Developmental Rush: Money VS Quality

[Vertigo]

I bought this game yesterday, but unfortunately have yet to be able to play it. Why? Everytime I load the game, I hear music, and the screen stays white. I've updated all of my drivers, etc. Downloaded updates through Steam, but no luck. I've been trolling various boards trying to figure it out, and it seems I'm not the only one with a mid range to upper end gaming system that simply won't run the game. Even those I've talked to who have gotten it to work, have had to do various tweaks to the game files themselves just to get it to work. To me, this is a disturbing trend, games released in October to cash in on Christmas that simply do not function. And of course, this as well as the last DOA game I purchased (Warhammer: Mark of Chaos) are not refundable. GameStop won't even let me exchange them. Their response, take it up with the guys who made the game, not us.

And of course, the game developers themselves are simply sending canned responses, and generally being everything but helpful. Anyone else notice a similar decline in basic game quality recently? Honestly, the last good game I got was FEAR and Extraction Point, both of which played perfectly out of the box.

[Commando]

Yeah,

I've remember back in the day Myst 2 or 3 was like that for me. I bought it then had to wait for a month for the fix. I thought it was getting better but I've been out of the hard core game scene for a while. I'll be knee deep back into it in a month or 2 though.

Ok, I know Myst isn't hardcore, you know what I mean...

[nil8]

What game did you get? I have a lot of experience in troubleshooting certain steam games and I might be able to help you.

The problem with pc gaming is there are so many different setups and variables that developers don't have time to debug anymore due to expected release dates and increasing complexity of the games. It has in the past couple of years become an industry where the first version of the game is more of a beta and after a few months of patches, it becomes playable for a large portion of the community.

With this said, the best idea is to wait 6 months to a year after a game release to buy it for 3 reasons. First is possible compatibility problems, as listed above. The second is price decrease. Most games lower prices after a season or two. The third is better hardware. You can really crank up a game that's a year or two older on modern hardware and get a much better gaming experience.

Food for thought.

[Vertigo]

The game I got was Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, I hear what you're saying about "wait a year" but is that really right? Should we as gamers/consumers be expected to spend cash on an incomplete product, or as you say wait a year after it's release to ensure it works properly? If I buy a new car and the radio doesn't work, and a connecter for the turn signal is missing, etc. I take it back to where I bought it, and they either fix it or I get my money back. Why as gamers should we be treated differently?

[nil8]

Because of the complexity and pressure of release dates. Intellectual and physical properties work in different ways in this matter. Most cars don't get an update every 6 months. Beyond this, cars don't work under different platforms. A car is a car and they always travel on a road. Car manufacturers have also been making cars for so long they have a basic idea of the amount of time it will take them to engineer, test, manufacture and market a vehicle.

Video games are still fairly new in the world of big business, and they have a complexity scale higher than most other software development businesses. They must keep up with the times or they will fail in the market. This creates a high demand for performance and a strict marketing model. If the games QA process takes even 4 months too long, the game can be released at the wrong time of the year and sales will flop, causing big issues.

A shining example is Duke Nukem Forever. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google it and see the development debacle that has occured with that game. DN fans have been waiting over 4 years and there still isn't a game.

Almost all games are released in between the fall and late winter because people are inside more. Spring and summer are the worst times to release indoor activities and without a well regulated release schedule, this is how it works. It's crappy, but it's the truth.

What video card do you have? A lot of these problems come from the fact that they use a specific video codec that only works on dx9 cards.
When you see white, hit esc. See if that helps. If the problem is the video card, you also can't use the magic weapons or go underwater. For the magic weapons you get this lame checkerboard pattern and underwater it's all white.
How did you get the game? Direct2download, steam or retail?

[Vertigo]

The computer I'm using is in my signature, I'm using a BFG 7950 GTX 1 gig video card.

I understand what you're saying Nil8, and I can appreciate your points. However, this is not an isolated issue. Games being rushed out for the Christmas season without testing, is reprehensible from a business ethics standpoint. Worse, I've spoken to 5 reps from the publisher since this happened, and their stance is "You bought it as is." I expect this type of behavior from a sleezy used car dealer, but I purchased a working game. My system has been complete for 2 months. The game has been out about the same amount of time, and my computer is not cheap. Even after using their on site system tester to verify you meet minimums and/or recomended system criteria I'm still finding no reason my computer shouldn't run this game.

