Everybody is praising this as "transparency".
I guess we have different definitions of transparency.
Here is why I don't think this is "transparency":
1. This is the first real word we've gotten on anything in a month. One communication a month is not being open and transparent.
2. This post, I'm almost 100% sure,
is a direct result of conversation in the Way Forward thread where several of us yesterday and the day before were upset at the lack of communication. A month ago we were told a new patch would come in "about a month". Well, it's been "about a month", and we were looking for updates- and basically being told there's nothing to say and nobody can be sure of anything. This post is a result of that upset. The window was not transparent until we banged on it and somebody opened it up.
3. As stated, a month ago we were told to expect a patch in "about a month". Tomorrow it will have been 1 month. If you set an ETA, and then that ETA approaches, and the ETA is changing...transparency is communicating that it has changed...ahead of time. Saying the literal day before it's been a month and people are gonna start wondering what the arrival time is is not being transparent. Being transparent would be making this post a week and a half ago, when they surely knew we would not be getting a patch in "about a month".
4. This is the second major post that they have not put on one of those big cards at the top of the page. The Way Forward post and this post are not in the big "Here's a big announcement about the game!" section at the top of the screen, as if they're embarrassed of them and don't want as many eyes on them. That's DEFINITELY not transparency.
5. As usual, all timeframes given are so broad they may as well be meaningless. "June 3rd-19th" is the estimate for the next patch even though the last estimate means it should've been ready within 7 days from today. "Q4". "Some time after september". These aren't transparent timelines. They're vague estimates that, as history has shown us, are almost certainly going to be missed. Has a single thing this company has said was coming actually come out when they said it would the first time? I don't think it has, so why would that change now? There's no reason to believe any estimates given are actually going to be correct.
Transparency is proactive, not reactive.
Transparency is letting us know EXACTLY what you're working on. EXACTLY what you're changing with the economy simulation. What you INTEND to do, whether it ends up happening or not. What MIGHT and SHOULD be in the upcoming patch and how far along you estimate things are.
I mentioned this in the linked thread, but The Sims does something called a Laundry List, where they detail which specific bugs they are almost certain are gonna be fixed in the next patch. Then the patch comes out and it has those fixes, and more. There's no reason you can't do something similar.
In fact, they just announced another list today, alongside an effort to do 6 straight months fo additional bug fixes using an outside company's assistance. Something to consider imitating, I think, because this game is in a far, far worse state than Sims 4 is.
Transparency is not responding to people 2 days before you're gonna be nearing a deadline with "We have nothing to say at this time" or "You guys misinterpreted what I meant when I said about a month, seems you thought I meant less than a month" (This is paraphased, but it is something that was said to us in the linked thread).
Transparency is not radio silence until people start getting upset again.
Arguably, "Hey just a heads up after this patch don't expect a word from us until somewhere around mid september probably when we come back from our state mandated vacation from all the work we are supposedly doing but just can't show you or talk about but just trust us we're totally doing tons of work but it's not far enough along for us to have ANY confidence in telling you about because we don't want to make promises even though it's been a month and we definitely should have something to show by now" is a form of transparency, but several bullet points of "We missed the mark on this and it will be late, and on this, and on this, and this other thing, all late, again, sorry" is not transparency.
It's just failure to meet basic expectations, that this company itself has set, again.
That you guys see "BTW, we're delaying assets AGAIN and we're delaying the asset editor AGAIN" and go "Wow! Transparency, yay!" is....ugh. I wish I could have that optimism, I guess.
