Anytime a game reaches a certain number of concurrent players / accounts everyone starts claiming game addiction doom and gloom.
Fortnite is simply the latest incarnation of this phenomenon. People will eventually tire of it's features and community, just like they have with any other largely populated game.
Epic will eventually jump the shark and start allowing pizza delivery through an in-game feature and that will signal it's decline.:)
Tools are one route, but they will take time & money to implement which you may not have and don't usually resolve the underlying problem of lack of responsibility or process. There are numerous integration tools that can bring together your source control, testing suites & feature tracking tools. In addition DevOps and release management software can provide automated workflows but again you are talking a rather large spend in time, money or both.
Communicate
Remove the stigma that developers can't "talk to the users". There is nothing written in stone that says you can't work closely with users and form lasting professional relationships with them. Before you go trying to enforce a formal process on them, simply communicate your concerns with them directly. You don't have to babble on about code merges, database scripts. KISS - focus on the cost to the company in time and money if something is missed in testing (or lack thereof). Their interest in making the system and release process go more smoothly should be fairly apparent based on their responses. If available resources are the concern then this is when you can bring in upper management to assist with bulking up your user base to improve the release testing and day to day operations. However, make sure you don't get stuck with just one person. Knowledge silos on the users end can be just as dangerous as they are on the development side.
Formalize your process and enforce it
If you got buy-in from your user communication this should go pretty smoothly, if not you'll need extra leverage from upper management. Make sure you've worked out a decent workflow with the users. It doesn't have to be laden with cool tools. The process should easily spell out what is changing and what needs testing for each release. Keep in mind the audience you'll be working with, don't design or purchase some crazy release management system if the users are only comfortable sending emails. Tools will come with time, the most important thing is that your process is easy to follow and enforce.
Slashdot Mirror
Anytime a game reaches a certain number of concurrent players / accounts everyone starts claiming game addiction doom and gloom. Fortnite is simply the latest incarnation of this phenomenon. People will eventually tire of it's features and community, just like they have with any other largely populated game. Epic will eventually jump the shark and start allowing pizza delivery through an in-game feature and that will signal it's decline. :)
Tools are one route, but they will take time & money to implement which you may not have and don't usually resolve the underlying problem of lack of responsibility or process. There are numerous integration tools that can bring together your source control, testing suites & feature tracking tools. In addition DevOps and release management software can provide automated workflows but again you are talking a rather large spend in time, money or both.
Communicate
Remove the stigma that developers can't "talk to the users". There is nothing written in stone that says you can't work closely with users and form lasting professional relationships with them. Before you go trying to enforce a formal process on them, simply communicate your concerns with them directly. You don't have to babble on about code merges, database scripts. KISS - focus on the cost to the company in time and money if something is missed in testing (or lack thereof). Their interest in making the system and release process go more smoothly should be fairly apparent based on their responses. If available resources are the concern then this is when you can bring in upper management to assist with bulking up your user base to improve the release testing and day to day operations. However, make sure you don't get stuck with just one person. Knowledge silos on the users end can be just as dangerous as they are on the development side.
Formalize your process and enforce it
If you got buy-in from your user communication this should go pretty smoothly, if not you'll need extra leverage from upper management. Make sure you've worked out a decent workflow with the users. It doesn't have to be laden with cool tools. The process should easily spell out what is changing and what needs testing for each release. Keep in mind the audience you'll be working with, don't design or purchase some crazy release management system if the users are only comfortable sending emails. Tools will come with time, the most important thing is that your process is easy to follow and enforce.