Take a chill pill mate seriously.... Everyone of there games has been miles better than there last... don’t go pushing your “if a game hasn’t released gameplay footage a month out from release” opinion on everybody else, just because you’ve got some obscure thought pattern behind how games “must” be marketed doesn’t mean the whole world should revolve around what you consider gospel... just don’t buy the game then mate simple
Except their games haven't always been "better", that's been the problem. If anything, their games have shipped buggier each time, and show the telltale signs of a game released before it's been fully tested. The fact that things like pitchware still weren't fixed on release of Ashes or things like cover drives not being doable on release of DBC 17 were silly. They weren't game destroying, but they certainly spoke to a lack of QA. DBC 14 remains their best game out of the box.
Hell, I was one of the most vocal in support of BigAnt for years too. I invested a huge amount of time into DBC 14 and 17, although my work in the community was largely limited to DBC 14. It's not about "what I'd consider gospel", but rather anything they can do to break those patterns. When granny gets on the drink, you know what's going to come out her mouth; that's what we're seeing from BigAnt at the moment.
Again, the game isn't going to be bad, but you can bet your last dollar that it'll have some glaring bugs across the board on release, the first patch will makes 90% of those worse, and about 30-50% of those issues will never be resolved, even after their skeleton patching crew spending several months "patching" the game.
That's why competition is good, it makes creators try harder and harder. If not for BA, I'd still be playing C07 or AC09. I do hope this is their best game out of the box after DBC 14...
This is the thing, I really hope some competition appears. That said, the big issue seems to be that BigAnt are racing their shadow. If anything, competition might make them rush more.