What Alpha Is Supposed To Be (A Discussion On Dev Direction And If The Game Will Ever Be Completed)

[jovlon 32]

As a fellow developer I felt it important to voice my own concerns as well as those of the player base that I've read or personally heard. I have no problem being the voice attacked as long as the conversation remains honest and straightforward. 

 

I believe that one of three things are happening internally with the development of this game.

 

1) Bohemia Interactive is only using this as a publicity stunt and way to generate quick revenue. It was never their intention to allow the dev team to create a finished game. The game will eventually be put on permanent hiatus. (This happens often. It happened on the last would be AAA title that I collaborated on)

 

2) The development team has no clear direction or goals. Essentially there's no clear focused way to their developmental habits which also spells doom for the game.

 

3) The development team was part of a scheme to generate a lot of money for a product that would remain in developmental hell for years before finally being put on permanent hiatus. (Not Likely)

 

What Early Access Alpha & Alpha Are Meant To Be

 

Typically when a game already has a large fan base (as this one does from their mod), a developer invites a small group of players from a player pool with different backgrounds to become testers for Early Alpha. These players usually have different levels of experience, different computer makeups, etc. so that the developer can have a wide range of data. 

 

When Alpha is released, typically a developer will open it up to a larger number of players. They give suggestions as to what they'd like to see implemented and bugs that they've found. This is the phase where core gameplay functionality is meant to be implemented. It is also the phase were there should be a strong focus on core and minor bugs. All of the player's vanity features (spray cans, etc) that are not part of the core gameplay functionality are typically (and supposed to be) implemented towards the end of Alpha heading into beta.

 

The Evidence

 

Releasing An Early Access Alpha To A Wide Public

 

As I've said above, it's unusual for a developer to release an Early Access Alpha to the entire public rather than a small amount of gamers... especially when they already have a devoted player base and a large amount of media coverage. 

 

To release the Early Access Alpha for $30 USD (remember this is usually an extremely barebones version of the game) is also unusual. Before anybody screams about the popup that you agree to before you start playing (about how the game isn't complete), I chose to buy this as a fellow developer because I had an interest in watching the game develop around the community. 

 

Releasing the EAA for $30 isn't in itself suspicious. In fact I thought it a rather smart way to raise money while ensuring the you have an invested community for the product. But when placed besides other evidence/points of interest that I will raise it becomes slightly more suspicious. 

 

The Developers Talk Console

 

I've read a seemingly endless amount of articles that were released before or near the game's release date about how the developers have already had major discussions with Sony & MIcrosoft about porting DayZ. And when reading the quotes by Dean, he makes it seem as if porting DayZ to these consoles is imminent. 

 

Anybody that knows anything knows how long and hard it is to port a popular finished PC game to console. This game is nowhere near finished and yet there is extremely ambitious language surrounding this subject (when Dean usually uses the least ambitious language about the game, updates, etc. possible). 

 

This concerns me just because of the timeline that these articles were released. To me (and others developers that I've talked to) it feels like it was meant to both increase media coverage but also bring DayZ to the attention of the average and or console gamer. Why pay $60 or more when you pay $30 now if the developers have had strong conversations about porting this game?

 

Updates/Not Listening To The Community

 

Dean states over and over again that they released the Early Access Alpha to the public so that they could listen to the community and implement features that the player base wants. There are two problems that I've already found with this.

 

1) The developers aren't listening to the community. How many features have been implemented or reduced when it's been generally agreed on by the public? How many community suggested gameplay elements have been introduced at all from any of the updates?

 

2) The updates feel like they're meant only to increase the amount of players. Who could honestly say that any of their updates have fixed or even mildly addressed any of the massive glaring holes in gameplay? So what have they introduced?

 

They've introduced what I call player's features. Features that players will become excited about for a time. Features that will receive a lot of press and ultimately bring new players. Two examples of the problem are the Shotgun and Spray-Cans.

 

The Shotgun was a main talking point in the media when the update was announced. If I hadn't played the game yet and I'd read those articles I'd have thought that this was a must-have game. While shotguns and guns in general are part of core gameplay, spray-cans are not at all. As with other updates they chose to implement a lot of player's features without addressing any of the issues that he community has requested. 

 

Empty Promises/No Timeline

 

After Dean had his public social media discussion, I became convinced that something suspicious is going on internally. Again I've worked on game development teams and I'm speaking based on that.

 

Dean has promised vehicles and a lot of other features that have players foaming at the mouth but given the development of the game and his refusal to set any sort of timeline (other than 6 months) I doubt that they will be able to reach this goal so quickly.

