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We're making great progress on the economy rework. I don't have a release date for the patch yet, but we'll keep you updated. As for quick bug fixes, I'm afraid there aren't really any (or only very few) left of those. We're working on the issues and improvements that take longer, which is why there's longer between the patches. I understand that it's frustrating to wait, but I can assure you we're working to bring you the patches as quickly as we can.
 
We don't have the date narrowed down yet as the patch with the economy rework needs to pass tests. So I can't say if it'll be in May or some time in June. But we start vacation in July, so it's going out before that.
 
I hope it's at least a few weeks in advance of the vacation beginning (or at least the release of a public beta ideally), if there are issues or bugs with the patch and there's no one available to work on it for days/weeks, I have a feeling any goodwill that comes from the economy fixes is going to be quickly burned.

Also has there been any substantive progress yet on asset import?
We always aim to post in advance of both our vacation, but also our partners' vacations, so everyone needed is around in case we need to push a hotfix.

As for the asset import and saving, we're making good progress, so I'm hoping we can share an update on the situation in the near future, but we'll have to see. :)

Um...what does this mean? You guys don't think there are still small bugs that need fixing? That makes no sense. There are lots of bugs fixed by mods already that are pretty minor. Does the team really think they're done with the small bugs?

Anyway, please tell someone in charge that promising more/better communication and better patches and then being basically silent for a month is...not it.

You can't even give a timeframe on the next patch after a full month? This strategy is not working. You have to make changes, you have to release fixes. You can't just sit there quietly while yet another month passes with no actual proof you guys are trying to do better...
We're working on fixes based on priority. We could probably find some quick and easy fixes to minor issues, but those aren't the ones that are frustrating when you play the game. Anything we work on takes time, and we'd prefer to spend that time where it has more impact on your experience. I'm pretty sure that pushing out weekly patches fixing minor nuisances while larger more frustrating issues don't get fixed isn't gonna make anyone have a better gameplay experience, and fixing a bunch of smaller issues (at least unrelated to the larger ones) would mean it would take longer to fix those more severe issues.

I wish we could fix more severe issues quickly, we all do, but unfortunately that just isn't possible. The best we can do is work through them as efficiently as possible and let you know roughly how long we expect between patches. We release patches when they're ready to go, which is why I can't really give you an estimate of when the next one is coming. We need to see if anything comes up in testing that absolutely needs to be fixed before it goes live, then fix and test again to confirm it's good to go. Once a patch passes all tests, that's when we release it.
 
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You're working on fixes based on priority? Then why are taxes randomly a billion dollars coming in from a random industry for the past 6 months? Completely uprooting the game's entire economy and making all of it unplayable because you're handed free money isn't a priority? What could possibly be a priority, then?
The fix for this issue is included in the economy rework. I'm sorry that we haven't been able to address it earlier.

A month ago you, specifically, said to expect another patch in about a month. Well, now we're asking- it's been about a month, what's the updated ETA, now that we're close to release? And your answer is "Before at least two months from now"?
Our holidays are in July (like every year), the patch is coming out before that. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear from the message. I'm not going to make a guess at when we pass the needed tests to release as I don't want to set expectations for a release and then have a critical issue pop up delaying it. I know it sucks that we're vague about when patches come out, but we're sharing what we can without making promises we can't keep.
 
I'm hesitant to give an estimate for when the patch may be available because I don't know if it will pass the tests or need a little longer. The "about a month" estimate we gave may very well still be accurate, but I just don't know. What I do know is that it will be out before we go on holiday, so that's what I shared. We try our best to manage expectations, but as I'm already seeing disappointment the patch isn't out, even though it hasn't been a full month since the last patch, our estimate clearly read as "less than a month" to some. Which I get, you're eager for the next patch and next round of fixes. We're itching to get it in your hands too, but we want to make sure it's ready.

My attempt was to give an answer along the lines of "No update to our estimate, but definitely before our holiday starts in July" which I clearly failed to make clear. That's my bad.

Uhm, that's not correct. The smallest issues can be very frustrating. Look at which small mods are extremely popular. Good bug fixing should be a mix of major issues that take long to fix, and small issues to crunch the list. For example 10-15% of every sprint is dedicated to fixing small issues, just to get them fixed. Because otherwise, it's like you say: the minor issues just became an infinite backlog that won't even be fixed in 5 years.
If you have any specific minor issues in mind, please let me know. I'd be happy to take a look if they don't require much work and have the correct priority. We're always looking to include impactful changes whenever we can, however, it's worth keeping in mind that what presents as a small issue in-game may have a complicated solution.

Why can't you disclose the fixes currently in testing? The fact that they're in testing is irrelevant to us. We're eager to understand the actual progress being made. Why has it taken seven months for us to receive any substantial information on this bug's resolution? This is crucial information, fundamental to the game's entire functionality. I would contend that it, along with land value, constitutes the most significant issues plaguing the game at present, aside from design flaws. And the only reason we're aware of an anticipated fix is due to our persistent requests for even the slightest update.

There must be a tracking system like Trello where you document your activities. Could you possibly gather a list of accomplishments and planned significant changes from everyone's emails or by inquiring around the office, and then compile a post about it with a "subject to change" disclaimer?
This comes down to expectation management. We're being careful not to make promises we can't keep, and even if something comes with a disclaimer, we see disappointment when it needs more work or something else causes the plans to change. We also don't share a list of coming fixes ahead of time to avoid confusion about whether a patch is available or what issues are fixed. The best I can do right now is share that the economy rework has been the big focus of the coming patch. We've looked at the economic simulation and systems related to it, overhauled parts that weren't as well as they could, weren't transparent enough, or didn't give you enough control over your city. That of course also means fixing bugs related to these systems (assuming of course the bugs were still there after the overhaul), but we also have a series of general bug fixes, improvements to performance, and fixes for more cases causing crashes. I know that isn't as good as a list of issues we've resolved, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until we share the patch notes.
 
Economy Rework

Can you at least elaborate on what changes are being done here?

Im deeply concerned your focused on removing the simulation you advertised pre-released and making it more simcity 4 style where its a dumbed down visual simulation. Given your needing to improve the CPU usage to meet benchmarks for the Console release, itd be disappointing for the community to find out post release of the patch you just scrapped your original design goals and made it a different simulation than the one you advertised.
We'll get into the changes in detail later, but I can share our goals for the rework. Currently, the game does some things automatically and/or "behind the scenes" where you as a player can't interact with it - or at least it's not clear how you can affect things. The economic simulation also adjusts to your city with Government Subsidies in particular making it hard to fail.

With the rework we have looked at how we can make systems more transparent and more reactive, give you more control over how your city functions and evolves, and bring more of a challenge to the game. When it comes to challenge, we aim to make sure everyone has a chance to succeed and build a functional and profitable city, but if you're a terrible mayor, the city should (and will) be able to fail.

We're always looking to see where we can improve performance, but that hasn't been the goal with the rework. The goal has been to address the feedback we have received (edit: with regards to the simulation and economy), and (hopefully!) make the game more fun to play.
 
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