8899 réponses à ce sujet

[Topcat9o]

Lion Martinez wrote...

@MetzgerGeorg I'm sorry, I believe I missed or misread that question.

I'm not saying "classified" however we may be prohibited to certain extents to disclose details until finished. Also once we do and we're ready to publish you will probably hear it from Chris or another one of my superiors before me.

I really don't have the details you are asking for regardless, sorry. I'm also sorry you feel disappointed and I understand it.

 

Can you give us an estimate on how long patches usually take to be certified? Patches in general not this particular patch.

[voteDC]

Indeed, I can't see that it would break any rules to say how long the process takes if everything goes perfectly.

[Mistrzu]

How many times do I have to post this photo ?



I want to know the exact date of release Bioware !

[wedge998]

Looks like Lion Martinez told us all the information that he can, that has been "authorized" for him to tell. I very much so appreciate that and would like to thank you. If people look back to the beginning of this thread you will see many posts complaining about no one talking to the fans. Most people just wanted something said since we were starved for any information for over a week since Chris Priestly has only posted twice to give information on what many consider to be a game breaking bug.

I'm beyond frustrated with this issue and haven't looked at this thread for days but having someone talk with the fans is great. Even if the information isn't particularly useful for a lot of people's questions at least we aren't completely in the dark anymore. Oh, I ended up not returning my copy but this is the last day one purchase BioWare gets from me.

[Lion Martinez]

I don't have any information on the status of this patch nor do I have the specifics when it comes to Mass Effect 3 patches in general, just want to make that clear. I don't work out of the studio, I'm in the Nordics.

Speaking hypothetically from previous similar situations with other developers it took somewhere around a minimum of 2 weeks from requesting approval. But please again understand that this does not pertain to Mass Effect 3 or BioWare in any way. You will still hear any solid news from Chris or his peers on these forums first.

Modifié par Lion Martinez, 27 mars 2012 - 12:17 .

[rapchill]

Lion Martinez wrote...

I don't have any information on the status of this patch nor do I have the specifics when it comes to Mass Effect 3 patches in general, just want to make that clear. I don't work out of the studio, I'm in the Nordics.

Speaking hypothetically from previous similar situations with other developers it took somewhere around a minimum of 2 weeks from requesting approval.

When Chris mentioned a few pages back that something was being done towards this fix, I wasn't expecting it to be fixed and released days after. These things take time, especially if you read what Chris posted to another thread about the "Patching Process". All this said, Lion, this is a good update. Puts some people at ease that we (the fan/customer) is being looked after.

Lion Martinez wrote...

But please again understand that this doesn't not pertain to Mass Effect 3 or BioWare in any way. You will still hear any solid news from Chris or his peers on these forums first.

Double negative...so itdoes pertain to ME3 and BioWare? nah, I'm just kidding

[Lion Martinez]

Thank you, typo fixed^

[darth shango]

Lion can you inform the decision makers that it would behoove them to be honest and level with us. As a longtime fan of BioWare I, like many others here, preordered this game months ago only to have it show up on launch day and be unplayable for going on four weeks now. I would like a statement from the decision makers explaining why this issue was allowed in the final version of the game that shipped and an apology. Official acknowledgement of this issue from a decision maker will be a positive step towards mending the growing rift between BioWare and it's fans.

Modifié par darth shango, 27 mars 2012 - 12:48 .

[Simonion]

Thank you Lion.
It takes balls to come on here and bear the brunt of the furore. The effort is appreciated, by me at least.
So lets not flog a dead horse people by trying to get information that can't be had!!

[voteDC]

Lion Martinez wrote...

I don't have any information on the status of this patch nor do I have the specifics when it comes to Mass Effect 3 patches in general, just want to make that clear. I don't work out of the studio, I'm in the Nordics.

Speaking hypothetically from previous similar situations with other developers it took somewhere around a minimum of 2 weeks from requesting approval. But please again understand that this does not pertain to Mass Effect 3 or BioWare in any way. You will still hear any solid news from Chris or his peers on these forums first.

Two weeks would explain why you don't see many MMOs on the consoles.

Thanks for the info.