 

As a dev team project manager you want to set hard dates (even if you have to back off which is what usually happens) because you want to drive home the point that as a team the focus should be on implementing and debugging certain features. Thus far there's been a refusal to do so while offering lofty goals that drive press. 

 

As a point that's a bit off topic: With this last update Dean stated something like "Every developer has been forced to go home for the weekend". Anybody who has worked in the industry knows about crunchtime... the time before any update or before the game releases when the dev team works overtime to ensure that everything rolls out as planned. It's unusually and disheartening to me that they've done this and similar things that have raised concern from the player base in the past.

 

I've read many post about how players feel like an action taken by the dev team means that they don't care. A vacation here, refusing to go into crunch time (which is expected when you're a developer) there.

 

The very long point that I'm making in all of this is that I no longer expect for this game to ever be completed for one of the three reasons stated. 

 

I'd like to hear your feelings on this. 

 

 

[lordopeth 274]

Wow,  a thread filled with a diatribe of assumptions.

 

The SA is been out for a fucking month man.  Chill the fuck out.

Edited January 28, 2014 by opethZ

[TedZ 424]

 

WARNING: THIS GAME IS EARLY ACCESS ALPHA. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAME AND ARE PREPARED TO HANDLE WITH SERIOUS ISSUES AND POSSIBLE INTERRUPTIONS OF GAME FUNCTIONING.

[broguenz 333]

Can't see anything there apart from (perhaps) an educated guess, which unless your directly involved is just speculation.

[Gugolas 228]

Yes, chill out. I don't want to hear you.

Because I am a loving fan.

Because several times I tought the same you wrote, even if I don't have the experience you say you have.

But let's wait. It's too soon to give those suspects a rationality. There is still a lot of hope to consume.

Remember also that not every team works the same way, and not every company does, and that bad things can evolve in good ones.

Edit: please, stop the damn alpha bitching and read before replying a topic -.-

Edited January 28, 2014 by Gugolas

[over9000nukez 199]

option 2 i think, a goal should basicly "be like the mod" but with slightly less military crazy weapons and more survival-y weapons

[Hethwill_Khan 233]

As a fellow developer I think you bash too much the work and the product. Wonder how the colleague sitting next to you feels about your work.

 

Salute.

[over9000nukez 199]

^ then again they did write their goals down and dates they aim for.

[gangrenetvp 74]

I'm hearing that you have experience in development, but perhaps Rocket and his team are developing the game in the way they want and in a way that is atypical from the standards you've been exposed to in development. I think Rocket is probably a more go with the flow type on the development side and he already had a "hard deadline" disaster. So, it seems natural that he's shying away from hard deadlines... You're also guessing that there aren't internal hard deadlines... Maybe they have them and don't want them exposed to the public for obvious reasons.

[Zombie Jesus 723]

Times change and the availability of Early Access on Steam will continue to open up the early stages of games to a wider audience. Simple economics here, instead of relying on investment the company can build an early access game and have less input from a publisher. It is a double edged sword though, on one end it gives the actual developers more freedom to make the game they want and not what someone in marketing wants, but it can turn into a WarZ scenario as well. 

 

Consoles

 

They have always said if the game has enough interest for a console release it is a possibility. Once again economics. But they have also said they want to finish development of the game before releasing it on consoles. One reason they would want to do that is economics as well, it is expensive to push patches on the consoles so why even bother porting an unfinished product and paying for all the costs to continue serious development. 

 

Your other point is the point hippies make. "Oh no companies release products for money, the horror." Yes they are looking to get their game out there to the public with next to no marketing budget. It is smart and relies on word of mouth and favorable press. People make things for consumption, welcome to the real world. 

 

Community development is terrible. 

 

Developers should keep an eye on player suggestions, but for the most part people should be brushed off and the developers should make the game they want to make. Where do you go for an accurate snapshot of the DayZ community in the first place. The forum is full of "purists" whose views do not reflect the general DayZ playerbase and Reddit might reflect the views of the more casual subset (although they are most likely closer to the actual DayZ playerbase). Community suggestions are often stupid as well and not possible. They should engage with them and pay attention to the most pervasive ideas/suggestions, but a good 90% of the community's input is useless and idiotic. 

 

Spray cans are easy to put into the game and since you are not privy to the make up of the development team I doubt you understand that concurrent projects are the norm (you say you have worked in development but it is not coming across that way). 

 

Setting dates and breaking them is a bad idea. 

