RAGE PC gets huge patch and advanced graphics control options

[ZAP_Tech]

I don't think gaming journalists should be held accountable for a gamers inability to hold off on a day one purchase. The presumption is that gamers are rational and reasonable human beings capable of making their own informed decisions. Part of that decision making process should include the ability to weigh one's personal pros and cons for going with a pre-order: launch day access and exclusive DLC versus the possibility that the game is full of bugs at launch. Is it really a surprise that games are launched bugged, especially for PC?

This problem is common these days with developers only using one platform (mainly console to tesdt games), or in some cases using a rig that is setup in a way that the game would generally crash while being tested... The problem comes in when you release the PC game to the market, and it is commercially tested on thousands of varied systems in its final form that you find all these minor and sometimes huge problems surface... Most games get patched up in the first few weeks and everything is fine, other need a few patches to be sorted. But gets mostly sorted within a month or two of release.

As for blaming journal lists, thats justt wrong they just express thier view its as James says you need to take thier review use it as a guideline to your purchase... And before you make a buy hold off a day or so to see the reactions to the game... If its problematic you will find out soon. Also get the demo you see if thier is any issues also.

Back to the patch, its a little wierd but most of what was stated related to AMD problems and one was nvidia something about SLI, is the problem mainly with AMD setups?? Or is affecting Nvidia too?

[wheunis]

I don't think gaming journalists should be held accountable

I had to stop reading there, James.
I know this falls outside of context of those exact words for a moment, but in the greater scope, it is fitting.

Sadly, My access to user reviews from the day of release to our day of release was practically dead. (Working my butt off).
Preceding that day, by around 48 hours, reviews from every single gaming review site on the planet had nothing but praise and songs and pretty words abound.
Of course they should be held accountable!

Now, someone already mentioned that these problems didnt occur on consoles... sorry, but that's not true. The texture-pop problem on PC is indeed very prominent in the PS3 version as well. Not all PS3 models... but the newer slims (the one's with the upgraded 802.11n WiFi chip).


This game was a hunk of shit, and no reviewer had the balls to step up and say what needed to be said. Instead they all stuck to the script.

For those who don't yet know, the script pretty much says:
"If you say ONE SINGLE BAD word about us or our products, we cut our advertising on your [insert medium here] and take our money back!"


Yes, I fully believe in accountability, especially if these people are getting paid (ie: its yer job!)
PS: No, im not talking about "after-the-abortion+-reporting. I'm talking about the 48 hours leading up to release, when all the reviews were flooding out like an unstoppable force...

[wheunis]

Back to the patch, its a little wierd but most of what was stated related to AMD problems and one was nvidia something about SLI, is the problem mainly with AMD setups?? Or is affecting Nvidia too?

Sorry for two separate posts, I couldn't get multiquote working for some reason...

The issues are MOSTLY on AMD/ATi, but a decent percentage of Nvidia also suffer problems.
It would seem that the engine itself is incapable of dealing with certain memory types (both System and GPU). That's just my own observation.

Truth be told. The patch and the preview driver both solved only 1 issue for me. The flipside is that it made every single one of the other 6 issues I was having, even worse. (AMD/ATi btw)

[Necuno]

Is it really a surprise that games are launched bugged, especially for PC?

Not from the father of shooters, as a developer I take offence in just thinking we should be content with bugged releases.

How come there are a lot of titles being releases that doesn't have such an extent of game braking bugs like rage had at launch, it's utter humiliation from one proud ID before they sold themselves like a cheap prostitute.

I don't say programmers are perfect beings, I know I am far from it and release builds could very well have issues, but seriously to release now for $$$ and patch tomorrow or already have a "1 gig patch" ready at launch is disgusting.

QA/PR seems to be all about the numbers and not about us the clientèle, if they done these stunts during the days where they had to preform or die they would not have made it. Nowadays it's both the dev, release houses and the customers who are to blame. If we really really voted with our pockets they would think twice before pushing kak unto us.

:edit
After a day of development, I really don't want to develop my paid for game(s) to work.

[MOnk]

I had to stop reading there, James.
I know this falls outside of context of those exact words for a moment, but in the greater scope, it is fitting.

Sadly, My access to user reviews from the day of release to our day of release was practically dead. (Working my butt off).
Preceding that day, by around 48 hours, reviews from every single gaming review site on the planet had nothing but praise and songs and pretty words abound.
Of course they should be held accountable!

Now, someone already mentioned that these problems didnt occur on consoles... sorry, but that's not true. The texture-pop problem on PC is indeed very prominent in the PS3 version as well. Not all PS3 models... but the newer slims (the one's with the upgraded 802.11n WiFi chip).


This game was a hunk of shit, and no reviewer had the balls to step up and say what needed to be said. Instead they all stuck to the script.

For those who don't yet know, the script pretty much says:
"If you say ONE SINGLE BAD word about us or our products, we cut our advertising on your [insert medium here] and take our money back!"


Yes, I fully believe in accountability, especially if these people are getting paid (ie: its yer job!)
PS: No, im not talking about "after-the-abortion+-reporting. I'm talking about the 48 hours leading up to release, when all the reviews were flooding out like an unstoppable force...

I'm sorry but your comments about everyone drinking the cool-aid are complete bull.

There were plenty, PLENTY reviews discussing the negative aspects of Rage, just because you choose to ignore them shouldn't be anyone else's fault but your own.

Examples:
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/04/rage-review/

6/10
RAGE is pretty at times, but it's not enough to paint over the truth - that Id's labor feels like a scaffolding for a game of bolder ideas, ideas which, for whatever reason, aren't realized. And the game that is there just isn't enough to compete with other, better shooters we've seen this year.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/1...ever-gamed.ars

Verdict: Skip
There is nothing about the characters, setting, story, or mechanics in Rage that's interesting, new, exciting, or fun. It feels like a group of people had to create a game because they were under contract, not because they honestly enjoyed any aspect of their own creation. This is a great tech demo for the engine, and that's all. It's merely competent, but never special.

http://www.destructoid.com/review-rage-212834.phtml

7/10
RAGE is fast food, the kind of fast food that looks much more satisfying on the menu than it does once served. It's tasty, for sure, but you'll be starving almost as soon as you've finished. By no means is RAGE not worth your time -- it looks stunning, the combat on both wheels and foot is fun, and there's a tremendous sense of atmosphere that deserves to be experienced. However, RAGE's quality only makes its lack of ambition more painful in the long run, as it could easily have been better than it is. It's a good game, most definitely, and one that id fans will enjoy ... just don't expect it to do half of what it looks like it can do.

Then there were tons of articles about how broken the PC version of game was, many were up within hours of it's official release in the US, which was still a week ahead of our release.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...some-of-it.ars
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/04/ps...ixes-incoming/
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/rages-...-updated/3715/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...about-rage-pc/
http://www.shacknews.com/article/704...rs-report-bugs

The key point though is that the game isn't "a hunk of shit", most people have actually found the game enjoyable, sure it has issue and isn't as good as it should have been but that doesn't make it shit it just makes it disappointing. You might not agree with that and that's your right but to say other people are dishonest and cowardly for not expressing YOUR opinion is childish to say the least.

Game reviewers aren't your personal game buying consultants there to make sure you never buy games you don't like. They are there to give their opinions about games and it's your job to read what they say and formulate your own opinion about how you think you would enjoy the game.

I understand your frustration is buying a game that either you don't enjoy or even worse, a game that doesn't work properly on your system but at the same time no-one made you buy it and no-one made you buy it on release day before you had a chance to properly assess all the issues with the product.