Mark Jacobs Explains the Beta Delay

SBFord · April 2016

Mark Jacobs Explains the Beta Delay

Today, City State Entertainment is announcing the delay of the beta for Camelot Unchained. In light of this, we talk to CSE's Mark Jacobs about the game, it's status, and what to expect going forward.

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Sokekoke · April 2016

When it is ready, it is ready... Thanks for not going on compromise with quality!

rpg123 · April 2016

Mark Jacobs is the most candid game developer in the industry. I wish I could be an angel investor, alas I'm not a millionaire

toljar · April 2016

Name a NPC after me and all is forgiven!

In all seriousness, don't release a shit game. The best way to not do that is take all the time you need and don't let people bring you down with the pressure of them wanting to just play the game. Thanks for being so transparent and rock on!

p.s. you can name a NPC after me I'm totally cool about that ;P

Sevala · April 2016

Sounds legit, and he is right, a crappy beta can tank a game, if I try a game in beta and find it terrible or don't like the play style I won't be back post launch. Bugs and a few missing things are fine, but play style doesn't change post beta. Better to postpone then launch a terrible product.

Nanulak · April 2016

I would expect nothing less than what I have seen here from CSE. This is how it is done if you want it done properly. And, if you are not capable of taking the steps back to reevaluate and fix the problems occasionally. Then you are going to end up with a failure.

Great news for all of us who are backers. Now back to the march, 30 miles to go...

Shaigh · April 2016

While I appreciate the honesty, as an outside observer I find the gaming industries use of crunch time appalling and its particularly bad when they still fail to reach beta 1.

Alomar · April 2016

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed seeing as this is the second delay and this game has been my "last hope" for rvr mmo's/mmo open world pvp for years now. If this game fails, I'll probably retire from mmo gaming entirely as I no longer enjoy the easy-mode pandering that has become the norm from large developers.

Yet, I love the honesty and transparency from CSE. I've just spent the past month watch 2-3 streams a week and it truly is unlike any other game's development in terms of openness, including the other big/bigger crowdfunded games. Disappointment aside, I hope it works out and I'd never ever even consider asking for a refund, if anything I'd throw more money at them.

There simply is not enough quality mmo's left/coming out to keep me busy until this releases, and now it's likely to be even longer =(.

MarkJacobs · April 2016

Sokekoke said:

When it is ready, it is ready... Thanks for not going on compromise with quality!

You're welcome. As I've said on another site, we are doing things the right way, this time.

rpg123 said:

Mark Jacobs is the most candid game developer in the industry. I wish I could be an angel investor, alas I'm not a millionaire

That would be nice but I'm satisfied with your support as a Backer, forums, etc. OTOH, if you win the next $1B+ MegaPowerBallHoopla Lottery, give me a buzz!

toljar said:

Name a NPC after me and all is forgiven!

In all seriousness, don't release a shit game. The best way to not do that is take all the time you need and don't let people bring you down with the pressure of them wanting to just play the game. Thanks for being so transparent and rock on!

p.s. you can name a NPC after me I'm totally cool about that ;P

Agreed (at least to the first part). As far the the NPC naming, LOL. I don't think we'll have enough true NPCs (monsters) for that but who knows. Maybe we should have a contest for stuff like that (not make it paid naming rights since we are past the KS).

TimothyEisenzimmer said:

Unbelievably candid during a time when I'm sure every instinct said run and hide!

Yep. It's always the same. It never really gets easier but I refuse to delegate the delivery of bad news to other people. And I wish more developers would do the same.

SedrynTyros said:

I'm glad they're taking the time to do it right.

Thanks, me too, as painful as it is at times.

Sevala said:

Sounds legit, and he is right, a crappy beta can tank a game, if I try a game in beta and find it terrible or don't like the play style I won't be back post launch. Bugs and a few missing things are fine, but play style doesn't change post beta. Better to postpone then launch a terrible product.

Yep. And even worse, a crappy foundation can sink/stink forever.

Nanulak said:

I would expect nothing less than what I have seen here from CSE. This is how it is done if you want it done properly. And, if you are not capable of taking the steps back to reevaluate and fix the problems occasionally. Then you are going to end up with a failure.

Great news for all of us who are backers. Now back to the march, 30 miles to go...

LOL, yep. The march goes on, in our own unique way.

Shaigh said:

While I appreciate the honesty, as an outside observer I find the gaming industries use of crunch time appalling and its particularly bad when they still fail to reach beta 1.

You know what would have been worse. If I kept the team in crunch longer to speed up Beta. I'm not burning out the team at this point but if I kept folks doing this a lot longer, it would have hurt. I'd rather have a few more refunds than betray the trust of my team has in me to make the right decision.

Alomar said:

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed seeing as this is the second delay and this game has been my "last hope" for rvr mmo's/mmo open world pvp for years now. If this game fails, I'll probably retire from mmo gaming entirely as I no longer enjoy the easy-mode pandering that has become the norm from large developers.

Yet, I love the honesty and transparency from CSE. I've just spent the past month watch 2-3 streams a week and it truly is unlike any other game's development in terms of openness, including the other big/bigger crowdfunded games. Disappointment aside, I hope it works out and I'd never ever even consider asking for a refund, if anything I'd throw more money at them.

There simply is not enough quality mmo's left/coming out to keep me busy until this releases, and now it's likely to be even longer =(.

Thanks so much, it's greatly appreciated.

TigsKC · April 2016

I really appreciate the approach and decision to refactor the ability system now.

Thanks, CSE!

YashaX · April 2016

Great interview/article. Its disappointing that the beta has been delayed (again?), but on the other hand it sounds like CU will be on the home stretch once the issue with class abilities is sorted out, so that's good news.

Schurge · April 2016

You can name my NPC Josef the Wombat.

