Why doesn't CA release a series of patches?

**Veresov** · 11-27-2006, 02:15

Take for example the 0-day promised patch that never came. This was a terrible public relations error by CA. Basically you promise your users something then don't deliver. You will never build any confidence in your company this way and you will alienate users. Saying nothing is actually worse as it implies apathy and a lack of support for the product. The answer is a balance with timely action.

Take the load/save bug of RTW. This is something we all are aware of --how negative the user base can become when a company denies or ignores perceived concerns from the users. It really doesn't matter whether the concern is real or imaginary, if there is a sizable contingent of users that see a problem, then it is a problem that has to be addressed. Its funny, but some moderators on the .COM site still don't understand this.

Now, MTW2 does have a lot of promise but the longer the community waits for a patch the more negative things will become. Negativity spreads and the longer it goes unchecked the worse it is. It doesn't lessen or go away with a patch, rather, it subtly damages on a long term basis the confidence users have in the company. Politicians have known this for years.

My suggestion is to release patches as things are fixed. The community will see some tangible progress and the negativity will start to reverse itself.

**econ21** · 11-27-2006, 02:26

It's a bit early to start complaining about the lack of a patch. I think CA did announce something about one being sent off to quality assurance and that testing typically takes a couple of weeks (no doubt longer if they find a big problem with the patch). At this stage, I don't think there's much point pressing for something faster.

Personally, I'd rather have a stable patch that takes a while rather than something that might unintentionally break my game. I just downloaded the NWN2 1.03 beta patch, installed and then had to download the NWN2 1.03 beta patch uninstaller, as the beta crashed my game. I got rather tired of testing out betas when trying some of the RTW mods. And I do remember the "all kings die at 56 bug" from MTW/VI, which I think crept in at a late stage.

I think the issue you raise may be more relevant after the first patch, when there are no doubt still a lot of bugs and issues that the community have raised. AFAIK, the first patch will largely deal with bugs CA spotted internally (hence the concept of a day 0 patch) - it was only an unforeseen delay that allowed them to deal with some of the issues spotted by the community.

**Musashi** · 11-27-2006, 02:27

Most publishers require every patch to be vetted by QA in the same manner as the actual game was, because they have to exhaustively test it to be sure it didn't introduce new bugs and problems. If they release a patch that breaks new things it will only piss people off. Basically don't expect a patch for a few months.

**hellenes** · 11-27-2006, 02:28

Originally Posted by Veresov

Take for example the 0-day promised patch that never came. This was a terrible public relations error by CA. Basically you promise your users something then don't deliver. You will never build any confidence in your company this way and you will alienate users. Saying nothing is actually worse as it implies apathy and a lack of support for the product. The answer is a balance with timely action.

Take the load/save bug of RTW. This is something we all are aware of --how negative the user base can become when a company denies or ignores perceived concerns from the users. It really doesn't matter whether the concern is real or imaginary, if there is a sizable contingent of users that see a problem, then it is a problem that has to be addressed. Its funny, but some moderators on the .COM site still don't understand this.

Now, MTW2 does have a lot of promise but the longer the community waits for a patch the more negative things will become. Negativity spreads and the longer it goes unchecked the worse it is. It doesn't lessen or go away with a patch, rather, it subtly damages on a long term basis the confidence users have in the company. Politicians have known this for years.

My suggestion is to release patches as things are fixed. The community will see some tangible progress and the negativity will start to reverse itself.

Im in the sad position to disagree with you because:
1. The gaming industry is quite different to most other industries...It can be compared to football fanboyism...Can you convince a ManUtd fan that the company has bad PR?
2. Even if the industry was like the otyhers in TW series example there is practically NO competition...And no i dont count pathetic excuses of strategy like the boring basebuilding miserable clickfests that most "RTS" games are...

**Doug-Thompson** · 11-27-2006, 03:28

I'd rather wait for a comprehensive patch that doesn't create any new conflicts.

**Quickening** · 11-27-2006, 04:21

I thought there was meant to be a patch out at the end of this month?

**Grimmy** · 11-27-2006, 05:15

Staying with the Medieval theme, I suggest we place a portion of the CA crew in the Stocks until the patch is released.

And if, during the remaining time, we get bored with waiting, we select one at random to be broken on the wheel during a day of public festivities.

And, we could always go really medieval and just have the "kings and princes" of CA flayed and their skins hanged on the city walls as a warning to the next bunch.

**Nestor** · 11-27-2006, 05:50

I'm still expecting the "day_0" patch to come soon. This would be a sign that they really think about their customers. We bought a game that wasn't finished, since they knew and scheduled a quick patch. Now they have to deliver it. I don't buy the excuses about new bugs introduced by the patch: they new a number of the faults and said they would address them at release time. And then everybody would be happy, Sega for releasing the game in time and us for getting the patch.

I don't expect it to solve all the problems but I do expect them to keep their promise and release the first patch. The only thing I am afraid of is that they missed some serious bugs that the community found and now they don't want to release something that wouldn't address them.

The game is still playable and enjoyable by the majority, including me, so it's a case of who is going to keep his word: we did, we bought the game, now it's their turn to finish it.