This game needs polish!

[Corto81]

 

 

I've also never said the beta was unplayable. I have said things like "largely unplayable" and this comment is based on my personal experiences and an overwhelming number of forum posts I've been seeing. For me, I have started 10 separate PoE BB games to date. The first 9 encountered a game breaking bug before I could complete a single quest. Attempt number 10 was glorious in comparison, as I managed to complete 2 quests and get my party to level 7 before I experienced a game breaking bug.

 

 

 

 

I've tried it two times, and it was frustrating, not fun and filled with disappointment...

Bugs aside, I wasn't thrilled (to say the least) with certain gameplay/design choices.

 

The disappearing items, broken quests (haven't managed to turn in a single one), suddenly non-casting casters etc...

 

I've done a LOT of betas over the years, I consider myself patient and I'll put in my feedback (bugs and gameplay suggestions) all day.

But the game has to actually let me do that.

So far, PoE's barely letting me get any proper time in.

[Justinian]

I think these Polygon impressions and first few comments really nail home that even as a beta, PoE is really really buggy.

 

http://www.polygon.com/2014/8/25/6066433/pillars-of-eternity-gameplay-video-preview

 

The (misinformed) writer of the article makes the assertion "even this early in the game's development". As sloppily researched as this is, the fact he made this association speaks volumes about the unacceptable bugginess of the game this close to release.

 

A comment down the page also eloquently addresses the truth of the matter:

 

 

"I sure hope those (bugs) get ironed out for the final release. "Tolerable" is probably the best I could say of most of the bugs in the Obsidian games I’ve played, and unfortunately, I just plain expect more from them this many years into the studio’s lifetime, when so many of their games have been called out for having glitches, crashes, and other similar problems. Even South Park: The Stick Of Truth, looking to be one of the most polished games they’ve ever done, still had technical issues at launch (and based on what I’ve read continues to even after patches). I’ve heard Dungeon Siege III was relatively less buggy than their usual stuff, but that was a game that they specifically dialed back their ambitions for, and it shows in the poor lasting power of the final product.

I just want Obsidian to be able to move past this whole "bug-riddled release" thing. Over ten years since the company was founded, they continue to make generally well-written games with some cool ideas, but there’s always that sense of "bargain bin" quality about the lack of polish for their titles that’s just really hard to ignore, especially when it’s glaring you in the face with an unreadable save file or a broken quest line."

 

 

 

Buggy games is a well worn Obsidian trope and I don't think they can afford this Kickstarted project to have a buggy release. There's no point defending Obsidian or pussyfooting around the glaring truth. Obsidian need to step up and prove themselves this time. Delay the game for 6 months if need be. Casting aside this awful reputation is worth that.

 

[Caladian]

Can we please wait till they do a major update before everyone doom and glooms over it?  I've done dozens of beta tests in my life already and this by far isn't the worst.  Hell, there have been some actual MMO releases that were buggier than this.  Be patient, report all bugs, for if you don't report the bugs, you are part of the problem.  Give advice on how to make the mechanics work better, if you don't guess what I'm going to say again.  Yep, you are part of the problem.

 

Otherwise, just chill out and game on.

[Mayama]

Buggy games is a well worn Obsidian trope and I don't think they can afford this Kickstarted project to have a buggy release. There's no point defending Obsidian or pussyfooting around the glaring truth. Obsidian need to step up and prove themselves this time. Delay the game for 6 months if need be. Casting aside this awful reputation is worth that.

 

I do not defend Obsidian with that comment because they are well knows for buggy releases but the beta has only one game breaking bug so far. The disappering item bug, everything else works good enough or has a easy workaround. If you dont have the disappearing item bug which only seems to happen to some people you can play the beta just fine.

[Zierry]

Calm down guys. It hasnt that bad bugs. Few nice patches and everything will be ok. One could say that it's almost polished as NwN2 without any patch.

[talharbash]

 

Buggy games is a well worn Obsidian trope and I don't think they can afford this Kickstarted project to have a buggy release. There's no point defending Obsidian or pussyfooting around the glaring truth. Obsidian need to step up and prove themselves this time. Delay the game for 6 months if need be. Casting aside this awful reputation is worth that.

 

 

Obsidian has always raised the publisher flag and claimed it was the publishers fault which I never bought. I think the "polish" phase doesn't exist in Obsidian's world, or if it does it does not mean getting rid of all bugs.

 

We'll see how PoE does in the end.

[wickermoon]

As for the beta comments, I wasn't given the impression that the backers were intended to be the true beta testers of this game. We weren't given the full game to test, but just a sliver. The majority of the bugs that we're encountering were discovered prior to us being given access to the backer beta, and it's a pretty limited amount of stuff that we even can test for. Mostly, I get the impression that we're supposed to test drive the classes a bit, along with some experimentation with crafting/enchanting, resting, and inns/hiring adventurers. But that can be pretty hard to do when the game is breaking left and right.

 

Plus, with perhaps a few exceptions, the backers aren't professional beta testers, so it is not appropriate in my view for Obsidian to expect us to conduct ourselves as if we are. If Obsidian truly expected the majority of the backers to understand that they were receiving a something that was known to be largely unplayable, without offering a single word of warning beforehand, than I say that was poor judgment on their part. They did offer a list of known bugs in update 84, but there was no mention of the game breaking bugs in that list. It's almost as if they want to sweep those under the rug.

 

Again, comparing to the Wasteland 2 Beta, the backers were only brought in once the game had a solid foundation, was generally stable, and game breaking bugs were very rare. For a larger scale beta that includes fans rather than professional beta testers, this seems like a much more reasonable way to handle it.

 

Then maybe people should've informed themselves about what betas are, before paying the money to take part in one. I fully blame the customer's idiocy for this. I knew very well what I was getting into and everybody else could've, too.