[Dragon_Nexus]

voteDC wrote...

Indeed, I can't see that it would break any rules to say how long the process takes if everything goes perfectly.

Really? You can't?

Well you don't understand fans.
Bioware makes a statement saying "If all goes well and we don't have any issues with the patch going through cirtification, we would expect it to hit on 10th April."
That's a fairly accurate representation of a statement they could make. Imagine also they released a list of bug fixes they'd included in the patch and made a point of saying it was subject to change and etc.

Now, during the certification MS or Sony find that the patch ends up breaking another quest, or in certain areas the frame rate drops to half or a script suddenly fails to activate or whatever.
Now the patch has to go back to be repaired. Now it won't be out on April 10th. Also they have to remove or change aspects of the patch.

The fans will explode "You promised it would be out on the 10th!", to which the reply is "We estimated it would be out on the 10th, but unforeseen circumstances prevented this from happening". Some fans would believe that (since it's actually true) but do you really think all of them would? I imagine most fans would think Bioware was simply lying and mistreating its fans even worse than before.

The point is Bioware has to remain vague. They can't confirm anything before it's actually confirmable, nor can they speculate because fans and the media almost always assump speculation to be fact and then call a developer out on it when the speculation turns out to be incorrect.

[res27772]

Since this is an issue that's stopping a lot of people from playing the game, probably most long standing fans who want the continuity of using "My Shepard", I personally think this should have been sorted out a lot faster than has... well, not "has" 'cause it's not fixed yet, but you know what I mean. So, at this stage, still very disppointed at the delaying tactics.

[voteDC]

Dragon_Nexus wrote...

voteDC wrote...

Indeed, I can't see that it would break any rules to say how long the process takes if everything goes perfectly.

Really? You can't?

Not at all. Especially since Lion just gave that general answer.

[Lee T]

Lion Martinez wrote...

I don't have any information on the status of this patch nor do I have the specifics when it comes to Mass Effect 3 patches in general, just want to make that clear. I don't work out of the studio, I'm in the Nordics.

Speaking hypothetically from previous similar situations with other developers it took somewhere around a minimum of 2 weeks from requesting approval. But please again understand that this does not pertain to Mass Effect 3 or BioWare in any way. You will still hear any solid news from Chris or his peers on these forums first.

Plus Rick said it was to be included in the next patch so there may be other bugs they want to hammer out before submitting it to certification (I'm hoping Rick will be able to warn us when the finalized patch is sent to certification).

[ianneman]

As a gamer I can say that I very much admire BioWare for their work. It takes true skill and a pretty amazing team to create such an immersive and emotional universe. You can truly tell by the way the game plays and feels that people dedicated themselves to something great.

As a customer I can say that I am very much apalled by how BioWare/EA has behaved. Working in retail myself, I have spotted some basic flaws that would have gotten anyone in my line of work fired in a heartbeat for total customer neglect. BioWare's policy of banning abusive forum users reeks of a "I din' do nuttin' wrong!" attitude that is very much out of place. If a customer pays for something, and they do not recieve the promised/advertised goods and services, they have every right to be abusive and angry, up until it's fixed. Especially when you are dealing with emotions you created yourself as a gaming company (the emotional experience and attachment to one's own Shepard) should you fully respect how customers feel about these fatal flaws, rather than punishing them for voicing those emotions, no matter how harsh they are. You should own up to it as a company and take it, since it was your very own (and a very grave) mistake to make.

Why is it not possible to address the largest issue with a hotfix? I am sure that there are many bugs abound that don't nearly destroy the game as much as the face import bug, surely you have noticed how much people care about this particular one that you'd release a single quick hotfix for this major issue so impatient and angry customers can play? At the very least it would show that BioWare keeps its promises and people would trust in your ability to solve the next issues, which are not as major.

As for communication, Chris could have told us everything that Lion has told us in the first place, by saying BioWare is LEGALLY bound by external corporations not to reveal certain things that the public would like to know, instead of being vague and saying: "We don't know when". If he had done that people would by angry at Microsoft/Sony right now, not BioWare.

All in all, amazing effort on the game (apart from the face import bug and the ending of course), bad effort on the customer handling, basically, amateur mistakes...

