The Updating Games Trend

Mar

Banned
Feb 12, 2009
607
63
Have you noticed this trend? It seems to be happening every where's I look. PC and consoles alike. From the large amount of console DLC to the constant stream of patches on the PC, it seems that developers are releasing more and more half completed, glitched, bugged games and patching them after release.

On the consoles, developers are releasing shorter games at the full price of $60 and adding DLC, for $5 or $10 dollars more, that completes the game. What was before a nice 30~40 hours $50 game can now be a 10 hour $60 game with another $30 bucks of DLC that brings the game up to 20~30 hours.

As penny arcade put it so nicely...

3601658424_ef805bc261_o.jpg



This trend is highly concerning with many developers no longer making sure what comes in box works a priority. Many games are riddled with bugs and instead of using intense playtesting before public release developers are now counting on the player that bought it to report various bugs and to have them subsequently patched

Another disturbing part of this pattern is the large amounts of content in the DLC that was not included in the game. When DLC contains 1 or 2 new weapons you can understand that. But when the DLC contains a whole arsenal of +10 new weapons, 2 new vehicles, and entire new world to explore added on to the fact you beat the original game in a weekend, you feel quite cheated.

My last concern with it is that some developers never patch the game and update it and instead proceed to make an entirely new sequel.

To close this I wish to share with you the remarks of the Editor-in-Chief from Game informer.

Andy McNamara said:
I feel like I do a lot of patching these days. While it certainly isn't as difficult to deal with as it was back in the glory days of the PC, it is getting to the point where I can't put a game in a console without taking a few minutes for an update.

There are plenty of cases where the update is minor, and the patch itself is just smoothing out the edges (like when a developer addresses gameplay balance issues), but there are other times when I get that sinking feeling that there is foul play involved.

Are developers getting lax in their testing stages to meet release dates that have to be planned so far in advance for marketing that we are entering a new age where the patch isn't to fix an occasional mistake, but is an accepted part of the game development process? It is a tough question to answer, simply becuase publishers and developers will never release their known bug list (and trust me, these lists do exist). I've heard the tale, and have been close to getting proof before, but this story is harder to nail down than Watergate (or maybe I'm just no Woodward or Bernstein).

However, I do have a cautionary tale I can tell, even though you are going to have to take it as a hearsay since a second source never came forward. A tipster let me in on the fact that a fairly well-known football franchise (and no, it's not Madden) that had shipped with a number of game-crashing bugs, was, according to the source, knowingly signed off for manufacturing by the producer to get the game out on time.

This happened well before the days of consoles being capable of updates. So it makes you wonder what developers would be capable of doing when they know they have such a luxury at their disposal.

I know this tale makes it sound like all publishers and developers are out to get us, (but they are out to get our money!) and I assure you that is not the case. But there are a lot of games, and the frequency of which things are getting patched these days certainly does give me pause.

Well that's my conspiracy theory for the issue, or perhaps it's just a notice to all the manufactures, publishers and developers out there that gamers are noticing, and the press is watching. Let's not devolve to the old days of shipping incomplete product, and just dealing with it later.

So what's next? Will we have to buy the air-pump DLC so we can inflate our balls in Madden? Will the ability to reloaded be released a month later in the form of DLC? Will the next RPG have a save function patch? Where will this madness end, and most importantly,

Where will we as gamers and consumers draw the line?​
 

Void

Local Man Unable To Map, Sources Say
aa
Sep 14, 2008
1,865
2,972
Valve gives you a great game for the price of one, and even better updates - absolutely free.

Argue with that and I have more proof that you are a thread-count-whoring backstabbin' Scumbag.
 

DJive

Cake or Death?
aa
Dec 20, 2007
1,465
741
Gamers of today are stupid and simple.

Blame HALO and WoW.
 

Mar

Banned
Feb 12, 2009
607
63
Valve gives you a great game for the price of one, and even better updates - absolutely free.



Did you not see the part where you have to pay for the updates? I'm talking about the many, many other developers other then Valve.

