Star Citizen Dev Progress Watch

[dsmart]

How do they get over things like the number of star systems ?  He has promised a lot so even allowing for the bar to be very very low on what is technically in the game CIG are still a very long way off "minimum safe distance" from a legal standpoint arn't they ?

Yup. And therein lies the rub. I have no idea how they're going to get around that. I think they are of the belief that if they can get the features and ships promised, even in the incomplete Stanton system, that it will buy them enough leeway with the tribe.

[Penny579]

CR's patch of trust,  we have a task summary that goes up regardless of facts, and we just rubber stamp anything we put on the list as done. We think players wont be able notice that we have done no work on so long as they are looking at new reclaimers.  CR and with his (Inc)creditability restored on solid progress, can now put all those all those goons back in there place!   

CR might even be able to get blind culling and another batch of optimizations in the next patch ! long as we at least they don't bungle updating the false JIRA. I would not be surprised if the got another slew of under the hood hard back end work in that the player cant understand or measure in too.

I'm not sure if its possible to write any more comedy into this tragedy.

[Backer42]

So if you go down the list of promises in the campaign, then compare to what they have implemented thus far, it is clear to see what they're doing. As long as they hit all those check boxes in some fashion or another, legally, they are 100% in the clear because NONE of it has to actually work.

Interesting? Is this kind of carte blanche for software companies U.S.-specific?

Our judges usually ask an expert witness, if some a custom software is fit for the purpose specified in the contract and deal with it accordingly. It's no different from a client suing his construction company, that built some ruin nobody can live in: Some expert is going to inspect the building and then tell the judge what he thinks of it. Software is not "special" here.

I know US companies regularly use these shrink-wrap EULAs with "NO WARRANTIES ANYTHING", but these are simply ineffective here in Europe.

[dsmart]

Interesting? Is this kind of carte blanche for software companies U.S.-specific?

Not really, it's the law and also stated in the TOS for any/all software. It's pretty standard.

They are legally liable for features and assets they were paid for, but which aren't in the game. But they can't be sued for things like bugs, incomplete features etc. If this were possible, we'd all be suing Microsoft over Windows, or Apple over iOS etc.

[Backer42]

Not really, it's the law and also stated in the TOS for any/all software. It's pretty standard.

I guess you mean that is the U.S. law.

Let's take an example from the country, where CryTek is based: The German law doesn't say anywhere "You can't sue for defective software", while in fact you can.

https://www.thomashelbing.com/de/haftung-gewaehrleistung-fuer-software-diesen-tipps-reduzieren-risiko-it-anbieter

Here is a quick translation of the list made by IT lawyer for what software faults a customer can seek remedy for in German court:

The liability can be triggered by a variety of defects:

The software is not suitable for the specific purposes of the customer
The software is incompatible, too slow or not sustainable
The user documentation is missing, is sketchy, obsolete or incomprehensible
Interfaces do not work properly
Data from legacy systems was not completely or correctly adopted
The performance is insufficient under load
The software violates the rights of third parties
Certain features of the software are missing or not working properly
The software is contaminated with viruses or malware
Agreed completion dates are not adhered to
The software contains non-agreed DRM

In addition to the above-mentioned claims for supplementary performance, reduction and cancellation, the customer can assert claims for damages.

Also important:

A cumulative restriction or an exclusion of "indirect" or "indirect" damages is not known by the German law on damages. Even if the damage is a multiple of the contract value, the full damage must be refunded to the customer.

You see, CIG/RSI/Foundry42/whatever are in for a lot of fun, once any of their European customers decides to sue them at home (like consumers are allowed to do). No half-assed dysfunctional checkbox "MVP" is going to save them from German courts.

[StanTheMan]

You see, CIG/RSI/Foundry42/whatever are in for a lot of fun, once any of their European customers decides to sue them at home (like consumers are allowed to do). No half-assed dysfunctional checkbox "MVP" is going to save them from German courts.

Many people here may be familiar with the Glider v Blizzard case that went on for a couple of years over the sale of a bot for World of Warcraft.

What is interesting there is that IIRC German law allowed for a bot (like Glider) to be sold from Germany without it being likely it could shut down by similar legal action from a company like Blizzard.

I cant remember what the exact reasons for that were/are but I think they were to do with the fact that the seller of the bot software couldn't be held responsible for what Blizzard customers did with their product (at least in respect of copyright infringement) which wasn't the case with Glider in the USA.

As Derek is doing with this Crytek v CIG case, various organisations filed Amicus Briefs in the Glider case - some of which eventually appear to have had a bearing on the result. 

The Glider case was interesting because the ruling of the first court appeared to be similar to holding a photocopier manufacturer responsible for one of their customers copying a protected book.   Something German Law wasn't going to give any chance of being held up in a German court.

[Star Chip]

I get a feeling that no matter how good or bad Crobert is doing currently, no one is going to care anymore, Maybe Star citizen is not a popular game as they made you believe, this is apparent as all the SC channels went obscure. People are having fun with Elite and other cheap space games, even the dead NMS is still a much more popular subject than SC. Mean while what SC claimed to accomplish such as FPS + sim, is slowly being realized in many other games. Even if SC is real, even if they finally released their minimal viable product, chances are people are not interested, the game is not meant to be enjoyable, the art style the lore does not appeal to young gamers, the big investment in time and money is completely out of touch. Those few potential customers are currently putting their time and money in Elite or other games, very few can afford both, very few can play hardcore while taking care of kids and wife. Those heated debate, those woo for new ship, those haters and white knight, they are gone, people had give up and moved on. Star citizen is an off the road project, its technology is not there while its concept is already outdated.

[dsmart]

I guess you mean that is the U.S. law.

Well, seeing as I'm in the US, I would think that's implicit.

[dsmart]

I get a feeling that no matter how good or bad Crobert is doing currently, no one is going to care anymore, Maybe Star citizen is not a popular game as they made you believe, this is apparent as all the SC channels went obscure. People are having fun with Elite and other cheap space games, even the dead NMS is still a much more popular subject than SC. Mean while what SC claimed to accomplish such as FPS + sim, is slowly being realized in many other games. Even if SC is real, even if they finally released their minimal viable product, chances are people are not interested, the game is not meant to be enjoyable, the art style the lore does not appeal to young gamers, the big investment in time and money is completely out of touch. Those few potential customers are currently putting their time and money in Elite or other games, very few can afford both, very few can play hardcore while taking care of kids and wife. Those heated debate, those woo for new ship, those haters and white knight, they are gone, people had give up and moved on. Star citizen is an off the road project, its technology is not there while its concept is already outdated.

I agree. I wrote about this in my most recent article, about how engagement is way down, and only the shitty cult members give a shit anymore.

[StanTheMan]

I agree. I wrote about this in my most recent article, about how engagement is way down, and only the shitty cult members give a shit anymore.

Which also = a massive devaluation of game assets so ... thoseb JPEGS are worth less and less even IF a game was released.

[Star Chip]

Which also = a massive devaluation of game assets so ... thoseb JPEGS are worth less and less even IF a game was released.

LOL consider how CIG spend the most effort on asset redone, at least 2/3 of SC asset is down the toilet. If one day CIG go under, and assets liquidated, the other studio will be very impressed: "who designed this crap".

[dsmart]

[StanTheMan]

On the Roadmap, do we know what the Progression From Last WeeK state icons of Red Arrow, Green Arrow, Amber Horizontal lines stand for ?

[dsmart]

Green Up is increase, Red Down is decrease

[StanTheMan]

Green Up is increase, Red Down is decrease

What does Amber mean , or no Icon ?