable and devoid of content. Some were not. Some companies choose to take the open alpha approach, some companies do not. I was definitely one of the "not" people dealing with minecraft. Reported tons of bugs, found tons of bugs, bugs that made me unable to do anything else, and then sat back and had to wait weeks for said bug to get fixed. It was a bit frustarting, I'm not going ot lie. When I hear Beta, I don't think of "Okay, let's release it as early as possible, and then gradually add more content and gradually fix bugs so eventually Beta melds into Release." When I hear Beta, I hear. "This is feature complete, but we want to give people a test drive to make sure it is as good to them as it is to us. Their feedback will help us fine tune it for release." Beta, to a lot of people on this forum, is release. A lot of people that want Starbound to release ASAP, really want the Beta.

What I'm saying is, people have a different idea of what beta is supposed to be. And at the same time, companies do too. The word is thrown around a lot more than is actually necessary in the industry. Game sucks on release? Call it a beta. Beta sucks? Call it an alpha instead. My ideal vision of Beta is "There's a ton of stuff to do in this game, but we need your help balancing things out. Which is too powerful, which is not powerful enough, is there any bugs that you've come across? Help us polish it so we can release it; we just want to get your feedback on what we have so we know if we're going on the right path or not."

If I were a developer, I would not want to release anything but the absolute best. Beta or release. They've already waited a long time, I'm not going to rush beta out just to get them to stop complaining, I'm going to release a fantastic product that makes it worth the wait. I get that people grow tired of waiting, they grow impatient, but honestly, working on something the developers can be proud of is the best approach. I don't want a half-assed beta, I want something polished and nice to play / bug test, personally.

But again, this is just my opinion. And it proves that while some people would be happy with a "Sooner, more incomplete beta," other people would not. Plus, the whole issue of having to patch the beta client, and then people who get impatient if the beta client is buggy, or if the bugs don't get fixed immediately, or they want daily patches instead of daily updates, and they expect to see everything the developers working on in the daily updates put into the game the following day..honestly making a sturdier, heartier beta will help in the long run. I'm sorry people get impatient, though, believe me, I know. But that's why the developers should focus on giving us something they're proud of, something we can enjoy. Something for both "Beta testers" and "Play game early" folks (Since you know not even half the people who experience a bug are gonna go on the forums and make a post about it. Tons of people just wanna play the game early.)

I mean, I know this doesn't exactly answer your question, but still. I guess what I'm getting at, is most people are expecting Beta to tide them over till release. They're not exactly looking to go around scouring the planets and game for bugs to report. And whether or not they're "beta testing" for the right reasons, they're still customers. And regardless if they complain because beta is "Buggy or doesn't have a lot of content" they're still customers.

 

^ I don't think anyone could have said it better Sokina.

 

Take your time with the game. I've got Pokemon to keep me entertained until the beta.

 

Take as long as you need to to make this game perfect.
We believe in you.

 

Nothing i havent been saying myself for years now. Another things to consider is that delaying a game isnt an easy descision. Lets look at another recent delay, Watch Dogs. Big titles, kinda pushed forward as a system seller, put in special bundles with an Xbox One or PS4.
This is not an easy thing to do, and it also costs a lot of money. Paying devs for potentially 6months or more, not to mention having to redo the whole marketing campaign. And thats not including how this can otherwise lashback. I respect Ubisofts descision to go with a delay and put its faith in the developers behind this titles to make it a better game.

Now Starbound is a project on a much smaller scale, but the same thing applies. The longer it is delayed the more money it costs. If the devs only cares about making a quick buck they would've launched the game, in a buggy state and much less content. No doubt a lot of sales would happen regardless, if just for the sake of "modders can make it better". Instead they opted to delay their title to make it the product they want it to be, at the expense of personal gain.

 

Looking forward to the game, but delay it as long as you need to to make it fulfill it's extraordinary promise. Don't destroy yourselves with overwork either! Thanks for all the clear communication : )

 

No fixed release date = no delays = no disappointment

 

I respect Tiy a lot for not apologising for delaying the game. As the content creator take as much time as you need to finish your work to a standard you are happy with.

 

This ^. And I Loved Minecraft in beta and each and every patch made me invest more time in it than I'd like to think about. This used to be the first page I would load up in the morning, now I find myself forgetting about it or just not caring about the news on here anymore...

 

Why don't you guys use skype or something? it's even got screen share.

 

Thanks T

 

The more delay, the better it will be!
Hopefuly

 

Well said Tiy. While I am frothing at the mouth to play Starbound, the sane part of me realizes that this one needs to simmer. When the release date does come, and I rip off my shirt and run around in circles shouting expletives, I know I will be justified in my actions

 

I'm just gonna give my opinion here.
Don't dish out on games like Call of Duty or FIFA, there's obviously a market filled with people who think there's plenty of new content in there, don't judge until you've made a sequel yourself.
I do think you owe the people an apology, even as simple as saying "Sorry, everything turned out to be tougher than we thought it would be." but you have too many people invested in this game to be that guy. Be grateful to the people who supported you, and allowed you to make this game.

Also, the thing that creeps people out is the fact that while the Beta is supposed to take place this year, there is absolutely no indication of when and how. Time is quickly running out in 2013, and while I know that estimated dates have mostly put you in this position in the first place, but 2013 is quickly running out, and the scary thought of getting the beta on December 31st is looking to be more and more real. I'm seriously stoked to play this game, but I'm also very disappointed that I'm not already doing the beta testing.

Make the right moves guys.