Should 1.0 have a set release date?

[moeggz]

Mods, yes I know that inquiring of the release date is forbidden . I'm not asking when, just asking the community if we feel there should be a set release date for 1.0.

I'd say yes. While I'm a huge fan of the hype train, I feel like a set date would give reports time to cover the game, and mention when it's being fully released. I'm afraid if SQUAD goes the normal route with this one they could miss out on a lot of free press.

[Motokid600]

Yea. Announce it a week before the release.

[7499275]

No! Keep to tradition! Give us a surprise!

[Rithsom]

It would be nice if Squad could give us one, but I can see why they really don't want to. The community would go crazy if they had to delay a release because of some bug that needs fixing, and they already announced a release date.

I think Squad should still take the risk, but only give the release date after some serious testing is done.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Rthsom

[r4pt0r]

If say someone released it by next weekend, I dont think anyone would mind if, say, some extra cash were to change hands.

but if they announce a date, they should announce the time, then release it a half hour early so people arent spamming asking where it is when its 1 minute late.

[RocketPilot573]

I would personally like to see it released unannounced. No hinting, no streams, no reveal. Just release it.

[Invader Myk]

Absolutely not. Hyping release dates causes half finished games like KOTOR2 and FFVII. I would much rather know I will eventually get version 1.0 than be promised 1.0 on a specific date and get what should have been labelled version 0.99 (or even lower).

[Rithsom]

I would personally like to see it released unannounced. No hinting, no streams, no reveal. Just release it.

This is also a really good idea. What is the whole point of there being a media team that releases videos of a future update, anyway? Surprises are nice, too.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Rthsom

[Vanamonde]

This suggestion for the game's development has been moved to Suggestions and Development Discussion.

As you know, however, Squad is vehemently apposed to announcing release dates due to bad experiences in the past, so it's not likely to happen.

[CaLVin-K]

When SQUAD feels that the game is 100% ready to release i would advise them to announce the release date, which would be a month or so after the announcement, this would allow for PR and any bug squashing that suddenly cropped up. Also I think it would be cool for them to release it to everyone who bought the game before .90 24hrs earlier, for no other reason than i want to play 1.0 as soon as is reasonable, but I completely understand why they wont ever do this.

[worir4]

I think they should announce that it will release in the next week.( not next week but around a week before they release it). They should be vague about a precise day. How else can the hype train have enough hype to run?

[Frozen_Heart]

Nope. Having to rush to a release date often compromises the quality of the game.

[Daze]

I love the surprise idea but even a sort of "the 1.0 will be out in 1-3 weeks" it will be very nice, so community has release date and Squad has time to fix an unexpected bug

[Yukon0009]

I'd be fine if Squad announced which year they were releasing in, but not anything more than that.

[Alchemist]

With this amount of improvements? I want only one thing to be pre-set - the result of QA testing before launch. Not that we have to hit any specific launch window or anything.

... although 12th of April could be a good date

[Wallygator]

Release 1.0 the normal way. It comes when it comes.

Several weeks after 1.0 hits the community, then Communicate the date for 1.1 and use that release timing for go to market.

[Tex]

As a loyal KSP player, I'm inclined to follow SQUAD with whatever decision they are apt to make. I vote no to release dates, simply for the reasons I've heard and the near tradition of having a pleasant surprise waiting for me when I find that KSP is updating. It's a warm fuzzy feeling, you know?

[nightingale]

As a mod author I hate the fact that releases drop with no warning. Makes it really hard to plan as I may be forced to switch gears and work on compatibility for the next version with zero notice.

Because you know that there are plenty of vocal players using mods will be in the forums asking "does this work in 1.0?" "When will this be updated for 1.0?!?"

[regex]

Giving out a set release date is one of the dumbest things a software developer can do. Should they announce a tentative release once they're within a week or two? Sure, with the understanding that something might go wrong, but otherwise no, you never know how development is going to go with certainty.

Edited March 7, 2015 by regex

[Red Iron Crown]

As a mod author I hate the fact that releases drop with no warning. Makes it really hard to plan as I may be forced to switch gears and work on compatibility for the next version with zero notice.

Because you know that there are plenty of vocal players using mods will be in the forums asking "does this work in 1.0?" "When will this be updated for 1.0?!?"

Well, they do announce when it goes to experimentals, that's usually a good indicator that the release is a week or two away.

[r4pt0r]

Well, -snip- the release is a week or two away.

Oh how exciting!

NOT SERIOUS GUYS

[Srpadget]

Heck, I don't think the next release should even BE 1.0. With the great huge pile of new and/or completely-rewritten highly-visible core functionality they're stuffing into the next release (aero, atmospheric heating, fairings & cargo bays that work correctly with the new aero, presumably a major overhaul of plane-part functionality to go with aero, likely new parts to help deal with atmospheric heating, resources, new parts for that, the great rebalancing of the currencies and contract payouts, female kerbals, the associated revamp of the core kerbal movement animations, the engineer's report...and that's all just off the top of my head), I think they need at least one (probably two) bug-fix/re-rebalancing passess with NO new content before they claim victory and release 1.0. I don't think they're in a position to even announce the MONTH for THAT release.

But that's kind of off the original topic. Should they announce a release date for the upcoming aero/heat/rebalance/Valentina update? Nope.

This is a community with a large number of people who don't do spaceplanes because they take fifteen whole minutes at zero warp to get to orbit; who complain that the highest warp isn't high enough because it takes even longer to get to Eeloo than it does to launch a spaceplane, who think rovers are useless because they're restricted to OMG-too-slow speeds of only a few hundred kph, and with every releasee will spam the forum about how glacially-slow the overwhelmed servers are and how long it takes to get the download.

Do you really think Squad wants to deal with the completely-predictable fallout that WE would inflict on them if they announced a release date ... and then missed it? Heck, even if they MADE the date, we'd still have complaints when the update didn't show up right smack as the International Date Line crossed into Release Day. While many of us individually are understanding, collectively we are NOT a patient bunch.

Me, I think the announcement that a release is in experimentals is good enough. That gives us several days to prepare (backup saves, complete any missions particularly likely to get clobbered with a parts revamp, clone the current install into a location that won't get automagically-updated by Steam, etc.), but doesn't give us any specific moment after which we're going to feel entitled to complain to/about them.

[Barefoot Friar]

No. I don't care how long it takes, so long as the devs are diligent (and they are). I'd rather wait a bit longer for a better product. This microwave-give-it-to-me-yesterday society has seriously injured the idea of craftsmanship and quality. Delayed gratification ftw!

[Bill Phil]

No...

It takes time. Who knows how much time? I doubt anyone does. In the engineering world things go past deadlines all the time. Squad has an advantage, they can set their own deadlines. Or have none at all. That's probably better.

[longbyte1]

Just say that 1.0 will be released in July due to extra bugfixing, then somewhere between now and July, make a surprise release.

(Although I am opposed to leaving Beta so early. 0.99 please?)