retired_redbutterfly

I'd be quite happy to wait until, say, the 1st of December for the game if it would mean that we could get a bit more development and a more finished game out of it... By this time next year I don't think I would have any problem still playing FM2008 in the same way that I'm still playing FM2007 until the game is patched properly...

John Kryptic

Your points are not wrong, but in reality, if they really do that, they will lose money in that year, lose market battle of next year to FIFAM09 and CM09 because FM09 will be released 2 months later than competitors.

And the aftermath of that is, SI will lose serious money next year, which in turn has to decrease budget for future games and so decrease the quality of future games.

Just an example of what could have happened.

treeNinja

I am not going to argue but I know for a fact that a game like FM is unlikely to have no bugs no matter how long spent on developing/testing it.

The limited amount of people for testing means it compares in no way to the huge amount of people who play the released version, not just in terms of game time but also in the various ways that the game is played.

Also, more time spent testing does not mean more time spent testing the same exact code, the code continually changes because bugs are being fixed, this leads to more bugs and when they are fixed more bugs develop. It is cycle that only has a very small chance of stopping. More time testing does mean more opportunity to identify bugs but it also means more opportunity for new bugs to be created.

You may disagree but I can personally say that more time does not definitely mean less bugs.

This is by no means me justifying the problems with FM08, no bug should be accepted. I am simply pointing out (with knowledge on the subject) that things aren't as simple as saying "more time" or "more money" etc...

Also, moving the relase date forward for FM09 may help FM09 but unless you may move the release date forward every year then it is back to the same time limit of one year.

haney72

This contention seems quite reasonable.
By the way I have a question: How long does it take to produce a new version? Take FM08 for example, besides the new skin and some more friendly interfaces, I found few obvious promotions. I don't care that much about the release date, but could SI provide us a better tested game instead of a game with numerous bugs, of which some are quite serious. It is more than half a year since 703 was released, so it's enough for SI to produce a good enough game, in my opinion.
Admittedly, I'm no expert and probably underestimated the difficulty of producing a new version.
All in all, it's a good question..

retired_aluckeroth

2009 sounds okay, but it would make a lot more sense to release it in 2013

retired_jimmydhillon

I think what they need to do realistically is sit down and get a patch out that is very very good. Basically they've had up till now, well I'd give till end of November then release a patch better than they've ever done before.
They need to make sure they get it advertised to the masses more and market it as a free update to FM08 with things updated in real life also. This would mean other people would just think its a nice update and nice of SI to do this, where as us, the more hardcore fans, would know that it is an apology for the FM08 'beta' as I would call it that we spent £30 on.

The patch 'could' be something that could be sold in the shops, it would be that much of an improvement and so much work will have gone into it.

retired_ncbarry

The next edition should come in 2009 or 2010, I reckon SI and their testers need the practice after seeing what they've been up to the past year.

retired_Cliffc

They can't randomly delay it.

Aside from the obvious financial impact of needing to get it out for xmas,

If they leave it a few months to get more deveopment time for FM09, then if they do that for FM10, FM11 etc, you'll get the game released at random times each year. You can't run a 16-month development time for a seasonal release, and not doing that might help for 09, but would make later versions just as rushed.

Trust SI. They've shown that they can poduce a geat game out of the box in 1 year, although they may or may not have done it this particuar year.

On a side note, it should be called FM08/09 as it sems silly to be out so long before the year it's out in.

I suppose everyone does it.

retired_OrangeOne

If SI change the release date to say after xmas then i'd imagine they'd just add more and more new features into it due to the increased time they'd have to develop it. If you are looking for a bug free Football Manager, then i don't think you'll get one anytime soon. PC games will always have bugs, changing the time they release the game won't change this.

retired_xcallibr

The problem is I see it is that the beta testers don't know what their job is. They probably think that their job is to just play the game and enjoy. Their real job is to try and **** up the game (without removing files etc) as much as possible and report their findings.

But I think they're just enjoying their time with the beta. It's a real shame.