Release Date ?

[Skywall23]

Have you checked the news?

The releasedate-month is variable! :D:D

 

lol that's funny

[kdittyr]

that sounds good but how many people would honestly do it. Its a mess but Im gonna wait and see what happens. But yes a donation of $35 would be good and would make everyone happy, What if they made it $35 to get/buy the key and releaseing it as a free.. I know it would be soon cracked but as you say the good folk out there would pay. just like you kdittyr its a good thought and i dont think your babbling lol

 

 

Yeah, I realize that. I was just talking about if they were having legal issues. That might be a way around those issues. Just a thought. In the end I know that they would not make a profit and would most likely go out of business because most people would just download the "free" version without making a donation.

[flyimp]

i wish i did not

 

But i got bad feeling about release date . my better half just laughs and says july/august u will c.

I wish they would let us know one way or the other ,we will still get/buy it, And like the fellow previous said it is geting gut wrenching now loging on to the download site only ta c the release date gone........... my stomach drops so low with every logon .HELP SOMEBODY MAKE A STATEMENT..

[dogtoes]

Hmmm...not being able to read Russian (damn that High School spanish!), I found a down-and-dirty translator on the 'net to understand what was being said on the forums linked to in this thread. Here is what CHIZH appears to say:

 

Original:

Если серьезно, то релиз ожидается только к концу месяца. Как вам известно у нас возникли проблемы с защитой дисков уже готовых к тиражированию, из-за чего релиз отодвинулся на месяц.

Подобную защиту мы применяем впервые поэтому возникновение такого рода проблем не является чем-то удивительным.

 

Translated:

If it is serious, the release is expected only by the end of month. As you know we had problems with protection of disks available to duplicating because of what the release was removed for a month.

Similar protection we use for the first time therefore such occurrence of problems is not something surprising.

 

-------------------------

So it appears that we may actually have our "unofficial" statement from ED.

 

Thoughts?

 

-Chris

 

P.S. But honestly...I'm not holding my breath. I''d rather have a great product later than a buggy one now. ;)

[Aeroaero]

Hmmm...not being able to read Russian (damn that High School spanish!), I found a down-and-dirty translator on the 'net to understand what was being said on the forums linked to in this thread. Here is what CHIZH appears to say:

 

Original:

Если серьезно, то релиз ожидается только к концу месяца. Как вам известно у нас возникли проблемы с защитой дисков уже готовых к тиражированию, из-за чего релиз отодвинулся на месяц.

Подобную защиту мы применяем впервые поэтому возникновение такого рода проблем не является чем-то удивительным.

 

Translated:

If it is serious, the release is expected only by the end of month. As you know we had problems with protection of disks available to duplicating because of what the release was removed for a month.

Similar protection we use for the first time therefore such occurrence of problems is not something surprising.

 

-------------------------

So it appears that we may actually have our "unofficial" statement from ED.

 

Thoughts?

 

-Chris

 

P.S. But honestly...I'm not holding my breath. I''d rather have a great product later than a buggy one now. ;)

 

 

 

Honestly is beyond my comprehension why they do not communicate with us.

We are expected to purchase the add-on but no effort is made to keep us informed.

It is certainly a not very good business approach. Frankly all that we had so far was

only rumour on release date, copy protection etc, nothing official. Really makes me wonder.

[TekaTeka]

Top page has been updated.

 

The game release is planned for April.

[bflagg]

EDIT: rant speech deleted by Mod

[McCallaway]

Just relaaaax.

[Groove]

They wait for the E3 i think.

[GoonerTC]

oh well, should have know! might plan a round the world trip in a bathtub..

[Dmut]

April 1st is newest release date, which we got from ED mouth. I'm surprised by some posts - is it is really so difficult to wait 10 days? We all waiting for release from November, so 10 days more doesn't make a big change.

[DarkStar]

1st of April is not a good release date you know ;)

[Dmut]

:D yes, it's well-know foolsday in Russia.

But this time Chizh said it seriously.

[Fellblade]

April 1st is newest release date, which we got from ED mouth. I'm surprised by some posts - is it is really so difficult to wait 10 days? We all waiting for release from November, so 10 days more doesn't make a big change.

10 more days isn't a big change, Dmut, but 10 days, then another 5 days, then 20 days, then another 7 days, then 16 days... that is. The point is, every estimate so far has been a) not far away, and b) wrong. That means that everyone looks forward to it, then it doesn't appear, and the cycle is repeated. I haven't played LOMAC since November, because I was out of practice, and decided to start playing again once the patch is released

 

So every time the release comes around I set aside some time at the weekend to play 1.1, get excited about being able to play it, at last, and then my hopes are struck down, again.

 

It's much better to give a date that might be too far away, too conservative, and then release it a little early, rather than the constant slipping that gives everyone the impression that it is continually just out of our grasp.

