Ashes Cricket General Discussion

[Plotinus]

They pushed incremental on steam. At that point there was a significantly higher cost to console patching than now.

People have a rose-tinted view of dbc14. Without Franco's hack it had major issues - it was just much better than what came before.

I agree with this. I put a lot of hours into DBC14 but would have done a fraction of that without @francobaldo1 and his patch. Fewer hours with DBC17...but again needed Franco's magic to smooth out some of the wrinkles.

I have absolutely no insight into how BA run their development but I would hypothesise that they would be more successful if they focused less on a single, big, cross-your-fingers-it-will-work patch and think more about releasing on a two week incremental sprint cycle. A larger number of small incremental changes, delivered to a larger user population, is going to be more effective (and cheaper) in delivering stable improvements than trying to push out one big patch release with low test coverage. My big fear is that as soon as the patch gets released someone will hit a problem (that BA hadn't predicted and the beta team hadn't encountered) and, as soon as this happens, those who are eager to overreact to any flaw will just turn this forum into a mess of unwarranted criticism of BA and the beta team. No one will feel good. If BA were releasing incremental updates more frequently it would really mitigate the risk failure and engender a much more positive relationship with, and within, their customer base. People really wouldn't care, so much, if something broke or didn't get fixed if they could revert to the previous release and knew that there was another update in a couple of weeks...people will get very upset if a one-shot patch breaks something or doesn't address something they believe is important, when they know there is no hope of any remediation.
I really appreciate the efforts that the beta team are putting in and I have no doubt the dev teams are working all hours...but whoever the product manager is, needs to rethink their release strategy.

 

[sonimrajk]

Let @WealeyH finish the odi innings. Its fine if we are getting more edges for bad shots during intial stage of the innings and that happens in real too.
The good part i see in test batting is hundred made by wealey. That shows (atleast for me) the runs can come if the batsmen settle down.
The edges may reduce once ball becomes old and batsman setttles down. Let him finish the game and then they can address to BA if they see any major issues.

 

[Langeveldt]

I agree with this. I put a lot of hours into DBC14 but would have done a fraction of that without @francobaldo1 and his patch. Fewer hours with DBC17...but again needed Franco's magic to smooth out some of the wrinkles.

I have absolutely no insight into how BA run their development but I would hypothesise that they would be more successful if they focused less on a single, big, cross-your-fingers-it-will-work patch and think more about releasing on a two week incremental sprint cycle. A larger number of small incremental changes, delivered to a larger user population, is going to be more effective (and cheaper) in delivering stable improvements than trying to push out one big patch release with low test coverage. My big fear is that as soon as the patch gets released someone will hit a problem (that BA hadn't predicted and the beta team hadn't encountered) and, as soon as this happens, those who are eager to overreact to any flaw will just turn this forum into a mess of unwarranted criticism of BA and the beta team. No one will feel good. If BA were releasing incremental updates more frequently it would really mitigate the risk failure and engender a much more positive relationship with, and within, their customer base. People really wouldn't care, so much, if something broke or didn't get fixed if they could revert to the previous release and knew that there was another update in a couple of weeks...people will get very upset if a one-shot patch breaks something or doesn't address something they believe is important, when they know there is no hope of any remediation.
I really appreciate the efforts that the beta team are putting in and I have no doubt the dev teams are working all hours...but whoever the product manager is, needs to rethink their release strategy.

I'm actually surprised BA are releasing any patches at all. I mean surely everyone who was going to buy Ashes Cricket has done so already?

 

[Thieves]

Hey guys. Any thoughts on how much Australia will make against South Africa.?Really hoping my team pulls through (SA all the way).

Thanks for the feedback beta guys. I'm sure bigant will be planning to release this patch soon.

I did have a chance to download real cricket 18. It's still in beta phase. Some of the presentation features where quite amazing for an android game.

Cricket games of the future do look promising. I just hope future iterations improve the crowds and commentary as well as graphics.

I mean, after all we know how powerful a ps4 is...[DOUBLEPOST=1519937576][/DOUBLEPOST]

I'm actually surprised BA are releasing any patches at all. I mean surely everyone who was going to buy Ashes Cricket has done so already?

Big ant does back their games to some extent.
As much as we hate to say it, most of us here will continue to purchase bigants cricket games provided there is steady improvement.

They have to please their number 1 fan Base.

 

[Wealey]

Let @WealeyH finish the odi innings. Its fine if we are getting more edges for bad shots during intial stage of the innings and that happens in real too.
The good part i see in test batting is hundred made by wealey. That shows (atleast for me) the runs can come if the batsmen settle down.
The edges may reduce once ball becomes old and batsman setttles down. Let him finish the game and then they can address to BA if they see any major issues.

Correct, I only edge it if I mess up... perfect for me

 

[cricket_online]

Correct, I only edge it if I mess up... perfect for me

And that's exactly what we want to hear, i.e. there's no randomness involved and edges are a function of user error/input

 

[cricket_online]

I agree with this. I put a lot of hours into DBC14 but would have done a fraction of that without @francobaldo1 and his patch. Fewer hours with DBC17...but again needed Franco's magic to smooth out some of the wrinkles.

I have absolutely no insight into how BA run their development but I would hypothesise that they would be more successful if they focused less on a single, big, cross-your-fingers-it-will-work patch and think more about releasing on a two week incremental sprint cycle. A larger number of small incremental changes, delivered to a larger user population, is going to be more effective (and cheaper) in delivering stable improvements than trying to push out one big patch release with low test coverage.

