Sou1Co11ector
New member
Back in the day, before consoles were the developers choice platform (I have accepted this sad fact, but it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it), games did get patches, but they didn't need patches on the first day of release to work.
Thus the title Day One referring to day one patches.
This is a growing trend, especially this year. Games are being released at record rates and making record sales, but also breaking records for the amount of bugs and day one patches required for these games to work.
Let's look at some of the games that got day one patches over the last year:
THE LIST!
16 Titles! This is getting ridiculous. These are the releases for about one year.
Of course this list might just be my paranoid delusion, that game developers are RUSHING THEIR GAMES! I for one really wanted to blame consoles for this, but this is not the other platforms' fault.
Who's fault is it?
The fault lies with the Publishers who put down unrealistic deadlines and penalties to the developers for late delivery of a product. Who put pressure on developers to deliver the product and not get the needed product testing done.
Pressure from investors who probably have never played a game in their lives and the BOTTOM-LINE is all that matters and not a quality product, because gamers are stupid mindless zombies that obviously can't tell a rushed and unfinished product from a truly polished AAA title with all the bells and whistles included from the start.
Right Publishers?
But wait there's more!
Don't worry it is not just the publishers who are the devil here, I am, you are, we all are a integral part of this whole vicious cycle.
We hear about a release date for a game and it goes viral, it spreads like wildfire around the world and the internet, on social networks, tweeted, shared, linked, posted on forums with in-depth discussions and speculation...
Then when the game might get delayed we cause an enormous outcry and slam these developers as useless, liers and various other forms of insults from our unique sense of rage.
My Opinion
Give a vague release date, "When it's done..." ooh ominous! No but seriously give a release date like 2012 or 2013. Developers shouldn't force themselves to abide by when we expect them to give us the game.
They should deliver the game when it is done and a complete product. Not when a calender says it's done or when ficle gamers demand it from them.
The best developer for me atm, would be ArenaNet, sure they are using the When it's done release date, but at least these guys aren't letting us hold them hostage with a fixed calender date. They have stated many times that the game will be released when it's done, not sooner. End of story.
And I am actually more than fine with that, at least I know they are taking their time to do it right.
Conclusion
I hate that games are being churned out like cookies on a production line and that the quality of the games are being impacted upon by the pressure from Publishers and investors and of course the consumers.
I can probably look past the fact that DLC is a ripoff and that restrictive DRM is a punishment for legit buyers, but only if developers and publishers deliver to me, the consumer, a quality product, that I can play when I buy it.
Publishers should ease the pressure on developers and have them release the game in a timely fashion when they (the developers) feels the game is ready for launch. Having a complete and bug-free (as free from bugs as can be reasonably expected) game will increase the profits of the publishers as well.
Less pressure.
Better games.
Happier gamers.
More profit.
Simple.
Thus the title Day One referring to day one patches.
This is a growing trend, especially this year. Games are being released at record rates and making record sales, but also breaking records for the amount of bugs and day one patches required for these games to work.
Let's look at some of the games that got day one patches over the last year:
THE LIST!
- Resistance 3
- Killzone 3
- Test Drive Unlimited 2
- Crysis 2
- Operation Flashpoint: Red River
- SOCOM 4
- Mortal Kombat 9
- The Witcher 2
- Duke Nukem Forever
- Brink
- Grand Turismo 5
- Dead Island
- Battlefield 3
- Heroes of Might And Magic 6
- Skyrim
- Assassin's Creed Revelations
16 Titles! This is getting ridiculous. These are the releases for about one year.
Of course this list might just be my paranoid delusion, that game developers are RUSHING THEIR GAMES! I for one really wanted to blame consoles for this, but this is not the other platforms' fault.
Who's fault is it?
The fault lies with the Publishers who put down unrealistic deadlines and penalties to the developers for late delivery of a product. Who put pressure on developers to deliver the product and not get the needed product testing done.
Pressure from investors who probably have never played a game in their lives and the BOTTOM-LINE is all that matters and not a quality product, because gamers are stupid mindless zombies that obviously can't tell a rushed and unfinished product from a truly polished AAA title with all the bells and whistles included from the start.
Right Publishers?
But wait there's more!
Don't worry it is not just the publishers who are the devil here, I am, you are, we all are a integral part of this whole vicious cycle.
We hear about a release date for a game and it goes viral, it spreads like wildfire around the world and the internet, on social networks, tweeted, shared, linked, posted on forums with in-depth discussions and speculation...
Then when the game might get delayed we cause an enormous outcry and slam these developers as useless, liers and various other forms of insults from our unique sense of rage.
My Opinion
Give a vague release date, "When it's done..." ooh ominous! No but seriously give a release date like 2012 or 2013. Developers shouldn't force themselves to abide by when we expect them to give us the game.
They should deliver the game when it is done and a complete product. Not when a calender says it's done or when ficle gamers demand it from them.
The best developer for me atm, would be ArenaNet, sure they are using the When it's done release date, but at least these guys aren't letting us hold them hostage with a fixed calender date. They have stated many times that the game will be released when it's done, not sooner. End of story.
And I am actually more than fine with that, at least I know they are taking their time to do it right.
Conclusion
I hate that games are being churned out like cookies on a production line and that the quality of the games are being impacted upon by the pressure from Publishers and investors and of course the consumers.
I can probably look past the fact that DLC is a ripoff and that restrictive DRM is a punishment for legit buyers, but only if developers and publishers deliver to me, the consumer, a quality product, that I can play when I buy it.
Publishers should ease the pressure on developers and have them release the game in a timely fashion when they (the developers) feels the game is ready for launch. Having a complete and bug-free (as free from bugs as can be reasonably expected) game will increase the profits of the publishers as well.
Less pressure.
Better games.
Happier gamers.
More profit.
Simple.
I really hate entitled gamers. Very few day one patches fix game breaking bugs, the amount of games that launch with these severe bugs are few and far between so unless ur game has one of those there should be nothing to dampen your enjoyment of the game. Also everybody does have internet. Just coz you at the ass end of the multivese don't, why should that bother us in the developed world?