Ammon777_new · April 2016

Take as long as it requires for a good game, IMO.

Jyiiga · April 2016

My real fear here is that they are in direct competition with Crowfall. If either of these games beats the other to the punch and has reasonable success it will negatively impact the other.

Ammon777_new · April 2016

TimothyEisenzimmer said:

I don't know about NPCs but I bet some of us get a gravestone with our name on it...followed by the long run back to our corpse!

Reminds me of AC

Franciscourant · April 2016

Jyiiga said:

My real fear here is that they are in direct competition with Crowfall. If either of these games beats the other to the punch and has reasonable success it will negatively impact the other.

I doubt it. A large portion of CU followers would probably not be inclined to play CF and vice versa. Those 2 games seem diametrically opposed in many ways. Example: character advancement. In Crowfall it's (mostly or fully) time-based so you press a few buttons and wait, while in CU it's based on active training "practice to improve it". Or targeting method / camera: in CF most attacks are aimed with a reticule like in third-person shooters, in CU it's mostly tab-target with a more zoomed out camera more similar to traditional MMORPGs. We can basically do this exercise for any of the features and I guess we quickly realize that those two games, even though they're aiming for some similar goals (PvP-oriented gameplay, player driven economy, physics, player-built structures, destruction, etc.), are developed so differently and for their own niche audience that I think it's as much about complement as it is about competition.

I believe that Crowfall releasing before Camelot Unchained would probably not impact significantly on the launch of CU. Also I'm pretty sure CF will release before CU: in late 2014 CF already had a playable prototype with many buildings, textures, destruction, powers, PvP, siege weapons, archetypes, monsters, etc. in it.

achesoma · April 2016

Jyiiga said:

My real fear here is that they are in direct competition with Crowfall. If either of these games beats the other to the punch and has reasonable success it will negatively impact the other.

I wouldn't call a "direct" competitor. Yeah, both pvp games but still very different styles. More of these types of games the better IMO. I'm a backer of Crowfall but still rooting for CU.

TigsKC · April 2016

Jyiiga said:

My real fear here is that they are in direct competition with Crowfall. If either of these games beats the other to the punch and has reasonable success it will negatively impact the other.

I am not worried.

For those PvPers who skim of surface of gaming news and events, there will definitely be overlap of audiences. But, these are very different games in important ways. And, there is absolutely no reason both cannot be excellent and fun offerings.

Nanulak · April 2016

I am amazed by the seemingly lack of outrage and those seeking refunds due to this slowdown. The community is starting to realize that with crowdfunding you are seeing the entire process including the dirty parts and not just the sugar coated press releases close to release version. It is a fun and enlightening process.

I guess most of the folks who do not like the dirty parts are gone and we are left with mostly the inquisitive ones.

LeFantome · April 2016

Not to mention , the game will be SUB only. No free to play this time.

Realizer · April 2016

Nanulak said:

I am amazed by the seemingly lack of outrage and those seeking refunds due to this slowdown. The community is starting to realize that with crowdfunding you are seeing the entire process including the dirty parts and not just the sugar coated press releases close to release version. It is a fun and enlightening process.

I guess most of the folks who do not like the dirty parts are gone and we are left with mostly the inquisitive ones.

I think it has more to do with the fact that most of the pledges for CU are older players that also played DAoC around 2001. We understand that fun games aren't thrown together overnight, we also understand that these are real people working for their livelihood. Many of us have been waiting 15 years for DAoC 2, I think we just want it done right this time.

Franciscourant · April 2016

Nanulak said:

I am amazed by the seemingly lack of outrage and those seeking refunds due to this slowdown. The community is starting to realize that with crowdfunding you are seeing the entire process including the dirty parts and not just the sugar coated press releases close to release version. It is a fun and enlightening process.

I guess most of the folks who do not like the dirty parts are gone and we are left with mostly the inquisitive ones.

The first two times the beta got delayed I think there were more people angry and refund requests made, the 2 most recent delay announcements I think it was way less dramatic. If anything all those beta estimations, delays and crunch get the medias' attention directed to CU and during the last crunch time with the live streaming, the daily pledges were pretty high. So it's probably not as detrimental as it may seem.

holdenhamlet · April 2016

Kind of interesting this comes right on the back of the Star Citizen statement that not everything will be in at launch. I wonder if Mark saw that the reaction was not overly bad and saw a chance to give some bad news.

Anyway, I really like Mark Jacobs. He's very candid. He participated in some epic trolling on VNBoards during Warhammer defending his game. He overall seems very interested in making good games and taking pride in his work.

Octagon7711 · April 2016

That's why some companies are going to delay announcements of new games until just before they're ready to launch. Especially with all the streamers out there feeling that they have to put out information on upcoming games even if they no it may not be true. Today a streamer said started off by saying he knows the rumor he heard about of games launch date was probably 90% untrue but he thought it sounded interesting so he talked about it anyway. O_o

Jermzy · April 2016

MJ could have extended the crunch if he knew about the 2 special ingredients for writing code. Coffee and doughnuts man.

DKLond · April 2016

Ehm, if it came holdenhamlet said:

Kind of interesting this comes right on the back of the Star Citizen statement that not everything will be in at launch. I wonder if Mark saw that the reaction was not overly bad and saw a chance to give some bad news.

Anyway, I really like Mark Jacobs. He's very candid. He participated in some epic trolling on VNBoards during Warhammer defending his game. He overall seems very interested in making good games and taking pride in his work.

Ehm, Star Citizen was never going to launch "with everything".

From the man himself in 2012:

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/4fki58/hey_guys_the_not_all_features_on_release_refute/

Please do your research before you make up fantasies about this being news.

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Mark Jacobs Explains the Beta Delay

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"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey