To release or not to release., European Conflict is letting you decide! Options

[mbob61]

(Yes that's right, we're letting you decide when we release, and what content that release contains).

This is the current state of play;

EC Contains:

- 3 entirely new factions.
- New Units.
- New Abilities.
- New Buildings.
- New Super Weapons.
- New Gen Powers.
- New AI for all factions and difficulty levels.
- New 'Tactics System', unique to EC. (More on this later).

EC Lacks:

- Infantry models and skins
- The majority of WEA building skins, and a few other building and unit skins.
- Many ability/upgrade cameos.
- Most Voice work.

Now the problem we are facing is that many team members have reached a stage in their life and education that prevents them having much free time to devote to modding. Some other team members have lost interest, or are starting to.

So the question we put to you, our fans...

Is if:

A. You would prefer us to release now with what we currently have. Meaning we would be releasing an imperfect dev which would have minor errors and lack of skins in places.

However, if we release now, this does not mean we will stop working on the mod. We can release future versions with additional and updated content.

Or

B. If you'd prefer to continue waiting for a more finished version of EC. The problem with waiting is we can't predict how much free time we'll have, or how much enthusiasm our team will have to continue modding.

Or

C. We release a Version of the Beta with an almost entirely finished UAN faction only. You would be missing out on the other two factions but you wouldn't have to see the un-skinned and unfinished parts. UAN would be almost entirely finished.

Please clearly post your answers, and if possible, state your reasons for them.

We will weigh up the answers and come to a decision.

Thanks for your feedback,

- This is the EC team signing off.

This post has been edited by mbob61: 10 Apr 2010, 0:50

[R3ven]

A, all the way =D

[Alias]

From past experience, C is easily the best option.

[Waris]

C, B, A

In that order.

[Shiro]

Both as a modder and a programmer I am for C all the way. As a modder to see the content finished, and as a programmer because I go for 'quality over quantity'. Concentrate on the UAN to finish them, then release their package

[wb21]

C IMO, so players can tryout the mod, and at the same time, have something they can play with for now, while the rest is being done (no one knows when will it be completed, not to mention weasel words about it).

[ComeOn]

I voted for A, but then I saw the missing stuffs... so...
B.

[Pickysaurus]

C, but leave some easter eggs in the .big files

[Shock]

I can tell you, from experience, that when releasing a mod version there tends to be a ''gap'' in the motivation of most team members. This is due to the fact that at the moment you release, if you don't have your next goal determined, there generally tends to be less work done especially when your developing team is starting to prioritize real life over your mod.

What im saying is this release and near completion of EC is something that you can work towards and something that can give motivation. If you release now this pressure will be released as well and that could not be good for the quantity of work done.

On the other hand, if you do not release and the frequency of your media updates declines, you will have a harder time to keep public attention as you do not have a beta to keep the public busy with. Mods shouldn't take too long to make their first release either, as positive public feedback and desires for more are one of the great motivators in enhancing your mod. Having a beta out is good to keep your fans at bay truly.

Its a dilemma, but I think the best thing for you to do is to release a version with the most completed faction. This will give a good impression of your mod because it will spread all over the internet. Out there if you put out your complete mod, there will be lots and lots of people who dont know the reasons but will complain about unfinished stuff and bugs. It will also not throw all the stuff you've done so far out there and a gut feeling will remain with the rest of the team to release the rest of the content in a good and finished order.

So yeah, go for option C.