You guys know Beta testers like to see you working, right?

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ksmsk#6591 wrote:

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Jabletron#5466 wrote:

if this game had been released by Blizzard, the criticism and backlash would rival No Man's Sky. instead, GGG has a small army that will defend anthing and everything they do and curtail public perception.

pretty much this.

this game is EA for god's sake. you(the developers) can't just treat it as a regular season. there are supposed to be constant balance changes + content updates. "but muh economy" - nobody other than minority elitists give a damn about the economy. it's already a mess. we all signed up knowing this is EA not a regular season. 1 div is almost 300 ex right now and it keeps raising. yeah good balanced economy you got there.

the hype is already dead along with broken promises.

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nssbob#7600 wrote:

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Xzorn#7046 wrote:

I generally work in groups of 4-20. I find it best for getting work done. I've generally been the executive role since I can do a little of everything required to make games. I can jump to any station and help someone catch up or directly show them a concept and let them finish it.

I also reply to players constantly. Far more than I probably should but I want to help them enjoy the things I made. My next project will probably be more simple. A side-story mod for BG3 involving mocap. I'm collecting the voice actors now. I can handle the coding on my own.

I wouldn't mind another 3D model artist to help out though.

Over the past 6 years I got back into making games and mods for games. There's a lot of my early work still floating around but I don't expect most to know it. Two MUDs called GemStone and The Dead of Night. A Diablo 1 mod called The Dark, Rune Quake.

making games for fun with so few people is bit different than working in/for a studio of decent size, let me tell you that i am really happy if i get at least a small rundown of what changed in a updated build with any of the AAA studios i ever worked with (i work as FQA, LQA and CQA).

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Xzorn#7046 wrote:

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nssbob#7600 wrote:

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Xzorn#7046 wrote:

I generally work in groups of 4-20. I find it best for getting work done. I've generally been the executive role since I can do a little of everything required to make games. I can jump to any station and help someone catch up or directly show them a concept and let them finish it.

I also reply to players constantly. Far more than I probably should but I want to help them enjoy the things I made. My next project will probably be more simple. A side-story mod for BG3 involving mocap. I'm collecting the voice actors now. I can handle the coding on my own.

I wouldn't mind another 3D model artist to help out though.

Over the past 6 years I got back into making games and mods for games. There's a lot of my early work still floating around but I don't expect most to know it. Two MUDs called GemStone and The Dead of Night. A Diablo 1 mod called The Dark, Rune Quake.

making games for fun with so few people is bit different than working in/for a studio of decent size, let me tell you that i am really happy if i get at least a small rundown of what changed in a updated build with any of the AAA studios i ever worked with (i work as FQA, LQA and CQA).

Lies. AAA studios don't have QA teams =D

I worked for Tiberon Entertainment as QA back in like 97-98'. You know, before everyone was "We'll just day one 4GB patch it instead". I learned early on I don't do well with coding when it's not something I'm interested in. I went to college for CS and Cisco networking. Used the networking a bit but in the end became a Chef. All those certs down the drain.

The diminishing returns in productivity with larger groups is fairly well know these days I think. Still I'm amazed by some stories I hear like your own. How are you supposed to do your job?

I want to help PoE2 be great so I wish I could do more than just talk but I also don't want to get banned or have to move on location. I would work for free. That's how much I care.

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Gwonam#5505 wrote:

Well, a lot of them do have QA teams. It's just that they're usually not in-house ;]

At least, that's been my experience with QA in the gaming industry about 8 years ago or so. Even big studios who you'd expect to have in-house QA (Konami, Blizzard, etc.) usually outsource their QA to a third-party that pays minimum wage for what is often a part-time, on-call job. I think a lot of people who (often rightfully) complain about unpolished AAA games would understand why these games come out rushed if they worked for one of these QA teams.

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Magoraz#6258 wrote:

Seems like there is a lot of newcomers that haven't had the time to read the manifestos, or understand the cadence of updates/releases/leagues, so let me try and alleviate some of your concerns about the radio silence.

First off, Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has a well-established pattern when it comes to how they handle updates. Major changes, like new mechanics, balance shifts, or league-specific content, are typically bundled into the release of a new league. This allows them to focus their resources on delivering a polished and cohesive experience rather than making incremental changes mid-league that could disrupt the balance or gameplay.

Radio silence between leagues isn't unusual—it's just how GGG works. It gives them time to collect data, listen to feedback, and thoroughly test the changes they plan to implement. If they were constantly communicating every minor detail or making reactive changes mid-league, it would likely lead to instability or rushed updates.

Instead, the time between leagues is used for refinement and to ensure the next league is packed with meaningful content. While it can be frustrating to not hear much during this period, it's actually a sign that they’re focusing on the quality we’ve come to expect.

They typically ramp up their communication as we approach the launch date of a new league.

Patience is key with GGG—they've proven time and again that the wait is worth it. They have been following this cadence for over a decade, and if you look at a lot of their manifestos, they aren't intending on changing the core pillars anytime soon.

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Xzorn#7046 wrote:

Though this game is more Alpha IMO. Players like to see those patch notes constantly. Trust me.

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Whirlwind#2641 wrote:

Changing the label from beta to early access was the biggest mistake they could have made. Functionally for the game it doesn't change anything, but it is something absolutely different in the mind of the average consumer. People just don't have any room for slack in an early access game because the term nowadays has been so diluted that people basically associate them with pre-order "play sooner than poor plebs" systems.

They should have stuck with the tag Beta. Right now people are screaming about balance and tuning and such when the dev team are literally working on other character's spell implementation and the like.

Tuning comes in the form of the things that are so broken that they destabilize the servers, everything else can come in the ACTUAL tuning pass that comes when all the classes and spells are in so they can work on everything at once.

But since the game isn't labeled as a beta, players treat it as a game whose "full release" is a month away and they just get a sneak preview so omg why are the devs so silent and ignoring the massive balance issues and the economy and omg they lied this is just poe1.5, the game is abandoned, vaporware, wha whaa whaaaaa.