 

I'm a programmer, I understand the problems with release dates, but that's why I always give myself enough time to be as close to certain as possible that it will be released 'on time' - even if 'on time' is 10 days after it could potentially be ready.

[Aeroaero]

10 more days isn't a big change, Dmut, but 10 days, then another 5 days, then 20 days, then another 7 days, then 16 days... that is. The point is, every estimate so far has been a) not far away, and b) wrong. That means that everyone looks forward to it, then it doesn't appear, and the cycle is repeated. I haven't played LOMAC since November, because I was out of practice, and decided to start playing again once the patch is released

 

So every time the release comes around I set aside some time at the weekend to play 1.1, get excited about being able to play it, at last, and then my hopes are struck down, again.

 

It's much better to give a date that might be too far away, too conservative, and then release it a little early, rather than the constant slipping that gives everyone the impression that it is continually just out of our grasp.

 

I'm a programmer, I understand the problems with release dates, but that's why I always give myself enough time to be as close to certain as possible that it will be released 'on time' - even if 'on time' is 10 days after it could potentially be ready.

 

 

O!...well!... it`s a process called : Dangelis carrotus! - or in English translation dangle the carrot!

[bflagg]

EDIT: rant speech deleted by Mod

 

Rant speech?

 

you treat your potential paying customers like crap and when I finally

say something about it, and mind you, very maturelly, and you censor me?

 

I've seen personal attacks everywhere on this board and not once have I see this censure action.. but when It comes to a adult level concern about ED actions you censure me...

 

You must be a close friend of Putins...

 

as it stands now.. ED will not see my $40 just because of the one thing

I've always asked has never been realized.. communiction...

Even my legitimate questions were ignored.

 

If fact, I'm surprised the Western folks hasn't thrown their hand up in the air already and walked away...

[schimmel]

Rant speech?

 

you treat your potential paying customers like crap and when I finally

say something about it, and mind you, very maturelly, and you censor me?

 

I've seen personal attacks everywhere on this board and not once have I see this censure action.. but when It comes to a adult level concern about ED actions you censure me...

 

You must be a close friend of Putins...

 

as it stands now.. ED will not see my $40 just because of the one thing

I've always asked has never been realized.. communiction...

Even my legitimate questions were ignored.

 

If fact, I'm surprised the Western folks hasn't thrown their hand up in the air already and walked away...

 

 

ROFL plz Mr. Putin ;), don't remove this one. It's funny.

[SwingKid]

I haven't played LOMAC since November, because I was out of practice, and decided to start playing again once the patch is released

 

So every time the release comes around I set aside some time at the weekend to play 1.1, get excited about being able to play it, at last, and then my hopes are struck down, again.

 

I haven't gotten excited about an ED release date in six years. What's it like?

 

-SK

[SwingKid]

Honestly is beyond my comprehension why they do not communicate with us.

 

I don't understand why people don't think ED is communicating. They have a great web site, demo, released manual in two languages, online presence... If a language barrier is "beyond your comprehension," perhaps a quick read of the Russian forum will help you to understand it. A changing release date is not "lack of communication".

 

-SK

[bflagg]

Guys..

I'm sorry for my little rant.

It's not the release date that I'm upset about.

 

It's communication....

 

Swing Kid:

I've asked two simple questions and have been ignored.

As for learning Russian?.. Sure I agree if I'm going to visit Russia, but a

potential paying customer shouldn't have to learn a whole new language just for periodic updates and answers to simple questions...

 

I am not trying to be a prick here or start any kind a flame with these communication issues I posted.

 

I deal with customers and fellow employees all day long (from the US>Europe>China>Mexico), so I really do understand the need for communication.

 

Here on the English forum side it's very little, but when I babelfish to the russian forum, there is a lot more information (at least percieved...we all know how web translators work)

 

... and this is my source of frustration...

[Guest ruggbutt]

I'd prefer to wait than have to have them patch it (twice) because they released it too early, which was UBI's fault.

 

Least they cut UBI out of the equation. :D

[KILSEK]

Hi all.

 

I don't understand why people don't think ED is communicating. They have a great web site, demo, released manual in two languages, online presence... If a language barrier is "beyond your comprehension," perhaps a quick read of the Russian forum will help you to understand it. A changing release date is not "lack of communication".

 

-SK

 

 

I agree with you 100%. ED is doing a great job with us. This is not my first PCgame forum that I have been a member of, and you all are communicating very well, IMO. FWIW I have googled some website translation sites so that I can get an read the RU version of this site.

 

http://www.worldlingo.com/en/websites/url_translator.html

 

http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn

 

I will admit that, uh sometimes, I too get caught up in the hype of this great game and release dates. I do apologize for this. Keep up the great work you all are doing. -KILSEK

[SwingKid]

I've asked two simple questions and have been ignored.

