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Then I remember that I haven't taken out the garbage, and I have to get to it. What that is, is a basic description of economics at work. I have chosen to hang out and read all the cool stuff, and the cost is an overflowing garbage can, which I must pay my kids (5cents) to do for me, or get up and do it myself.
Development is the same thing.
X =Number of developers (finite without more funds)
Y= Amount of funds (finite without more investors or a functional game bringing income)
Z= Amount of time (relatively infinite without devastating disease, planetary impact, or war reducing it ash (we'd probably be dead or fighting for our existence, so no loss there)
We have coming to us a very cool game, and what many of the players seem to think is that every idea, good, acceptable, bad or otherwise is worth delaying the product for. We are humanly tied to our grasp of what good and bad, opinions vary more than fingerprints. To you, and probably at least a few, your idea is good, but is it worth a delay of launch or loss of critical production elsewhere?
The reality again creeps in, and the Ammo Truck is one of the best and more recent samples of great concept.
To my mind, and I work with but am not a developer, you need to commit a project to add the code that rules the laws that govern the variances from the base architecture. Like damage for ammo explosions, impacts of time for a down mech, benefits and penalties for all the little nuances, like, who owns the truck in a company during and between matches, who commands/controls it, who determines what types of ammo it has (admittedly a very short abbreviated list). Then come in the graphics guys, who have to design a model, and the personnel, what the "crates" look like (that's lazy but acceptable) etc... Explosions, texture maps for damage.. and on and on. Game developers deal in building a perfect system.. cause when it fails.. people flame. Interface designers, QA... and on and on.. you get the picture. That's just to add a truck, and graphics, that look reasonably cool and work within the application without crashing it. And still not everyone will like it.. get on your fire retardant gear.
So that means that when that project is assigned, they have to dedicate time, money, devs to making this happen, and still eat sleep and have a family. Dev's I hate to tell those in utter disbelief are human beings, and Real life applies.
I'd think, with unique cockpits, on 108 or so mechs that could reasonably be added to the game once a design plug-in or methodology is built , they'd have nice full plates, let alone anything else. Between testing, balancing, testing, balancing for the next 8 to 10 weeks, preparing to maybe have a launch in 16 -20 weeks, if everything goes and is perfect.
So rather than continue to beat dead horses maybe there should be a poll that simply puts it out there.
What in the economy of development are you willing to surrender to add new cool nuance items, rules and laws? The time is infinite, if your willing to make concessions or wait longer for a functional game.
We should congratulate ideas, we should engender even more ideas. We should appreciate what we've gotten so far, the slightest grain of sugar on the tips of our tongues, with a full dessert yet to arrive. Just remember when promoting these add-on concepts that you allocate in your minds what you may need to give up, to gets your hearts desire.
I admit that if someone brought up something so earth-shattering that the boards lit up and thousands posted for a change or left turn to correct a flaw, then it would be sensible to beg for a change. But anything that isn't a core product requirement on version 1 release, should be noted and placed on a list in suggestions for version two.
I for one will be putting my new, cool, nuance ideas under a new heading "In the next release ...." , to take the heat of the devs, and keep my own expectations real.
Definition of OPPORTUNITY COST
the added cost of using resources (as for production or speculative investment) that is the difference between the actual value resulting from such use and that of an alternative (as another use of the same resources or an investment of equal risk but (perceptibly) greater return)
Psychotically Yours,
Edited by Vexgrave Lars, 07 April 2012 - 02:01 PM.