So in essence, I feel cheated. And unfortunately, I'm not alone. After browsing the DM boards, I'm finding multiple customers with the same or similar issues. Likewise, I purchased a copy of GFW with the game, and unfortunately opened the game before I opened the magazine ... the staff of the magazine claim that only one of their systems would run the game. This, to me is just unacceptable. I'm sorry, but I miss the days where you inserted the disk, and the game worked as advertised...

And don't get me started on vapor ware lol, Duke Nukem Forever was a game I was so excited about myself, but I've given up on it ever being released. If anything, I expect it to come out as some mod created by rabid DN fans.

I just miss the good ole days.
[/rant]

P.S. +Rep for you, because nil8, you are trying to help and it's appreciated.

[SgtM]

The computer I'm using is in my signature, I'm using a BFG 7950 GTX 1 gig video card.

I understand what you're saying Nil8, and I can appreciate your points. However, this is not an isolated issue. Games being rushed out for the Christmas season without testing, is reprehensible from a business ethics standpoint. Worse, I've spoken to 5 reps from the publisher since this happened, and their stance is "You bought it as is." I expect this type of behavior from a sleezy used car dealer, but I purchased a working game. My system has been complete for 2 months. The game has been out about the same amount of time, and my computer is not cheap. Even after using their on site system tester to verify you meet minimums and/or recomended system criteria I'm still finding no reason my computer shouldn't run this game.

So in essence, I feel cheated. And unfortunately, I'm not alone. After browsing the DM boards, I'm finding multiple customers with the same or similar issues. Likewise, I purchased a copy of GFW with the game, and unfortunately opened the game before I opened the magazine ... the staff of the magazine claim that only one of their systems would run the game. This, to me is just unacceptable. I'm sorry, but I miss the days where you inserted the disk, and the game worked as advertised...

And don't get me started on vapor ware lol, Duke Nukem Forever was a game I was so excited about myself, but I've given up on it ever being released. If anything, I expect it to come out as some mod created by rabid DN fans.

I just miss the good ole days.
[/rant]

P.S. +Rep for you, because nil8, you are trying to help and it's appreciated.

ditto.. +rep

[nil8]

Thanks for the reps guys.

It's bad business. People get a foul taste in their mouth with PC gaming due to major issues or copy protection problems. I've helped many people with securom issues on NWN2. People who bought the game legit, paid their money for it, and it crashes their game or won't let them play because a piece of security software doesn't function properly.

With the current state of console gaming, PC game companies really have to work hard to keep regular customers, and almost none of them have. The exceptions that spring mind is Bethesda and Atari.

I agree with you on the points you made. It should work, there's no reason for it and a support line or the community should be able to resolve this issue with minimal work for the average gamer.

I'm just explaining the business side, which is often forgotten by pissed gamers when a product doesn't work.

With that card you should have no issues running DM well. That's definitely DX9 compatible.

I was excited for DN too, until they did their second complete engine overhaul and then I said forget it.

If you have steam you probably have HL2, so I'll just pass this down the grapevine. There's a game coming out soon from Neil Manke. Back in the heyday of HL1, Manke was paid by PC Gamer to make a few single player games using the HL1 engine. He was also paid by Sony to make a multiplayer hl1 mod around the underworld series that had a modest following.

His work is absolutely top notch, and soon he will be releasing a HL2 engine version of an ongoing series called "They Hunger". Think 1930's zombie fps. It's reminiscent of Resident Evil brought to a fps. It will be a commercial game coming from one of the long running masters of mod design. Here's the link and I want everyone who thinks this would be fun to take a look and possibly buy it when it gets released. I know I will.
http://www.blackwidowgames.com/

Good luck with resolution. My suggestion is try to get a refund and buy the retail version. If it doesn't work, you have a box and dvd you can return and an 800 number you can call and bitch at.

[Vertigo]

Interesting info, "They Hunger" sounds pretty good. This is the first time I've heard of it, and I'll definitely keep an eye on it. As for the rest, yeah I definitely can understand the business aspect of the situation. But, as you pointed out this is bad business practice. I've got my copy of DM of MM which is currently an attractive paperweight on my desk, even if it is an infuriating one. So tomorrow, I'm going to try the 800 number route again. Honestly though, if I get the run around again, I'm simply going to refer the matter to the better business bureau and toss the game in a bin of games I've uninstalled from my computer.