@PenguinJim
I’d have to watch the Timelines Talks steam again to read what Ben said, but are you sure the mini event wasn’t changed from this fall to “coming soon”?
I know they wanted to get the event hub in place and working smoothly first, which it does appear to be.
@PenguinJim
I’d have to watch the Timelines Talks steam again to read what Ben said, but are you sure the mini event wasn’t changed from this fall to “coming soon”?
I know they wanted to get the event hub in place and working smoothly first, which it does appear to be.
I'm pretty sure he said late fall. Jim is pointing out that tomorrow is the equinox, and thus the last day of fall.
@PenguinJim
I’d have to watch the Timelines Talks steam again to read what Ben said, but are you sure the mini event wasn’t changed from this fall to “coming soon”?
I know they wanted to get the event hub in place and working smoothly first, which it does appear to be.
I'm pretty sure he said late fall. Jim is pointing out that tomorrow is the equinox, and thus the last day of fall.
If you want to split hairs and hold him to his exact words, how do you know he wasn't talking about the meteorological vs the equinox fall seasons?
@PenguinJim
I’d have to watch the Timelines Talks steam again to read what Ben said, but are you sure the mini event wasn’t changed from this fall to “coming soon”?
I know they wanted to get the event hub in place and working smoothly first, which it does appear to be.
I'm pretty sure he said late fall. Jim is pointing out that tomorrow is the equinox, and thus the last day of fall.
If you want to split hairs and hold him to his exact words, how do you know he wasn't talking about the meteorological vs the equinox fall seasons?
Deduction, dear Watson. As the mini-event did not start three or more weeks ago, it wasn't 'late meteorological fall'.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
I was wondering about that too. Normally TP makes an event announcement well in advance of events.
This week would be a particularly bad week for a minievent given many people’s real world distractions (holiday preparations). Next week would probably be better.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
Considering Ben's comments were made back in early September, I'd sooner bet that he was overly optimistic in announcing his approximate timeline.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
Considering Ben's comments were made back in early September, I'd sooner bet that he was overly optimistic in announcing his approximate timeline.
I would imagine he got those estimates from someone else. Or at least got permission to give those estimates. But the point stands: someone at WRG was a little too optimistic. It's a shame they haven't been able to keep that schedule.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
I was wondering about that too. Normally TP makes an event announcement well in advance of events.
This week would be a particularly bad week for a minievent given many people’s real world distractions (holiday preparations). Next week would probably be better.
Nothing is happening this week. It would have been announced if it was. One guy is deciding to troll by taking literally a months old comment. Guess what a timeline slipped, something happened. TP is not going to official announce the delay of a feature that was only mentioned in an interview. But it's also not going to launch a new feature just before Christmas with no announcement just because it was given a fall timeframe in an interview months earlier.
Hang on, so it’s being assumed that the event will be tomorrow just because it’s the last day which could comply with the original indication of the timeframe?
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
I was wondering about that too. Normally TP makes an event announcement well in advance of events.
This week would be a particularly bad week for a minievent given many people’s real world distractions (holiday preparations). Next week would probably be better.
Nothing is happening this week. It would have been announced if it was. One guy is deciding to troll by taking literally a months old comment.
Is that "guy" me, or one of the other people who have brought it up on this forum in the last two weeks?
It's been coming up again in threads here for weeks. In the unlikely event that they've changed the schedule (TP may not aim high or implement well, but so far they've done the things they've announced they would do) Shan would have corrected us more than a week ago.
Remember, this month we didn't get the usual FB announcement for the mega-event, either. And I think it's fair to call this week "late Fall". It could well be the Christmas surprise.
The whole mini-event tease/lack of info is representative of the lack of real contact with the development team. Shan is great as community manager, but for a game approaching 5 years there needs to be a far more regular and consistent means of update from the devs to help engage an aging player base. This used to be present back in year 1, but not since then - its not surprising then that veteran players feel disconnected from the game.
Maybe the timeline changed, maybe there was a problem, and those are legitimate reasons. But the fact that they said Fall for one of the first major game improvements since taking over control of the game* and that was the last substantial communication from development is certainly explanation enough of why people would be taking the stance of it still being on track for release in Fall - theres never been any update to contradict or correct the last statement.
