24 réponses à ce sujet

[SILVERFURY0093]

this is just a question as to the effects why patches are so slow in coming out, no offense BioWare Developer but i need to know why it takes months to release a patch that sloves only a couple bugs and glitches that a few of them really is problematic. BioWare i'm sure that because of DA2 that patches are coming out slow but is DA:O or Awakening not really consider a prioity to patch up or rather the techincally support for DA:O and Awakening in lacking manpower to deal with the bug corrections. seeing as there are more players reporting that patch games seems to have more bugs than the original non patch games. however, as a consumer the origins game itself before patch, had only 1-2 crash or bugs that was a problem. this shows how BioWare really polish the game. as for Awakening was the beta testing a week to half a month for the price of a full game. In terms of patches support from BioWare, is it going to be until DA 2 comes out, thats when BioWare stops patching the DA games and foucs only patching DA2?

[Kastagir]

DA support totally went to Hell once the expansion came out. Not only did the expansion break a lot of stuff, but some of its content is broken as well. It takes MONTHS for Bioware to wake up and realize that there is an issue and when they do deliver a patch, it doesn't fix anything significant. At least before Awakening was released there was a visibly concerted effort on Bioware's part to support the game and patch the flaws. Since then it has been an abysmal failure - almost like they are in denial of the game-breaking bugs that remain unaddressed.

Oh, and by "DA support," I am not referring to EA who provide "official support" for Dragon Age.  I am referring to Bioware's responsibility to provide updates to the game that address the issues that have plagued the game since its (and the expansion's) release.  This is Bioware's responsibility, not the publisher's.

Modifié par Kastagir, 26 août 2010 - 07:50 .

[SILVERFURY0093]

interesting point of view, i had such faith that BioWare would support their rpoduct like they did with the baldur's gate series and all the pervious titles. i assume its just the publisher putting pressure on BioWare to for go the support as EA lately been known to screw up franchises, like thier pervious mishalf concerning the famous Command and conquer series with their rush carp productions of a great rts franchies. (nvm im going on a rant here) but i would like to hear the developers response to delayed patches?

[Kastagir]

Look at the patch history prior to 1.03 and the release of Awakening.  There were game updates every few weeks and each of them required (and promptly received) hotfixes.  1.03 was and remains a mess.

Far too many people seem far too eager to blame EA for the problems with Dragon Age support. In the end, Bioware is the one that makes the promises to deliver, and it is Bioware that is responsible for providing the support through game updates. And it should be clear to everyone that this is not the same Bioware that made the Baldur's Gate series. Much of the writing talent may be there, but technically they are lacking.
Take a look at the DA credits and count the people involved in QA, then ask yourself why it takes Bioware 5-6 weeks to start collecting information for a patch and why the patch fixes nothing significant. I will bet that out of all of those people only 1 or 2 of them are actively working on Dragon Age updates. Even if that were the case, there is no reasonable explanation why they should continue to ignore release-day bugs that break content - and instead remove things or implement new authorization systems that only cause more problems.
I too would like someone from Bioware to explain this stuff, but that is not likely to happen.

Modifié par Kastagir, 26 août 2010 - 06:28 .

[SILVERFURY0093]

oh QA now that you mention it i did in the past realizes something was amiss but merely assume that those only the list of QA was only involve polishing the games before release i didnt know that the current names of all those that handle the patches we get. Kastagir what did you mean the BioWare not the same as the BioWare we all love? i always though the BioWare staff was the same like back then when they support their games. kastagir again thanks for all the insight and hearing your perspective.

[Kastagir]

The developer-publisher relationship is different, the staff is different and the philosophy is clearly different. In ~2000 Bioware didn't need the angry hordes to compel them to provide updates to the game - they did it on their own. Granted, game design has gotten many times more complex since then and the more complex they make the game engine the more likely it is to have flaws and the more work will be involved to fix those flaws. However, leaving such embarrassing bugs (e.g. Find Vitals, Shale, unimplemented effects, etc.) untouched since release shows an egregious lack of devotion to quality control and consumer satisfaction. These are not qualities I would associate with the Bioware that brought us the Baldur's Gate series.

