The "How is this song coming along?" Thread

[cherokeesam]

The truth by Kittie?

Its in playtesting has no reviews. 10 days left.

This (and other posts above) make me very sad.
There are *lots* of good songs listed that are languishing in Playtest/PR Hell, and that does *not* bode well for RBN.

Seriously, HMX needs to make some major changes to the process if the Network is going to take off. Open up the process to more playtesters (cheaper XNA rates for people who sign up just to review/playtest; allow teenagers in for reviews; open it up to more than just Americans); shorten the review process; don't force authors to have to go through the whole process all over again just because they forgot to dot an I or cross a T on their label info; let songs that are ignored by reviewers (like Kittie, above; and many more) get a dispensation; SOMETHING.

If the review process starts bogging down groups (and there's plenty of evidence of that in this thread alone), then you're going to wind up chasing away talent that don't want to subject themselves to all the hassle.

I thought the whole point of the RBN was to make it EASIER for bands to get into Rock Band.

[weeyoo]

This (and other posts above) make me very sad.
There are *lots* of good songs listed that are languishing in Playtest/PR Hell, and that does *not* bode well for RBN.

Seriously, HMX needs to make some major changes to the process if the Network is going to take off. Open up the process to more playtesters (cheaper XNA rates for people who sign up just to review/playtest; allow teenagers in for reviews; open it up to more than just Americans); shorten the review process; don't force authors to have to go through the whole process all over again just because they forgot to dot an I or cross a T on their label info; let songs that are ignored by reviewers (like Kittie, above; and many more) get a dispensation; SOMETHING.

If the review process starts bogging down groups (and there's plenty of evidence of that in this thread alone), then you're going to wind up chasing away talent that don't want to subject themselves to all the hassle.

I thought the whole point of the RBN was to make it EASIER for bands to get into Rock Band.

Very, very good point. I agree with you.

[Blair777]

Anybody know about "Do You" by Portugal. The Man?

[vedis]

This (and other posts above) make me very sad.
There are *lots* of good songs listed that are languishing in Playtest/PR Hell, and that does *not* bode well for RBN.

Seriously, HMX needs to make some major changes to the process if the Network is going to take off. Open up the process to more playtesters (cheaper XNA rates for people who sign up just to review/playtest; allow teenagers in for reviews; open it up to more than just Americans); shorten the review process; don't force authors to have to go through the whole process all over again just because they forgot to dot an I or cross a T on their label info; let songs that are ignored by reviewers (like Kittie, above; and many more) get a dispensation; SOMETHING.

If the review process starts bogging down groups (and there's plenty of evidence of that in this thread alone), then you're going to wind up chasing away talent that don't want to subject themselves to all the hassle.

I thought the whole point of the RBN was to make it EASIER for bands to get into Rock Band.

theres about 170 or so songs total in both processes
how many testers/reviewers do you actualy think there are?
we can only do so many per day, and its not like "test only" people have much to gain by going out of their way to do more, its the people doing it in return for others giving them the same curtesy who are.

ALOT of the songs sitting in limbo are by authors who just put the song up and aint worried about it yet, or by authors who post, and disappear because they dont review/test themselves

i myself can test/review up to 40 songs a week, IF i put a ton of time into it, but if i do it casualy, sinse i get no benefit from it other then doing it and seeing songs early, ill do maybe 10 a week.

as far as the issues with people joining, talk to microsoft not HMX, they arent the ones asking the price or making the XNA rules

[cherokeesam]

theres about 170 or so songs total in both processes
how many testers/reviewers do you actualy think there are?
we can only do so many per day, and its not like "test only" people have much to gain by going out of their way to do more, its the people doing it in return for others giving them the same curtesy who are.

That's exactly my point.
There's clearly a bigger backlog of songs coming down the pipeline than just the handful of reviewers currently available can handle.

That's why I said that HMX and Microsoft need to tete-a-tete and make the playtest/review rules and membership less restrictive to allow more playtesters in. America Only, 18+ Only, $100 membership fees (for *just* playtesting and reviewing RBN songs) all combine to put literally hundreds of bands' fates in the hands of a small group of 360 players who simply don't have the time and energy to adequately handle that workload.