(*I'm not counting the Event Hub which has been pretty consistently griped about for adding time and frustration to the UI even with an assurance that it was necessary to support said mini events. You know how they could have avoided that PR attitude easily? Regular dev communication. When the Event Hub went live it should have come with screenshots explaining the eventual use, a YouTube video walking through the plans, something to indicate future progression more than an offhand comment in a fan stream.)
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Thank you for the update. If you are able to elaborate on when we might get a mini event or what other updates may be in store, we would really appreciate it, as @dext74 pointed out.
Personally, with COP Picard coming up, I also eagerly await details on the Convergence Day festivities as well.
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
So, this is one of the worst weeks to say "this year." Do you mean 2020 or 2021? Not trying to be a jerk; just looking for some clarity.
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Not meaning you Shan, we all know you do great and have your hands full enough, but...
...hurdles of game development are one thing, good communication is another. And with a switch to the new company the team strength got doubled when I remember correctly. But concerning communication nothing has changed.
When something is kinda announced for a certain time frame why do we learn last minute it will not happen? If a plan changed one could have informed the userbase early as to prevent disappointment.
And if resources got directed elsewhere on what exactly got they directed to? Infos like that generate interest. A road map of planned stuff would be even better. And also convince sceptics there really are concrete plans for various aspects of the game...
And with a switch to the new company the team strength got doubled when I remember correctly. But concerning communication nothing has changed.
When something is kinda announced for a certain time frame why do we learn last minute it will not happen? If a plan changed one could have informed the userbase early as to prevent disappointment.
And if resources got directed elsewhere on what exactly got they directed to? Infos like that generate interest. A road map of planned stuff would be even better. And also convince sceptics there really are concrete plans for various aspects of the game...
All of this exactly. No one is going to complain if a schedule has to change, but the lack of results and communication from a doubled development team and the constant postponement or changes to announcements is going to breed a culture (or further encourage one that has arguably existed already), where people don't take TP at their word and sow doubt on every announcement forthcoming. A "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude as opposed to "That sounds/looks great, I cant wait".
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Not meaning you Shan, we all know you do great and have your hands full enough, but...
...hurdles of game development are one thing, good communication is another. And with a switch to the new company the team strength got doubled when I remember correctly. But concerning communication nothing has changed.
When something is kinda announced for a certain time frame why do we learn last minute it will not happen? If a plan changed one could have informed the userbase early as to prevent disappointment.
And if resources got directed elsewhere on what exactly got they directed to? Infos like that generate interest. A road map of planned stuff would be even better. And also convince sceptics there really are concrete plans for various aspects of the game...
I would love to see an example of a public facing roadmap for a F2P game such as ours.
A public roadmap is not something that will happen, because things change too quickly.
What kind of changes? It can vary: SDKs needing updates, random new requirements from Facebook or other partners/platforms, privacy laws needing to be considered and potential legal requirements implemented. Add to it unforeseen various technical issues, staff changes, etc
We all wish this year could have gone more smoothly, the transition with the addition of a pandemic have made it tough.
I do not know the status of mini-events at this time, otherwise I would have added more info in my previous post.
What I can say is that we are working on our anniversary celebrations, and are hard at work at the new feature we've hinted at.
Chiming in to say that mini events will not be happening this year.
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Not meaning you Shan, we all know you do great and have your hands full enough, but...
...hurdles of game development are one thing, good communication is another. And with a switch to the new company the team strength got doubled when I remember correctly. But concerning communication nothing has changed.
When something is kinda announced for a certain time frame why do we learn last minute it will not happen? If a plan changed one could have informed the userbase early as to prevent disappointment.
And if resources got directed elsewhere on what exactly got they directed to? Infos like that generate interest. A road map of planned stuff would be even better. And also convince sceptics there really are concrete plans for various aspects of the game...
I would love to see an example of a public facing roadmap for a F2P game such as ours.
A public roadmap is not something that will happen, because things change too quickly.
What kind of changes? It can vary: SDKs needing updates, random new requirements from Facebook or other partners/platforms, privacy laws needing to be considered and potential legal requirements implemented. Add to it unforeseen various technical issues, staff changes, etc
We all wish this year could have gone more smoothly, the transition with the addition of a pandemic have made it tough.
I do not know the status of mini-events at this time, otherwise I would have added more info in my previous post.
What I can say is that we are working on our anniversary celebrations, and are hard at work at the new feature we've hinted at.
