Anything on the patch we was supposed to get three weeks ago?

[Gorgameth]

Personally, I would rather them take the time to test the patch, then throw something untested at us.

Personally, I'd prefer they release the patch as Beta, just like some other companies out there are doing. Just look at Europa Universalis II, which had beta patches coming in almost on a daily basis, until it had become stable enough to release as an official patch.

What did releasing it as Beta accomplish? It allowed people to actually feel like something was being done to fix their issues. Instead of waiting 5 months for an official release, you could find the solution to your problem in a Beta patch 4 months before the release, and could thus appreciate the game.

And if the patch did not fix your exact issue, it still fixed other stuff, which sometimes improved the gaming experience. For example, at one point, they were plagued with CTD problems. Beta patches didn't help with that particular issue, but they fixed other stuff. And by fixing the small stuff, they eventually centered on the problem and fixed it, which resulted in the releasing of an official patch.

That is what releasing an untested patch does. You do it at your own risk, but the benefits far outweight the risks (remember, the beta patch we are talking about is for a game, not an operating system, to which a beta patch might have major repercussions).

 

[Makdadi]

I totally agree that they should release beta patches, and the patch cycle should be shorter and the patches more focused.

I read on a another forum that one of the reasons for the patch delay is because of localization to all the foreign languages etc. I think that a fix for the Retire Bug in multiplayer should be completely independent of the users' language. Fixes like these should be released independent from content modifications so that no localization is needed. There is no need to delay fixes to combine with the SDK and new scenarios etc.

I played in two online games last night where an inexperienced player Resigned when defeated. The games froze and we had to try to Reload from the lobby. One of them we had to totally scrap. A waste of two hours at least.

They need to get fixes out faster so that the remaining problems can be identified and fixed faster.

 

[Gorgameth]

...
There is no need to delay fixes to combine with the SDK and new scenarios etc.
...
They need to get fixes out faster so that the remaining problems can be identified and fixed faster.

Agreed. But I doubt they'll change their policy. Management people tend to have this flaw which prevents them from ever admitting they were wrong. Therefore they'll keep on pretending that this method of releasing one patch every season is plenty enough, and that beta testing on a world-wide scale is correct only when you release the original product.

You'll then gets thousands of notes concerning problems and issues, and then use your hundred specifically chosen beta-testers to try to reidentify the problems. Now, since the game had originally been designed to work only on the machines the beta testers run, the problems will not occur, and only two months later, when a beta tester actually has to change a broken component in his machine, will they realise the reported bug is true and try to fix it.

I've seen this happen with the many customers I've had to deal with. I'd like to advice their tech support people to actually install the game on their machine, instead of relying on the beta testers to test an issue. That way, I'd guess the problems would be fixed faster.

 

[Philips]

OMG!!!!!!!!! Some people in here whine more than EQ users, and I thought that was hard.

Thamer gives us an honest update, which I appreciate, and gets slammed for it?? People, it's a game that we play.

You want to whine??? How about they change the price from free to $20 a month, and they won't say anything about patches. You just get to find out when the downtime for the servers are.

Seriously...This is stupid. The patch will be out when it's ready. Personally, I would rather them take the time to test the patch, then throw something untested at us.

Thamer, thank you for the update. Personally, I find it very refreshing that someone would come here and give us a honest update. At least, we know that the patch is coming, something I never knew in EQ or EQ2. I appreciate our honesty, and you have achieved a respect from me that no developer gets from me normally.

Seriously, what you wrote is stupid.

I paid for a working copy of Civ IV and I haven't gotten what I paid for. The price isn't "free", it isn't $20, I paid $60 and I haven;t gotten what I paid for.

If someone sold real estate that didn't exist they would go to prison. it is too bad that software developers can get away with this.

 

[Stanley9837]

You people keep complaining it's Firaxis' fault...or the developers...or the programmers...

You fail to accept the reality....that it's all Bush's fault.




On a serious note...I hope they fixed the problem with the BFG 6800GT OC card. I'd love to play the game again...

 

[Likes_Civing]

My 5600 Ultra is doing the same thing you guys are talking about. I upgraded and since I can't play a turn with the 5600.

I now get rainbow color rows or checkerboard on screen.

I am not even trying to play until the next patch.

I hope they make it playable.

 

[Raider62]

Wow April 4th and still no patch. What a surprise...Guess that expansion isn't quite ready yet so why release the patch...You know at this point, I would take a semi-tested patch over the mess of a game I have now....

