7 replies to this topic

[Dazmaniac]

Is there any reasons in particular, why we never see any progress reports from other members of the development team apart from Andrew and Mike?

 

A community on tenterhooks looking for any titbits about the project and the forthcoming game, yet it at times is like trying to get blood out of a stone.

 

We keep being led to believe there will be info, announcements, video's etc. but then we go days on end and not a thing.

 

Why is everything so secretive? I'm not asking for warts and all exposure, but surely there are things the team can share, like back on the old forum when Chris Morris and Jo Harford used to post Dev Blogs. Why do we not see these anymore?

 

[Davefevs]

NDAs I suspect, but then I suspect you think that too.

You know I am an optimist, and therefore I hope there is a really good reason, for example they've done a deal with company X (e.g. PGA) and are being controlled from what can be announced by sets of Lawyers.

I too would love more progress updates.

[fungolfer]

Maybe some1 has to do all the work, so we get a game on day?

[Dazmaniac]

MJ said a while back that the team had expanded significantly from the early days.

 

So either there is some form of NDA in place and they don't want to reveal anything too soon

OR

Not a great deal has been done, other than work on Course Forge, Terrain Importer and Physics ALPHA.

 

Just strange if some form of NDA is now in place, as it was open house on the old site, with Dev Blogs aplenty, but it seems since the team got bigger, the updates have become less and less.

[Davefevs]

We know they've signed with Sky. If they've signed with the PGA, or someone else, there might be competitive reasons why they can't talk, when last year they could. Contracts are funny things.

Even the likes of The Trackman agreement might have clauses. If you were a company like Trackman would you want a game going out as beta or the like with crappy ball physics....it would tarnish their image.

I doubt it is the above, but would love to know the real reasons for lack of updates.

[PsychoHeadache]

Developing applications takes significant time.  Releasing updates on a daily or even weekly basis would be an insane schedule. Prior to releasing any version of an app, whether it is an alpha, beta or RC, the install and the build have to be tested fully.  That test and rework time take away from development time.  So the more frequently you release a version of an app the less real development work that can be accomplished.

I also suspect that the team members are being asked to stay away from the forums as they could either accidentally release information that wasn't supposed to be released or take some feedback here as gospel and run off implementing something the rest of the team or management has no desire to implement.

Further, I suspect that a significant portion of the team is likely not to be here in the states and are simply outsourced resources.  Hired guns so to speak and may not be very fluent in English.  This is what I would do if I was in the management team of PP.  The creative and management talent come from the states and/or Europe and the day to day grunt code work is implemented by a low cost, offshored team.

[IanD]

Yep, agree with the feedback above... the group is likely small at present too. A core as such.. regardless of how many 'outsourced' companies are involved. What they are unlikely to have are the 'spin people'. Those who know how to utilise the commercial element and ensure their brand is top of the list, are not likely to be something any company would use without having an income to sustain them. The business model is always start small with the minimum amount of costs, and generally those who start these projects are those that can do the work required. Rarely do companies begin with people having nothing to do...

 

What is a plus for these projects in todays world, is the online digital age, but we're a demanding lot lol.. we check our phones several times a day for updates from anywhere. We do it so often now, we know when something hasn't changed status.. it's not a world of updates any longer, it's a world of "so why no news?"

[nightowl]

MJ said a while back that the team had expanded significantly from the early days.

 

So either there is some form of NDA in place and they don't want to reveal anything too soon

OR

Not a great deal has been done, other than work on Course Forge, Terrain Importer and Physics ALPHA.

 

Just strange if some form of NDA is now in place, as it was open house on the old site, with Dev Blogs aplenty, but it seems since the team got bigger, the updates have become less and less.

If the choice is 'a' or 'b', I'll go with 'b.'