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STO broken?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2010 in The Academy
I've gotta know... is STO really this broken that maintenance and patches are spit out every other day? Content is being released with no quality control at all. Does someone just say -- "hummm, I got an idea about making some changes to the game, sure hope this works!!!" Then after more of your "maintenance and patching", you figure out it didn't work as intended or at all..

How about compiling a list of things you might actually like to acomplish, work on it, test it out, fix any lingering bugs, then release it... maybe on say a 2-3 week interval??? Why are you so desperate to push out new and/or updated material that nothing else matters?

If your servers really require maintenance every 2-3 days, you need to look into hiring a real IT professional in addition to purchasing a more reliable platform to host your game.

I really regret opting for the lifetime deal...

By the way, not all of your customers live in the USA and work 9am to 5pm. Ever hear of shift work? My peak play hours are 10am-2pm GMT. Yeah, thats right... I never get to play because your always performing your maintenance and fly by night patches.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Simmer down. Honestly I'd rather see faster fixes to get the game and hardware stable, than ones at 2-3 week intervals. I'm sorry that these happen to fall during your play time but think of it this way. Would you rather have this go on for weeks and ruin the gaming experience for everyone at all play times, or sacrifice a bit of your own play time for the greater good of all the players in getting the excess bugs hammered out.


    In the end since you opted for the lifetime sub (as did I) we should be in no real hurry since we've got until the end of the game's life to play.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar, I understand your frustration but to be honest they've been doing pretty good about spacing out the patches considering the bugs they are trying to fix.

    I'm not a fan boi by a long shot and will call them out when I dissagree with something they've done, however at least it isn't every night alla the swg launch ;)

    patches will get less and less frequent as the game goes on
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    f your servers really require maintenance every 2-3 days, you need to look into hiring a real IT professional in addition to purchasing a more reliable platform to host your game.

    Compared to EVE that's not much because EVE has every day maintenance since years.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I do realize that putting out a flawless final product is too much too ask for and I'm sure they have fixed a few of the many problems with the game since beta end... but as I said, quality over quantity. No sense in putting out new content that hasn't been tested just so they can add it to an ever increasing list of things to fix. I can't even notice any changes to what they may have fixed, added and/or broken in these continual releases of patches since I can't play long enough to get anything accomplished.

    Server unavailability is by far my biggest gripe. I wouldn't even dare attempt to begin commenting on the rest of my game play experience, as I have failed to learn the art of being tactful ... and seriously doubt the devs would even bother listening to yet another customer bash all their attempts at producing a worthwhile SCI-FI mmorpg.


    *grumbles* If only Funcom would create and release a sequal to Anarchy Online... that might be worth playing.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Druuna wrote:
    Compared to EVE that's not much because EVE has every day maintenance since years.

    OMG, LMAO... Ok, STO is at least better than EVE. That not saying much though as EVE was probably the worst game I played. I went looking for another SCI-FI MMO after Earth and Beyond (EA) finally died and read several positive reviews for EVE. What a disappointment. To each their own I guess.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I'm sure that SWG in its hey day had daily 1hr down time and EvE as stated above is the same. I also recall the SWG in its first 6months also had very frequent patch dasy that would last 4/5/6 hours at a time,
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Works good for me. But thx for the hyperbole.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    They are making it a better gaming experience for all of us with the patches and downtime. I dont have any problem with downtime as it improves STO.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    lol , funcom realy?

    How many MONTHS of broken content still unfixed did they give the gamers? :eek:

    As for down time , it needs to be done , get over it. Nuff said.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Personally, I'd be happy if they realized that some of us are playing the game on PC's that are, well, behind the curve, as far as capabilities go (but still meet the minimums) and that all the systems which (inexplicably) are filled with debris and asteroids seriously slow down game-play and make it lag to an incredible degree (seriously, how many times in the shows and movies did they have to deal with asteroid and debris feilds? Like four times??) but nearly every mission is filled with debris and asteroids?

