Comment: Where are all the updates?

Devlog
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Just a quick note to comment on the Boundless update frequency. As the recent #devlog updates have detailed, we’re currently focused on pulling together a bundle of features and a new set of worlds to release Live (via Testing) on Steam.

Our standard process is to release stuff incrementally, but sometimes it’s just easier from a planning + dev perspective to bundle a collection of features together. It can often be cheaper (in time + effort) to bundle rather than making sure every feature can be independently released. It’s about finding the right balance.

So at the moment we’re heads down, trying to wrangle a bigger update into shape. It’s at least a couple of weeks away (but that’s me being optimistic). We’ll keep you updated on progress via the Weekly Updates and general forum chat.

So don’t fret …

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Better well made and tested than the buggy half-assed stuff most big game companies release :stuck_out_tongue:

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umm… since it is a bigger update which comes next, how high is the propability of a world reset? :sunny:

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I’m hoping there won’t be a need to do a world reset as the recent devlog suggests that it’s not really anything that will affect the generation of the worlds themselves…

… I could be completely wrong though, so if you try and quote me on it, I’ll claim ignorance or that my mind was taken over by aliens at the time I wrote this, or something :wink:

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Even if there isn’t a world reset for existing worlds (though it seems very likely), there will almost certainly be new worlds to build in - with far more interesting biomes than our current test worlds.

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for a release version yes, but this game is still early access, and early access is for testing a game and find bugs.

i wait round about 4 month now for a update which bring me back to the game but, the most updates still small part which have hardly interest me.

if i bought the game i played in a short time(in the first 3-4month) ~300 hours, now i have 400 hours and i have the game since Jan. 2015 (~20 month), i spent a lot of money in the game, but atm i am still disappointed.
i still wait for a game content. it was much promised content, but more unfortunately not. and you will be comforted too often with art works.

What is Early Access?

Get immediate access to games that are being developed with the community’s involvement. These are games that evolve as you play them, as you give feedback, and as the developers update and add content.

We like to think of games and game development as services that grow and evolve with the involvement of customers and the community. There have been a number of prominent titles that have embraced this model of development recently and found a lot of value in the process. We like to support and encourage developers who want to ship early, involve customers, and build lasting relationships that help everyone make better games.

This is the way games should be made.

Definition from Early Access on Steam

Early access, alpha funding, or paid-alpha is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can pay for a game in the early stages of development and obtain access to incomplete, alpha or beta versions of the game, while the developer is able to use those funds to continue work on the game. Those that pay to participate typically help to debug game, provide feedback and suggestions, and may have access to special materials upon release of the game. The early access approach is a common way to obtain funding for indie games and may also be used along other funding mechanisms including crowdfunding.

Early Access on Wikipedia

But all that has been said several times here in the forum, unfortunately without any effect

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Any information when B< will be released ? The last deadline that i can remember was late 2016 and i’m quite sure this can’t be complied :frowning:

Unfortunately i’m doing the same. I’m not “really” disappointed but TBH other devs (of other games) doing EA / crowdfunding a lot better and updates are more “frequent” and content / feature sets are more transparent discussed with the community (Factorio, The Universim, The Long Dark, We Happy Few … to name only a few other games)

Bringing up some old stuff … Yes, a lot of times but at least communication increased and the weekly dev posts are a huge step forward. Would be cool if the community could be more involved into development (keyword: “dev surveys”) again in the future and if feature sets (from a game-play perspective) would be acknowledged / discussed now and than (e.g. I still do not see the slightest signs of “end game content”).

Overall it’s getting quiet in the forum.

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Ah, this topic again…

I’m sure they work as hard as they can on releasing more content.
The weekly devlogs clearly show that a lot is going on in their office, therefore I’m quite confident that they release new content asap.
After all they are a relatively small team making a game with big ambitions. So some (a lot) patience from the community would be appropriate.

Sadly, I have to agree with you on this. I’m following some of the games you mentioned as well and their devs are indeed better at communicating with their community about upcoming/planned features(like it used to be here).

One just has to read the latest weekly-dev-update to notice this:

So there is an awesome new feature almost ready for implementation yet we havn’t read anything about it so far…

Again, the fundamental part of any RPG is about to be ingame yet there is no information about it anywhere to be read.

tl;dr
It’s ok if features take their time before they are implemented, however releasing “finished” stuff into the game without sharing information beforehand is not appropriate for an early alpha game.

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Let’s hope it’s not the same like “No Man’s Sky” … Biggest disappointment of the century (and it has only just begun) …

Some other devs (“The Universim”) started a “community talk” according to NMS to figure out what they could do better than “Hello Games” but unfortunately the entire topic (NMS) passes by this forum unnoticed.

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On this particular new secret feature - I can absolutely tell you about it. No problem.

