Spiral Knights - Gunner update release date!

Gunner update release date!

34 replies [Last post]

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 04:55

Scirio

Eurydice, you are making me kind of angry and I don't like it.

"When it's ready" I feel like you guys are going down the path of duke nukem forever and half-life 3.

"Thank you for your patience and understanding" well we don't really have a choice but to wait don't we? I'm pretty sure nobody 'understands' these delays anyway.

I'm not one to talk here because I am effing lazy but it seems highly unprofessional to me if you set a dealine but fail to reach it over and over and over and over...again! How can you expect us to take you serious if you don't even take yourselves seriously. This is stupid and I am on the verge of quitting this game, I feel like there should be an ingame compensation for this bs waiting time.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 05:12

Krakob

There were no promises or deadlines. Only aims. I'm not really surprised, considering that they've been one engineer down since May or something last year.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 05:52

Lanieu

OOO, let me know whatever 3d

OOO, let me know whatever 3d modeling software you use and I will model stuff up for you to expedite this release!

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 06:07

Hexzyle

This is stupid and I am on the verge of quitting this game, I feel like there should be an ingame compensation for this bs waiting time

I'm on the verge of no longer eating sliced bread because the bakers aren't making enough effort to make it any better than it already is.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 06:24

Scirio

If you promise new content on

If you promise new content on a date --> deliver new content on said date. Simple as that.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 06:55

Rekkusu

They never promised it, they

They never promised it, they were aiming for January, sadly the guns aren't ready yet because they missed January completely and hit a bystander named the community.

TL:DR chill.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 07:00

Mayaura

@ Flamaxe

"they missed January completely and hit a bystander named the community."

HAHAHA - that's a good one. Please lend your humor to these dismal affairs more often, good knight.

Oh, a flaming axe would be a cool weapon, or any axe for that matter.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 07:10

Thorfinns

Scirio i assume you are an

Scirio i assume you are an old player..I am too.The truth is that,We,the old players cant live without new content cause we mostly done all things in SK.We like this game and thats why we overeact a bit :)

Even if they didnt promise that they ll have it ready,they estimated wrong more than once..Its obvious that this isnt the best thing,cause it shows us they cant estimate properly..

Anyway i prefer to wait a little more,so the update is more balanced.I hope their announcements will be more reliable/accurate in the future.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 07:25

Chromosver

"It looks like there is going to be further delay on the much-anticipated Gunner Update. We originally estimated that this would be out to you in November, and then we updated our estimate to January (this month). Unfortunately, it is still in the works.We're really sorry about this."

They did apologize. That's what's important. In fact, I think we should be all grateful, considering the wonderful communication between the OOO and its gamer community.
I think they should have been consistent on silence though.
Unless that announcement was meant to strum tense strings..

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 07:57

Scirio

Actually thorfinns, I'm

Actually thorfinns, I'm rather new :L

At any rate, I love this game, I really do, but if it weren't for the community inside it I think the majority of the players would've quit in 10 seconds or less.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 08:36

#10

Tenkii

@Lanieu

...but there's more to this than models.

I know some people have been going on about how "the guns are already done" because SOME models are/have been in the game files for a while.
but that's art, not programming nor design (design including things like coming up with different behaviors, tweaking stats) :x

If you can imagine 3 sides to a feature update:
- Art : New gun/bullet models/animations
- Design : Coming up with good ideas and tweaking stats
- Programming : Implementing new behaviors/mechanics

Design comes first - they need to come up with the ideas for the guns.
Art tends to be straight-forward, where they make the models and set it down (unless someone up there is really picky and changes their mind on approved art).
Programming makes the ideas real - They might make a quick and easy version first, have the designers/QA (?) people try it out, get feedback, then do it again. Sometimes an idea will conflict with an old mechanic, so they might need to tweak those too.
Design comes last again - after trying out the new things, they can take a final pass at it and tweak stats and such til it feels good (or in the case of it feeling bad, matches a previous vision).

