My theory on what happened with SH3...

[sadhukar]

First off, I'd just like to say that if you think this is a good, finished game, then you are sadly delusional and need to get back on your feet into the world.

So what I think happened...

Judging by the early first release date and the numerous delays that followed, I honestly think that 7sixty forced Firefly to release the game in October. They probably ran into a big problem somewhere during the summer and informed 7sixty that the game won't be fixed and needs to delay for a long time. 7sixty says no, because there won't be a market for games when the juggernauts BF3, MW3 and Skyrim get released.

Normally when a release goes gold, the devs have a party and leave a skeleton crew to read online issues and compile a backlog until they're back from their holiday, but seeing as how limited the dev's response is, I think they're actually busy at work and/or severely understaffed.

[turtlesoup]

dev response is not limited, they've been very active on their own forums and even here. speculation is futile at this point, what's done is done. but really there's nothing more obvious than devs being forced to meet unrealistic deadlines, anyone who knows the mechanics of this series well can easily see what they were working on when time was cut short.

[ptoner87]

Frankly, for the amount of time this game was in development, it seems to be very barren.

[azmothman]

they've been very active on their own forums and even here.

I kindly disagree with you, from what I have seen the only one from Firefly that has communicated with us here or on the official page is Benzie (and moderators that are in the dark as well).

I would agree with the OP that being the end of the fiscal year 7Sixty could not delay any longer and wanted to start bringing in the revenue, however they are both at fault for the state of SH3.

[turtlesoup]

well what more do you want? "active" means responding to known issues and some indication that it's being worked on, they're not here to put out the flames or change your diapers. as long as someone is here to say, yes we know it's broken, and yes we're working on it, and yes patches are on the way there's really not much more anyone can do. don't hold your breath if you're waiting for a full confession, or some kind of itinerary.

all these issues were well known by them well before release, everything up until then was just to ship a working game, where things happen when you click on them. people have this false perception that devs actually believe their games are finished at time of release, and users are pointing out bugs they knew nothing about.

this concept is extinct, what they got is a todo list attached to varying degrees of priority, with a launch date somewhere in the middle. what you got is a certain percentage of completion, that they were fully aware of before and after they accepted your money. if you're lucky it will be fixed in due time, otherwise just cut your losses and remember this for future purchases.

[Belnz]

I cant work out what those three quoted games have to do with stronghold.

Its like saying people wont drink tea once Jaguar XF-R is available.

Completely different markets.