[bartoni33]

Well this is all academic anyway because there will not be any more patches for this game. I would almost bet on it.

[jess879malagant]

I would bet on there being no more patches for the game as well.

[Quels]

I guess Bioware/EA has given up and now puts their faith in unofficial patches to salvage this otherwise great game, sad, but I think, as others have said, that we will not see anything for this game that doesn't involve our money ... so another question could be: should we encourage "dlc patches" and simply pay them to fix this game?

[Korhiann]

No unofficial patch can fix the current issues, only a proper official patch will be able to once again make dragon age an enjoyable, problemfree experience.

And no, a consumer should never have to pay for patches, since thats part of service you bought when you purchased their game. Denying that service only leads to disgruntled consumers.

I certainly hope Bioware is going to release a 1.05 patch at some point in the near future. If not then I for one am left with only two choices; 1) Play origins with the 1.02 patch 2) Never play dragon age origins/awakening again. The former shouldnt be nessecary since its without a doubt Biowares responsibility to provide a playable product, if not then I would seriously consider demanding a refund. Its also not the modding communities responsibility to fix an almost unplayable game.

The latter would seriously hamper my eagerness to buy dragon age products in the future and perhaps even other Bioware products.

One thing I am somewhat irritated about is the sense that Bioware is getting ready to abandon this game after the last DLC so they can focus on their sequel, when they should be focusing on fixing the original dragon age.

Also I agree with Kastagir that this isnt EAs fault, but Biowares inability to spend the time and resources needed to make a proper patch.



But regardless of all that Im still going to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt and wait a little while longer.

[Kastagir]

I am not so quick to jump on the bandwagon and start believing that Bioware has abandoned DA in favor of DA2. I am hopeful they will understand what their responsibility is and address these issues before DA2 is released. If they fail to do so, I will do what I am empowered as the consumer to do - I will not buy any more of their products.

DA was a great game - very engrossing, very well written and initially very well executed - but support dropped off. I don't know whether it was due to a rushed expansion or an all too abrupt shift to development of the sequel, but much of its potential evaporated with the release of 1.03 and Awakening. I hope they use this time to redirect their efforts to fix DA properly before the sequel is released. No matter how great DA2 appears to be from the marketing material, If they fail to meet this obligation, they will not be receiving any more money from me.

[Gorath Alpha]

SILVERFURY0093 wrote...

this is just a question as to the effects why patches are so slow in coming out

If you wanted an actual Bioware person to take notice and possibly reply, you should have specified problems you have had with Patch 1.04, since Nathan has been dealing with that. 

On a normal, day to day basis here, it's just gamers writing comments to other gamers in here, just as the forum description states.  Since I have had only one serious problem that required special work-around procedures, I just haven't worried about any need for patches.  IMO, that's been the case for the vast majority of game buyers.  I have no opinion regarding any delays with patches, rather, I have felt critical of the attitude that the Bioware personnel have been instructed to demonstrate. 

Some other game-developing companies actually SHARE some real information with their customers during the patch building process.  Neither Bethesda nor Bioware choose to do that, which makes for a lot of gamer frustration among customers. 

Since they are so decidely uncommunicative, our criticism of their patching is totally without any targets. 

Gorath
-

[Kastagir]

I'm sure Bioware at least reads these forums. Whether they decide to do anything about it is another matter and they certainly don't participate. I can't say I blame them since any time they announce a project or an effort to fix something they are praised and thanked for the sentiment as if their voice were the harbinger of hope. Conversely, whenever they fail to fix something they get nailed to the cross by the angry hordes, so I can't blame them for not "participating" in the forums (with the exception of Stanley Woo, of course, who seems to fit right in). I would much rather they read and absorb these forums and adjust their focus accordingly. What I don't like is the lack of promised communication - the community "representatives" need to play a more active role in keeping the community informed. Or are they just "representing" the community's concerns to the company? Who knows...

[awpdevil]

Well if they keep releasing patches that do nothing to help performance or bugs in quests and say in the notes they are, they should be crucified for it. I hate to say it like that, but its the way I feel after never getting to play this game without having to restart it every hour. This game is like Fallout 3. Great game, but god aweful performance issues.

