The advantage of patches...

[johnnyg713]

I wonder if Ian and his team are sort of overlooking some gameplay mechanics or penalties that could be added later on in a patch. This way they can get the most important gameplay mechanics in during production and sort of add others after the game is released.

I mean sure everyone wants the game to play great right out of the box. But think about all the features that could be put in via patch vs features that couldn't. Take NHL 09 for example. Its like a whole different game since the patch has been released. It's a very sim style of gameplay and plays just like REAL hockey now.

I wonder if Ian and his team have taken patches into consideration and could really use them to their advantage since they only have a limited amount of time to put in all the things they need to put in.

[PGaither84]

This issue has been adressed before and Phill has told us that you are only allowed to do 2 pathches through MS for free and that they will not do anymore than those 2 free ones.

[bang911]

You really need to stay away from relying on patches.

Look at MLB 2k9, that game is has a cluster of issues. They are on patch #2 already, and the bad gameplay has already turned a lot of people away from the game.

[madrob]

well i love patches and i feel that game companies that dont release a patch arnt worth a crap every game is not right in some aspect patches are from comunity responses to glitches. without us yelling they dont know what to fix beta testers are worth 2 cents you mention mlb2k9 do you think if they didnt patch it that it would benefit them.
it would be diffrent if it was the same game engine for the past 4 years but they started over fresh and to nail everythig down and get new anouncers is hard to do in such a short time period
ea sports in the past never patched a game and to see then doing so shows that they still trying to get things right durring a games current cycle instead of saying ok we seen the problem we will wait till next year, you run the risk of losing big time by doing nothing and are applauded for trying.

[StevieTheD]

Quote: Originally Posted by madrob

well i love patches and i feel that game companies that dont release a patch arnt worth a crap every game is not right in some aspect patches are from comunity responses to glitches. without us yelling they dont know what to fix beta testers are worth 2 cents you mention mlb2k9 do you think if they didnt patch it that it would benefit them. it would be diffrent if it was the same game engine for the past 4 years but they started over fresh and to nail everythig down and get new anouncers is hard to do in such a short time period ea sports in the past never patched a game and to see then doing so shows that they still trying to get things right durring a games current cycle instead of saying ok we seen the problem we will wait till next year, you run the risk of losing big time by doing nothing and are applauded for trying.

I am Bang911's case in point.

I played the game and hated all the awful glitches. By the time the patch came out I had already made the decision to sell it. It was so bad in terms of game play I had to get rid of it.

You need a solid game when it is shipped. Patches should be to fix bugs, not put in things they left out.

[AnthonyPhillips]

Patches are bad for us gamers. Just think about it would you buy a car if the guy said that you will have to come back in a month are 2 so he can "patch"/fix an issue he knows that the car has?

If you make the game right before its release then you don't have to worry about patching it. Just do the job right the first time and then there wont be any issues.

[MikeMcMahon]

Quote: Originally Posted by AnthonyPhillips

Patches are bad for us gamers. Just think about it would you buy a car if the guy said that you will have to come back in a month are 2 so he can "patch"/fix an issue he knows that the car has? If you make the game right before its release then you don't have to worry about patching it. Just do the job right the first time and then there wont be any issues.

Airbags are bad for safety. Now that survival rates are so high, people have no incentive to drive safely.

[MikeMcMahon]

Quote: Originally Posted by bang911

You can't try and say the car represents the game, because the airbags protect the driver not the car itself.

In case you hadn't noticed, the word 'car' does not appear in my post. Your corrected interpretation of my analogy WAS my analogy.

My point, which should have been obvious, is this. Driving safely is important, but there is always a chance of an accident. When accidents occur, we want to minimize the negative consequences.

Building a game right the first time is important, but there are always bugs and the game has to be released eventually. We want the consequences of those bugs to be minimized.