About Doug's Most Recent Statement...(Poll)

[FoxDie]

Like the rest of you probably are, I'm a bit confused by Doug's recent statement on the status of the RC. If any of you missed it, this is what he said:

We're currently planning to send release candidates to Vivendi by September 15th. However, VUG hasn't given us a ship date yet."

Now, what confuses me is the part stating, "However, VUG hasn't given us a ship date yet." What does that mean? It would make more sense if he had said, "Gold Masters" instead of "RCs," but it seems like VALVe would have made a bigger deal about sending Gold Masters....what's going on

 

[Bait]

Before a game can be officially declared gold, the developer must send release candidates to the publisher for review. If the publisher wants things changed, they tell the developer, the developer changes things, and sends back the RC. When the publishers thinks the game is good to go, the final RC goes gold and duplication commences.

That's how it goes as far as I know. If I missed something or got something wrong, please correct me.

 

[FoxDie]

Before a game can be officially declared gold, the developer must send release candidates to the publisher for review. If the publisher wants things changed, they tell the developer, the developer changes things, and sends back the RC. When the publishers thinks the game is good to go, the final RC goes gold and duplication commences.

That's how it goes as far as I know. If I missed something or got something wrong, please correct me.

Well I understand the process, but that last line in Doug's statement is strange...What kind of date does VUG need to give VALVe? Unless Doug is just saying that Vivendi hasn't given them a date to send the RC to them, but the phrase "Ship Date" intrigues me...

forget something?

Currently there is no option to add the poll when you post (or I just missed it) so it took me a few minutes to get the poll up

 

[Stigmata]

Well I understand the process, but that last line in Doug's statement is strange...What kind of date does VUG need to give VALVe?

The date that Vivendi will ship the thousands of copies off to retailers, I assume.

[edit] Not that Valve *needs* a concrete ship date before they send their RC to Vivendi, I don't think that's what reliable ol' Doug meant.

 

[FoxDie]

The date that Vivendi will ship the thousands of copies off to retailers, I assume.

Yes, but there is no way Vivendi could even guess a ship date without having a Gold Master on the way, which would lead one to believe that Doug was talking about Gold Masters, not RCs.

EDIT:

[edit] Not that Valve *needs* a concrete ship date before they send their RC to Vivendi, I don't think that's what reliable ol' Doug meant.

That's not what I'm saying, either. The way Doug phrased it, it sounded more like he was trying to say that the Gold Masters would be sent on the 15th (now that is being optimisitc ) Vivendi may have to go through half a dozen RCs before they finally choose an acceptable candidate, so VUG having a ship date in RC phase doesn't make any sense.

 

[Stigmata]

Yes, but there is no way Vivendi could even guess a ship date without having a Gold Master on the way, which would lead one to believe that Doug was talking about Gold Masters, not RCs.

Touché.

 

[Wildhound]

Yes, but there is no way Vivendi could even guess a ship date without having a Gold Master on the way, which would lead one to believe that Doug was talking about Gold Masters, not RCs.

I assume Doug's confident (read 100% sure) that the RC will become the gold copy. I'd imagine Valve's bug testing is far more thorough than Vivendi's.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Doug gave an estimate. IMO there is no guarantee they'll have an RC ready by then.

 

[FoxDie]

I assume Doug's confident (read 100% sure) that the RC will become the gold copy. I'd imagine Valve's bug testing is far more thorough than Vivendi's.

Ah, that sounds logical, and explains the strange wording. Good theory

 

[Headwires]

i can't see why ppl would vote for 1 or 2 heheh :]

 

[Mountain Man]

I sometimes get the feeling that Doug is out of the loop over at Valve HQ.

"Hey, did anybody remember to tell Doug?"
"Nah. I'll tell him tomorrow."

 

[Headwires]

ROFL mountin man, seems to be true tho i don't know how any company could run like that ??

 

[FoB_Ed]

I'd imagine Valve's bug testing is far more thorough than Vivendi's.

