2.7.1 Release Details

Mburn7

Brigby said:

Hi Everyone. Booster Crafting updates usually coincide with whenever the next patch arrives. Typically this is in one month increments, however the upcoming 2.7.1 patch does seem to have a later implementation date than usual.

At this point in time, I'm afraid I don't have any specific date as to when it'll arrive, but hopefully I'll have some more information to communicate sometime next week.

Thanks for the update, but what is going on?  Is Oktagon giving you the cold shoulder as well?  Are they just super busy working on something, but can't tell us what it is?

The delay isn't really the issue, its the fact that we are being given no reason for the delay.  Please let them know that even a quick "sorry, we're busy working on X right now" will go a long way.

Rhasget

Brigby said:

Hi Everyone. Booster Crafting updates usually coincide with whenever the next patch arrives. Typically this is in one month increments, however the upcoming 2.7.1 patch does seem to have a later implementation date than usual.

At this point in time, I'm afraid I don't have any specific date as to when it'll arrive, but hopefully I'll have some more information to communicate sometime next week.

So no info for another week atleast.

This feels bad to be in the dark. 
M19 releases in paper in two weeks and we don't even know if/how it will be implemented.
No events either and the calender isn't updated to show more than to saturday.

They have done server testings with some odd bugs following without word, a note in the inbox would explain it easily.

Im guessing this months Q&A will be dragging into next month also.

DumasAG

TheExaminer said:

Mburn7 said:

Laeuftbeidir said:

Hateborn said:

So, a week later, once again the question:

@Brigby - Any news that can be shared on this front?  Many of us are stockpiling our orbs to craft DOM or to craft lower-priced RIX at this point.  The last couple releases have seen the follow-up patch approximately one month later, so we've gotta be getting close, right?

I

 have no idea why this would be flagged.

I saw that and didn't get it either.  I think someone is spamming the Flag button (this isn't the first time recently that an innocuous post got flagged).  I hope whoever it is cuts it out, because its really disconcerting and not very nice at all

I flagged it, you can tell who it was by clicking it. I did it because you guys are spamming the same question over and over, which is annoying and imo rather discourages devs from sharing anything.
Cheers

Sorry that's annoying to you. I think it's annoying that we are getting literal zero information. #DifferencesOfOpinion

FindingHeart8

Brigby said:

Hi Everyone. Booster Crafting updates usually coincide with whenever the next patch arrives. Typically this is in one month increments, however the upcoming 2.7.1 patch does seem to have a later implementation date than usual.

At this point in time, I'm afraid I don't have any specific date as to when it'll arrive, but hopefully I'll have some more information to communicate sometime next week.

@Brigby...are you telling us the developers are leaving you in the dark too??  Have they even mentioned to you what they're working on?

ZW2007-

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's **** when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

madwren

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Anecdotally, I don't understand why promises of timeliness and communication always fall by the wayside so quickly.

Mburn7

madwren said:

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Anecdotally, I don't understand why promises of timeliness and communication always fall by the wayside so quickly.

If I had to guess its because it is never a high priority.  If the devs are focused on making the game (or whatever it is they are working on), communicating on the forums (where they will be mostly criticized no matter what) is not what they are focused on.  Its easy to promise because it isn't very hard to do, but rather difficult to stay motivated and committed to it.

That, or they just like seeing us angry (and thus engaged).  Who knows.

DumasAG

Mburn7 said:

madwren said:

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Anecdotally, I don't understand why promises of timeliness and communication always fall by the wayside so quickly.

If I had to guess its because it is never a high priority.  If the devs are focused on making the game (or whatever it is they are working on), communicating on the forums (where they will be mostly criticized no matter what) is not what they are focused on.  Its easy to promise because it isn't very hard to do, but rather difficult to stay motivated and committed to it.

That, or they just like seeing us angry (and thus engaged).  Who knows.

As Mary Poppins so eloquently put it, that kind of promise is a "pie-crust promise; easily made, easily broken."

madwren

Mburn7 said:

madwren said:

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Anecdotally, I don't understand why promises of timeliness and communication always fall by the wayside so quickly.

If I had to guess its because it is never a high priority.  If the devs are focused on making the game (or whatever it is they are working on), communicating on the forums (where they will be mostly criticized no matter what) is not what they are focused on.  Its easy to promise because it isn't very hard to do, but rather difficult to stay motivated and committed to it.

That, or they just like seeing us angry (and thus engaged).  Who knows.

I understand it isn't a high priority, but the "so focused on the game" argument doesn't hold water.  I'm sure many of us hold busy or demanding jobs across myriad industries, and work extremely hard for 8 hours a day or more, yet are able to find the time to communicate necessary information to our clients or answer customer questions. 

