An open note to PWE/ Cryptic.

vetteguy904 · January 2016

We all know and understand the need to produce content that can be monetized, however, I would like to suggest two things. 1. Host an event with the players to see what we are experiencing as major annoyances to outright game breakers, and 2, slide development a couple months to fix stuff. In the long run I believe this would be to the benefit of the game's viability. I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

This is not an I want this thread or a I quit rage, just a thought on improving the game for everyone

leemwatson · January 2016

vetteguy904 wrote: »

We all know and understand the need to produce content that can be monetized, however, I would like to suggest two things. 1. Host an event with the players to see what we are experiencing as major annoyances to outright game breakers, and 2, slide development a couple months to fix stuff. In the long run I believe this would be to the benefit of the game's viability. I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

This is not an I want this thread or a I quit rage, just a thought on improving the game for everyone

This has been suggested on numerous occasions, and frankly, you don't understand how many different teams of Dev's there actually are. Bug-fixing does not come under the perview of Development. Also, Dev's do actually play the game, and are aware of issues, as well as the fact there is a dedicated team of player Bug-Hunters that will try to re-create a bug. If they can't recreate it, then further investigation is required.

And finally, believe me when I say this, but I've been playing for around 5 years, and I rarely have encountered a bug, so from my point of view, they're doing a great job on the game!

samt1996 · January 2016

I agree, all these people whining about bugs and I haven't noticed anything more then the occasional minor cosmetic defect in my six years in this game.

Provide examples if they even exist, in other words "pics or GTFO."

welcome2earf · January 2016

samt1996 wrote: »

I agree, all these people whining about bugs and I haven't noticed anything less then the occasional minor cosmetic defect in my six years in this game.

Provide examples if they even exist, in other words "pics or GTFO."

What, you want examples of bugs? There's a whole subforum dedicated to them...

daveyny · January 2016

If it ain't gonna make Them money, it's not on the short list of things to do.

twg042370 · January 2016

I have been playing Cryptics games off and one for many years now and I will always give them this: If it's a game-breaker, they're usually on it immediately.

trygvar13 · January 2016

I've been playing since Day 1 and I have to say my overall appreciation of the game was great... until last December when all of a sudden I. could no longer log on. Support was helpful but they were far from the mark. I was told the problem was probably because I was using Windows 10. However after only a few minutes of searching the forums I quickly found about a dozen threads about the same problem. It turned out the problem was with my AMD card and drivers. I was left with 3 options: roll back to a previous version of the drivers, use dx9 instead of dx11 or stop playing. Rolling back was not an option. The new drivers were quite an improvement for other games (including other Cryptic games like Neverwinter). I stopped playing for a few weeks but then decided to come back and use dx9. I can play the game now. It still crashes several times a day and the reflections of my ships and stars are very annoying. All I'm saying is they will ahve to buy a few computers that are using AMD cards otherwise they will never be able to recreate the problem. And then maybe they will acknowledge there is a problem. It if hadn't been for the community posting on the forums I would have stopped playing altogether thinking that WIndows 10 was the problem. In essence the bedroom window was replaced but the kitchen is still burning.

centaurianalpha · January 2016

I am hopeful that today's patch fixes the bug I've been experiencing in "Takedown", from the DR story arc. I've had CTD's in this mission with every 'toon to date, although my Rommies were finally able to complete it. My FED main has crashed at Delta Front 4 consecutive times, and unless today's patch changes things, I'll have to skip the mission permanently. This is not what I signed up for when I bought a LTS...

This is far from the end of bugs throughout DR content, and a mere screenshot will never be useful as evidence of gameplay problems. While Cryptic usually gets the serious show-stoppers fixed eventually, it's no surprise that newer players show up time and again to complain here on the fora!

daveyny · January 2016

trygvar13 wrote: »

I've been playing since Day 1 and I have to say my overall appreciation of the game was great... until last December when all of a sudden I. could no longer log on. Support was helpful but they were far from the mark. I was told the problem was probably because I was using Windows 10. However after only a few minutes of searching the forums I quickly found about a dozen threads about the same problem. It turned out the problem was with my AMD card and drivers. I was left with 3 options: roll back to a previous version of the drivers, use dx9 instead of dx11 or stop playing. Rolling back was not an option. The new drivers were quite an improvement for other games (including other Cryptic games like Neverwinter). I stopped playing for a few weeks but then decided to come back and use dx9. I can play the game now. It still crashes several times a day and the reflections of my ships and stars are very annoying. All I'm saying is they will ahve to buy a few computers that are using AMD cards otherwise they will never be able to recreate the problem. And then maybe they will acknowledge there is a problem. It if hadn't been for the community posting on the forums I would have stopped playing altogether thinking that WIndows 10 was the problem. In essence the bedroom window was replaced but the kitchen is still burning.

