Why do versions take so long?

[Dab]

On the topic of cheaters, they will always be around, they always have been around. Maybe they are more prevalent now than before (don't know personally), but that shouldn't grind development to a halt. They'll do the same stuff in .87 that they are doing in .86, so you'll be no worse off than before if it is released.

However, in this particular case, releasing right now might not be the best idea. There are a lot of changes that were made that should not have been (guard system merges with other guard systems and normal systems together, and the moving of normal systems in such a way that breaks their lore. And the changes to Gallia's interconnectivity being made into an even bigger mess than before), and it's my personal opinion (as a former dev) that those system changes should be rolled back to their original state, minus whatever changes were made for storyline reasons, before releasing it, otherwise it'd be an even bigger problem that would be even more difficult to correct later on (as they will inevitably need).

But the above should be done as quickly as possible and then the mod released, otherwise you risk the entire mod, and community, dissolving due to the lack of updates. Updates also need to happen in smaller, more timely, increments (which many many many devs have repeatedly called for over the years), rather than trying to make huge, grand releases after large periods of static.

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