It's my understanding that there are certain norms in the relationship between developers and publishers in the computer game industry, common business practices if you will. Among these is a pattern of quality control on the part of a publisher in which said concern receives a "beta" version from the developer and then tests it for definitive breaches of flaws enumerated in the agreement, "the software shall be free of such and such." Further, until these issues are resolved, the publisher doesn't have to take receipt of the game. It's just that simple.
In looking back at my experience with games published by Matrix, I have to acknowledge that certain of your developers have exhibited utmost excellence in this regard, Panther Games comes to mind, as does Koios Works. Others, however, and this is definitely a developer-related phenomena, show no such commitment to quality, being rather a raft of bugs in a game that appears to have not been tested, whatsoever, at least not in the version that arrived on my desktop via direct download.
Yes, fans of the games will come out in (tiny) legions to defend the title and laud its delinquent programmer (THANKS BRUNO!!!) for fixing something that should have been remedied three or four years, earlier, but for many of us, that's darn too little, darn too late. Folks introduction to quality issues in these games is frequently so negative as to have them just put the program away, AND FORGET IT. Life is too short.
Well, now, here are my questions:
In a general sense, how does Matrix establish a "relationship" with developers, do they simply call you up, offer to show you some sort of demo, and then you negotiate an agreement to publish?
Does Matrix make quality demands of developers as a part of its standard contractual agreement?
Having concluded the agreement, do you beta-test the games before you make them available for purchase, or does Matrix simply accept the developer's word that the game is sound?
I've tried ask good, clean questions, ones that aren't "loaded," in any sense. Still, there are such truly stark contrasts between your titles as regards this quality issue, I believe it'd be of interest to your customers to hear a reply from Matrix regarding these matters, should you find it worthwhile to make one. [:)]
PoE (aka ivanmoe)
Question for Matrix Games
Moderator: maddog986
- Prince of Eckmühl
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Question for Matrix Games
Government is the opiate of the masses.
RE: Question for Matrix Games
I'll be interested to see if they answer your question. Since they seem to balk at any questions regarding how they run their business and/or which of their games has sold the most as I asked them a month or so ago. I recently asked if adding printed manuals had increased their volume of sales and got no reply on that one as well.
WE/I WANT 1:1 or something even 1:2 death animations in the KOIOS PANZER COMMAND SERIES don't forget Erik! and Floating Paratroopers We grew up with Minor, Marginal and Decisive victories why rock the boat with Marginal, Decisive and Legendary?
RE: Question for Matrix Games
You have to know how to use honey while questioning.
RE: Question for Matrix Games
OIC I have to BUY that information also? lol Everything is a buck $ nowadays. lol
WE/I WANT 1:1 or something even 1:2 death animations in the KOIOS PANZER COMMAND SERIES don't forget Erik! and Floating Paratroopers We grew up with Minor, Marginal and Decisive victories why rock the boat with Marginal, Decisive and Legendary?
RE: Question for Matrix Games
I think he said use "honey". Not "money". However, usually when you have no money, you have no honey, so I can see where you might get confused...[:D]
- David Heath
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- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2000 5:00 pm
RE: Question for Matrix Games
Hi Guys
As Ravinhood said we do not really discuss our process to developed products or our sales publicly. With that said I will say some developers have more experience then others so sometimes more issues can come up. No honest publisher/developer can expect a game to be bug free. We DO expect support from our developers to correct what are real bugs (not design issues) as fast as possible. We are all gamers here and we try to treat our customers the way we would like to be treated but we are not perfect and can go off in way we didn't plan on.
As for how we pick our games or what is required to sign a game is done differently for each game and developer. Matrix is there to give as much or little development support as the developer needs. Some of the product delays are us pushing back until we feel a game is ready.
I also feel the majority of our games are very stable, balanced and ready for commerical release.
As Ravinhood said we do not really discuss our process to developed products or our sales publicly. With that said I will say some developers have more experience then others so sometimes more issues can come up. No honest publisher/developer can expect a game to be bug free. We DO expect support from our developers to correct what are real bugs (not design issues) as fast as possible. We are all gamers here and we try to treat our customers the way we would like to be treated but we are not perfect and can go off in way we didn't plan on.
As for how we pick our games or what is required to sign a game is done differently for each game and developer. Matrix is there to give as much or little development support as the developer needs. Some of the product delays are us pushing back until we feel a game is ready.
I also feel the majority of our games are very stable, balanced and ready for commerical release.
RE: Question for Matrix Games
As far as bugs go, I seem to think that Matrix Games are relatively bug free (compared to many others). Even, and yes I really believe this, Crown of Glory and Forge of Freedom released with far fewer bugs than your average developer (and the World Civ staff is pretty responsive and good-natured). Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Matrix fanboy, I bought Titans of Steel and have been hooked ever since, but compared to Paradox (HoI and EU3 are great examples), and other major developers, these games are rock solid. I have had games not work upon release strictly due to bugs (or worse, patches that make games stop working - thank you JoWood). I think the problem is the expectations are higher for Matrix developers. I seriously have seen Grogs on this board that said it was a game-stopping bug that platoons can't be renamed or that certain armor-killing weapons were not "historically" accurate or inaccurate enough. [8|] They obviously never played pre-patch Daggerfall, where your character could literally go into a dungeon that the objective would not have been generated or that a touch of the space-bar could cause a CTD.
David, answer this if you want, but does Matrix headhunt for developers or do developers come to you? One of my dreams is to see my favorite smaller developer, Kerberos, hook up with my favorite niche publishing company, Matrix. Anyway, I just wondered how developers got under Matrix's wing.
