No more Dev Diaries?
- Thread starter Kingskins
- Start date
Seems they were replaced with the newsletters.
Would be awesome, but as they were done by developer who is very busy himself now, it is just not feasible.
I hope FD hires new community manager and it manages to pull dev diary once a month or two. That would rock.
Gotta wonder what the hold up is in getting another community manager. It's been 2 months or so now iirc. Obviously some faceless men are in charge as our politicians would like to say.
Improved newsletters?
I greatly appreciate the newsletters, however, they do lack substance when it comes to development progress compared to the dev diaries which they replaced (at least it seems like the dev diaries are no more?).
I would like to see less about the current state of the game, Elite lore, marketing events etc, and more about what is in the works and what to expect in the next versions.
I greatly appreciate the newsletters, however, they do lack substance when it comes to development progress compared to the dev diaries which they replaced (at least it seems like the dev diaries are no more?).
I would like to see less about the current state of the game, Elite lore, marketing events etc, and more about what is in the works and what to expect in the next versions.
i think the difficulty there is that there is a big risk of disappointing people, for example if they said mining was going to be in the next build and then couldn't quite get it ready by then you would have a lot of people starting threads saying 'so where the heck is mining in Beta 2?'
this also holds true for build releases, i would prefer a sketchy estimate like 'around the end of the month' than a firmly nailed date. the beta was released quite late in the evening and it must have cost FD a packet in overtime, better to give a rough estimate and not have a last minute rush to meet a hard deadline in my view.
I agree with AndyB. The more information you release the more you fuel expectation/anticipation and dates are a definite disaster.
A lot of the newsletter content is automated. Newspaper extract which I suspect is taken from in game and will be released when they are happy with it. Actually keeping it out of the game means they have newsletter content. Peek of the week. Plug someone video or picture and announce events. Two or three questions from the forum plus a taster of some sort. Regular information but not totally time consuming.
Whatever taster comes with either WIP or will not be in for a while. Appetite wetted but no expectations set.
For me its well thought through.
A lot of the newsletter content is automated. Newspaper extract which I suspect is taken from in game and will be released when they are happy with it. Actually keeping it out of the game means they have newsletter content. Peek of the week. Plug someone video or picture and announce events. Two or three questions from the forum plus a taster of some sort. Regular information but not totally time consuming.
Whatever taster comes with either WIP or will not be in for a while. Appetite wetted but no expectations set.
For me its well thought through.
Yes you are correct. They are becomming pretty dull to read. They culd improve.
This probably comes from the frequency of release. But there is always 1-2 subjects very interresting for each newsletters
I think thats why there hasn't been any dev diaries recently. Poor David, and his colleagues it has to be said, have been forced to travel all over the world to various developer conferences and so on to places like USA and fan events like Lavecon to promote the game and generate interest there hasn't been time left to sit down and make new dev diaries. The guys can only be in one place at a time.
I'll have to disagree. In this age there's no need for a studio, massive boom mic's or cameras. Any one of the senior staff could write a 5-10 minute 'script' and then anybody with a half decent smartphone can record it.
If you do one a month that's plenty of time to write a 'script', sit down somewhere for 10 mins and just get it done.
So the only be in one place at a time will not wash with me, nor will the being too busy... They just don't want to any more.
What is with all the negativity lately (not specifically to the poster but as a trend)?
I strongly suspect that there is currently no Dev diary as DB has already framed most of the vision in previous ones and the weekly development is adequately captured in the weekly newsletters.
If something were going to change from the content already (and previously) described, or added to it I am quite certain that a diary would be produced.
In the meantime, enjoy the beta (along with the bugs that players report - right?), expect progress in the upcoming steps and be patients!
Yes and "Meet with a team member" who has disappeared also
The dev diary's are what sold me on ED. David's enthusiasm, vision and rather refreshing non-dudebro style was a huge selling point. I have four children, two of which are teen gamers so no "disrespect" to teens but, the more mature approach was a huge selling point.
I find myself acting worse than my teenager kids sometimes on here oddly enough.
I find myself acting worse than my teenager kids sometimes on here oddly enough.
I think the dev diaries were there to reassure us that stuff was happening when they weren't giving us regular game updates. Now they're busy actually delivering content so they have less time to devote to making videos. Hopefully we'll see more when the current development becomes more stable and they start planning future additions.
It would be nice for the Elite anniversary to have a video of David looking at the past, present and future of Elite.
What has the Elite series meant to him? What have been the highlights of the past few years? A reminder of what features are still to come for the first release of the game and how he imagines the game might be played in 5 -10 years time
What has the Elite series meant to him? What have been the highlights of the past few years? A reminder of what features are still to come for the first release of the game and how he imagines the game might be played in 5 -10 years time