[Sennacherib]

As someone who makes their living as a software engineer, I have to sympathize with Funcom. I can't imagine having an instant customer base of a million people, instead of a handful of clients and growing over time. Despite being in a much smaller and more specialized corner of the software industry, I feel like I understand some of Funcom's decisions regarding the game. So here's my own take on some of the questions being asked.

1. The game has a lot of bugs. Why was Age of Conan released when it was, instead of being fixed first?

A. Release dates are important. Age of Conan had already been pushed back; if you wait too long, you miss your window of opportunity and people start calling your software "vaporware." Also, it helps to capitalize on the life cycle of other games in the genre. Several aging MMOs are in a holding pattern while awaiting expansions, which allows for more interest in something new that comes along.
B. You can do as much testing as you like, but you're always going to miss something. Additionally, people are 100% guaranteed to attempt to do things that you never intended or imagined that they would try to do with your software. Anticipating the full range of customer stupidity and ingenuity alike is impossible.
C. People have had some practice on other MMOs at finding and exposing some really obscure bugs. There comes a time where you almost have to just sit back and watch to see what people do and what they find, and do your best to make fixes on the fly.

2. Why hasn't bug <insert bug here> been fixed yet? It's very important to me! You fixed <insert other bug here> that no one cared about instead!

A. 60-80 hour weeks aren't uncommon for a programmer after a software release. When there are a lot of things to fix, several factors come into play that affect priority. There might be several little problems that have to be fixed and a handful of really big problems and different people working on all of them. If one guy churns out a dozen small fixes in a week and another guy churns out one big one every two weeks, it looks like nothing but the little stuff is getting fixed, even though there's an equal amount of time being put in.
B. Corollary to that, some bugs are elusive and require a greater investment of time to fix. You also don't want to fix one thing and break another in the process, if you can avoid it.
C. Your issue might be pretty far down on the list. Fixing something that affects 100% of the players in the game is probably more important than fixing something that affects a single class. Fixing something that affects an entire class is probably more important than fixing something that only affects one particular optional feat for a single class. It's not that those things are unimportant, or that they don't need fixing, or that you shouldn't be annoyed if they stay broken long after everything else has been fixed. But do try to be somewhat realistic in your expectations.
D. What you care about may not be what most people care about, or even what anyone else cares about. That doesn't make it wrong to point things out, but demanding that something be fixed because EVERYONE. WANTS. IT. NOW. is absurd. Have some perspective and patience.

3. Class <insert class name here> is unfair/overpowered/underpowered for PvE/PvP. Why is this game so unbalanced?

A. I see this a lot from people who haven't leveled past the starting area yet, let alone playing in the 50-80 level range. Not all classes develop the same or at the same pace. Give yourself some time to play and practice with the class. Not every class is easy mode for PvP or PvE. Some require a bit more persistence to learn or squeeze the most out of.
B. Perhaps your expectations for your class aren't in sync with the abilities for the class. Changing the way you play frequently yields better results than expecting the game to change to accomodate you. Find someone who is doing well with the class, figure out what they're doing right, and adapt.
C. Particularly in the realm of PvP, you should probably start ditching your notions of a fair fight. Don't whine about how consumables ruin fights because your opponents are using them and you aren't. Just start using consumables yourself. If you keep losing fights because the other guy got the first hit in, welcome to open PvP. Either start more fights yourself or figure out how to give yourself some breathing room to even the odds after getting caught off guard.
D. There are almost always class balance issues of some kind. Your class is likely to change as time goes on, and sooner or later, your turn as the flavor of the month will arrive. Stick to it and wait for the wheel to turn. Your problem with class balance might even be related to something else that needs fixing - if a skill, stat, or ability is not working as intended, your class might be fine once that's resolved.
E. Learn as much as you can about your class and then make reasonable suggestions for areas that need improvement. This is infinitely superior to calling for nerfs.

4. Why is there missing content?

A. MMOs are not static releases. You expect Super Mario Kart to be in its final form when you buy it, but then, you don't pay any kind of subscription fee for it either. Even established MMOs frequently add content through patches and expansions in order to give players more to do. Age of Conan is no different. There's also a tradeoff on the time and money being spent in development. At some point you have to release your framework and the content you have available, pull in some revenue, and add more features and content as quickly as possible.
B. Corollary to that, the game had to ship at some point. Regardless of when it shipped, more content was going to be added later. At some point in your development cycle, it's time to release your framework and as much content as you can and just acknowledge that more is coming later.

