Release 3 - Public Beta

[Marauders]

As most of you know from reading the Release 3 update and beta tester blog threads that Release 3 is looking pretty well, and it will be ready for public beta soon. The major items like PDS 2.0 have been completed for some time and tested.

There have been changes in the defensive logic systems that are relatively new, and although testing has been done, there will have to be some tweaking to make sure everything works right with several types of playbooks.

Because many small changes have been made, there are sure to be some ghosts in the machine that will have to be found. While the beta team goes back and does a sweep from time to time to check for new bugs, there is not an opportunity to catch everything.

David and the beta crew agree that it would be better to get Release 3 into the hands of the Maximum-Football community, so that any little problems will get brought out much more quickly and because there are changes that community members should be able to take advantage of before Release 3 becomes the gold standard later on. Community members have voiced that they would like to see a public beta release, and I am sure that a majority of game owners would like this as soon as possible.

As I have stated before, there is always a reluctance to issue a public beta, because there will be a few known small problems, and there will be other bugs that come up. That may cause undue criticism of the game from naysayers. I guess that is always an issue, but we believe that the community understands that a public beta release is not the same as a gold issue. We all hope so, anyway. [;)]

In my opinion, it is important to get a public beta release out, because a bunch of bugs had been fixed in the month following the last public release, but because PDS 2.0 was in alpha stage, an update could not be made. Some of those bugs come up from community members from time to time, and it would be nice to have an updated public copy available that is rid of those bugs.

I am asking here if community members agree with this assessment of the situation and would like to see a public beta release posted to the board within the next couple of weeks even if some things still need to be vetted or tweaked.

[simmer]

I agree......I think that most of us have rapport with the David and the beta team and we all can work together to make this game great. It is very easy to communicate with the beta team.

[cbelva]

I agree. Do it. There will always be those who will complain regardless of what is done.

[nmleague]

The beta team is still finding small items daily, but overall the game is really looking good now.  Trouble is the beta team is not large enough to cover all aspects of the league, Canadian, US, Indoor etc., to continue to find the small things that need to be corrected.  The public release of release 3 will allow more people to give the game a very thourgh inspection and help find more small details that need to be changed.

[jcd38]

as with any software you can always find bugs. i think that since PDS 2 is complete i think the public beta should be released as is. i.e. releasing it today in fact is probably ok. at this point i think it'll come together a lot faster released to the public as it sits today; unless there's a real major issue. if its only minor tweaking at this point, then there's no sense in holding it from the public.

i.e. if you guys need some help creating pdfs i can offer my services. i got the software and can make some time to do it.

[nmleague]

Updating the manuals is now one of the holdups, once they are ready the game should soon follow.

[dreamtheatervt]

Please release a public Beta ASAP. [:)]

[David Heath]

Hi Guys
 
The manual is almost done.  It was a little more work then we had planned. 
 
David Heath
 
 

[MjH]

ORIGINAL: dreamtheatervt

Please release a public Beta ASAP. [:)]

Yes, please... what he said. [:)]

[bjm111]

Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[local8h]

I never even read the manual. We dont need no stinkin manual....Naaaahhh...
 
Please...Pretty Please Release it[:)] Por Favor[:)] Please naman[&o][&o][&o]

[David Winter]

Part of the BETA process includes the manual. It needs to go through a public beta just like the game.
 
And I think the manual is very important. Not only does it give you vital information on Play Design for example, but as so much of the game has changed since the last time you've seen it, you're going to at least need a guide of sorts to help you find things.

[local8h]

I was joking[:(]

[David Winter]

I know..
 
But for those that would rather not hold up the release for 'just the manual', that is why we are.

[zowee77]

Are we talking days or weeks for release?

[grrncore]

i keep hearing soon. how soon is soon?

[rcleslie]

ASAP works for me.

[Brockleigh]

I'm on-board for a public bata release. As I play Max FB mainly for the Canadian Rules and Arcade Mode, I think I'd be able to look into issues and bugs that most others wouldn't.
 
Looking forward to the next update.

[Marauders]

i keep hearing soon. how soon is soon?

 
Will "real soon" suffice? [;)]
 
As things look now, I suspect a beta release candidate will be ready for the beta team to go through in the next couple days, but it may take from a few days to a few weeks to go through it.  David has made some recent changes to the stats, and any time that happens, there needs to be some time to run some games and make sure the other stats didn't get messed up.  If we seriously break something along the way, all bets will be off, but I don't see that happening.
 
Please do not take this as any official form of reply to your question.  That will come from David alone, and anything posted by beta members is just informed conjecture.  There are many things that could cause delays, so I don't want anyone quoting me as giving an official answer on this.
 
I must also add that this is for a beta release update.  Once this is up, then I would expect that beta release updates will be posted from time to time until Release 3 is considered complete and becomes the gold standard.  Then we will move on to Release 3.5 features.
 

[local8h]

Wow a few days or weeks?
 
Thanks for the  info Marauders...its really a help info...atleast we or i should say i shouldnt have my hopes up.[:)]