February 28?! - Page 2

vmxa1 · December 16, 2002, 14:16

If xmas date is no better than another date, why do the companies break their butts trying to reach it?
It is well understood that impulse sales will be lost if you are not offering your product during this season.
Shoppers will be in stores like EB that they will not be in at any other time of the year. Other venues such as Walmart will be selling games to people that will not be buying them at other times. This is why they care about making this time frame.

moomin · December 16, 2002, 15:35

vmxa: Grummie said that given that they missed x-mas, any date is as good as any other. You don't have a disagreement over this issue.

Kc7mxo · December 16, 2002, 16:57

Quote:

given that they missed x-mas, any date is as good as any other. You don't have a disagreement over this issue.

you'll find plenty of disagreement for such a statement on the official moo3 boards.

vmxa1 · December 16, 2002, 18:03

Quote:

Originally posted by moomin
vmxa: Grummie said that given that they missed x-mas, any date is as good as any other. You don't have a disagreement over this issue.

My mistake.

Grumbold · December 17, 2002, 07:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Kc7mxo

you'll find plenty of disagreement for such a statement on the official moo3 boards.

"luckily" I can't get an acceptable response speed on those boards so I stay here. I can just imagine how each rumor of another week or two delay has been received. Personally I've found other games to play so "we will release when it's playable" is a pain but acceptable to me. Better than having an unstable or buggy game on my harddrive and pleading for another patch, like certain products on other Apolyton forums

MetalKing · December 17, 2002, 07:25

This release date 28 february reminds me of last yeasr HOMM4, which was delayed till march in similar fashion as MOO3.

I just hope MOO3 won't suck like HOMM4 did.

Main_Brain · December 17, 2002, 07:37

I just fired up the old MoO2 instantly went into OMT-Mode and all I have to say:
if it turns out to be as good I will be playing it for Years to come so no need to hurry.
Have it done right test it, stabilize it, MP it, bring a game I dont need to patch to get it working and I'll wait for it.

But please.. dont let me get MoO3 and DN4ever on the same day :=)

Skanky Burns · December 17, 2002, 07:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Grumbold
Better than having an unstable or buggy game on my harddrive and pleading for another patch, like certain products on other Apolyton forums

Yes, nothing is worse than having a product and still having to wait for it to be released.

moomin · December 17, 2002, 12:28

That's signature material right there, SB!

vmxa1 · December 17, 2002, 14:02

DNF will not collide with Moo3 and may be vaporware. It puts one in mind of a game from Ion Storm, finally came out but was DOA.

Tolver · December 17, 2002, 15:33

I went to go look at the official MOO3 web site.

As of 12-17-02,

Best Buy - 1-12-03

CompUSA - 12-19-02

Wall Mart - 02-05-03

Amazon - 01-07-03

GameStop - 01-15-03

EB Games - 01-14-03

Sam Goody - 11-26-02

I perfer the date from Sam Goody, wish I could get into their universe.

Sarxis · December 17, 2002, 16:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
You know, I keep hearing over and over about the difficulties of preparing a game for both single and multiple players. Maybe the industry should put their heads together and decide that they simply won't try to offer both in one package. It would not bother me one bit if evferyone who wanted to play on the internet had to go out and plunk down an extra charge to buy th multi-player expansion pack.

Don't you mean the Singleplayer expansion?

Rantz · December 17, 2002, 17:46

We're waiting on final bugfix regression testing. As soon as that is given the go by IG QA, then it goes gold, and we're out. Everyone on this side (Quicksilver and IG is really surprised that we have not gone gold.) Historically, when a game is in shakier shape than MOO3 is now publishers traditionally push it out the door wanting the short term fix, vs. the long-term investment of having customers who don't have to patch. It's so rare as to be almost unheard of, but IG is that commited to MOO3, and the future of the Microprose franchises.

Do we want it out already? Hell yeah. I want to play folks in MP as well as enjoying the silence on the message boards as folks are too busy *playing* to post. Is the extra time a good thing, of course it is. Will it be coming out Feb 28th? Personally I will be completely shocked to the point of a heart attack dropping me dead if it takes that long to come out. I really cannot stress how close we are here, and how frustrating it is, waiting to get the thumbsup to throw the 'gold' switch.

RolandtheMad · December 17, 2002, 17:50

Well, do what you have to Rantz. I`ve completely turned around on my opinion about waiting for the game to come out, just thinking of some other half-done games I`ve played. Kudos to you and I hope we get a really solid product for this little inconvience.

vmxa1 · December 17, 2002, 18:08

Sounds good to me, thanks for the update and ignore the bashes that are sure to follow.