I'm not sure I understand how something that AMD changed with their new driver is Cryptics fault?
Shouldn't you be contacting AMD and letting them know there's a problem?

When Nvidia made a recent change to their driver, it messed up both Fallout-4 and STO (among other things), but after quite a few complaints on their forums, they released another driver update that fixed the problem.

Have you tried contacting AMD?

bernatk · January 2016

Bugs are taken care of. Slowly but surely.

What I would propose is a complete overhaul of the UI. Complete with an API and a script language. Plus expose some subsystems to the Gateway.

Yeah, I know ... wishful thinking...

ajalen · January 2016

leemwatson wrote: »

..............................as well as the fact there is a dedicated team of player Bug-Hunters that will try to re-create a bug...................................................

looks like throse ppl dont play Defera ........there are 18 months ( or maybe 2 years ) still same bugs...............all well known , all documented i guess .....and all pretty common

or bugged KDF taylor
or player traits random resets .....
or boff skill rando reset ....

etc .....

mirrorchaos · January 2016

vetteguy904 wrote: »

We all know and understand the need to produce content that can be monetized, however, I would like to suggest two things. 1. Host an event with the players to see what we are experiencing as major annoyances to outright game breakers, and 2, slide development a couple months to fix stuff. In the long run I believe this would be to the benefit of the game's viability. I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

This is not an I want this thread or a I quit rage, just a thought on improving the game for everyone

you been around these forums and this game long enough to know that this type of idea flies in the face of what cryptic needs, money. i am some what disappointed that someone of your intelligence should try something like this. as others have stated is the same answer i would give about cryptic.

vetteguy904 · January 2016

samt1996 wrote: »

I agree, all these people whining about bugs and I haven't noticed anything more then the occasional minor cosmetic defect in my six years in this game.

Provide examples if they even exist, in other words "pics or GTFO."

if you are saying you never have issues with the game freezing, lagging and locking up I am quite frankly calling you a liar.

vetteguy904 · January 2016

mirrorchaos wrote: »

vetteguy904 wrote: »

We all know and understand the need to produce content that can be monetized, however, I would like to suggest two things. 1. Host an event with the players to see what we are experiencing as major annoyances to outright game breakers, and 2, slide development a couple months to fix stuff. In the long run I believe this would be to the benefit of the game's viability. I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

This is not an I want this thread or a I quit rage, just a thought on improving the game for everyone

you been around these forums and this game long enough to know that this type of idea flies in the face of what cryptic needs, money. i am some what disappointed that someone of your intelligence should try something like this. as others have stated is the same answer i would give about cryptic.

and if no one ever says anything, then QC continues downhill, exploits and bugs never get fixed and the playerbase continues to shrink. but, hey that's cool, just all of the other negative respondents who decide that derision and personal attacks are the way, so be it I will continue to post my thoughts in a respectful manner and return attack in kind as necessary, although I feel that there isn't a real need to. the person that has to go negative has already lost in my book

davefenestrator · January 2016

I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

There is a tiny minority of outraged and vocal critics in the forums, but they are not "the player base."

The game has bugs, like every MMO. Some go unfixed for years, like every MMO. The first raid in SWTOR still crashes at the end, years after the game launched.

We have a bugs sub-forum where we can discuss any bugs that we find particularly troublesome.

Also, as has been pointed out in many other threads, different developers work on different parts of the game. Episode designers can't fix engine bugs, so telling them to stop making new episodes accomplishes nothing.

hawkrunner · January 2016

davefenestrator wrote: »

Also, as has been pointed out in many other threads, different developers work on different parts of the game. Episode designers can't fix engine bugs, so telling them to stop making new episodes accomplishes nothing.

Maybe they could go to nearby IT Colleges and Universities and recruit a bunch of unpaid interns or low pay co-op students to fix bugs? Not saying I agree with this, but other companies do.

davefenestrator · January 2016

hawkrunner wrote: »

davefenestrator wrote: »

Also, as has been pointed out in many other threads, different developers work on different parts of the game. Episode designers can't fix engine bugs, so telling them to stop making new episodes accomplishes nothing.

