When Does The " ALPHA!" Excuse End?

[bfisher 561]

The *game* hasn't been released. Simple as that. 

 

Are you playing it?  Are you able to comment on it?  Are you able to form an opinion as to the quality of the product?  Then it's been released.  The fact that it's unfinished doesn't change that. 

[AlphaDogMeat . 493]

Please don't confuse the context here. I willingly bought the unfinished ALPHA, I play and enjoy it. What I'm talking about in the post is people replying to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism here on the forums with "Alpher deal with it", mentality. 

 

Then the answer to your original question is simply:

 

When the criticism stops.

 

BTW, most "constructive criticism" in these forums is generally a euphemism for "Things I personally want - right now - and fuck everyone else.".  Thankfully, there are a few shining examples of this not being the case and do you know what?  No-one with an opinion worth listening to is playing the alpha card in those discussions.  Go figure.

 

Should the SA have been released?  Absolutely.  Simple statistics alone will tell you that out of the millions who bought it, the hundreds of thousands that have played it, the thousands that are still playing it and the hundreds that aren't entitlementals there are a few people giving solid feedback to the devs in a way that will move the game forward to the next stage and the ones after that.  That distillation of observers is what will significantly mould the final form of the game we get.

 

So here's my question to you:

 

Are you doing enough?

[martink8190@gmail.com 149]

I own another game that is in alpha and is not a low budget but it CTD crashes like a  bitch ( for the past 6 months ) and yet it should release sometimes Q 3/4 2014

and with that said I'd say dayz is pretty solid in comparison but the other game has core that is far more solid - gameplay wise...sigh

 

I think they've released solid foundation of which I wanted to be part of BUT 

 I do think that the development is slow as hell though and I fear there's zero chance we hit beta this year, I just don't see it. 

 

Let's have a look no further than other bohemia titles and their arma 3. It's been officially released a while ago but I will be damn generous if I say it feels like a damn beta.

Dayz development seem to be far more productive or should I say, noticeably improving - faster, than arma 3 but probably slower than other titles might

 

 

EDIT Don't let the man off of chains lol

 

I don't even blame the developers though as ( and take it as you will ) the RV engine is apparently such a piece of shit to work on and around that no wonder it takes ages for devs to double check if some dependencies didn't break yet another thing

Edited April 30, 2014 by Colonel-Wicked

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

Well its an Alpha qualifies for absolutely everything. Hacker? Alpha, Rubberbanding? Alpha. Zombies? Alpha. Melee system? Alpha. Amazing compasses? Alpha. 

 

In my opinion beta will happen q2 2015, released game  q1 2017. 

[iongaming33@aim.com 137]

5 pages and I still don't get it. You keep making the same rebuttal about the release of the game to the public (paying 30 dollars is irrelevant). "This is alpha" is an excuse drummed up by the public. When has Dean Hall posted on these forums saying "alpha is alpha?" When has a developer tweeted that "alpha is alpha?" Not once, ever, that I can recall. The admins that run these forums have nothing to do with the development of Dayz. Alpha doesn't have a time limit. The developers covered their collective asses quite well with that disclaimer you see every time you load the game. That's all there is too it. There is no debate, there is no opinion. When the developers have added the content they feel is pertinent for release, they will do so. Nothing you or anyone else can say can change that. 

 

This game is very much playable in the state that it is in. In fact, I would say it's much more playable than the last couple of builds. You got stuck in a wall? You had to press the number key 3 times instead of 1 to draw your weapon?, you rubber banded 5 ft after exiting that house? Cry me a river man. It's not that bad. 

 

I see that you're confusing my content with some that other posted here, so I'll clear it up for you bud. I am looking for an educated conversation on whether or not people think the alpha should have been released when it was released, in the state that it was in. If you think it should have, good for you, that's why it is an argument. I am also commenting on the fact that I feel the "It's an alpha" excuse, yes excuse, is thrown around in spots where it shouldn't be. Not once have complained about the bugs in the game. I'll say it a third time, I love the game, I play the game, I enjoy the game. It's a shame most people are misreading this post. 

[qww 287]

alpha is not an excuse it is a reality, it couldnt be more basic

[iongaming33@aim.com 137]

alpha is not an excuse it is a reality, it couldnt be more basic

 

Not by definition, but when it's all that somebody can say when faced with constructive criticism, it's an excuse. 

[qww 287]

all that somebody can say? what are you going on about.

 

thsi forum is not the official spokesman for game development

 

the topic you wrote is " when will alpha excuse end?"

 

its a pointless and meaningless question,

[iongaming33@aim.com 137]

all that somebody can say? what are you going on about.

 

thsi forum is not the official spokesman for game development

 

the topic you wrote is " when will alpha excuse end?"

