Dayz Debacle

[Macdeth 176]

My old man once told me 'Never pay a man till the job is done'. What he meant was once a person has recieved his reward there is little left to motivate him to properly complete the job, there's no longer anything to be gained by investing more than the absolute minimum of effort to deliver whatever it is that's expected, or indeed deliver anything at all.

 

We have only ourselves to blame and by ourselves I mean those of us who have contributed towards the creation of a now industry wide situation where we willingly hand over cash for the privelege of testing a product that may never reach completion. BIS is only doing what hundreds of other developers are doing, taking advantage of naive over-trusting gamers with more money than sense, dont be surprised they didn't embark upon designing an entirely new engine better suited to the job, they are in this caper for one thing and one thing only...profit.

 

As much as I hate to admit it I grow ever more conviced that we have backed a doozy, Arma 3 bipods  lol.....I rest my case.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Macdeth

[JPWiser 251]

If money is the only thing in life that motivates you I feel bad for you and your old man.

Arma 3 placeholders? That's just unheard of....

[HIHBGaming 14]

Don't feed the troll...

[grindstone50k 208]

Good thing you didn't spend your money on early access alpha then.

[hellcat420 212]

wat?

[Slap_Fight 10]

 

There would be no game if nobody showed interest in it. Thus there would be no Dayz. This a double edged sword my friend. Learn Daniel son!

[caxton gibbet 4]

Nice job stereotyping all of humanity there fella. You know, not everyone is motivated simply by money.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Caxton Gibbet

[heradon89 21]

Can't say so. Very little DLC's from BIS and they've been patching Arma 2 forever now. They are some of the very few that don't take advantage of us.

[q.S Sachiel 470]

Confuscious say man who leaves for voyage with empty stomache, returns with empty heart.

Maybe you've been able to get through life with nothing but the help of your father's name behind you.  Everyone else needs some kind of material foundation to create things from.

Positive feedback psychology etc.... yup.

Purchased a pre-release product with the expectation that it would live up to my expectations.  If it doesn't then i lost 30$ for something i've spent more hours playing than half of the 80$ titles on the market.

And on the plus side, at least it's not a SEGA product....

[Evil Minion 943]

My old man once told me 'Never pay a man till the job is done'.

Silly boy - you did not pay for the game. You donated for its development and got rewarded by being allowed to test the Alpha.

 

As far as I can see development is ongoing and the game is improving. All I can read from the OP is "mimimi I paid and the game is still work in progress". Its not like everyone already bought the game and there is nobody left you could sell the final product. Not even speaking of your companies reputation here...

[q.S Sachiel 470]

Silly boy - you did not pay for the game. You donated for its development and got rewarded by being allowed to test the Alpha.

 

As far as I can see development is ongoing and the game is improving. All I can read from the OP is "mimimi I paid and the game is still work in progress". Its not like everyone already bought the game and there is nobody left you could sell the final product. Not even speaking of your companies reputation here...

 

Well we bought an early access, which I believe means we get the game for free upon release, having already 'pre-purchased' it.  This isn't a paid-for tech demo, but it is in early development.

[Evil Minion 943]

Yeah thats the deal. However its not "I paid and now they are working for me" but more like a donation that nets you early access and a free copy upon release.

[ebrim 998]

So here's the thing: this method of funding game projects is what is making this such a dynamic and interesting industry. The traditional model of publishing just about anything, including games, leaves very little room for being adventurous. Especially not for being adventurous on any very large project. This is why Hollywood creates horrible shitty movies that are all basically about the same thing or within the same genre, because it's safe and because they know there will be an idiot audience waiting to throw money at it after development. Simply, you find the biggest possible audience group and only market products toward them. The current tech environment doesn't need to rely on this model anymore, we can essentially throw out the middle-men publishers by someone coming up with an idea and then we fund it directly. Yes, there is some intrinsic risk in this model for the consumer, however you should note that when Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out in a couple months it's going to cost ~$70. That's more than double the current asking price for DayZ. Some amount of that difference is risk. You are paying less because you are purchasing a riskier product, indeed, one that isn't finished and there's a non-zero probability that it'll never be finished. When DA:I comes out, there will be a zero risk of it never being finished, because it's done. You're not paying for risk. Always keep in mind that the cost of things is not measured only by its price. Your old man's conception of the universe was formed before these economic models became very common due to the enabling power of current technology, it's not his fault. If you are uncomfortable participating in this sort of transaction, which is pretty much an analog to traditional capital investment, then I'd recommend you not engage in it in the future. Just be happy knowing that those of us who are can fund a greater array of interesting projects, some will fail, but the market as a whole is better for it and you'll have more choice in finished products to purchase in the future.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Ebrim

