A guide for DD2 could be released shortly after the game, if the Larians can schedule at least month of beta testing after features/quests/maps/etc have been finalized, and they refuse to make significant changes to the game after release based on feedback.
Since it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to write and debug any complex program, and publishers almost always have a say on release dates, there is no guarantee on the beta test length. What is guaranteed is that after release a vocal minority (or majority) will complain about something being changed or something not being changed enough. If the Larians 'fix' this, another group will complain that they liked it the way it was.
Getting a complete accurate guide and getting the game as soon as possible with requested game balances or feature changes are mutually exclusive, even though both are desirable.
Raze, you are of course absolutely right in what you say. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
But these are the same problems faced by the folks at Prima, Brady and other writers of strategy guides - and they manage to get printed books on the shelves pretty much when the games release. And the writers of FAQs - who are typically a single crazed fan working without developer support - also manage to get their work out with amazing speed.
The key is not to get hung up on getting everything 100% correct.
The difficulty here is that the type of person who is prepared to put all that work in is often also the type that is driven by a desire to see everything correct, and who hates to see even a tiny mistake. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> But the only way to get everything completely right is to wait until a game is completely dead and buried and then do some sort of post mortem. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
I am more than happy to accept a disclaimer (in any guide) that tells the reader that the information was assembled in good faith, based on a particular version of the game. As a gamer I expect that games will never be 100% bug and error free (even after the last patch) and that guides too will have a certain error and variance rate. And they ALWAYS do! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
Please don't think I'm complaining - I'm mightily impressed with what you all achieved. I have also written online guides for 2 games (one for a very well known game, and the other for a not so well known game, from a German developer). Mine were far shorter, but I still know how much work it is. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" />
But I didn't wait until I knew it all. I gave it my best shot to coincide with the time when people most wanted the help. Then I just kept updating and editing until I felt a) that it was near enough and b) that I'd had enough of doing it!! It seemed to work OK. Between them they were viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
I think it would be great to see some sort of semi-supported guide for DD2 that was maybe a little rough round the edges or incomplete, but out in the first month of the game release. Just my hope.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />