Patch Note Issues

Saitada - Sanctuary
Saitada - Sanctuary Posts: 3,220 Arc User
edited January 2009 in General Discussion
To: Perfect World GM's and Developers
From: Me
Subject: Patch Notes

Dear perfect World I would like to take this time to discuss the seeming inability of your staff to write and post concise, clear and detailed patch notes in a timely manner (read this as 12hrs BEFORE a patch) that don't leave things out that are being changed or removed.

While I understand that you have limited staff and that some do double and maybe even triple duty, it should be a simple task to produce patch notes that are:

1. Accurate
2. Don't leave things out
3. Understandable

The things you want to have in your patch notes are as follows:

1. Addition of elements to the game
2. Removal of elements from the game
3. Fixes for currently known issues
4. Brief mention of security fixes to improve game security and safety.
5. Thank you for playing the game

But.. what we see instead is very little of the above. And a lot of nothing at all. If your having trouble writing decent patch notes, please feel free to contact me, I would be more than happy to assist you in writing clear, detailed patch notes that are as professional and accurate as the information you provide me.

Saitada
Post edited by Saitada - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • XBaelx - Lost City
    XBaelx - Lost City Posts: 84 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    totally agree the patch notes we seem to get are what they wish us to see and thats very little

    i understand things like bot removal devices and hacker stuff shouldn't be in patch notes but the rest should please right this...
  • Fintan - Lost City
    Fintan - Lost City Posts: 1,245 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Yes, it's always annoying (especially at event time) not knowing just what to be expecting in 2 hours.

    And yes, please tell us that you'll be doing things like updating your anti-hacking tools so we can turn off our anti-virus to prevent detecting patching those things as "bad". Tell us what parts of the events are supposed to be turned off and which will remain so "slowpokes" can still turn in quests. Tell us that you'll be changing pricing and or removing items from the boutique. And don't forget to tell us that you love us. b:cute

    Seriously, though. You probably provide patch notes to your QA team (you do have QA that consists of more than one person, right!?). As they're doing their testing, have them distill those notes into "public-ready" notes. They've got to do something as they wait for the game to reinstall/patch/load/whatever... b:laugh Sure, it's "more work" for them to do. But, they're the best place to do the task; you are almost guaranteed that what they test is what gets passed to the players.

    And, I give kudos that you guys do try to give patch notes. It's just that we've come to expect our online games to tell us what will be changing under our noses. We still love you and that's why we're trying to be constructive. b:heart
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  • theshazzbot
    theshazzbot Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    please clarify.

    how is:

    http://pwi.perfectworld.com/news/patch

    not meeting your needs exactly?

    everything that can be revealed is revealed. the only stuff left out is nitty gritty technical goobeleygook and/or internal security stuff.
    Remember, posting on these forums is not a right - It's a PRIVILEGE!

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Thus the ShazzBot has spoken...
  • Blancheneige - Heavens Tear
    Blancheneige - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,494 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    TheShazzbot wrote: »
    everything that can be revealed is revealed. the only stuff left out is nitty gritty technical goobeleygook and/or internal security stuff.

    Not always, sadly.

    Three exemples :

    1 - adding the ability to fly in TW was never announced

    2 - the removal of darkness stamps in higher levels FBs was never announced

    3 - the closing of the arenas was never announced


    Those are immediately came to my mind. More could be added if I would scratch my head a bit. And I don't see how those could fall under "nitty gritty technical goobeleygook and/or internal security stuff"...
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Thanks Brit for the sig b:laugh
  • Vasflam - Lost City
    Vasflam - Lost City Posts: 41 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    All the stuff you're mentioning was before they even had this new website with the new patch notes section if my memory serves me right. Ever since then they have been pretty good about patch notes from my perspective. But then again, whiners will be whiners.
  • Blancheneige - Heavens Tear
    Blancheneige - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,494 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Vasflam - Lost City wrote: »
    All the stuff you're mentioning was before they even had this new website with the new patch notes section if my memory serves me right.

    Maybe. But it was not announced anywhere anyway, not even on the forums.

    It's a bit annoying for players to find about those changes themselves....
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Thanks Brit for the sig b:laugh
  • theshazzbot
    theshazzbot Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Admitedly from time to time things will slip through the cracks and that is unfortunate both for us and to the users.

    Its part of the challenge when localizing a complex product from one side of the world to another.

    I will say though that the communication process is improving on both ends and we will continue to improve on this front.

    In the meantime if y'all aren't happy with our current patch notes format feel free to offer constructive criticism in this thread.

    the only point that we likely can't change is to release it any earlier then we already do (for reasons of security as well as the time available from the time we receive the patch to the point of release).
    Remember, posting on these forums is not a right - It's a PRIVILEGE!

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Thus the ShazzBot has spoken...
  • kiralia
    kiralia Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    Some things SHOULD be announced ahead of a patch nd really have no impact on any kind of security issues. For example removal of charm packs (which are supposed to be a perm addition btw).
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  • Saitada - Sanctuary
    Saitada - Sanctuary Posts: 3,220 Arc User
    edited January 2009
    TheShazzbot wrote: »
    please clarify.

    how is:

    http://pwi.perfectworld.com/news/patch

    not meeting your needs exactly?

    everything that can be revealed is revealed. the only stuff left out is nitty gritty technical goobeleygook and/or internal security stuff.

    Actually, I was unaware of that section of the site, I have always looked for patch notes on the forums as an "announcement" made by GM's/Mods/Admins.

    I will bookmark that page for future reference and if need be, send in constructive advice if I see need. Thanks for providing the link.

    Saitada

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