PLEASE NOTE: This post is NOT from Egosoft or any of its employee's, Moderators or Beta Testers. I do not have inside information on the reasons for the status of the release version either. This is simply my opinion and/or an educated speculation on this matter. (I recommend you take the time to read it though as its still very informative)!
okay here goes:
X2: The return was scheduled for release earlier this year. As we know, during the development of X2: The return (Expansion) Egosoft had some of its devs working on the New X3 Engine at the same time. Development of X2's Expansion and X3 Engine were both going very smooth and time frames were being met and possibly exceeded in the Development of X3 Engine.
== Speculation and facts ==
Egosoft was then left with a dilema. They could release X2's Expansion with many of the features we were all looking forward to but still missing some major ones we all wanted (Direct X 9.0c Compatibility, structured economy that changes depending on the environmental factors in the universe, new interface and many other features I have not listed).
They were forced with a decision. Release an Expansion that would meet some of the requirements we as a community have put forth to them OR scrap it and try to release X3 at a later date in the year.
They chose to scrap the expansion as we know and release X3 (Some of this is conjecture and some facts). Their goal (Albeit a very tough one to reach) was to release X3: Reunion in a finished state that would make us all happier then getting a game with out dated graphics and a gaming engine that could NOT possibly give us the features we wanted the way they were intended.
== Speculation ==
A deal would have to of been made between Egosoft and its publishers. Publishers usually (9 times out of 10) give developers advances on projected sales figures to develop a game. Now Enlight/deepsilver etc. would have already paid Egosoft money to develop the expansion. Now when they worked out a new deal to scrap the expansion and release a new game instead with a better gaming engine Egosoft would have recieved more money for development costs.
However they would have also been given a strict deadline to accomplish everything. Now you may think thats not the case but it most likely is. The publisher isn't made of money like a company such as microsoft. So they would need to see a return on their investment. Hence the deadline for completion.
Now all of us old X'ers know that Egosoft puts everything they have into releasing a game a polished as they possibly can in the time alloted. We also know that they cannot alway's meet their own expectations because some of their goals are... well to put it bluntly, HUGE!!! Egosoft still shoots for the stars and gets damn close to them. As time dwindled down on the release date they were forced with some tough decisions. Some things are going to either be left out completly or put into the game in an unfinished state. They would then release patches to fix any bugs that crop up and add the unfinished features of the game into working order.
== FACT ==
As the release date got closer they locked the features/content additions of the game to work soley on beta testing. This would entail a HUGE amount of time from the beta testers and the dev team to find as many bugs/glitches as possible and fix them. This is by no means an easy task! Beta testing for a PC is a lot more challenging then beta testing for a console. Every single console has the same hardware (Example all xboxs are the same) so finding and fixing the hardware bugs would be easy (Compared to pc's that is).
PC's on the other hand are alot more challenging. Not only do the devs and beta testers have to deal with MULTIPLE OS's (Operating Systems) that the software will be run on and services packs. There are also all the different hardware configurations to deal with. These include mobo's/cpus (and their combinations), video cards (Different brands, Versions), Sound cards (Different brands, onboard sound (built into the motherboards) etc.) and more. Everyone also runs different versions of drivers as well. So those are tested to a certain extent as well.
Now thats just dealing with hardware issues that may show up during the beta testing. There is also the coding of the game that is tested, like the code for the plot, trading, docking, interface, controls etc. This is a very daunting task and if you have never done any programing or scripting you probably won't understand or appreciate the amount of work and time that goes into this process. Hopefully you will believe me when I say its huge!
So now we have reached the deadline that the publisher has set in Egosofts contract for developing X3. Egosoft is forced to release to the publisher a master copy of the game so that it can be copied and distributed by a specified date. Now people will say, why don't they just push it back a couple more weeks or two months etc. Honestly this is NOT an easy thing to do, and believe it or not this would be a HUGE cost to both the publisher and developer. Why? Well I will touch on a few of the reasons.
1st thing, Most likely Enlight and deepsilver would have outsourced the Copying of the master discs to another company who has the hardware to perform such a task. Even if they did not (Because they own their own disc copying machines), this next point would still play a big role. Those peices of equipment would be booked to burn copies of the game. If their is no game to copy, then they still end up paying. Why? because they would have signed some sort of contract to have that equipment available at that time. The company that owns the copying hardware won't be happy if all of a sudden they get a phone call that says.. hey we are cancelling our order at the last minute. Do you mind if we don't pay you? If the machines aren't running the company ain't making money.. So what do you think would happen?
Okay that briefly touches on the copying of the discs for distribution, now we will touch on the packaging and manual. That would have to go to the printing presses by a specific date (The time would be booked in advance to make sure that they could get the packaging and manual printed in time for the discs. Can you see the implications yet? What good would 100,000 - 500,000 copies of the game be if they had nothing to put them in??? So you can see that when a date set for the release of a product there are a lot of VARIABLES that come into play. Ones that cost big bucks, and we are not talking about a few hundred or couple thousand dollars. We are talking about 10's of thousands up to 100's of thousands of dollars.
