Well, it is always nice to see people active on the forums Here's a quick thought for you all, by the way: when you see articles on other sites, send them the traffic, comment (sensibly) on the game - make them feeled loved for writing about the game. Then they'll write more!
Anyway, been a very full week. The sprint to San Fran for 1C's event out there - I think all the journos enjoyed it. It was a little fraught trying to show off the game in the Russian Consulate, with no access to the internet (seemed to be confusing the heck out of the build we had with us - we've not actually tried to run with zero access to the net for a little while), plus hardware problems apparently caused by a combination of the shippers dropping the shipment and slightly dodgy power supply.
So, yes, the team is getting (even more) tired. So here's a thought for people: we already hit feature lock. We aren't going to be dropping any new features in at this stage of the game. From here, any changes will come AFTER release! There are still a lot of little details to finish off - some of them visible (UI), others not. It is all coming together, more journalists are "seeing the light", which is nice... and some are still arse-wipes. But that is life!
I was chatting with one in SF (I think it was Jeb Haught) about reviews. The key point being that we are ok with people not liking the game, if they actually try playing it. That happens, even to the best games. But it is the ones who write idiot stuff, after sort-of, vaguely glancing at it that annoys developers. Jeb is one of those guys who makes an effort, which is appreciated. I think it was him making a point (my mind was a little vodka-hazed the next morning) that he never actually gets to keep playing his favorite games - after about a week, if he is going to do high-quality, in-depth reviews, he has to move on to the next game - and the next. I can imagine the frustration. Especially when you have to do an in-depth review of a game that truly sucks big hairy ones...
So, you've seen some single player now. Hopefully there may be a few more write-ups, but we weren't keeping track of who played what on Thursday evening - just too much going on!
And the Steam Summer Sale of course - always complete mayhem!
Wife and daughter packing for a trip home. I can't go - apparently I have some deadlines over the next couple of weeks. Ratings submissions, manuals, quickstart, proof-reading all UI, localisation, basic business stuff, marketing plan, some publishing stuff, walk the dog. Poor me