It's been months since NetDevil announced that they would be pushing back the release date of Jumpgate Evolution - but will it be worth the wait?

For the past few years in MMO development, one of the biggest challenges that has faced new developers has been the awkward issue of judging the proper time to release an MMORPG-on time (or even early!) versus spending more of that time (and money) to polish their game up to even higher standards.

About four months ago, I wrote an editorial praising two companies that heeded the warning of MMORPG ghosts (I'm looking at you Warhammer!) from the past, and chose to push their release dates back in order to make sure that they were giving their projects a little more time to grow. One of those companies was Cryptic, and their project was Champions Online-a game which, to their credit, did improve by leaps and bounds over the few extra months they decided to give it. This extra time, however, couldn't save the developers from having to make significant changes (including a significant increase to the difficulty of the game) a few weeks after launch, and, even now, players are still scrambling to find enough questing content in the upper levelling bracket to reach the level cap.

The other company that I praised was NetDevil, the creators of Jumpgate Evolution, and the guys who are still hard at work polishing and improving their game with no regard for the problematic beast they call the deadline (their scheduled release date is currently unknown, but Q1 2010 is a good guess). Curious as to the current state of this sci-fi MMORPG, we here at ZAM decided to call Scott Brown, CEO of NetDevil, to find out if Jumpgate Evolution will be one of the few MMORPGs to really experience that mythical "smooth launch" status.

One of the first questions that always comes to my mind when a deadline has been pushed back lies in the difficulty of making such a decision. As any writer will tell you, there is a lot of guilt that arises when one needs to request an extended deadline, but the decision is rarely a difficult one if the creators believe that the extension will produce more quality work. Scott believes the same thing when he notes that pushing back the release date of Jumpgate Evolution was both an easy and difficult decision:

It was easy because the game was not great in all aspects, and while parts of the game are amazing, at least I think so, other parts still needed to get better. It was difficult because money does not grow on trees and making sure that taking more time meant better returns is always a hard discussion. Thankfully everyone involved in Jumpgate Evolution believes in the game and gives us the support to ensure that we are going to have something awesome when we release. Not only have we been given more time but we have also continued to add staff which is already showing great results.

It's quite rare to hear a company CEO get past the media double-talk that plagues the industry, especially when admitting that his game is "not great in all aspects." Of course, the team is working double-time to make sure that everything is beyond expectation, and Scott does mention that they are quite happy with the graphics engine, network code, performance of the game and the multi-stage missions that they've recently developed in lieu of the old "read a paragraph, do something and read a paragraph" system we're familiar with. In their current stage of development, he notes that NetDevil is really focused upon "PvP balance and combat depth, meaning more types of weapons, damage types, additional combat mechanics and a wider variety in AI ship manoeuvres," as well as adding more content (maps, ships, missions and weapons). In other words, it sounds like Jumpgate has a solid development platform already set down, and now it's a matter of making sure that they stuff it with enough good things to keep users busy.

When I asked Scott about how much the development cycles of other MMORPGs (i.e.; World of Warcraft or EVE Online) affect the development of Jumpgate Evolution, Scott did note that while they do "think" of other MMOs, they rarely focus on them when developing their own game. In reality, what's setting NetDevil's fledgling MMO back is the fact that they're actually listening to their beta tester's feedback and making sure that their players aren't simply wasting their breath. When asked if the 'vision' of Jumpgate Evolution has ever been compromised in favour of a speedier release, Scott had this to say:

The "vision" has never changed and we are still staying true to where we began. However, it's all in the details and we have changed a lot based on feedback both from our Friends and Family testing, specifically the mission system changes and AI, as well as our forums in regards to increasing the role of PvP even more, and the ability for players to make a real difference in the world.

Of course, even with impressive words like this, it's always quite scary to hear of an MMO company pushing release dates back, because every time a game is pushed back, this can definitely create strain for the financial backers of the company. In addition to this, there's always the fear that too many delays will simply result in a Duke Nukem syndrome, where players around the world will be wondering if Jumpgate Evolution is simply another vapourware in the making.

While Scott notes that taking too long is always dangerous because "developers can lose passion and the fans and media can always give up on the project," when we look back to previous examples of companies who decided to "launch and patch" to meet deadlines, none of them have become the smashing successes that they hoped for. Other games that have had smooth launches, or were tested in foreign countries first, and then ported over smoothly, can still boast respectable numbers, like EVE Online (despite having a vertical learning curve), Final Fantasy XI and, most recently, Aion.

All in all, while some fans may be worried about the delayed development schedule of Jumpgate Evolution, one thing that is truly keeping my interest sparked lies in knowing that these guys truly believe they can deliver on their promises with just a little more time. Scott probably says it best himself:

I think there is only one way to have success with an MMO and that's to launch a great game day one. The saying "you can only launch once" is as true as ever, especially with the higher numbers of MMOs launching now than when NetDevil started making MMOs 12 years ago.
 
While great press is certainly a factor of being a successful game, nothing will kill you faster than launching too early.

Well Scott, I'm pretty sure the press and fans alike will remain positive if that really is the mentality that's going into the development of Jumpgate Evolution. If so… we can wait!

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom
Editor
ZAM.com