Firaxis: Patch coming next week

[mrgenie]

They never said they'd bring out a patch next week. There was a tech guy at Firaxis who was cited with saying something "might" be incoporated in a patch next week. This was never meant to be official, an the tech guy wasn't authorized to give out such information in the first place. Actually we don't even know if the mail exchange really happened since we have no proof.

Firaxis is working on patches, and they cannot know how long it takes, you never know that when patching complex software. Do they have to explicitly state that on their homepage? What *else* do you think they might be doing now, twiddling their thumbs?




I don't know what you want to achieve by crusading against Thunderfall in every second or third post you write ... I ask you again, when and where did Thunderfall give such information? Do you have a link? I can't find it. All I see is this rather vague proposition from a personal mail by a tech guy.

hmm, maybe you don't look at the http://www.civfanatics.com/ first page. there was a post by Thunderfall who claimed a upcoming patch to be last week released...cleverly the moderatores of civfanatics deleted this from the first page...but what you wrote down above:"where is the evidence of such a patch" was asked by me already on a own thread which i've opened! so you see, you and me share the same ideas, we want proof of thunderfall of what he says, only problem, it seems you just didn't look at the http://www.civfanatics.com/ messages on the opening page, 2nd problem, the moderators are so smart that they already deleted this claim because alot of people have read it and opened threads like:"where is the patch?" but anyway, I like it that people from berlin admit too that they want proof which is EXACTLY what i wanted to see from thunderfall on the first place but it doesn't matter anymore, the moderatores deleted this statement of him already i hope next time he WILL provide proof because now, even people like you who protect him, because you obviously didn't saw that message(can't blame you, i normally don't watch thos announcements either)also ask for evidence he'd be more carefull next time i hope

 

[mrgenie]

Civ4 Patch Coming Next Week posted by Thunderfall on 11-04-2005 16:32

Forum member Snackwell emailed Firaxis about a Civ4 graphics problem he has and received a quick reply from Firaxis:

I sent this onto our lead programmer and we're looking into it. Might be already fixed in a patch we are releasing next week. A lot of tweaking on the movies was done.

No specific date was mentioned.

got you a copy "Psyringe" maybe next time you first read before you claim that your countrymen don't have evidence?

it definitly says:"Might be already fixed in a patch we are releasing next week" posted the 4th! that's my claim that thunderfall should not tell us about a patch in the week from 7 to 11 if there is no such patch..and everyone is right, they better take more time to REALLY fix it, instead of half fixing things..my only claim is, thunderfall should NOT claim things which aren't true! he is a moderator for god sake, he should be thinking twice before publishing things. and it's funny you ever doubt thunderfall ever got such an mail, because you say you believe thunderfall, but you don't believe that mail exist, yet thunderfall claims that mail exist you're funny people over there in berlin? i wanna visit that city anyway, maybe we can have a beer together and discuss the good parts of the game, which are numerous indeed

 

[JadeDragon87]

In an other post you could read an article and at the end of it you could read that they were working on a patch. But they didn't give a release date. So it could be any time. You just have to wait.

Ps: indeed, we belgian still live in a monarchy.

 

[mrgenie]

In an other post you could read an article and at the end of it you could read that they were working on a patch. But they didn't give a release date. So it could be any time. You just have to wait.

Ps: indeed, we belgian still live in a monarchy.

now it's getting wierd one belgium citizen talks to me about republic becuase he is flamisch and wants to seperate from wallon and now you tell me it's a monarchy, which i know of course that it's officially a "parlementaire monarchie" but what do you want from me? one wants not to call it monarchy and the other does? let me propose to join the netherlands to make it more easy to know what it is

 

[sivlardemalle]

About Belgium

We are a monarchy. But the country is divided in 2 regions (not counting the part of Belgium that was donated by the German after WW2, they speak German): one flamisch part (speaking Dutch) and one Wallonian part (speaking French) (Brussels is right in the middle, and they speak French and Dutch). Some people want to seperate in two parts and some people do not. This does not change the fact that we are a monarchy. Some people want to dissmiss the king and become a republic (the majority of the younger generations (< 40)). But wanting to become a republic has nothing to do with splitting up Belgium.

Greetings,
Rob.

 

[Padma]

mrgenie: I went to the news archive and looked, that entry is still there. No moderator has deleted it. (No moderator *can* delete it! Only Thunderfall, the Site Administrator, has permission to modify those pages.) And if you pay attention, you see he is simply pointing to *this thread* and the post by Snackwell.

 

[Psyringe]

@mrgenie: I don't know, I fail to recognize the logic of your argument. Perhaps you can enlighten me?

Snackwell posted inofficial info about a patch in this forum. This info states that a specific issue may be fixed in a patch next week. Even in this (unofficial and unauthorized) statement, no promise about a patch date was made: it *might* happen, or it might not.