I agree 100% with that. I believe in valve's desire to make the best game possible. I've got a feeling Vivendi just wants to get HL2 released.

 

[Stigmata]

ROFL mountin man, seems to be true tho i don't know how any company could run like that ??

Doug's not a really high-level employee, just the marketing guy or something like that. He's not exactly irreplaceable either

 

[ShadowFox]

Not to mention it should take less testing at Vivendi thanks to the CS:Source beta test which is probably what is holding up the RC.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

That's just a completely ridiculous statement from Doug

"We're currently planning to send release candidates to Vivendi by September 15th. However, VUG hasn't given us a ship date yet."

VUG hasn't given them a ship date? Is he trying to say they have the gold copy and haven't revealed a date yet? ?? OR he is trying to be confusing. If Vivendi have received no RC's why would they be giving out shipping dates?? The tone of his answer suggested there was a chance they would be..arghhh-chortle!!

Silly statement...very silly.

 

[FoxDie]

That's just a completely ridiculous statement from Doug

"We're currently planning to send release candidates to Vivendi by September 15th. However, VUG hasn't given us a ship date yet."

VUG hasn't given them a ship date? Is he trying to say they have the gold copy and haven't revealed a date yet? ?? OR he is trying to be confusing. If Vivendi have received no RC's why would they be giving out shipping dates?? The tone of his answer suggested there was a chance they would be..arghhh-chortle!!

Silly statement...very silly.

Exactly the reason I started the topic :thumbs:

It's such a strange statement...I guess we'll just have to see what happens on the 15th :|

 

[Lavrik]

Its probably a bunch of crap like always, like many people said , Ill believe it when i see it.

 

[soul]

That's just a completely ridiculous statement from Doug

"We're currently planning to send release candidates to Vivendi by September 15th. However, VUG hasn't given us a ship date yet."

VUG hasn't given them a ship date? Is he trying to say they have the gold copy and haven't revealed a date yet? ?? OR he is trying to be confusing. If Vivendi have received no RC's why would they be giving out shipping dates?? The tone of his answer suggested there was a chance they would be..arghhh-chortle!!

Silly statement...very silly.

He's saying that Vivendi knows how long their testing/manufacturing process takes for a game like HL2, and they should be able to give Valve a date that they will start shipping the game, provided a good first RC. It seems as though Vivendi is unwilling to give a ship date though.

 

[DoctorGordon]

Atleast another 2 months before release

 

[ACROW_LEFT]

Atleast another 2 months before release

quit bein so positive your ruining your chances of being flammed :rolling:

 

[Crusader]

Well it makes no sense, but neither did delaying the game a couple of days before release for a period of one year.

So let us all take our humiliation by the Jive Turkey's marketing strategies like men, and hope this will all come to a pleasant end soon...

 

[Mr-Fusion]

He's saying that Vivendi knows how long their testing/manufacturing process takes for a game like HL2, and they should be able to give Valve a date that they will start shipping the game, provided a good first RC. It seems as though Vivendi is unwilling to give a ship date though.

I'm still confused. How could VUG possibly be giving any dates out at all considering Valve have given them no release candidates. (Unless that's just more BS from Valve)

It would make much more sense of Doug said "We've given VUG an RC but they haven't given us a ship date yet"

 

[Concept]

What this means is that Valve's release candidate is going to have to go through Vivendi's Q & A, and assuming September 15th is the date it's submitted, we're looking another month for checking at the least.

So we'll be in the middle of October most likely before Vivendi approve the game for gold status. After that, it's going to take another 3-4 weeks to produce and arrange distribution of the final copies along with PR.

So by the sounds of things, we're looking at a mid-November release.

 

[AlCaponeXB]

I don't care whatever he said. What I do care about is whether we will even get HL2 before the year's end. If we don't, and we should, I'll be royally pissed....but, I don't see why they can't ship it before then. We should be set for a pre-2005 release...right, right?!

Damn, this is all just confusing bullshit.