Personally, I'm willing to give Funcom some breathing room. I mean, the short version of the story is, I've had fun playing so far. As long as I continue to have fun playing and barring something else out there I'd rather spend my free time on, I'll keep paying my subscription fee. Bugs are getting fixed. Content is being added. Classes are being adjusted. The game might not be in its final form right this very second, but I see solid progress being made, and I have the patience to wait and see what happens.

[gaugeforever]

How do you explain them promising sieges and all that other jazz at launch then we had to log in to find out it wasn't?

Oh and I do like your post, it is spot on.

[koochiekoo]

Designing web pages is not software engineering.

[gaugeforever]

Originally Posted by dimuniti Designing web pages is not software engineering.

So now html, CSS, xml and all that other stuff isn't code? Software engineering encompasses a lot more than you think. He probably gets paid very well to do this, especially if he is good.

[Sennacherib]

Originally Posted by gaugeforever How do you explain them promising sieges and all that other jazz at launch then we had to log in to find out it wasn't? Oh and I do like your post, it is spot on.

Could be any one of a couple of things, most likely a glitch in communication along the way that goes something like this:

Developer: Woohoo! Sieges are in game and working!

PR Guy: Cool. I'm going to go tell everyone that they'll have sieges at launch time.

Players: There's a bug that prevents us from getting to tier 3 cities and initiating sieges! There are no sieges! Everyone panic!

Developer: DOH! Stupid bug!

As Orion mentioned in another thread, you actually -could- have a siege, right now, if not for the bug preventing you from building your tier 3 guild city.

[valf]

Originally Posted by gaugeforever How do you explain them promising sieges and all that other jazz at launch then we had to log in to find out it wasn't? Oh and I do like your post, it is spot on.

MANY times the people promising and the people that have to deliver aren't the same people and many times aren't even in communication. Just become some suit says that this is what we are promising, doesn't mean the team that is actually doing the work can make it happen. People complain that things have so many bugs, but this is a case where they are holding something back that probably has bugs, until they can get it smoothed out. Which would you prefer?

The game had a deadline and it was released in as stable a condition as they could manage in that amount of time....I think they've done a pretty decent job. Bugs will always be there when a team is rushed right up until the end. It's not their fault. Holding back a feature, while it's broken isn't a bad thing when there's so much more to do in the game. Much better than releasing something that could have the potential to block many characters. (It's like how they should have held back the Plains because it was locking people in....)

[gaugeforever]

Originally Posted by Sennacherib As Orion mentioned in another thread, you actually -could- have a siege, right now, if not for the bug preventing you from building your tier 3 guild city.

Is there a link to this? This would end a lot of my frustration with FC right now, because if it is actually in the game, than they didn't lie to me. Well I mean it still doesn't work, but at least it's done, you know.

[lusis]