    Are they THAT obsessed with showing off the variety of debris and asteroid objects they've created!?

    There's a three-second delay between my keyboard and my ship, but it only happens in systems filled with asteroids and debris.. Coincidence? I think not..:mad:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    I've gotta know... is STO really this broken that maintenance and patches are spit out every other day? Content is being released with no quality control at all. Does someone just say -- "hummm, I got an idea about making some changes to the game, sure hope this works!!!" Then after more of your "maintenance and patching", you figure out it didn't work as intended or at all..

    How about compiling a list of things you might actually like to acomplish, work on it, test it out, fix any lingering bugs, then release it... maybe on say a 2-3 week interval??? Why are you so desperate to push out new and/or updated material that nothing else matters?

    If your servers really require maintenance every 2-3 days, you need to look into hiring a real IT professional in addition to purchasing a more reliable platform to host your game.

    I really regret opting for the lifetime deal...

    By the way, not all of your customers live in the USA and work 9am to 5pm. Ever hear of shift work? My peak play hours are 10am-2pm GMT. Yeah, thats right... I never get to play because your always performing your maintenance and fly by night patches.


    We've had larger patches that have fixed a host of bugs - any game at launch needs plenty of bug-fixing. Heck, Blizzard STILL hasn't fixed bugs and balance issues for WoW.

    These little maintenance breaks will grow infrequent as bugs get squashed faster than they're made.

    Just go check your release notes in the launcher for the past few patches.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    STO would only be broken if Cryptic DID NOT maintain the game with maintenance patches on a regular basis.

    Complaining that bugs are being fixed ASAP... I don't know what say, other than, would you rather they didn't fix them?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    It can be very hard to schedule downtime around hundreds of employees in an business, but scheduling downtime to appease tens of thousands of people spread of all across the world is impossible.

    I can appreciate that there are gamers out there that have schedules that don't mesh with the games, but common people there are 7 days a week and STO maybe has maintenance 2-3 times a week max for an average of 2-3 hrs during off peak times for a majority of the player base. If you can't find a window of opportunity to play during the week maybe you need to look for a new game/hobby. Or just take a break come back in 1-2 months, patches will be less frequent, bugs will since been squashed, and there will be more content to boot.

    Frequent patches and maintenance is promising as it shows great efforts by the devs to bring us more content, stability, performance, etc.

    I worry more when patches don't occur and you don't hear anything for months.

    Cheers
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Personally, I'd rather see things fixed ASAP instead of waiting for monthly patch schedules. The last patch made some things load a lot slower for me. I really don't want to wait a month for them to fix that. Having to redo missions I've just completed a second or a third time because it didn't register as completed I really would like a fix for as soon as they have it. Patches are critical to the games success. We all don't like downtime but it's a reality we all realize is needed.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    I've gotta know... is STO really this broken that maintenance and patches are spit out every other day? Content is being released with no quality control at all. Does someone just say -- "hummm, I got an idea about making some changes to the game, sure hope this works!!!" Then after more of your "maintenance and patching", you figure out it didn't work as intended or at all..

    How about compiling a list of things you might actually like to acomplish, work on it, test it out, fix any lingering bugs, then release it... maybe on say a 2-3 week interval??? Why are you so desperate to push out new and/or updated material that nothing else matters?

    If your servers really require maintenance every 2-3 days, you need to look into hiring a real IT professional in addition to purchasing a more reliable platform to host your game.

    I really regret opting for the lifetime deal...

    By the way, not all of your customers live in the USA and work 9am to 5pm. Ever hear of shift work? My peak play hours are 10am-2pm GMT. Yeah, thats right... I never get to play because your always performing your maintenance and fly by night patches.

    Okay, lets put it this way, there is a bug that takes 10% of your money away every day that you log in. Now would you want that fixed as quick as possible ? Whilst some of these bugs don't seem to be important to you they may be important to the game or to others. The smaller fixes are tested internally and the larger changes are put on the Tribble test shard for players to assist testing. But even then there is no guarantee that every test passing doesn't miss something out.