 

I've had more than two of my questions ignored. Simply, the questions outnumber the possibility to answer them. This discussion is a good example of why it is better to ignore some simple questions, than waste time translating answers that will end up being wrong anyway. It's nothing personal.

 

As for learning Russian?.. Sure I agree if I'm going to visit Russia,

 

Do you visit this site?

 

It strikes me as ridiculous to insist that Russian programmers should say everything twice, in a language that is not their own, for a community that is incompetent to communicate amongst itself. Why do you think there are assigned English-speaking moderators for this forum? Who appointed them with that representative authority, but ED? We need ED to do things that we cannot do ourselves. "Spreading the word" is better done by non-programmers. How frustrating do you think it feels for me, as a Russian-reading beta tester, to know the answer to a question, provide it in the English forum, and then read from the person who asked, "My question was ignored, it got no official response from ED!" What is ED supposed to do, repeat what I said? That means it is not the answer that is important, but rather, some kind of attention, that will subtract from whatever that programmer is doing. On occasion, we testers have even contributed or researched the bit of work that is being asked about, and know better than ED themselves! But, we are under NDA, and thus have our own communication barriers against explaining every detail.

 

Personally, I have seen no recent questions worth ED's time to answer. The release date is a mess and will remain a mess regardless of making public statements one way or the other. Any question about v1.1 will be answered by the release of v1.1 itself - it is finished and will be released as is with no changes. Any question about StarForce should be addressed to StarForce. Any question about v1.2 or future products is poorly asked, since nobody has even seen v1.1 yet. How can we talk about where to go from the Su-25T when we have not yet even seen the Su-25T? This should be the one time when the forum is clearly full of nothing but idle impatient chatter and should be ignored, to allow ED to work on programming.

 

Now, if you would allow, I would be curious to see a link to your ignored questions, to see how they fly above this conclusion, and prove me wrong.

 

Regards,

 

-SK

[bflagg]

SK...

My issue is not with you.. you communicate very well and I for one appreciate anything I read by you (amongst a few others).

 

My posts are easy. Search for post by bflagg.

I had two questions for ED about StarForce (which wags answered in a roundabout way for one, but the other went unanswered). I reposted the questions again. and again. Starforce itself wasn't the issue, but ED implementation of it.

 

In the past.. I don't remember which page of the F15 avionics wishlist, but I posted a question about the possibility of reality of this "wishlist".

I think the only thing I've really asked is for the 15's radar and react like the Dash1 (obviously not classified info).

There was nothing but fan responses similar to "maybe in the next release"..but nothing from ED.

-no offense intended to any other fellow fans-

 

When I heard about the plans for the helicopter, I realized that Western based aircraft are not going to be shown in the correct light in LockON and that at this stage of LockON the development life cycle is ending and ED is gearing up for future projects.

 

I understand your voiced frustration with what you are saying.. but as a potential customer, questions or concerns aren't being answered and the questions are being regulated to the fan base instead of a official response.

If you going to cater and sell to a customer that speaks another language...you really have to communicate correctly with them.

 

The manual and demo in english, without trying to belittle, I really don't put that up there with as a feat of extrodinare...

It's expected to do so for sales from a rather large potential customer base...

 

Release date issue:

I have never complained about this. I develop databases and I fully realize that this is nothing like game programming, and understand that things happen.

But when any of my customers ask what is the status.. I actually tell them what is going on, not change a few text lines on a web page and not respond, or respond to a unique/favored group only.

 

again.. my intent is not to flame or start anything here.. just voice my concerns about this issue

 

I honestly could let this issue go, apologize and let bygones be bygones, but I really think ED can improve in this area for the English speaking folks.

[SwingKid]

My issue is not with you..

 

Well, everything in the universe is connected. :)

 

After several years of helping with missions, campaigns and training tracks, a few of us testers threw up our hands and fairly decided that we are not going to do it anymore, that it was a job better done by ED. There were certain mission editor bugs and other issues that we realized, until ED uses their own editor, plays their own game and experiences these for themselves, they are simply never going to get fixed, nor will they understand why a dynamic campaign is so important.

 

Well, now some people at ED have made some campaigns and training trks by their own hands. This has released people like me to work on what I enjoy more - e.g. making a dynamic campaign and an airbase mod. If you look at the manual we had before and the manual we had now, the number of levels in the campaigns we had before and what's coming in v1.1, the avionics and weapons we had before and now - the more work ED does with their own hands, the more the different parts of the product work in harmony, instead of just being extra bits created by outsiders and thrown together. How can anyone write a manual describing how the avionics work, but the person who actually programmed those avionics? You have to understand, what I see from my perspective is a system that is finally starting to work, coming under criticism. It is a system I had a hand in creating by saying "you guys need to make your own missions" - this left people at ED with less time to talk in the forums. So in a sense, your issue is with me, and I'm not out of place to protest my side of our disagreement.

