They were aiming for a 1998 release of Diablo 2. Then a 1999 release of Diablo 2. All I'm saying is don't be too disappointed when the game doesn't come out this year. Especially since the beta won't start until after July and possibly not until September (or even later). (pictures taken from my starcraft and brood war CDs)
To be fair, they've also gotten much, much more experience under their belt a this point, common sense would dictate their estimations to have gotten a bit more sound by now.
I understand no one wants to get caught with their hopes up, but 2011 is their goal and with internal testing already well underway does Christmas 2011 really seem so crazy?
I believe they say they're aiming for a 2011 window to keep the morale up.
Edit: An Holiday season at this point is looking bleak, as I posted in the other thread even if the game goes gold, it takes months to deal with the paperwork.
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
Just because the beta will be third quarter, doesn't mean that the game will be out by the end of the year. I'm sure they will have a big announcement during Blizzcon.
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Is 2011 possible? Yes of course. Is it likely? No. Before the conference call people were all betting the beta would start this month or June 1st. Then when they said Q3 people were all saying they meant fiscal Q3 until it was confirmed to be calendar Q3. People are grasping at anything at all to convince themselves the game will come out sooner. It's better to expect the worst and then be pleasantly surprised than to expect the best and be disappointed.
I think the reminder of Blizzcon is a good one; by then they'll have at least some of the beta under their belt and will be able to make a very firm decision on whether it'll be ready for Christmas 2011; if so Blizzcon would be the perfect time to announce it.
August -> Start of Beta
October (not at BlizzCon) -> Release date announced
First half of December -> Release
Different dev team, was under development for much longer, much less content in game itself, MUCH less content to balance.
While I can see this being the closest thing to look to, it's not the same at all.. It's a whole difference genre of game, whole different team, not nearly as large in content..
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
If anyone thinks the game is still coming out after finding out that an open beta is not starting until at least July, then that's pretty delusional. Their comments saying they are aiming for 2011 is just a morale boost as someone said above, it's much easier to say we are aiming for 2011 and then when its obvious it won't happen, they'll come out and say it won't be ready until Q1 2012. Besides, if they say Q3, that doesn't even mean July, it means August. Expect a good 3-4 months of testing, plus a nice period between end of beta and release, and you're probably looking at Feb-March 2012. Just in time for me to finish my degree =D
If anyone thinks the game is still coming out after finding out that an open beta is not starting until at least July, then that's pretty delusional. Their comments saying they are aiming for 2011 is just a morale boost as someone said above, it's much easier to say we are aiming for 2011 and then when its obvious it won't happen, they'll come out and say it won't be ready until Q1 2012. Besides, if they say Q3, that doesn't even mean July, it means August. Expect a good 3-4 months of testing, plus a nice period between end of beta and release, and you're probably looking at Feb-March 2012. Just in time for me to finish my degree =D
It's not a moral boost. It's a conference call to investors so it's as accurate as they can possibly predict.
Edit: I'd also like to note that releasing any game AFTER Christmas (aka Q1) rarely ever happens.
If anyone thinks the game is still coming out after finding out that an open beta is not starting until at least July, then that's pretty delusional. Their comments saying they are aiming for 2011 is just a morale boost as someone said above, it's much easier to say we are aiming for 2011 and then when its obvious it won't happen, they'll come out and say it won't be ready until Q1 2012. Besides, if they say Q3, that doesn't even mean July, it means August. Expect a good 3-4 months of testing, plus a nice period between end of beta and release, and you're probably looking at Feb-March 2012. Just in time for me to finish my degree =D
It's not a moral boost. It's a conference call to investors so it's as accurate as they can possibly predict.
Edit: I'd also like to note that releasing any game AFTER Christmas (aka Q1) rarely ever happens.
If you look at it from a logical perspective, note a hopeful one, it looks very bleak for a release in 2011.
The beta will likely come mid-late Q3, only a small percentage of the game will be tested in the beta, the rest will have to be refined internally, since they've said they don't want to ruin all the plot, or content. Just because a beta ends, doesn't mean it's fixed. The beta ends when they feel they've got enough feedback to stabilize the game, I'd say 25%-50% of the patching work to the game is done after the bet ends.
On top of that, they don't only have one version of the final game. In any game there are way to many bugs to ever truly reach ZBR (Zero Bug Release). This is a phrase used to describe a game stable enough to release. After the finish patching problems found in the beta, they are left with multiple versions of the game, all of which have difference bugs. They must present all these versions of the game to a board, and figure out which one is most preferable to be the final production model. The versions are called "Clients". The finial product is call the "Gold" model.
Other than all that, which is obviously a process in itself, there is the paperwork which is a whole nothing branch of work that needs to be complete before moving onto production. In this stage Blizzard is emailing, calling, contacting hundreds of people a day working out payment, distribution, licensing, merchandise, and a whole bunch of legal BS that takes a very long time to complete, and can only truly be bitten into after they have a Gold model ready.
It's so much more than just having the game ready.
