[Discussion] A New Era on the Horizon?

Corinthian here, with a new and (possibly?) exciting topic for today's discussion: A Major Update to the game is (possibly) coming!

What makes me say that, you ask? Well, you all should already be aware of Kingdoms at War being re-released on the App Store as Kingdoms at War: Strategy Reborn. "So what?", you might say. We expected and hoped for sweeping changes or improvements when the app released, but instead we were told it was just a housekeeping change, and to ignore it.

While it may have indeed been a simple housekeeping change, another answer is that it could be (also) misdirection for a larger set-up/release. A release that couldn't happen on the new app being launched in order for them to best ensure transition from the old to the new app went smoothly.

For anyone who has looked at the update notes, or checked the store page for the app recently, they will see a very telling sign: Version 1.99.

A few years back, I recall reading a software developer being quoted in an interview saying that release versions are more of a PR tool than any meaningful thing. "1.1 is live! Halls of Nazdohl now Available!" etc.

"Hold it!", you might say. "KaW has had a lot of updates over the years. Maybe they've just naturally arrived at 1.99 over the last 7 years."



Developers, as the creators, get to choose the version numbering as they actively work on the program. This is why you might see some applications with version 1.82168788, as one example. Additionally, we're talking about an entirely separate application. Kingdoms at War: Strategy Reborn has only just launched, and yet we're already on (minimum) the 99th build of the game? Unlikely, to say the least. It is much more probable to claim that 1.99 was selected as either exclusively for PR purposes or as an internal direction from above to show "vision" to the team that now is the time to pivot into focusing solely on this next big release/update.

Besides, don't all developers want to grow up to be the Easter bunny and hide Easter Eggs everywhere? It's our duty to hunt them out as they are hidden.



"If such a content update was coming, wouldn't there be all kinds of announcements about it?"

If we were talking about the ATA developers of the past, notably thinking of the Epic Battle release specifically, you would have a much better case. That infamous example, plagued with multiple public release date rollbacks in a massive hype campaign, made the developers rather skittish to announce any sort of release dates (and later, plans) until right before (and sometimes after) an update was pushed out. There is precedent. Even if this is a subtle PR move, there's no cause for announcements, media interaction, etc., until they know it's all going to work and have the impact they hope it will. It's entirely possible we might get small features and changes before a major shift, as pesky bugs keep cropping up for QA to zap.

In the end, we don't know. All we are aware of is that taunting, teasing, Version 1.99. What's 99 one-hundredths plus 1 one-hundredth?

Version 2



The community has long been saying KaW is becoming too dated for its time and needs to enact major change, this could be it. Image referenced below:



So, what do you guys expect out of a possible version 2.00?

 

Seems my image link/skills need polish. Thought that URL would be good. If anyone can repair it and post who's more knowledgeable, that would be awesome. Plus, then I can make the Phoenix Wright references stand out a little more by giving them images.

On topic, there's too many pipe dreams for me to pin any one down as I shut down my brain for sleep tonight.

EDIT: Thanks to AshesOfEden for the fix.
EDIT 2: No good "Hold It!" gifs to use on a quick search. Settling for "Take That!" instead. Also, didn't look too hard because, sleep, but couldn't find a good courtroom win gif either. People are just going to have to settle for the gavel.

Sub-topic: What do you guys think of the image use? Keep incorporating them, stay away, or only as needed?

 

We'll see Babycakez. In the meantime, I've reached out to support via the Feedback button asking if there's any official statement for a KaW 2.00 release. Due to the short time since that request was made, there is no known response at this time.

This story is still developing..

 

All true things -J-, but that just ties back to what I said in the main post about how version numbers are mostly arbitrary. Your statements merely back up the Easter Egg theory that this is an intentional subtle leak by the developers.

Why wouldn't they place such an Easter Egg on the platform where it all started?

Towards Android-specific updates in the past, that's specifically towards optimization and bug fixing since the two platforms are not identical. Alternatively, Android-users got the foundation updates earlier, and iDevice-users only recently got the foundation updates, under the guise and possible actual ancillary need of a new application for housekeeping.

 

..and what version did Android start on? It's possible they started on the 3-series specifically for there since it was the third platform KaW launched on, after iDevice and PC.