Notification for when KotOR 2 is actually finished

[Naso]

Well, customer lost. cya Obsidian................

[Volourn]

The game doesn't need another patch. It is good enough. And, they most certainly don't need your money. Your $50 (or lower now since the game's price is sure to creep ever lower) is simply unneeded. They have won this round. They owe us nothing on these boards. Nothing.

[WoT]

The game doesn't need another patch. It is good enough. And, they most certainly don't need your money. Your $50 (or lower now since the game's price is sure to creep ever lower) is simply unneeded. They have won this round. They owe us nothing on these boards. Nothing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The game does need another patch. It is not good enough. And, they most certainly do need our money. Our $50 (the thing that pays the OE employees) is needed. They haven't won this round. We owe them nothing on these boards. Nothing " :D

[swaaye]

I did not buy the game yet. I bought KOTOR a year after it was released. I own both the Xbox and PC versions of that fine game. KOTOR 2 will NEVER, EVER receive a dollar from me unless it is fixed.

 

I want music that doesn't sound like I'm listening to a half-ass rip off a damned 1870's vinyl record.. I was sure I hadn't installed my original Sound Blaster 8-bit, but it sure sounded like it was in there when I tried KOTOR2 out.

 

Then it started crashing, and walls were disappearing, and lines of dialog skipping past unreadably, among other golden examples of awful game development.

 

Obsidian and Lucasarts: I laugh in your face. If this is the future of you, to destroy your only good game franchies and crush your fans' dreams, well, I hope you are put out of business and the market for Star Wars trash dies a terrible death. Star Wars books are forever, I don't NEED money-grubbing game development corps ripping me off. And when the ashes of your company realize how you screwed up, well, I'm sure the people who put you back together will do it better.

[mtfbwy]

On another note, have anybody here tried writing Lucas Arts about this situation? Have you gotten any replies?

 

I haven't been to LA's site, by I'm assuming some of you have. For those who are familiar with it, could you please post the appropiate e-mail address for contacting them regarding KotOR 2?

 

Then I (and hopefully others here as well) can start writing them, in the hopes that it'll make them face up to their responsibility...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I went to LA's site myself. It doesn't seem they have an e-mail address that we can write to, but if you go here and click 'Yoda's Help Desk', you'll eventually get to a mail form.

 

I did, and I asked them about the status of the movie/sound patch. I'm guessing that if those of you who are interested also asked about it, they just might come out with an update.

 

And, if we have any kind of luck, that update might even come soon...

[swaaye]

I've posted on their official forum and emailed one of their lead testers. Zero response.

[Brickyard]

I really think the lack of communication is for one of the two reasons:

 

1 - LucasArts simply doesn't care and has told Obsidian they are not allowed to comment about it.

 

or

 

2 - Neither LucasArts nor Obsidian care.

 

I'm actually leaning towards #2 as more time passes and no mention, anywhere, is made. And to be honest, I HOPE that this lack of a finished product and lack of post-game support affects the sales of Neverwinter Nights 2 in a noticable way, so that gaming publishers AND developers will learn that quality does, in fact, matter. I know Troika learned that lesson well.

[Eden]

I went to LA's site myself. It doesn't seem they have an e-mail address that we can write to, but if you go here and click 'Yoda's Help Desk', you'll eventually get to a mail form.

 

I did, and I asked them about the status of the movie/sound patch. I'm guessing that if those of you who are interested also asked about it, they just might come out with an update.

 

And, if we have any kind of luck, that update might even come soon...

 

 

I sent my email to them....let's see if they actually reply within 48hrs like they claim.

[mtfbwy]

It's been 2 weeks now since I wrote Lucas Arts asking about the patch. Just like Obsidian Entertainment, they haven't answered.

 

In the last couple of months there have been a great deal of speculation about the missing, promised patch. IMO the worst part about this whole scenario isn't the fact that the patch is still missing, as much as the deafening silence from Obsidian Entertainment.

 

Judging from their site's front page it's not like they have forgotten all about the game:

 

'G4 is holding its G-Phoria awards show and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords has made the finals for RPG of the Year. Do your part and vote!'

