Roadmap please

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Drewster

Guest
You're kidding right?

I'm not saying that this comment doesn't have merrit, it does, but I don't know how you can apply it to the GM:S v2. Playtech publicly commented that v2.0 is under development and was to be released in 2015.

http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=655444

That announcement was made Feb 2015.

And now they are staying silent?
Lol Definitely not kidding. That was definitely the effect with me. I would have bought additional export module licenses or master collection before now but held off on the theory that I might want to buy the new 2.0 instead. I'm not saying that I'm in support of the silence, but rather that there are often good reasons for it.

On one hand, bugs are getting fixed, updates are being released, and many of the built-ins are getting moved to extensions -- just as we had been told would happen.

O the other hand, the big delay on 2.0 and no update on timeframe, along with no update on Apple TV support leaves a vacuum that gets filled with FUD -- and a speculation in the back of your head that there will be no 2.0 forthcoming, but rather that there will be minimal maintenance work for awhile on 1.x and then it will be left to die.
 
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Drewster

Guest
If that's the case, it's yet another reason to resent the PlayTech acquisition. Customers who feel as I do should make their voices heard.

That's just a fact of being a public company -- they have a legal obligation to make sure information is either disseminated to everyone or kept private -- which is why individual employees can't go around making off-hand announcements about future product changes in forums until the official announcement is made or the announcement has been blessed by those on-high.
 

csanyk

Member
That's just a fact of being a public company -- they have a legal obligation to make sure information is either disseminated to everyone or kept private -- which is why individual employees can't go around making off-hand announcements about future product changes in forums until the official announcement is made or the announcement has been blessed by those on-high.
Can you cite this legal obligation? I don't believe it exists, or else you're misunderstanding something about the nature of publicly traded companies.

Companies love to keep secrets. They love to control their employees so that they are all on-message. They don't want there to be an appearance of controversy, or of an offhandedly stated opinion being taken as gospel. This is all understandable. None of it prevents a company from maintaining a roadmap and publishing it. Some companies do it, and some don't.
 
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ConsolCWBY

Guest
Roadmaps?... I hate roadmaps! Just bring back the old A-Log/B-Log system and those who are interested can find out what's going on, who's burnt out, and which employee put the cat in the microwave again! (Sometimes the late 80s to mid 90s look better than ever!)
 
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Drewster

Guest
Can you cite this legal obligation? I don't believe it exists, or else you're misunderstanding something about the nature of publicly traded companies.

Companies love to keep secrets. They love to control their employees so that they are all on-message. They don't want there to be an appearance of controversy, or of an offhandedly stated opinion being taken as gospel. This is all understandable. None of it prevents a company from maintaining a roadmap and publishing it. Some companies do it, and some don't.
Not so much an obligation as a pragmatic avoidance of liability. The whole point I was trying to get to is the release of material information -- information that an investor would consider important -- is typically released via press releases, official announcements, and regulatory filings. When you have individual employees releasing information to individual people or groups of people, you don't end up with publicly known information, you end up with information known by a limited group of people. When limited groups of people have information about a public company that the general public doesn't, some of them may make share buy/sell decisions based on this information, which is insider trading and is illegal in pretty much every country. At that point the people leaking the information and the executives who were supposed to be controlling their employees can be personally liable for the losses other investors -- those who didn't know the information -- incurred.

I haven't ever said anything prevents them from publishing a roadmap. I've only been talking about a few reasons why random forum support staff might not be allowed to shoot their mouth off about the company's future plans.
 

csanyk

Member
Not so much an obligation as a pragmatic avoidance of liability. The whole point I was trying to get to is the release of material information -- information that an investor would consider important -- is typically released via press releases, official announcements, and regulatory filings. When you have individual employees releasing information to individual people or groups of people, you don't end up with publicly known information, you end up with information known by a limited group of people. When limited groups of people have information about a public company that the general public doesn't, some of them may make share buy/sell decisions based on this information, which is insider trading and is illegal in pretty much every country. At that point the people leaking the information and the executives who were supposed to be controlling their employees can be personally liable for the losses other investors -- those who didn't know the information -- incurred.

I haven't ever said anything prevents them from publishing a roadmap. I've only been talking about a few reasons why random forum support staff might not be allowed to shoot their mouth off about the company's future plans.
Well, ok but those are two completely different things, aren't they? With a roadmap, it's a curated document that is deliberately published by the consent of the stakeholders involved in developing the product. A random support staffer speaking off the cuff is not a controlled communication. Yet, it should be ever more obvious that an offhanded remark is even less of a promise or commitment than a public plan document.