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
Well at least beta will start this summer. Nov/Dec is full of tons of games worth playing. If it gets pushed back I'm going to be dissapointed but I'll have lots to play. (Battlefield 3, Deus ex, skyrim)
Summer always goes by fast. Lots to do, nice weather. I really wish the beta started two months ago. It just rains constantly here :)(Not that it stops people here from doing outdoor activities).
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
Edit: An Holiday season at this point is looking bleak, as I posted in the other thread even if the game goes gold, it takes months to deal with the paperwork.
Just an FYI blizzard presses there games way before they ship with the knowledge that there will be updates that need to be downloaded on the day of release. I have been through 2 WoW x-packs both of which had about 200mb of updates before I could play at midnight the night of release.
Edit: An Holiday season at this point is looking bleak, as I posted in the other thread even if the game goes gold, it takes months to deal with the paperwork.
Just an FYI blizzard presses there games way before they ship with the knowledge that there will be updates that need to be downloaded on the day of release. I have been through 2 WoW x-packs both of which had about 200mb of updates before I could play at midnight the night of release.
DLC pushed fixes aren't really the problem I was talking about in that sentence though. I was more talking about the communication that needs to happen, and can only happen after a gold model is picked out. Chances can, and will always be made in the days, maybe weeks after release. Still some logistics can only be finished after the Gold stage.
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
With the dev time and effort they have put into this so far I'm going to predict its rather balanced midway through beta, in which case they will try for a Christmas release, but still something post COD8 in Nov. But the more likely scenario (which I choose to disregard) is they will nail it before its release and it will be out next year.
That reminder in the conference call; How they won't compromise on quality is really just a disclaimer directed towards investors that its a 2012 release.
I understand no one wants to get caught with their hopes up, but 2011 is their goal and with internal testing already well underway does Christmas 2011 really seem so crazy?
I believe they say they're aiming for a 2011 window to keep the morale up.
Edit: An Holiday season at this point is looking bleak, as I posted in the other thread even if the game goes gold, it takes months to deal with the paperwork.
Recruiting for East Realm
Also recruiting for Sc2 on both EU and NA servers
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Different dev team, was under development for much longer, much less content in game itself, MUCH less content to balance.
While I can see this being the closest thing to look to, it's not the same at all.. It's a whole difference genre of game, whole different team, not nearly as large in content..
It's not a moral boost. It's a conference call to investors so it's as accurate as they can possibly predict.
Edit: I'd also like to note that releasing any game AFTER Christmas (aka Q1) rarely ever happens.
I second this prediction.
Agreed.
If you look at it from a logical perspective, note a hopeful one, it looks very bleak for a release in 2011.
The beta will likely come mid-late Q3, only a small percentage of the game will be tested in the beta, the rest will have to be refined internally, since they've said they don't want to ruin all the plot, or content. Just because a beta ends, doesn't mean it's fixed. The beta ends when they feel they've got enough feedback to stabilize the game, I'd say 25%-50% of the patching work to the game is done after the bet ends.
On top of that, they don't only have one version of the final game. In any game there are way to many bugs to ever truly reach ZBR (Zero Bug Release). This is a phrase used to describe a game stable enough to release. After the finish patching problems found in the beta, they are left with multiple versions of the game, all of which have difference bugs. They must present all these versions of the game to a board, and figure out which one is most preferable to be the final production model. The versions are called "Clients". The finial product is call the "Gold" model.
Other than all that, which is obviously a process in itself, there is the paperwork which is a whole nothing branch of work that needs to be complete before moving onto production. In this stage Blizzard is emailing, calling, contacting hundreds of people a day working out payment, distribution, licensing, merchandise, and a whole bunch of legal BS that takes a very long time to complete, and can only truly be bitten into after they have a Gold model ready.
It's so much more than just having the game ready.
Summer always goes by fast. Lots to do, nice weather. I really wish the beta started two months ago. It just rains constantly here :)(Not that it stops people here from doing outdoor activities).
Just an FYI blizzard presses there games way before they ship with the knowledge that there will be updates that need to be downloaded on the day of release. I have been through 2 WoW x-packs both of which had about 200mb of updates before I could play at midnight the night of release.
Whatever my wife lets me spend on a new pc in the fall
My q6600 asus 4870 is getting long in the teeth.
DLC pushed fixes aren't really the problem I was talking about in that sentence though. I was more talking about the communication that needs to happen, and can only happen after a gold model is picked out. Chances can, and will always be made in the days, maybe weeks after release. Still some logistics can only be finished after the Gold stage.
Meh could be worse, though if you want to really get something out of BF3 I'd definitely start stashing $20s under your bed lol.
With the dev time and effort they have put into this so far I'm going to predict its rather balanced midway through beta, in which case they will try for a Christmas release, but still something post COD8 in Nov. But the more likely scenario (which I choose to disregard) is they will nail it before its release and it will be out next year.
That reminder in the conference call; How they won't compromise on quality is really just a disclaimer directed towards investors that its a 2012 release.
Everything from the world of Sanctuary
The Burning Crusade came out in January.