 

[wurm657]

At this point, I don't even expect a patch anymore.
I think it's pretty obvious that, now they have our cash, 2K has NO intention of trying to make good on what was a rip-off of a product release. If Civ IV were almost any other type of consumer product, what they released would be considered defective and would be actionable in some way (class action, recall, etc.)
2K used up a lot of consumer good faith with this release. They're going to see a drop-off in the sales for "Warlords", probably losing about 1/3 of the sales from Civ IV. Their loss.
I've posted in as many places as I could find to avoid this game until it hits the shelves in a year or so in a collected cheap-o edition, when it may work. I was actually in a large electronics box-store on two seperate occasions poking around (I won't name which one, but there was a lot of blue and yellow around and one could certainly BUY the BEST there ) and had employees come up and warn me to avoid the game at all costs as I was looking around the Strategy section.
2K: You blew it big time! You had the Golden Goose and decided it would be better to kill it and sell the meat than wait around for it to lay all those eggs.
Ban me, flame me, tell me how stupid I am not to blindly believe that a working patch is coming; I don't care anymore! The Company took what is at its' core a really engaging game and turned it into a lousy piece of software...hopefully it won't kill the "Civilization" concept completely, and we can all look ahead a few years to Civ V and a different company producing it.

 

[V. Soma]

Rhye says THERE IS a patch, and I believe him, he is a beta-tester.
He actually USES the patch for a mod, if I understand well what he says.

here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=3863350&postcount=127

 

[wurm657]

Ah! Now, see there is some good news!
Any chance on a time-frame for release?

 

[V. Soma]

At this point it is hard to guess, especially that we don't know anything exact
about how and where the process is halted.

My very personal guess is that we will have the patch in April...
Anything beyond that... I wish it was out in two-weeks time

 

[wurm657]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Philips]

There have been rumors of a patch that will be available "in a couple of weeks" for months. If there even is a patch it must have failed it's beta or it would be out now. If the developers are busy working on an expansion.......

Well, it is anyone's guess. I imagine it will be out about the same time as the expansion.

 

[wurm657]

Guys, the patch is in final testing. It was submitted to QA last month but then they got put on a different product, so Civ had to wait to get the test cycles that were needed. Obviously the process took longer than expected, so that's why no one can give firm dates. It is out of our control now so I'm waiting for QA to give the go ahead as well. I think it should happen very soon, but who knows, a last minute showstopper could be discovered... However, I think it's going to be a great update and well worth the wait.

Well almost a month later...

 

[zx1111]

Well almost a month later...

Hmm.. I wonder why the guys in question have lied to us?
If they did not have a patch or have no plan to release it soon, then why didn't tell us frankly? Then, we may be disappointed but we would have abandoned false hope on Firaxis and Take 2 earlier and move on to something like GalCiv II. Did they lied to us to mitigate anger of customers temporarily by deceiving us? How stupid and poor act.. Selling half-finished game to market and not doing their home work for nealy 6-month over due is enough reason they should be ashamed of... And now they lie and is deceiving their customer... What company is this?
.

 

[MrGone]

Well almost a month later...

While I am not exactly pleased with the delay either, there is always the possiblity that they did find the "showstopper" Thamer postulated. Still, even if that is the case, a quick update from our friendly neighborhood Firaxians might help to soothe the growing savage beast of discontent among their customers.

 

[auldian]

The closest thing to lying I've read is the assinine conjecture spewed in these threads. There is a patch. It won't be dumped on the customers until it's done.

 

[zx1111]

The closest thing to lying I've read is the assinine conjecture spewed in these threads. There is a patch. It won't be dumped on the customers until it's done.

They are saying that it is alreday done since end of Jan. But they faile to show real proof, or any glimps of it until this day. Why we should belive their words? Only words...
Do anyone has sound fact backing that words , whatsoever, if not undeniable evidence...?
We have more than enough reason to suspect their words. they broke thier own words without obvious reason or explaination... Who is more reasonable?

 

[MrGone]

But they faile to show real proof, or any glimps of it until this day.

While you are obviously frustrated, as many of us are, with the delay, don't confuse lack of evidence with lack of existence. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

An official update (good or bad) on the patch would be nice sooner rather than later. Even if it is bad news, I'd rather have a more comprehensive patch that fixes more things than it breaks.

 

[Ramalhão]

So let's delay the purchase of Warlords, so Firaxis and Take2 would learn how they are treating their customer (us). Let's say we will purchase it in "a couple of weeks" and buy it after 5 or 6 months after the release .