X4: Cradle of Humanity (Release Date March 16, 2021, 6pm CET; Livestream at 5pm CET)

[Raevyan]

Well the fact is, they shipped an unfinished game (release and dlc) that really lacks a lot of polishing. X4 felt like a beta at release and sometimes even does so now. I do enjoyed those 1000hrs and I would like to play more, but the game mechanics and design flaws that are still not fixed keep me from doing that.
The least I, as a paying customer, can expect is that the advertised content is working from start to finish. That was not the case for weeks for almost all the dlc plots. They really need to ramp up QA.
I’ve already wrote in one of the wishlist threads that I would opt for fixing the core game in favor of new content. The list of bugs does not seem to get smaller and they add even more with every patch. Yes it’s nice to have some new highly anticipated functions/features but if the core is not working too well, that doesn’t matter.

[Alan Phipps]

All that follows comes from my personal understanding and opinions as an X4 player and forum user.

I know that the devs spend as much time on bug-fixing as they can given other commitments (such as being able to invest in new releases to pay the bills and wages). Given that most of the devs work with few others in their specialist areas, and that the issues thrown up by beta testing kept them all fully occupied anyway, I doubt that testing and reporting much above what was done would have made that much difference in terms of bugfix output - apart perhaps from delaying release dates even further. The old quandry of 'Do you want it right, or do you want it now?' - and there is still the devs' onward financing to consider by keeping to scheduled release dates.

I have greatly enjoyed playing X4 since I started doing so seriously at the release of 3.0 (and now at over 780 hours in-game). Yes there are some issues and bugs still around, and new ones that appear with updates despite extensive public beta testing of those, yet I find that (with some help from the forums) I can generally work around them or just shelve that activity until later on perhaps after a fix.

What I find impressive about X4 other than just the sheer scope and beauty of the game, is that it is perfectly stable and with quite playable performance on my 2012 budget component self-build system. I find AAA games that tend to crash a lot or drive the cpu/gpu temperatures through the roof quite annoying, but X4 is (surprisingly?) not one of those.

Those that may think I would say the above just because I am a forum official are actually looking at it quite wrongly. I remain a forum official because I enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, X games.

[hxsgame]

'Do you want it right, or do you want it now?'
……
yet I find that (with some help from the forums) I can generally work around them or just shelve that activity until later on perhaps after a fix.

totally agree

The current game elements, to a large extent, can satisfy the imagination.

New game elements, and some bugs that can be bypassed. elements are likely to improve the experience more.

[hxsgame]

The list of bugs does not seem to get smaller and they add even more with every patch.

I haven't counted it, but the game experience is much better. So I think this may be little bit biased.

Accept, and ignore some detailed bugs, maybe helpful to the game experience.

[BaronDeKalb]

really looking forward to this and the new features of 4.0.

[mr.WHO]

Will we get more footage? Or does the two trailers is all that we will get before release?

I'd really like to see Terran M and XL size ships.

[Wehrwolf_10]

Will we get more footage? Or does the two trailers is all that we will get before release?

I'd really like to see Terran M and XL size ships.

I'd really like to see at least something

[Alan Phipps]

Heh, if I recall correctly, the last time Egosoft did an impromptu (non-advertising) early Alpha footage show-and-tell for an expansion, they were ripped to pieces by some posters using comments such as lame, incomplete, r*******, outdated, poor quality, etc. I think they may have some caution about doing that again at too early a stage.

[Wehrwolf_10]

Heh, if I recall correctly, the last time Egosoft did an impromptu (non-advertising) early Alpha footage show-and-tell for an expansion, they were ripped to pieces by some posters using comments such as lame, incomplete, r*******, outdated, poor quality, etc. I think they may have some caution about doing that again at too early a stage.

I don't think developers need to pay attention to people who are always unhappy => . They never buy anything anyway, and if they do, they will yell about it at every corner

[Blake00]

OMG!!! How did I miss this!!! This is what I get for visiting the forums and forgetting to check the main news page haha.. wow! This is awesome!!! Mega excited for this one!! Well played Egosoft.. well payed!

Although I'm kind of surprised that you guys didn't do a Boron expansion (using fan suggestions on how to achieve their look and mobility in non-liquid environments) and then put in a bit of a cliffhanger story ending with a Terran tease, so you could then save the Terrans for a big stand alone game with a new story like you did back in the day with Terran Conflict (same engine but separate to X3 with a sexy cliffhanger to bridge the games). Reckon you would have made more money in the long run IMO even if some fans would have hated having to buy a new game again though of course haha.

[aurumgallente]

I don't think developers need to pay attention to people who are always unhappy => . They never buy anything anyway, and if they do, they will yell about it at every corner

Ignoring opinion of the clients or potential clients is a straight way to bankruptcy. X4 is not an open source project or free software. Wrong approach to representation of the product is a mistake and I'm sure Egosoft learned that lesson. X series has an army of loyal fans who remember BTF, X2 and X3 and making them upset by low quality of the product is not what you want as business owner. It's OK if a fraction of people doesn't like something, if everyone is happy it means you read paid reviews and there is no real clients at all.

