Yogi Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 On one hand we certainly have to commend Battlefront on the patches and upgrades. Let's see we are now at version 1.04 of SC2 and my second patch needed for For Liberty. On the other hand, why are games put out in such poor condition? Why are bugs found by customers shortly after a game or patch is issued? Why do we have to spend large amounts of frustration and time just trying to get a good product. (some are even stuck with dial up or must do downloads at work) Is it needed cash flow? Is it poor testing? Is it a rush to satisfy customers? Believe it or not, I'm not posting this as a complaint. I just wonder why so much hassle is required. If you order a game, you can't seem to expect a great product without regular tweaking. How many just give up without even knowing a "fix" is/was avaialable? Battlefront is certainly not alone in this, it seems to be the software industry. Civilization IV was a total mess on first issue for example. Just thoughts and wondering how others, especially the developers and companies themselves feel about this. And of course feel free to be upset that anyone would question why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 you're a betatester essentially Yogi... Get use to it... They cannot afford to betatest on the level that we the People do... As we're hundreds perhaps thousands, they're at most dozens. Originally posted by Yogi: On one hand we certainly have to commend Battlefront on the patches and upgrades. Let's see we are now at version 1.04 of SC2 and my second patch needed for For Liberty. On the other hand, why are games put out in such poor condition? Why are bugs found by customers shortly after a game or patch is issued? Why do we have to spend large amounts of frustration and time just trying to get a good product. (some are even stuck with dial up or must do downloads at work) Is it needed cash flow? Is it poor testing? Is it a rush to satisfy customers? Believe it or not, I'm not posting this as a complaint. I just wonder why so much hassle is required. If you order a game, you can't seem to expect a great product without regular tweaking. How many just give up without even knowing a "fix" is/was avaialable? Battlefront is certainly not alone in this, it seems to be the software industry. Civilization IV was a total mess on first issue for example. Just thoughts and wondering how others, especially the developers and companies themselves feel about this. And of course feel free to be upset that anyone would question why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_j_rambo Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 This is the entire software industry, because consumers don't want to pay more. Testing is just as expensive as development, well, if you want good testing. And who wants to test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scook Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 The only games I know that receive exstensive testing are online perpetual world type games. Even then, for example, Guild Wars has 'preview weekends' where they have new content live for special occasions. This is essentially playtesting on a large scale with the trade off of letting people see the new stuff. There is virtually no way play testers can think of everything people would do without a LOT of man hours spent testing. From this point on, see the Legend above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_j_rambo Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 You want Yoda to test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n0kn0k Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 MMORPG's like Everquest2 betatest continuously. And yet they release add-ons with half the stuff implemented. That is an odd exception though, cause the game is adjusted to the wishes of the customers all the time. Hmm... that's actually what's happening to SC2 also No complaints here. Great idea's don't stick themselves to deadlines, those take time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogi Posted September 8, 2006 Author Share Posted September 8, 2006 Those of us who stick around web-sites, forums etc. are aware of the updates & fixes. Other then the frustration of the bug crashes and the download time & hassle, we can certainly live with it. No product will be perfect and the improvements are greatly appreciated. Still, some of the product deficiencies can be pretty glaring. Not all consumer's want and/or will take the time to look for "fixes". I wonder how many potential repeat customers are lost to companies because of bad experiences with a hasitily released product or patch? (below added in edit to refer to above paragraph) Battlefront/Hussar games may not be the best examples for possible lost business. Being basically an Internet only and specific interest manufacturer, a high percentage of their customers may participate in the forums, or at least frequently check the website. I think the potential is greater for games that can be purchased from any on-line vendor (chips & bits etc) and in particular at retail stores. Buy a buggy or poorly designed game at Wal-Mart or Best Buy, and you may decide to avoid products by that manufacturer in the future. [ September 08, 2006, 08:00 AM: Message edited by: Yogi ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapaho Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 I am highly satisfied with the product and the support from HC and battlefront. The amount of time I play the game against original cost is extremely good value for money. The computer hanging problem was annoying with 1.3 but if you compare it to EA Battlefield 2, they released their 1.3 patch (ironically) and took 4 months to fix a critical error they introduced into the game with their patch. They had 250000 angry customers - a lot of whom will not return to BF2 and some, like myself, will never buy another game from the Battlefield franchise again. For me it is an interesting point Yogi raises Why are bugs found by customers shortly after a game or patch is issued?There is always a play balance issue it seems - the 'bugs' although there are usually insignificant against players ability to expose game inbalance and AI weakneses. This is where the forums and game development support comes into its own. The amount of interaction and information is commendable here, when compared to many other games. /fanboy out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markpoll Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 This game was beta tested and released with relatively few bugs. The patch content has largely been game enhancements. You're complaining? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_j_rambo Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Yogi, SC-2 is doing must fine. Now clam up. You wouldn't even play me in a PBEM game, you skirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scook Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 We are playing a game built for PC computers. It is not a standardiezed platform, like Playstations and uhm, whatever the heck they are named. It is very possible because your computer doesn't allocate RAM in quite the same way at 90% of the computers out there that a problem may occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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