Legends of Equestria announces Open Server Weekend Spectacular!

[McSleuthburger]

Everyone is allowed to have an opinion guys remember that 

But to answer your points
We dont want to release a game that is halfway done. There is still a list of things that we need to get done (though the list is shrinking) We would rather take more time and finish, giving everybody a higher quality product to play and enjoy

Alpha shouldnt take nearly as long and pre-alpha is taking because most of the difficult work will be done

[Julius]

Look at it this way Tux...

You've been working on a big project for a couple of years now. You're trying your best to make it as good as it can be for everyone to see and enjoy, however, you're still far from being done. What you have right now is a broken unfinished project. Would you want to share that in its current state with everyone else, or would you prefer to show the finished product later?

You'd like to see those reactions from everyone, yes? You'd like to see all your hard work pay off, right? You'd like to feel proud of yourself and what you accomplished?

The team is working hard on making this game as good as it can be. They want to present to you a professional finished product for you to enjoy for a long time instead of an unfinished product you'll get tired of after a little while. They want to give you a great fun game made with love. They want to give you quality over quantity.

They want to give you a good game.

I understand you want to play it as soon as possible, so do I, but good things come to those who wait my friend. This game is going to be amazing.

[tux3]

A sketch is not always completed. Sometimes the artist just drop the requests they have taken and pretend they never existed.

Hm yes, actually that was just a comparison, I don't think they will drop the development right now. (But if they did that would actually be another reason to release it now)

Everyone is allowed to have an opinion guys remember that 

But to answer your points
We dont want to release a game that is halfway done. There is still a list of things that we need to get done (though the list is shrinking) We would rather take more time and finish, giving everybody a higher quality product to play and enjoy

Alpha shouldnt take nearly as long and pre-alpha is taking because most of the difficult work will be done

Thank you for your answers  . I completely understand that the game is not finished yet, and that you stil have lots of work to do. Of course it's not as good as a finished game. But if, as you say, most of the difficult work is done, and if you are ready enough to open a public weekend, why wouldn't you do this more often ?
I'm sure it must be rewarding to know that hundred (thousands ?) of people play and enjoy your game.
That's why I was wondering, I saw your panel at Fiesta Equestria and the game looks like a lot of fun, so is there a reason why you don't want people to play the alpha ?

Look at it this way Tux...

You've been working on a big project for a couple of years now. You're trying your best to make it as good as it can be for everyone to see and enjoy, however, you're still far from being done. What you have right now is a broken unfinished project. Would you want to share that in its current state with everyone else, or would you prefer to show the finished product later?

You'd like to see those reactions from everyone, yes? You'd like to see all your hard work pay off, right? You'd like to feel proud of yourself and what you accomplished?

The team is working hard on making this game as good as it can be. They want to present to you a professional finished product for you to enjoy for a long time instead of an unfinished product you'll get tired of after a little while. They want to give you a great fun game made with love. They want to give you quality over quantity.

They want to give you a good game.

I understand you want to play it as soon as possible, so do I, but good things come to those who wait my friend. This game is going to be amazing.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer, I know you must all be very busy !
Actually I think I would like both. I would play both the broken, unfinished game, and the perfect, finished product that I'm sure will come later. I'm sure people will enjoy this open weekend as much as they would enjoy a complete game, and you can be very proud of this. You did a great work, and everyone will definitely be thanking you for it.
I understand tath you want to show a good game. And what I saw friday was very good.
It's perfectly ok if it takes time to make updates, lots of people are playing unfinished games, see KSP, prison architect, minecraft. It's the idea of a teaser. If people ever get bored, they'll just remember how much fun they had playing Legends of Equestria, wait for the next update and come back. I know I would.
I'm sure this game is going to be amazing  , I'm sure it'd be worth the wait.
And I'm willing to be patient, but if you say that you're still far from being done, what's the point in waiting all this time ?

[McSleuthburger]

We dont have more open weekends because we are constantly working / updating the game
Doing these weekends takes alot of time and prep which we use to work on the game making it better
With alpha it will be more fixing glitches / bugs and not running around having all the fun (we will probably want to stay organized and not have a bunch of random people report problems with the game)

[tux3]

We dont have more open weekends because we are constantly working / updating the game
Doing these weekends takes alot of time and prep which we use to work on the game making it better
With alpha it will be more fixing glitches / bugs and not running around having all the fun (we will probably want to stay organized and not have a bunch of random people report problems with the game)

Thank you, it actually makes a lot of sense  .
Now, I'm probably going to say something that you won't approve.
But what if this was released : http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/S11572744 ?
I wouldn't take you any time at all. People wouldn't report bugs/glitches to you (or you could just turn them down gently if they managed to).
And you could still be working/updating the game.
So, what do you say ? Oh, we got opportunity!In this very community!

[Alassë]

What time will the download be available? I need to know if it'll be worth it to stay up 'til midnight so I can get this downloaded before I head off to Everfree NW.

When EXACTLY will the game be up for download? Not date wise, but time wise. Will it be up 12:00am on July 5-12:00am July 8 or will it be open more midday?

_{Um... Does... does anypony, you know... have an answer? I... I really don't want these posts to be forgotten...}

[McSleuthburger]

Spoiler: show

We dont have more open weekends because we are constantly working / updating the game
Doing these weekends takes alot of time and prep which we use to work on the game making it better
With alpha it will be more fixing glitches / bugs and not running around having all the fun (we will probably want to stay organized and not have a bunch of random people report problems with the game)

Thank you, it actually makes a lot of sense  .
Now, I'm probably going to say something that you won't approve.
But what if this was released : http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/S11572744 ?
I wouldn't take you any time at all. People wouldn't report bugs/glitches to you (or you could just turn them down gently if they managed to).
And you could still be working/updating the game.
So, what do you say ? Oh, we got opportunity!In this very community!