So... The only reasons I can see delaying the gun update are that one or more of those are being held up:
- Initial designs might still be incomplete
- Lots of new models that aren't done yet
- There are new/changed mechanics but programmers are busy working on other features (arcade redux, new traps for boss stages)
- Weapons are still being tweaked and iterated on

I highly doubt that they'd get stuck on art (heck, people have been posting spoilers for a while now because certain models have been found in the game files), but especially in the light of Nick leaving, I can see the design side getting held up, or even the programming side, considering that they're making new levels and working on things like new boss/minibosses.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 08:35

#11

Momofuku

Unfortunately, the game doesn't owe the community anything. We did not hire OOO to make the gunner update for us.

The only reason they even mentioned the gunner update to begin with, rather than just leaving it behind the scenes until it's ready, is to build hype. To entertain us with the idea that they are working on something, rather than just pushing prize box promotions. Any deadlines they set really have no real impact on the playability of the game. The game still works the way it is now. It's not perfect or ideal, but it works.

Threats to quit don't do anything either. If you want to leave, nothing is stopping you. Maybe when they truly see the numbers die off, OOO may get concerned. But given the things they've been working on lately, like the energy revamp and sprites, they are focusing on new player retention while sneaking in challenging new missions (Apocrea, Grinchlin) to please the veterans.

As for the delays with the update? It is most likely because they are updating way too many things at once. Arcade changes, re-addition of Tortodrone back into the game, and most likely more things in addition to balancing the addition of new guns and their role in PVE/PVP.

However, I do wish they would keep the preview server open. I really hope they allow the players to test out these new changes before pushing a release, since OOO doesn't have the greatest perception of weapon/gear balancing.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 08:46

#12

Ndognine-Forums

Well, I mean, they could

Well, I mean, they could release a buggy, half done version now if you really want. but you would probably just complain about that to.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 09:00

#13

Scirio

That's not the point,

That's not the point, sir.

The point is, if you set a deadline and you don't make it once , then okay that's cool. It happens. But so far I have never seen OOO make a deadline spot on, I can't take them serious, how hard can it be to make a proper planning. Even in the case of an unforeseen turn of events, you should've anticipated that. I'm not talking about 1 delay, I've never seen them on time.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 09:02

#14

Ndognine-Forums

Maybe you should apply then,

Maybe you should apply then, someone with so much experience on the subject would probably get updates out early :D

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:02

#15

Snysny

have patience.. sure they

have patience..
sure they don't have enough time for release new update in time, sure its incomplete
coz !! they spend time for recoloring weapon/tabards and creating new donate (hello winterfest/apocrea/rose regalia)

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 12:39

#16

Seiran

see, people like that ^ are naive about this whole thing

It's like this:
Say I tell Scirio to go shopping: Get some takeout and on the way back, get milk for Snysny.
While Scirio is out, I tell Lanieu to draw 3 pictures of apples and get a pacifier for Snysny.

Snysny gets mad and starts crying that he hasn't gotten his milk yet because Scirio is busy drawing apples and he doesn't want his pacifier.

..!?
That's stupid. Just because Lanieu is doing something doesn't mean Scirio is doing the same thing.

/facepalm

[edit]
I think it went over his head, so here's the simple version:
Do you really think recoloring rose regalias/making weapon 'reskins' takes the ENTIRE TEAM? It doesn't. It's something they can make the artists do while the rest of the team works on something else (but oh dear god does it make people want to decorate lol; it works). Like Eurydice said in the announcement, they've also been working on features for new levels (see: Arcade Redux, new boss, tortodrone miniboss). The past year when they looked like they were just doing promos and not releasing features? They were working on the Mission System and Battle Sprites.

The things that get finished sooner get released in time (or on request, like promos to make money to keep the team going), but different people can work on different things.

Gamers, seriously.

[edit2, because I don't feel like making another post to keep the argument going]
I speak from experience. I was a game programmer in the past, so I have a pretty good idea of how work can get split up, priorities of a f2p game company and how content gets released and delayed - I've seen it from the other side.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:25

#17

Snysny

^^^ correct /facepalm use

^^^
correct /facepalm

use brain sometimes, it helps

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:38

#18

Thorfinns

It would be funny to update

It would be funny to update in the next Wednesday(30th) and the announcement would be a troll..

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 11:04

#19

Sintag

...Really, guys. Really.

