hi,when is patch comin? in 1 year?

[Gataka]

i've been waiting quite a while now to be able playin SP campaign.

[GilJaysmith]

From the .com:

http://www.totalwarforums.com/viewthread.php?tid=1872

[Sword_Monkey]

At the risk of posting more negative stuff about the patch delays, I'll just say that link told me NOTHING. It's pure politician double speak: a release date has now been set but I cannot tell you what it is.

A) That's exactly what we knew before hand, nothing about when the patch is due to be released.
B) We know the date isn't set in stone or the backdoor escape clause of being able to reset it as necessary with us not knowing wouldn't have been built into the 'we can't divulge that information' bit.

So, we still have no clue when the patch will be released, and while I appreciate people from the company keeping in touch, if you're not going to actually give something tangible, better not to give anything at all imo.

[FasT]

Just as i thought no date http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif

[MagyarKhans Cham]

no news about the release date? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif

[elzar]

Quote Originally posted by FasT:
Just as i thought no date http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif[/QUOTE]

No date, but playing as many games and seeing many posts like this, I would say that one of two things will happen. They will probably address the bugs they found over the next week, maybe some more QA over the later part of next week or the weekend, and if nothing else comes up, sometime next week. I hope that it actually comes out next week, but I've learned not to get my hopes up with patches heh. The other option is that things go horribly wrong, and this whole fix a bug, QA it again, fix more bugs etc..just drags on for a couple of weeks.

[GilJaysmith]

I posted the link because it's the most recent thing I've said about the patch's status. I didn't say it contained the release date.

I've tried the "not giving anything at all" approach, but all that seems to earn is a daily torrent of abuse for being uncommunicative.

[ShadeWraith]

Yep, Gil your in rock and hard place territory http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gifTry to tale a positive..players are getting so uppity regarding the patch because they want to play the game so much...in a twisted kind of way its a compliment. Mind you Im a glass is half full person http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif


Wraith

[Michael the Great]

Listen,I'm not asking for a release date,but in what year will this patch be released,that's the question!!!!!!!!!

[bosdur]

Quote Originally posted by Michael the Great:
Listen,I'm not asking for a release date,but in what year will this patch be released,that's the question!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]

3797

[LittleGrizzly]

Quote Originally posted by bosdur:
3797

[/QUOTE]

where u getting ur information i heard it 3496 but there can be setbacks i spose

[Grifman]

Quote Originally posted by GilJaysmith:
I posted the link because it's the most recent thing I've said about the patch's status. I didn't say it contained the release date.

I've tried the "not giving anything at all" approach, but all that seems to earn is a daily torrent of abuse for being uncommunicative.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Apologies for the a**holes out there.

And that post actually says alot. If the few bugs get fixed Monday and aren't major, then I'd say early next week sometime - unless something blows up - which is exactly why for all the doofuses out there - that no date is given. Something can always be found at the last moment - it is so easy for a fix to introduce another totally unexpected problem.

Grifman


[This message has been edited by Grifman (edited 10-13-2002).]

[Sword_Monkey]

Yes, but the issue I have isn't that no date is given, it's that the official word is that there is a date, they're just not telling us. That is what I find bothersome about this "update". I'd rather they were just honest and said that "Some issues came up in QA this week, we're going to have to resubmit. So, next weekend at the earliest but probably later".

That announcement won't necessarily make people happier, but it's a lot more honest than "there is a date, we're just not telling what it is".

[GilJaysmith]

Activision have set a date for the patch's release. The date may or may not have been set collaboratively. It's soon. This was the first time I'd heard that date, indeed any date, mentioned, and I may not have been supposed to see it ;-) However, I have no right to make commitments or to unilaterally announce a date: I'm supposed only to announce the patch when it was released, to point you at the download site. On the other hand, I wasn't told that I couldn't tell you the exact bug status of the patch, so I've done that (and might still get in trouble for it ;-) Since you can justifably assume that no-one wants to sit on the patch for longer than necessary, you can also assume that the date is "very soon".

I'm sorry if that's too elliptical for any of you, but as a few kind people have observed, I could have said nothing. At least now you know that the patch's progress through QA has been profitable, and that we have very little work remaining before it can be mastered.

sword_monkey said:

Quote I'd rather they were just honest and said that "Some issues came up in QA this week, we're going to have to resubmit. So, next weekend at the earliest but probably later".[/QUOTE]

I can't answer for how the patch is managed - which is not to be interpreted as condoning or criticising that process. You might well prefer that we gave a full status report every day on it, including progress such as the above. But really, you don't need to know that information, and every date or approximate date which we quote will be considered binding by 90% of the people who read it. So, we don't give dates.

