Does anyone think CA put out the Leak patch just to see if we like things.

If you really take the time to think about it, CA leaked the patch to other nations before the US, I think. Almost right off the bat, they notice that it wasn't working right and pulled it before the US was offered the update and now upon the message boards people are talking about what they like or dislike, what they would change, and what other ideas should be added.

So my query is, WAS THIS ALL PLANNED? Releasing a patch is expensive, you have to advertise doing it, pay for bandwidth and hope all works out. If this was a planned release, you don't have to advertise because everyone is stuck looking for it for a while, the bandwidth isn't going to be such an issue because people are learning how to download Torrent files and as far as it working out, they give themselves extra time to figure things out.

So, what does anyone else think about this?

I think that all patch discussion should be in the relevant thread

EDIT: Unlocked after discussion with OP

I'll find the post Caliban made at TWC, it was short but to the point.

EDIT: ah here it is:

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Your right, we wouldn't. The patch was leaked by a mirror site before the official release time and before it was pulled back, simple as that.

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http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...t=92539&page=3

And that's really all there is to it, imho

Why so dull? Conspiracies are fun!

Even knowing what everyone wrote and the quick warning I got with this, I honestly think it was on purpose. Honestly, I could see myself doing this if I was having delay problems with the patch getting done and the anticipation that we all shown for its delayed release. I do think CA is a great company and worth all the positive feedback that is deserved and we should all be patient for the upcomming patch. We all need to realize that the developers are human too and sometimes working on code can be a real hassle to find the one mispelling or synax error that makes a function not work right. I think that the prerelease of this patch gave CA ample feedback to really work on what they needed to work on and see what else needed to be done. Releasing patches, according to PCGAMER Magazine is an expensive and time costly event, they can't post a patch this week and send out another two weeks later, they aren't Counter Strike's Steam afterall.

Actually I also think it was probably done on purpose.

EDIT: Not that I care if it was.

Okay, this just hit me as I was trying to turn off my computer so I will hurry up and post it. I believe it was done on purpose because even if the patch was accidently given out by one Link/mirror site and all the others held it in, CA still had to give the updated patch file TO THAT LINK. Because it just came out in one link I think it was leaked on purpose for us all to try out. If I wasn't 100% sure something was 100% completed, I wouldn't have even compiled it into a single installation file until I was sure. Someone compiled up the files, gave it to the leak and then put a big hush hush order on it. Like I stated before, this adds so much publicity and interest. Odds are, someone in this forum board will go to work and mention this to a coworker which could get them interested in the game. Also, they stated that the patch was comming out on this day and it wasn't ready yet. By doing this, they dont' look like liars. I believe they thought they were done, found a few things prior to reliease, did a quick compile job (Hence the new CTD bug on siege maps) and rushed it out but kept it small so only the dedicated M2TW diehards that read these boards would even find it. This way, the diehards will test it out and report back here with our findings, CA will read them and implement what improvements they feel that it needs without wasting the HUGE amounts of resources it takes to release patch 1.3. This way the moderate to light M2TW players who play this game won't get burned and quit because of all the bugs with the leaked 1.2 as well.

Sorry for the long post.

I'll just repost what Caliban said:

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Your right, we wouldn't. The patch was leaked by a mirror site before the official release time and before it was pulled back, simple as that.

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We read it the first time Lusted, that doesn't mean that we believe it.

I am actually inclined to believe them however, that it was an accident. Either way we'll never know, so it really doesn't matter that much to me. Interesting point of discussion though.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

We read it the first time Lusted, that doesn't mean that we believe it.

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Exactly. They would never admit it would they? But yeah, I believe it was intentional. Fair enough.

yup

I think it is intentional as well.

Just look at these facts:

1. CA/Sega get less blaming on release a 1.2 patch full of bugs, since they "didnt" release it.

2. They even got the praise for their good attitude by not releasing a unfinished patch, after the game released after months.

2. CA/Sega get all the very useful feedback/bug report from the community, hence they can work onto that.

3. Much of the attention have divert onto playing/testing the unofficial 1.2 patch now, instead of blaming 1.2 patch didnt release on time.

It just seems CA won in all area after the "leak" 1.2 patch. :inquisitive:

I hope it was intentional. It was a good move, and a lot of us really appreciate it I'm sure. I hope they do it in the future as well.

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Originally Posted by Garnier

I hope it was intentional. It was a good move, and a lot of us really appreciate it I'm sure. I hope they do it in the future as well.

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Agreed. Those not comfortable with the idea of using an unofficial release can wait and the rest of us can be happy with the improvements.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

... I believe they thought they were done, found a few things prior to reliease, did a quick compile job (Hence the new CTD bug on siege maps) and rushed it out but kept it small so only the dedicated M2TW diehards that read these boards would even find it...

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that would explain why the leaked patch didn't work well with 1.1... ya onto somethin' there but it doesn't matter either way since I don't even have m2tw heheh

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I hope it was intentional. It was a good move, and a lot of us really appreciate it I'm sure. I hope they do it in the future as well.

