Doing the Sums

So... GR is going to launch pretty soon and that'll take care of pretty well 2 issues in one hit.

There's a team of some 80 devs working on it right now and they've been nose to proverbial for well over a year now.

It's gonna give us 20 levels in 4 zones and 2 powersets - there's some great stuff in it- more than I've mentioned here.

But I got to thinking....

80 devs to bring that to us.

It was only when that recruitment drive came along that the team expanded. Before then the entire team has been consistently around 15 people since I started playing - exactly 4 years ago.

While we had 15 devs, we got at least 2 shiny issues every year - we got 2 zones with big makeovers, and we got an entirely brand new zone in Cimerora. We also got RV (just as I joined)

We have been given plenty of new power sets, and I'll remind you that dual blades and willpower came at the same time. We got Psy blast and MM, plus a whole bunch of proliferation - and some of the best content in the game in terms of TFs and SFs... ITF, LGTF, KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHN (it's gotta be typed like that) and Barracuda, not to mention LRSF and STF. Inventions... a whole bunch of stuff delivered over three years by 15 people.

Seems to me that 80 odd devs should have been able to blitz GR with their eyes closed.

But then we've only got one issue before I20. Issue Twenty!

I cannot imagine for one moment that'll be just a run of the mill (are there ever any such? ) Issue... so I17 might be the big paid expansion we've all been waiting way too long for but there'll be another even bigger one just around the corner.

Shall we start speculating about what'll be in it?

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

My plasma rifle powerset? *crosses fingers*

80 devs? Where did you get that number?

Issue 10 was nothing special.

If anything it's every 6th issue that is "special".

I6: CoV.

I12: Midnighters.

I18: Going Rogue.

For one all of the Devs are not working on one single Issue or GR. There is a team working on GR, and a separate team working on I17, just as there was on I16.

Now, some of them may be working on aspects of both the Issues and GR, but they are not all confined to one issue of the game.

And they were growing the team just shortly after NCSoft acquired the franchise from Cryptic. Matter of fact, during HeroCon '08 They had announced that they were working on something that was going to knock out socks off, which now is obviously GR.

With the info they've released on what's in GR and beyond, I certain that with the team working on I17, and probably a large team on GR, it's not stretch that there is a team working on I19 already (and I18 if there will be one separate form from GR.)

Also, Going Rouge is the paid expansion (not I17.)

I refer you to Brooks' Law.

I might be missing something, but was was so incredibly wonderful about I12? Yeah, Cimerora's cool, and yeah, the ITF is great fun/lewt/what have you, and yeah, the Midnight Club's a neat zone. VEATs are thoroughly awesome, and I'm aware that they threw in some new tech.

So, good issue, yes, but equal to the amount of stuff added from a paid issue? I'm not so sure.

Preemptive counter-argument: Comparing an issue to expansion is a poor comparison, true, but the metric of 'great issues come every six' only works if I6 is, in fact, treated as part of the expansion. Why? 'Cause all I6 added on its own ED and PvP zones. And some number tweaking, but the thrust of my point is ED was horrible, and nobody who's anybody PvP's, so I6 clearly needs all the great things CoV added to fall into line.

Note on the preemptive counter-argument: The comments about ED and PvP are completely facetious. I have nothing but respect for dedicated PvPers, and am perfectly aware that ED laid the groundworks for some important upgrades we received later. Like inventions.