 

Internal deadlines and goals are different than broadcasting them to the public. I doubt they have meetings where everyone states it will be done when it is done, they probably provide deadlines and goals internally but none of that needs to be given to the public. It is far worse to state vehicles will be here by 6/15/2014 than to say they hope to have them released within the next six months. A vague goal is taken as just that by the majority of players, a hard date is seen as a "promise." 

 

2/10 would not bang. 

Edited January 28, 2014 by Zombie Jesus

[Tizzle 90]

So far everyone save a few people have responded saying exactly what you said you didn't want them to say in the post.

I appreciate where your coming from with a past in development and i think you're making some valid points

 

Now for my two cents:

 

I believe they released the early alpha publicly because they had to. Let's face it before the release, we had been waiting on the SA for over a year. Their window for a huge fan/playerbase was closing quickly, and i think they released just in time to capture everyone's attention.

 

But thats just my opinion

[fiese_moep 14]

there are 3 options:

 

1. turn development down, take the money and make a onetime 20 million. Ruin the company cause no one will ever buy from them again.

2. finish dayz s, develop xbox and so on. make dayz 2,3,4,5,6,7.... and earn much more than 20 million.

3. sell the company. make a one time plus of more than 20 million.

 

why should they do option 1?

[Mdogg2005 447]

Lol 90% of the suggestions on these forums are shit.  I'm glad Bohemia isn't adding in every single one.  Is this a troll post?  I don't even.

 

This is just another whine thread.  It's fucking ALPHA....  As a developer you should know that this means that it is not done and is being worked on.  Not to mention, as a developer, you should also know, that a game that has a hard release date needs crunch time.  This game is nowhere near needing "crunch time" so fuck off about telling the devs they can't go home for the weekend.  You crack me up.

 

As a developer, you should also know that fixing fundamental issues and adding minor changes have almost nothing to do with each other.  Team A responsible for adding the spray paint cans has NOTHING to do with Team B fixing Zombie AI or Team C fixing loot respawn. 

 

You have no clue what you are talking about.  And yes, I added the specific lines of "As a developer" to patronize.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Mdogg2005

[mick17 93]

uhhhhhh lol

[crazyandlazy 376]

Good to read OP.

 

I want to give some of my thoughts on this topic. Last weekend, I watched Rocket playing DayZ and he has mentioned a ton of cool stuff to be implemented. That's good and all but it seems he is so out of touch with the lower-leveled technicians that is mainly adding stuff onto the game. We know that he is suppose to be serving as light keeper for the general direction of the game but I find the following to be very odd.

 

[1] Latest current patch had spray paint that does not do its job properly.

[2] Dean just found out paper and pen doesn't work. There were also other things[i forgot what during the live stream] that he had assumed it to be fixed but have not.

[3] Dean talking a lot about future updates and additions without being realistic. He said a ton of new stuff and he also said there would be a patch this Monday.

 

Because of the above reasons and especially due to No.1, I think there is a little bit of mismanagement in the teams. In my opinion they are doing a bit bad on reviewing patches/experimental branch they have put out. There seems to be no universal check-list of things to complete and it's like each unit is doing their own. No unity in other words. 

EDIT: Before you bash me guys, please note that I love this game. So worth the $30 I shelled out.

Edited January 28, 2014 by CrazyandLazy

[OrLoK 16182]

Hello there

 

Its all a scam.

 

Coke and hoes all the way.

 

L

[jovlon 32]

@Tizzle & Gangrene

 

Thank you for actually reading the post and giving an honest opinion on the topic at hand. I appreciate your viewpoints. 

 

@moep 

 

It's not nearly as easy as you're making it out to be. As with my experience we were fully in development with a game that had an amazing amount of buzz. We had the opportunity to go from self-funded to having a major backing us. We chose to go with the major only to learn that they only wanted to use our software but that we would never be allowed to finish our game.

 

 

@Everyotherposter

 

Some of you made valid points but for others to say that this is a potential troll post... obviously you didn't care to read yet you chose to comment and make yourself look ignorant. 

[gottyplays 5]

I'd like to hear your feelings on this. 

I'd like to point out one simple thing: just look at arma 3.

same exact thing. game is'nt finished yet.

they promised release in october, gained a shitload of money from the arma 2 oa sellout (thanks to dayz) but they realized that there was no campaign yet in JUNE.

please tell me how the hell people still beliave in bohemia...

still waiting for jets. still waiting for campaign. still waiting to performance fixes. still waiting for multiplayer working. and i'm still hearing in my head the voices of the beloved fanboys that screams in my ears

"IIIIIIITTTTSSSS AAAAN AAAAALLLPHHHHAAAAA!!!1!1!!!"

