JakeCourtney
Villain
Ubiquitous said:
It's a pile of steamy crap.
Firaxis: Patch coming next week
- Thread starter Snackwell
- Start date
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It's a pile of steamy crap.
Psyringe
Scout
Seanirl said:
This has unfortunately been shown to be wrong on may, many occasions. Look, for example, how Sirian has been treated in several threads.
High expectations easily lead to frustration, frustration is something which many people like to vent off, and if there's an official in reach, all the better.
Skirmisher
Warlord
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2005
- Messages
- 249
Flak said:
I recall that Romani Prodi, the former head commisioner of the EU, once threatened to take Sony Playstation game developers to court because their products were too expensive.
So the EU does look into what is going on in the gaming industry.
BlueLikeYou
Chieftain
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2005
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- 53
Jecrell said:
It shouldn't take any time at all. They should already have an application/database for keeping track of all of the bugs that need to be fixed, what work has been done on them, who is assigned to each problem, etc. And you need to be able to bring up a report of all these bugs and their status anyway. It should be fairly simple to generate a list of the problems they are looking at, save it to a file, and push that file out to their web site. This could all be done automatically after the initial setup. Not having such a system in place would certainly make things take longer, and if they don't have something like this, that is probably part of the problem.
blue3c
Warlord
To post or not to post, that is the question. If they post they will most likely be thrown to the dogs. Yes I would be one of them I think. Not really sure. But I am pretty pissed at this game, and those who made it. So I would more then likely start out nice and then blow up.
But, for them to put something on the official gamesite. Letting us know that a patch is in the works with no time table as of right now, but with a small list of fixes that have already been addressed, if any. Would do wonders. That knowledge would shut me up. At least until a it came out and didn't work. Then I would be right back at it. Now if it were to work, Well I would be the first to stand up for the game and tell everyone about it. But it does not and they will not. So does it matter.
It all comes down to poor testing and early release.
But, for them to put something on the official gamesite. Letting us know that a patch is in the works with no time table as of right now, but with a small list of fixes that have already been addressed, if any. Would do wonders. That knowledge would shut me up. At least until a it came out and didn't work. Then I would be right back at it. Now if it were to work, Well I would be the first to stand up for the game and tell everyone about it. But it does not and they will not. So does it matter.
It all comes down to poor testing and early release.
Sovietof17
Prince
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2005
- Messages
- 311
3 more days until the patch is 1 week later then promised
As angry as I am that I haven't been fully able to experience what otherwise seems a really really good game, Firaxis is in a bit of a catch 22.
They can't post info about a patch on the main site without negatively affecting sales, which might then decrease the available resources for a patch....
They can't post on the forum because of the severe flame factor (as much as I would really like to see a 'we promise we are working on A, B, C' it would jsut start more flamewars than already exist.)
They probably are a bit hesitant to give a list of what they are attempting to fix on this patch because no matter what , it will not please everyone. So as miserable as it makes most of us, their best option is to keep quiet and work, and release a patch when they feel its ready.
The majority of us will just either find workarounds for now or wait horribly impatiently. A very very small percentage might return the game, but not enough to negate the negative effect of sales if their site loudly broadcast the problems of the game and the need for a patch so soon after release.
Unfortunately, its business.
They can't post info about a patch on the main site without negatively affecting sales, which might then decrease the available resources for a patch....
They can't post on the forum because of the severe flame factor (as much as I would really like to see a 'we promise we are working on A, B, C' it would jsut start more flamewars than already exist.)
They probably are a bit hesitant to give a list of what they are attempting to fix on this patch because no matter what , it will not please everyone. So as miserable as it makes most of us, their best option is to keep quiet and work, and release a patch when they feel its ready.
The majority of us will just either find workarounds for now or wait horribly impatiently. A very very small percentage might return the game, but not enough to negate the negative effect of sales if their site loudly broadcast the problems of the game and the need for a patch so soon after release.
Unfortunately, its business.
