I think there is some lying going on.

[flytyer]

Anything good takes some time to perfect. As long as they don't ask me to pay for the patches/updates then I can get along with them just fine!!

 

[patweb]

@leebloom: are you suggesting that professional reviewers put their credibility, and hence their jobs, on the line by lying? Don't be ridiculous.

Maybe not lying, maybe it was delivered on a preloaded machine?

Otherwise, maybe they actually got support for the product.

 

[Padma]

Maybe the game actually ran on their machines?

I know one reviewer - does work for some minor online magazines. He got his review copy shortly after CIV was released. It loaded fine on his system. He had no problems. He's an avowed Civ2 junkie, but admitted this might lure him away.

I *know* he had no special support, just the CDs and his regular machine. He did have some slowdown in the later game, which he did report.

 

[DaviddesJ]

I personally find it hard to believe that bugs and the like are ever even a factor for most people in buying a game. This makes software completely unlike cars and such, where reliability and safety are often prime concerns. I, personally, will never base my decision to buy a game on how buggy it is. If I trust the company enough (as I do Firaxis), I can rest assured that most bugs will be ironed out over time.

That doesn't seem very reasonable, since Firaxis also did Civ3 and many of the bugs in that game were never fixed.

I think the much higher rate of patching and bugfixing in Civ4 is because what they said all along about the advantages of rewriting the game from scratch is probably true. It was very hard for them to fix problems in Civ3 because of the way the code was written. It's much easier in Civ4, and so they are doing much more. Kudos for that.

 

[COUGAR69]

I think the good lurkers are the ones who have been here a while but never posted.I was looking through here for 2 months before I reqistered and started posting.

 

[Chopperhead]

how buggy a game is really doesnt affect which games i buy or not. Mostly because a) I don't know about it because i dont spend all my time looking through forums and game websites to make a decision. I just go to the store and go oh this looks good and buy it b) usualy problems will be fixed or i wont even notice bugs in the game.

I played civ3 Vanilla since it first came out till about feb 05 when i lost it. I never downloaded a patch i never bought an expansion pack nothing at all I didnt even know the game was buggy untill i joined this website in anticipation of civ4 release. So im going to say that unless they are really large bugs like the game wont start or copletly shuts down all the time then most people wont even notice little techincal issuses unless you are looking for them or areknowlegable about computers and how things should work etc.

 

[Breunor]

I'm not suggesting payola is going on, but I do think there is a bandwagon factor (they read what everyone else says and just sign on) and/or a respect for the franchise's past factor being played (they are giving it a great grade because they loved past Civs and this one looks like it's even better on the surface) that take away from the credibility of the reviews. Oh well, bottom line is if you love the game you love the reviews, and vice versa.

This clearly does happen among reviewers. Maybe some reviewers are occasionally bribed, maybe really important ones -- I don't know what every reviewer has ever done. I've written dozens of reviews and was never approached for a bribe and I know a lot of us aren't. I'm not naive, I'm telling you personal history.

But the bandwagon effect CLEARLY happens among major releases. This happens in every field -- books, movies, sports' team predictions, predictions of the economy and economic growth, and, of course, games and computer games.

I do think respect for pedagree also is a factor, but less so. As I said, HOMM 4 and MoO 3 were panned despite incredible pedigrees. Going back in time, Ultima 8 and 9 were panned. Indeed, a great legacy is often more difficult to maintain.

So, if there is bribing, (and I'm skeptical there is a lot), its CLEARLY only from the major magazines and outlets, not the dozens of reviews out there. Pedigree can help but it won't give a game like CIV a pass. However, bandwaggonong is a very common occurance.


Best wishes,

Breunor

 

[Reignking]

The big tip was the mislabelled play disk...but after the patches, the game is cool. I was really freaked out at first by the video problems.
Civ4 rocks.

You can hardly expect a buggy game from a faulty production process. Especially since that part is most likely outsourced. I don't think the programmers sat at their machines burning copies 24/7 for release

I love cIV, and had very very few problems on an ancient computer, but I am stunned that a game with such flaws is winning these awards.

 

[rabottens]

Anyone here remember the bugs that came with Civ 3. Over time they were fixed. I don't understand why people get so offended when a game ships with a few problems most reputable companies respond with appropriate patching in a short period of time. I have beta tested for several companies and there is virtually no way to find every little bug when you test it on your machine. Each machine config is different and offers a different set of bug opportunities. Just because I had little problem out of the box with Civ 4 I know there were some people who couldn't play it out of the box. Railing on the people who designed it don't change the situation. Post your bug and wait for the patch. I am yet to see the company not respond when you can verify a bug. My pet peeve has always been gamers who don't regularly check their drivers and update them on a regular basis. A lot of the problems in incompatibility occur in audio/video drivers being severely outdated. I wish designing could be simplified to just one type of machine to design to as it is with game consoles. But with as many variations of machines you have variations of possiblities for problems. It would be nice if there could exist a baseline gaming hardware computer and operating system for game designers to design to. Maybe it can become a possibility in the next few years.