 

its a pointless and meaningless question,

 

If you honestly cannot see what I'm getting at here, then I happily encourage you to go look at some other posts.

[liquidcactus 719]

Its just a slow painfull wait buddy, I think some of us are confused time to time with the development but shit the game is so unique i think it can slide

[qww 287]

you are asking when "people" (im assuming you are talking about dayz customers who are posting on forums) will stop replying "the game is alpha" when people complain about bugs.

 

youre not "getting at" anything of any relevance

 

what customers type on these forums has nothing to do with the games progress, and it is not the official word of the game developers, as i have already typed.

 

anyone that replies "its alpha" is correct in their response, and they will be, until the game is not in alpha.

 

creating this topic is a waste of everyones time

[DrSubs 18]

_{alpha is an excuse, And a damn good one. Its alpha so its gana have glitches and not work great. But with saying that's alpha is not a good excuse for how slow the development is. Sure your all gana say have you made` a game and do you know how long it takes. No but iv seen and been apart of plenty of alphas and there working at a snails pace and alpha is not an excuse for that. with the money they made off of all of us they can afford to get a way bigger team and nock it out.} 

[Demoth 366]

_{alpha is an excuse, And a damn good one. Its alpha so its gana have glitches and not work great. But with saying that's alpha is not a good excuse for how slow the development is. Sure your all gana say have you made` a game and do you know how long it takes. No but iv seen and been apart of plenty of alphas and there working at a snails pace and alpha is not an excuse for that. with the money they made off of all of us they can afford to get a way bigger team and nock it out.}

Bigger team does not mean a game gets made faster. Just saying.

[napalmdog 71]

Wile it being in alpha is a valid reaons for it being buggy even unstable at times, many "fanboys" use it as a blanket shutdown to any topic that might call into question anything that is other then blindly going along with rocket's ideas. THAT'S why this is even a topic. we all agree it was a buggy alpha before buying it. Most of us bought it tho, because we were FANS of the DAYZ MOD.

The thing is it's not just a fanboy excuse. It is what is. A work in progress at the developer's judgement and definition of Alpha. Yes, it may also be viewed as something troll-like to say also, but that's the breaks of participating on a forum. And hell, I bought the alpha too because I'm a fan of DayZ. Getting hot because it's not moving along fast enough just sounds pissy and probably illicites any number of 'poke the bear' responses. Like say.... "Alpha!"

[napalmdog 71]

Man you are old lol.  I got one of those Ataris as a hand me down. But the first system i ever got when i was younger was the old Nintendo with the flip up lid.

 

Yep, had that too. Lots of life blown away on Super-Dodgeball and Mario Bros 2...

[tenshu 43]

The biggest concern is that we have no timeline to work with, most game projects that are on early access models have clear and definitive dates as to when things will be implemented and their targets for entering certain stages of development. This may alleviate fears of this project never going anywhere and give a bit more professionalism to the project. 

[joe_mcentire 2073]

if i were lok i would just say:

 

"it ends right here. LOCKED!"

[Zeppa 562]

Someone rants in alpha.

ALPHA!
Someone rants in beta.
BETA!!
Someone rants after release.
mm, I think we can up with something..

[byrgesen 1340]

The biggest concern is that we have no timeline to work with, most game projects that are on early access models have clear and definitive dates as to when things will be implemented and their targets for entering certain stages of development. This may alleviate fears of this project never going anywhere and give a bit more professionalism to the project. 

 

We have a timeline, its called the roadmap :)

It may not be specific down to the very date, but it clearly outlines the intentions of the developers and clearly states when they believe they can deliver the features.

 

Setting a "fixed" date for any kind of game is a bad idea, there numorous games on the market, showing exactly this, and a few games who "overshot" the delivery date, but delivered a much more polished and finished product, because of this.

Rushing development to "satisfy" the masses, will backfire on the developer.

 

IMHO giving a date for something very specific, is a very bad idea, especially when they are trying to create a game like nothing they have ever done before, on an engine which was NOT originally designed for this use.

I would rather they pospone features for months, instead of giving us "half-assed" crap, like most other developers tend to do now a days.

 

As for professionalism, im not quite sure i understand.

Theres no "one way" to do things in this industry, developers are free to do what they want, and BI have been very clear about this game from the beginning.

Just look at the devblog on Tumblr, theres no "cloak and dagger" applied there, they have been honest and told people why it was delayed and what they are working on now.

Just because you dont get every little detail, doesnt mean they arent professional.

And just because a feature is delayed, for what ever reason, doesnt mean they are lying to you, as some imply.

 

As long as they keep adding features and the game isnt "feature complete" we can call it an alpha, according to most gaming industry standards.

As soon as its feature complete, we go into beta, where the bug fixing comes into place, unless its a perpetual beta development ofc, and we dont know that yet.