Like Bethesda. They have released 3 DLC packs for Fallout 3, all $10, and the latest on, coming out 1/2 a year after the original release, allows you to continue playing the game once you beat the main story. Which in an sandbox game is very important.

Imagine once you beat the main missions in GTA you can no longer screw around in the sandbox. That what Fallout 3 did.

There are many more developers other then Valve, I hope you realize that.

And when TF2 and L4D where originally released they weren't true full fledged fleshed out games. Look at all the reviews for TF2. Most complained about the lack of content.

PS. I <3

Argue with that and I have more proof that you are a thread-count-whoring backstabbin' Scumbag.

PPS. Can we refrain from such petty name calling? Surely you yourself are above that.
 

Void

Local Man Unable To Map, Sources Say
aa
Sep 14, 2008
1,865
2,972
Gamers of today are stupid and simple.

Blame HALO and WoW.

They will pay anything to look at some virtual tits or shoot off some guy's head in gory fashion.


Professionals... have standards.
 

Mar

Banned
Feb 12, 2009
607
63
Gamers of today are stupid and simple.

Blame HALO and WoW.

Why all the hate on Halo? The main problem is that long ago games where much more complex and harder to play and had much nastier graphics so one had to really be into the genre to play it. It was much more of a "nerd pursuit."

Now with the easy on the eye graphics, a wider range of genres, and over simplification of many games and the mass amount of shovel-ware targeted to a more casual audience (I'm not all talking about Wii Carnival games but also generic horror sci-fi FPS 3 that was released on steam) has lowered the entry level to games allowing more players that have no clue to play the game.

Combine that with the anonymity that today's Internet provides us with you get tons of normal people being arrogant, machoistic, dick waving, extremely foul mouthed and racist, mother-fucking (they say they do it to your mom every night!) n00bs.

So... Halo.
 

DJive

Cake or Death?
aa
Dec 20, 2007
1,465
741
They will pay anything to look at some virtual tits or shoot off some guy's head in gory fashion.

And thats your problem.

Games today are all flash no substance because players are drawn to "pretty" games regardless of actual gameplay/content and so that's where Dev's are throwing their money..AT Looks..

If/when the game picks up they then start working on gameplay/content.


so like a said, blame wow and halo =) they both ruined those genre's and gaming .. games in general
 

Void

Local Man Unable To Map, Sources Say
aa
Sep 14, 2008
1,865
2,972
Why all the hate on Halo? The main problem is that long ago games where much more complex and harder to play and had much nastier graphics so one had to really be into the genre to play it. It was much more of a "nerd pursuit."

Now with the easy on the eye graphics, a wider range of genres, and over simplification of many games and the mass amount of shovel-ware targeted to a more casual audience (I'm not all talking about Wii Carnival games but also generic horror sci-fi FPS 3 that was released on steam) has lowered the entry level to games allowing more players that have no clue to play the game.

Combine that with the anonymity that today's Internet provides us with you get tons of normal people being arrogant, machoistic, dick waving, extremely foul mouthed and racist, mother-fucking (they say they do it to your mom every night!) n00bs.

So... Halo.

Halo and XBox live in-general is the root of all stupidity. A bunch of pompous, overzealous, full-of-themselves, guttermouth, hacking, self-acclaimed pro asshats.

k0sndz.gif


Like you. No offense.
 

Mar

Banned
Feb 12, 2009
607
63
Halo and XBox live in-general is the root of all stupidity. A bunch of pompous, overzealous, full-of-themselves, guttermouth, hacking, self-acclaimed pro asshats.


Like you. No offense.

1. The PC, just like Xbox live, has lots of asshats.

2. The Xbox, just like the PC, has a bunch of nice people too.

3. Come on. Enough with the name calling. You don't want me to pull out the big guns do you?

4. The PS3 has 0 nice people and is only filled with asshats. /fanboy joke/.
 
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Void

Local Man Unable To Map, Sources Say
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Sep 14, 2008
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Who's trolling who? Like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop - the world may never know.
 

