Ta muchly for the heads-up - will keep an eye open for updates on situ.See here.
Bare Mettle say in steam:Any idea what the ETA for the new update is?
I'm dying; everytime I start up steam I check the forums, steam updates, and every comment section on every update forum. It's unhealthy, really.Longest update wait ever. It's even longer than the last one and that took a little over three months I think. I'm very surprised that everyone seems to be taking it so well, though I think it might be close to rioting on the steam forums..
Inb4 here's some more items and 1 arena map. Completing story mode is gonna take longer gais, but it'll come out eventually (never). Fkn scam.I'm dying; everytime I start up steam I check the forums, steam updates, and every comment section on every update forum. It's unhealthy, really.
But then I think the longer we wait, the better the update. (In most cases)
Hmm really? Accusing BM of being scammers? That's a pretty serious accusation so I'd like to know what makes you think this accusation has any merit at all... if not then this is spreading libel (which is not cool).Inb4 here's some more items and 1 arena map. Completing story mode is gonna take longer gais, but it'll come out eventually (never). Fkn scam.
Updates that are taking a really long time and previous updates which haven't introduced all that many new things. We've been on update 0.6 for more than a year now. This whole situation is starting to look a lot like that of the devs of DayZ Standalone.Hmm really? Accusing BM of being scammers? That's a pretty serious accusation so I'd like to know what makes you think this accusation has any merit at all... if not then this is spreading libel (which is not cool).
If you're not happy at the rate at which a small development team (consisting of seven members) releases content then perhaps you should wait until the product is complete and out of early access before purchasing it. However, this doesn't mean it's okay to make false accusations when Bare Mettle have been releasing patches with new content on a regular basis; the game has come a long ways since it was first released for early access so progress is obviously still being made.Updates that are taking a really long time and previous updates which haven't introduced all that many new things. We've been on update 0.6 for more than a year now. This whole situation is starting to look a lot like that of the devs of DayZ Standalone.
I hear your arguments and while they are reasonably good, they are not good excuses. I gave Bare Mettle my money, a lot of people gave them their money. While the people that gave them their money knew what they were in for (including me), it's still not very fun to have to wait so long to see any progress (no matter how small or big) being made. If Bare Mettle received a lot of money, what are they doing with it? They're not using it to hire more developers, that's for sure. Granted, they have hired some new people in the past, but there are clearly not enough people working on this. The customers have already made their investment and there is no getting it back unfortunately. It feels like such a stab in the back that Bare Mettle aren't willing to invest themselves or invest the money they got for this game.If you're not happy at the rate at which a small development team (consisting of seven members) releases content then perhaps you should wait until the product is complete and out of early access before purchasing it. However, this doesn't mean it's okay to make false accusations when Bare Mettle have been releasing patches with new content on a regular basis; the game has come a long ways since it was first released for early access so progress is obviously still being made.
They are using the tiny amount of funding received so far to pay for the website and content delivery network, basic living expenses such as rent and food, hired an additional 3d artist to help create assets (which is all the additional help they can afford with their limited funding). They've also invested their own personal funds and some have even taken additional jobs just to keep development going and pay for basic living expenses. Most of the devs work 14+ hour days, 7 days a week.I hear your arguments and while they are reasonably good, they are not good excuses. I gave Bare Mettle my money, a lot of people gave them their money. While the people that gave them their money knew what they were in for (including me), it's still not very fun to have to wait so long to see any progress (no matter how small or big) being made. If Bare Mettle received a lot of money, what are they doing with it? They're not using it to hire more developers, that's for sure. Granted, they have hired some new people in the past, but there are clearly not enough people working on this. The customers have already made their investment and there is no getting it back unfortunately. It feels like such a stab in the back that Bare Mettle aren't willing to invest themselves or invest the money they got for this game.
I would expect at least a rough roadmap of planned features and estimated release dates for these features. Instead we get barely any significant update in the past year, and very little information on any progress on their future plans. We are paying customers, and frankly, I am not that concerned with the personal situation of the developers. I paid for a product expecting it to be finished in the not-so-far future.They are using the tiny amount of funding received so far to pay for the website and content delivery network, basic living expenses such as rent and food, hired an additional 3d artist to help create assets (which is all the additional help they can afford with their limited funding). They've also invested their own personal funds and some have even taken additional jobs just to keep development going and pay for basic living expenses. Most of the devs work 14+ hour days, 7 days a week.