Originally Posted by Sennacherib As someone who makes their living as a software engineer, I have to sympathize with Funcom. I can't imagine having an instant customer base of a million people, instead of a handful of clients and growing over time. Despite being in a much smaller and more specialized corner of the software industry, I feel like I understand some of Funcom's decisions regarding the game. So here's my own take on some of the questions being asked. 1. The game has a lot of bugs. Why was Age of Conan released when it was, instead of being fixed first? A. Release dates are important. Age of Conan had already been pushed back; if you wait too long, you miss your window of opportunity and people start calling your software "vaporware." Also, it helps to capitalize on the life cycle of other games in the genre. Several aging MMOs are in a holding pattern while awaiting expansions, which allows for more interest in something new that comes along. B. You can do as much testing as you like, but you're always going to miss something. Additionally, people are 100% guaranteed to attempt to do things that you never intended or imagined that they would try to do with your software. Anticipating the full range of customer stupidity and ingenuity alike is impossible. C. People have had some practice on other MMOs at finding and exposing some really obscure bugs. There comes a time where you almost have to just sit back and watch to see what people do and what they find, and do your best to make fixes on the fly. 2. Why hasn't bug <insert bug here> been fixed yet? It's very important to me! You fixed <insert other bug here> that no one cared about instead! A. 60-80 hour weeks aren't uncommon for a programmer after a software release. When there are a lot of things to fix, several factors come into play that affect priority. There might be several little problems that have to be fixed and a handful of really big problems and different people working on all of them. If one guy churns out a dozen small fixes in a week and another guy churns out one big one every two weeks, it looks like nothing but the little stuff is getting fixed, even though there's an equal amount of time being put in. B. Corollary to that, some bugs are elusive and require a greater investment of time to fix. You also don't want to fix one thing and break another in the process, if you can avoid it. C. Your issue might be pretty far down on the list. Fixing something that affects 100% of the players in the game is probably more important than fixing something that affects a single class. Fixing something that affects an entire class is probably more important than fixing something that only affects one particular optional feat for a single class. It's not that those things are unimportant, or that they don't need fixing, or that you shouldn't be annoyed if they stay broken long after everything else has been fixed. But do try to be somewhat realistic in your expectations. D. What you care about may not be what most people care about, or even what anyone else cares about. That doesn't make it wrong to point things out, but demanding that something be fixed because EVERYONE. WANTS. IT. NOW. is absurd. Have some perspective and patience. 3. Class <insert class name here> is unfair/overpowered/underpowered for PvE/PvP. Why is this game so unbalanced? A. I see this a lot from people who haven't leveled past the starting area yet, let alone playing in the 50-80 level range. Not all classes develop the same or at the same pace. Give yourself some time to play and practice with the class. Not every class is easy mode for PvP or PvE. Some require a bit more persistence to learn or squeeze the most out of. B. Perhaps your expectations for your class aren't in sync with the abilities for the class. Changing the way you play frequently yields better results than expecting the game to change to accomodate you. Find someone who is doing well with the class, figure out what they're doing right, and adapt. C. Particularly in the realm of PvP, you should probably start ditching your notions of a fair fight. Don't whine about how consumables ruin fights because your opponents are using them and you aren't. Just start using consumables yourself. If you keep losing fights because the other guy got the first hit in, welcome to open PvP. Either start more fights yourself or figure out how to give yourself some breathing room to even the odds after getting caught off guard. D. There are almost always class balance issues of some kind. Your class is likely to change as time goes on, and sooner or later, your turn as the flavor of the month will arrive. Stick to it and wait for the wheel to turn. Your problem with class balance might even be related to something else that needs fixing - if a skill, stat, or ability is not working as intended, your class might be fine once that's resolved. E. Learn as much as you can about your class and then make reasonable suggestions for areas that need improvement. This is infinitely superior to calling for nerfs. 4. Why is there missing content? A. MMOs are not static releases. You expect Super Mario Kart to be in its final form when you buy it, but then, you don't pay any kind of subscription fee for it either. Even established MMOs frequently add content through patches and expansions in order to give players more to do. Age of Conan is no different. There's also a tradeoff on the time and money being spent in development. At some point you have to release your framework and the content you have available, pull in some revenue, and add more features and content as quickly as possible. B. Corollary to that, the game had to ship at some point. Regardless of when it shipped, more content was going to be added later. At some point in your development cycle, it's time to release your framework and as much content as you can and just acknowledge that more is coming later. Personally, I'm willing to give Funcom some breathing room. I mean, the short version of the story is, I've had fun playing so far. As long as I continue to have fun playing and barring something else out there I'd rather spend my free time on, I'll keep paying my subscription fee. Bugs are getting fixed. Content is being added. Classes are being adjusted. The game might not be in its final form right this very second, but I see solid progress being made, and I have the patience to wait and see what happens.

While I personally agree with most of your post, I think there are some valid concerns about what should be finished before the game is released. Yes, class balancing will have to happen. Yes, content will continue to be released. Yes, obscure bugs will be discovered and fixed. Yes, there will be hardware issues from people who can't read a box.

However, there are sections of the game that were either a part of the original promise at launch or are basic components of the game. The big one for me is the stats issue. Closely followed is the poor crafting system.

I've said it many times before. If Funcom had communicated with the community early enough many, if not the majority, of these complaints would hold no water. Maybe they thought they could get things resolved before someone would actually try that part of the content but they should have known better (based on previous MMO experience).

The best phrase I've heard yet to describe the game is "unpolished".

[lusis]

Originally Posted by Sennacherib Could be any one of a couple of things, most likely a glitch in communication along the way that goes something like this: Developer: Woohoo! Sieges are in game and working! PR Guy: Cool. I'm going to go tell everyone that they'll have sieges at launch time. Players: There's a bug that prevents us from getting to tier 3 cities and initiating sieges! There are no sieges! Everyone panic! Developer: DOH! Stupid bug! As Orion mentioned in another thread, you actually -could- have a siege, right now, if not for the bug preventing you from building your tier 3 guild city.

Actually this would make me even more nervous if the company had such a broken-down chain of communication. It would basically mean we couldn't trust anything put out about the game.

[Sennacherib]

Originally Posted by dimuniti Designing web pages is not software engineering.

Designing web pages isn't a small or specialized corner of the software industry

I write software for a specific industry that handles purchasing, accounting, payroll, and other aspects of our clients' business. The software is highly customized to the particular industry we cater to.

To contradict you, designing web pages can be software engineering. Web pages are nothing more than a GUI framework, and quite a few people are using web browsers as thin clients for distributed applications that have no need to do most or even any of the real number-crunching on the client-side and thus benefit greatly from handling it all server-side.