 

Every minute that programmers spend here practicing their English is a minute spent doing something that I could do better and faster myself. Every minute they spend making the sim instead, is something they can do better than me. If it were up to me, the developers wouldn't write in the English forum at all, but rather only read here, and pass feedback primaily through other bilingual posters with nothing better to do than translate. It wouldn't be as intimate, but I think it would result in a better sim.

 

you communicate very well and I for one appreciate anything I read by you (amongst a few others).

 

Thanks... Just to be clear, no offense was taken or intended then or now, I just disagree in opinion is all. Maybe a bit too defensively. But I'm sure people from ED are reading this and wishing you guys knew it should be people like me you're angry at, for giving them so much work. Imagine what it's like - to want to reply, and not be able to. I have to share the blame.

 

I had two questions for ED about StarForce (which wags answered in a roundabout way for one, but the other went unanswered).

 

Without a link, I don't know what your exact questions were, but from what I've seen of the StarForce thread in general, it's a bunch of people who haven't learned from Lock On. Here's a company that released a v1.02 patch that, if I understand correctly, removed a CD-check from its own commercially sold product, within a year of initial release - with no public announcement that they were removing the CD-check, despite the fact that people were begging for it and it would have made a lot of people quiet and happy to know it was coming in advance. Those people who were "ignored" and not communicated with, got their wish. Now, ED is again putting a commercial product on the shelf, and again using copy protection, and again appears to be "ignoring" people. What's the cause for surprise or alarm? I see all these questions, "what happens if I want to play the game twenty years from now, and have upgraded my hardware six times, and the company goes bankrupt?" Do we have to panic twenty years in advance? Can't we give it a try, then complain, then wait and see? Copy protection is a touchy subject. There are publishers and retailers to think about. ED couldn't just publicly announce at the time of Lock On release, "don't worry - in a few months, we'll release a patch that gets rid of the CD-check protection, so in the meantime please, don't buy our game! Wait for that version to be released, and you can have it for free!" Maybe they even had to pretend the release of the CD-check removal patch was an "accident". Whatever the case, I doubt they are really free to communicate their deepest internal thoughts on this subject now. Do you really believe that repeating the question will make someone able to give you a straight answer that they weren't able to give you before?

 

In the past.. I don't remember which page of the F15 avionics wishlist, but I posted a question about the possibility of reality of this "wishlist".

I think the only thing I've really asked is for the 15's radar and react like the Dash1 (obviously not classified info).

There was nothing but fan responses similar to "maybe in the next release"..but nothing from ED.

 

There is nothing written in the F-15's Dash-1 about radar modes at all. It's purely a flight manual. If some other fan wants to educate you about that, I won't stand in the way.

 

I understand your voiced frustration with what you are saying.. but as a potential customer, questions or concerns aren't being answered and the questions are being regulated to the fan base instead of a official response.

 

If I think a flyable giraffe would be a cool idea, that doesn't entitle me to a lunch with the head of the company. If you want a reply, do your part - post something that makes people want to reply. Just be careful, if you contribute too much, they make you a beta tester... :P

 

The manual and demo in english, without trying to belittle, I really don't put that up there with as a feat of extrodinare...

 

If the English-language version of the Lock On v1.1 "Flaming Cliffs" manual does not strike you as extraordinary, then I'm wasting my time trying to impress you with forum replies.

 

Look, I sympathize. I'm a beta tester. Having seen a bit more from behind the scenes, it's a little easier for me to be content with the way things are right now, or resigned about the things I'm not content with, that they can't be changed anyway. I do understand where your frustration is coming from. But - no offense - I don't think ED communicating with you personally is going to do anyone any good. The next day you'll come right back with a new question, demanding a new reply. I've done it myself, many times - although I've learned not to take it personally when I'm ignored as a result. The best recommendation I can make is to find other people who agree with you, or find other people who have ideas you agree with, and form some kind of a "bloc". At least then, whether the idea is good or bad, ED can reply to you as a group. That will make them feel they're doing something a little more productive with their valuable time than responding to individuals. Either that, or you're going to have to ask a lot more interesting questions than you've been asking. If you can't even pique MY curiosity with your questions, which people like Vadifon, GGTharos, D-Scythe, crazyleggs and many others accomplish on a regular basis, then I'm going to end up being one of the obstacles in your way, whether we like it or not. I'm going to keep replying to you, just enough to keep anyone else from replying to you. That probably won't be enough to please you. But, what else can I do? Talk is cheap. I want ED to work.

 

Hope this helps,

 

-SK