Thank you for this little peek behind the curtain. Naturally, I am curious about some of the details, but it's hardly essential knowledge. Thank you for sharing what you can, when you can. If you or Ben are available to talk to the Timelines Talks crew before the anniversary, I would love to hear from one of you (or any other dev) to build a little excitement for the anniversary festivities.
Thanks for taking the time to update us a little here. 🖖
We all wish this year could have gone more smoothly, the transition with the addition of a pandemic have made it tough.
What I can say is that we are working on our anniversary celebrations, and are hard at work at the new feature we've hinted at.
Yes, I wanted to add the pandemic made this year tricky for all of us in different ways. And in the case of STT of course the small size of the team plays a part as well. Aka bigger team = more features faster.
While it got bigger with the transition for game development standards it is still small. But for that we users are also responsible. If STT would have stellar revenue and grow, grow, grow the team would be more massive obviously.
The bright spot: After those DB happenings STT could have been gone completely. But it is still there after so many years. Which also says something.
Looking forward to the new feature (and maybe some advance teases/hint cause as said such things generate interest) and the anniversary and wish you, the team and all users a merry christmas and healthy finish of the year...
I am looking forward to this new feature though. Is it still on course for Q1 2021?
I promise im not replying to be snarky, but let's say the answer comes back as "yes" to Q1 2021... do you have faith in past practices that it would actually hold?
I am looking forward to this new feature though. Is it still on course for Q1 2021?
I promise im not replying to be snarky, but let's say the answer comes back as "yes" to Q1 2021... do you have faith in past practices that it would actually hold?
I think it's more about getting them to communicate these things sooner than trusting that the schedule will not change. If they know it won't happen in Q1 2021, then it would be nice to know in Q4 2020.
I am looking forward to this new feature though. Is it still on course for Q1 2021?
I promise im not replying to be snarky, but let's say the answer comes back as "yes" to Q1 2021... do you have faith in past practices that it would actually hold?
I think it's more about getting them to communicate these things sooner than trusting that the schedule will not change. If they know it won't happen in Q1 2021, then it would be nice to know in Q4 2020.
DB has had much bigger revenues in the past and done less. I think it's time that they invested in the game rather than us, yes?
Compared to monster hits still "small" (and as we know DB got overconfident at one point, invested wrong etc. furthermore), same as the team size.
And no matter what: Apart from prelaunch and shortly after launch communication was always an issue really. And same as you I really want to see something fresh gameplay wise. Not the same things over and over.
Comments
I’d have to watch the Timelines Talks steam again to read what Ben said, but are you sure the mini event wasn’t changed from this fall to “coming soon”?
I know they wanted to get the event hub in place and working smoothly first, which it does appear to be.
I'm pretty sure he said late fall. Jim is pointing out that tomorrow is the equinox, and thus the last day of fall.
If you want to split hairs and hold him to his exact words, how do you know he wasn't talking about the meteorological vs the equinox fall seasons?
Deduction, dear Watson. As the mini-event did not start three or more weeks ago, it wasn't 'late meteorological fall'.
I’d have thought the absence of communication is a sign that it’s been delayed, rather than that it’s being kept as a surprise.
I was wondering about that too. Normally TP makes an event announcement well in advance of events.
This week would be a particularly bad week for a minievent given many people’s real world distractions (holiday preparations). Next week would probably be better.
Considering Ben's comments were made back in early September, I'd sooner bet that he was overly optimistic in announcing his approximate timeline.
I would imagine he got those estimates from someone else. Or at least got permission to give those estimates. But the point stands: someone at WRG was a little too optimistic. It's a shame they haven't been able to keep that schedule.
Nothing is happening this week. It would have been announced if it was. One guy is deciding to troll by taking literally a months old comment. Guess what a timeline slipped, something happened. TP is not going to official announce the delay of a feature that was only mentioned in an interview. But it's also not going to launch a new feature just before Christmas with no announcement just because it was given a fall timeframe in an interview months earlier.
It's been coming up again in threads here for weeks. In the unlikely event that they've changed the schedule (TP may not aim high or implement well, but so far they've done the things they've announced they would do) Shan would have corrected us more than a week ago.
Remember, this month we didn't get the usual FB announcement for the mega-event, either. And I think it's fair to call this week "late Fall". It could well be the Christmas surprise.