[dtpsprt]

Ignoring opinion of the clients or potential clients is a straight way to bankruptcy. X4 is not an open source project or free software. Wrong approach to representation of the product is a mistake and I'm sure Egosoft learned that lesson. X series has an army of loyal fans who remember BTF, X2 and X3 and making them upset by low quality of the product is not what you want as business owner. It's OK if a fraction of people doesn't like something, if everyone is happy it means you read paid reviews and there is no real clients at all.

Or, simply, paying attention only to the official forum which, by the way, the majority of Steam X4 owners (it was Egosoft who made us go to Steam in X3 AP that was not available anywhere else, so it could be loaded as a standalone application) avoid even if they have to report a bug cause of the "handclappers" that gather here... All Egosoft needs to do is make a comparison in membership and active membership numbers and they'll see that just hearing the yesmen clap their hands does not cut the cake.

[dtpsprt]

Although I'm kind of surprised that you guys didn't do a Boron expansion (using fan suggestions on how to achieve their look and mobility in non-liquid environments) and then put in a bit of a cliffhanger story ending with a Terran tease, so you could then save the Terrans for a big stand alone game with a new story like you did back in the day with Terran Conflict (same engine but separate to X3 with a sexy cliffhanger to bridge the games). Reckon you would have made more money in the long run IMO even if some fans would have hated having to buy a new game again though of course haha.

Well don't be so surprised... all you find here are "Argon Lovers" (I used to be "impartial" until they were turned into space Neanderthals, now I don't even hire Argons as personell) who just want their racist xenophobic (literally) "cousins" brought in!!! Yeah man!!! I so love those dysfunctional huge white stations, Five times the size of the Commonwealth ones... YiiiiHaaaaarrr as Donald Trump would have tweeted if he played as Van Sheldon!!!

[dtpsprt]

Heh, if I recall correctly, the last time Egosoft did an impromptu (non-advertising) early Alpha footage show-and-tell for an expansion, they were ripped to pieces by some posters using comments such as lame, incomplete, r*******, outdated, poor quality, etc. I think they may have some caution about doing that again at too early a stage.

Nahhhh... if I judge correctly they plan on making Earth an exact copy of Argon Prime, aka "Planet of the Apes", so they know that at least half of the X4 owners will not bother to buy it. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying the price of the De Luxe package for a Boron DLC, especially if Argons (and subsequently Terrans in the third DLC) were reunited with Homo Sapiens!!! in the patch that would come with said second DLC bringing back the Boron...

[Alan Phipps]

" .. they plan on making Earth an exact copy of Argon Prime .." Oooh, you mean Earth will be owned by HOP?

[Gavrushka]

" .. they plan on making Earth an exact copy of Argon Prime .." Oooh, you mean Earth will be owned by HOP?

I think you'll find it belongs to Gavrushka faction, so get practicing your genuflections.

I wish I could understand the element of human nature which has people who seem to loathe a game whilst still playing and remaining active on the forums. I guess it is meant as 'encouragement' for Egosoft to change the game more to their liking. Old man wisdom now follows...

Words of criticism, softly spoken tend to carry the furthest.

[dtpsprt]

" .. they plan on making Earth an exact copy of Argon Prime .." Oooh, you mean Earth will be owned by HOP?

Nope... I mean exactly what I said... Planet of the Apes with the humans (pre v 3.0) exiled in the badlands of Modland for eternity!!!

[dtpsprt]

[Old man wisdom now follows...

Words of criticism, softly spoken tend to carry the furthest.

And when all else fails deadpan satyre...

[jlehtone]

You are a creative person. You have worked hard. Your work is called "worthless utter-crap". Will you obediently start from scratch (only to face similar critique again) or will you rather omit that assessment as an outlier and focus on feedback that is less harsh, less emotionally taxing, and more constructive?

[dtpsprt]

You are a creative person. You have worked hard. Your work is called "worthless utter-crap". Will you obediently start from scratch (only to face similar critique again) or will you rather omit that assessment as an outlier and focus on feedback that is less harsh, less emotionally taxing, and more constructive?

What a lovely name for someone's work... (jokingly)...

On a serious note and since, I believe, you refer to the real world, I will give you a "parallel" of what you just said:
You have an agricultural country that spreads over two continents with a 120 mill population. There are 3 million industrial workers in said population. There are 10o thousand "idealists" that shout too much for the rights of the industrial workers. There is a Revolution (and rightly so, the agricultural country did not have farmers, it had surfs).
Result: The CCCP (USSR) and 80 years of Communism, that never evolved above it's first stage of evolution (Dictatorship of the Proletariat) in 80 years, the first State Leaders (Lenin, Stalin) assassinated and the whole thing collapsed (coincidence?) when the last member of the Polit Buro that were physically present in Stalin's assassination became President himself and died (Chernienko) and the new generation took over...