[vedis]

That's exactly my point.
There's clearly a bigger backlog of songs coming down the pipeline than just the handful of reviewers currently available can handle.

That's why I said that HMX and Microsoft need to tete-a-tete and make the playtest/review rules and membership less restrictive to allow more playtesters in. America Only, 18+ Only, $100 membership fees (for *just* playtesting and reviewing RBN songs) all combine to put literally hundreds of bands' fates in the hands of a small group of 360 players who simply don't have the time and energy to adequately handle that workload.

what about those bands who arent willing to test/review themselves though
there are quite a few people who just author, drop the song, and disappear without contributing to the process and i personaly like to skip over their songs unless its one i really want in game i know that sounds messed up....but oh well

[SystemSCSnake]

Ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny?

[vedis]

Ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny?

pretend its not coming atm, the guy who was supposedely authoring it looks like hes working on something else, and isnt really responding to inquiries about it as far as i can tell

[Casto21]

This (and other posts above) make me very sad.

This post make me very sad, mainly because it is ill informed and over reactive.

There are *lots* of good songs listed that are languishing in Playtest/PR Hell, and that does *not* bode well for RBN.

*Lots* of songs are not languishing in 'Test/Review Hell'. In the example you quoted the song had received tests in it's previous version and had been in Test all of 3 days without any new tests on the new version. Seriously, 3 days is not languishing.

Seriously, HMX needs to make some major changes to the process if the Network is going to take off.

If it is going to take off? So 20-30 tracks a week isn't taking off? What kind of output do you expect?

Open up the process to more playtesters (cheaper XNA rates for people who sign up just to review/playtest; allow teenagers in for reviews; open it up to more than just Americans); shorten the review process; don't force authors to have to go through the whole process all over again just because they forgot to dot an I or cross a T on their label info; let songs that are ignored by reviewers (like Kittie, above; and many more) get a dispensation; SOMETHING.

Cheaper XNA rates - They are discussing with MS but doubt MS will be willing to do it.
Teenagers - not sure, but think this is an XNA restriction

Shorten the review process - Hell no. People already try to get songs pushed through to quick as it is.

Force authors to go through a review because they made a mistake - I'm glad they do. There is no way to guarantee just a simple change has been made and sometimes simple changes have big repercussions. Also, when a song in PR is brought down/failed for something small, the people who previously reviewed the song almost always come back to it quick to take another look at it. This is not an issue.

Songs being ignored (like Kittie) - 3 days is not ignoring.

If the review process starts bogging down groups (and there's plenty of evidence of that in this thread alone), then you're going to wind up chasing away talent that don't want to subject themselves to all the hassle.

The only reason most songs have the appearance of being 'bogged' down is because people expect instant results. The process takes a while, get used to it. It isn't just RBN, the process of getting regular DLC isn't instantaneous either.

I thought the whole point of the RBN was to make it EASIER for bands to get into Rock Band.

You think this isn't easier? Provided masters to a group that can have you song up in as little as a month later? How long do you think it takes a band to get a song into the queue and put out from regular DLC?


I don't mean to rant, but this 'sky is falling' attitude is simply annoying.

Could the process benefit from more testers, no doubt about it. I would love to see more thorough and intelligent testers on the creators site. Is it the end of the world if more testers don't pop up, not by a long shot. Of course I consider 33 songs released last week amazing.

[Magnet]

I'm going to close this thread down in consideration of Thrasher's sticky, as most of its material is not considered appropriate discussion on these forums.

If you are not a member of the Creators Site, the extent of a song's progress you need to know is any one of the following: in the RBN Store, in the process of coming to the RBN Store, or not known to be coming to the RBN Store at this time. Feel free to be excited and anxious to hear about more songs coming soon to the RBN and discuss your excitement, but please do not ask "how far along" a certain song is in the process. Not only is that information prone to dramatic change in the blink of an eye for any song for any number of reasons, but it belongs squarely in the realm of the Creators Site only.

If you would like to know more specific information about the progress of RBN songs that have entered the Creators Site process and you meet the eligibility requirements, please feel free to join the Creators Site and participate in the process!