[Marceror]

 

As for the beta comments, I wasn't given the impression that the backers were intended to be the true beta testers of this game. We weren't given the full game to test, but just a sliver. The majority of the bugs that we're encountering were discovered prior to us being given access to the backer beta, and it's a pretty limited amount of stuff that we even can test for. Mostly, I get the impression that we're supposed to test drive the classes a bit, along with some experimentation with crafting/enchanting, resting, and inns/hiring adventurers. But that can be pretty hard to do when the game is breaking left and right.

 

Plus, with perhaps a few exceptions, the backers aren't professional beta testers, so it is not appropriate in my view for Obsidian to expect us to conduct ourselves as if we are. If Obsidian truly expected the majority of the backers to understand that they were receiving a something that was known to be largely unplayable, without offering a single word of warning beforehand, than I say that was poor judgment on their part. They did offer a list of known bugs in update 84, but there was no mention of the game breaking bugs in that list. It's almost as if they want to sweep those under the rug.

 

Again, comparing to the Wasteland 2 Beta, the backers were only brought in once the game had a solid foundation, was generally stable, and game breaking bugs were very rare. For a larger scale beta that includes fans rather than professional beta testers, this seems like a much more reasonable way to handle it.

 

Then maybe people should've informed themselves about what betas are, before paying the money to take part in one. I fully blame the customer's idiocy for this. I knew very well what I was getting into and everybody else could've, too.

 

Idiocy? A little hostile there, aren't we?

 

A lot of the backers received the beta because they backed a tier that included it, close to two years ago. So they didn't necessarily "pay money to take part in one". They paid money to obtain a certain tier and a large variety of rewards that happened to include access to a backer beta.

 

If you were truly expecting tens of thousands of people to go out and educate themselves of beta testing, its significance and what sort of experience they are likely to have as a beta tester, well, that is just rather deluded.

[Grand_Commander13]

Obsidian has always raised the publisher flag and claimed it was the publishers fault which I never bought. I think the "polish" phase doesn't exist in Obsidian's world, or if it does it does not mean getting rid of all bugs.

Well, it's still a money issue: if PoE releases before Obsidian is satisfied with it, it will be because they ran out of cash. It's just that there's no hypothetical publisher for them to go to and say "three more months and we can release a much better product" and be rebuffed by. They don't have that kind of an agreement with Paradox, so they have to come up with the money on their own.

[Marceror]

 

Let me be among the first to say that I fully expect the release to get pushed back. I just don’t see Winter 2014 happening. You figure, they’re going to want to release at least a little before Christmas, so at most they 4 months to get this out on time. I just don’t think there’s going to be enough time.

 

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Good thing they've pushed it back. Also wondering when they're going to release the Mac and Linux beta versions. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Hiro Protagonist II

[Marceror]

Agreed that this is a very good thing. The recent Matt Chat where Feargus Urquhart was pretty much insisting that the game would be released in 2014 had me worried.

 

I took a lot of hell on these boards for making the above statement, but generally when my Spidey Sense starts tingling on something, I pay attention. Ole Spidey comes through again.

[Lephys]

A lot of the backers received the beta because they backed a tier that included it, close to two years ago. So they didn't necessarily "pay money to take part in one". They paid money to obtain a certain tier and a large variety of rewards that happened to include access to a backer beta.

 

If you were truly expecting tens of thousands of people to go out and educate themselves of beta testing, its significance and what sort of experience they are likely to have as a beta tester, well, that is just rather deluded.

If you saw a box on a shelf labeled "beta," and you had no idea what was in that box, would you buy it? No.

 

I don't understand what's deluded about expecting people act on their own lack of information about something. Isn't that what we teach kids and stuff? "Hey, if you don't know what it's in that random cup, don't assume it's tasty beverage."

 

You can't not know that you don't know something.

 

So, it's really inaccurate not to simply say "I had no idea what that was, but accepted that risk/gamble when I decided to pay money for that thing." Rather than "OMG! I was tricked, because I was allowed to assume things!"

 

Not trying to be mean. We're all human, and we all assume things from time to time. But, the proper response is to admit the folly of assumption, not blame someone else for the negative outcome of that assumption.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Agreed that this is a very good thing. The recent Matt Chat where Feargus Urquhart was pretty much insisting that the game would be released in 2014 had me worried.

 

I took a lot of hell on these boards for making the above statement, but generally when my Spidey Sense starts tingling on something, I pay attention. Ole Spidey comes through again.

 

The release of the beta pretty much confirmed it would be either a buggy unpolished rushed game for a Winter 2014 release or they had to delay it for 2015. And when you express doubts, you have the usual suspects come on and give you hell. So I can empathise with you.

[ctn2003]

This games system i think is geting redone or somting thats why i think its  taking a bit longer for the next biulde

[TheisEjsing]

Don't worry mister topic creator. The game will have Polish. And Russian too for your friends in the east.

[JFSOCC]

 

Let me be among the first to say that I fully expect the release to get pushed back. I just don’t see Winter 2014 happening. You figure, they’re going to want to release at least a little before Christmas, so at most they 4 months to get this out on time. I just don’t think there’s going to be enough time.

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66536-guess-the-release-date/?p=1470995

[Marceror]

 

 

Let me be among the first to say that I fully expect the release to get pushed back. I just don’t see Winter 2014 happening. You figure, they’re going to want to release at least a little before Christmas, so at most they 4 months to get this out on time. I just don’t think there’s going to be enough time.

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66536-guess-the-release-date/?p=1470995

 

 

 

March 23, 2015

[Marceror]

Don't worry mister topic creator. The game will have Polish. And Russian too for your friends in the east.

Note that the topic was created on August 19, nearly 2 months ago. I'm no longer worried since the game's release date has been officially pushed back.