Modifié par ianneman, 27 mars 2012 - 03:58 .

[ItsNotMyProblem]

My opinion on this...

This should be fixed as soon as possible. People should not be silenced for voicing out. Many of us pre-ordered this game, after buying all the previous games, maybe even other BioWare games, and then paid for this game all because of how incredible the Mass Effect story is. This, in my opinion, is a problem that shouldn't have even happened in the first place.

Point...any paying customer has more than a right to be angry. My ME3 is collecting dust right now until this problem is solved. You've created this monster, BioWare. You made an incredible series of games which have left people absolutely floored. It's arguably the best trilogy that I've ever witnessed. Now when we finally are able to reach closure, we're blocked? Because of some error that should have been more obvious had it been tested, and we have to wait for it to be paired up with a patch? We all loved this story as if it were our very own story (due to such high levels of interaction and decision making it really kind of is), we've become greatly invested, and we've always expected excellence. That's why everyone is so pissed. You created us this way.

It's time to shape up. You're BIOWARE. Not BETHESDA.

[DoctorEss]

Yeah, if they were Bethesda, they'd act more like they cared.

[DJRackham]

It's not a Bioware or Bethesda thing. The "release now, patch later" mentality is evident throughout the whole video game industry.

Edit: It's why I usually wait ~6 months before purchasing a new game, to allow them time to patch the game to a playable level.

Modifié par DJRackham, 27 mars 2012 - 04:34 .

[MeanBob]

Great to hear that the patch is finally complete and going through certification. This 2 week long wait (or possible more if it goes that far) has had me anxious to play. I can't wait!

[darth shango]

DJRackham wrote...

It's not a Bioware or Bethesda thing. The "release now, patch later" mentality is evident throughout the whole video game industry.

Edit: It's why I usually wait ~6 months before purchasing a new game, to allow them time to patch the game to a playable level.

I've adopted the same policy for most games and for some I add another 6 months for the GOTY edition so I can get all the DLC for free;)

[Jtm79]

Where is mention that the patch is ready? So its like one more week from now?

I doubt that the fix will be great. It prolly just import all shep's, but not with good original looks. I hope im wrong. I sure as hell wont buy dlc or anything from bioware if they dont fix this properly.

[torgoservo]

Kevlar xD wrote...

The error isn't random and you'll get it everytime. Making your character's face just is not the same as the previous two games. 

It could only have been a terrible, terrible oversight or a deliberate curtailing of the game's customization feature.

In either case, it reflects very, very poorly on Bioware .It just is not possible, given the apparent "heavy testing" across all platforms we're told they uphold, that they put a broken game on store shelves without knowing it was broken. Just not possible. Moreover, we're not even given an explanation as to why this is, which can only mean Bioware is covering its own ass for making, intentionally or not, a huge mistake. Instead we're given a third party tool, an apology after the company has take millions of dollars from customers, and told that they understand our frustration. It's been three weeks, and a game that was developed over 5 years is still broken. How pitiful is that?

Disgusting.

?? Have they actually acknowledged it as a serious problem and apologized for it? I've not seen any sort of mea culpa at all from them, so that would at least make it sit a lot better with me to know they accept some responsibility for such a failure. 

[cApAc aMaRu]

Lion Martinez wrote...

cApAc aMaRu wrote...

Lion Martinez wrote...

Hi everyone,

We DO understand your frustration. Just please make sure not to direct your frustration towards other forum members instead of the actual problem, stay civil and constructive at all times. Thank you!

Perhaps we should vent our frustration at 'community coordinators' who tell us they 'understand', then boss us about instead of providing us with the information we need.

As far as understanding goes, how many people at Bioware haven't played Mass Effect 3 because they can't use their Shepard's face?

And if the patch is ALREADY MADE and going through CERTIFICATION then why won't you tell us HOW YOU FIXED IT and WHAT YOU FIXED?

I LAUGH when moderators tell us to be 'civil and constructive' because EA and Bioware's attitude to their customers is ANYTHING but.

PATRONISING is the word I would use.

Hi, sorry it took me over the weekend to come back to this thread, had to do some house work.