[falaffel]

Hi GilJay.

First thank you again for the obvious commitment and consideration you have shown to the community.

Rant warning:
I would also like to add that I'm myself a software programmer for a customer product as well as frequent visitor to several game forums, but I have never seen such dedication, support and help as you and your colleagues has given in any other place. You have repeatedly answered same questions, given fascinating info on decision making and design creation of this game and revealed the indebt workings of the game to help modders. The tone in these forums might have turn a bit sour but please note that there are people who understand the extent of your hard work and that your indeed not at all required to do so.
:End Rant.

I hope you will continue in providing us with these information gold eggs in the future and especially during the creation of the add-on.

/Falaffel

[bosdur]

Quote Originally posted by LittleGrizzly:
where u getting ur information i heard it 3496 but there can be setbacks i spose

[/QUOTE]

Nostradamus' final quatrain, how reliable is that http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/tongue.gif.

[Lord of the Isles]

I second falaffel's comments. CA staff on these boards have obviously spent a great deal of time and effort giving out information and reading feedback from customers. I only hope they are doing this on their own time and not when they should be working on the patch! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

They should be congratulated for this, not sniped at as they are by a few. But note Gil, ECS and the others: there really are just a few contributors here who criticise. When they start getting to you, remember that.

And console yourselves, as I do, with the thought that they'll end up in purgatory, having to play vanilla Call to Power for eternity. They will have some help coping with the bugs of course, for Activision will be there too. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Grifman]

Quote Originally posted by Sword_Monkey:
Yes, but the issue I have isn't that no date is given, it's that the official word is that there is a date, they're just not telling us.[/QUOTE]

And that date is obviously provisional - if they find another bug that needs to be quashed, then the date is no good. The supposed date is just a target if nothing else goes wrong - so why give it out? GilJ should have just kept his mouth shut http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif and said they were getting close - instead he tried to give us more info and gets reamed for it. How kind of you.


Quote That is what I find bothersome about this "update". I'd rather they were just honest and said that "Some issues came up in QA this week, we're going to have to resubmit. So, next weekend at the earliest but probably later".[/QUOTE]

That sounds great, and maybe it would make YOU happy, but there are always gonna be some people that lock onto any date given - and will scream it is not met? And who wants to deal with that?

Quote That announcement won't necessarily make people happier, but it's a lot more honest than "there is a date, we're just not telling what it is".[/QUOTE]

No, what he said is very honest. Where is the "lie" in what he said? The problem is, as was said in a movie once, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif Just give em a break for once, ok?

Grifman



[This message has been edited by Grifman (edited 10-14-2002).]

[Sword_Monkey]

I'm not really sure I understand the need to "correct" me, if that's what you want to call it.

I'm not whining about patch delays, the game is rock stable on my system and while I would really like to see the building valor work correctly, this affects me and the AI equally. The trade route and general AI improvements will be nice to boost the challenge, but I find the game entertaining enough on Hard already http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

I simply don't see the point in saying there is a date when there *isn't* a date. You make my point for me, and then criticise with double speak of your own.

I know exactly why they didn't give the date, and that's because the date isn't fixed because the patch issues aren't fixed in stone, either. Given that, the honest answer is there isn't a date, not "there is one, but I won't tell you." Am I the only person who doesn't see the point in "elliptical" answers when it takes 0.5 brain cells to read between the lines to find the non-elliptical translation?

[Dionysus9]

"Very soon"

To me, very soon means a few days. Certainly within the week. So, if it doesn't happen by next monday I'm going to freak out and kill my cat.

[MajorFreak]

WTF is sword_monkey on about "elliptical"??? Not having read the link i thought he might have a point - stunned by gil's candidness i decided to make my own opinion.
Quote We have a handful of bugs from QA to fix on Monday and that should be it.

The release date has been set and I found it out on Friday, but it must remain a secret to you for now.

As Orac used to say, the event is now even less distant...
[/QUOTE]At the risk of sounding "obtuse", i thought the first sentence spoke volumes and anything after that was just filler...Personally, i think the "elliptical" comment is just hilarious. WTF, sworddude, you just made my day. lol!!!

BTW, thanks for that, Gil. *huggles*

[Action]

Seems pretty obvious to me that it will be out between Wednesday and Friday of this week.

It's truely unfortunate that Activision took this long.

[Coeur De Lion]

As long as it comes out i dont mind too much, how long its gonna be just work on it to make it perfect http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

Coeur De Lion

[cart6566]

Sword_Monkey:

I don't follow your logic. "There is a release date" means that there is a release date. "I can't tell you what it is" means "I want to keep my job." I guess he can only speculate as to the REASON he can't tell you what it is, but I think it is safe to assume that it is because it might change due to unforeseeables. This is real-life we are dealing with here, after all.

