[cod] Crazy timing

[Ryan C. Gordon]

> I have holidays coming up and leave on Wednesday morning.
 >
> Why couldn't they have waited and waited until both server versions 
> were available?

This was the original plan, fwiw, but there was some last minute pakfile 
shuffling that screwed up pure server compat, and Activision didn't want 
to lose the weekend in terms of 1.5 _client_ testing...the Linux server 
_is_ important, but getting the client out to all the Windows users a 
weekend before Christmas was important, for all the same reasons you are 
worrying about the server...if you think this is bad timing, imagine 
what it's like to find a bug has crippled the game for _everyone_ and 
all the programmers and QA are on holiday. It pretty much had to go 
then, or wait until New Years.

I'd rather have gotten the Linux server out, too, of course, but it 
didn't work out.

That being said, several higher ups (including Activision's QA lead, and 
the producers for both COD and COD:UO) spent their weekend in the office 
pushing the Linux server through the QA checklist. In case the belief is 
that Activision sat on this for the weekend: they didn't.

> PS I realise that the linux coders are working their butts off for this 
> patch release and I thank them wholeheartedly for their work but there 
> will still be a lot of work to do once it's released.

No doubt there will be work (there always is!), but my hope is that we 
won't take this one to 1.51e like we did with 1.41. At any rate, the 
usual routine dictates that once the official 1.whatever patch is signed 
off on by Activision, I have free license to release hotfixes...so in a 
few hours, COD 1.5/COD:UO 1.51 will be released, and a few hours after 
that, I'll be gauging the admins' impressions directly and turnout a 
quick fix if needed. Hopefully it won't be needed, but if it is, we'll 
try to do it in one build.

Let me put it this way...my personal goal is to get you out the door on 
Wednesday without worries, too.  :)

--ryan.