Maybe the timeline changed, maybe there was a problem, and those are legitimate reasons. But the fact that they said Fall for one of the first major game improvements since taking over control of the game* and that was the last substantial communication from development is certainly explanation enough of why people would be taking the stance of it still being on track for release in Fall - theres never been any update to contradict or correct the last statement.
(*I'm not counting the Event Hub which has been pretty consistently griped about for adding time and frustration to the UI even with an assurance that it was necessary to support said mini events. You know how they could have avoided that PR attitude easily? Regular dev communication. When the Event Hub went live it should have come with screenshots explaining the eventual use, a YouTube video walking through the plans, something to indicate future progression more than an offhand comment in a fan stream.)
That was the plan but resources had to be directed elsewhere.
Those are the unfortunate hurdles of game development.
Thank you for the update. If you are able to elaborate on when we might get a mini event or what other updates may be in store, we would really appreciate it, as @dext74 pointed out.
Personally, with COP Picard coming up, I also eagerly await details on the Convergence Day festivities as well.
So, this is one of the worst weeks to say "this year." Do you mean 2020 or 2021? Not trying to be a jerk; just looking for some clarity.
Not meaning you Shan, we all know you do great and have your hands full enough, but...
...hurdles of game development are one thing, good communication is another. And with a switch to the new company the team strength got doubled when I remember correctly. But concerning communication nothing has changed.
When something is kinda announced for a certain time frame why do we learn last minute it will not happen? If a plan changed one could have informed the userbase early as to prevent disappointment.
And if resources got directed elsewhere on what exactly got they directed to? Infos like that generate interest. A road map of planned stuff would be even better. And also convince sceptics there really are concrete plans for various aspects of the game...
All of this exactly. No one is going to complain if a schedule has to change, but the lack of results and communication from a doubled development team and the constant postponement or changes to announcements is going to breed a culture (or further encourage one that has arguably existed already), where people don't take TP at their word and sow doubt on every announcement forthcoming. A "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude as opposed to "That sounds/looks great, I cant wait".
I would love to see an example of a public facing roadmap for a F2P game such as ours.
A public roadmap is not something that will happen, because things change too quickly.
What kind of changes? It can vary: SDKs needing updates, random new requirements from Facebook or other partners/platforms, privacy laws needing to be considered and potential legal requirements implemented. Add to it unforeseen various technical issues, staff changes, etc
We all wish this year could have gone more smoothly, the transition with the addition of a pandemic have made it tough.
I do not know the status of mini-events at this time, otherwise I would have added more info in my previous post.
What I can say is that we are working on our anniversary celebrations, and are hard at work at the new feature we've hinted at.
Thank you for this little peek behind the curtain. Naturally, I am curious about some of the details, but it's hardly essential knowledge. Thank you for sharing what you can, when you can. If you or Ben are available to talk to the Timelines Talks crew before the anniversary, I would love to hear from one of you (or any other dev) to build a little excitement for the anniversary festivities.
Thanks for taking the time to update us a little here. 🖖
Yes, I wanted to add the pandemic made this year tricky for all of us in different ways. And in the case of STT of course the small size of the team plays a part as well. Aka bigger team = more features faster.
While it got bigger with the transition for game development standards it is still small. But for that we users are also responsible. If STT would have stellar revenue and grow, grow, grow the team would be more massive obviously.
The bright spot: After those DB happenings STT could have been gone completely. But it is still there after so many years. Which also says something.
Looking forward to the new feature (and maybe some advance teases/hint cause as said such things generate interest) and the anniversary and wish you, the team and all users a merry christmas and healthy finish of the year...
DB has had much bigger revenues in the past and done less. I think it's time that they invested in the game rather than us, yes?
I am looking forward to this new feature though. Is it still on course for Q1 2021?
I promise im not replying to be snarky, but let's say the answer comes back as "yes" to Q1 2021... do you have faith in past practices that it would actually hold?
I think it's more about getting them to communicate these things sooner than trusting that the schedule will not change. If they know it won't happen in Q1 2021, then it would be nice to know in Q4 2020.
I fully agree.
Compared to monster hits still "small" (and as we know DB got overconfident at one point, invested wrong etc. furthermore), same as the team size.
And no matter what: Apart from prelaunch and shortly after launch communication was always an issue really. And same as you I really want to see something fresh gameplay wise. Not the same things over and over.
Shan, is this new feature something that we will really like or are we looking at something like another button for the event hub?