JohnT · December 17, 2002, 18:22

Thanks for the update.

Skanky Burns · December 17, 2002, 18:26

Yes, appreciated.

Proteus_MST · December 17, 2002, 18:42

Sounds great Rantz,

as if we could expect the game to go gold within the next few days (as long nothing unforeseen happens that is

)

Kc7mxo · December 17, 2002, 18:46

Nice to see you Rantz, and thanks for the update.

I wonder, will the rioting decrease due to a gone gold statement? Or will rabbid mooers cause actual riots at their local software stores when the delivery truck is late . . .

Proteus_MST · December 17, 2002, 18:51

Quote:

Originally posted by Kc7mxo
Nice to see you Rantz, and thanks for the update.

I wonder, will the rioting decrease due to a gone gold statement? Or will rabbid mooers cause actual riots at their local software stores when the delivery truck is late . . .

Me thinks it would be a wise choice for Infogrames to have the game released and shipped within two days after the "gone gold"- announcement

Kc7mxo · December 17, 2002, 19:02

"A riot is an ugly thing. And I think its about time we had one!"

moomin · December 17, 2002, 19:57

Rantz, your input is much appreciated. Not that some of us would mind waiting for Feb 26th for a solid, bugfree release.

Still, when you're tests are done, they're done. Looking forward to enjoying Moo3.

Gooberman32 · December 17, 2002, 23:59

How close exactly is MoO3 to going gold, i mean two months, weeks, days? And when it goes gold and misses the Xmas rush will you still release it or will you wait till things calm down and release it febuary ( the last question may be for Chantz to answer)

TCO · December 18, 2002, 02:00

I wonder what is going on behind the scenes. What kind of penalties has QS paid for delivering late?

Main_Brain · December 18, 2002, 08:17

http://celebrity.com.ne.kr/bondgirl/...irleyeaton.jpg
Gone Gold? :P

Grumbold · December 18, 2002, 12:31

Quote:

Originally posted by GP
I wonder what is going on behind the scenes. What kind of penalties has QS paid for delivering late?

Eating crow on the forums? Receiving abuse from hundreds of intolerant fans? An even more stressful than normal Christmas?

metalhead · December 18, 2002, 15:14

Well, I feel compelled to comment on a lot of what I've read in this thread.

It seems no matter what these companies do, people aren't satisfied. With CivIII, they rushed an incomplete beta out the door, and it took 9 months to fix. People were irate that they had to play an incomplete game, and were outraged that a game would be released early, before it was ready.

Now, on this forum, a lot of people seem peeved that they are taking their time, tweaking the game, and making sure to release it clean and as bug-free as possible. They want it NOW, and can't understand why a company would stretch a deadline so far.

The bottom line is that no matter which tact a game company ends up using, people will be unhappy. And the publisher could care less, because we'll all buy the game anyway.

totalchaos · December 18, 2002, 15:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Rantz
[...]publishers traditionally push it out the door wanting the short term fix, vs. the long-term investment of having customers who don't have to patch.

I respectfully disagree. In my experience, many publishers push buggy games out the door and then never patch.

As much as I'm looking forward to MOO3, and as hard as waiting has been for me, I'd much rather wait for the game to be done.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Anglophile · December 18, 2002, 19:30

I agree with those who have expressed the view that a software company is largely in a no-win situation caught between those who complain about imperfect games (i.e. bugs) and those who complain about late games. Thank god my company only expects me to be very good, as perfection remains somewhat beyond my current capabilities (although apparently well within those of many contributors to forums such as this one). I prefer the later release of a smoother game and am happily playing a very, very large world with oodles of resources in Civ3, that opportunity provided by the much criticized PtW, but as I play SP, PtW is great. Tribunal has also extended my enjoyment of MW, so I can wait for MoO3, my hopes and expectations intact.

People should be grateful that the developer's are taking the time to deliver the best possible gaming experience right out of the box. Trust me, there is immense pressure in a corporation to get things out the door. Cash flow now is infinitely better than potential DCF later. Besides the game I really want to see (please, please, please) is MoM2.

The Rusty Gamer · December 18, 2002, 23:16

You realise that if MOO3 comes out on about the 28th Feb, it will probably be competing with Galactic Civlizations which is due to come out at about the same time?