Civ 5 Testers group ... AKA I HATE YOU GUYZ !!!

[Grey Fox]

Civ5 definitely needs work. But it is still, in its undoubtedly unpolished state, the most fun Civ game to date for me. And it got the potential to be very polished once all patches are out.

 

[Sjru]

BTW, is CiV out?

 

[Valkrionn]

It's been out since tuesday for America. Should be out in the rest of the world as well.

 

[Sjru]

So, this could mean that people will stop yelling jealously at you? (As happened at the start of this thread)

 

[Meldon]

I can still yell jealously because I can't afford to get it XD

 

[Sjru]

Guess what? Civ V doesn't work on XP.
Seriously... all the testers had Windows 7 or Vosta?

 

[Valkrionn]

Whut? Are you sure of that? Several testers had it on xp.

 

[Sjru]

Absolutely sure. In fact, there is a thread on 2k forums with lots of complains.

Link:

Spoiler :

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88969

I also have that problem too, unfortunately.

EDIT: Maybe the beta version testers had was better than the release version?
They maybe had changed some things when compiling the game for release.

 

[JTL]

<--- XP and works Fine ( with Dual and 1 Core )

 

[Forral]

Yeah, it works on XP. I didn't read the linked threads but I'm guessing its actually an issue of people trying to run it on XP without Service Pack 3. Lots of games won't run without that pack, so it wouldn't surprise me.

I'm personally running Civ V on an XP computer anyways. It works perfectly well, barring some low performance as you near the endgame on larger maps.

 

[Jester Fool]

I didn't read the linked threads but I'm guessing its actually an issue of people trying to run it on XP without Service Pack 3.

I did. ALL 51 pages. And no, they ALL had SP 3 (except for the users with Vista or 7). I usually try not to guess. Education and research works so much better.

 

[Calavente]

last posts/threads were about people trying to play with non-english versions of XP family. (well, especially spanish)

 

[Sjru]

Yes exactly, the problem seems to be mostly for non-english xp. I have SP3, so SP may not be the cause.

Anyways, in a post, also on 2k, someone stated that:

Spoiler :

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88174

To be fair, every game goes through this at launch. But some of the issues with this game, shows it was not fully tested.

. Look #6 post! Look what it states!

They're arguing that testers did not fully test the game!
Has the game been fully tested??

 

[PPQ_Purple]

A part of me is laughing.

 

[Valkrionn]

Of course the game was tested. You seem to have a vast misunderstanding of what that means.

Tell me, how many testers do you think there were? Around 80. How many different setups do you think those people had? Majority were american. There were a few europeans, some aussies, etc; I'm not aware of any spanish testers, but I'm sure there was one or two.

However, there are nowhere near enough to test EVERY language installation, under EVERY OS, with EVERY possible combination of SPs. It just can't happen. Bugs like this are an inevitable result of not being able to test every single variation with a small group of people.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

And that seems to be the general trend for the industry.
Instead of hiring hundreds and thousands of testers to do the job properly they hire a hand full and release a sack of bugs.

I mean, hearing the 80 people number makes my hair stand on end. It takes more than that to test a flash game properly.


Oh, and I heard the steam installations are bugging too.
I don't want to sound evil but it does make me smile just a little.

 

[hbar]

And that seems to be the general trend for the industry.
Instead of hiring hundreds and thousands of testers to do the job properly they hire a hand full and release a sack of bugs.

Remember when console game prices rose by $10 and gamers collectively shat a brick? If PC game prices rose, what do you think would happen? Less piracy and a sudden resurgence of an industry in decline? Testers don't work for free, or if they do, they aren't testing 40 hours a week.

Oh, and I heard the steam installations are bugging too.
I don't want to sound evil but it does make me smile just a little.

I fail to see the relevance. Why would you think that the steam versions would be less buggy than the retail versions?

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Remember when console game prices rose by $10 and gamers collectively shat a brick? If PC game prices rose, what do you think would happen? Less piracy and a sudden resurgence of an industry in decline? Testers don't work for free, or if they do, they aren't testing 40 hours a week.