Simply saying, S H I T!!! We did not manage to get everything into the game for the release date, can you give us 1 more month? usually doesn't cut it with a publisher or even the developer. Loses in dollars like that can actually bankrupt or kill the development of a gaming/software title. We have seen it already happen. Well I have, but I won't get into that because I already feel like an old fogie!! LoL.
So in the end, Egosoft was forced, not by choice and not nessicarely by the publisher to release the game in the state it was. This is not the best thing that could have happend but it is an understandable situation and one that I am sure we can all agree is completely plausible. We do not have to like it but we can be sympathetic about it.
Now I would like to take a moment to talk about Egosoft as a Company and its employee's, moderators and beta testers and lastly, us, their consumers.
Egosoft is a small company that has some very talented staff. We know (anyone who has been around since or before X2) that they support their product 100%. They go out of their way to try and make everyone happy and they accomplish this in many ways. First and foremost would be Devnet. For those of you who do not know what Devnet is let me explain. Devnet is a place on the forum where you can go to post your ideas/thoughts about how you would like to see the X-universe (its games) develop. If your still unsure of what I mean here is the simplest explanation. You post what you would like in the game or what you would like it to do and they will try to impliment it into the series (if it fits within the boundaries of the X-universe and it meets different criteria).
That alone is one helluva goldmine for us consumers. We can help a game design company make a game the way we want it, not just the way they want it! Wow! Thats kick ass!
So that deals with Devnet, now we also have the scripting and modding forums. These areas let us work together to come up with new features/ideas to impliment into the current release title (like X3). The Devs come up with bonus scripts that impliment new things and modders come up with scripts to do different things as well. Egosoft even impliments some of these kick ass scripts into the Bonus Plugins they release or something similar! Wow, now how is that for Consumer Support???
Wait, it doesn't stop there though, we also have the technical forum for troubleshooting support. This is a place where we can get help for any problems that come up in the game or conflicts with the game and our computers! Some people complain about the support but I have NEVER once had a problem getting help. Egosoft has alway's been super quick to help me with any problems that I have encountered. They even let me troubleshoot their bonus plugins
but alas I figured out the problem I was having before it came to that.Now I will deal with their Employee's. They are a GREAT bunch of individuals who have alway's been friendly and helpful to me and many other members of this community. After a game has been released, like X2 or now X3, they continue to work on the game (its always a work in progress) which is not a bad thing. It means that they are continually trying to add new features, items, optimizations and bug fixes that may arise. What more could a person ask for? Nothing in my opinion!
Well now we have the forum moderators. Sure, sometimes they lock posts with out answering the questions that started the thread, but thats because of many different reasons. 9 out of 10 times its because people are either to lazy to read the forum rules and post in the wrong area or they have forgotten them. Try to remember this fact folks, there are a LOT of posts made each and everyday in this community over quite a few different forums. The moderators here and on most forums do NOT get paid for this. They do it because they love the community they are a part of and like to help people. They also deal with asshats on a regular basis and truly, there is only so much any person can take before they get irritated. Also remember that people have good and bad days. YOU do, I know you do, and chances are you have probably been short once or twice with someone when you did not mean to be. We are only human after all and NOT robots. So remember that before you try to flame a moderator. They are all good people on this forum and I have the utmost respect for them.
Ah the Beta Testers. Boy have they gotten some flack from people on here the past few days. I will attempt to give you an example of what one of their days could be like (Beta Testers feel free to correct me or add to this). Well it starts out with starting the game, shutting it down, starting the game, shutting it down (looking for a glitch/bug). Oh joy, wasn't that fun. Now I get to start it up again and test the menu. I click on one menu, go back, click again, go back, go to another menu item, go back. Mmmm this is so much fun. I fly my ship forward, I fly it backwards, forwards, backwards. Oh Joy! Lets fly to that station WAY over there, and dock, now lets fly to the next station and dock. Yipppeee!!!! Jumping for joy with all this excitement. Hmm Lets fly around every station slowly now and make sure all the objects are rendering correctly on the screen and the textures on each object show up. So however many hours later they move on to the next thing.
That is just BRIEFLY touching on some of the crap they do (and its very very minor stuff). Endless hours are spent picking over every possible thing they can to try and find a problem. When they do, they have to try and replicate that problem again and again.. and try to figure out why its happening with the devs. Holy crap, what a lot of work. Hmm kinda takes the fun out of a new game they are just as anxcious to play as you or I isn't it? The FACT that the beta testers are people from the community and not someone paid to do it does NOT mean that the game is beta tested ******! Infact it means the exact opposite. Someone who is payed doesn't put their heart and soul into it like someone who loves the X-universe does. These people do their best (and believe it or not, its BETTER then what MOST of US can do) in testing the program. Countless hours, repetative tasks and frustrating moments are some of the things they get to look forward too.
