Patch delay discussion and news

[JupiterJoe]

The F-4 alone must be one of the most complex flight sims ever offered to the public.  As well as all the other modules each patch has to cater for.  DCS continues to offer a calibre of product we wouldn't even dare dream about a few short years ago.  So let's cut the guys some slack, eh?  Otherwise we're in danger of sounding like a bunch of spoilt brats.  This community strives to be better than that.

Edited July 4, 2024 by JupiterJoe

[protea1]

Seems that MP servers down too atmo!

Cannot log into /says offline

Edited July 4, 2024 by protea1

[Dataduffy]

4 minutes ago, protea1 said:

Seems that MP servers down too atmo!

Cannot log into /says offline

 

It's been down for about 20 minutes, but I'm seeing it back up now.

 

[shrimpy_dikdik]

Maybe in hindsight ED made a mistake yesterday by say the patch is delaying only a day, they should have left the date open until sure everything worked and ready for release. But other than that what do people want? Release faulty patches to hit a deadline? Or maybe not give any deadlines or very vague ones and just release ad hoc? They're damned whatever decision they make. 

Edited July 4, 2024 by shrimpy_dikdik

[shagrat]

vor 21 Minuten schrieb shrimpy_dikdik:

Don't understand the negative responses to be honest. I'd rather a working patch than one that breaks aspects of the game that was released to satisfy the impatient. 

 

Take your time ED, get it right even if it takes weeks rather than days. I will enjoy flying what I already have in the meantime. 

Yes, but I rather prefer an announcement of a working patch after the patch is ready instead of an advance announcement, that basically is the "hope" to manage to have a working patch in the near future, with a date that's unreliable anyway.

What's the problem with a surprise announcement: "Today is patch day. Patch is live." ?

[armageddon]

My wife warned me about that but i didn't listen and purchased the ch-47

[Goetsch]

I was surprised, but surprisingly not surprised

[BIGNEWY]

33 minutes ago, Dataduffy said:

I'm seeing the main website down, and can't access for authentication (offline only). Related?

 

Site was being DDOS by someone, it is back up now. 

Folks a reminder, please read the rules before posting thank you 

[CaptJodan]

Just now, shrimpy_dikdik said:

Maybe in hindsight ED made a mistake yesterday by say the patch is delaying only a day, they should have left the date open until sure everything worked and ready for release. But other than that what do people want? Release faulty patches to hit a deadline? Or maybe not give any deadlines or very vague ones and just relalease ad hoc? They're damned whatever decision they make. 

I'm getting really tired of this narrative.  "If you want to hold ED accountable for bad release date estimates you clearly want broken patches rushed out the door."  No, most of us just want a date that will be reasonably accurate.  If that can't be delivered, then don't give a date.  A few patches here and there slip...give them some slack.  But this cycle has become an epidemic, and it's no longer even just mission a patch here and there, but promising another release, then missing it, then another, and missing that one. 

Smartest thing they're doing now is NOT telling us when the next patch is right now.  Just stop giving the dates and it comes out when it comes out.  Of course, that's not the business model.  The model is to gin up hype so people are excited for a release, and fair enough.  That's marketing.  But you should only be doing that if you know you can hit that milestone.  You have a buffer.  You have real confidence you can hit that target.  

Can ED not see that this hurts the brand and their PR?  Or do the numbers show that the people who hate this cycle really are a minority and it doesn't affect their business all that much?  I have a hard time believing that as this cycle continues, it won't hurt the business over time.  

[Jayhawk1971]

vor 17 Minuten schrieb Nealius:

That's essentially what we already had before shifting to a 6-week patch cycle, which was only practiced for two or three patch cycles before this planned one which was at a 4-week interval. I seem to remember we used to have a bimonthly patch cycle, which then changed to monthly, which then changed to 6-weeks, but my memory on that is fuzzy.

 

I've made that point in the past, before the introduction of the "6-week-cylce". IMO augmenting "big patches" with more frequent hot fixes, and divorcing content releases from patches and "core" enhancements would be much more customer friendly.

It would certainly dampen frustration, and might even somewhat help appease the pitchfork brigade.  

[Hiob]

2 minutes ago, CaptJodan said:

Can ED not see that this hurts the brand and their PR?  Or do the numbers show that the people who hate this cycle really are a minority and it doesn't affect their business all that much?  I have a hard time believing that as this cycle continues, it won't hurt the business over time.  

