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Report From the Official Forums
Daedalus732
Member Posts: 589
For those of you wondering how things are going on the official forums for JGE, the only word that comes to mind is deplorable.
Please don't take my word for it though. Head on over and read the topics being discussed. There's virtually nothing about JGE being discussed and most posters are just plain fed up:
http://us.jumpgateevolution.com/
There has been no new information about JGE for more than six months. Six months and NOTHING about the actual game. The developers are keeping everyone in the dark, claiming they are working on the game using an "Agile Approach" (ND's term) which lets them change the game at will, supposedly with no consequences for stability. This is their excuse for not giving us information about the game; because everything is subject to change.
If you find this ridiculous, you're not alone. Most of the old Jumpgate players have left and most of the large player guilds have been disbanded or have started playing other MMOs. And all of this is to say nothing of the recent change in command of the lead developer, which has still not been explained. However it's probably a safe bet that a major changing of the guard that goes unexplained was probably not a positive change.
Those of us on the forums are aware of JGE's reputation; that it recently won a vaporware "award" and that most people think it's a lost cause. And that's probably accurate.
Again though, you don't have to take my word for any of this. Read the forums and you'll see the dismal situation.
Comments
just to be fair, Agile is not ND's term specifically. It is a programming methodology. More info at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
At this point in time, it sounds less like an approach and more like an excuse. They were perfectly happy giving specifics about the game until the outcry from their official forums vis a vis their PVP and loss system, and then for some reason, their "Friends and Family" testing shut the whole thing down.
I don't believe for a second you can develop a complex MMO that is so flexible. If the big developers can't do it, then you can bet the small ND team sure as hell can't.
Well, for what it's worth, CCP supposedly uses this approach, but I can't really tell you when they adopted it. I know over the past few years Agile development has really gained in popularity, but how it applies to MMO development I couldn't tell you. I was merely addressing the portion where you said "ND's term" and not really making any statement one way or the other as to how this news reflects on JGE.
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
And your correct, it's a larger industry term, I just wanted to be clear in my original post that people knew that I myself was not calling their approach "Agile", but rather that it was the term ND was using.
JGE imo has literally no chance to succeed if released over the next year.The best thing that could happen to this game is to keep improving it and release it when the market is totally stagnant.If they wait another year,then i think the majority of hyped games will long be out and more players will tired of WOW.You may also see DF gone from the scene by that time and Aion will probably be cut in at least half by then,so JGE would at least have the chance to sell some copies,longevity however is another topic.
I personally do not think there is a large enough market for EVE/JGE/STO/SW and a handful of other games that fall into a similar theme.
For a developer to challenge this market,they would have to blow the doors off the other games ,in order to steal the majority of subs.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I'm not so sure.
I'm really jaded by new mmo releases recently, they all seem to fail, very few re-subscribe because they are just not ready. JGE seems to be one of the few products which has decided to put its launch on hold.
The last article I read about JGE (b4 the recent QA one) was that they gave it to a group of people to play test who in short, reported that it was not ready at all. Unlike ST:O Which is soldiering on with its launch JGE seems to have gone to grounds.
Regarding the latest blog from the QA guys it hints to me that they have had some very serious game breaking bugs that they have no been able to iron out.
When the hype starts again, I'll look at it again.. and possibly be more confident about a good release.
you all realize that if and when JGE comes out due to the length of time to make it perfect. If it so much as farts once it will be over. I had followed this game since sometime in 2008 I stopped wasting my time. I might pick it up, but this game needs to be nothing short of Miraculous to keep the people that waited playing. And the all games are bugged at release bullshit will not work with a game that has taken so long to make.
Ea is like a poo fingered midas ~ShakyMo
It will be whatever it will be. unfortunatly a game cannot be rated on how long it has taken to come out.
Its frustrating when a looked forward to game delays.. but its more frustrating when it comes out and it turns out to be crap!
Ive stopped following JGE too, but that wont mean I'll start again when it does.
JGE was always a secondary effort from the team as they worked on the LEGO MMO. Once they ran into some bugs that were huge killers of the game play the game started losing steam. Now, they are putting most of their efforts into the LEGO game and with its impending Beta start soon I would bet they are pooling their resources around it right now.
