What the heck is a company wide publishing blackout?

Wait, they clawed back stuff on Test? That's odd. Doesn't even make sense from a "we're about to go down the drain" standpoint.

 

With the going down the drain thing, staff are the last people who know.

 

Kander is becoming more active on Discord and seems to actually be helping people. I'm pretty sure this is the third sign of the apocalypse.

Kander Yesterday at 10:06 AM
Raiders. Here is my email Address. KVALLEE@darkpawgames.com. Please have a representative of your guild email me immediately when you are experiencing raid lag. Send me the exact time it started, the server and the zone you are in when it started. We are working to correct this issue, we have a lot of irons in the fire to do so. Please include anything else you can think of, any details that might seem different or strange. Are you in combat when it starts? Really important to include what world/server you are on, the zone and the TIME it started. Please do not be shy, please email me details.

Kander Today at 10:47 AM
The beta for expansion 17 this year is looking to be 6 to 8 weeks. We are looking pretty good for class and AA changes to be ready for beta and beta feedback. We should be announcing all expac info next week. As far as raid performance, we have telemetry installed on live servers and we are looking, tweaking and adjusting on a daily basis to fix raid lag. We have a lot of other changes for performance coming, unfortunately a lot of them wont go live until the expac due to the size of the changes. Overall we are a lot further ahead of schedule than last year. Thanks for being patient.

 

Wow, I reckon it's time to head to the bunker in MT.

 

I just had to wipe down my monitor after reading that!

 

Wait - so they're thinking of starting the beta the day before the new Xbox console launches, and 3 days before the PS5? Well, I guess that'll make it even easier for them to ignore feedback....

 

As per Discord:

Dreamweaver: This week we are busy with the next eq expansion sale launch and Beta

Dreamweaver /Kander: Supposedly New Expansion News next week

 

Huh.

Well, not my circus...

 

Yeah, pre-orders and beta testing for the EQ1 expac started yesterday.

 

Understandable, since every year the expac shrinks ...

 

So EQ goes into beta and we have a news blackout? When did that become a thing?

 

So if beta testing is going to be about two months, that would put release in early January? They're not going to release it right in the middle of the holidays, I would imagine.

 

Do you think they'll pass up holiday sales?

 

Kander mentioned something about 2-3 days blackout next week, but yes the question becomes if Beta is not going to be patched for a week.

 

Because 'news blackouts' make SOOO much sense. Seroiusly, what kind of customer wants to know what they're buying before they shell out the cash?

I remember when we'd know the basics (like rough number of overland, heroic and raid zones) in July or August... it's late October and we have ZERO information. There are lots of 'bad' reasons I can think of for that.. and not a single good one.

 

First don't shoot the messenger. I am only stating what i saw on Discord. That doesn't mean i am ok with it.

Someone on Discord (Clintsat?) made a valid point by saying "This game needs new content by Christmas".

What would be the point of a Beta during Christmas if no one from DPG is around ?

 

I'm not shooting the messenger - Why would it matter if they're around for Beta, other than checking in on Discord here and there, it's not like they listen to any feedback that's given.

 

My comments weren't directed at you, I apologize if it came off that way.

And, unfortunately, beta hasn't been about taking player feedback for several years now. It's about bug fixes at most

 

I just want to add to the "holidays" thing a bit. I get it, people should be spending time with their families and whatnot but, let's be real here for a minute. I doubt I'm the only person who's had multiple jobs where weekends and holidays meant **** all. Any customer based business, especially one considered entertainment or retail based, is going to be working on holidays and weekends.