Update 02.25.09

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Chuck
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Update 02.25.09

Post by Chuck »

The issue that delayed the announcement is solved. I think we're back on track and should have this sucker tied up soon.

I'm listening to It's Love on the jukebox and it really sounds a lot better btw. It was a painful transformation but well worth it.
dan766
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Re: Update 02.25.09

Post by dan766 »

Can you shed some light on where you are up too with this? what was the issue? What is the announcment?......... Sorry a little eager to get my game up and running, and the only way is with Nucore (dead prism card).
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Chuck
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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dan766 wrote:Can you shed some light on where you are up too with this? what was the issue? What is the announcment?......... Sorry a little eager to get my game up and running, and the only way is with Nucore (dead prism card).
The only thing I can say right now is you will be able to buy nucore very soon.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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When you say buy very soon, does that mean you've decided to skip the "beta" portion?

To be honest, you may want to do that as it seems there may be a number of people waiting. However, as a developer, I understand the value of the beta phase when done properly. What you could do is accept "pre-orders" and offer anyone who pre-orders the beta as a benefit. While this may not satisfy everyone who is looking for turn-key stuff, it does give those who are stuck an option (as in Dan's situation).

2 cents from a fellow geek...
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Re: Update 02.25.09

Post by Chuck »

We won't skip BETA. I HATE buying software that has obvious bugs and getting a patch a week later or worse yet months later. We won't release Nucore until we don't see any bugs. Now, we are testing with a relatively small group of people so I'm sure a bug or two will show up after launch. But we don't want to cut any corners on the quality. That being said we've had minimal bugs for a long time. What we're finding lately is not really bugs but some obscure situation we didn't take into consideration that needs to be handled.

We will be taking pre-orders shortly. We plan to announce pricing pretty quickly. Once we announce pricing we will allow people to sign-up for a pre-order. We won't be taking money at that time.

So, I would estimate we will release pricing a few days after our announcement and open pre-orders very shortly after that.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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Jazman wrote:What you could do is accept "pre-orders" and offer anyone who pre-orders the beta as a benefit.

How is beta testing a benefit at a full preorder price? Beta testing is a service.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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ChadTower wrote:
Jazman wrote:What you could do is accept "pre-orders" and offer anyone who pre-orders the beta as a benefit.

How is beta testing a benefit at a full preorder price? Beta testing is a service.
It's a pretty common practice with computer games to offer beta testing with pre-orders. Fans get to play whatever game before everyone else. With some games that are nearly finished it can be cool. With ones that are horribly unfinished it's a complete waste of time.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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****It's a pretty common practice with computer games to offer beta testing with pre-orders. Fans get to play whatever game before everyone else. With some games that are nearly finished it can be cool. With ones that are horribly unfinished it's a complete waste of time.****

Yes, that is very true... it really depends on the situation. Think of it this way Chad... if you're a pre-order customer, you just sit and wait. If you're a pre-order customer with beta access you might not normally have, you get access to see where the product is at that point. If it is really unfinished and you don't have the time to deal with it, you can put it aside. If you work with it, you can have some input on how the product progresses and is finalized.

In alot of cases, it depends on whether the company views beta testing as first cut (ie: really should be called alpha or pre-alpha) or working out the final kinks.

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Re: Update 02.25.09

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Jazman wrote:In alot of cases, it depends on whether the company views beta testing as first cut (ie: really should be called alpha or pre-alpha) or working out the final kinks.
Exactly.

We just switched to the beta phase (the next release will be beta.) At this time most of what we will be doing is ironing out small usability issues. The software, with about a weeks worth of finalizing, could be released. I think we actually have much more stable software now than most companies do at release.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

Post by ChadTower »

Chuck wrote:It's a pretty common practice with computer games to offer beta testing with pre-orders. Fans get to play whatever game before everyone else. With some games that are nearly finished it can be cool. With ones that are horribly unfinished it's a complete waste of time.

I understand the concept, I am a software developer myself, I just happen to disagree. Early access isn't a real benefit, it's a perceived one. You don't see people lining up to beta test utility software. Companies with good relationships with their advanced userbase often offer the beta testers something in return for that service - be it a discount, or a free license, or whatever the particular software makes reasonable. Pretty much only game companies try to package beta testing itself as a perk and I've always thought it cheesy.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

Post by Chuck »

ChadTower wrote:I understand the concept, I am a software developer myself, I just happen to disagree. Early access isn't a real benefit, it's a perceived one. You don't see people lining up to beta test utility software. Companies with good relationships with their advanced userbase often offer the beta testers something in return for that service - be it a discount, or a free license, or whatever the particular software makes reasonable. Pretty much only game companies try to package beta testing itself as a perk and I've always thought it cheesy.
Another way to look at it in our case is if I offer free software to beta testers many will want to just get the free software and not really want to test it. I want beta testers who really want to help us improve the software. Charging for a pre-release copy is one way to ensure someone is serious. And in case anyone was wondering we will be charging for beta.
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Re: Update 02.25.09

Post by ChadTower »

Oh I wasn't talking about offering it to people FREE. That's a bit much to expect without a formal arrangement. :mrgreen: Given the amount of permutations that have been discussed here, though, setting up certain beta users for certain product versions is specific enough that minor discounts would be reasonable. Particularly if a user is testing one of the more labor intensive versions like building his own PC for it and providing feedback on the user experience end to end.

And no, I'm not angling in for a discount for myself, I'm just providing feedback on the model. :lol:
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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--->Jaz loses consciousness from holding breath<---
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Re: Update 02.25.09

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Jazman wrote:--->Jaz loses consciousness from holding breath<---
/me loses his mind from holding his breath...
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