Maybe they could go to nearby IT Colleges and Universities and recruit a bunch of unpaid interns or low pay co-op students to fix bugs? Not saying I agree with this, but other companies do.

That sounds nice, but it can take weeks or even months to bring a new developer up to speed on a large code base, especially if it is weakly documented.

At first, bringing extra staff on board hurts productivity as the experienced devs spend endless hours explaining things to the new people.

shanker666 · January 2016

samt1996 wrote: »

I agree, all these people whining about bugs and I haven't noticed anything more then the occasional minor cosmetic defect in my six years in this game.

Provide examples if they even exist, in other words "pics or GTFO."

I had to laugh at this one. I can't even begin to tell you how many bugs,glitches,server lag,...on and on and on I've experienced in 3 years of playing time. I call you out on this one. Either glossing over the truth or such a fanboi you're in complete denial. Thanks for the good laugh though.

cidjack · January 2016

You mean the whole subforum " thingy is broke fix now" that is not helpful on finding and fixing bugs.

seaofsorrows · January 2016

vetteguy904 wrote: »

if you are saying you never have issues with the game freezing, lagging and locking up I am quite frankly calling you a liar.

I don't think there is any game in the world where bugs 'never' occur.

People who make it sound like the game is riddled with bugs and frequent lag however, are massively over exaggerating and you know it. Are there bugs? Of course. Is the game an unplayable bug infested mess?

Not even close.

The idea that all work on story and event development should halt to address bugs is a massive over reach. Nevermind the fact that you're talking about two totally different teams of developers, the game is not in such bad shape that all actions must be put on hold to fix it. I play everyday and seldom run into any type of bug that's even worth mentioning.

vetteguy904 · January 2016

seaofsorrows wrote: »

vetteguy904 wrote: »

if you are saying you never have issues with the game freezing, lagging and locking up I am quite frankly calling you a liar.

I don't think there is any game in the world where bugs 'never' occur.

People who make it sound like the game is riddled with bugs and frequent lag however, are massively over exaggerating and you know it. Are there bugs? Of course. Is the game an unplayable bug infested mess?

Not even close.

The idea that all work on story and event development should halt to address bugs is a massive over reach. Nevermind the fact that you're talking about two totally different teams of developers, the game is not in such bad shape that all actions must be put on hold to fix it. I play everyday and seldom run into any type of bug that's even worth mentioning.

I logged in to do the anniversary mission yesterday. in this bug free game you could not find the particles on DS9 SB29 or andor yes they were fixed. I also have the game crash beaming from ESD to earth orbit and crashed again warping to beta quadrant. it is rare that I can transition from one instance to the other WITHOUT it crashing, and I know I'm not the only one. my game play has gone from 2-3 hours a day and more on the weekend to 10-15 minutes because in my opinion, the game IS broken to the point of near unplayability.

Unknown · January 2016

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davefenestrator · January 2016

Bugs? Look at the January 29 ones as an example. Episode- and even game-breaking bugs don't happen every week but they do happen often enough to notice.

I enjoy playing the game, but it takes an Apple-strength Reality Distortion Field to claim it's bug-free with a straight face.

That said, I have played sometimes hours a day for weeks straight without any particular bugs affecting me.

cidjack · January 2016

I do not take any thread from anyone that posts an open letter to the devs seriously, and here is why:

1.) if said poster says he/cares about the bugs and wants them fixed is not a bug hunter.
2.) Who does not actively post bugs in a manner that provides the correct and detailed inform that lead to the bug being discovered.
3.) Anyone that calls for production to be shut down to fix bugs, it shows a lack of business knowledge.
4.) Who has to post a disclaimer on their own thread.
5.) Bugs in software are a fact of life, I work for a multi-billion dollar company and our software has a crippling bug in it that can shut down one's productivity. Their answer? Don't use that screen.

[Unnecessary comment modded.]

Unknown · January 2016

This content has been removed.

samt1996 · January 2016

Ok obviously there is some misunderstanding between what is cryptic's fault and what isn't. AMD not working right? Not their fault. Game crashing, freezing and lagging? Well that depends on you as much as it does them, sometimes it's their fault but many times it's your hardware or software. I speak from experience here, bad Internet or hardware causes many issues that are easily resoloved with quality equipment.

