Being that it is the 27th, I would like to see some realistic release dates. Let's review the changes that have yet to have been released:

ESP upgrades
Death Penalties
Creatures Spell Fixes
Elanthian Gems Document
Spell Improvements - 118, 115
New Spells - 730, 317, Empathic Assault
Improved Travel Systems
Combat Maneuver: Coup de Grace
(If I missed any, or if any of these have been released, my apologies.)

Now as you can see, this list is quite extensive. Unless we are going to have a jam packed last few days, I highly doubt that these changes will all be released. The way I see it, Simutronics has two very large flaws. One, the meeting of scheduled release dates. (This being self explanatory, I won't elaborate.) And two, the failure to spend enough time on fine tuning and bug fixing their releases.

We've all seen so many changes, where an item is released, has various noteable bugs... Yet isn't touched again for a year. Why? Is that an unreasonable question to ask? The way I see it, they are trying to rush and release to much at one time. But if this situation is the case, where does quality go? Something simple off the top of my head as an example: Sorcerous Illusions. Tons of bugs and typos from the start, yet only a few have been touched.

I think Simutronics needs to change their whole design and release philosophy. I know that they are trying to release so much at once to please the players. They want an ever expanding and improving game. I don't blame them for this. But we need to spend the time to design things right.

Here would be my suggestion: Every three or four months, release a game priority poll. Simutronics picks the items, whether it be spell improvements, roleplay improvements, etc. In this manner, they retain some control and could only put in what they see as priorities. Then let the players vote so that we feel involved. Take the top two or three items, and over the next four months, release three or four changes. Why only three or four? Because we are not just throwing them out and moving on. Spend the last month bug fixing. Seriously overseeing and fixing anything that is reported.

Every four months, another poll, another few quality releases. But at this point, I say stop all new releases. We could spend a good six months or more doing nothing but bug fixes and typo corrections. Before we even consider our future releases, we need to make sure that our current game functions are working properly. I believe that every game master should have a minimum amount of time per month that they are expected to work on nothing but their bug and typo lists. Perhaps this is all not feasible... Hell, I'll throw in my help. I know nothing about coding. You want the help, I'll give you four hours a week doing nothing but helping with typos and bugs. All I'm saying, is that I feel Simutronics needs to rethink their design philosophy.

So in the end, what do I think is a realistic release date? I say, don't release 'em. Let's fix what we have. When that's all well and good, we can happily look forward to the future.

Rontuu / Chris