I really think it is just a vocal minority either way. The vast majority of DCS players probably isn't even in the forum (or discord for that matter) and simply plays. Occasionally being surprised by an update. 

Maybe I'm wrong though - we don't really have proper statistics about DCS.

[fjacobsen]

Please excuse me - Normally I´m very patient and have a great understanding, but this really starts to become ridiculous.

This comes ontop of the Razbam dispute, CH-47 delay without a new date, missing Kola Map updates - a map that I find to be in too early acces.

Note that I´m a long time user of DCS - all the way back to BS1. I have bought most modules as EA and never had a problem with what >I got, apart from the too early F-16 and the SC "incident" for acouple of years ago.

Edited July 4, 2024 by fjacobsen

[Predator-78]

I agree with receiving a more solid and working patch, I can understand this technical aspect. I can't understand the point of these announcements of postponed dates, they probably don't even have control of what they're doing, you fix one thing and another breaks. Things have been getting out of hand lately... just sorry.

Inviato dal mio SM-G998B utilizzando Tapatalk

[speed-of-heat]

@BIGNEWY please pass on my genuine thanks to the team for not shipping a broken patch which would have "ruined" everyone's weekend while they tried to figure out what's wrong, I am pleased that they are taking a commitment to improve quality of patches, over volume, and even timliness.

Edited July 4, 2024 by speed-of-heat

[Nealius]

12 minutes ago, BIGNEWY said:

Site was being DDOS by someone

It's one thing to be disappointed by delays, but DDOS'ing ED in response to the delays? C'mon people....

[falcon_120]

I like they have a good enough QA to detect game breaking bugs that ruin the game. The game is just fine already and really fun, go enjoy it.

The patch will be ready when its ready.

[Tazer83]

56 minutes ago, shrimpy_dikdik said:

Don't understand the negative responses to be honest. I'd rather a working patch than one that breaks aspects of the game that was released to satisfy the impatient. 

 

Take your time ED, get it right even if it takes weeks rather than days. I will enjoy flying what I already have in the meantime. 

Its not about taking their time its telling everyone the release day and just keeps getting put back. Id rather they didn't tell us and just release it as its causing negativity within the forum.

[Latiguillo]

Just like where I work, I see that deadlines are not met due to expectations that are too high. This can happen on occasion, but if it becomes routine, it ends up undermining the credibility of the company. Personally, I think it is better not to give too much hope, and better to give surprises when things are already well tied up. Greetings and good luck with your dreams.

 

[Maverick87Shaka]

Trying to release a better build rather than been strict chained to a release date is a positive attitude in my opinion, the problem probably was the decision to scrap out the Chinook and just give one day of delay (from 3rd to 4th) to properly tune the build.
Maybe at that time (on the original postpone announce) ED Should have taken more time? But it's ok. Take the necessary time to release a good build
 

[sigfan86]

ED, synonymous with over ambitious, and under delivered. Sorry to say,  you need to start being more realistic with your time tables. When the running joke about your company is " 2 weeks", y'all need to re-evaluate how you choose to announce info. 

[wjmzwx]

As for me， I‘m just waiting for a fix for F-4. I still can't play it without a CTD… Really looking forward to it.  And some of the criticizers may be deprately hoping they can get a functional F-15E radar. It‘s just like a boy waiting his parents to bring back the gift promised. He shouldn't cry loud and make a scene when parents fail to fufill the promise，but！ He has right to be sad.

Edited July 4, 2024 by wjmzwx

[Rifter]

[fjacobsen]

They should be much better at predicting a realistic release date.

Now announcing a delay the second day in a row, merely few hours before anticipated release seems to me that they have no clue about current state of the patch.

• Kola map update end of June - Nope
• CH-47 EA release end of June - Nope
• Afghanistan Map EA release end of June - Nope
• F-15E Radar fix - Nope
• General updates to the rest - Nope

Edited July 4, 2024 by fjacobsen

[Caveman655]

We should of known this update would not have happened, it was supposed to have big upgrades for the super carrier, and we call know that ED does not update the super carrier.

[unlikely_spider]

1 hour ago, IanC58 said:

Lost my support and understanding

Clearly not a real-life pilot with this type of attitude - maybe I've just learned to tolerate delay and disappointment during flight training to the degree that similar unanticipated changes in a video game's timetable does not even compare relatively, but attitudes like this (impatience, emotional outbursts) are what get pilots killed in real life.

I'll keep this in perspective though. If nothing else, on your deathbed, you can at least tell your children that your accomplishments include berating a video game developer because a patch was delayed a bit.