 

It's my opinion that for every day of continued silence Obsidian Entertainment is digging an increasing deeper pit for themselves to be buried in. And on top of that they have the audacity to come out and ask us to 'do our part' by voting in their favor, when they can't even be bothered to answer our e-mails or give us a long overdue update on the patch status.

 

Obsidian Entertainment, WTF is wrong with you?

[jodo kast 5]

Decent idea. Have a nice stay here

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

same here , but this is probably going to be transferred to Obsidian general or just closed, oh well.

[alanschu]

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers.

 

 

These same people tried being open with their customers when they were with Black Isle, and look at the mess the Black Isle forums became.

 

Sure, you guys say "all you want is an update" but like the cliche goes: Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile. If Obsidian or Lucasarts responds to you, then it sets a precedent. People will begin clamouring for more responses and more feedback, and it sets the bar higher and higher each time, until it's simply impossible to even hope of meeting demand. However, failure to continue to respond leads to angry messages and angry e-mails, because "they responded to so-and-so, the fook did they respond to him and not me?"

 

It eventually gets to a point where failure to have essentially collaboration with the fans (of which there are 1000s of them, each with their own ideas and opinions) that it just makes the situation messy.

 

 

So what happens when you get your response from Obsidian? You sit back happy with mission accomplished? Or does psychology take over and you are reinforced in doing such acts (and everyone else that witnesses it)?

 

 

Sadly enough, I blame the silence of developers on the fans.....they're the ones that have outrageous demands that cannot be met...and then cry for blood because they aren't met. Refer to all the stupid things that have happened, like the BIS forum gong-show, or the hacking of Valve to get the E3 code. The guy that did that claimed he did it because Valve wasn't being fair to their customers and whatever other bull he spewed forth. And then Valve became silent for everything, and because they were trying to be open about stuff before hand, people were expecting it and when they weren't getting it they got pissed off (and do stupid stuff like hack Gabe's computer).

[Mark Havel]

Anyway, I think it's a good idea to remind LA and OE about the promised content patch, even if the only answer is actually the release of the content patch.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Any day now.

[6 Foot Invisible Rabbit]

Its just another broken promise from a developer and publisher. Nothing new here.

[mtfbwy]

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers.

I'm not 'acting' surprised.

 

What I am is disgusted by the shoddiest customer support I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

Sure, you guys say "all you want is an update" but like the cliche goes: Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.

I don't care about your cliches either. All I'm looking for is an update.

So what happens when you get your response from Obsidian?  You sit back happy with mission accomplished?

Yes, that's right.

Sadly enough, I blame the silence of developers on the fans.....they're the ones that have outrageous demands that cannot be met

2 1/2 months ago an Obsidian Entertainment employee stated on this board that the patch would be out 'in a few days' - and since then... nothing.

 

How is expecting a follow-up to that statement an 'outrageous demand'?!?

[Plano Skywalker]

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers.

 

These same people tried being open with their customers when they were with Black Isle, and look at the mess the Black Isle forums became.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

good point....my jaw dropped when I read an on-the-record interview with the devs in which they talked about Droid World and that they dropped it for time-constraint reasons. I appreciate the attitude behind their openness but if it only gets them in trouble, they need to not say such things.

 

and they need to make sure to overwrite any content files that are on the disk that are not actually being used....that was, by far, their biggest mistake in this.

[swaaye]

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree with you across the board on your post. However, all I've ever wanted was a rerelease of the soundtrack. That's very little labor, and would be around a 100MB download. We asked for that months ago and it was said that it was coming very soon. They should also have repaired more of what is obviously a seriously broken game. If they want to build modern titles within 9 months, well, up theirs. Lol. It's not realistic to expect that from a developer, and is just NUTS to expect for an RPG.

 

Since then they've obviously moved on and laughed in our faces behind their walls (LEC). I'm thinking Obisidian has bloody knuckles from punching walls with frustration. LucasArt's lack of action (I don't need some pawn chatting with me on forums) only gives me the impression of immaturity and a lack of care for the quality of their titles. The immense competition and pressure of the industry has worn down LucasArts (once a top tier developer) to the point of them not caring at all about their games. They seem to plan their development not around creative game experiences, but around their Star Wars license and making a quick buck. Seriously, if they aren't really a developer anymore, why would any of you think they care about games? Developers make games, not marketers and accountants.

