so overtime i've had to try and explain to game communities why devs cannot "just" implement things, or why something takes months and not a week. here is my non-exhaustive list:
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1. - making sure it works on all devices - ^ mobile devices in particular are a nightmare with all their different versions, updates, and operating systems - if being ported to different devices, needing to rework the art/UX - legal blockers (contract revisions, approvals, etc.)
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2. - abiding by appropriate media and platform policies - potentially breaking servers for millions of people - making sure it's actually fun - if doing stuff with external partners, fitting their timelines, events, specific requirements or additions to your game
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3. - trying to change one aspect of the game means the entire code needs to be reworked, as it wasn't initially done to handle ____ (e.g. a new platform, online multiplayer, certain DLC, etc.) - code just breaking completely somehow - unable to reproduce game breaking bugs
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4. - not all bugs can be found -- trying to replicate testing a game being played a million times on a multitude of devices is impossible - halfway through development, can realize one element of the design is completely borked and need to start over
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5. - sometimes can implement it technically, but would mean a shitty product and would rather wait - ensuring product is in line with the quality and values - if indie, 1 person can have several roles - team burn out (or prevention) - holidays, vacations, sick days, ppl quitting
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6. - players will actually hate it - "simple" design/art doesn't mean it's actually simple to make or implement - running out of funding money (or have no money in general) - waiting on approvals/replies on emails - stakeholder or publisher wants - interpersonal disputes
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7. - fighting diff priorities: new content updates, quality of life updates, safety and moderation needs, etc. - hiring programmers/artist doesn't scale production speed up as much as ppl tend to think - during beta testing, giant flaws are pointed out and need to be fixed - ???
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it's hard to explain why things break or take a long time without having to explain how coding works, or explaining the entire infrastructure of a studio!! but whew~
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Huge W. All of these are so critical to the process & largely misunderstood.
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