The Launch Pad is Ready ... For Testing

[Logan]

Nice article, unfortunately the dollar must reign.

I have met a lot of the 'money men' types. They don't play these games.

If a game goes belly up, they say "The market is saturated" - they don't say "What a crappy, buggy game!"

They don't read message boards.


I also think that computer programmers are kind of between a rock and a hard place - the money men determine the date and how much money they believe the project *should* take.

This view is clearly not based on reality.

I also believe that the programmers are at fault - not being hard line enough in their convictions, not meeting schedules, etc.

But these things vary by the company.


The only thing I would add to an otherwise excellent article: After the game is set up and going, a test server must be used. Anything that will change/be added/etc to the game should be live there 6 months before going live on the main servers.

Example: EQ has a 'test server'. There is little evidence they use it. In the few cases they do use it, the data is only there for one to four weeks before going to a live server.

At this point is wreaks havoc.

Logan
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[Ra'Dorcha]

Good article. As someone who has lived his whole life in Michigan ;) I figure I should point something out:

Note how quickly the computer industry is growing. How quickly the software/hardware doubles it's productivity.

Now compare that to the car industry. Sure new cares come out every year. But they are exactly the same car, just with a new body. How long did it take before a car could get more than 30 miles per gallon. How long did they not worry about improving their product.

Also, consider that all cars are made by companies that have been around for years. Prior to Saturn coming onto the scene, the last person I heard of trying to break into the market was Tucker ... and we all know how that turned out.

Other than that, you made really good points. People expect when they pay for something that it will work as advertised. I think we all understand there will be little tweaks and improvements, but that download you mentioned is obsene.

Idly mused by Ra'

[Nguvu-dhibiti]

It seems that Publishers (and some Developers) need the obvious restated.

Many times.

In a single half-hour.

:rolleyes:

Good article (http://www.skotos.net/articles/BTH_03.html)!

(heh, edited my post once I realized Skotos just has one thread for BTH.. and then I thought I could toss in a few more words).

MMOGs seem to be perpetually in 'beta'--which strikes me as good because then each MMOG is perpetually expanding, growing, becoming more in-depth. This is the ideal and theoretical, reason why MMOGs are and would be in permabeta.

However, as you pointed out Jessica, the real reason MMOGs are ending up in permabeta is because the core-game, the foundation on which all expansions and mods are added to.. is broken.

Which, of course, ruins much of the fun inhabitants of their virtual world could be having.. because not even the core-game is playable. And forget about the features slashed and said to be coming in an expansion or update, developers are too busy catching up on bugs from the MMOG's 'beta'.

I hope some folks -- well, some developers and publishers -- listen to your restating the obvious. Permabeta because of expansions is fine. Permabeta because of unchecked beta bugs is crud.

[kenbob9]

on the 67 megabite patch....thats not bug fixes....actually i dont think any of it at all was fixes for the game...mabey some alterations to gameplay but not technical issues...infact i guess the patch included new models weapons, tanks, etc. from a beta they were playing 1 month before launch. still inexcusable though because not everyone is on cable......even though there is a significant population who are. On that note, i dont see why developers shouldnt be aiming for more broadband customers...i mean after all check any FPS. I'd be willing to bet that the majority is made up of cable, dsl, etc. But thats my two cents.

[Seceres]

But could not then a combination of bugs crash an entire game?

[JessicaM]

Originally posted by Seceres
But could not then a combination of bugs crash an entire game?

Sure, it can and does happen, and they can be hell to find and fix. Generally, though, they are isolated, occasional events, which is what makes them so frustrating.

[JessicaM]

Originally posted by kenbob9
on the 67 megabite patch....thats not bug fixes....actually i dont think any of it at all was fixes for the game...mabey some alterations to gameplay but not technical issues...infact i guess the patch included new models weapons, tanks, etc. from a beta they were playing 1 month before launch. still inexcusable though because not everyone is on cable......even though there is a significant population who are. On that note, i dont see why developers shouldnt be aiming for more broadband customers...i mean after all check any FPS. I'd be willing to bet that the majority is made up of cable, dsl, etc. But thats my two cents.

Hard core gamers do tend to upgrade their technology faster, be it machine or connection. At this point, however, only 5 or 6% of US Internet users have upgraded to broadband, 75% of them to cable modems and 25% of them with DSL. The major reason for low numbers is unavailability; only about 30% (last time I looked) of the major markets have been wired for broadband.

Another reason is cost to connect, which averages over $40 a month. DSL is slightly more expensive in most markets and the phone companies are still charging stiff installation fees.