Why the fans are upset about Starbound

She's still volunteering, man.

 

Yeah, I've realized that. That's why I want to work on getting everything else up to date, because I've realized recently how far behind our site is in parts. I've focused a lot more on things like social media, the forums, the press, etc. But a lot of people won't look at those things.

 

I do!

 

I had no idea Molly was a volunteer... everyone send some love her way

So much bickering in here... it makes me a saaaaad panda

 

^this

I think this is something anyone who ever developed something knows (The idea is mainly coming from the ones who barely know how to check their e-mails, especially in more economic-based jobs). Furthermore, C++ is one of the hardest languages to master (At least compared to Java, Python or even C to a lesser extent).

Now I should depart into an endless monologue around release dates of games because I just can't stop doing that. See you around. See you around. See you around. See you around. See you around... (Spot the reference, gain a cookie. Proip : Hidden Valley)

I'll take a very recent example : GTA V.
The game is excellent, I won't say the contrary. However, anyone who have actually played it for a while or read several reviews saw that beyond the general lack of difficulty and casual-oriented gameplay, there is a little something that proves the game was not quite ready for release. I'm talking of graphical bugs, and lack of optimization. See, the game may be that good, but having a framerate drop in the middle of a pursuit is mildly annoying, as is the density of pedestrians and vehicles decreasing with the number of buildings around. Same thing for the air vehicles which are still very hard to control despite this being a problem since at least San Andreas. Even though I still pardon the sluggish graphics - after all PS3 and 60 are really old now - I still think there are a few minor flaws, and that 98 from Metacritic is slightly exaggerated (Though it'll probably lose 3-4 points in a few months). And that the game would have been even better with one more month of development. I bet that if the game was developed by a medium-sized company (Like GSC) it would only have got 75 even if only the HUD and references changed.
Another example : ArmA III. Extremely ambitious as always, but sadly much less anticipated. They fell too behind their estimations. They didn't want to push-back the release even more, nor give a bug-ridden unfinished product. They decided rather to skip the campaign altogether, and release it in 3 parts with one part per month. But the game is still very good even without, would it be only for the Steam Workshop and MP.
For older examples, just take any anticipated game released in the last few years, and you'll see an interesting trend : The more time between release and release date reveal, the more bugs, oversights, glitches, etc. Black Ops stays my favorite example though there are certainly waaaay more.
So yes, I'd rather have to wait more. For me, as long as there isn't a release date set in stone and that the relative estimated release date isn't increasing, I can wait. There are plenty of good other games anyway (DotA 2, some TF2, and soon thare will be Terraria 1.2 and later Watch Dogs - and of course Starbound beta)

I'm back already ? Yayz.

 

My question is why is someone who does work on the game going unpaid?

And why is it that every time the budget is mentioned or where the preorder funds are going, Tiy immediately cuts off discussion of it with "it's non of your business."? It looks suspicious when you start to get snippy whenever money is mentioned, especially when you keep asking people for more of it.

 

It's kind of like an internship, also he legally does not have to tell you how he manages the money.

 

Chucklefish is not asking people for money at all, that would mean making a donation. They offer a product in exchange for money. Yes, it is still incomplete, but soon-to-be product nonetheless.

 

Its a conspiracy maybe shes sleeping with the boss .........Really who cares.....she does a great job regardless of her pay so again.....whats It got to do with us, she is entitled to a private life and that includes her pay.

 

She already explained why she was unpaid, and the reason Tiy cuts people off is because the question is rude =/ You can't just go around asking people how much money they make and what they spend it on. It's an invasion of privacy.

 

I don't know if molly reposted this but here is a great quote from her on another topic similar to this

Mollygos
Guys, it's wonderful that you support us. It really, really is. Other people are allowed to choose not to support us, or can support us while also raising concerns about how we do things. That's okay. Questioning things is good.
If you really want to support us and help make things easier on us, stop insulting people for raising concerns. It makes us look bad as a company, makes the community look bad, and it puts more strain on our forum staff who work really hard (voluntarily! on their own time! it's amazing!) to keep our forums safe/fun/clean.

I lock threads when things get far too out of hand, or when there's no room for meaningful discussion (like when a question has been definitively answered). Critwrench and others in this thread raised their concerns rationally and left things open for discussion. Don't come in here and ruin that in the name of defending our actions or decisions.
END

Looks like this thread accomplished what it set out for more info.

 

You are right! Tiy, a generic dedicated indie dev with some experience with game development, is most definetly building a secret army of poop androids and sponsoring third world country Twilight fanfic writers! The whole game is a scam, and the Chucklefish are all unpaid slaves who don't need salary and are fueled only by their desire for revenge!

/sarcasm

 

If you owned a private company and were asked the same question how would you respond? You pre-ordered a game. You didn't pay to be on some board inside the private company or act as part of some oversight committee... although by a lot of the actions on this thread I think a few people believe they did.

 

But, without meaning to sound rude (sorry for my misdirected anger earlier), it kind of is our business. Seeing where this money is going could put to rest some of the (very valid) reasons of unrest within the community.

 

You sound like a paparazzi.

 

Questioning how much you pay your employees or if you pay them at all is sort of rude and Tiy has every right to not tell you about it.

 

How exactly is it rude? You come to me, ask me to help fund your game. I say yes and give you some money. Later on I want to know how you are doing, how the progress is going and how well money was spent. Especially if you ask me to support another game before the first one is finished.

It's part of crowdfunding your video game. When you crowdfund you just have to accept that one of the questions people will be asking you is about the budget.

 

...you actually believe your own words don't you?

 

Now, may I remind you companies have aright to keep stuff secret? I mean, it's not like you can just knock into Coca-Cola office and demand the full recipe!