Announcement: Franchise Hockey Manager Release Date, Preordering, and Beta

[Holden Caulfield]

This is great! So excited.

It was just a week ago I mentioned that it might be best to ensure longterm sales to push it to August/September, but the fact that you can buy a BETA earlier is a fantastic solution to satiate us diehards that are dying for this game.

Love it. Fantastic news, thanks a lot for all your hard work to all the developers!

[croatian]

it will be long waiting till septmeber, but as I said already better to wait longer but get really good game

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

JeffR - Glad to have you on the team.

What kind of ratings scales will there be?

Such as 2-8, 1-10, 1-20, 20-80, 1-100?

Tks

1-20 for almost everything related to players and staff (although, as in OOTP, it's possible to exceed 20 for certain attributes that 'break the scale', e.g. Gretzky's playmaking skills.)

[no way]

So going to preorder... Thank you so much for info

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by Jabez54

I know this is too early to ask, but will there be options to turn off finances and other options if elect to do so ...

There will, although I can't be too specific about the exact extent of those right now - the financial model is something that's going to get a lot of work in the next month and during the beta, so I can't say for certain what is and isn't going to be adjustable.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by drewst18

3. Edit after reading.... I am starting to think beta comes out March 4th?

Correct, that'll be the first day you can order and be able to download and play the beta.

[erikthered]

Awesome. Awesome to the max.

Now the hard part is going to be deciding whether I should pre-order or wait until full release. Pre-ordering let's me get a chance to play earlier and saves me money, but will lack features until full-release, at which time I'd probably have to start a new game. Waiting until full release means I'll have to wait longer and pay more, but the game should be more complete, and that ten extra dollars may help contribute to financial stability of the project and support future releases.

Hmm...

[AESP_pres]

First thanks for the update

Second, since the pre-orderers will be a large scale beta-test team can we expect a procedure to report the bug, crash, etc. to the programming team. Something like a standard form to list the how/what/when/where and a dedicated space on the server to upload the necessary files in case they are needed, that would make more sense than posting that on the forum.

[CeeBee]

I'm Ready!

[Stinson]

I know you already went over what to expect from the beta, but I'm gonna do it again:

"I emphasize the word Beta."

"There will be bugs."

"missing features"

"The database will not be [...] polished"

"The database will [...] be missing some playable leagues"

"Your saved games will become obsolete as newer versions of the Beta are released."

"In short, all the annoying things..."

"...a pre-release game"

I just figured I draw that out as much as possible. I've been playing the rFactor 2 beta for a while, and despite ISI's efforts to warn potential customers that they're buying a beta, there were still plenty of numb-nuts that think that because they spent money, then they must be getting a finished product.

Anyway, this is awesome news. Not only will the game get proper development time, but it'll also get six months of feedback from the fans themselves. I've got my $29.99 ready for March 4th

[batdad]

Great news. So looking forward to getting in trouble from the Mrs for allowing this to suck up all my time. At least all the time that I am not at a baseball field, or actual hockey rink.

I am leaning towards buying the beta, if only because I am cheap and may save $10 or so out of it. But I like trying different games within the game, so am not that concerned with having to restart new games all the time.

And finally since I know their will be bugs, I can live with the Leafs or Canucks winning the Cup or the Flyers having a decent goalie.

I may even be able to live with Ovechkin being rated as a top line guy instead of like his linemates Beagle and Crabb.


LOL Stinson. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO TRUE.

THERE WILL BE BUGS should be in all of our sig lines.

[drewst18]

Originally Posted by Stinson

I know you already went over what to expect from the beta, but I'm gonna do it again:
"I emphasize the word Beta."
"There will be bugs."
"missing features"
"The database will not be [...] polished"
"The database will [...] be missing some playable leagues"
"Your saved games will become obsolete as newer versions of the Beta are released."
"In short, all the annoying things..."
"...a pre-release game"

I second this. Yes I quoted it just so everyone understands...

I am extremely excited. I want to give my money now!

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by AESP_pres

First thanks for the update

Second, since the pre-orderers will be a large scale beta-test team can we expect a procedure to report the bug, crash, etc. to the programming team. Something like a standard form to list the how/what/when/where and a dedicated space on the server to upload the necessary files in case they are needed, that would make more sense than posting that on the forum.

We'll be adding a beta testing forum for that sort of thing, broken down into several different subforums for different aspects of the game. We do have a project management system for tracking bugs, but I don't think large-scale access to it would work that well, so I'll probably wind up moving documented bug reports from the beta forum over to it.

[Empach]

Well I'll be honest I'm disappointed, was really excited about playing this soon, however, I totally understand your decision and support it. I'm sure it's for the best.

My expectations for the early 2013 version were pretty modest, I'll be expecting a little more with the new release date, but it sounds like you guys already got that under control.

Definitely will be pre-ordering! Can't wait it's going to be great!

Welcome to the team JeffR! And thanks for all the info and screen shots!

[drewst18]

Originally Posted by Empach

Well I'll be honest I'm disappointed, was really excited about playing this soon, however, I totally understand your decision and support it. I'm sure it's for the best.

My expectations for the early 2013 version were pretty modest, I'll be expecting a little more with the new release date, but it sounds like you guys already got that under control.

Definitely will be pre-ordering! Can't wait it's going to be great!

Welcome to the team JeffR! And thanks for all the info and screen shots!

Think of it as March 4 as version 1 for $30 and you get a free version 2 in September...This is win win for consumer. We get to play a smaller version while we wait for the version with International and League Wizard.

[geckon]

Thanks a lot for this announcement. I'm very happy to hear new information.

[dave1927p]

Originally Posted by Stinson

I know you already went over what to expect from the beta, but I'm gonna do it again:

"I emphasize the word Beta."

"There will be bugs."

"missing features"

"The database will not be [...] polished"

"The database will [...] be missing some playable leagues"

"Your saved games will become obsolete as newer versions of the Beta are released."

"In short, all the annoying things..."

"...a pre-release game"

I just figured I draw that out as much as possible. I've been playing the rFactor 2 beta for a while, and despite ISI's efforts to warn potential customers that they're buying a beta, there were still plenty of numb-nuts that think that because they spent money, then they must be getting a finished product.

Anyway, this is awesome news. Not only will the game get proper development time, but it'll also get six months of feedback from the fans themselves. I've got my $29.99 ready for March 4th

Yes and with the game 7 months away from the release i'd expect lots of bugs. But let's face it, that will still be the case here. People will be disappointed in major bugs, that's just the nature of open beta testing. The reviewers better wait.

[Habsfan18]

Just pre-ordered OOTP 14, and looking forward to playing FHM March 4th, and then of course September 3rd.

[catcherjul]

No problem with the game releasing september 3rd!! I like the fact that we can have beta acess if we pre-order so it will make waiting time easier

Great job guys and I'm sure we'll have a wonderfull game to play next september!

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by JeffR

1-20 for almost everything related to players and staff (although, as in OOTP, it's possible to exceed 20 for certain attributes that 'break the scale', e.g. Gretzky's playmaking skills.)

So just the one option then?

If so, any chance we may see more further down the road? Sort of like OOTP, giving the user a choice.