Stardock and Ironclad Games have decided to delay the final release of Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment, the first micro-expansion for the hit stratey game. Originally slated for release on November 18th, Entrenchment will first be put through a public beta test for pre-order customers. This will allow us to finely hone Entrenchment ahead of its final public debut, the date of which has not yet been set (it will largely depend on beta feedback).
While we know this will disappoint some in the Sins community, we feel this will help make Entrenchment a far stronger product overall.
It's a brave descision that you have made - potentially missing out on sales for want of a better quality product.
Of course, a better quality product may result in better sales... Its hard to say which way it will go. Most devs would just say get it to market and get some cash and we'll fix it later with a patch
LOL Thanks for the info, I can understand how the "marketing?" people wouldn't want you to spoil the suprise, and stuff.
Koda0
P.S. Karma for you!
Uuuuummmmmm, how do you give a person Karma?
(Still new to the forums, can you blame me, I'm only 14)
On the bottom of MY post, click on the "thumbs up" icon.
So, those of us that have pre-ordered can receive the beta Entrenchment?
All of us? Or just certain ones selected?
Everyone who preorders
Soooooooo I'll ask again/
Will this be more of a gamma than a beta? (like you aren't leaving any units out at all) Otherwise it seems like it will be unbalanced to me.
The goal is to work out any show stoppers and get gameplay/balance feedback so I doubt anything will be left out. It should be fully playable.
Basically, if you pre-ordered you will be able to play it pretty soon and have a quite a bit of fun over xmas and a have a say in the final product.
Which leads me to the next question. Does anyone have a time fast-forwarder? I almost made it 'till next week but now since the beta will come later, I could really use one
You're not the only one who wants one. I'll try to build one, but don't get your hopes up
I am definetly pre-ordering this now. Before, I didn't think it really mattered if I did or not, because usually you pre-order something to garrentee that you have a copy waiting for you at the store, but because Entrenchment was a download, it is impossible to run out, so I didn't bother pre-ordering. But now, I have a reason, so I'm going to order it ASAP.
I must say I don't really see how this differs from just pushing the actual product...unless the idea is to maintain the ability to make rapid patches particularly as pertains to balance?
While I appreciate the commitment to quality, I must say I'm very disappointed . This is especially infuriating for loyal fans who have waited with anticipation for new content.
Tip: Dont put out a release date until you guys are very sure. It is better to be Blizzard(Its done when it done) than Valve in this case. Promising micro expansions on relatively short time span(in Valve's case episodic gaming) and not delivering is painful for fans. Take into account whatever beta you guys want to have and overestimate the release date...dont release an official release date and you will at least not disappoint some of us.
I repect your principle on copy protection, using public betas for actual testing and due to that and the goodwill Ironclad has with the community, will give you guys the benefit of the doubt this time. Hope Ironclad will be more careful about release dates in the future.
Hope to see new content for a great game soon.
Look, I'm not mad about this in any respect. I'd just like to point something out.
While I can respect beta testing before games, especially to get a quality product, I don't understand it in this context. Unless I'm mistaken, this micro expansion will not be boxed, meaning that you can only get it from Impulse anyways. Unless its pretty far from finished why can't you just release it on the 18th? Since its only going to be digital distribution, it wouldn't be to hard to patch it if anything major comes up, at least on our (The consumers) end. I don't know, it just seems a bit redundent to me, but whatever.
I'm happy that the expansion is coming out, and its not that I don't want a quality product, I just think that since its in a very fluid format already, it doesn't need to be perfectly polished. Thats not quite what I wanted to say, but I'm not sure how to phrase that last sentence, its as close as I can put it into words.
Anyways I'll be buying this when it comes out, I probably won't be preordering though. Just a few thoughts.
An' git workin' on that darned campaign!
better late than half-baked
Glad to here 1.1 will be out this month, and as I have already pre-ordered Entrencement I will be happy to join the beta testing, if it brings a better more balanced product, then that is benifical to all users of sins, well done stardock keep up the good work
To be honest I find this as great news rather than disappointing ones... Sure we will wait bit longer but final product will surely be much better!
Until expansion is in making (or fixing rather) I will be going through 1.1...
Cool
[quote who="-=XX=-Nephilim" reply="16" id="1935869"]To be honest I find this as great news rather than disappointing ones... Sure we will wait bit longer but final product will surely be much better!Until expansion is in making (or fixing rather) I will be going through 1.1...Cool [/quote]
maybe you are making a miscalculation here:
we thought we would get a quality product on the 18th. after all, there was no information on the intention of beta testing which could indicate how complete the game was. now we hear that it is just about to enter the (public) beta phase. and THAT is the disappointing part of the news. the fact that it will be tested is positive of course, as is the fact that IC is taking the time necessary for a finished and polished product.
a different point, but a conclusion that just dawned on me: the micro expansion set has in fact revealed a disadvantage which I am not sure everyone was aware of before. now, you have 3 balancing/ bug hunting/ etc phases instead of one. granted, each is probably not quite as extensive as a single, bigger one would be for just one big expansion, but in total I think that devs (and public beta testers) end up using more time for this last phase, which is - in effect, only a correcting, not a creative one. hope for all our sakes it does not escalate.
last words: looking forward to the beta. let's see if I can pick up on old days and be helpful again.
If it'll help, I can slap you around a little for encouragement. Or better yet, threaten you with a personal home visit from eets, which should probably be all the motivation you'll ever need
where is eets from actually? bc that might be a expensive plan.
Florida. You'd have to pay for it anyway, whether you want to or not
Of course I do understand what you mean and of course I would rather have bug free balanced product on 18th rather than beta test instead... But how to ensure it is bug free and balanced in the first place!? By beta testing it of course... Hence me taking it as good news
florida, eh? hm, well, if he is anywhere near a beach, I am sure we could arrange something mutual. I'd love to go there some time.
can't say I heard of him much of late. how about you?
@ -=XX=-Nephilim: lets agree that part of the news is postive.
[quote]can't say I heard of him much of late. how about you?/quote]
He's on IRC so I get to bug him pretty often Hasn't invaded the Elemental channel just yet, mostly confined to Demigod and the general Stardock channel...
*takes out credit card* Pre-order here I come!
Wait a minute: have fun over Christmas?
So, how long a time frame are we looking at before the final release then? I know you can't give a definite date, but a general idea would be nice.
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