More than likely JGE may come back at some time. However, I think they have to get the LEGO game out in order to support any developement efforts for JGE. If the LEGO MMO flops, ND will not survive.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
I can't believe after being away from Jumpgate for 20 months that JGE has not come out. I guess the economy is so bad that ND is making excuses until sales can be justified. Maybe that's the reason for all the secrecy. Also, a head change in this environment may be nothing more than the head found a better job and had no choice but to sieze the moment.
To be fair, the other space-shooting MMO, Black Prophecy, hasn't exactly been burning down the beta-release racetrack.
I don't follow the whole "JGE will fail if they release in this economy" thought process. A successful company never sits on finished product. Even if they don't want to have a full server farm running they should still be teasing people with new info, closed beta invites, etc. to keep the interest of their potential customers. They could do that at minimal cost when compared to the cost of development.
If they release and fail it will be due to their marketing strategy (or lack thereof).
To be fair Codemasters is involved... and where Codemasters involved everything turns to shit.
Black Prophecy will be releasing open beta testing this month! Go sign up everyone!!!!
Where do you see that?
www.blackprophecy.com
its all over the fourms
also watch the trailer if i'm not mistaken it mentions it in that as well.
I officially pronounce this thread as the 'black prophecy' thread lol =]
Cost vs profit.
We as players don't have the sales numbers. It may be that sales are really soft and may not hit internal sales targets to hit that profit margin. Plus, there are other factors outside of industry, such as government concerns that may increase cost and sales targets.
Therefore, even if JGE was ready today the question is "should we tweak the product more or release with poor sales".
Didn't mean to confuse.
With the soon to be released Black prophecy I think NetDevil needs to rethink their game strategy because they will be offering a game to people that will have a monthly fee and BP will be F2P. That will take a lot of users from them and will impact there business. I'm sure that is a reason for most of the delays, especially when you read what Reakktor has plans to do to BP when it is out. If JGE doesn't come out this year I think they will be in trouble, because the market will start to fill up with space games.
Come and checkout my website:
SpaceSimCentral.com - Your Space Sim Community Gaming Resource
Discuss EVE, JGE, BP, Infinity, Taikodom, FL, FS, HW, WC, X and more
We should just bring back Earth and Beyond.
Not sure I agree that the market will "fill up with space games", but I completely agree that unless BP simply collapses, JGEgoing head-to-head with them is a bad business scenario for JGE.
Gotta disagree. Waiting another year puts you in the timeframe of SWTOR, Cataclysm ,Tera, Rift, FFIV, and Secret World... plus some other stuff I'm probably missing.
The time of stagnation is right now. There is literally nothing coming out til Cataclysm. Having said that the game obviously isn't ready, and I don't think its ever going to do well because they simply missed their potential timeframe.
I say it's 50/50, depending on the quality of the game. I really really want to play JGE and have been waiting patiently for years, but if it comes out and it isn't absolutely amazing SWTOR or FFXIV will draw me in, and I think that's the same for a lot of other people. Don't forget there is an Elder Scrolls and a Fallout MMO as well and the likelihood is that atleast one of these games will be much better than JGE even though I prefer space based mmos
Timing of a release won't kill a game. If the publisher is looking for a "big splash" with box sales, yes, there can be impact if the target audience is too busy playing something else.
But MMOs are developed for the long haul. It's the publishers that pull the plug prematurely when they don't get enough quick and dirty profit, never the devs.
If the devs have done a good job, or at least solve the big problems quickly after a game goes live, even a niche product can do just fine.
The problems will happen if most of the target audience thinks there's a better game already on the market in the same genre/niche.
So if a developer releases a game too soon, then they are just taking advantage of us as players...
Yet if they take the time to make sure that what they release is a solid product, then they are just leading us on right??
Sounds like damned if you do damned if you don't for me.
Personally I'd like to see less information about these games ahead of time, the less ammo the emo-rage morons have to start thread after thread bashing a not-yet-released game over their childish and irrelivant concerns, the better.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford