So, if release dates are so hard to predict for MMOs, why even announce a new one and should anyone in the community believe him?
"I told them not to believe it last time," he laughed. "I always laugh when a developer says we're absolutely going to make it; not unless you're running out of money and cannot go on."
In a few months time, they'll come to the same crossroads they just arrived at. They'll look at the Beta, they're tracking, their feedback and the stability of the game. Then, they'll decide whether or not its ready for retail. If it is, WAR will be waged. If it isn't, they'll delay again. It's as simple as that for Jacobs.
"You're going to find out things from your Beta that you cannot possibly imagine from your Beta. Anyone who says differently is either on crack or lying," he added with his usual blunt style.
Over the next few months, EA Mythic plans to concentrate primarily on class balance and fun, then with a few months to go before launch, if they decide they're ready, they'll move on to a period of polish and iteration to make sure that the game is completely ready to stand up and achieve Jacobs' long stated goal of becoming the second largest MMO, behind only WoW, on the market.
The delay does not mean players should expect them to pack in a round of glamorous new features. He said they do hope to put in more touches, especially art and other tweaks, but he doesn't anticipate any big things.
"We might be able to pull one or two things in that are small that we were not planning to, but don't count on it," he said.
The changes to expect are things like new armor sets, additional effects and some additional cycles dedicated to the expansion of their crafting system.
Over the next few months, they plan to continue their Beta test and gather feedback through their community and robust tracking tools - Jacobs was especially proud of how they have been able to find and eliminate choke points in content through increased use of tracking and metrics - to smooth out the rough edges and hopefully make their fall launch target.
