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[DenogginizerOS]

The renderer error in CIV4, the lazy code for high-end cards for Call of Duty 2 and FEAR, the Battlefield 2 patch fiasco early on, Half-Life 2's stutter issues; etc. I think it is time to revisit the issue of game designers and publishers continuing a disturbing trend of releasing shitty product. I remember feeling ripped off when Elder Scrolls III came out and how the game was riddled with bugs. I thought then that my system was not up to snuff and I was turned off about spending a lot of cash for one game. Now, fast forward a few years. I own a very strong system and the bugs just keep on coming. I know it is difficult to code for so many different machine/driver configurations and there are some games that really do run well out of the box, but it is the repeated stories of buggy launches that is deterring this consumer from buying PC games until months after they have been released and the 3 patches needed to get it running right are finally available.

And considering that EB no longer takes trade-ins on PC games, if you buy one of these lemons, your hopes for any return on your investement are very slim.

 

[Iceman]

It's always been a crap shoot with me.. that's why I rarely buy PC games. Last game I tried was Half-Life 2. Wouldn't run .. froze during the intro. every time.

I bet about half the 3D games I've ever tried didn't work on my PCs.

The GTA ports to PC are fantastic.. but they hardly push any gaming PC.

If anything has anything close to complex 3D graphics/effects.. I just won't even risk it these days.

 

[Jacobi]

I never buy new full-price-PC-games...just too risky.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I never buy new full-price-PC-games...just too risky.

And that risk is driving PC sales down, driving piracy up, and promoting a very small number of games that are constantly improving themselves like WOW.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

I haven't had any problems with any releases since I picked up my Sony Vaio w/ a X800 XT PE card inside, but before that it was basically a crap shoot. I figured I'd be paying more going with Sony, but in the end it has just been a whole heck of a lot more stable than anything I used to have.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I have an X800Xt PE as well and I have been having relatively few problems. However, the CIV4 issue and others are independent of the beast you and I have at home. The problems I am talking about are not related to code exceeding your card's capabilities; rather, the ones writing the code are still staying sloppy and/or the publishers are pushing out games before they are fully certified. I am sure CIV4 will be running smooth in the near future, but that is no excuse for releasing unfinished product.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Yeah, I see what you're saying. It's the "ship it now and patch it later" mentality. I really hope that never makes its way to console gaming.

 

[Outcast2004]

The renderer error in CIV4, the lazy code for high-end cards for Call of Duty 2 and FEAR, the Battlefield 2 patch fiasco early on, Half-Life 2's stutter issues; etc. I think it is time to revisit the issue of game designers and publishers continuing a disturbing trend of releasing shitty product. I remember feeling ripped off when Elder Scrolls III came out and how the game was riddled with bugs. I thought then that my system was not up to snuff and I was turned off about spending a lot of cash for one game. Now, fast forward a few years. I own a very strong system and the bugs just keep on coming. I know it is difficult to code for so many different machine/driver configurations and there are some games that really do run well out of the box, but it is the repeated stories of buggy launches that is deterring this consumer from buying PC games until months after they have been released and the 3 patches needed to get it running right are finally available.

And considering that EB no longer takes trade-ins on PC games, if you buy one of these lemons, your hopes for any return on your investement are very slim.

At least you can RUN BF2.

EA/dice in their infinite wisdom has no support for those of us with PCI video cards. I have a 256mb PCI card that isn't doing me a damn bit of good.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. It's the "ship it now and patch it later" mentality. I really hope that never makes its way to console gaming.

This was a sarcastic joke right?

 

[DenogginizerOS]

The lack of a guaranteed Hard Drive for X360 puts a lot of pressure on the certification folks at MS to make sure games don't have fatal flaws in them prior to release. And although this is not always the case, I think the console certification system exposes the laziness of the PC certification system.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

This was a sarcastic joke right?

No, I'm being serious. I can see games being patched via online updates much like PC games are now, I just hope that it never happens. With the rising costs of development I could honestly see devs adopting the "ship now patch" later mindset once in a while.

Weren't there a few patches that went out via XBL for Xbox games? I might be mistaken but I thought there were a few.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Weren't there a few patches that went out via XBL for Xbox games? I might be mistaken but I thought there were a few.

HALO 2 got a major patch.

And it sounds like BF2 has some issues for XBOX owners:

"Electronic Arts and DICE are fully aware of the connectivity problems with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on Xbox Live. These problems range from people getting disconnected when using Optimatch, people getting kicked from a game server when a map is being loaded and servers not being displayed in the server list properly. To the best of our knowledge, there are no issues with the PS2 online experience at this time.

This message is to reassure you that we are taking multiple steps to correct these issues. By now the Optimatch function should be working and a server to play on shouldn’t be a problem. However, we’re still working on a few other issues and will have them resolved as soon as possible. We’re aware of continued server crashes, in-game hang-ups and the problems with the game statistics and results. Players should keep in mind that statistics, game results, and intelligence file data displayed on the website will update irregularly while we work on fixing some of the game stability issues. Once we’ve solved these problems, the website will accurately reflect your player data, and your complete statistics will be available.

We take the online experience very seriously, and have devoted all of our online resources to resolving all issues as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you notice something in the online experience that isn’t covered in this announcement, please drop us an email at bf2community@ea.com and we’ll pass it to those working to resolve the issues. We appreciate your stead-fast loyalty to the Battlefield Franchise.

Thanks,
[EA]Mike
Battlefield Community Manager"

 

[Razoric]

HALO 2 got a major patch.

Mainly for online. I can't think of any single player console game that needed to be patched before playing.

Online games, be it console or PC, will ALWAYS need to be patched in one way or another. There is no way devs can 100% anticipate what will and wont work online (balance, map glitches, cheats, etc).

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Mainly for online. I can't think of any single player console game that needed to be patched before playing.

Online gamings, be it console or PC, will ALWAYS need to be patched. There is no way devs can 100% anticipate what will and wont work online (balance, map glitches, cheats, etc).

You are right. But the need for patching online games does raise the concern for those who opt out of getting the premium X360 pack and want to play online.

 

[Razoric]

You are right. But the need for patching online games does raise the concern for those who opt out of getting the premium X360 pack and want to play online.

Yup. Those memory cards are gonna fill up fast.

 

[Outcast2004]

No, I'm being serious. I can see games being patched via online updates much like PC games are now, I just hope that it never happens. With the rising costs of development I could honestly see devs adopting the "ship now patch" later mindset once in a while.

Weren't there a few patches that went out via XBL for Xbox games? I might be mistaken but I thought there were a few.

Look no further than the Xbox library. There's quite a few that had major problems patched.

Hell Wrestlemania 21 for Xbox, their online mode DIDNT EVEN WORK. You had to patch it.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

The lack of a guaranteed Hard Drive for X360 puts a lot of pressure on the certification folks at MS to make sure games don't have fatal flaws in them prior to release. And although this is not always the case, I think the console certification system exposes the laziness of the PC certification system.

...actually the fact that if it works on one xbox guarantees it runs on them all is the extreme difference, the many driver versions, venders, hardware revisions, OS, DLL's, and the simple fact that a PC is composed of more parts that are swappable make it harder to ensure a bug free experience. Its just the price you pay for having a configurable system.

 

[Ghost]

Ive always thought that the 'release & patch mentality' was an anti-piracy thing.

I mean theres no way the bugs that have made it into recent PC games could be have been missed in testing (unless there was none whatsoever).