test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

How did this pass quality control?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3001/screenshot2010042912393.jpg

am I playing on the test server still or something?
Post edited by Unknown User on
«1

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3001/screenshot2010042912393.jpg

    am I playing on the test server still or something?

    Fast, cheap or good. Pick two.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Qaxlor wrote: »
    Fast, cheap or good. Pick two.

    cryptic design philosophy. rather release an unpolished buggy mess than delay it and have people whining on the forums. sigh. thanks for ruining my immersion even more, cryptic.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    cryptic design philosophy. rather release an unpolished buggy mess than delay it and have people whining on the forums. sigh. thanks for ruining my immersion even more, cryptic.

    Seems like a minor issue to me. If the choice was between another week on Tribble to work out all the small stuff or release what they had and delay the big bugs (STF/Exchange) as they have done, I am happy with their decision. My immersion is ruined every time I set foot in a populated area and see the zone chat anyhow.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    This game should have been still in spacedock. Not taken out on thrusters hoping to build a warpcore along the way...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3001/screenshot2010042912393.jpg

    am I playing on the test server still or something?

    If that isn't the most curious thing I have ever seen.
    What window is that supposed to be?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    cryptic design philosophy. rather release an unpolished buggy mess than delay it and have people whining on the forums. sigh. thanks for ruining my immersion even more, cryptic.

    It's not just Cryptic, but pretty much MMO industry standard practice (pioneered by SOE) to "Release NOW, fix (maybe) LATER".

    Q/A testing in the MMO industry consists of "does it run and not (immediately) crash my PC?" and not actual functionality verification and regression testing (the customers do that) which one who worked in a real Q/A department (I used to work in IBM's) would expect or assume.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    If that isn't he most curious thing I have ever seen.
    What window is that supposed to be?

    Forgot about the borg rebels and their 3rd dynasty ?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    If that isn't the most curious thing I have ever seen.
    What window is that supposed to be?

    The medical bay screen? Just a stab
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    wildcat84 wrote: »
    It's not just Cryptic, but pretty much MMO industry standard practice (pioneered by SOE) to "Release NOW, fix (maybe) LATER".

    Q/A testing in the MMO industry consists of "does it run and not (immediately) crash my PC?" and not actual functionality verification and regression testing (the customers do that) which one who worked in a real Q/A department (I used to work in IBM's) would expect or assume.
    As you imply, this is actually standard for IT development in general. Quality Assurance is for immediate functionality (run/crash) and whatever else they can cram into their schedule, while User Acceptance (Tribble Test Shard, in our case) is for the rest.

    In other words, the QA process is about quantity (ironically), while the UA process is about quality. Remember that quality is something that only the customer can determine, but it is up to the the QA teams to respond to customer feedback and pass it along to the DEVs as needed. QA teams provide the first point-of-contact for the UA process.

    Unfortunately, the typical end-user does not know this, for all they care about is the end result. It's usually the responsibility of PR/marketing to ensure that customers know the basics of the development process, and that their testing (User Acceptance) and feedback to QA is required if they want a product that accurately meets their standards.

    In other words, the product cannot meet your standards if they do not know what those standards are (on the lowest level of detail).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    very little in this game passed any sort of quality control
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    If that isn't the most curious thing I have ever seen.
    What window is that supposed to be?

    the ship repair window from the NPC on sol station.

    as you can see, it's listed as "MEDICAL BAY" on the top...it has my character there, and says my ship has no injuries. heh. I tried to click on a ship in the drop down box, and after I did that, I was unable to interact with any of the game UI at all.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    very little in this game passed any sort of quality control

    Amen

    \10 char
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3001/screenshot2010042912393.jpg

    am I playing on the test server still or something?

    Just went to the same place, it shows my ships (all of them) just fine. Crew members aren't listed in the drop down menu. Don't have any injuries though to test the functionality itself.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    wildcat84 wrote: »
    It's not just Cryptic, but pretty much MMO industry standard practice (pioneered by SOE) to "Release NOW, fix (maybe) LATER".

    Q/A testing in the MMO industry consists of "does it run and not (immediately) crash my PC?" and not actual functionality verification and regression testing (the customers do that) which one who worked in a real Q/A department (I used to work in IBM's) would expect or assume.

    While I agree the problem seems amplified in MMOs where the desire for content is pushing shorter and shorter concept to release timelines for everything (patches, expansions, etc.), I have noticed marked decreases in software quality across the board.

    I think it's a combination of more complex software, shorter timelines, and slashing QA departments to save money. Full regression testing seems to be becoming a quaint anachronism. I've had full-blown service packs from major manufacturers come out with bugs that made my head spin, like putting a production server into a 30-day trial license. That was from one of the largest software companine in the world (not IBM though :cool: ).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    This honestly doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that my phasers sometimes randomly stop firing during combat and continue to stop firing until I die or zone out. Or that my abilities regularly do not work when I press them. Or that my offensive abilities completely lock down occasionally. In short, things that truly affect gameplay rather than something insignificant as my avatar being mislabelled as a ship in 1 specific window.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Qaxlor wrote: »
    While I agree the problem seems amplified in MMOs where the desire for content is pushing shorter and shorter concept to release timelines for everything (patches, expansions, etc.), I have noticed marked decreases in software quality across the board.

    I think it's a combination of more complex software, shorter timelines, and slashing QA departments to save money. Full regression testing seems to be becoming a quaint anachronism. I've had full-blown service packs from major manufacturers come out with bugs that made my head spin, like putting a production server into a 30-day trial license. That was from one of the largest software companine in the world (not IBM though :cool: ).