    At minimum maintenance needs to be once a week. Blizzard has done this for 5 years with WoW. I don't recall anyone complaining about it.

    I also live in the UK. Now, are you also considering the fact that they are working at that time in the morning ? I am sure they would love to have a normal working day too but no, they are up at 5am or even earlier to make sure the maintenance completes fine and that the patch didn't break the game. Putting that aside it makes pure business sense to keep player downtime to a minimum. Considering that the largest portion of the player base will most likely be in the Americas with 5 time zones alone to contend with there they are doing all they can to keep the majority of customers happy. With a worldwide customer base you cannot possibly be able to keep everyone happy. It is just impossible without separate servers. I feel bad that you are missing out on the game, and I am sure I would be equally upset/annoyed so I won't say you are wrong to complain. I just wanted to give you the other side of the coin.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Kaltrops wrote:

    As for down time , it needs to be done , get over it. Nuff said.

    Can you not read? I'm not opposed to them implementing a patch to add content or fix current content. But this is not whats happening.

    Someone at STO is soooooo eager to just continually push updates that they're doing it just to do it (this isn't BETA any more, its LIVE). So what if the patch we're pushing today that is supposed to be doing something but doesn't actually do what we want? Since we spent 10 minutes putting it together, we'll just take down the server for 2-3 hours and put it out any way and then maybe try to fix it again later.

    That is needless down time.

    Identify problems, identify possible solutions, create new content -- test it out to make sure it works, then implement. There is no way this process should take less than one week. If this can be accomplished in less time, then the change is more than likey too insignificant to make a truely noticeable change to game play. In this case wait until you have something of substance to provide the customer in exchange for taking away a service that they are paying for. So what if there was a minor typo in some NPC dialouge... the game will continue even though it says "Klinggon"

    Has everyone been conditioned to believe that its ok to recieve substandard treatment from a service provider? I don't remember reading a disclaimer that states: Oh by the way anyone who intends to play our game from 11am-2pm GMT don't even bother. This is when we take down a service that your paying for so we can try stuff out that may work. If it doesn't work then we'll throw together more TRIBBLE that we won't bother testing and probably won't work either -- but since we already have your money and you'll probably still keep trying to play any way... why the hell should we care?

    Provide us (the customer) what we're paying for with minimal service interuption. If the service needs to be interupted, providing the customer with advanced notice of SCHEDULED down time. The game isn't completely non-functional... people can enjoy what current content there is to be enjoyed and wait a few extra days for a proven and tested reliable content update.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I can sympathize with the whole losing playtime to patches thing, and I can also understand where you're coming from with the whole updates should be tested more than what they are. I've played MMOs where every update was bugged and the server was taken down in excess of 8 hours to fix the bugs that the new updates caused. However asking that an update be fully tested is a wasteful idea, merely because no one will ever be able to find all the bugs in said update. If we were to fully test these updates on Test Servers before they went live, we would be waiting 6+ months for each individual one (and that's not including programming time). I personally think that Cryptic is doing an outstanding job of fixing the bugs, and I've also noticed that the maintainence doesn't really happen every day
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    JCSWW wrote: »
    Personally, I'd rather see things fixed ASAP instead of waiting for monthly patch schedules. The last patch made some things load a lot slower for me. I really don't want to wait a month for them to fix that. Having to redo missions I've just completed a second or a third time because it didn't register as completed I really would like a fix for as soon as they have it. Patches are critical to the games success. We all don't like downtime but it's a reality we all realize is needed.

    Case and point. The last patch ruined the game for you. Had they done their homework and scrutinized how the changes they were making would actually effect game play -- before iimplementing this patch, they could have released this portion of the patch at a later date when it would've worked.

    So now you do have to wait for them to fix what they just broke and hope that while they attempt to fix this bug, they don't break something else. I can't play because the server's always down. And now it sounds like your sort of in a minor holding pattern or at the very least diminished game play for the same reason. NO QUALITY CONTROL ON THE RAMPANT UPDATES.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    Can you not read? I'm not opposed to them implementing a patch to add content or fix current content. But this is not whats happening.