And if people would have the brain not to buy a game that they hear is full of bugs than gaming companies would have to find a way to balance it out.

Personally, if they have to cut their profits by X% to reduce bugs by Y% I would find that acceptable.


After all they will make a profit either way, even without raising prices. They will just make less of a profit if they make more of an investment. And a proper demanding customer will want to bleed them dry to get his money's worth.

I fail to see the relevance. Why would you think that the steam versions would be less buggy than the retail versions?

Because the version downloaded from steam seems to have separate issues related to steam that make it even worse than the regular release.

Check that blog that was linked, some 3 - 4 posts down.

 

[Sjru]

However, there are nowhere near enough to test EVERY language installation, under EVERY OS, with EVERY possible combination of SPs. It just can't happen. Bugs like this are an inevitable result of not being able to test every single variation with a small group of people.

2k games could have done like Blizzard with SC2: Set up a private closed beta, where thousand of customers from all over the world test the game&balance. That ensured, SC2 released with little, if not, any bugs at all, and so far, IMO is the game with the best quality invested upon. Of course, a side effect was that the game was leaked way before release, but that hasn't influenced the sales much, since SC2 is selling well.

Testers don't work for free, or if they do, they aren't testing 40 hours a week

Indeed, but that's is strictly a company's police. There are MANY users that would gladly test the game for them, helping them on release. Is just there are some companies that are afraid of what could come from that.
Another example. Some days before TeamFortress2 was released, Valve created a closed beta from pre-purchased. The result? They found a lot of bugs, and potentially deadly ones that were fixed just for global release.

 

[Valkrionn]

And that seems to be the general trend for the industry.
Instead of hiring hundreds and thousands of testers to do the job properly they hire a hand full and release a sack of bugs.

I mean, hearing the 80 people number makes my hair stand on end. It takes more than that to test a flash game properly.


Oh, and I heard the steam installations are bugging too.
I don't want to sound evil but it does make me smile just a little.

That... Is one of the most ridiculous statements about how game development works that I've seen in some time.

You cannot hire that many testers; You won't make money. Worse, it does not matter how many testers you have. There will always be issues found on release. For the most part, the issues with Civ5 are minor; And have been fixed, or are in the queue to be fixed (as in, fixed, but not put out yet).

And if people would have the brain not to buy a game that they hear is full of bugs than gaming companies would have to find a way to balance it out.

Personally, if they have to cut their profits by X% to reduce bugs by Y% I would find that acceptable.


After all they will make a profit either way, even without raising prices. They will just make less of a profit if they make more of an investment. And a proper demanding customer will want to bleed them dry to get his money's worth.


Because the version downloaded from steam seems to have separate issues related to steam that make it even worse than the regular release.

Check that blog that was linked, some 3 - 4 posts down.

They would cut their profits by an amount FAR out of proportion to the number of extra bugs found. It's not worth while. I mean that; It is truly not worth the money. The only way to come close to guaranteeing a smooth release is to have an open beta. That's it.

2k games could have done like Blizzard with SC2: Set up a private closed beta, where thousand of customers from all over the world test the game&balance. That ensured, SC2 released with little, if not, any bugs at all, and so far, IMO is the game with the best quality invested upon. Of course, a side effect was that the game was leaked way before release, but that hasn't influenced the sales much, since SC2 is selling well.



Indeed, but that's is strictly a company's police. There are MANY users that would gladly test the game for them, helping them on release. Is just there are some companies that are afraid of what could come from that.
Another example. Some days before TeamFortress2 was released, Valve created a closed beta from pre-purchased. The result? They found a lot of bugs, and potentially deadly ones that were fixed just for global release.

The issue with a beta of that size is someone will crack it and distribute it. You also typically have people just out to play the game, not test. Neither is beneficial. Sure, if you can afford the inevitable piracy that goes with a beta like that, it's a good thing to do... But I'm not sure Firaxis could, it is nowhere near the size of Blizzard.