KSP Developers, please fix your technical debt.

[Incidious]

I agree with Shadow Zone here.

. The team needs to start focusing on fixing bugs, not revamping and adding new parts. Or else, there will be a flatline. The problem here isn't the developers, but the release dates. Management needs to stop pushing their team, so that the developer team can fix bugs, not create them. I noticed a comment on the video saying the following: 

"Ever since the original development team started leaving Squad, they lost their way. Small company with a big title on their hands... (not anymore) you can possibly understand why they would get greedy. Console revenue is probably way higher, and they don't have to worry with mod-related issues, so just focusing on developing that and not on fixing bugs is a very profitable decision in short-term. It's the same mistake every small company makes before their final downfall: They realize their only profit is on selling new copies, not on maintaining their community. Then that becomes their priority, until they realize they don't have any players at all."

I agree with him, however, Squad isn't technically a small company anymore. But, they need to start fixing bugs, or they will reach technical debt. For those of you wondering what technical debt is, it is explained in the video, and this article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_debt

According to this list (https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/projects/ksp), there are 1417 open bugs, and 1844 closed bugs, making in total DETECTED bugs in the game, 3261 bugs. The oldest bug that has no progress on has been reported SINCE

07/17/2016 09:24 AM

And here are all the High priority bugs, that are in progress, or not being fixed AT ALL.

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/projects/ksp/issues?utf8=✓&set_filter=1&f[]=status_id&op[status_id]=o&f[]=tracker_id&op[tracker_id]=%3D&v[tracker_id][]=1&f[]=priority_id&op[priority_id]=%3D&v[priority_id][]=3&f[]=&c[]=tracker&c[]=priority&c[]=status&c[]=cf_7&c[]=cf_8&c[]=subject&c[]=assigned_to&c[]=updated_on&c[]=done_ratio&c[]=fixed_version&group_by=&t[]=

And memory leak is still a problem. There are none above High that have been currently reported.

I love KSP, but they need to focus so the game doesn't die and everyone stops playing.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Incidious
More content

[Vanamonde]

This feedback on development has been moved to Suggestions. 

[HebaruSan]

Next video by same uploader:

 

1 hour ago, Incidious said:

"Ever since the original development team started leaving Squad, they lost their way. Small company with a big title on their hands... (not anymore) you can possibly understand why they would get greedy. Console revenue is probably way higher, and they don't have to worry with mod-related issues, so just focusing on developing that and not on fixing bugs is a very profitable decision in short-term. It's the same mistake every small company makes before their final downfall: They realize their only profit is on selling new copies, not on maintaining their community. Then that becomes their priority, until they realize they don't have any players at all."

This person thinks SQUAD is "focusing on developing [console]." That's probably not someone you should be listening to, since SQUAD doesn't work on console at all but contracts that work out instead.

[Incidious]

6 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

Next video by same uploader:

 

This person thinks SQUAD is "focusing on developing [console]." That's probably not someone you should be listening to, since SQUAD doesn't work on console at all but contracts that work out instead.

Thanks for the information. But they still need to fix bugs. They are still making more technical debt though, because of management rushing releases on updates. 

Edited May 8, 2019 by Incidious

[ZooNamedGames]

21 minutes ago, Incidious said:

Thanks for the information. But they still need to fix bugs. They are still making more technical debt though, because of management rushing releases on updates. 

I don't know. But my personal opinion is they are taking their time. Only once have I heard them delay a release in the last 2-3 years due to "not being ready", and that was for the console port which they don't develop. Most of the content lately has been mod content becoming stock and new textures/models. The former of which likely taking the most of that time. Even then, I personally don't think that it takes 6-8 months to prep such little content.

But that's just me and I have no knowledge of what's going on at Squad. So take my comment with a subatomic pinch of salt.

[HebaruSan]

I enjoy Shadowzone's content, and technical debt is a real thing, but none of us has any evidence that it's a problem for SQUAD. It's irresponsible to promote speculation as if it was proven truth, since people in the audience without understanding will grab onto it as the explanation of everything they think is wrong (as illustrated by the OP). The mere fact that "they FIXED it" thirteen days later (in a release that was being developed even as the "technical debt" video was being produced!) goes to show that that analysis wasn't on the right track.

[steuben]

To quote a couple of old masters

"One small bug in the code. One small bug. Track it down, code it around. Two small bugs in the code."
Anon... rumored to have been heard during planning and design sessions of the ENIAC program development team.

"The triviality of the solution of a problem is Gaussian in relation to the sum of knowledge and experience, and inversely proportional to the distance from the problem."
An old field tech that I knew.

[Loskene]

There's really nothing but hearsay based on misuse of industry terminology in this thread. Please stop being so overdramatic and keep your analyses based upon the real world of verifiable facts.

