Won't be a patch, this is a lot of new code so the old bugs won't really be valid anymore... but as with all software, will likely have a few new ones the team will have to squash.
Not just yet. I want to make sure the train is a bit further down the track and that the team is 100% confident in hitting the timing goals in the plan first.
I'll take that bet.
Oh, there will be something - there's always something. The team will be on point to fix whatever that something is ASAP.
Yup.
Taking two passes is not abnormal. Most of the time, noone has any idea how many passes or how long they take - but we figured we would share a bit more information than usual. Don't read too much into things.
1.2 was... pretty rough. 1.3 had a lot of issues with save file conversions (not to go into gross detail, but it had to do with a myriad of shifting item ID numbers from various versions of the Engine version that were unknown until the issues appeared), and it was launched over Xmas, which was in hindsight not the best timing. Also other things that were laid out above. It is something I would like to avoid repeating.
Work on 1.3 console (from actual start of the work to finish... not "when it released on PC") was ~18 months. Assuming 1.4 launches on time (haha, sorry I had to!
) - it will have taken ~11 months (Mobile 1.4 launched in mid/late October... with fixes into November).
Of course, it would be great to see this. However, there are many, many complicated steps needed to get there. The team's focus is rightfully on content parity (after everyone has 1.4) and then crossplay. After that? Who knows.