Well, I'm fine with you venting your frustration but TO me and not AT me as we're designated to convey your feelings and opinions to those who make the final decisions. We just don't want you to chomp at each other's throats as, believe it or not we genuinely care about our fans getting along at least on a humane and civil level. Community Managers and Coordinators always think consumer and fans first, that's our job and usually why we sought to work in the industry in these roles. For me personally that's 100% true.

I do hope you understand that we're not wanting or trying to boss you around, if we're coming across as such than perhaps we need to take a look at how we construct our forum posts. I can tell you that we're definitely not intending to do so and personally I'll make sure to not come across as imposing. With the digression that we're all following the forum rules of course.

There are a lot of components to a patch. Even if we would be a very small studio where the same people would publish and certify, it's still very tough to be extremely detailed about dates and content as any small little variable might change in the last minute and the patch will have to be changed or even reverted so it's proper to always wait until 100% certain before publishing officially. Especially so as Mass Effect 3 is cross-platform and several different outlets are involved.

That said I know the involved studio folk are working as hard as they can to deploy this patch as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!

Its good to see some actual input, with actual meaning. I think this whole Mass Effect debacle has shown that your customers, on the whole, are a lot more 'grown up' than EA's marketing expected / like.

But this 'not being able to tell us the details because of certification' is nonsense. Chris came in here and said it was fixed, and would be in the next patch. Either he was just saying that to get us to shut up, and it could be removed from the patch in certification, or it is mission critical, and the patch won't be released if it isn't complete.

EITHER way, we WANT, and DESERVE the DETAILS of WHICH problems have been addressed in this 'fix'.

If there really is some kind of embargo on patch content during certification, then:

1. I really don't believe that EA doesn't have the clout to get the permissions it needs from Sony and Microsoft to release information to appease their seething customers. It is in Microsoft and Sony's best interests to appease these customers almost as much as EA's.
2. EA needs to represent their customers, to Sony and Microsoft, and demand greater flexibility and transparency in the certification process.

Certification isn't some arcane magick where the gods descend to bestow blessings upon us, it is CUSTOMER SERVICE. Making this process into a secret society of the enlightened is damaging, both to Microsoft and Sony, and to developers.

And then to have the developer and publisher treat a release like this, riddled with game-breaking bugs, holding back on content to sell later, providing pathetic feedback for weeks after release then claiming they can't say anything because of Microsoft and Sony... 

Exactly what, if anything, was stopping EA and Bioware from publishing a list of issues that were being CONSIDERED for the initial patch, before it was sent to certification?

If the answer to this question is:
1. PR
2. Customers are too dumb to understand the word 'considered'

Then give me one good reason why I should EVER purchase a product from EA/Bioware ever again. I'm interested.

[torgoservo]

-Just read Mr Martinez's posts after that post.

Thank you for coming in here and trying to give any info whatsoever. I'm glad to at least see someone trying to communicate some of this stuff regardless of how frustrating it remains. It's the one area I have had very serious complaints about the whole time, really. Bugs are far more understandable to me than a lack of formal or informal communication between parties on a board designed for such purposes.

I do think the time for such explanations was about about 3-4 weeks ago though and-or with someone that could answer the tough questions and-or let us know we weren't being forgotten/ were still appreciated in the meantime. Having someone show up every week and just assuring that they understand it's a bad situation but you were dedicated to getting it right and would do so in the near future would be worth it's weight in gold to most reasonable people while it's going down - see the beginning of the thread and the results onward as a result of keeping fans in the dark. If you would have said the patch was still nowhere near certification or it wouldn't be ready for over a month on day one it would have made a huge difference for fans to know what decision they should make regarding playing their game, (make the closest Shep they can, return it or wait for a patch that may come and address it even though all we've been told as you're 'aware of it' for 3 weeks) instead of operating in a vacuum of information. 

Modifié par torgoservo, 27 mars 2012 - 05:49 .

[StephanieBengal]

Mass Effect 3 clearly should of been released on April 2, 2012.

I'm here supporting you guys, already played the game a few times.

This was pathetic, you DO NOT release a game with this issue. Period.