 

[Concept]

From a cynical point of view, Valve and Vivendi also know this is the ideal time during the Q4 period to release a game. Just in the run up the Christmas.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

I don't care whatever he said. What I do care about is whether we will even get HL2 before the year's end. If we don't, and we should, I'll be royally pissed....but, I don't see why they can't ship it before then. We should be set for a pre-2005 release...right, right?!

Damn, this is all just confusing bullshit.

Don't count on it coming this year if Vivendi's past dealings with Valve games are anything to go by.

CZ went gold in November 2003 - >http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/28718
Release Party for condition-Zero in December 2003
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/29728/
Condition-Zero released MARCH 23rd 2004
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/31129/

 

[Asuka]

Gold Masters on the 15th!

Me hopes.


666 th post. OoOoOoOOOoOOO

 

[Mr-Fusion]

I'm going to do more research into this devious company known as Vivendi, and games going gold....

 

[Hackerman]

I honestly dont want to hear about any more delays, which this sounds like cause honestly they should have gone gold back in min august to me. I was told 16 days and that was in mid july. Im very patient, and I know they have sent many games back into the line, but this is HL2 we are talking about. You'd think they'd go a little above and beyond theyre god damn 9-5 hours to get it done before the holidays. Honestly cause by the time November gets around Halo 2 will be out and I dont wanna fork over $100 buckaroos at a time, I just cant do that.

I wouldnt be suprised if it is CS:S that is holding HL2 back... Honestly, if they had know it would have taken this long to fix some bugs they should have released it earlier instead of delaying a few days, even though that may not make the biggest difference in the world, but untill HL2 is complete and in my hands its hard to live right about now.

Why dont they just come out plain and simple and tell them that they underestimated a gold and RC date, so they have to delay it just so slightly, except they dont wanna call it that since it will piss too many fans off so they just gonna brush it off to the side, and not even talking about it, sure as hell sounds like it to me. Honestly, they should be honest and give us a round about date. Now to me Im more pessimistic when it comes to release dates, the human race and whether it will survive and the weather, but what they are saying is that and RC will be ready around the 15th. Now give it at least a week to gold. Add 6 weeks to that for production and shipping, remember they have to produce the CE also, to equal right about early november, right when Halo 2 comes out the 9th. My prediction would be right around the 12th of November.

 

[YamatoTwinkie]

What this means is that Valve's release candidate is going to have to go through Vivendi's Q & A, and assuming September 15th is the date it's submitted, we're looking another month for checking at the least.

I thought I remember hearing that Vivendi spent a whole two days Q & A on Half-Life 1 after Valve submitted their RC

 

[MagicalPoop]

This is Vivendi we are talking about. Global French conglomorate that lead to the leaving of 6 Top Blizzard Entertainment employees.
Knowing them, they would probably install the game and play for 30 minutes and say "OK GO GO GO GOLD GOL GOGOGOOGOGGOOOG!!O!O!"

No scratch that, they'd make sure "Vivendi Universal" was on the launch screen lmao.

 

[BraveNewWorldCO]

Before a game can be officially declared gold, the developer must send release candidates to the publisher for review. If the publisher wants things changed, they tell the developer, the developer changes things, and sends back the RC. When the publishers thinks the game is good to go, the final RC goes gold and duplication commences.

That's how it goes as far as I know. If I missed something or got something wrong, please correct me.

negative....they send us an RC to tinker with....make sure no major bugs are found....then we send it back and tell them what to fix. If there is nothing to fix then it goes gold. If you find something majorly offensive like "black people eating chicken out of nowhere" or "naked girls coming out of the styders"...red flags are raised and thats when it is asked to be changed.

 

[alan8325]

They are just late with the RC. They probably encountered more bugs than anticipated, including those from the CS:S beta and need more time to fix them.

 

[PvtRyan]

I don't think they're late with the rc, because it would have been silly anyway to send Vivendi a release candidate when the beta that is testing your engine is stil running.