I know there are more people then just myself that have had issues with the game since release.

[ladydesire]

What they need to do is have people with systems affected by certain bugs beta-test patches that will be released on PC; that way they can have reliable feedback on whether or not a given bug really is fixed. I know; some of would say that's the job of the QA department, but they may not always think outside the testing scripts they no doubt have, whereas we will.

[Galnospoke]

This is EA "quality". Nothing new. Worst game company ever.

[ICek81]

nope, its bioware quality. There are games from EA that wont have many ar any DLC coming out and thetre without mayor bugs from the start.

[Korhiann]

Galnospoke wrote...

This is EA "quality". Nothing new. Worst game company ever.

Rubbish, it has nothing to do with EA. No EA employee wrote the patches or had anything to do with the games development at all for that matter.
Blaming EA is quickly becoming one of the oldest tricks in the book.
No Im afraid this rests solely on Bioware.

[Franpa]

EA can set deadlines and say nope, you can't publish that patch etc. this of course depends on the contract between the publisher and developer.

[Kastagir]

Take the EA rants to the EA forums. This is a Bioware forum. Bioware has pledged to support the DA franchise and has not lived up to this agreement so far. This agreement is between Bioware and the Dragon Age community - how they do it is their business, but bringing EA into this debate irrelevant.

[Galnospoke]

Korhiann wrote...

Rubbish, it has nothing to do with EA. 

Who give money is a ruler.

[Korhiann]

Galnospoke wrote...

Korhiann wrote...

Rubbish, it has nothing to do with EA. 

Who give money is a ruler.

Doesnt have any say in what and how something gets made, only if it gets made.
So its still rubbish to think that EA is responsible for the quality of any patches which Bioware make.

Modifié par Korhiann, 28 août 2010 - 08:15 .

[SILVERFURY0093]

ok so EA has no control over BioWare, what about game release and having BioWare make selected game titles? do BioWare maintain that right or is it EA that gives the orders?  oh on a side note how come BioWare does do beta patch like " ladyDesire" suggested im sure itll speed up the process of completing a useful patch. as for kastigar said about the process in regards of future patches, with DA2 coming next spring, will there be at least one patch that solve alot of the games problem before DA2 comes out?

what do you thinks guys will Bioware be able to solve the problem before DA2 comes out?

Modifié par SILVERFURY0093, 29 août 2010 - 03:52 .

[Kaedah]

Kastagir wrote...

DA support totally went to Hell once the expansion came out. Not only did the expansion break a lot of stuff, but some of its content is broken as well. It takes MONTHS for Bioware to wake up and realize that there is an issue and when they do deliver a patch, it doesn't fix anything significant. At least before Awakening was released there was a visibly concerted effort on Bioware's part to support the game and patch the flaws. Since then it has been an abysmal failure - almost like they are in denial of the game-breaking bugs that remain unaddressed.

Oh, and by "DA support," I am not referring to EA who provide "official support" for Dragon Age.  I am referring to Bioware's responsibility to provide updates to the game that address the issues that have plagued the game since its (and the expansion's) release.  This is Bioware's responsibility, not the publisher's.

I completly agreeB)

[SILVERFURY0093]

Kaedah wrote...

Kastagir wrote...

DA support totally went to Hell once the expansion came out. Not only did the expansion break a lot of stuff, but some of its content is broken as well. It takes MONTHS for Bioware to wake up and realize that there is an issue and when they do deliver a patch, it doesn't fix anything significant. At least before Awakening was released there was a visibly concerted effort on Bioware's part to support the game and patch the flaws. Since then it has been an abysmal failure - almost like they are in denial of the game-breaking bugs that remain unaddressed.

Oh, and by "DA support," I am not referring to EA who provide "official support" for Dragon Age.  I am referring to Bioware's responsibility to provide updates to the game that address the issues that have plagued the game since its (and the expansion's) release.  This is Bioware's responsibility, not the publisher's.

I completly agreeB)

ok thanks for hearing your response and perspective.