Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'? |
I'm glad to see that Aaron is still patching, but what else is he working on? Is there an SEVI in the works?
Aaron's near anonymity is bizarre to me. Clearly he can't be making a living solely on SE V these days... Does he have a primary and this is his hobby? Independently wealthy? Does he play SEV under a pseudonym?
Anyone have any clue on how 'active' SEV is this late in it's lifespan? I'm impressed that the core modders are still at work. But how many players are there these days?
Just curious for you thoughts.
Thanks,
Javaslinger
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
there is no "final" patch. 
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
capnq
PBW admin
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"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it /is/ a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
Well if i was Aaron, i wouldn't want people to know if i was reading them or not, just to avoid the flood of complaints, suggestions , and every issue that comes to mind. The fact that he's working on a patch is a good sign, maybe to get rdy for an expansion, or maybe he now has the time. Either way, we can only hope. If there is something up for the future of the serries, we'll find out eventually, but in order for it to sell big he will need to fix a few things with SEV, which could very well be what he's doing now. And it would be better to make a SEVI then an expansion to 5, becuase then more could be fixed and changed and it would a happy welcome to all of us. This game is on the verge of greatness for its style and type and in the end its up to him to decide if its worth the headaches or not. Maybe more of what we like about the serries should be posted instead of what we dont like......maybe thats the future of the Space Empires serries.

Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
For me SE5 was a disappointment. Thanks to mods it got better but I haven't played a game for months and months.
180 PBW users per day? So what does that mean in terms of active games? 50 to 60?
With SF having bought the franchise there may not even be a SE6 with those sort of numbers. Honestly I think it would do better as a flash or java-based webgame at this stage. Taking the franchise any further down the road begun with SE5 is folly. Trying to compete on graphics was always going to be a risky business and I think it hasn't worked.
When SE4 was big there wasn't much competition, now there's the Gal Civ series, Sword Of the Stars and to a lesser extent Sins.

Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
To each his/her own I guess. I am quite happy that there's an SEV and sincerely hope there will be an SEVI one day. I don't think PBW is a fair measure for the game's popularity. It is also a strictly community driven effort, so lacking the (financial) support of SF. As the publisher, I'd expect them to do a bit more effort there, simply because PBW adds a whole new dimension and much more fun to the game. If you haven't played the game any time after 1.58, I don't think you can properly appreciate it as it is today.
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See my PBW game stories on http://users.pandora.be/banzaiboy/sevpbw/.

Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
Gal Civ has no multiplayer, Sword of the star is bright comforter, Sins of the Solar Empire is great, but it is RTS, so I suppose there will be no competition among them
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
I asked about Aaron's making a living a while back. The answer I got was he was able to quit his day job during the heyday of SE4 and with that and the SE5 earnings he is doing alright. 
I wouldn't hold my breath over SE6 yet, from a business POV SE5 hasn't been milked dry yet. SF may also have other ideas (or none at all).

Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
I keep downloading and playing with each balance mod release but I just get bored with the slow A.I turn times and ships movement times after a few hours.I bloody hope the expansion gets the game back SEIV speeds.I am loving the Sword of the stars CE at the moment.

Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
The upside? Most of these game franchises have a loyal community which takes matters into its own hands to prolong the life of the products by modding the hell out of 'em. Still, it's beyond me why they wouldn't reissue SEV after the next patch and preferably with some bonus content to give it a once over by reviewers. How much effort would that be compared to potential extra revenue from renewed publicity?
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See my PBW game stories on http://users.pandora.be/banzaiboy/sevpbw/.
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
If they re-issue the game wouldn't that put Aaron out of the patch business? Hope it stays mod friendly. 
Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
How could that possibly put Aaron out of the patch business? He kept on patching SE4 Gold for years after it came out (35 versions worth of patches).




Re: Future of SE series and Aaron the 'mystery man'?
Well, I for one check the boards every day, but I stopped playing the game until the final patch comes out.
I think it has been made clear that Aaron does not come to these boards and does not read anything here.
I guess I am as stubborn as he is as I refuse to send anything to him since these are the official SEV boards and I have thought from the beginning that he should be here reading his users posts (at least the ones that pertain to making the game better).
I do hope he makes SEVI, but I also hope he allows others to work with him and produce a better product next go around.