It would appear from all the threads we are seeing lately, that some think walking a tightrope is an easy thing to do.
Let me explain.
When you are a game company like AE, that is working with software you did not create, and attempting something NOBODY had done before, believe me, your walking on a very thin tightrope.
There is the necessary evil of having to make money to keep going. So, you also have to drag out the leveling process to keep players playing, to make the money it takes to provide the game in the first place...
There is the problem of having to test your product using beta testers who will feel that you owe them something beyond the normal customer... ( even though they are not "customers" because they have never paid a dime )
You will have investors that will rightly want a return on their investment.
You will have players ( the real, paying ones ) who will have issues that you need to address.
There will be bugs in any software, and in something this complex, it will take a long time to weed them out. And as you introduce new content, new bugs will be created along with content. This will increase the issues your having from the things mentioned in the previous paragraphs.
Ok, now picture it this way...
80 feet up, the spotlight shows one man walking the tightrope with a long pole in his hands. On his shoulders, is another man, with a woman on each arm, on top of them is three children. The one in the middle is juggling. The one on the bottom is talking th ethe crowd below and is informing them of their progress, and what it takes to walk tightropes. ( this is what AE is doing now )
They have made it 3/4 of the way accross.
All I can say is... MAN! those guys are amazing!
[;)] Keep it up! your almost there!!!