http://www.mane6.com/2012/08/open-letter.html It would seem that a QA member of Mane6's roster has leaked an early alpha release of Fighting is Magic, and just before a major content update, even. As a result, Mane6 has shut down their Bite Sized Updates and completely closed down their QA (Quality Assurance) group and gone strictly into a closed, internal development. That really sucks. They would've just given us a beta the first time they felt it was ready for one. You can still download the leak as they decided not to take it down. I've heard it's incredibly buggy, though. I, for one, will wait for a more finished, intended version of the game. I'm going to check out the music, though. :3 Additional Info (8/3/12): http://www.mane6.com/2012/08/leakwatch-day-two-calming.html It's long, and they could've made that much shorter. lol Anyway, it's understandable. I like how they dropped a few hints as to what's to come. Only "67%" of the characters planned for release are complete. If that's not referring to how close all 6 of them are to completion as a whole, then they might be planning to have more than the Mane 6 complete by launch.
I just hope they finish the game before the brony community starts to fade. I've been following Mane6 since 2 weeks after becoming a brony.
Reportedly they also fired all of the testers because nobody would come clean. I would really have hated to be a tester and lose that opportunity just because of one guy.
I can understand why they did that, but damn, I'd be so angry... whoever did do that may become quite vilified in the community if they're ever found out. I'd also like to take this chance to say ANYONE found posting a link to a download of the leaked alpha will have the post deleted and a temporary stay on the moon.
Wow, that's awful. I can understand why the devs would banish everyone though. One rotten apple destroys the whole barrel and all the other apples' dreams....I think that's how the saying goes.
That sucks, hope this will not delay the release. Still...Must...resist...temptation...must...not...download...leak.
I'm not downloading. The game looks like it is going to be good, but if I was any of the innocent members of staff working on that project, I would be fuming. Trust is important. So, it is annoying when broken. Therefore, I will wait for the PROPER release, not the one which meant the QA unit was closed.
Getting rid of everyone was the only choice. I'm sure they feel bad about doing it, but it had to be done. I forgot this game was even being made.
I can't believe this! I have multiple choice words for the person who gave out the game. I'll keep them to myself because they would most likely get me banned four times over from this site.
I've the leak. Only because Mane6 said they weren't going to try taking it down. I would still like to see updates, and such, and maybe even a beta, I can understand that they nerfed their whole QA team. It just seems like they're kind of butthurt by deciding not to release update info and a late beta.
seems like someone couldn't put up with the pressure. I'll wait for Beta, I think it's least I can do to support mane6.
Even if that one guy would have come clean, the testing area would have been desolved and sent into closed testing anyways. Once one person breaks the agreement, you have to assume someone else on the team will, too.
This may have been an underhanded, but accidentally out of control attempt at adding more hype for the game. Game companies leak betas and early footage, even entire games, early just to increase hype. While it's clear this was not Mane6's intent, it could also have been a well meant leak by one of those on the QA team.
While releasing everyone sucks, I do understand why they did it. Does anyone have a clue when the game will be released proper? It's been in development for quite a while.
One the devs commented on Reddit that the game isn't 50% complete. They might've been exaggerating a bit, though. From what I understand, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are the only characters who are very far from completion. I think they're still tweaking Pinkie Pie, but afaik, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight are just in the balancing phase.
*Added to the first post. Additional Info (8/3/12): http://www.mane6.com/2012/08/leakwatch-day-two-calming.html It's long, and they could've made that much shorter. lol Anyway, it's understandable. I like how they dropped a few hints as to what's to come. Only "67%" of the characters planned for release are complete. If that's not referring to how close all 6 of them are to completion as a whole, then they might be planning to have more than the Mane 6 complete by launch.