Corona Engineering gone all wrong

General (non-technical) Off-Topic
#1

To understand this post you need to read this blog first:
Corona Engineering: Next release and more
http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2012/05/15/corona-engineering-next-release-and-more/
Posted on May 15, 2012. Written by  Walter Luh (CTO of Corona)

“Next week, we’re going to put a static, preliminary version of our roadmap in our forums. It will be open to your feedback. Soon after that, we’ll be taking this one step further and provide a way for you to vote on the features you think are important. We’re still working out the details but something along the lines of subscribers being able to select the top 3 features they want the most.”

I have totally lost faith in Corona Labs. This blog, written by the CTO or COO or whatever was posted on May 15th last YEAR.

Eight months later, not a week, but EIGHT MONTHS later, the new CEO finally puts up the feedback today, even though various features promised in that time still have to be completed but now we have to VOTE for promised features to ever even see the light of day!

What ever happened to a 2 week on/2 week off engineering cycle? Or Mac apps? Or an official Level Editor? Yes there are other level editors as people keep pointing out when it comes up, but why promise then never deliver? Why iAds with it’s terrible fill rate when AdMob has been requested for over a YEAR and iAds is dying out?

I am a pro subscriber (on an account I can apparently no longer post to the forum on? Was I blocked? I used to be able to post so it isn’t your email confirmation problem so many people seem to run into) and I have to say my licence was the worst $349 I have ever spent.

I’m up for renewal in April and needless to say I will NOT be renewing. [import]uid: 216526 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 335179[/import]

#2

Am I the only one that suspects people at Lanica are behind all these posts? These cry-baby rants are getting annoying. Go learn Java, Objective-C, and Android SDK if you don’t like Corona. [import]uid: 132483 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139834[/import]

#3

clarkrichards72,

Thanks for the post. Let me address some of your concerns as clearly as possible:

>I have totally lost faith in Corona Labs. This blog, written by the CTO or COO or whatever was posted
>on May 15th last YEAR.
>Eight months later, not a week, but EIGHT MONTHS later, the new CEO finally puts up the feedback
>today, even though various features promised in that time still have to be completed but now we have
>to VOTE for promised features to ever even see the light of day!
>What ever happened to a 2 week on/2 week off engineering cycle? Or Mac apps?

You definitely raise some good questions and I’ll be the first to admit it.
So, here is a no BS answer: last year, a bit before when that blog post was put up, we realized our engineering efforts had some real issues and that we needed to get MUCH better. So we started trying different things (e.g., 2/2 cycle). Some things worked and others didn’t. Perhaps we should not have been as open with these changes, but that’s another matter entirely.
Also, in the second half of the year, we got hit with a veritable avalanche of new OSs/devices that made it tougher to focus on re-engineering and new features and forced us to focus on making sure we kept our cross-platform promise. The good news is that, in the meantime, we started growing the team and also brought on a new VP of Engineering. Happily these efforts are now putting us in a much better position that we have been in years. Our daily builds are of much higher quality, we are steadily squashing bugs and we are/will be putting out great new features.
>Or an official Level Editor? Yes there are other level editors as people keep pointing out when it comes
>up, but why promise then never deliver?

Indeed. Which is why, for some time now, we have been very clear about the fact that we have de-prioritized Levels for now. The work that had been done was not up to snuff and we also decided that it would be better for everyone to emphasize the core platform. As you yourself mention, there are good alternatives put out by the community. For now, we don’t need to re-invent the wheel.
Also - we are now very careful about what we promise and we will strive to over-deliver.
>Why iAds with it’s terrible fill rate when AdMob has been requested for over a YEAR and iAds is dying
>out?

This is a somewhat funny question since people were always asking for both iAds and Admob. We would always ask why people wanted iAds since it was well known that the fill rate was low. But people wanted it. So we have now delivered it.
Admob is coming. I don’t have a date, but it will make it in.
>I am a pro subscriber (on an account I can apparently no longer post to the forum on? Was I blocked?

Finally, I can’t think of a single reason why we would block you. I think the easiest thing to do here would be for you to send us an email and ask why you are not be able to post. We’d be happy to take a look. To make it even easier, feel free to email me directly (davidATcoronalabs). I’ll be happy to get you up and posting with your main account asap.

I am sorry to hear that you won’t be renewing. I fear it may not be the best decision, but I respect it. All I can say is that we are more excited now than we have been in a while and there is some great stuff coming. I hope that once you see all this you’ll end up coming back eventually.

Thanks,

David

[import]uid: 10668 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139841[/import]

#4

“Engineering gone all wrong” is a pretty strongly worded title for a comment about a few minor problems with the SDK.

Walter has engineered a platform that allows people, creative people, to express themselves by writing code that is far more simple then native code on either the iPhone or Android. So I think it’s really unfair to start laying blame for a few things you don’t like.