They don't need to hold lengthy AMAs or answer the same question repeatedly.  If they'd just answer the question once, then I guarantee there's a subset of forum users who will take great pleasure in saying "they answered that here [link] already".

Questions like "why isn't the crafting deadline being adhered to" are not difficult questions, and wouldn't take more than 15 minutes to answer, even if you type at a snail's pace. Give us something to hang our hat on, something to point to and say, look, they're trying.

They certainly tried at first. Now, it feels very similar to the Great Hibernum Disappearance.

DumasAG

madwren said:

Mburn7 said:

madwren said:

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Anecdotally, I don't understand why promises of timeliness and communication always fall by the wayside so quickly.

If I had to guess its because it is never a high priority.  If the devs are focused on making the game (or whatever it is they are working on), communicating on the forums (where they will be mostly criticized no matter what) is not what they are focused on.  Its easy to promise because it isn't very hard to do, but rather difficult to stay motivated and committed to it.

That, or they just like seeing us angry (and thus engaged).  Who knows.

I understand it isn't a high priority, but the "so focused on the game" argument doesn't hold water.  I'm sure many of us hold busy or demanding jobs across myriad industries, and work extremely hard for 8 hours a day or more, yet are able to find the time to communicate necessary information to our clients or answer customer questions. 

They don't need to hold lengthy AMAs or answer the same question repeatedly.  If they'd just answer the question once, then I guarantee there's a subset of forum users who will take great pleasure in saying "they answered that here [link] already".

Questions like "why isn't the crafting deadline being adhered to" are not difficult questions, and wouldn't take more than 15 minutes to answer, even if you type at a snail's pace. Give us something to hang our hat on, something to point to and say, look, they're trying.

They certainly tried at first. Now, it feels very similar to the Great Hibernum Disappearance.

I imagine the honest answer is, "uh, we don't know." or "we haven't really gotten around to it yet." Agreed communication isn't actually that hard, especially when you have an efficient filter like Brigby. I imagine the bottle-neck is that they're so one-minded on whatever task they're working on that nobody thought about the crafting stuff, or core set, or anything else. That's sort of an embarrassing thing to admit in many peoples' eyes, so silence might seem like the better choice (it's not).

Brigby

Mburn7 said:

Brigby said:

Hi Everyone. Booster Crafting updates usually coincide with whenever the next patch arrives. Typically this is in one month increments, however the upcoming 2.7.1 patch does seem to have a later implementation date than usual.

At this point in time, I'm afraid I don't have any specific date as to when it'll arrive, but hopefully I'll have some more information to communicate sometime next week.

Thanks for the update, but what is going on?  Is Oktagon giving you the cold shoulder as well?  Are they just super busy working on something, but can't tell us what it is?

The delay isn't really the issue, its the fact that we are being given no reason for the delay.  Please let them know that even a quick "sorry, we're busy working on X right now" will go a long way.

In general, we usually try to refrain from mentioning any upcoming additions or updates until they've been solidified and guaranteed to be in an upcoming build. This is especially true if it hypothetically involves Magic: the Gathering content, as opposed to simply Puzzle Quest mechanics or design.

We don't want to inform players of one thing, have plans change for whatever reason, and then be unable to deliver what we initially promised.

(Unless of course your X variable is much more generic than what I'm imagining you're requesting)

DumasAG

Brigby said:

Mburn7 said:

Brigby said:

Hi Everyone. Booster Crafting updates usually coincide with whenever the next patch arrives. Typically this is in one month increments, however the upcoming 2.7.1 patch does seem to have a later implementation date than usual.

At this point in time, I'm afraid I don't have any specific date as to when it'll arrive, but hopefully I'll have some more information to communicate sometime next week.

Thanks for the update, but what is going on?  Is Oktagon giving you the cold shoulder as well?  Are they just super busy working on something, but can't tell us what it is?

The delay isn't really the issue, its the fact that we are being given no reason for the delay.  Please let them know that even a quick "sorry, we're busy working on X right now" will go a long way.

In general, we usually try to refrain from mentioning any upcoming additions or updates until they've been solidified and guaranteed to be in an upcoming build. This is especially true if it hypothetically involves Magic: the Gathering content, as opposed to simply Puzzle Quest mechanics or design.

We don't want to inform players of one thing, have plans change for whatever reason, and then be unable to deliver what we initially promised.

(Unless of course your X variable is much more generic than what I'm imagining you're requesting)

Can we ask what_specifically_is being worked on that's taking up so much bandwidth that everything else is currently in the works? If it's negotiations with Wizards to acquire the rights to release Core set, are you allowed to tell us that's something the team is pursuing but can't promise?

In fact, a list of "these are things we're pursuing but can't promise at the moment" would be nice. Call it a Goals list. Then we can definitively tell what the priorities are, because we'll know what's being worked on, and what are goals that might or might not happen.