Edited January 28, 2014 by Paranoize

[Mdogg2005 447]

@Everyotherposter

 

Some of you made valid points but for others to say that this is a potential troll post... obviously you didn't care to read yet you chose to comment and make yourself look ignorant. 

Oh I read your post in its entirety.  You don't know everything going on in the DayZ Dev team so please stop acting like you do.  There's so much bitching and whining on this forum and this is just another "omg DayZ is WarZ 2.0 it's a scam! WE PAID 30$ AND ALL WE GOT WAS AN ALPHA!" post.  I'm so bored of these at this point.

[Zombie Jesus 723]

Good to read OP.

 

I want to give some of my thoughts on this topic. Last weekend, I watched Rocket playing DayZ and he has mentioned a ton of cool stuff to be implemented. That's good and all but it seems he is so out of touch with the lower-leveled technicians that is mainly adding stuff onto the game. We know that he is suppose to be serving as light keeper for the general direction of the game but I find the following to be very odd.

 

[1] Latest current patch had spray paint that does not do its job properly.

[2] Dean just found out paper and pen doesn't work. There were also other things[i forgot what during the live stream] that he had assumed it to be fixed but have not.

[3] Dean talking a lot about future updates and additions without being realistic. He said a ton of new stuff and he also said there would be a patch this Monday.

 

Because of the above reasons and especially due to No.1, I think there is a little bit of mismanagement in the teams. In my opinion they are doing a bit bad on reviewing patches/experimental branch they have put out. There seems to be no universal check-list of things to complete and it's like each unit is doing their own. No unity in other words. 

EDIT: Before you bash me guys, please note that I love this game. So worth the $30 I shelled out.

 

You mean a recently implemented item will sometimes have unintended bugs in an Alpha, my stars I think I am getting the vapors. 

 

Lol, your one valid point is better bug tracking, but Dean being unaware of a single bug is not the same as the developers tasked with fixing that specific bug being unaware.

[jovlon 32]

@CrazyandLady

 

And that's just what I'm saying. Those are points that I'd forgotten about. I'm looking at it as a guy who has developed games and I see the signs. And it's not just me but other developers that I've talked to about this. We all see the signs of the development going in the wrong direction and that's from the outside. When you add the points that you've made, for these other posters to defend have the blindest of faiths without any question I think is dangerous. 

 

Again if I weren't legitimately concerned I wouldn't have made the effort to post this. 

[deebz1234 243]

wholey fanboys,

 

you tolerate KOS threads from 12 yr old newbs, but the minute someone has a logical thought process you jump all over him.

 

jesus fuck

 

good post OP.

 

I always wondered why they are worrying more about mosin paint/features, instead of 100% focus on optimization and actually fixing what the community wants (log out timer & server loot spawn timer, /server hop timer)

[Zombie Jesus 723]

@Tizzle & Gangrene

 

Thank you for actually reading the post and giving an honest opinion on the topic at hand. I appreciate your viewpoints. 

 

@moep 

 

It's not nearly as easy as you're making it out to be. As with my experience we were fully in development with a game that had an amazing amount of buzz. We had the opportunity to go from self-funded to having a major backing us. We chose to go with the major only to learn that they only wanted to use our software but that we would never be allowed to finish our game.

 

 

@Everyotherposter

 

Some of you made valid points but for others to say that this is a potential troll post... obviously you didn't care to read yet you chose to comment and make yourself look ignorant. 

 

I responded to all of your points and only added a some humor at the end. One you have three scenarios right off the bat that come across as trolling and then you show a massive lack of knowledge on both current industry trends and development in general. Not saying you are a troll but you did not make great points. 

[OrLoK 16182]

Hello there

 

I read up to the thee "possible" directions you believe the game is going in.

 

Utter nonsense IMHO.

 

Rgds

 

LoK

[jovlon 32]

Oh I read your post in its entirety.  You don't know everything going on in the DayZ Dev team so please stop acting like you do.  There's so much bitching and whining on this forum and this is just another "omg DayZ is WarZ 2.0 it's a scam! WE PAID 30$ AND ALL WE GOT WAS AN ALPHA!" post.  I'm so bored of these at this point.

 

May I ask what your game dev experience is? If you'd know the signs of developmental dysfunction at all? Further I'd like to specifically hear your opinion now as to why I shouldn't raise any concerns at all? Just from you because you seem to have a strong opinion on this matter though you've yet to voice it. I'm bored of people who who have no valid opinion to move the conversation in any way.