Hi everyone,
Today we have a philosophical question for you. Before we start discussing it, let's briefly talk about our current plans for Imperium. In the coming month we want to finish the work on the new medal system, and also add the functional for the new hiring in provinces.
Now to the question itself — for how long, in your opinion, should developers support their projects?
There could be a number of answers to this. The most obvious one — until the game is completely finished and completely free of bugs. A good answer, that one, but not very realistic: there will always be some bugs, because almost any game is a very complex system. And when developers and players want something new and improved in an already released game — more bugs inevitably appear. Sometimes those bugs can be experienced by 8% of the playerbase, who use a very specific combination of video drivers and keyboards.
Let's also consider this: sometimes developers aren't even able to support the project, because they lack proper skill or knowledge. Or there is no access to the engine. What should be done in that case — will it be ethical to explain the situation and be honest about it with the players?
This can cause an immediate negative reaction, as in 'if you can't do something properly — get out of the profession'. But let's see how this position could be unfair and irrational. There are such respected professions as doctor, lawyer, schoolteacher. If those people lack skills and knowledge to diagnose correctly, save from prison and teach somebody to be ready for Oxford — do they need to be exiled and become cashiers? Yes, not everything depends on them in the end, but it's the same with game developers. How many mistakes can a doctor make in his career? These days for developers it's enough to make one, as the story with Cliffy B shows.
We understand this may sound like an excuse, but for all the problems our games have, they also received (and keep getting) updates for the longest time after release, including some free content — we're genuinely curious about this topic.
So what is your criteria what good or bad supporting of a game? Do you wait for new content or bugfixing first? What's your opinion on ethic of game developers and what they should do in this case?