Planetary Annihilation isn't done, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Many games are released before they're done these days; Skyrim was a buggy mess, Minecraft will never be done, The Sims didn't have ghosts or pools until yesterday, and all the other Early Access titles that take forever to get the official "released" stamp. The difference between those games and PA is that when other companies say their game is released, it's very clear what's going to happen next. I've trawled through the forums, blog posts, and old messages from around and the only thing I can really say with confidence is that a ladder won't be implemented until after 1.0 and Uber intends to keep providing tech support, optimizations, and bug fixes. There's no word on whether or not a proper tutorial will finally be put in, naval units will get balanced, orbital play will be fun, or pathfinding will continue to get better... And yes, I realize a whole bunch of my concerns have an umbrella address in their most recent blog post. It's just that this isn't good enough for me. I'll admit, here and now, that I want Uber to admit they made a mistake in calling PA released. (People love it when a company owns up to what they did wrong; it makes them seem like they care). I also want them to give a solid statement on what they intend to do. I'm not looking for a promise that the game will be great, or anything like, "yes, the unit cannon is definitely coming," but something as simple as an updated mission statement will do a heck of a lot to restore my faith in this developer. I want to know how Uber feels about PA in its current state, whether or not they think it was a mistake to called it released yet, and more importantly, why they think that. Transparency is the word of the day here and with the impending PR catastrophe that might come with Human Resources, I think it would benefit them as much as myself to tell us their plan (no matter how vague and uncertain it is) soon. [Oh, and everyone, try not to worry too much about Human Resources. Many companies work on two games at once and some of the things Uber will have to do with the engine to make HR will translate to making PA a better, more complete game.]
Think 99 percent of pa players feel this way, should add pole. Well stated. Uber hasn't lost my faith, I agree pa needs much more and I believe they will deliver. I am like you and Colin I need to see actions instead of hearing words. Then hr will have my full support!
Apollo, I completely, 100 percent support this statement. Right now, between the lack of current features, the bad PR, and now a new kickstarter... It feels like Uber is trying to shoot itself in the foot with the fans. I'd like to support Uber and this new game, but with PA at it's current state and none of the highly requested features in sight, I'm starting to give up hope. Here's to additional info from the devs, and signs that progress is still being made on PA's core features. Cheers.
