F-15E Minimum Release Opinion

[Beirut]

6 hours ago, stormrider said:

You should apply for a dev position within DCS then. You're gonna have plenty of unfinished projects to amuse you.

 

Beauty! 

 

Nukes, napalm, and nerve gas. Q2 2022

[Coole28]

On 2/1/2022 at 2:48 PM, Deano87 said:

@NahenWhat I don't understand is why you think they could finish it completely now before release, but if they release it EA then it would take 5 years to finish? This makes no sense.

RB as a company will have a lot more money that can pay their staff with to work on the module after its released to EA, and will be able to finish it faster because of it. To think the opposite shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of why companies with niche, high investment products like DCS modules use the Early Access model in the first place imho.

Thankfully nobody is forcing you to purchase it in early access so you're free to wait until its 100% working before you drop any money on it :).

This isn’t the opinion I hold, but if you’ll allow me to play devil’s advocate for a moment:

Let’s assume that the majority of the people who are interested in buying this module will gladly purchase this at minimum release functionality (we have seen CCIP bombing, AIM-9, and basic radar functionality so far, we are likely close to such a state if not already there).  Given the hype for this module, I think this is a fair assumption to make.  What would I, as the CEO or whatever of RAZBAM do with this new found funding from releasing the F-15E into early access?  Would I double down and dedicate more staff (and in turn, more money) towards a module that has already cashed in on the majority of buyers, or would I instead dedicate staff previously on the F-15E towards unreleased modules (MiG-23, A-29, etc.) to make more money there?  Purely from a business standpoint, it would make more sense to slow down work on the F-15E after it has been released to increase work on other modules yet to be released.  Following this logic, releasing at minimum functionality early access would take longer to reach full completion, as opposed to withholding the module until it is complete.

It all boils down to if you believe whether RAZBAM works for profit or for passion.  And I personally believe RAZBAM is of the latter.  They already charge less for their modern FF modules (AV-8 and Mirage) than ED and other developers, and yet they still voluntarily participate in every DCS sale anyway.  They have also put in a large amount of work towards these modules post release (especially the Mirage).