This thread has me shaking my head. I’m a software engineer that has been designing/developing enterprise software for 20 years. I can’t claim to have any game developing experience outside of any personal projects.
There’re a few things I would like to comment on based on my experience working in the software development industry.
This product is still a work-in-progress and NOT a polished final release and this fact has been made abundantly clear. Issues are to be expected.
I agree that the latest patch wasn’t the best, that being said, I seriously doubt that it was Stormhaven Studios’ intention to push away their player base.
I do believe that the clients, aka the players, are the best resource the development team has at their disposal to gather feedback about the game. However, changes shouldn’t be pushed out to the live server before being tested first. Content changes should be tested by the players using the test server to iron out any issues before releasing to the live servers especially since the players are paying to play. Patches should improve the game and not the other way around.
I understand why the current financial model is being used. Servers aren’t cheap. Even if Stormhaven Studios happen to own their servers there’s still overhead cost. Then there’s the development team’s salaries so on and so forth. Charging for the game with a subscription helps mitigate those costs.
As for the upcoming holidays, the Stormhaven Studios team are entitled to a rest and time with their families. It’s not easy being a software developer. It’s stressful and you can easily find yourself burnt out. Especially if the team are continually sprinting in their development cycle. A burnt-out team is a less productive one and runs the risk of losing developers.
There’re a few things I would like to comment on based on my experience working in the software development industry.
This product is still a work-in-progress and NOT a polished final release and this fact has been made abundantly clear. Issues are to be expected.
I agree that the latest patch wasn’t the best, that being said, I seriously doubt that it was Stormhaven Studios’ intention to push away their player base.
I do believe that the clients, aka the players, are the best resource the development team has at their disposal to gather feedback about the game. However, changes shouldn’t be pushed out to the live server before being tested first. Content changes should be tested by the players using the test server to iron out any issues before releasing to the live servers especially since the players are paying to play. Patches should improve the game and not the other way around.
I understand why the current financial model is being used. Servers aren’t cheap. Even if Stormhaven Studios happen to own their servers there’s still overhead cost. Then there’s the development team’s salaries so on and so forth. Charging for the game with a subscription helps mitigate those costs.
As for the upcoming holidays, the Stormhaven Studios team are entitled to a rest and time with their families. It’s not easy being a software developer. It’s stressful and you can easily find yourself burnt out. Especially if the team are continually sprinting in their development cycle. A burnt-out team is a less productive one and runs the risk of losing developers.