Thunderfall apparently saw this post and cited it on the front page. He made clear that no specific date for a patch had been mentioned.

I cannot see that Thunderfall "didn't deliver proof", as you claim, he cited a forum mail and linked to its thread, he even specifically mentioned that no date was given. I cannot see that he proposed to have some kind of secret connection to Firaxis, as you claim, he apparently never said that. I cannot see that "the moderators are so smart that they already deleted" his claim about a patch, because the message you present as proof has never been deleted, it's still in the news archives (now that you said that it was on the front page, I could easily check that, as could you). I cannot see that he "lied" in any way, as you have claimed several times per day now.

Really, I feel sorry if you somehow misunderstood the information presented. But I can't see any justification for this crusade you're performing against Thunderfall or against the moderators of this site. Your claims are in contradiction to the "evidence" you provide. Please relax, wait for a patch, and don't harrass other people. It's disturbing others (like me).

 

[ranLR]

sheesh, this thread is like the waiting room at the doctors office.
"So, what have you got, sonny?"
"Bad case of unsupported video card made in 3rd world country..."
"Ooooo, tough one, me I got memory leaks, couldnt sleep all night"

28 pages in a week.
So when did you say it was coming out again?

 

[blue3c]

Firaxis never officially said a patch would be in our hands this week (or last week, or next week, or ...). All one tech guy at the company said was that they planned to releas a patch "next week". Be sure, even a patch needs to go through testing and QA. It could be that something they "fixed" didn't work right in testing, or QA found a different problem, so it's back to the drawing board.

As far as "communicating with the community", they got burned badly with Civ3, when they said certain things would be in the game, and then they weren't. There is no way that they will come here and say "We are releasing a patch on <pick-a-day> and it will contain <specific> fixes". That is a sure way to lose all credability, when the patch is late, and doesn't contain those fixes.

Ok first thing, they should at least acknowlege they aer working on the problem and there is no release date with the patch. But that they are working on the problem. That would at least solve alot of issues. By sticking your head in the sand you only create more problems. From a public relations stand point I think they are doing more damage to the company by not saying a word.

As for them promising more then what was in CIV III. They didn't get burned they just didn't do what they said they would. Getting burned sugests they had no fault and it was a mistake. Well its not a mistake if you say you will and then don't. Thats, well a lie, or if you would like to be nice, misinformation.

I think what alot of people including myself are seeing here on this website and in the forums from the moderators and such, is a u rah rah go team go about civ. The entire front page is full of these reviews that say nothing but good things about the game. Mods are in here defending the game.
But then you come in here and see all the problems people are having with the game. Some people can get it to work and others can not. So alot of people feel as in this site in general is a little biased in all they say about the game. Almost as if you work for them.

Another question alot of us have is how can you sell a product that is not done. We feel ripped off. If I go to McDonalds and order a double quarter pounder with Cheese and all I get is a slice of cheese and a bun. Do I not have the right to be pissed. Dam Straight I do.

But what it all comes down to is poor testing, early release and no support. Add a touch of poor communications, and you have lost many customers.

On a side note, Air Force??? That explains alot. LOL. You ain't cav, you ain't.....

 

[Grimshok]

Agreed. Officially mentioning that they are working on A patch would go a long way. They do not need to admit to any faults in their software nor that there is even any problems (some people would disagree, but hey). They simply should suggest that they are going to improve their product.

**Stating that they are working on a patch would not only alleviate much tension of those who are having difficulty, but it would show they are a proactive company dedicated to supporting and constantly improving their software!

bad, bad PR guys. Shame on them! A simple statement could do SO much...

change the focus from 'Are they going to patch this <grumble>' to a more positive and possibly helpful 'They should include this in the patch' for their fanbase (who are reason they made most of the changes they did from Civ3 to Civ4).

 

[hrc333]

The only issue that bothers me is that they do not list that they are having any problems. They do list a fix for some Radeon cards but no other acknowledgement of all the other issues.

The last big release that I got that had alot of bugs was Reason 3.0 The patch took almost 3 months to come out but atleast propellerhead had a section on there site that list all the know bugs and that they would be addressing them in the upcoming patch. I was not able to use Reason for 3 months but I had convidence that I they would be addressing the problems and I was not alone in my problems. With Civ IV there is no such confidence.

While the patch my fix all the problems, they definatley could be a little more forth coming with the issues.

 

[mrgenie]

The only issue that bothers me is that they do not list that they are having any problems. They do list a fix for some Radeon cards but no other acknowledgement of all the other issues.