Again, I have only BRIEFLY touched on what they do and it already is mind boggling to me and I commend these people and thank them for all that they have done and CONTINUE TO DO for us even though the game is released. Huh? What do I mean continue to do for us? Well Egosoft cares about its fans (community) so they are working on MORE updates for us. These updates include bug fixes (someone has to test them) and new content (again someone has to test them) so who do you think does this (and puts in all this time)? The Beta Testers do! So before you go flaming them try to think about how much they have done and CONTINUE to do for all of us for FREE so that YOU and I can have the MOST enjoyable time possible playing our game.
Beta testers, I take my hat off to you!
Now there are those of you who complain and say, I didn't pay $$$ to be a beta tester!! Well I say to you, YOU DIDN'T and your NOT a Beta Tester! Every program on the market has bugs/glitches. If you don't understand why by the time you've read down to here in my post then I don't think you ever will and its a lost cause trying to inform you why. However you can try to remember these next few examples:
(Microsoft and their products) 10s - 100s of THOUSANDS of hours go into QA (Quality Assurance) and BT (Beta Testing) for their products. Yet we still experience problems with their products. As my sig says, I am a network admin among my many other titles. I work for a college and deal with this stuff all the time. There are just TOO many variables to account for everything and problems will pop up from time to time. No matter what! So please be a little more understanding before you start to complain about "I didn't pay money to be a beta tester" because that is NOT what you are, or what Egosofts intentions were.
Last, but definitely not least we have the consumer (You and I). We are the most important part of the whole equation because with out us to purchase Egosofts products there inevitably would be no Egosoft! However that does not mean we can be cocky and arrogant fools because with out Egosoft we would not have our fantastic little X-Universe! With that out of the way I will move on.
We deserve many things as a consumer.
1. A quality product that is free from defects in workmanship or programming to the best of the companies ability (Nothing in the universe is 100% EVER).
2. We deserve the right to be happy or unsatisfied with a product (software) that we purchase!
3. We have and deserve the right to our own opinions of a product wether its good or bad.
Egosoft does NOT infringe or try to stop us from any of these things (Sorry if I missed anything). They encourage us to provide constructive feed back or criticism. Thats how they keep coming up with a better product with each release and further development in the comming months afterwards.
However, some people on this forum feel that because they have purchased a product from Egosoft they have the right to post on the forum and attack the integrity of the company, its staff, moderators and beta testers. They also think they have the right to attack them in coy manurisms to invoke community unrest (sorry for the big words).
I personally don't think you have that right just because you purchased a product and are unhappy with it. I do agree you have the right to complain and I think you should but do so in the appropriate thread and stop creating a multitude of new threads which only spams the forum. If your unhappy we (the community and Egosoft) will know it when you make your post in the proper thread. Please keep it civil and constructive though. If you are unhappy then why not complain in a constructive manner that could help make the game better for you and everyone else down the road as well as help with future releases. This type of respectable behavior would help make things better rather then upset people who have put their heart into trying to make the best possible product for you that was possible in the time alloted.
Believe me, Egosoft knows your unhappy and they don't like it. They want you to be happy and love the game, why? Because they don't just do this because they want to make a buck. They do it because they love the idea and concepts behind the X-universe series of games. They want to continue to make it better, not only for you and I but for themselves as well.
I am unsure of how many people in here are in the arts field. So it may or may not be difficult for you to understand some of this but I hope to help you come to a few realizations. Games are a form of art, fantasy etc. To design games you (especially something of this magnitude) you truly have to love your job. Wether its creating code, designing models, textures, effects its all art. Writing is also a form of art. Did you know that writing (typing) out your posts is also art. Its called Typography and it is a difficult art to master. Now artists, create things because its their passion. You create something because it makes you happy or sad, teary eyed or smiling with glee. What ever the reason/effect/emotion your trying to create you do it for yourself but also for those around you (in this case, us, the community). When you put all that you have into something as huge as X3 and then see that people are unhappy for different reasons you'd feel it inside you. You would also want to make it better and thats what Egosoft is doing and have always done. They strive to keep making it better then it was before.
Is it unreasonable to ask that people are understanding in this situation? No its not. Is it unreasonable to ask that people have a little patience and give Egosoft the time they need to release the next patch and each patch after that until X3 is in the form that they intended it to be when they first concieved its concept? No, its not. Is anyone saying you don't have a right to be upset? No, they are not. I am simply asking, as I am sure others are too, that those of you who are indeed unhappy with the game to give it some time before commiting yourself to walking away from it. I am also asking you to be patient and show some understanding in this situation because I know Egosoft is working hard to make all of us happier then we are now and those who are unhappy.. well They are trying to change that
I hope that my very lengthy post will help with the issues at hand and let people see things from another perspective.
Wishing you all the best, not matter what you decide to do,
Laz
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