 

Though for those of you that've been in the industry since the late '80s like me, you have to see what's happening. We used to have companies that only made games they loved. Sierra, LucasArts, Origin, EA (yes, even they did once), Interplay, etc. They are all gone now. Why? Because the business suits that ran their competitors knew how to out maneuver these less business-saavy companies. The age of gamers has changed immesely too. The average gamer used to be in his 30's. I think all of you know that a 30-yr-old has different interests than a 15-yr-old. Hardware was far more difficult to work with, more expensive, and games weren't as much about graphics.

 

Basically today it seems we have almost entirely "quick buck" titles. Games with no replay value. The KOTOR series is a bit different than the massive number of FPS games out there today, but it definitely doesn't enjoy the popularity the FPS games receive from the new, younger gaming community. So LucasArts is forced to move on to new titles. If KOTOR2 had been HUGELY successful they'd be more concerned about it. I think it darn near flopped in comparison to Doom3/HL2. As a business fighting for survival (though Lucas won't just let LucasArts die obviously) they have to move on and not incur additional costs on limited revenue titles.

 

That is the reality.

 

But, I don't think of reality. I think of where I put my money.

 

I will NEVER, EVER, EVER buy another LucasArts title unless I have tried the full release beforehand and see that it is worth the money. It is the only voice we consumers really have in the end. It's almost impossible to do this though without pirating (gee golly), which is sort of unique to the gaming world. We can't try out games anymore because demos are usually never released. This way we can't look before spending. Works out great for the publishers.

 

This is coming from someone who has the original X-Wing at home. I have like 15 LucasArts boxes on the shelf. What do you think about losing a 15 year customer LucasArts chief?

[ken007]

good point....my jaw dropped when I read an on-the-record interview with the devs in which they talked about Droid World and that they dropped it for time-constraint reasons.  I appreciate the attitude behind their openness but if it only gets them in trouble, they need to not say such things.

 

and they need to make sure to overwrite any content files that are on the disk that are not actually being used....that was, by far, their biggest mistake in this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yeah it would have been much much better if they had purposely mislead us into thinking the game was finished [/sarcasm]

 

If Obsidian continues this absolute lack of respect to its customers I seriously hope that they will crash and burn as a company! I wonder how they will manage NWN 2 and if they once again will ship a clearly unfinished product.... if they do I will boycott the game and encourage others to do so aswell!

[Guest MacleodCorp]

When I first came to this forum, I also voiced my concern about this game. For the most part, this game is pretty good. Even though they had only one year, they produced a pretty good product. Since time was an issue, the most likely problem was finishing the game on time. What does that entitle? Well, you may have to cut content, for it won't be done on time. You have no time to review what you did cut, and the game will be a reflection of this by incomplete scenes or dialouge being accidently erased.

 

After the game is released, the public will no doubt see the mistakes. Now, we complained, and they finally released a game patch called 'Version 1.0b'. During the day of the release, the Developers released a statement, "The movie and sound patch will be released in a few days." Then, "We're done with that btw... just has to go through the bureaucracy/QA and all that fun stuff..." - John Morgan (April 23, 2005).

 

The questions we have should be sent to Lucas Arts! If you noticed they sent the patch to LA, and now the chain of command has changed. Now, one month latter, there is no patch.

 

However, there is a statement somewhere that says, "Lucas Arts is moving their game facility to another location, and they will be cituated by July 2005."

 

So, what does all this mean!? Does it mean that they hate our fans? Does it mean we don't care about customer service? No! They care about customer. It is most likely that everything got postponed by their plans to move the game department. I am sure there is a statement, which makes this clear somewhere, but we have not ofund it yet... All and all, Obsidian Ent. has done their job, but when will Lucas Arts do their job!?

 

(Qoutes are as close as I can get them!)

[ken007]

Well I hope it's LA who is solely behind this mess, but we'll see. We'll see if what you say is true when Obsidian has made NWN 2. Cause if NWN 2 is also unfinished... then there's a pattern... and then Obsidian deserves to go to hell for shipping unfinished products without even mentioning it to the public!

