SEV How's it look?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

These ninja assasins? The two inch tall ones?

I'd get a refund.

[Kamog]

Well, does it look like SEV will still come out in February next year? Or will it be later in the year? I guess it's hard to say at this point, right?

[ZeroAdunn]

Kamog said:
Well, does it look like SEV will still come out in February next year? Or will it be later in the year? I guess it's hard to say at this point, right?

No, its very easy to say. For instance: "Why yes, it will be out nex february." Viola, easy as pie. Of course, I have no inside information, so I am just making things up.

[Thermodyne]

Baron Munchausen said:
There are some very big decisions still outstanding about possible changes

Assuming that this is accurate, this would be the biggest news here. And as such, should have been covered by the NDA’s.

[Renegade 13]

Kamog said:
Well, does it look like SEV will still come out in February next year? Or will it be later in the year? I guess it's hard to say at this point, right?

At this point, it is impossible to know. And since we don't know, we don't want to guess!

Likely we aren't supposed to say what we think of the game yet, since if someone for some strange reason said they thought the game was horrible, that could hurt sales based only on the opinion of one person. Now, that situation is very unlikely (come on, this is SE5 we're talking about!), but is still likely covered under the NDA. I'd have to dig my copy out to know for sure though...

[douglas]

Thermodyne said:

Assuming that this is accurate, this would be the biggest news here. And as such, should have been covered by the NDA’s.

The relevant quote from the NDA is "Customer agrees not to discuss flaws in the software with any party other than MALFADOR MACHINATIONS." That is the only reference in the entire document concerning not revealing anything to outsiders. I don't think a nebulous statement that (unidentified) parts of the game design haven't been finalized yet is covered by that. For an example of something else that statement doesn't cover, the version numbering is up to .50 now. Now, if I were to tell you that it crashes whenever I try to do X, that would be a violation of the NDA.

Edit: Hmm, technically, discussing bugs and design controversies even with other beta testers violates the NDA, since those other beta testers are not "MALFADOR MACHINATIONS".

[Atrocities]

Imperator Fyron said:
How one feels about a game is probably covered by the NDA. It results directly from the secrets of how the game cuurently is.

Correct

[zircher]

So, we can talk about the shining examples of beta testers working together, the successful string of updates, the joyful progress on building custom races, and Malfador's interaction with the suggestion process?
--
TAZ

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Well, someone might think one of those is a problem.

[douglas]

zircher said:
So, we can talk about the shining examples of beta testers working together, the successful string of updates, the joyful progress on building custom races, and Malfador's interaction with the suggestion process?
--
TAZ

Well, there's also something about Malfador being able to take away your right to beta test SEV without needing a reason. Ah, here it is: "Customer’s right to use Space Empires V under this agreement will terminate on the earlier of (i) written notice of termination of this agreement by MALFADOR MACHINATIONS or Customer or (ii) the date of general commercial availability of Space Empires V. MALFADOR MACHINATIONS shall have the right, at its sole discretion, to terminate this agreement with or without cause upon written notice to Customer." The topics you mentioned might not technically be forbidden by the NDA, and Aaron might not care, but if you start talking about things he'd rather not have become public, he can kick you out of the beta test whenever he feels like it. I'd say check with Aaron first before revealing anything that isn't trivially uninformative (like version numbers that are based entirely on how much time has passed since the beta started).