It comes back to the quality, we dont want a game that we feel doesnt show everyone our best effort and all the work we have put into the game

What time will the download be available? I need to know if it'll be worth it to stay up 'til midnight so I can get this downloaded before I head off to Everfree NW.

When EXACTLY will the game be up for download? Not date wise, but time wise. Will it be up 12:00am on July 5-12:00am July 8 or will it be open more midday?

_{Um... Does... does anypony, you know... have an answer? I... I really don't want these posts to be forgotten...}

dont worry im sure it will be announced closer to the weekend
please just be patient
thank you 

[tux3]

It comes back to the quality, we dont want a game that we feel doesnt show everyone our best effort and all the work we have put into the game

Hm, sorry if I'm a bit insistant (just a bit, yes  !), but what would be the difference with an open weekend ?
If you're ready for an open weekend when you have to answer to all the bugs/glitches requests and manage/moderate the players, isn't it ready for an open server, managed by the communauty ?
I mean, it would be the same game that what you're already showing. With all the work and efforts you put in it. Except for a longer time.

[McSleuthburger]

an open weekend and opening the server for everyone are two totally different things
an open weekend is just to show people we are still working on the game and show them the progress we have made

to open up the game would be quite difficult because there is still work needed to get the game fully functional and ready for people to be playing on the servers constantly

[Julius]

Yeah... This is why I wanted a simple reply at first, the game's not ready Tux.

Heheh, did you think I was part of the team? Seemed like it...

*Goes back to napping*

[tux3]

an open weekend and opening the server for everyone are two totally different things
an open weekend is just to show people we are still working on the game and show them the progress we have made

to open up the game would be quite difficult because there is still work needed to get the game fully functional and ready for people to be playing on the servers constantly

Well I tried leaving the game and the server open this last week and it seemed to work fine  . (well I had only two players connected, and not moving, but anyway!)
And if it stops working, it's just a matter of restarting the server, that's not unexpected from an alpha !
I do understand that it's quite different, bon't don't you think it'd be a worth a try ?

Yeah... This is why I wanted a simple reply at first, the game's not ready Tux.

Heheh, did you think I was part of the team? Seemed like it...

*Goes back to napping*

Sorry ! I got kinda confused talking to everyone at once  !
But I still love games that are not finished ! KSP and Minecraft are both great !

Spoiler: show

Have a good nap !

[Julius]

No, no, don't apologize, I'm flattered! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Thank you!

[tux3]

(Hm, did you just deleted your post, I can't see it anymore ?)

@Tux3 - I know i am not part of this discussion.  But, aren't you kinda pushing this situation a bit much? They already decided on how they are going to handle the situation.  So, wouldn't it be best to just accept the answer they are giving you and move on?

Well maybe, but there's no harm in discussing !
Sorry if I'm pushing the situation, that wasn't what I meant to do. But I'd really like to get the team's opinion on this !
I mean, I feel like this would be a good idea to let a little more people enjoy the game.
It's great to show them what you're doing, but maybe letting more people actually play (and enjoy) it could work ? 
And since it'd be communauty managed, you don't even have to get involved if you don't want to !
What do you think ?

No, no, don't apologize, I'm flattered! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Thank you!

No problem 

[McSleuthburger]

again it comes down to the quality we dont want to have a game full the problems (though they are bound to happen)
the team wants a finished product to be proud of
also having hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people constantly is much different than just two people

I can guarantee you we are not ready to have the game open for everyone forever, its simply not going to happen anyway you look at it, nothing brought up is going to change our minds

[tux3]

again it comes down to the quality we dont want to have a game full the problems (though they are bound to happen)
the team wants a finished product to be proud of
also having hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people constantly is much different than just two people

I can guarantee you we are not ready to have the game open for everyone forever, its simply not going to happen anyway you look at it, nothing brought up is going to change our minds

Okay, thanks anyway. It's still SweBow approved.
But I guess I'll just wait, then.

[Chishio Kunrin]

I'd just like to pop in and mention that the open server weekends really do require a lot of moderation. Last time, we got raided by a certain website, and they broke quite a few rules. Plus, there were world holes that the team didn't know about, so people kept getting stuck and needing help. That hole in the Canterlot stairs was certainly unexpected!

[The Wandering Magus]

I'd just like to pop in and mention that the open server weekends really do require a lot of moderation. Last time, we got raided by a certain website, and they broke quite a few rules. Plus, there were world holes that the team didn't know about, so people kept getting stuck and needing help. That hole in the Canterlot stairs was certainly unexpected!

should it be at all surprising?  they raid EVERY game, ESPECIALLY games made by people they don't appreciate.  Bronies happen to be a group quite a few of them don't appreciate.
Post Merge

again it comes down to the quality we dont want to have a game full the problems (though they are bound to happen)
the team wants a finished product to be proud of
also having hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people constantly is much different than just two people

I can guarantee you we are not ready to have the game open for everyone forever, its simply not going to happen anyway you look at it, nothing brought up is going to change our minds

Okay, thanks anyway. It's still SweBow approved.
But I guess I'll just wait, then.

swebow approved?  when did he come back to approve it?

[McSleuthburger]

it was never swebow approved
he just stated he does not care either way

[GlassMirror]

What was that website?
were they haters?

[Chishio Kunrin]

it was never swebow approved
he just stated he does not care either way

Are you referring to when he said he didn't care that someone was trying to make a private server?