In any case if you have a bug it belongs in the correct subforum, not here.

ssbn655 · January 2016

daveyny wrote: »

trygvar13 wrote: »

I've been playing since Day 1 and I have to say my overall appreciation of the game was great... until last December when all of a sudden I. could no longer log on. Support was helpful but they were far from the mark. I was told the problem was probably because I was using Windows 10. However after only a few minutes of searching the forums I quickly found about a dozen threads about the same problem. It turned out the problem was with my AMD card and drivers. I was left with 3 options: roll back to a previous version of the drivers, use dx9 instead of dx11 or stop playing. Rolling back was not an option. The new drivers were quite an improvement for other games (including other Cryptic games like Neverwinter). I stopped playing for a few weeks but then decided to come back and use dx9. I can play the game now. It still crashes several times a day and the reflections of my ships and stars are very annoying. All I'm saying is they will ahve to buy a few computers that are using AMD cards otherwise they will never be able to recreate the problem. And then maybe they will acknowledge there is a problem. It if hadn't been for the community posting on the forums I would have stopped playing altogether thinking that WIndows 10 was the problem. In essence the bedroom window was replaced but the kitchen is still burning.

I'm not sure I understand how something that AMD changed with their new driver is Cryptics fault?
Shouldn't you be contacting AMD and letting them know there's a problem?

When Nvidia made a recent change to their driver, it messed up both Fallout-4 and STO (among other things), but after quite a few complaints on their forums, they released another driver update that fixed the problem.

Have you tried contacting AMD?

It's not just STO the Crimson driver glitched. The is an updated version of Crimson that allegedly fixes it. Just go to AMD/Ati radeons website.

mirrorchaos · January 2016

vetteguy904 wrote: »

mirrorchaos wrote: »

vetteguy904 wrote: »

We all know and understand the need to produce content that can be monetized, however, I would like to suggest two things. 1. Host an event with the players to see what we are experiencing as major annoyances to outright game breakers, and 2, slide development a couple months to fix stuff. In the long run I believe this would be to the benefit of the game's viability. I acknowledge that things get fixed on a regular basis, but the player base sometimes feel like the bedroom window is being replaced while the kitchen is on fire.

This is not an I want this thread or a I quit rage, just a thought on improving the game for everyone

you been around these forums and this game long enough to know that this type of idea flies in the face of what cryptic needs, money. i am some what disappointed that someone of your intelligence should try something like this. as others have stated is the same answer i would give about cryptic.

and if no one ever says anything, then QC continues downhill, exploits and bugs never get fixed and the playerbase continues to shrink. but, hey that's cool, just all of the other negative respondents who decide that derision and personal attacks are the way, so be it I will continue to post my thoughts in a respectful manner and return attack in kind as necessary, although I feel that there isn't a real need to. the person that has to go negative has already lost in my book

learning from a negative experience is useful for a more positive one. you may understand that and i may understand that, but for a business, adapting is a lot more harder than it looks especially when the only thing that keeps a business going is money. bug fixing does not solve this.

it would be like asking the city council to shut down electricity to an entire city for 6 months to get the kinks sorted out.. all during bitter cold winter months, you wouldnt want to stay in a room filled with ice and freezing to death on a bed. you would want to move out to a place that had working electricity where you can be warm, especially during the times it buckets down enough to cover your first floor windows and door. and if the electrcity company stays offline long enough they won't be paid by the people they supply, they then go bankrupt and then what? lighting camp fires in buildings?

markhawkman · January 2016

learning from a negative experience is useful for a more positive one.

the key is learning. having a customer rage about how they hate your product doesn't really give you any useful information.

sevenofnine13141 · January 2016

markhawkman wrote: »

learning from a negative experience is useful for a more positive one.

the key is learning. having a customer rage about how they hate your product doesn't really give you any useful information.

Quite right. We do have to learn to better ourselves and the rest of the playerbase.
In a simple math equation style thing...
Bad experience + learning from it = Better and more positive experience

snowwolf · January 2016

I used to have so many game glitches in Star Trek Online.. Saints Row The Third was also unplayable... GTA V was a nightmare.. Even San Andreas f***ked up..

Then I downgraded to Windows 7 legally. NEVER had a problem since, and my computer seems to run and boot faster on a SSD with Windows 7... Than with Windows 10.

An open note to PWE/ Cryptic.

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