Quote Originally Posted by Sebazy View Post
That's just not how MMO development works =(

It takes a long time to brainstorm up a cloud and basic design brief

It then takes a long time to integrate those ideas into a somewhat cohesive and functioning whole

It then takes a long time to tune that whole into something that functions and isn't going to faceplant/break the game

It then takes a long time to validate that whole and make sure the designer isn't being blinded by their own impressions

It then takes a long time to QA and bug fix said whole

It then takes a long time to adjust and correct things based on QA feedback

It then takes a long time to QA yet again etcetc. I could go on.

MMOs take utterly insane amounts of time to develop and evolve. Suggesting that 40 days is 'plenty of time' is wildly removed from reality sir. Vanilla WoW took ~4-5 years, Everquest took 3 years, FFXIV 1.0 took ~5-6 years, FFXIV 3.0 took ~3 years, BnS took ~5 years, SWTOR took ~5 years, SWG took at least 3 years and so forth. Despite all that time in the oven, how many MMOs can you look at on release that felt complete right out of the gate?

And this is before I cover the absolute horror story that is creative block and the other human factors of grinding so much out of such a small team over a long period of time.

Ps, keep in mind that I used to work for Bullfrog/EA etc. Been there, done that etc. This isn't conjecture on my part.
I get it's "not that simple", but you're making too much of it too.
They have baselines that define most of it :
-Jobs ax X level should have ~Y potency for Z role
-Jobs for X expansion should get ~4 new toys

As for the Q/A, not breaking the game and "functioning as a whole", they most likely skimp on theses steps