DJive

Cake or Death?
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Dec 20, 2007
1,465
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Nineaxis

Quack Doctor
aa
May 19, 2008
1,767
2,820
Playing TF2 on PS3, with 16 player servers, Dustbowl hour on end, day after day, was probably my best experience in TF2 ever. Too bad Sony are a bunch of money whores and wouldn't let VALVe release DLC for it for free.

Oh yeah, and no custom maps for PS3.

But anyway, there's two ways to look at DLC:

1. Half finished games getting patched later is bad.
1. Half finished games getting patched later with the other half for a price is bad. (Freakin' SPORE)
2. Great games getting new content for a price is okay.
2. Great games getting new content for free is GREAT. (Note: TF2)

So, yes, while some people (Note: EA) will abuse their ability to update games after release, some do it right (Note: VALVe), so we can't say DLC is bad, it's just that some people (Note: EA) are doing it wrong.
 

TMP

Ancient Pyro Main
aa
Aug 11, 2008
947
560
Bethesda does a good job with DLC for $$.

But that's because their games kick ass.
 

Void

Local Man Unable To Map, Sources Say
aa
Sep 14, 2008
1,865
2,972
Playing TF2 on PS3, with 16 player servers, Dustbowl hour on end, day after day, was probably my best experience in TF2 ever.

Wouldn't be surprised if I ran into you a few times.
 

Mar

Banned
Feb 12, 2009
607
63
Look at Zelda Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Mario Galaxy. They've received zero updates due to the nature off the Wii and they don't need them! I've yet to find a glitch in any of them except for a few minor graphical ones, and 0 that make you want to bash your head into a TV. All of them are 30~+40 hour long games RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!

Also, all big multiplayer FPS games (CoD, Halo, Gears) keep on having ridiculously over priced multiplayer map packs that have 2~3 maps that usually stink and people keep on buying them! And especially for a subscription based system ($50 bucks a year of live) updates like that should be free.

That's a few reasons I have some rage against this update trend. Games should come out of the box as a full experience and not needing any updates what so ever.

PS. I'm not thread whoring or post whoring since posts in the off topic section of the forum don't count.
 
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StoneFrog

L6: Sharp Member
May 28, 2008
395
81
Why all the hate on Halo? The main problem is that long ago games where much more complex and harder to play and had much nastier graphics so one had to really be into the genre to play it. It was much more of a "nerd pursuit."

Now with the easy on the eye graphics, a wider range of genres, and over simplification of many games and the mass amount of shovel-ware targeted to a more casual audience (I'm not all talking about Wii Carnival games but also generic horror sci-fi FPS 3 that was released on steam) has lowered the entry level to games allowing more players that have no clue to play the game.

Combine that with the anonymity that today's Internet provides us with you get tons of normal people being arrogant, machoistic, dick waving, extremely foul mouthed and racist, mother-fucking (they say they do it to your mom every night!) n00bs.

So... Halo.
For once I agree with Mar (good God, the world IS coming to an end).

That is, minus the Halo parts.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
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I don't know if anyone realised but there are a lot more to games these days, and therefor a lot more to go wrong with games. Not to mention how much more there is to them without trouble shooting the issues encountered along the way.

These people are working on the far egde of gaming technology here. There's no manual for this stuff. I could understand where you were coming from if maybe you were going to bitch about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Jesus christ it's like a puddle of bugs, i'm not sure you could program that many bugs in if you tried). But new things are being INVENTED for you several times a year and you're moaning about how it will probably cost you money to acquire them, and even when it doesn't cost $$$ you still have a few choice words to say behind the developers backs. Although paying for bug fixes is totally wrong.

Producing block buster games isn't easy and it will take time, and the concept of patching games goes way back to the early 90's when games first starting going online, so this isn't exactly a new thing here, so i hope you're only acting surprised here for impact.

If you arn't bitching about games being released too soon you'd be moaning about their constant delays.
 
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