Dungeoneer
First Post
I too work in software development as a programmer. And I am astonished by the suggestion that end users are not qualified to criticize the program they are using.
If anything it's developers, QA testers and other people close to the project who are not qualified. IT people tend to give program development some slack, since they know it is a difficult process. End users just know whether or not the software helps them do what they want to do.
Isn't that the whole point?
OH, I know, software development is hard. There's so much that can go wrong at every level, from requirements to writing code to testing to project mismanagement and impossible deadlines.
You'll get no argument from me: creating functional, useful, easy-to-use software that works 99% of the time is difficult job.
But you know what? If you're involved in software development, that is your damn job. So quit making excuses and make it happen.
WotC is a professional company writing professional software that will be utilized by tens of thousands of users. If they don't think that they are up to that challenge, they need to outsource it to somebody who is.
In the meantime, when Earl from Kentucky can't import his houseruled Dark Sun character into the new CB without crashing, he has a right to be cheesed off. He is, after all, the customer who is paying for this service. He doesn't have to know how it works, or how hard it is to make it work. He just has to know that it does work for what he wants to do.
And as of today, Earl from Kentucky knows that the new CB doesn't work.
On a side note: I've been trying, and failing, to think of another situation where a company basically switched off its old program virtually without notice two weeks before launching version 2.0. It's like Microsoft telling Windows 7 users "No more updates are forthcoming, as we are developing Windows 8, which you will be required to switch to at the end of the month!"
Really bizarre.
I hear all these defenses along the lines of "it was too hard to implement the new stuff in the old CB!" Really? Harder than developing entirely new software? Seriously.
Anyway, the argument rings even more hollow when I've got most of Dark Sun, including themes, up and running in my old skool CB right. now.
If anything it's developers, QA testers and other people close to the project who are not qualified. IT people tend to give program development some slack, since they know it is a difficult process. End users just know whether or not the software helps them do what they want to do.
Isn't that the whole point?
OH, I know, software development is hard. There's so much that can go wrong at every level, from requirements to writing code to testing to project mismanagement and impossible deadlines.
You'll get no argument from me: creating functional, useful, easy-to-use software that works 99% of the time is difficult job.
But you know what? If you're involved in software development, that is your damn job. So quit making excuses and make it happen.
WotC is a professional company writing professional software that will be utilized by tens of thousands of users. If they don't think that they are up to that challenge, they need to outsource it to somebody who is.
In the meantime, when Earl from Kentucky can't import his houseruled Dark Sun character into the new CB without crashing, he has a right to be cheesed off. He is, after all, the customer who is paying for this service. He doesn't have to know how it works, or how hard it is to make it work. He just has to know that it does work for what he wants to do.
And as of today, Earl from Kentucky knows that the new CB doesn't work.
On a side note: I've been trying, and failing, to think of another situation where a company basically switched off its old program virtually without notice two weeks before launching version 2.0. It's like Microsoft telling Windows 7 users "No more updates are forthcoming, as we are developing Windows 8, which you will be required to switch to at the end of the month!"
Really bizarre.
I hear all these defenses along the lines of "it was too hard to implement the new stuff in the old CB!" Really? Harder than developing entirely new software? Seriously.
Anyway, the argument rings even more hollow when I've got most of Dark Sun, including themes, up and running in my old skool CB right. now.
