Why I hope we don't get a 2012 release

Anyone familiar with what happened to Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition? Was supposed to launch in September, about a week or so before the release date, it gets pushed back two months. November rolls around, and they pull this early launch thing with preload (various theories as to why this happened.) It turned out the game had more bugs than the original release and some of the features weren't even finished (I'm looking at you multiplayer.)

So that was a bit of a surprise. Not a good one either. I won't be doing that again for Starbound. Release date should be announced when the game is ready, and as always that is at the discretion of the developers. I can only hope they know where to draw the line on initial content so they don't get overwhelmed by feature creep, and move on with my life.

 

I do not really mind a 2012 or 2013 release (but maybe 2014 is a tad long ;p). The limit of time left in 2012 may not stop them; depends what they already have done. (Note: I also think it may take until 2013) And also, from my knowledge, I do not think they announced a release date; they were hoping that it would be complete towards the end of the year, but I think they did not set an ETA. About how you said that announcing a release date, or not at all is bad marketing... then I ask, what would you do, that is good marketing, if you do not know when a game will be released? Announce a fake release date? Or basically you are saying that every possibility would be bad marketing, and only option is to not let the community know that such a game exist at all until completion? An estimated time they hope for release is fine, but, I too, do not want them to rush either. They finish when they do.

 

While I'd probably prefer it to be announced a week or two prior to its actual release (so I can pimp it up to my friends), a "surprise release" wouldn't be such a bad thing for me.

 

My answer to your question:
Well, if I were in their shoes, I would finish all the major important stuff in the game, announce an official release date, and during that time make small changes that wouldn't be buggy, as well as doing as many bug fixes and balancing fixes as possible. With that you could burn a whole month away, so they could easily set a release date that isn't neccessarily lieing.

 

I'm curious, what exactly is it you THINK they are doing?

 

I hope the developers realize that any release before January 22nd is too soon, and any release after that date spells doom.

 

You may recall the fact that they are making this game without any publishing deadline. They can release the game when they feel it's ready. Everyone wants to see it released before 2013, but to do that they would have to rush in order to push out a build that is more "ready". But making them rush isn't going to get you a game that is ready and playable. It is going to get you a game that was rushed because you wanted it before it was ready to be released. People should spend less time debating when THEY think the game should be released, and instead do things more productive on here and have fun while they wait patiently for it.

Note: When I say they can release the game when they feel it's ready, that doesn't mean they are going to delay it into oblivion. They're not THAT inexperienced. These guys are gamers too, they know what it's like to wait eagerly for a game they want to play. Imagine how eager they feel to release this game so all you fans can actually play it. Have a little faith. They know what they're doing.

 

I would like to see a basic progress report. Yeah, I know, not going to happen, but I would like to know what I am waiting for.

By all means I hope they do take their time. I want a good, solid game that I can play for hours upon hours, right out of the box. Not some buggy mess that is full of grand promises and empty of substance (I am looking at you, Peter Molyneux and A Valley Without Wind)

 

Oddly enough what you are waiting for is exactly what you said you wanted. "A good, solid game that you can play for hours upon hours--" etc, etc. If they released right now you'd have a game with broken enemy AI, some guns, little to no crafting, and a whole pile of unfinished features that are not fully developed yet.

As for a progress report, bit much isn't it? It's like the developers are at school and the community are the teachers. Just let them do their thang!

 

Thanks for clarifying for me, although I am still slightly confused.
I havn't heard of any other game where it was just suddenly released out of nowhere. I'm just assuming they would have to announce it before releasing it, and that 2 weeks wouldn't be enough.

I mean, catching people by surprise isn't always the best thing to do.
Perhaps it could work out well though. We'll see...

(Maybe he's hinting we're getting a surprise release soon :O)

Edit:
Ah, seems not to be so. From what Marketh says it seems like the game won't be done for awhile.

 

There was a bit of talk on the IRC that Tiy was thinking of doing a preorder where you'd get access to a "beta", or the sandbox section of the game. This is NOT 100% decided on. I think he was just thinking out loud about the possibility, plus to see peoples thoughts on such a thing.

As for an actual release, the date has been changing ever since the original "end of summer" release estimate. Currently it's at "early 2013". People still join the IRC to ask for more specific days, but the truth is obvious. If we had a more specific release date, we would have given it. Not to mention it would have been announced on the homepage.

 

on the faq it still says late 2012 or early 2013 though

 

Indeed it does, while 2012 is still a possibility (though small a window of possibility it is) 2013 is just looking much more likely. It will likely be updated again to reflect this when the time comes, just like it was when the "end of summer" estimate passed.

 

i agree that this is the most likely

 

I wouldn't have anything against a 2012 release, since the game seems fully playable and enjoyable as it is and so was Terraria and even Minecraft when they were first released.

I never really believed in 2012, though, since they haven't even begun beta testing the game (internally yes, but supposedly there will be public beta testing as well). I think it's pretty safe to say that the game is still far away from being released. And I don't mind that since I've got plenty of other games that I can play while I wait for the developers to finish this one

Edit: my bad, the FAQ actually states that there won't be a public beta. I remembered it saying that a public beta would be coming out eventually, but it seems that my mind was just playing tricks with me.

 

Uh, that changed. Currently at 382,573,116,734 threads of the same topic, including this one.

 

The videos I've seen most recently (Though I'm not entirely sure if they are the most recent videos) the devs have been playing around in a Dev-Build sort of world... Like, the same, empty dungeon appearing on every world, some features still not implimented, etc. The game appears to be functioning, but is it really playable? We've seen some building, some shooting, the pretty lighting and the water but what about our space station? The star map they mentioned was in dev? Crafting details? There are, I feel, too many features that haven't been showcased in any meaningful way for such an early release.

Do we want that? Half finshed, possibly empty worlds for the sake of having Starbound NAOW! ... ? I really wouldn't like to see people pushing for an early release, and ending up disapointed, because they aren't aware of what stage the development is in, we don't know, only the devs do.

As for the flow of information, I think the current level is actually better than some other developers out there (If anyone is fallowing X:Rebirth, you'll know what I mean.) I'm not going to make any guestimations on the actual release, I say all this with possibly far less insight into Starbound than most of the people here, just throwing out my thoughts in the hope it actually helps someone. : )

 

They've beta tested with friends and family supposedly. But even if they hadn't, remember NDAs. They may be beta testing without us knowing it

Not syaing it'll be released in '12 either, mind you. Just pointing out a tangent.

 

A member's opinions sometimes do matter and contribute a small amount, but making a new thread about the same repetitive topic is just useless.

 

Just relax. Just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't been worked on. They'll release it when they're ready to regardless.