 

Because of this KotOR 2 stuff, I don't trust Obsidian and when NWN 2 is finished I won't trust all those reviews, cause it seems it's quite easy to buy a good rating... how else can you explain the absolute lack of mentioning the overwhelming number of bugs in the game and the stupidly high ratings considering that the game is clearly unfinished?!? Just look at the last planet!

 

But since we'll probably never know for sure who's to blame for this mess, LA or Obsidian or both, I will have a healthy suspicion towards EVERYTHING those two companies make from now on! Cause I won't let them cheat me out of another 350 danish kr. for some friggen' unfinished game!

[alanschu]

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers.

I'm not 'acting' surprised.

 

What I am is disgusted by the shoddiest customer support I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

Sure, you guys say "all you want is an update" but like the cliche goes: Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.

I don't care about your cliches either. All I'm looking for is an update.

So what happens when you get your response from Obsidian?  You sit back happy with mission accomplished?

Yes, that's right.

Sadly enough, I blame the silence of developers on the fans.....they're the ones that have outrageous demands that cannot be met

2 1/2 months ago an Obsidian Entertainment employee stated on this board that the patch would be out 'in a few days' - and since then... nothing.

 

How is expecting a follow-up to that statement an 'outrageous demand'?!?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Because I'm not confined to your narrow little world. If you notice, my post was a reflection of the PC industry as a whole, not your single request.

 

 

So what happens when you get your response from Obsidian?  You sit back happy with mission accomplished?

 

Yes, that's right.

 

No..it's not. It never is. It's basic psychology. Why are parents told to not give in when their kid is having a temper tantrum? Because it reinforces the temper tantrum. You may think you'll be happy with it...just like many people think that TV commercials don't affect them or anything like that. But it does.

 

Furthermore, it also encourages everyone else and their dog to post requests. It may start out small...but it sets a precedent.

 

I imagine you were a member of the BIS boards, when the same people that are now at Obsidian tried to be open with the community.

 

 

 

 

If Obsidian continues this absolute lack of respect to its customers I seriously hope that they will crash and burn as a company!

 

As long as you hold every other game developer to the same standards. I'm surprised you even continue to play video games seeing as they all apparently have a complete lack of respect for their customers.

 

Nevermind the a$$wipes in the community that ruined it for us all. But I guess hacking into developers computers because they missed a deadline is an acceptable action in your world.

[Mark Havel]

Well I hope it's LA who is solely behind this mess, but we'll see. We'll see if what you say is true when Obsidian has made NWN 2. Cause if NWN 2 is also unfinished... then there's a pattern... and then Obsidian deserves to go to hell for shipping unfinished products without even mentioning it to the public!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There is unfortunately a pattern with Atari which is to force the release of unifinished games and patch them later. See what's happening with the very promising Boiling Point.

[ken007]

As long as you hold every other game developer to the same standards.  I'm surprised you even continue to play video games seeing as they all apparently have a complete lack of respect for their customers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This is the first game I've played that was so clearly unfinished and full of bugs. Every other game I've played hasn't been this extreme. Those companies had the decency and enough respect for the customers to deliver a finished product.... Obsidian and LA didn't. They shipped the game well knowing that it wasn't finished and they still had the audacity to demand full price. I payed 350 kr. for a faulty product and they don't even have the decency to make available the necessary patches! They don't give a s*** about their customers.... it's just like 'Hey they bought it! We tricked them and it worked! And so what if they complain and they say it's faulty.... F*** 'em! Okay... next project!'.... that's how I see it. They have moved on and they don't give a rats @ss about us!

[volodja]

it's easy to get angry at obsidian for all the bugs and the delays of a possible patch.

 

but anger leads to the dark side.

 

create an echo, that will travel far away. to the top

of the head offices of lucasarts and activision...

 

at least there is the restoration project:

http://www.team-gizka.org/

[swaaye]

Well I see Blizzard just released a new patch for StarCraft/Brood Wars. How does it feel to you guys to know Blizzard supports a game from 1998 when LEC won't support a game from 6 months ago?