BirraImperial
Pura Vida!
Dark Helmet,
Call Microsoft if you need an activation code. tell them you made some changes in your hardware
Call Microsoft if you need an activation code. tell them you made some changes in your hardware
warpstorm
Yumbo? Yumbo!
Sovietof17 said:
Except that they never promised it. The original post was from an e-mail from a tech support guy who may have no real knowledge or authority to say these things.
A status report would not take away time from development of the patch... unless they are managed very poorly, the managers already have this information (I would expect the manager of each team to have a 5 minute update with each developer each day to assign new tasks and check on the progress of whatever they are already working on in case the developer needs help).
Having said this, the political ramifications can be a nightmare... If they admit that there are problems and that they are working on a patch, there will be news reports that the game is bugridden and the game will get a reputation for being unplayable. Even if they then release the patch within a week and it fixes all of the problems on up-to-spec machines, the bad reputation will stick because the news media will either not mention the fix or will just have a fleeting mention of it... Bad news sells much better than good news.
For an example of how this works, Miocrosoft released version 4 of MS-Dos and it performed terribly. Most of the issues were actually due to the default setup which was very conservative but even though Microsoft told people how to adjust the settings and released another version with better initial setup, the industry never trusted version 4 again... three years later, people were still specifying version 3 when they bought new PCs.
In other words... no good deed goes unpunished !
Having said this, the political ramifications can be a nightmare... If they admit that there are problems and that they are working on a patch, there will be news reports that the game is bugridden and the game will get a reputation for being unplayable. Even if they then release the patch within a week and it fixes all of the problems on up-to-spec machines, the bad reputation will stick because the news media will either not mention the fix or will just have a fleeting mention of it... Bad news sells much better than good news.
For an example of how this works, Miocrosoft released version 4 of MS-Dos and it performed terribly. Most of the issues were actually due to the default setup which was very conservative but even though Microsoft told people how to adjust the settings and released another version with better initial setup, the industry never trusted version 4 again... three years later, people were still specifying version 3 when they bought new PCs.
In other words... no good deed goes unpunished !
BirraImperial
Pura Vida!
Dida said:that's even worse. maybe they are not really working on a patch. maybe they just took our money and say:"screw you, suckers!"
MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
blue3c
Warlord
Siggy19 said:
Comparing DOS and this game release is perfect. 
Ubiquitous
Chieftain
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
- Messages
- 52
I see a lot of people saying that they won't post here because they will get 'flamed'.
Are you people in the real world? Do you think a game programmer gives a flying **** what us gamers think of their products? Will some big shot on $60,000 a year suddenly stop making a patch because user 'Ubiquitous' or the ilk 'flamed' him?
I am a mere student of History, and I have no problems with posting unattractive and sometimes controversial opinions here, for which I have been 'flamed'. Being 'flamed' just makes me more determined to do better - just like most other adults.
So this brainbug that flaming is keeping them off here is a no go. Yes, it works for juvinile groups of game modders with no professional expirence, but not for real world workers.
So we have shown that it will not take long to post an update. I have also shown how a professional is above such petty arguments as the ones they might experience here. So I ask again: why have they not posted? Why have they not updated their website? As a consumer, do I deserve this contempt they have treated me with?
No. No I do not. All I want is an update, guys, and a list of bug fixes for a future patch.
By not doing this, Firaxis has scored a PR disaster.
Are you people in the real world? Do you think a game programmer gives a flying **** what us gamers think of their products? Will some big shot on $60,000 a year suddenly stop making a patch because user 'Ubiquitous' or the ilk 'flamed' him?
I am a mere student of History, and I have no problems with posting unattractive and sometimes controversial opinions here, for which I have been 'flamed'. Being 'flamed' just makes me more determined to do better - just like most other adults.
So this brainbug that flaming is keeping them off here is a no go. Yes, it works for juvinile groups of game modders with no professional expirence, but not for real world workers.