Where, exactly, is the evidence that Squad "lost its way" (whatever the frak that means) after the original development team began to peel off? People keep saying that but I have yet to see a shred of an iota of proof, whatever would even qualify as proof for such a vague claim. Nobody has even qualified what "the way" was to begin with, let alone how it's been lost. You people seriously have some funny ideas how argumentation works. Would it not be more likely that both a massive cash injection and a large scale hiring of professional software developers might actually have improved the game's quality and longevity?

You know what that bug tracker looks like?

A completely ordinary bug tracker that gives no real indication of the state, past present or future, of the game's development.

Some of you could do with playing/following the development process of more than a single game and it shows. You don't know how good we have it here sometimes.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Loskene

[ZooNamedGames]

All I'm going to say is Squad certainly has shown little long term planning for the game. What is KSP right now, what will it be. The identity of KSP seems rather ambigious. Somewhere between the silly cartoonish space game that we exploded ourselves to space with in 2012 when it first started being released and something more serious and realistic. I understand that players are tired of the 'random junkyard' look of the parts but it does now start to show a bit of dissonance between the identity of the game and it's ongoing appearance. Is KSP becoming more serious in tone? It is becoming Orbiter 2019, just with green men, a smaller solar system and lego built rockets? It's hard to tell.

This isn't a major problem on Squad's part; but it could more than easily be rectified with a press release that just comes out and lays out a long term identity for what they want KSP to be and become. I understand Squad doesn't want to make promises they can't keep (still suffering for their comments about multiplayer), but this wouldn't be a promise about what will be coming or what they're working on but rather the direction their actively taking and what mindset they're planning updates with.

Just my thoughts.

[pandaman]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

 

This isn't a major problem on Squad's part; but it could more than easily be rectified with a press release that just comes out and lays out a long term identity for what they want KSP to be and become. I understand Squad doesn't want to make promises they can't keep (still suffering for their comments about multiplayer), but this wouldn't be a promise about what will be coming or what they're working on but rather the direction their actively taking and what mindset they're planning updates with.

The problems I see with Squad making such a statement,  no matter how strongly they stay that it is just 'an idea as to what they have in mind for the future'....

Some will take it as a promise of delivery at some point.

Some will take that as a list of things they are actively working on now.

Some will complain that their own personal wishes are not on the list.

And, six months after the list is published, some will complain about the fact that there is no sign of (insert feature here) ever being implemented, even though it was 'promised' on the list.

 

Not only that, but plans can change for all sorts of different reasons, any list would be 'fluid' by it's very nature and could need updating regularly, leading to confusion and more complaints.

 

If I were Squad I would keep my long term plans fairly quiet.  Remember the 'Smelta vee' statement from Max many years ago?  We have only just got a stock implementation of that, and there were never any guarantees that they would do it, or could do it sufficiently well, until they announced it's imminent release.

.

[ZooNamedGames]

On 5/9/2019 at 2:27 PM, pandaman said:

The problems I see with Squad making such a statement,  no matter how strongly they stay that it is just 'an idea as to what they have in mind for the future'....

Some will take it as a promise of delivery at some point.

Some will take that as a list of things they are actively working on now.

Some will complain that their own personal wishes are not on the list.

And, six months after the list is published, some will complain about the fact that there is no sign of (insert feature here) ever being implemented, even though it was 'promised' on the list.

 

Not only that, but plans can change for all sorts of different reasons, any list would be 'fluid' by it's very nature and could need updating regularly, leading to confusion and more complaints.

 

If I were Squad I would keep my long term plans fairly quiet.  Remember the 'Smelta vee' statement from Max many years ago?  We have only just got a stock implementation of that, and there were never any guarantees that they would do it, or could do it sufficiently well, until they announced it's imminent release.

.

I'm referring to KSP as a whole; again- nothing specific. Merely that they want to make KSP "more realistic", "return to it's cartoonish roots", "make it more educational", "make it more arcade-style", "make it more challenging". All of these answers would explain what they want to do with KSP without making promises as to what will be added- merely stating what KSP will be driven towards.

Edited May 11, 2019 by ZooNamedGames

[klgraham1013]

On 5/8/2019 at 12:14 AM, ZooNamedGames said:

Only once have I heard them delay a release in the last 2-3 years due to "not being ready"

It's true.  They usually release whether it's ready or not.

ba dum tss

On 5/9/2019 at 1:27 PM, pandaman said:

Some will take it as a promise of delivery at some point.

Some will take that as a list of things they are actively working on now.

Some will complain that their own personal wishes are not on the list.

People constantly bring this up.  Do people actually live their lives like this?  Worrying that one person in a hundred might not like what they did?

