Devs opinion

May I just say this about forums...as my first and if potentially successful, last post:

1. Forums increase exponentially with size over time.

2. The amount of information contained within is mostly personal comments, coupled with speculation and soon to be broken hopes and dreams.

3. The few comments and useful information are only found after hours upon hours of searching. This practice should NEVER be a required part of a positive gaming experience.

With that note, aside from a few problems with the installer crashing, everything works fine now. Love the ridiculous feel of everything.

Nice job Uber. You really did make a successor to (the original unmodified) Total Annihilation.

And so I'm going to spend my time playing it instead of reading stuff here.

I think this is a possible (worst case, and very unlikely) future for PA *if* Uber were to completely run out of funds and be forced to stop development. I don't think this is likely to happen very soon though- yes they've released (and arguable a bit earlier than many would like), still they've most certainly not staid "that's it, we're done" as in the case of the DF9.

Looking at what we know and applying a bit of Logic:
1: Uber are a much bigger company than they were at the start of the Kickstarter, to the point they have just moved to bigger offices.

2: There have been a steady stream of updates since the 'launch' and we've been getting some info directly from some of the devs on what they're doing, so we know they *are* working on the game, even if we are lacking some info on what the higher level goals are.

3: There haven't been any announcements of any *other* significant projects, and a team the size of Uber's (30 or so people now?) won't be sitting around. If they're starting a new major project (and thus winding down on PA) then they'd be announcing it, so I think it's safe to assume that PA is still their main focus. I think longer term it's likely they will start up a new major project, however that probably wont be for a while yet (and I don't think that necessarily means the end of work on PA, just that once the next couple of major updates are in they may not need the whole team working on it- at which point sensibly they will start looking into what to do next).

PA 2 obviously. Or a big addon for PA.

Maybe a single player story driven campaign type deal on the PA engine, I think that is what *many* people (especially the single player crowd) would like to see. Thing is you can't do that until you have a game first so it makes sense as a second iteration maybe?

Not based on the engine, but based on PA itself. Includes a lot of extra polish for PA in general

What is wrong with people claiming the features they paid for? How can you as a customer fight directly against basic customer rights? If I buy a version of Microsoft Office which is advertised with a grammar correction feature and I get it without this feature, I can say that I am entitled to get this feature. Not later or soon, but now. It is a basic right and I can get a refund on this product. And sites like Amazon sold the PA as DRM free and with offline mode (Uber didnt correct this information soon enough on their own page so retailers just copied it). So how can you say these people are ignorant or idiots? The problem is companies that promise something and then dont deliver. A customer must have the right to complain about a product and get a refund. If you tell the customer that the feature is coming soon and he doesnt accept this for whatever reason, then it is like that.

Regarding the information politics:
I think it is better to always give information, even if you dont have much to say. There is a little game out there with developers who make a post every Friday. Even if there isnt much progress they talk about a test they made or about someone working on a new graphic for item X. It is very satisfying because you know when new information will come. They have a roadmap for main features but they are not afraid to postpone them and tell the community why. Guess what? The comments for these news are always positive. Is it because their customers are better than the customers here or is it because their information politics is good?

On Amazon.co.uk, under Product Description, it still says "DRM free" and "Offline mode".

DRM FREE
Play connected to the UberNet servers, your own private server, or offline, it's your choice.

Just so that you know

Guys it's a game and having played RTS since the days of TA and the Warcraft/SC era's I have to say the Dev's have built a wonderful game here that needs a few tweeks some minor some major. I say give them time to get it to where they like it I'm sure they will consider all viable and productive suggestions. I still wish it was Homeworld lol but all in all I enjoy it, and I think that is what counts the level of enjoyment.

Consider release, or launch, as another phase of development. We're actively working on offline, as well as a few surprises based on our community's feedback. As we get much closer to that iteration of the game's release, we'll talk about what these features are. In the meantime, expect regular updates that make the game run smoother, run faster, or play better. You know, the usual.

I don't really want to wade into arguments, but we're actively listening to feedback about all of the topics you've listed, paulusss. When we've got new details to share, we totally will.

If you hear me complain about anything just make sure to remember I only do because I am so terribly bad at dealing with this tension about what you're up to

hehe. we've come to expect a pretty tremendous build-up once every two months. it's ok!

But is anything actually going to be discussed or presented to us before it gets updated to the game? All this talk about "Surprises" fills me with dread.

Mike

Shortly before they come into being, so dread away!

I'd assume the the "surprises" are probably somewhat features that have been discussed somewhere before, just not under the context of a soon to be developed feature. I doubt they will suddenly introduce features nobody has ever talked about before

That isn't my concern, the problem with labeling it/them as "Surprises" is that it gets everyone hyped up, and because there is no such thing as a "universally best" feature you only set people up to be disappointed because you can't please everyone. Given PA's current state, I think Uber would be much better off putting some faith in the community and not trying to string us along with my PR and Marketing and being more frank with us.

Mike

Well, as far as development proceed, I'm happy

I guess the surprises would likely to be things like save, ladder/matchmaking and perhaps unit cannon, aka basic RTS features and what Uber promised, I don't have much faith in post-release development after this stage of finishing the game past.

I think you've made my point for me... You want offline, we now have a response saying they're doing it.... My point is that people are too hung up on the title released, especially given the way this game has been funded, and the nature of uber (a tiny company in the scheme of things). I'm not saying your wrong for wanting offline, I'm just tired of the dramatic response from some. Surley it's obvious they're not trying to cheat anyone....

Yeah I don't see either why there still should be surprises, it's annoying! But it seems they just don't want the discussion of the choices they make, that's probably why they stay quiet until right before its release.

In my opinion they react counter productive and unexperianced when it comes to communicating. Yes we criticise, and doubt almost every decision you make, or tell you some decisions were completely wrong. But instead of playing the hurt emotional child and telling us your not communicating anymore, instead they should self reflect, learn and improve.

The release statement of "were releasing because we got the game we envisioned" is communicating with a double agenda, we all know you guys are being forced one way or another, but you never want to really tell the true reasons. Same goes with "see it as another development process"

Long story short it kinda get on my nerves that allot of words became opposite deeds and it really feel untrustworthy and only feeds the rumors that the company is in bad weather.

Keeping up appearances is a lovely brittisch comedy you guys might want to watch

Small updates like this are all I need. Thanks for the update Brad!!