The last big release that I got that had alot of bugs was Reason 3.0 The patch took almost 3 months to come out but atleast propellerhead had a section on there site that list all the know bugs and that they would be addressing them in the upcoming patch. I was not able to use Reason for 3 months but I had convidence that I they would be addressing the problems and I was not alone in my problems. With Civ IV there is no such confidence.

While the patch my fix all the problems, they definatley could be a little more forth coming with the issues.

yep, and their help on the ATI is a laugh, i needed 2 weeks of trying all kinds of drivers before i found the january 2004 drivers which works without crashes and reboots..no support from firaxis on this one!

 

[mrgenie]

mrgenie: I went to the news archive and looked, that entry is still there. No moderator has deleted it. (No moderator *can* delete it! Only Thunderfall, the Site Administrator, has permission to modify those pages.) And if you pay attention, you see he is simply pointing to *this thread* and the post by Snackwell.

right saw it. so i must agree to you padma, he points to someone writing stupid things! my fault, i didn't see the pointing and thought he was claiming this as his own facts still, i wouldn't point to such statements based on no facts..but we can quit this discussion, it won't lead to anything, and most people, including me, are frustrated because the thing is: firaxis is doing and acting stupid by not communicating with the community..and we all make our faults, but some of us can admit it while firaxis somehow has a problem to admit something went terrible wrong. or better say, take two!

 

[Siggy19]

1. They are releasing a patch. Heck, they knew this before they went Gold simply because there are always problems that appear after go-live to a customer-base this big.

2. Any comment about when the patch will be released is ALWAYS provisional since it relies on the patch actually working. Some of the issues that they will be fixing in the patch (cause I bet that the patch will do more than fix a single thing) have already been coded and tested. However, some of the issues may be taking longer than they would like since the problem needs to be identified, a fix needs to be developed and it all needs to be tested to ensure that the fix does not break something else. This can be quick and easy or it can be long and hard. Surely it is better to get a single patch that fixes 90% of the issues than 15 patches released over the next three months.

3. Personally, I think that it would be good public relations for them to provide a status report every day listing the issues that they are trying to fix, which ones have already been fixed and what the progress is on the rest. The problem with doing so is that someone will complain that they want it released NOW because the problem they are having has already been resolved and someone else will complain because their problem is not due to be fixed in patch 1. However, I think it would be better to be open about it than to be doing a duck impression (floating along calmly, while paddling like heck beneath the surface).

4. The takeover last week may have disrupted progress since developers are like real people and can get distracted by news affecting their employers.

5. Stay calm. There will be a patch. It will fix most of the issues (hopefully a couple of gameplay issues as well as the graphics and memory leaks). It will (probably) be released before the end of November. It will NOT fix the issues that some people are having with machines that do not meet the minimum specs or with machines that have spyware/adware/useful background applications/wierd configurations. It will (probably) NOT make Civ IV run like greased lightning on Epic, 18 civs, max graphics, post 1950 games for anyone without exceptional systems <sigh>.

 

[BearMan]

sheesh, this thread is like the waiting room at the doctors office.
"So, what have you got, sonny?"
"Bad case of unsupported video card made in 3rd world country..."
"Ooooo, tough one, me I got memory leaks, couldnt sleep all night"

28 pages in a week.
So when did you say it was coming out again?

When i began reading your post,
I was thinking more like a shrink doctor....

 

[blue3c]

When i began reading your post,
I was thinking more like a shrink doctor....

Shrink!!!!! Yes after this game I do need one. Format, install os, update os (*edit*ok yes I have an image burned to disk by now), install different driver combo. Game not work. Repeat. AAAARRRGGGGHHH.
So much so that I am dreaming of fixes and patches. Thinking of different combos I can try when I get home. IMing friends who have tried different things and trying them. Even going so far as starting to learn python. Arrrgghhh.
Make the bad man (sid/firaxistake2) go away.

 

[pygbe]

The 60,000 army is falling back...

 

[ranLR]

Shrink!!!!! Yes after this game I do need one. Format, install os, update os (*edit*ok yes I have an image burned to disk by now), install different driver combo. Game not work. Repeat. AAAARRRGGGGHHH.
So much so that I am dreaming of fixes and patches. Thinking of different combos I can try when I get home. IMing friends who have tried different things and trying them. Even going so far as starting to learn python. Arrrgghhh.
Make the bad man (sid/firaxistake2) go away.

I wonder what Freud would have to say about Wood-Chop-Strategy obsession?

 

[thejuicygoober]

come on mrgenie, people like thunderfall are just trying to be helpful. Give the man a break! He loves Civ as much as you do.

 

[Charles 22]

I'm not aware how the current CIV teams reflect what the CIV3 ones did, but it seems to me that the measure of CIV3 patches were more in terms of months rather than days. Given that I would think we would count ourselves fortunate to see that patch come early december.