But I thought it was super cool and super exciting, and genuinely wanted people to see it in game to enjoy that experience. Maybe it’s a mistake. Maybe the community would rather read about a feature before seeing it and playing with it. (Maybe people like to read movie scripts before seeing films.)

No problem. I can make a post about it today … if that is what the majority want.

The feature wouldn’t have been “finished”, rather your first experience of it would have been in the game rather than on the forum.

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Boundless with current state is more than it :joy:

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+1 … If I have the choice to read about the feature today or wait N weaks to test it ingame I’ll always choose the first possibility.

EDIT:

This would really be a big money saver … A lot of bad films in the last years out there … Do you have connections to the movie industry to get the scripts ? I’d be interested at this connection :wink:

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The Live release will include a new set of Worlds, enabling all the recent new features and a new set of Biomes. (Testing releases will almost always include a new set of Worlds.) We also plan to bring back a full set of regions for the Live release (EU, NA + AUS).

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I wonder if it is easier for the developers to test features and release it live one by one, or to sum up a lot of features and release it in a bigger update.
My impression is that quite a few customers are bound to see quicker updates only if it’s of little content to see that the development process is alive.
I can understand that it might make more sense to the devs to release updates in a bigger portions.
Furthermore it is difficult to see what makes the process faster - little updats or biggers ones.
To sum up content and then squeeze it into code and knot the code in order to achieve game mechanics.

There is conceptual work to be done (art/gamedesign) and transcription from ideas into actual digital parts.
Rigging, animation etc. Putting gamemechanical pieces together. And all in one it’s code in the end. And these code elements have to be coordianted.

So I personally can understand if the developers want to share bigger updates in order to provide rather impactful and playable new aspects of the game.

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I think no one is too eager about surprise releases.
After all you are a company trying to sell a product to a rather adult community. Not a pre-school teacher that has to keep his/her class at bay (though, I can imagine that it might feel similar at times :smile:)
Sharing ideas while they are in concept-stage is common practice in EA games for a reason after all…

And as a bonus it gives us the chance to discuss the new feature, preferably before it is put into code.
(I’ve witnessed (rather uncommunicative) EA developers changing big chunks of already implemented stuff because their community was severely unhappy with it. Which seems like a lot of unnecessary work that could have easily been avoided with timely community-communication.)

Thats why I put finished in quotes :wink:

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For me personally, I’m happy to see stuff in game, in action, as opposed to just details of it on the forums.

Being a global community, it often seems like it’s more work to convey an idea so that everyone understands it fully, than to just show that idea and let people play with it then offer feedback and critique, so that refinements can be made.

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Great news! :slight_smile: thx for sharing this.

I cannot remember the last times when it happened. Does it mean I can teleport there and bring all my collected stuff with me? Or is it in another “universe”? Or will it be not possible anymore to port between worlds? I mean, the much I would appreciate it in the real game, to not being able to teleport to every world from the beginning, the much I am against it for testing. Because for testing you want to get as fast as possible from place to place.

Towards the critizising of the slow content implementations… I am blizzard fan. I know what it means to wait. For a game… for decades… because they want to create a game as bugless and as balanced as possible. I very support this… And I think this goes even for minor updates, we can test with. Some sort of stability should be there…

But I talk from a different point of view here, since my time anyway is very limited at the moment. If I had more time to deal with it, I might also suffer. On my back head, noone forced me to join the pre alpha :wink:

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Detailing secret features before release ruins the wonder and excitement of discovery. If I have any sway as a long time backer, this is where I am putting my foot down and saying ***NO!***.

#Absolutely do not spoil secrets before release!

If it’s a major and mundane game mechanic, sure, we need details on that. But if it’s something new that sets Boundless apart from other games in the genre, give us the sense of mystery and let us discover what we can, if only for a week or two.

I will be accepting any hate mail, rage replies, or butt-hurt comments that anybody wants to hurl at me. I like seeing my inbox light up, and then ignoring it.

This is my wooden axe campaign! (Turns wooden axe sideways and writes on it like a protest sign, SPOIL-ME-NOT!)

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Well, its not like anybody is asking them to share detailed numbers and crafting recipes of new stuff.
But giving us a general overview of what is about to hit us sounds quite reasonable to me.
Especially since it allows them to make changes based on feedback before a lot of work is put into it.
(Remember when @olliepurkiss confidently shared his first-pass guild concept which wouldn’t have allowed us leave a guild once entered? And how like 99% of the community was against that idea?
Luckily he shared it when it was just in a concept state, not in an almost-ready-to-be-released state)

And if you dont’t even like that, well , then there is still a spoiler function james can use in his devlog :wink:

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i think i must start a campaign against your campaign ^^

if you dont like spoiler dont read the forum and never play a early access game.

oh yes, this topic hat at the end a epic size :wink:

good idea, but a early access game is normal for testing, thats why normal no spoiler is needed

i prefer something ingame, but it is better as nothing.

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