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Doubt it, SEGA like to do all testing inhouse.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

Okay, this just hit me as I was trying to turn off my computer so I will hurry up and post it. I believe it was done on purpose because even if the patch was accidently given out by one Link/mirror site and all the others held it in, CA still had to give the updated patch file TO THAT LINK. Because it just came out in one link I think it was leaked on purpose for us all to try out.

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This is just poor logic, given what must happen for them to release the patch on time. You don't think CA/SEGA wait until the very last minute to try to send the patch file out to all the mirror sites, do you? That would be a horrible plan. They have no idea exactly how much bandwidth will be available at that time to each of their mirrors, and consequently the time to upload to them could vary by hours. If for some reason a vital line is down or heavily loaded, you could miss the posted release time by miles. Even worse if SEGA/CA themselves lost Internet service - it would make the entire release miss the mark. In order to be ready for the release, CA/SEGA undoubtedly had already sent the file to ALL the mirrors, with instructions when to release it: it's the only way to make sure it will release at the right time and without a hitch. Likely they did it the night before, reserving the balance of Friday before the release to make sure nothing horrible was wrong.

As for the one mirror releasing it, sure it's possible CA/SEGA told them to do so. I vote it rather unlikely though. Coordinating such massive releases never goes exactly as planned. It's likely the mirror misunderstood when to release it, or simply decided to ignore the instructions and release it early, perhaps at the request/demand of the local M2 players. I actually think timezone issues are the most likely reason this happened - it would be very easy to release based on local time instead of GMT for instance, or simply ignore the timezone the instructions use. Maybe The person who gave the mirror instructions didn't account for the local time, or incorrectly figured out what time to tell them to release at. A myriad of simple mistakes could lead the mirror to release at the wrong time, and IMO any one of those human errors makes far more sense than this intentional release theory.

I doubt it was intentional, for two reasons:

1) It complicates tech support, when you have a current patch version you're supporting, and also a leaked one that you won't support. A side effect is how it mucks up discussion of the game on forums like this one, and the official CA forum. Which game are we talking about now? And how many headaches will be caused by people who find the leaked patch and don't bother to install the official one when it comes out, for whatever reason? It's always in the game company's best interest to have everyone playing the same version, to the extent that's possible.

2) Here's the big reason -- the only way to get the leaked patch is through a torrent. I've seen several posts here from people who have been stumbling through the process of figuring out how to do that for the very first time. It should be obvious why this isn't something CA (or any game company) would want people to focus on, for finding their game content.

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Originally Posted by Zenicetus

2) Here's the big reason -- the only way to get the leaked patch is through a torrent. I've seen several posts here from people who have been stumbling through the process of figuring out how to do that for the very first time. It should be obvious why this isn't something CA (or any game company) would want people to focus on, for finding their game content.

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LOL. Funny, but definitely a good point. They could find a lot more "game content" than just a patch by learning to use torrents... which as you say is something no game company with a shred of sanity wants to promote.

Yeah, some good counter points so I am glad to read them but I still agree with my original post. As far as the "failed logic" post, I disagree though. How long does it take to upload a file online with a more expensive pipeline broadband access than what is available with home use. I think they were sending out the patch on Thursday and it was supposed to be released on Friday if what you are stating is true. Plus, if it was delayed due to a connection error, we all have experienced connection errors before and we all know not to blame CA for it, I think we would have forgave them.

Like I said, it was deliberate but I don't really care all that much. I think it was a great idea if it was and can't wait until Captain Fishpants gives his two cents or anyone from CA for that matter. But as a whole, I think the free publicity and error testing done here made more than up for it than what they would have had by delaying the patch yet another month and hearing us all complain about it.

A CA dev already gave his 2 cents, that's the post i quoted twice.

Oh, in a conspiracy we can't trust the conspirasers word. OF COURSE THEY WILL DENY IT. I believe even less now that this was an accident, thanks Luster.

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Originally Posted by Foz

As for the one mirror releasing it, sure it's possible CA/SEGA told them to do so. I vote it rather unlikely though. Coordinating such massive releases never goes exactly as planned. It's likely the mirror misunderstood when to release it, or simply decided to ignore the instructions and release it early, perhaps at the request/demand of the local M2 players.

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Your thinking two dimensional on this issue, I believe if they were going to release a patch on Friday, its compiled, tested, and ready to go on Monday at the latest. I don't believe they worked until the last minute and because of some quick error quickly called every mirror they could use and tell them not to release it. Plus, speaking on the dimension of time, if it was truly ready to go when the patch was leaked but it had a quick error, why is it taking so long to release the official 1.2 patch now. I truly believe that this patch is taking longer than expected and they wanted to keep people interested in a broken game.

Good work CA if this is true.

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if it was truly ready to go when the patch was leaked but it had a quick error, why is it taking so long to release the official 1.2 patch now.

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Erm, the passive ai is not a quick error, the remaining passive ai in sieges is one of the reasons they pulled the patch.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

Yeah, some good counter points so I am glad to read them but I still agree with my original post. As far as the "failed logic" post, I disagree though. How long does it take to upload a file online with a more expensive pipeline broadband access than what is available with home use. I think they were sending out the patch on Thursday and it was supposed to be released on Friday if what you are stating is true. Plus, if it was delayed due to a connection error, we all have experienced connection errors before and we all know not to blame CA for it, I think we would have forgave them.