So we have shown that it will not take long to post an update. I have also shown how a professional is above such petty arguments as the ones they might experience here. So I ask again: why have they not posted? Why have they not updated their website? As a consumer, do I deserve this contempt they have treated me with?
No. No I do not. All I want is an update, guys, and a list of bug fixes for a future patch.
By not doing this, Firaxis has scored a PR disaster.
Ubiquitous... while it would not take long to post an update and I am pretty sure that the developers can cope with some mild flaming, I can understand their hesitation for business reasons.
As I said before, once they say anything officially, there will be news reports about the problems all over the gaming press. People will stop buying the game. Even if the patch is then released and is absolutely wonderful, many of those potential customers will never find out about it and will therefore never buy the game.
This is not anyone's fault, it is simply the way human psychology works.
And there will never be a Civ V. And Civ IV will only get one or two patches, even if some issues remain. All because the money isn't there to do it.
In practice, I suspect that the last game to be released that did not need any patches was Pong. There have been a few unpatched games since then, but most of those didn't survive long enough to get the patch that they evidently needed.
We may not like it, but money does rule the world. We might wish that the game had been released in perfect condition, but Firaxis needed the game to be released in time for the Christmas market in order to recoup the money that they invested and make enough profit to be worth developing patches, mods and new versions of the game in the future.
No developer wants to release a program that has bugs in it, but most of us realize that the only alternative is to never release a program at all. Bugs happen. Funnily enough, it can be easier to fix something that has been widely released simply because any patterns can be easier to find. Most late stage bugs are not easily reproducible and are therefore hard to find, hard to fix and hard to be sure that the fix worked.
As I said before, once they say anything officially, there will be news reports about the problems all over the gaming press. People will stop buying the game. Even if the patch is then released and is absolutely wonderful, many of those potential customers will never find out about it and will therefore never buy the game.
This is not anyone's fault, it is simply the way human psychology works.
And there will never be a Civ V. And Civ IV will only get one or two patches, even if some issues remain. All because the money isn't there to do it.
In practice, I suspect that the last game to be released that did not need any patches was Pong. There have been a few unpatched games since then, but most of those didn't survive long enough to get the patch that they evidently needed.
We may not like it, but money does rule the world. We might wish that the game had been released in perfect condition, but Firaxis needed the game to be released in time for the Christmas market in order to recoup the money that they invested and make enough profit to be worth developing patches, mods and new versions of the game in the future.
No developer wants to release a program that has bugs in it, but most of us realize that the only alternative is to never release a program at all. Bugs happen. Funnily enough, it can be easier to fix something that has been widely released simply because any patterns can be easier to find. Most late stage bugs are not easily reproducible and are therefore hard to find, hard to fix and hard to be sure that the fix worked.
Ubiquitous
Chieftain
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
- Messages
- 52
So basically Firaxis should be dishonest instead and pretend that their game works to trick unsuspecting consumers into buying it ... so they have more money ... so they can make more patches?Siggy19 said:
It's just as likely that Take2 will see that consumers are gullible and will buy a buggy game regardless of what problems it has and thus Civ 5 will be rushed even more to meet the accounts deadline for Take2 in 2007...
It's a vicious circle mate.
Ubiquitous said:
Not saying anything is not lying. It's just not saying anything. Firaxis never said that the game works perfectly, nor did they say it's without problems. While I agree it'd be nice to hear something, a lack of communication means nothing...aside from a lack of communication.
MrCynical
Deity
Well Firaxis has just announced that they've sent a patch to 2K for final testing, which sounds promising. There's already threads in GD and Tech support on this subject.
MrCynical said:
And it's on the Civ 4 official site, too.
http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/firaxis_note_01.htm
NOW are you "Firaxis sucks and they're only out to screw us" people happy?
King Flevance
Deity
Borgholio said:And it's on the Civ 4 official site, too.
http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/firaxis_note_01.htm
NOW are you "Firaxis sucks and they're only out to screw us" people happy?
It will be released next week I promise
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