Oh, I'MMMM SORRY! Didn't mean to *GASP* make a promotion to encourage people to spend money or, heavens forbid, make a difficult mission! OHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They updated the coloring on weapons (And in Apocrea's case, gave them the ability to poison stuff, which I like) and re-released them and now I have to put in effort! Oh God, we need the Joes to stop this! WHERE ARE YOU, GI JOES?

But seriously, at least they're releasing new content. Even if its a holiday-themed retexture or a small little mission that spooks the living crap out of you a la Apocrea, which, in my personal opinion, was a masterfully designed mission due to how UNNERVED I felt through it all. You were the prey of whatever was stalking you and you felt a sort of FEAR normal SK doesn't make you feel. It was SCARY! I honestly LOVED that mission and sort of wish that OOO could make a mission similar to it!

And OOO's a small company, too, people. Patience is a virtue and they never PROMISED US a release date, they just GAVE US AN APPROXIMATION. See, this is the thing I love about OOO: You can NEVER, rule of thumb, trust their first set release date since they will inevitably have to miss it due to community outrage or personal events (Nick leaving much?) or SEGA throwing their corporate weight into the dealings.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 12:35

#20

Vesperaldus

@Seiran: I appreciate your

@Seiran: I appreciate your input from a game programmer's point of view. Even if some may not care/understand, it enlightens me (although I'm not someone complaining either).

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 12:49

#21

Bitsbee

Did you see the spoilers, Hallows?

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 13:55

#22

Xtweeterx

Oh, Scirio,

You're possibly like a worse version of me.

"I'm pretty sure nobody 'understands' these delays anyway."

It's called taking things slowly, playtesting, makeing sure everything works and they want it to be as good as possible.

"How can you expect us to take you serious if you don't even take yourselves seriously"

Better late than never!

"I am on the verge of quitting this game"

Oh lord... ANOTHER one? /facepalm

Moral: Patience is a virtue. <--- I had to learn that the hard way with math homework a few times.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:06

#23

Lewisite

Summary

We are complaining about the delay in releasing 5*weapons and armor, that when released will allow us to complain more about the lack of radiants?

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:06

#24

Seiran

I'm more of the opinion that the gunner update isn't the top priority, and they're working on other things that will be released before the gunner update.
Weapon mechanics and tweaks are cool and all, but really, if [hypothetically] a [redacted] came out, what would people use it on?

There should be content that they're relevant to, otherwise people will skim over them and it becomes wasted work.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:15

#25

Sandwich-Potato

Patience is a virtue

Whoever said virtue is its own reward is full of [censored].

~Ender in Exile.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:18

#26

Lewisite

Hard work

Hard work pays off in the future, procrastination pays off now.

~I will find the source of this quote later

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:22

#27

Fehzor

@Lewisite

The tortodrone business might give us radiants, which is why I'm looking forward to it, actually.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 14:54

#28

Lewisite

Fehzor

This is a complaint thread, leave your hope and positive outlook at the door. Pitchforks are to the left and torches can be lit upon request.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 15:10

#29

Klipik-Forum

If you, Scirio, have never seen OOO's ability to meet their "deadlines", why do you want them to set more?

I'm thinking more along the lines of Blizzard than Valve when they say "When it's ready". As long as they don't pull a Path of the Titans on us...

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 15:24

#30

Fehzor

@Lewis

I'm all for complaining about the game if and when I am given a reason to do so, but this thread is not one of those reasons.

There are big reasons to complain right now, but those reasons are all "radiants", and we've all discussed this before.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 15:55

#31

Sirius-Voltbreaker

Well they did say that they didn't rush for deadlines. This means a less buggy game. Do you REALLY want to get guns early but be able to unheat them, because all fire crystals have mysteriously dissapeared and mist somehow came back? Don't be selfish. If you wanna leave get out. You aren't helping.
Compensation will slow them down. OOO's only mistake was making a deadline in the first place. Don't be selfish.

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 23:23

#32

Snysny

lolololol milking-money

lolololol milking-money events going 1 by 1
who need gunners update ? XDD
who need radiants? XDD

Sun, 01/26/2014 - 04:39

#33

Theirillusion

Compensation:

Make more corners in haven for all the impatient cry babies to go cry in.

Thu, 01/30/2014 - 17:56

#34

Semajc

January release

Releasing the Gunner update in January? HA. YEAH RIGHT.

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Gunner update release date!