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The point is that when you orchestrate something like this, you PLAN for those eventualities. SEGA has released enough things by now that they are more than prepared for such events. Uploading the file(s) ahead of time easily beats any potential upload problem, and as a result it is probably very safe to assume CA/SEGA do this.

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Like I said, it was deliberate but I don't really care all that much. I think it was a great idea if it was and can't wait until Captain Fishpants gives his two cents or anyone from CA for that matter.

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Originally Posted by Lusted

A CA dev already gave his 2 cents, that's the post i quoted twice.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

Oh, in a conspiracy we can't trust the conspirasers word. OF COURSE THEY WILL DENY IT. I believe even less now that this was an accident, thanks Luster.

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You just said you can't wait to hear two cents from anyone at CA, and then gave a completely ridiculous retort when Lusted pointed out that you already HAD heard from a CA dev. Just... wow.

By the way, it's really poor logic (again) to suggest that CA's explanation in any way means it's more likely they leaked the patch on purpose. According to your logic, anything CA says affirming or denying your theory just means it's more likely they did this on purpose, which obviously is an irrational way to look at the situation. You're rather like a cop who's convinced he found the guilty party, and is out to get a confession, never stopping to think he might be trying to force one out of an innocent man. Innocent men claim they're innocent just like the guilty ones do, Bud.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

Your thinking two dimensional on this issue, I believe if they were going to release a patch on Friday, its compiled, tested, and ready to go on Monday at the latest. I don't believe they worked until the last minute and because of some quick error quickly called every mirror they could use and tell them not to release it.

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What do you suppose CA would be doing between Monday and Friday, if they weren't working on the patch, hmm? They wouldn't prepare the patch and then let it sit there not doing anything - there's simply no reason to do so, especially when you already have angry fans demanding the thing. At the very least someone would be testing it during that time. It's also the norm in the software design industry for things to be in progress until the absolute last second, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if CA was still working on the thing on Friday morning.

If it was intentional then it was a stroke of genius. The "leaked" patch has had alot of positive effects on the community. Released a patch for it's (delayed) deadline without actually releasing a patch. Gave everyone the fixes they wanted without "officially" doing anything.

So the question is, do you believe they are that smart?

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Originally Posted by Noong

If it was intentional then it was a stroke of genius. The "leaked" patch has had alot of positive effects on the community. Released a patch for it's (delayed) deadline without actually releasing a patch. Gave everyone the fixes they wanted without "officially" doing anything.

So the question is, do you believe they are that smart?

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You all act like it was a spir of the moment idea, I am sure they were sitting down eating lunch on a break from coding and the idea just came up during a brainstorm. Yeah, to build a game like this requires huge amounts of intelligence, even if it is slightly broken. So, yeah, I believe it was purposely leaked.

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Originally Posted by Budwise

Your thinking two dimensional on this issue, I believe if they were going to release a patch on Friday, its compiled, tested, and ready to go on Monday at the latest.

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I'm going to make a wild guess here, and say that you don't work in the software industry... right? :inquisitive:

Ever heard of "crunch time"? Because code is so malleable... not like building a hardware widget on an assembly line... it's very common for code to be finalized at the very last minute before release.

This conspiracy theory, like so many, is clearly ridiculous.

A major corporation, such as Sega, leaks a game patch via a mirror site? Have you considered what the implications would be were incontrovertible evidence of this to be released? Not only would they be giving tacit approval of the use of torrent for the distribution of their software, they'd also be guilty of knowingly publishing completely false statements to their audience.

It is true that the current situation gives CA some free testing by the gaming community but so what? It's not as though they couldn't release patches 1.3, 1.4 and so on in the future. These too would have benefited from free user testing of the official 1.2 patch and they wouldn't require decidedly underhand business practices on the part of CA/Sega.

Anyone who thinks that a significant number of employees of Sega and CA (because this sort of decision would necessarily involve quite a few stakeholders) would be prepared to risk their careers and livelihoods by taking such an irresponsible decision can't have been involved in decision-making for a large, reputable company.

And who would propose this in the first place? Would a Sega suit phone his CA counterpart and blithely suggest that they colloborate in misleading their customers and undermining their own business positions? Or vice versa? That would be fun to explain to your boss: "Yessir, they are refusing to work with us in the future, effective from midnight tonight. The reason? Oh, I suggested we leak an unapproved piece of software and then lie to the global gaming community about it....."

Consider the PR value to Sega's competitors were this to be proven true. Consider the hit in credibility that Sega and CA's brands would take. Consider how weakened both would be in any future attempts to curb unofficial/pirated content. Consider how the real world works.

Like the previous discussions about how crappy CA are because the original release of the game was absolutely perfect in every way, this idea is just unrealistic and a touch hysterical. Trust me, CA and Sega employees would rather you carry on playing a buggy game for a week or two than that they lose their jobs and ruin their future career prospects.