That's what we all assumed at the time when Big Ant said that they will self publish Ashes Cricket and support the game.

 

[Wealey]

And that's exactly what we want to hear, i.e. there's no randomness involved and edges are a function of user error/input

I did say that to be fair but yeah Iv only edged it when one of or more of inputs been not ideal

 

[hammadahmed88]

Correct, I only edge it if I mess up... perfect for me

I did say that to be fair but yeah Iv only edged it when one of or more of inputs been not ideal

If this is true, and there's no reason to think it's not, I think that's fair enough. People can turn down the timing slider if they're having difficulties. Seems promising. Any work being done in career mode? Is that element discussed in the group at all, or is the focus exclusively on gameplay?

 

[Mr Snrub]

i think it's obvious by now BA will never explain those modifiers. i think its best to ignore them and hammer the default

Agreed, playing around too much with the modifiers is just another layer of potential for the game to not play well.

The further problem is that outside of England and Australia very, very few sides out there for download have attributes carefully worked out for players (people have concentrated on likenesses and kits etc), so there's very little idea of how user created teams will play once these attributes are configured better. As well as people try to skill those teams, the effects are largely unknown on how accurately they'll play in the game. Could be all sorts of unusual things come out when that's layered on top of sliders etc.

 

[Langeveldt]

Agreed, playing around too much with the modifiers is just another layer of potential for the game to not play well.

The further problem is that outside of England and Australia very, very few sides out there for download have attributes carefully worked out for players (people have concentrated on likenesses and kits etc), so there's very little idea of how user created teams will play once these attributes are configured better. As well as people try to skill those teams, the effects are largely unknown on how accurately they'll play in the game. Could be all sorts of unusual things come out when that's layered on top of sliders etc.

England and Australia, the default teams are also created appalingly attribute-wise. I guess a lot of it is up to interpretation, but there is some really weird stuff going on with the default sides.

 

[Plotinus]

I'm actually surprised BA are releasing any patches at all. I mean surely everyone who was going to buy Ashes Cricket has done so already?

The fact that the majority of purchase have already been made is certainly a factor in terms of how much BA would be prepared to invest in support. However, you also need to factor in impact on future earnings and goodwill. Post-release support is all additional cost to a developer and therefore developers would want to avoid it as much as possible. However, all developers will build cost of support into their business model. Without support they would limit future earnings by reducing customer confidence for future purchases. These days goodwill in your current and future customer base is really important...so damaging that has a direct impact on long term company financial performance. It does not make any commercial sense to say, "well we've shifted 95% of total purchase volume already...so let's forget about fixing stuff". Patching may result in a few net-new sales for the current product but it is far more important in supporting future sales of new products.

Aside from the commercial need, there is also professional pride at stake. Everyone at BA would want to produce something that is as good as it can be. They have worked really hard to revolutionise cricket gaming. They have achieved a lot. It is easy for us to constantly point at the flaws but think about what games were like prior to DBC14 (or glance, in horror, at Real Cricket 18). This is not to suggest that we shouldn't provide constructive criticism or feedback...but we must recognise that no one wants the game to be the best it could be more than the people at BA. Of course BA's decision to cut-off communication has stretched the community's ability to empathise and understand their perspective...but I am still prepared to assume positive intent in what they do, even if some of their actual decisions are not those that I would make. I don't subscribe to the cynical perspective that BA are happy to grab the money and run.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Agreed, playing around too much with the modifiers is just another layer of potential for the game to not play well.

The further problem is that outside of England and Australia very, very few sides out there for download have attributes carefully worked out for players (people have concentrated on likenesses and kits etc), so there's very little idea of how user created teams will play once these attributes are configured better. As well as people try to skill those teams, the effects are largely unknown on how accurately they'll play in the game. Could be all sorts of unusual things come out when that's layered on top of sliders etc.

As far as I can tell the only attributes that matter is the overall batting attribute so skilling them accurately is irrelevant. That may change with the new patch - if all of a sudden attributes are somehow important but I've seen nothing to suggest they are pre-patch. For bowling there are a few more that are relevant but mostly spin/swing/seam etc.

 

[Rumple43]

This one has been quite entertaining. I've got Australia 9 down with 12 overs to go on Day 5. Hazelwood and Paine the guys remaining. No chance they get the runs needed, so it's win for me or a draw. Fun tho!

Bosh! Ali got Hazelwood bat pad with 8 overs to go. Was starting to sweat on that one! Hazelwood made 45 in the 1st innings so I was worried he was going to stick around.

Feel free to go back to chatting about patches and edges again. I actually have another sweet video of an edge of a defensive shot, I'll get it online soon.

I'm still enjoying the game. My PS4 time is limited so I play fairly sporadically. That test went nearly the full length game wise and took me almost a month to finish real time.

As I've said, everyone's line in the sand is different about what they can and can't tolerate. I still enjoy this game when I get a chance to play. Thanks to anyone using their time to try and make the game better, in whatever shape or form. People seem to have pretty strong opinions about quite a few things right now, hopefully that passion gets pulled together to push in the right direction.

Shouldn't imagine anyone will care, but my Ashes series is 2-2. I'll let you all know how the 5th test goes!

 

[Mr Snrub]

As far as I can tell the only attributes that matter is the overall batting attribute so skilling them accurately is irrelevant. That may change with the new patch - if all of a sudden attributes are somehow important but I've seen nothing to suggest they are pre-patch. For bowling there are a few more that are relevant but mostly spin/swing/seam etc.

That's true, but with many downloads, even the few you've mentioned are empty (or miles off accurate).