Why "O" Why

[lazduc]

I read this but cannot find the post. The suggestion/comment was perfect and I wonder why

 

it's not available especially in products that are composed of " Pay now and then get access to

 

the alpha whenever that happens" to "Pay now and have access to a bug prone/unfinished/

 

much hyped/numerous promised features that may become available as a later date. To be

 

determined but may take a few more years."

 

(These methods of selling software are almost beyond belief but it is.)

 

One super simple way of relieving the anxiety and bad feelings is too:

 

(1) List all pertinent information on the progress development of said software.

 

(2) List all bugs and progress on fixes.

 

(3) If old bugs that are very problematic are not addressed in a timely manner,

 

explanations should be posted.

 

Many software developers have this. This would help everyone from posting the same old

 

glitches/errors/bugs that seem to go on forever. Only new bugs will be sorted to the bug

 

threads as found by the beta purchasers. Anyone else that spots something can look it up

 

on the lists and find the information. If its not listed and one follows the bug reporting

 

procedures it will not be so confusing as to the questions like....has this problem been

 

submitted and has anyone else seen this? Why hasn't this been addressed?

 

Many folks here support the cause and bare the long long wait. Patiently. :cry:

 

NineLine...how about seeing if this can be done and if not why? After the money spent on

 

this software and the various states it is in....the least ED could do is these simple steps to

 

keep the members informed.

 

Thanks. :D

 

Laz

[Davee]

I read this but cannot find the post. The suggestion/comment was perfect and I wonder why

 

it's not available especially in products that are composed of " Pay now and then get access to

 

the alpha whenever that happens" to "Pay now and have access to a bug prone/unfinished/

 

much hyped/numerous promised features that may become available as a later date. To be

 

determined but may take a few more years."

 

(These methods of selling software are almost beyond belief but it is.)

 

One super simple way of relieving the anxiety and bad feelings is too:

 

(1) List all pertinent information on the progress development of said software.

 

(2) List all bugs and progress on fixes.

 

(3) If old bugs that are very problematic are not addressed in a timely manner,

 

explanations should be posted.

 

Many software developers have this. This would help everyone from posting the same old

 

glitches/errors/bugs that seem to go on forever. Only new bugs will be sorted to the bug

 

threads as found by the beta purchasers. Anyone else that spots something can look it up

 

on the lists and find the information. If its not listed and one follows the bug reporting

 

procedures it will not be so confusing as to the questions like....has this problem been

 

submitted and has anyone else seen this? Why hasn't this been addressed?

 

Many folks here support the cause and bare the long long wait. Patiently. :cry:

 

NineLine...how about seeing if this can be done and if not why? After the money spent on

 

this software and the various states it is in....the least ED could do is these simple steps to

 

keep the members informed.

 

Thanks. :D

 

Laz

 

 

It is not simple nor can one expect others to conform to structure. Perhaps just enjoy what comes while you are in the learning curve. It's easier on the gut. If that is not acceptable, then wait for the final product. No one is paying the customer to conform and no one is forcing you to purchase it.

[Mule]

It is not simple nor can one expect others to conform to structure. Perhaps just enjoy what comes while you are in the learning curve. It's easier on the gut. If that is not acceptable, then wait for the final product. No one is paying the customer to conform and no one is forcing you to purchase it.

 

I don't want to sound pedantic but this..

[Varis]

It's a very serious consideration. Basically you want two things:

 

1) Task (feature) progress tracking. Take a look at what Razbam is doing, they partially implement this (Mig-19 is a very good example).

 

2) Defect (bug) tracking. Razbam partially implements this and Leatherneck/Heatblur also used to do this.

 

Comment:

 

To be honest, I don't know why we would really need 1). If done well, it will make some players at peace - for the rest of us, it's just a nice to have thing and sometimes it might backfire... if there are delays the developers at least may have to explain themselves.

 

There are workable alternatives: You can just post partial and sporadic information (hype). This is bit of an industry practice and if used well, it again can serve marketing and give players some headsup. Downsides are building false expectations etc. Another approach is not to tell much until you have something which is close to completion - Deka seem to favour this approach and are implementing it well; Polychop officially stated they are doing this and have mostly the most rigorous approach to this at the time being. I can't think of downsides besides weak marketing and lack of preceding hype (not seen in case of Tomcat...). Heatblur seem to be a case of carefully balancing between the two.

 

For 2), please consider this. We who run Open Beta are officially considered as field testers. However proper quality work would require the use of a defect tracking system, which mostly does not exist in DCS. Running a defect tracking system which lists the known bugs and ideally allows the players to report bugs directly into it (they WILL be screened by professional developers or even trusted volunteers) would be a way of engaging the playerbase in the development process. ED and 3rd parties could even mentor their customers into effective testing communities - there is some untapped potential here. Given that flight simulation is an industry where development times are usually very long and the results may not be completely satisfactory, this could be seen as a compensating gesture and a way of partnership, and likely would make quite a few people better informed and more happy about the state of things.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Varis