    Someone at STO is soooooo eager to just continually push updates that they're doing it just to do it (this isn't BETA any more, its LIVE). So what if the patch we're pushing today that is supposed to be doing something but doesn't actually do what we want? Since we spent 10 minutes putting it together, we'll just take down the server for 2-3 hours and put it out any way and then maybe try to fix it again later.

    That is needless down time.

    Identify problems, identify possible solutions, create new content -- test it out to make sure it works, then implement. There is no way this process should take less than one week. If this can be accomplished in less time, then the change is more than likey too insignificant to make a truely noticeable change to game play. In this case wait until you have something of substance to provide the customer in exchange for taking away a service that they are paying for. So what if there was a minor typo in some NPC dialouge... the game will continue even though it says "Klinggon"

    Has everyone been conditioned to believe that its ok to recieve substandard treatment from a service provider? I don't remember reading a disclaimer that states: Oh by the way anyone who intends to play our game from 11am-2pm GMT don't even bother. This is when we take down a service that your paying for so we can try stuff out that may work. If it doesn't work then we'll throw together more TRIBBLE that we won't bother testing and probably won't work either -- but since we already have your money and you'll probably still keep trying to play any way... why the hell should we care?

    Provide us (the customer) what we're paying for with minimal service interuption. If the service needs to be interupted, providing the customer with advanced notice of SCHEDULED down time. The game isn't completely non-functional... people can enjoy what current content there is to be enjoyed and wait a few extra days for a proven and tested reliable content update.

    sorry but i had to log in just to say Wow! you never worked in the Programming world did you mate :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    face it there is no way to test a patch "" on mass"", EVEN with a test sever this would still happen.

    you still need to run the patch hot on the live sever get the data( and feedback) from the player bace.

    Old coder saying add one line brake 3.

    from what i seen there doing a damn fine job on keeping the the game brakeing stuff low and the game playable.

    And as far as the time the patching takes place, hey man you welly known where the game was baced.....
    and this stuff was bound too happen.Unless this is your frist MMO, then wellcome to a game that will allways change...and you have to look farward to patchs ,and patchs of patchs.

    but sence you all fired up about this ....you be the frist to put your name down for that up-comeing test sever....as a tester right?:rolleyes:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    Case and point. The last patch ruined the game for you. Had they done their homework and scrutinized how the changes they were making would actually effect game play -- before iimplementing this patch, they could have released this portion of the patch at a later date when it would've worked.

    So now you do have to wait for them to fix what they just broke and hope that while they attempt to fix this bug, they don't break something else. I can't play because the server's always down. And now it sounds like your sort of in a minor holding pattern or at the very least diminished game play for the same reason. NO QUALITY CONTROL ON THE RAMPANT UPDATES.

    Not necessarily. It did fix some other issues. with any sort of update, there's bound to be a few issues here and there but the majority of the updates solve more than they break. A few slower load times isn't going to make me whine about the game. Having to redo the odd mission over won't either. 3 hours downtime out of a day, 3 days a week, really isn't that much time at all.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    game barely able to login, gets stuck between instances... when I finally get into the game my ship cannot move! Terrible patch, put it back to how it was.... please i cant do any plz make a sugetion my internet works fine on wow ....... on css on all other online games so plz stop messing up the game ................ you seem to be mucking up more then u are fixing it atleast i could log on before........... as well as this we are curently paying for a game we cant play sort your self out fast or u will lose even more players .............
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Dkar wrote:
    OMG, LMAO... Ok, STO is at least better than EVE. That not saying much though as EVE was probably the worst game I played. I went looking for another SCI-FI MMO after Earth and Beyond (EA) finally died and read several positive reviews for EVE. What a disappointment. To each their own I guess.

    That's a first. Never seen anyone who doesn't like EVE.
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