Your point about insider trading has nothing to do with a company's controlled release of information in the form of a public roadmap document. Making this information public would avoid a problem of privileged information enabling an insider to make illegal trade deals. Insider information isn't normally the sort of information that would be in a roadmap anyway, it's things like earnings reports, or plans to sell or acquire a company, or merger announcements. The price of Play Tech stock isn't going to go up or down based on whether GameMaker developers know that feature foo is coming in the next point release, rather than two point releases from now.
 

Mike

nobody important
GMC Elder
Look guys, we've said we can't put out any details of the product, and this includes a roadmap. A Roadmap itself infers features that are already in the product, so if we put out a roadmap, we are listing new product features which we can't do.

So when we are ready, and allowed to, we will announce things, and if we can, do a roadmap, Until then.... sorry.
 

ShaunJS

Just Another Dev
GMC Elder
We are very presently aware of the community desire to know more about "what's going on" and what direction we're taking. My job is to make sure that your concerns are heard and known and this is definitely one that has been made abundantly clear to us on a number of occasions. I have raised the issue before on behalf of the community and will continue to do so and make sure that more information and transparency regarding our product plans is factored into our strategy.

While I can't announce that there are any immediate plans for a public product road map at this time, I can reassure you that these concerns are being heard and discussed.
 
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NPT

Guest
>_>

...what mike is trying to say is that we are very presently aware of the community desire to know more about "what's going on" and what direction we're taking. My job is to make sure that your concerns are heard and known and this is definitely one that has been made abundantly clear to us on a number of occasions. I have raised the issue before on behalf of the community and will continue to do so and make sure that more information and transparency regarding our product plans is factored into our strategy.

While I can't announce that there are any immediate plans for a public product road map at this time, I can reassure you that these concerns are being heard and discussed.
For many, it is not simply a desire, but rather a need. Equally if not more important, is the future of GM:S 1.0 with regard to support, support length, upgradability and compatibility.

I'm guessing many people who might be considering GMS simply can't consider it given these unknowns and how the retirement of GM8 was handled. I'm also guessing many current owners are reluctant to start significant projects with so many unknowns.

Your reassurance that these concerns are being heard and discussed really says nothing. The concerns being heard, discussed and addressed is the issue. It was YYGs/Playtech who created this mess by announcing GMS 2.0 would be out in 2015.

You need to address it.
 

ShaunJS

Just Another Dev
GMC Elder
For many, it is not simply a desire, but rather a need. Equally if not more important, is the future of GM:S 1.0 with regard to support, support length, upgradability and compatibility.

I'm guessing many people who might be considering GMS simply can't consider it given these unknowns and how the retirement of GM8 was handled. I'm also guessing many current owners are reluctant to start significant projects with so many unknowns.

Your reassurance that these concerns are being heard and discussed really says nothing. The concerns being heard, discussed and addressed is the issue. It was YYGs/Playtech who created this mess by announcing GMS 2.0 would be out in 2015.

You need to address it.
Sure, I agree.
 

csanyk

Member
@ShaunJS , @Mike: I'm glad to know that you guys understand your customers' desire and need to know what you're doing with the product and a rough timeline for when things may be coming, and that you wish that you could if your hands weren't tied. I'm sad to hear that you're not authorized to divulge this information, and I hope that changes. Whoever's responsible for making those decisions is doing a great disservice to your customers, and the sooner they come to realize that, and effect positive change, the better.
 
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Drewster

Guest
>_>

...what mike is trying to say is that we are very presently aware of the community desire to know more about "what's going on" and what direction we're taking. My job is to make sure that your concerns are heard and known and this is definitely one that has been made abundantly clear to us on a number of occasions. I have raised the issue before on behalf of the community and will continue to do so and make sure that more information and transparency regarding our product plans is factored into our strategy.

While I can't announce that there are any immediate plans for a public product road map at this time, I can reassure you that these concerns are being heard and discussed.

Thanks Shaun and Mike.
 

GMWolf

aka fel666
I remember people posting years ago that they were holding off until imminent GMS 2.0 was released.

Who knows where they are are what they are now using as their middleware?
I own GMStudio, but all i use it for now is making tutorials, jams, and have fun pushing what GML can do (mainly using arrays in ways they wernt meant to be used).

Unless gms2.0 has some major features im getting used to now, i dont think ill pick it up. my attention is moving elsewhere.
 

Mike

nobody important
GMC Elder
Okay folks. This is going no where. We've told you over and over why we can't do this. When we are ready and allowed to, we will. Continually going on and on about it won't change it. You want it, we want it. When we can, we will.

Closing.
 
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