Yes, by giving them your money you were opting to help support Bare Mettle further develop Exanima and Sui Generis, which they are doing to the best of their abilities using their very limited resources. Most of the developers must multi-task and do jobs that would normally be done by 10+ developers at a regular sized company. Madoc has taken less than two weeks off in the past four years since the Kickstarter campaign ended; he eats, sleeps and breathes game development... what more do you expect the devs to do?
It's not Bare Mettle's fault you had unrealistic expectations. Bare Mettle are creating new and innovative things which not even companies with hundreds of developers have been able to accomplish. Of course this is going to take time when being done by a tiny team with only seven developers. There is more than five times the amount of content in the current version of the game when compared to the first version released which is amazing progress considering the limited resources Bare Mettle have at their disposal. Concerning the funding so far they've made zero profit and in fact had to invest their own funds and also work other jobs just to pay for basic living expenses (as I previously mentioned). Again, it is unrealistic to expect them to hire more employees to speed up the development process when they simply don't have the funding to do so.I would expect at least a rough roadmap of planned features and estimated release dates for these features. Instead we get barely any significant update in the past year, and very little information on any progress on their future plans. We are paying customers, and frankly, I am not that concerned with the personal situation of the developers. I paid for a product expecting it to be finished in the not-so-far future.
It's not unreasonable to be disappointed with how slow the development is going, especially considering the near radio silence from the developers themselves. Either way, I am not going to argue about this any further. There will always be people with post purchase rationalization who just can't admit that things are not going the way they should be with the product they bought. The fact remains that updates for Exanima are too slow considering the amount of money they've earned and the elapsed time since the Kickstarter.
The curse of the Kickstarter for small devs. If they put ETA as 4-5 years to realise the complete product, people probably wouldn't buy in.It's not Bare Mettle's fault you had unrealistic expectations. Bare Mettle are creating new and innovative things which not even companies with hundreds of developers have been able to accomplish. Of course this is going to take time when being done by a tiny team with only seven developers. There is more than five times the amount of content in the current version of the game when compared to the first version released which is amazing progress considering the limited resources Bare Mettle have at their disposal. Concerning the funding so far they've made zero profit and in fact had to invest their own funds and also work other jobs just to pay for basic living expenses (as I previously mentioned). Again, it is unrealistic to expect them to hire more employees to speed up the development process when they simply don't have the funding to do so.
A roadmap has been posted but BM choose to avoid estimated release dates because they simply don't know. Doing things which haven't been done before is literally impossible to accurately predict when it'll be completed since it involves lots of prototyping and trial-and-error until a viable solution is found. Yes, they realize that communication has been sparse recently and Madoc has been working on a rather significant update that discusses what they've been working on and what's to come.
Voicing your opinion that updates are too slow is fine; however, making false accusations that Bare Mettle are scammers when they've been actively working on the game as much as humanly possible is totally inappropriate. When you purchase an incomplete game you are purchasing only the content available at that time since there is no guarantee the product will ever be anything more. Bare Mettle have been releasing updates regularly and with each update the game is closer to completion; this is the complete opposite of being a scam.
You do realize that plans have changed quite drastically since the Kickstarter for SG, yes? Such as the devs creating two games instead of one? And deciding to take into consideration community feedback and polish things way more than originally planned instead of releasing a rough and incomplete early version of SG and then continuing to work on it post release (their original idea during the KS). Look at KS projects such as Star Citizen that have raised millions of dollars, a development team consisting of hundreds of developers and an original estimated release date similar to that of Sui Generis, yet that game is also delayed and still in development despite having vastly more resources available than Bare Mettle. Considering the tiny amount of resources BM have at their disposal what they've accomplished so far is quite impressive.The curse of the Kickstarter for small devs. If they put ETA as 4-5 years to realise the complete product, people probably wouldn't buy in.
On the other hand, devs are supposed to pitch the Kickstarter with a target for funding that will realise the product advertised at the time specified.
The fact that Bare Mettle have seemingly far underestimated the budget/time required suggests either scope has not been managed or was too ambitious. You can't dismiss people for being upset that the delivery does not match the proposition.
Luckily for the most part Exanima is high quality already and it appears development continues. But what if the dev's real life workload increases or a situation changes, our investment is at risk under the current model and we rely on faith that Bare Mettle can continue to find a way to get there.
Appreciate the effort and still look forward to the progress, but it is definitely nowhere near the expectations set in the Kickstarter (May 24 2014 release).
I love the game so far btw, itching to get into Sui Generis...
The reason it's taking us this long to complete Exanima is because the scope of the game keeps getting larger, and that we've spent more time improving things in response to feedback and criticism than anything else.