Corona SDK has rock solid engineering and may it long continue. [import]uid: 37765 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139842[/import]

#5

Hi David

I want to thank you for your candid reply to what is obviously an intense issue for me. I have been very frustrated and although I still have the same problems I feel like you’re listening, which I appreciate.

I still won’t be renewing, my app isn’t doing great anyway and I feel it is time for a change but I will keep watching Corona in the future, I do feel better knowing the CEO cares enough to reply my venting.

Thanks. [import]uid: 216526 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139844[/import]

#6

Clark - No problem. The whole team definitely does care.

Just to be clear, I am not the CEO. Walter is the CEO (and creator of Corona) and has been for well over 2 years. I’m the COO.

David
[import]uid: 10668 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139864[/import]

#7

Am I the only one that suspects people at Lanica are behind all these posts? These cry-baby rants are getting annoying. Go learn Java, Objective-C, and Android SDK if you don’t like Corona. [import]uid: 132483 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139834[/import]

#8

clarkrichards72,

Thanks for the post. Let me address some of your concerns as clearly as possible:

>I have totally lost faith in Corona Labs. This blog, written by the CTO or COO or whatever was posted
>on May 15th last YEAR.
>Eight months later, not a week, but EIGHT MONTHS later, the new CEO finally puts up the feedback
>today, even though various features promised in that time still have to be completed but now we have
>to VOTE for promised features to ever even see the light of day!
>What ever happened to a 2 week on/2 week off engineering cycle? Or Mac apps?

You definitely raise some good questions and I’ll be the first to admit it.
So, here is a no BS answer: last year, a bit before when that blog post was put up, we realized our engineering efforts had some real issues and that we needed to get MUCH better. So we started trying different things (e.g., 2/2 cycle). Some things worked and others didn’t. Perhaps we should not have been as open with these changes, but that’s another matter entirely.
Also, in the second half of the year, we got hit with a veritable avalanche of new OSs/devices that made it tougher to focus on re-engineering and new features and forced us to focus on making sure we kept our cross-platform promise. The good news is that, in the meantime, we started growing the team and also brought on a new VP of Engineering. Happily these efforts are now putting us in a much better position that we have been in years. Our daily builds are of much higher quality, we are steadily squashing bugs and we are/will be putting out great new features.
>Or an official Level Editor? Yes there are other level editors as people keep pointing out when it comes
>up, but why promise then never deliver?

Indeed. Which is why, for some time now, we have been very clear about the fact that we have de-prioritized Levels for now. The work that had been done was not up to snuff and we also decided that it would be better for everyone to emphasize the core platform. As you yourself mention, there are good alternatives put out by the community. For now, we don’t need to re-invent the wheel.
Also - we are now very careful about what we promise and we will strive to over-deliver.
>Why iAds with it’s terrible fill rate when AdMob has been requested for over a YEAR and iAds is dying
>out?

This is a somewhat funny question since people were always asking for both iAds and Admob. We would always ask why people wanted iAds since it was well known that the fill rate was low. But people wanted it. So we have now delivered it.
Admob is coming. I don’t have a date, but it will make it in.
>I am a pro subscriber (on an account I can apparently no longer post to the forum on? Was I blocked?

Finally, I can’t think of a single reason why we would block you. I think the easiest thing to do here would be for you to send us an email and ask why you are not be able to post. We’d be happy to take a look. To make it even easier, feel free to email me directly (davidATcoronalabs). I’ll be happy to get you up and posting with your main account asap.

I am sorry to hear that you won’t be renewing. I fear it may not be the best decision, but I respect it. All I can say is that we are more excited now than we have been in a while and there is some great stuff coming. I hope that once you see all this you’ll end up coming back eventually.

Thanks,

David

[import]uid: 10668 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139841[/import]

#9

“Engineering gone all wrong” is a pretty strongly worded title for a comment about a few minor problems with the SDK.

Walter has engineered a platform that allows people, creative people, to express themselves by writing code that is far more simple then native code on either the iPhone or Android. So I think it’s really unfair to start laying blame for a few things you don’t like.

Corona SDK has rock solid engineering and may it long continue. [import]uid: 37765 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139842[/import]

#10

Hi David

I want to thank you for your candid reply to what is obviously an intense issue for me. I have been very frustrated and although I still have the same problems I feel like you’re listening, which I appreciate.

I still won’t be renewing, my app isn’t doing great anyway and I feel it is time for a change but I will keep watching Corona in the future, I do feel better knowing the CEO cares enough to reply my venting.

Thanks. [import]uid: 216526 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139844[/import]

#11

Clark - No problem. The whole team definitely does care.

Just to be clear, I am not the CEO. Walter is the CEO (and creator of Corona) and has been for well over 2 years. I’m the COO.

David
[import]uid: 10668 topic_id: 35179 reply_id: 139864[/import]