8 minutes ago, SlowFlyer said:

This is not going to be a poor-running, CTD fiasco some people fear.

Who has posted that it will be a CTD fiasco?

Hook

It's $60 dollars, or $1 for the first month via gamepass. Hardly a big commitment to support the future of flight simulation.

Space sim fans have put in $275 MILLION dollars to fund the creation of Star Citizen so far (and only have a buggy mess to show for it).

I'm happy to throw some money Asobo's way, and will also support the 3rd party devs who choose to enhance this sim.  

14 minutes ago, SlowFlyer said:

I don't understand the worrying about bugs and beta and alpha. And the Debbie Downers.

...

Thanks for the nice summary, Couldn't say it better 

Kind regards, Michael

Whilst two weeks is indeed a rather short time period for a beta test when compared to what is normally the case, it is worth noting what a beta test actually is. Beta testing is not normally a process intended to test out whether most of the features in the thing actually work (that's what alphas are for, whether open or closed), it is is more about whether the almost entirely complete final product is acceptable to those who will use it. In other words, what is it like when all of the things which do work come together as a single collective experience.

As such, a beta will usually be somewhere around 95 percent complete when compared to what will be a locked off completed product that will be released. And it is important to note that the remaining approximately five percent which might be subject to some tweaking, is invariably separately complete in a few forms, so one of several choices can be slotted in based on feedback. It's also worth being aware that the stuff which is potentially subject to changes might not even be the simulator itself, it can be things such as the manual, or the finalised appearance of the GUI and so on.

Thus the notion that people at Asobo are running around desperately trying to code the last few bits of the sim, whilst scratching their heads desperately trying to stop a load of bugs from crashing the thing because an unexpected decree from MS has come down telling them it must be released next week, might be an amusing mental picture, but it is almost certainly far from the reality. Sure there will be some pressure to get things done, but that's true of any job.

And I dunno about you guys, but personally, I work better under pressure.

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by Chock

3 minutes ago, Chock said:

Thus the notion that people at Asobo are running around desperately trying to code the last few bits of the sim, whilst scratching their heads desperately trying to stop a load of bugs from crashing the thing because an unexpected decree from MS has come down telling them it must be released next week,

Honestly, I wouldn't like to be under their skins those weeks...

Kind regards, Michael

2 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

Space sim fans have put in $275 MILLION dollars to fund the creation of Star Citizen so far (and only have a buggy mess to show for it).

Haha... true. My wife and me have given it a try again lately after two years. We decided to visit some caves. The biggest danger there was not to get stuck in the terrain and having no other choice than to suicide. Not exactly what I call a "space bug". 😄

In our company, beta software IS a finished product. The beta stage is simply the last actual test running on a small number of live sites. If there are no show stoppers, we change the version number, recompile, and push it to the rest of the installed base.  

I have a feeling they are pushing because global economy forecasted recession. More they wait, less likely people will be able to afford to buy it. 

9 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

Space sim fans have put in $275 MILLION dollars to fund the creation of Star Citizen so far (and only have a buggy mess to show for it).

Excellent point. I remember being tempted to buy in on the initial ask for that game, but the more I read the sell-sheet, the more I thought "this is gonna be another Spore - overpromised and underdelivered." And it turns out even that assessment was overly optimistic!