Games being released without meeting BGA's own standards

[__X__]

This has been bugging me for a long time. As a reviewer, one of the guidelines to move a game out of Alpha is this:

☐ There are tooltips on all icons and elements to explain what they are;

And yet, I constantly see games moving to full release that have not met this supposedly basic requirement for moving out of Alpha.

I'm going to pick on the recently released Sky Team as an example (but bear in mind, this is only an example, one of many, many, many games that reach full release without meeting that requirement.)

In Sky Team, there are at least three elements lacking tooltips:

• the special ability cards (which could simply be an enlargement on hover)
• the Traffic icon(s)
• the turn indicator

Not only should these elements have tooltips (for smaller screens and displays), but it is supposedly a requirement for the game to be moved out of Alpha.

Again, this game is hardly the only one to have this issue and make it to full release. But "tooltips on all icons and elements" is a basic requirement of game development here on BGA and it is routinely ignored. Developers and reviewers need to be going through their checklists and catching things like this before the games even make Beta, much less full release.

[ufm]

In fact, the publisher decides whether to publish the game or not in the current status. There were and are even worse games
Also, nobody has reported yet that those elements lack tooltips: https://boardgamearena.com/bugs?game=1879

...If anything is not OK on this list, you should create a bug or suggestion report to notify the developer about it...

[tchobello]

Having a look at Sky Team example, I see the dev has fixed 10 bugs/suggestions in the last 3 days and more than 30 in the last 3 weeks.

Yeah, he has forgotten to add 3 tooltips, big deal...

[__X__]

There were and are even worse games

To be sure. Just using the most recently released game as an example, as I said.

Having a look at Sky Team example, I see the dev has fixed 10 bugs/suggestions in the last 3 days and more than 30 in the last 3 weeks.

Yeah, he has forgotten to add 3 tooltips, big deal...

Is there a communication issue here tchobello? I repeatedly stated I was using Sky Team as an example. Is that point not clear?

The point of my post, which I thought was already explicitly stated twice, is that, per BGA guidelines for reviewers and developers, is that games are not supposed to move out of Alpha without this basic feature.

This isn't about Sky Team, per se, It's about a key element of the development process being routinely ignored. Is it a big deal? You tell me: either the development and reviewer guidelines need to be rewritten, or they should be followed. If those standards don't matter, then I guess it is not a big deal., a small deal, or any deal at all.

[RicardoRix]

Tooltips are not a necessity.
In fact BGA guidelines advise to use them where considered appropriate.

I believe the points being made above are to suggest that there are bigger fish to fry. The developer is active and taking suggestions and implementing them. That's pretty sweet. Not to mention bringing the game this far to start with which is a great achievement in itself. Game developers are doing this in their spare time. Be lenient when it's appropriate. BGA (and players) want more games, they are less fussy about perfection.

[Meeplelowda]

I believe the points being made above are to suggest that there are bigger fish to fry.

But, but, but....it's a rule. A RULE! All civilization will collapse if games are allowed to flagrantly flout this fundamental requirement.

[GeraldineMerida]

And while it's great that the Sky Team team has been so responsive, shouldn't at least most of those recently-fixed bugs have been caught at the alpha/beta stage?

Like some other posters here, I'm happy to trade a few glitches for newness sometimes (and am an alpha reviewer), but I think if BGA is going to bother to divide games into 3 levels of 'polishedness', those levels should mean something. When a game has made it to full release, players have a right to expect hassle-free interaction with the interface.

[Jellby]

Some games seem to be developed in "secret", and totally skip the beta and maybe alpha stage. I don't know if Sky Team was one of them.

[ufm]

Some games seem to be developed in "secret", and totally skip the beta and maybe alpha stage. I don't know if Sky Team was one of them.

Such cases are extremely rare and Sky Team is definitely not one of them.

[cigma]

[*] the special ability cards (which could simply be an enlargement on hover)

I don't agree, because enlargement on hover won't help you anything if you don't speak english. Please don't forget there are a lot of other languages spoken here on BGA! Having tooltips which can be translated is crucial. Without them non-english speakers will not have full access to the game.