FindingHeart8

Brigby said:

In general, we usually try to refrain from mentioning any upcoming additions or updates until they've been solidified and guaranteed to be in an upcoming build. This is especially true if it hypothetically involves Magic: the Gathering content, as opposed to simply Puzzle Quest mechanics or design.

We don't want to inform players of one thing, have plans change for whatever reason, and then be unable to deliver what we initially promised.

(Unless of course your X variable is much more generic than what I'm imagining you're requesting)

No offense intended by this @Brigby, I know you're just the liaison here...but we've already had this happen numerous times, where we were informed of Octagon's plans only to have them pushed back because of a glitch or some other complication.  The player-base was generally quite understanding and sympathetic.  We only get frustrated when we have no information to go off of, when we feel like we should have something.

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark here and say that Octagon is either doing a horrible job informing you of what they're working on, or they're working on other projects entirely and mtgpq updates are low on their list at the moment, with a "we'll get to it when we get to it," attitude.

Laeuftbeidir

Without quoting everything @Brigby

The most important questions seem to be obvious

X - is there a reason why we can't craft DOM yet?

Y - will the core set come to PQ at all? (that's pretty generic and should be answered by now)

If so, what will be the consequences for origins? (this might be still pending.. If so, we could understand it if we knew it)

Kinesia

You absolutely can't give timelines or fixed things because people will and do tear things to shreds and I totally understand the reticence and caution.

But you can supply handwavy things, comfort words, lists of "we're aware of", more general priorities such as "stability" or "balance"...

Brakkis

Take a page from Blizzard and learn the word "Soon"; though, I'm fairly certain they've trademarked that phrase by now.

You can tell us what you all plan to do, and tell us that you all intend to get it out to the players "Soon". If it doesn't come, you can say either continue to say "Soon" or you can say that it just wasn't working the way you wanted and you'll come back to that particular project when you can come up with a way that you guys like it.

Giving us silence is the worst thing you can do and it's all Oktagon has been doing.

Brigby

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Laeuftbeidir said:

Without quoting everything Brigby

The most important questions seem to be obvious

X - is there a reason why we can't craft DOM yet?

Y - will the core set come to PQ at all? (that's pretty generic and should be answered by now)

If so, what will be the consequences for origins? (this might be still pending.. If so, we could understand it if we knew it) 

The way Booster Crafting is set up, it requires a build update (as opposed to hot fix) in order to add an entire new set to its system. Edit: This is why we're including the addition of Dominaria to Booster Crafting in the 2.7.1 build.

Since we're all caught up with tabletop Magic: the Gathering's set schedule now, we are in fact working on the Core Set 2019.

Unfortunately at this moment, I don't know how it will affect Origins.

Kinesia

Thanks Brigby, that helps.

So the 2.7.1 build will make Booster Crafting easier to add in later sets? That's a good way to do things and the kind of approach I'm willing to wait slightly longer for.

Brigby

Kinesia said:

Thanks Brigby, that helps.

So the 2.7.1 build will make Booster Crafting easier to add in later sets? That's a good way to do things and the kind of approach I'm willing to wait slightly longer for.

Ah, sorry. I was referencing the addition of Dominaria in Booster Crafting to be the change in 2.7.1, not a change in the way the system is able to be updated. I've edited my original comment for clarity.

Laeuftbeidir

Brigby said:

ZW2007- said:

I just don't understand why booster crafting has to wait until the next release. Why can't it be its own release? We almost never get releases on a monthly basis. And why so tight-lipped on M19? I don't give a rat's tinykitty when we get it but a simple confirmation that we are getting it would be nice. At this point, they have to know if they are or aren't adding M19.

Laeuftbeidir said:

Without quoting everything Brigby

The most important questions seem to be obvious

X - is there a reason why we can't craft DOM yet?

Y - will the core set come to PQ at all? (that's pretty generic and should be answered by now)

If so, what will be the consequences for origins? (this might be still pending.. If so, we could understand it if we knew it) 

The way Booster Crafting is set up, it requires a build update (as opposed to hot fix) in order to add an entire new set to its system. Edit: This is why we're including the addition of Dominaria to Booster Crafting in the 2.7.1 build.

Since we're all caught up with tabletop Magic: the Gathering's set schedule now, we are in fact working on the Core Set 2019.

Unfortunately at this moment, I don't know how it will affect Origins.

Cool, thanks Brigby - this did actually give insight in the one problem, and partly answered one if the most pressing questions!

Don't forget : à lot of things that seem to be totally obvious for everyone within the system are not obvious for the rest of us.

Particulary the upcoming core set leads to long discussions in several slack communities  every week.