Releases and bugs!

[Zadok13]

I prefer the latter. That way bug testing is more efficient because quite simply, "many hands make light work" and as long a a 'last stable version' download is available the people who prefer the former should be satisfied. Tell me what you think, and I apologise if this topic/poll has already been posted.

EDIT:
Anyone played Neverwinter Nights 2 yet?
*Zadok13 casts 'Energy immunity: fire' on self*

 

[Zadok13]

Why am I 'on dangerous ground'? I'm only stating my opinion and effectively saying that I (and, I believe, most of the community) would be willing do most of the bug testing.

 

[Titanx3]

Why am I 'on dangerous ground'? I'm only stating my opinion and effectively saying that I (and, I believe, most of the community) would be willing do most of the bug testing.

You need a very strong flame suit. Here, take this one.

 

[bryce777]

the reason they can't do that is because of the new players who will come with each release.  Every time they release they get a surge of new players.  If these players play the game and think "What a piece of ****!" then not only does it mean no sale for them, but it means they go back to their message board buddies and mention what a piece of garbage it is.  It doesn't matter if three days later allt he bugs are fixed.  99% of the players will never give it a second chance. 

So, while you might prefer that, it is a bad idea.

 

[Ar - Adunakhor]

the reason they can't do that is because of the new players who will come with each release.  Every time they release they get a surge of new players.  If these players play the game and think "What a piece of ****!" then not only does it mean no sale for them, but it means they go back to their message board buddies and mention what a piece of garbage it is.  It doesn't matter if three days later allt he bugs are fixed.  99% of the players will never give it a second chance. 

So, while you might prefer that, it is a bad idea.

That is a good point and i must admit i never saw it this way before, so i voted for the first option as well.

I don't see nothing wrong with the poll, though. The reason we post in this forum is because we ALL love M&B, so i don't think there is place for hostility here.

 

[bryce777]

the reason they can't do that is because of the new players who will come with each release.  Every time they release they get a surge of new players.  If these players play the game and think "What a piece of ****!" then not only does it mean no sale for them, but it means they go back to their message board buddies and mention what a piece of garbage it is.  It doesn't matter if three days later allt he bugs are fixed.  99% of the players will never give it a second chance. 

So, while you might prefer that, it is a bad idea.

That is a good point and i must admit i never saw it this way before, so i voted for the first option as well.

I don't see nothing wrong with the poll, though. The reason we post in this forum is because we ALL love M&B, so i don't think there is place for hostility here.

I agree.  It is a valid question to ask, but I was just explaining the bidness side of things.

 

[Hack McSlash]

It may very well be that a release with bugs would cause many to reject Mount&Blade, but the advantage of having massive bug-testing (as well as letting those who are waiting anxiously not going insane).

Perhaps there are ways to gain both...set up a download update in the file repository for people who are fairly avid about this game. Then perhaps have a forum thread devoted ONLY to problems occuring (filter out 'this is great' 'this sucks' type things, only specific problems)

I doubt many new-comers would surf the forum for their main download, so the main/bugless version would remain on the main site, keeping their first impression from being ruined.

Enthusiasts get the update they crave, Designers get information on bugs (a big point in this is strange compatibility flaws that may occur), and Newcomers get the best available demo.

win, win, win.

 

[bryce777]

It may very well be that a release with bugs would cause many to reject Mount&Blade, but the advantage of having massive bug-testing (as well as letting those who are waiting anxiously not going insane).

Perhaps there are ways to gain both...set up a download update in the file repository for people who are fairly avid about this game. Then perhaps have a forum thread devoted ONLY to problems occuring (filter out 'this is great' 'this sucks' type things, only specific problems)

I doubt many new-comers would surf the forum for their main download, so the main/bugless version would remain on the main site, keeping their first impression from being ruined.

Enthusiasts get the update they crave, Designers get information on bugs (a big point in this is strange compatibility flaws that may occur), and Newcomers get the best available demo.

win, win, win.

It's usually more work than anything else to do that.  it takes a lot of time and energy to read through bug reports.  I doubt they are doing playtesting so much as fixing obvious bugs they already know about. 

 

[Archonsod]

The game will have bugs regardless. It's not a question of whether it should be extensive bug testing before or after the update, it's a question of whether the update should be playable...

 

[Channler]

Except for that bastard Borcha. 

You deserve an E-cookie for that..

 

[Róisín]

I thought the second option was what they were doing all along, and the auto-update feature only picks up on the last "stable" release.  0.XX0 releases have never shown up on it for me.  It's not like there aren't enough bugs even in 0.751 to keep the nitpickers busy.

There's no reason the dev team should do extensive playtesting on their own- if only they had some sort of open beta system in place, perhaps with web support and a forum for gleaning feedback from the public...  that would make it much simpler for them.

 

[bryce777]

I thought the second option was what they were doing all along, and the auto-update feature only picks up on the last "stable" release.  0.XX0 releases have never shown up on it for me.  It's not like there aren't enough bugs even in 0.751 to keep the nitpickers busy.

There's no reason the dev team should do extensive playtesting on their own- if only they had some sort of open beta system in place, perhaps with web support and a forum for gleaning feedback from the public...  that would make it much simpler for them.

You guys are just assuming the game is playable, but the chances are that it is not playable whatsoever.  Especially considering the changes are to the mod system.  The game is probably not even loading up the module without crashing.

Just calm down, guys. No playtesting is needed or they would ask for it.

 

[thesneakster]

As far as i'm enlightened, the reason it hasn't been realeased yet is option 2 on the poll, the major bugs haven't been fixed yet.

 

[kirizib]

One option is to give out a untested version to the persons that already have bought the game.
They have played the game, and do know that they love it (Why would they buy it).

And because they love it they probably wont leave it just because of the bugs.

So that is a a win win situation whitout risks

 

[Archonsod]

Not really. Public testing is never a good plan, because 99% of the public can't actually test effectively.

 

[Llew2]

you don't understand, we are the anti buggers. all the team is doing is making it so that when you open M&B, if doesn't crash instantly...

 

[Zadok13]

This forum has 9361 members. That means that if only 1% can test effectively, you've still got about 94 who can and at least a few of the rest are bound to stumble upon something.

Thanks for the input everyone; I now see there is a strong argument both ways and upon reflection it is probably best as it is for the whole 'incoming n00bs' reason. A nice suggestion from Hack McSlash though.

 

[Oggy]

Wow, level pegging in the polls! 

 

[Dryvus]

Hurray! I'm the unbalancer! Extensive testing uber alles!

 

[sooch90]

Hurray! I'm the unbalancer! Extensive testing uber alles!

hurray I can unbalance it!