Why does luthier even bother?

[ACE-OF-ACES]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

The fact is that a patch is usually indicative of progress; improving what is already tangible and playable. In this case, as far as development goes, the team are using this forum as their testing area, and with this in mind, we can't expect progress at any stages. Certainly we can expect to see the game expanded, but whether this expansion is of a high standard is questionable.
Take the landscape colours: Beta 1 was a brilliant step to a fairly accurate representation of England, and Beta 2 is completely reactionary. That is not progress. Is it a patch? The change carries the word patch, but it's not an improvement. And the word patch is usually metaphorical for fixing something.
The lighting has been 'patched', the sounds patched. The cockpits? Well, Beta 1 degraded perfect work, and Beta 2 has pretty much ruined it.

But wait! The word Beta solves everything No, it doesn't. Issues are expected with development, a patch won't always improve the game, a Beta patch even more so, and both may throw up unexpeted problems; but at no stage is it expected that a patch will undo brilliant work. Beta or no beta, the title for that kind of 'destruction' is irrelevent. And my post can be deconstructed as many times by Aces-of-Aces, his work will be irrelevent to the fundamentals of what a Beta is. If we are viewing the Beta as a testing area for changes, then yes, it could be applied here, but is that the case? Has Luthier stated that they are trying out some new colours, and asked us what we think? Has he asked people who actually live in Blighty to post their constructive opinions, or asked the experts among us like fruitbat? No, he hasn't. In this case, this is a change made. For someone who views the change as improvement, it may be viewed as a patch, but as someone who has flown over England many times, as far as terrain colours go this is a major step backwards. Not a patch. And don't even get me started about the cockpits. Is removing the beautiful reflections in the gauges patching the game? God no! Even at beta stage, one would expect a 'patch' to add to the game. Not take away!

Enough from me, just my 2P. We are testing Beta software, and there-in lies why some will post their truthful opinion: to see the game actually improved.

Add one more to the list