    I had to spend all last weekend repairing PC's because McAfee put something in their Thursday antivirus update that deleted a Windows system file. Yeah, the Q/A process has totally gone into the crapper in the last few years. In a down economy, it seems the Q/A and service people are always the first cut. Funny, if I were running things I'd can marketing first. When you need to contract to survive the LAST thing that should be compromised is the quality of the product.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    wildcat84 wrote: »
    When you need to contract to survive the LAST thing that should be compromised is the quality of the product.
    Well, this is the reason why Microsoft dominates the industry today. They sacrificed quality for quantity, which pushed their products far ahead of competitors in every market, despite the fact that traditional powerhouses (like IBM) have always been reliable bastions of quality.

    Today, success is more about competitive marketing, and less about the quality of the product.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    wildcat84 wrote: »
    LAST thing that should be compromised is the quality of the product.

    I blame business schools and graduates who think they know everything without having the first ****ing clue how anything actually gets done.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I blame business schools and graduates who think they know everything without having the first ****ing clue how anything actually gets done.
    I am neither of these, but I can say that the guy who sells his product before someone else, tends to make more money, as long as that product functions the same as the other product (regardless of quality). Once the customer base is secured, they can push quality upgrades in at their leisure.

    That is pretty much the IT development paradigm since the 1980s.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I am neither of these, but I can say that the guy who sells his product before someone else, tends to make more money, as long as that product functions the same as the other product (regardless of quality). Once the customer base is secured, they can push quality upgrades in at their leisure.

    That is pretty much the IT development paradigm since the 1980s.

    What he said...

    I'd have more of an issue with these kinds of things if they never fixed them and were telling people "tough luck!" Bugs are annoying, but they are fixing them as they come up. I've actually noticed better response times on support tickets as well.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    What he said...

    I'd have more of an issue with these kinds of things if they never fixed them and were telling people "tough luck!" Bugs are annoying, but they are fixing them as they come up. I've actually noticed better response times on support tickets as well.

    How much time and effort does it take to proofread one of the core interface components of the game and edit a few text strings?

    I'm talking about the skills window here.

    Yes it's nice that bugs occasionally get fixed but some of the surviving oversights blow my ****ing mind.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Well, this is the reason why Microsoft dominates the industry today. They sacrificed quality for quantity, which pushed their products far ahead of competitors in every market, despite the fact that traditional powerhouses (like IBM) have always been reliable bastions of quality.

    Today, success is more about competitive marketing, and less about the quality of the product.

    Not always. I switched from a PC to a Mac, and the difference in quality is, flat out stunning.

    Apple is outdoing pretty much every other tech company right now in profits by making an extremely high quality, bullet proof product.

    Edit: I do like Windows 7 though. It is a drastic leap forward in quality and is much better designed than Vista. It's also excellent for gaming. But I still like my Mac better than my PC.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Originally Posted by Matt_Dravis
    I am neither of these, but I can say that the guy who sells his product before someone else, tends to make more money, as long as that product functions the same as the other product (regardless of quality). Once the customer base is secured, they can push quality upgrades in at their leisure.

    That is pretty much the IT development paradigm since the 1980s.

    That worked for products that had no competition in effect or could not afford to switch to more expensive options. In 2010 STO is the same price as other MMOs and the IP fanbase has already decided the game is not a worthy representation of the universe. :rolleyes:

    What is happening would not even make sense in the 80s.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    That was happening to me too on tribble. Couldnt fix any ship damage at stations.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    It's probably the known bug from Tribble that you can't have anything targeted or the screen gets stuck on that.

    I'm not entirely certain why that window actually interacts with targeting. It makes little sense. But that's the deal.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Yes it's nice that bugs occasionally get fixed but some of the surviving oversights blow my ****ing mind.

    You're assuming every bug that pops up is easily traceable and easily fixed with a few keystrokes. Sometimes bugs are very hard to track down. Yes it's annoying when they take quite some time to get resolved, but they do eventually get to them.

    This is something that is common to all MMOs, not just this one.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    You're assuming every bug that pops up is easily traceable and easily fixed with a few keystrokes. Sometimes bugs are very hard to track down. Yes it's annoying when they take quite some time to get resolved, but they do eventually get to them.

    This is something that is common to all MMOs, not just this one.

    I'm talking about something you reproduce by standing anywhere on the ground, pressing K, and reading the inaccurate skill descriptions.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    You're assuming every bug that pops up is easily traceable and easily fixed with a few keystrokes. Sometimes bugs are very hard to track down. Yes it's annoying when they take quite some time to get resolved, but they do eventually get to them.

    This is something that is common to all MMOs, not just this one.

    Not really what the poster meant was it? Changing the text entry to lets say NOT have borg rebels and 3rd Dynasty missions is just that. A change of text. Do not twist things around to serve your argument.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3001/screenshot2010042912393.jpg

    am I playing on the test server still or something?

    You're silly! Everybody knows Cryptic doesn't have a quality control department, that's what customers are for.:cool:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Not really what the poster meant was it? Changing the text entry to lets say NOT have borg rebels and 3rd Dynasty missions is just that. A change of text. Do not twist things around to serve your argument.

    How do you know those are quick fixes? It may seem simple, yet it really isn't. Unless you've programmed the game...
Sign In or Register to comment.