[q.S Sachiel 470]

Yeah thats the deal. However its not "I paid and now they are working for me" but more like a donation that nets you early access and a free copy upon release.

Phew, here i was thinking i'd made a poor purchase ;3

but yeah, you're basically an investor with no material return other than the product when they finish it :)

[grindstone50k 208]

So here's the thing: this method of funding game projects is what is making this such a dynamic and interesting industry. The traditional model of publishing just about anything, including games, leaves very little room for being adventurous. Especially not for being adventurous on any very large project. This is why Hollywood creates horrible shitty movies that are all basically about the same thing or within the same genre, because it's safe and because they know there will be an idiot audience waiting to throw money at it after development. Simply, you find the biggest possible audience group and only market products toward them.

You didn't even have to go to Hollywood for the analog. Call of Duty fits this profile to a T.

[grindstone50k 208]

My old man once told me 'Never pay a man till the job is done'.

My old man once told me "Never reduce a complex and ever-evolving world into a simple, narrow-minded, folksy proverb."

Edited August 28, 2014 by Grindstone

[Cap'n (DayZ) 1827]

I'm fed up with the utter cynicism and bullshit that has infected this forum.

[Chaingunfighter 917]

It's been made superbly clear that you weren't getting the full product when you purchased it. Not only is it plastered everywhere that the game's in Alpha (and on the main menu), it even tells you right before you buy the game on Steam.

 

You should've known the risk you were taking when buying the product, and because you didn't, you have no right to complain and be taken seriously. It's just like volunteering for a new medical study. Even if research is fairly conclusive, and the promise of pay is good, you did opt into a project knowing the possible risk of adverse side effects and/or it not working as intended.

 

As for the "BI is just in it for the money", that's clearly not true. The people working on the project are very dedicated and absolutely seem to want to see it all the way through. Dean isn't staying on the project's lead anymore, but that's not because he's "jumping ship", it's because it's grown to a size where he can no longer manage it effectively. Sort of like Notch from Minecraft. Minecraft was never expected to grow big, and Notch knew to hand over development once it grew large, but that doesn't mean he never contributes or adds to the game.

 

That, and BI is a business, and they do need to make money. I'm not going to lie and say that the devs are basically willing to volunteer for the work and not be paid, because they need to, but it's just a fun way of going about it. That, and if they didn't see the project through, it would destroy BI's reputation, and a lot of them would have a hard time finding another job. So they're sort of in it whether they want to, or not.

[Super_Duty 466]

I will not reply, I will not reply, I will not reply....phuck it, you sir, are...never mind, phuck that too. OP, the next time you have a thought...let it go.  As stated, you were given numerous opportunities to self-educate before embarking on this journey.  And I'm damn sure that your "old man" would bitch slap you for forming such a conclusion at this stage of game development with said fore-warnings provided in advance.  If you have nothing positive to contribute, you do no good here.

[Trizzo 632]

My old man once told me 'Never pay a man till the job is done'.

And this is just the problem of expectation. Did you pay full price? No. Your comparison is meaningless, you were not paying for a completed job or product. Were you amply warned at every step of the way? Yes.

Nothing but Macdeth crying again, nothing to see here.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Trizzo

[RagedDrew 209]

Wah wah wah

 

Is all I got from you post.

[boneboys 7988]

My old man once told me "son, don't start shaving until you have to", he was right.

My old man once told me "son, don't hang wallpaper" you'll only end up taking it down again", he was right.

My old man once told me "son, *don't put anything bigger in your ear than your elbow", that was the best advice I was ever given.

 

So, next time you have the urge to put your elbow in your ear, don' bother you are wasting precious time and effort.

 

* also good medical advice.