Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

I have the impression that you get a reply from MM if he needs more information about the bug you reported. So no reply might not be a bad sign! At least many bug reports I sent him and got no reply were fixed in the next patch.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Is there an online bug database somewhere that is kept up to date so that we can see if bugs are already reported? It would be useful to set up bug severity/priority. It seems MM just knee-jerks on emails, some emails and not others.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

There is one on se5.com, but Malfador doesn't go through and mark things as reported/fixed.

http://spaceempires5.com/en-US/project/issues/SE5

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

In fact he only answered my first e-mail, but for practically all of them, I could see the changes in the changelog soon after.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Don't the beta testers maintain a database of bugs/features?

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Some questions: How many SEV players are there? How many send him bug reports? How much time does he have to read and compose replies?

I could easily see him getting at least fifty e-mails a day in just bug reports. Not just because SEV is buggy, but because even a niche game has a lot of players.

So. Which do you want him to do, fix bugs, *Which he is doing* or answer e-mails?

Far as I'm concerned, service beats out nearly every other company.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

It's not an either/or issue and yes, I do know he is fixing bugs. I never said I wanted him to answer emails, though somehow that's what everyone thinks I meant by "evidence that he ... reads emails". He must be keeping some kind of list (at least) of bugs and feature requests and has prioritized them for fixing. Inevitably, some "bug" reports either aren't going to be fixed or aren't really bugs. Similarly, there are a huge number of feature requests that, I'm thinking mostly won't be incorporated due to practical reasons. These all could be addressed in a simple remark. Making this viewable somewhere with periodic updates would do several things:

- allow players to see the list so that they won't further clog his email with bug reports or feature requests for things that already have been sent in. Periodically posting the list somewhere is much faster than viewing numerous emails so this would save his time.

- makes people aware of the existing bugs to possibly avoid them in game play for those that are avoidable. He could even keep those *secret* bugs off the list for those that might lead to multiplayer cheating. Though this really just gives the advantage to a cheater who knows about the bugs.

- allow modders to address any issues that can be addressed via data files.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Aaron's the one to convince, not us. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Aaron has never been particularly good at community relations. Posting his lists online might work, but I fear he would only keep it up to date for so long before letting it wallow in the realm of un-updated web content.

For reference, he turned down the idea of making primary use of the bug/issue tracker on SE5.com due to it being "too late in the process" to change gears.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Also, the number of different people reporting the same bug factors into how much priority fixing that bug gets.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Sorry but here I have to disagree completely.
There hard to find bugs, that will therefore be only reported late and from one person and yet this may be a game killing bug if it happens.