SoM
David, answer this if you want, but does Matrix headhunt for developers or do developers come to you? One of my dreams is to see my favorite smaller developer, Kerberos, hook up with my favorite niche publishing company, Matrix. Anyway, I just wondered how developers got under Matrix's wing.
SoM
"Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet!"
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
(Kill them all. God will know his own.)
-- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
- Prince of Eckmühl
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RE: Question for Matrix Games
Hi David,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Obviously my role here is as a consumer of your products. I must say that some of them, as shipped, are far, far superior to others. But, I believe that anyone reading this, folks familiar with Matrix Games, is fully aware of that fact, so the words will strike many as an afterthought.
As a customer, though, I want to encourge you to do everything in your power to hold ALL of these developer's feet to the fire as regards the quality of the games that you ship to us on their behalf. You have a lot of power in this relationship, and I can't help but think that it hurts Matrix Games every time that a user uninstalls a (relatively) costly piece of software because it's such a joyless, mess, regardless of it's potential months or years down the line. Some of the folks that you lose, over what many will argue to be unfinished products, simply aren't coming back.
I have all sorts of pet theories as to why the market for the type of games that we're interested in has shrunk to a fraction of what it was fifteen years ago. Demographics and changing tastes in entertainment factor in, I know. But, I also believe that, for many gamers, the straw that broke the camel's back was really, really poor quality software, so much so that many simply wrote the computer arm of our hobby off. And while Matrix can't do anything about a graying population of gamers or the popularity of consoles, it can definitely do something about the quality of the products that carry its brand.
Please, let's raise the bar and demand more for your customers.
Again, respectfully,
PoE (aka ivanmoe)
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Obviously my role here is as a consumer of your products. I must say that some of them, as shipped, are far, far superior to others. But, I believe that anyone reading this, folks familiar with Matrix Games, is fully aware of that fact, so the words will strike many as an afterthought.
As a customer, though, I want to encourge you to do everything in your power to hold ALL of these developer's feet to the fire as regards the quality of the games that you ship to us on their behalf. You have a lot of power in this relationship, and I can't help but think that it hurts Matrix Games every time that a user uninstalls a (relatively) costly piece of software because it's such a joyless, mess, regardless of it's potential months or years down the line. Some of the folks that you lose, over what many will argue to be unfinished products, simply aren't coming back.
I have all sorts of pet theories as to why the market for the type of games that we're interested in has shrunk to a fraction of what it was fifteen years ago. Demographics and changing tastes in entertainment factor in, I know. But, I also believe that, for many gamers, the straw that broke the camel's back was really, really poor quality software, so much so that many simply wrote the computer arm of our hobby off. And while Matrix can't do anything about a graying population of gamers or the popularity of consoles, it can definitely do something about the quality of the products that carry its brand.
Please, let's raise the bar and demand more for your customers.
Again, respectfully,
PoE (aka ivanmoe)
Government is the opiate of the masses.
- David Heath
- Posts: 2529
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2000 5:00 pm
RE: Question for Matrix Games
ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
As far as bugs go, I seem to think that Matrix Games are relatively bug free (compared to many others). Even, and yes I really believe this, Crown of Glory and Forge of Freedom released with far fewer bugs than your average developer (and the World Civ staff is pretty responsive and good-natured). Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Matrix fanboy, I bought Titans of Steel and have been hooked ever since, but compared to Paradox (HoI and EU3 are great examples), and other major developers, these games are rock solid. I have had games not work upon release strictly due to bugs (or worse, patches that make games stop working - thank you JoWood). I think the problem is the expectations are higher for Matrix developers. I seriously have seen Grogs on this board that said it was a game-stopping bug that platoons can't be renamed or that certain armor-killing weapons were not "historically" accurate or inaccurate enough. [8|] They obviously never played pre-patch Daggerfall, where your character could literally go into a dungeon that the objective would not have been generated or that a touch of the space-bar could cause a CTD.
David, answer this if you want, but does Matrix headhunt for developers or do developers come to you? One of my dreams is to see my favorite smaller developer, Kerberos, hook up with my favorite niche publishing company, Matrix. Anyway, I just wondered how developers got under Matrix's wing.
SoM
Hi
We are always looking for new developers. If you have someone or know a developer looking for a publisher feel free to let us know.
David
- David Heath
- Posts: 2529
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2000 5:00 pm
RE: Question for Matrix Games
ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl
Hi David,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Obviously my role here is as a consumer of your products. I must say that some of them, as shipped, are far, far superior to others. But, I believe that anyone reading this, folks familiar with Matrix Games, is fully aware of that fact, so the words will strike many as an afterthought.
As a customer, though, I want to encourge you to do everything in your power to hold ALL of these developer's feet to the fire as regards the quality of the games that you ship to us on their behalf. You have a lot of power in this relationship, and I can't help but think that it hurts Matrix Games every time that a user uninstalls a (relatively) costly piece of software because it's such a joyless, mess, regardless of it's potential months or years down the line. Some of the folks that you lose, over what many will argue to be unfinished products, simply aren't coming back.
I have all sorts of pet theories as to why the market for the type of games that we're interested in has shrunk to a fraction of what it was fifteen years ago. Demographics and changing tastes in entertainment factor in, I know. But, I also believe that, for many gamers, the straw that broke the camel's back was really, really poor quality software, so much so that many simply wrote the computer arm of our hobby off. And while Matrix can't do anything about a graying population of gamers or the popularity of consoles, it can definitely do something about the quality of the products that carry its brand.
Please, let's raise the bar and demand more for your customers.
Again, respectfully,
PoE (aka ivanmoe)
Hi and thank you for your comments. We are always trying to do better and will keep the points you made in mind.
David