[pandaman]

1 hour ago, klgraham1013 said:

 

People constantly bring this up.  Do people actually live their lives like this?  Worrying that one person in a hundred might not like what they did?

Just an observation based on my experiences on here.

Don't get me wrong, this community is brilliant, but no matter how carefully worded a 'statement of intent / list of stuff we would like to do if we can' may be it can be taken out of context by some people who will misunderstand the intent.

[Superfluous J]

2 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

People constantly bring this up.  Do people actually live their lives like this?  Worrying that one person in a hundred might not like what they did?

When it's closer to 99 in a hundred and they are vocal and can affect your sales?

Sure.

[Lisias]

On 5/11/2019 at 9:08 AM, klgraham1013 said:

People constantly bring this up.  Do people actually live their lives like this?  Worrying that one person in a hundred might not like what they did?

When about 50 of that guys listen to that one, yes - or you are out of business.

Common business, welcome to Mass Entertaining.

Be worried is not a problem - as long fear doesn't come together.  Be worry is a wise thing when handled correctly. Every good aircraft pilot worries to make a mistake and take the plane down - and this is the reason so few of them goes down.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Lisias
Couldn't resist!! :D

[razark]

3 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

People constantly bring this up.  Do people actually live their lives like this?  Worrying that one person in a hundred might not like what they did?

Remember that some people get the DLC for free, because a noisy mob raised hell over their own misreading of an agreement Squad made.

[Guest]

Stop spreading misinformation. They get their DLC for free because Squad was shortsighted enough to make an agreement that clearly said DLCs are free to early access buyers. If they didn't comply, somebody probably would have taken a lawyer to them, and probably won the case, because that early license, like the rest of KSP at the time, was an amateurish affair as opposed to a legalese-ridden mess (that nonetheless has all the CYA clauses they might need, which the original license was short on). This was fixed, but those who bought before that date legally paid for an "all inclusive supporter's edition". The original team wasn't big on DLCs, so this wasn't a problem, and right now it's cheaper to sacrifice a small bit of profits than to risk any of those early supporters suing them for breach of contract.

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by Guest

[Rocket In My Pocket]

19 hours ago, Dragon01 said:

Stop spreading misinformation. They get their DLC for free because Squad was shortsighted enough to make an agreement that clearly said DLCs are free to early access buyers.

They said "all future updates would be free."

"Above all, is the admittedly quite grey area concerning what constitutes an update or an expansion to KSP and most importantly, what our promise of “all future updates for free” actually means. 
We realize there is more than one way to interpret that. Regardless of whether ‘updates’ implies 'expansions’ or not, it’s quite obvious now that we need to rephrase that statement so everyone knows exactly what they’re getting when they purchase the game. However, it became clear to us that many might have already taken that statement to mean something else than we did when they bought the game, and so had a different notion of what it was they were getting with their initial purchase."

It's definitely open to interpretation whether "updates" includes DLC.

Personally, if I were reading that statement prior to purchasing KSP, I would NOT have assumed that meant future DLC's would be free to me, only base game updates; as was Squad's intent.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Rocket In My Pocket

[klgraham1013]

On 5/11/2019 at 10:38 AM, razark said:

Remember that some people get the DLC for free, because a noisy mob raised hell over their own misreading of an agreement Squad made.

I honestly don't remember it being a "noisy mob raising hell", but memory can be faulty.  I remember Squad heading it off at the pass pretty early.  I could be wrong though.  Knowing myself, I may have even been a part of the mob.  Which could be why I remember it differently.

[Kerbart]

The funny thing is that at the same time updates are received with “these are just bug fixes, hardly anything new. Why bother publishing them.”

There’s a financial reality: developers want money to pay their rent, car, food and other expenses related to being alive. I know, a selfish little bunch, but this is the world we live in.

Customers will not buy a “dead” game, because it has no future. There will be no improvement in the future, so unless it’s heavily discounted no one will buy it. You know what says “dead game?” The lack of updates. If the latest version is 1.4 and dates from 2014, no one will buy it. And no, bugfixes “don’t count.”

So, if Squad chooses to fix bugs and nothing else, development will surely stop within two years, because there is no money. And then nothing will get fixed.

[razark]

7 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

I honestly don't remember it being a "noisy mob raising hell", but memory can be faulty.  I remember Squad heading it off at the pass pretty early.  I could be wrong though.  Knowing myself, I may have even been a part of the mob.  Which could be why I remember it differently.

It might have been one of the smaller mobs.  There have been a few (and I've been part of some).

[klgraham1013]

6 hours ago, Kerbart said:

Customers will not buy a “dead” game, because it has no future.

"Hold my juice box." - GOG.com

[Kerbart]

15 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

"Hold my juice box." - GOG.com

True, but that is a bit of a niche market. No one expects GOG to carry 75% of their revenue.