[Sword_Monkey]

Quote Originally posted by MajorFreak:
WTF is sword_monkey on about "elliptical"???...Personally, i think the "elliptical" comment is just hilarious. WTF, sworddude, you just made my day. lol!!!

BTW, thanks for that, Gil. *huggles*[/QUOTE]

Then thank Gil for it, not me. He's the one who used the word elliptical to describe the explanation. Now I remember why I stopped posting to this forum about STW, common sense is sadly lacking.

For the person who said you don't understand my logic, that makes two of us.

I know, Gil knows, even the other people who bothered to comment before you know there is not *actually* a release date, there is *planned* release date. Just like there were planned release dates for the game that were continually pushed back because of problems. All I commented on, and all you people are too obtuse in your own happy way to see, is that there is no sense in saying there is a release date when there isn't one.

Activision won't release the date because they know it might change, so the logical thing to do isn't to make b.s. statements about there being one until there actually is one that we can count on.

Whatever, I'm done with this thread. I tried to interject a little common sense feed back and got everything from developer asskissing to people sadly lacking in logic skills laughing at me. Not one person who bothered to post was irked by the lack of actual utility to Gil's post, so I'll assume that phrasing no news as news is good enough for you.

[Spino]

Quote It's truely unfortunate that Activision took this long.[/QUOTE]

Would you instead prefer a notoriously apathetic company like Electronic Arts? I for one was happy to see the Total War series move from EA to Activision.

[olaf]

Thank you for the communication here.

I can sympathize with both sides, I think. There are some pretty big issues this patch needs to address, and as a paying customer, I want these fixes yesterday. I dont think that is unreasonable.

At the same time, of course the developers want people enjoying their product and both CA and Activision would like the patch, all other things aside, out sooner rather than later.

I am crossing my fingers for this Friday...

olaf

[Chubby_Chuck]

the bottom line is the bottom line. CA and activison are dragging their feet on a product that is not finished. Its plain and simple. I as a customer don't like the fact that 2 months after release significant software defects are still present. Defects that I'm sure presented themselves during beta. If this is the best that customers can expect from these organizations, their bottom lines will should/will reflect that in the future.

I for one, as an owner of STW and MTW will not be buying any future games from CA or Actvision. This game has shit loads of potential but what good is that?

And its really swell that devs are active on the boards, but that doesn't make MTW work any better right now. I really do appreciate that the devs are on the boards but I just wish the topics were more about improving the gameplay and ideas for an expansion; rather than we are working on making your game, the game you already purchased work properly. And don't give me that bullshit excuse that the whole industry releases games with bugs.



------------------
Fat an on TOP!

[andrewt]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Some people are so ignorant to think that these bugs should all be found in the beta. Some bugs are only present in 0.0001% of customers who purchased the product and these can't be found in a beta test. If you looked at Blizzard's recent patch 1.03 for Warcraft3, they fixed dozens of bugs that many on the official forums and other unofficial ones didn't even know existed. There are billions of different hardware and software configurations available and no way to account for all of them in beta testing.

Even 6 Sigma processes still produce 3.4 defects every million. Variability in service processes is typically larger than in manufacturing and software has a service component to it. I'm wondering whether some people went to college or not.

[Hakonarson]

Yeah but Andrew we're not talking about obscure bugs that no-one else knows about - the bugs being reported ehre aer COMMON - they occur to a lot of players - maybe even most!! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif

Suer some hardware or software config bugs only affect those players.

But a lot of the bugs are not related to hardware or other softare - they are part of hte game and solely attirbutable to the programming.

Things like the moving ship-avoiding combat thing occurs to 100% of players that try to intercept a moving ship. AI Crusader pathfinding bugs occur a lot, etc.

But that said there is a LOT of code to check in a game like this, and beta testign suffers from many problems - limited numbers of testers, tester burn out, poor knowledge of what is SUPPOSED to happen (you can't recognise a problem if you don't know what the ideal is supposed to be!), etc.

So releasing beta and subsequent demo's of the code for testing is often a good way to get lots of testing done quickly in a wide variety of situations. CA chose not to do this - that's up to them - perhaps they decided having to wade through the inexpert reports held no appeal to them!! lol

........so there's no ideal solution!

[solypsist]

okay it looks like what we have here are two groups that no amount of discussion will convince otherwise.
any more patch topics asking about the release date and/or complaining about it will be closed.
As soon as we at the .Org know when it's coming out, it will be posted. Until then, please focus on other aspects of the game or be mature and wait civilly.