Why was the game realeased when it has so many bugs?

[ArnoldRimmer]

I can't believe none of this came up during play testing. You postponed the launch once... it should have been extended or just posponed for 4 months to give time to fix the bugs.

[Homer Morisson]

Being about 50 hours in, I sadly have to agree -- multiple companions/reputations are completely broken and thus love interests or negative results are impossible to achieve with those comps, some quests are impossible to turn in and should have auto-cancelled, items and skills are going missing, or didn't show up in the first place from the imported/created PoE1 states.

 

It is a huge game and a daunting task to do proper QA and bughunting, but I agree completely with the OP... I'd rather have waited longer for release than now, in the middle of an exhaustive playthrough, to lose all motivation to continue because the bugs are just piling up and the one companion I find truly interesting is completely broken because of it. -.-

[The Sharmat]

It was released with a lot of bugs so they could get more money to spend on fixing the bugs. That's software for you. A bit sad though. Obsidian was almost to the point where it could shake that reputation for especially buggy unfinished releases but lately they seem to be back to their old tricks.

[Sotnik]

Arrange deliberate tests before release = spend money.

Sell the "finished" game to those who will provide the company with bug reports = earn money.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Sotnik

[Thefubsss]

It was released with a lot of bugs so they could get more money to spend on fixing the bugs. That's software for you. A bit sad though. Obsidian was almost to the point where it could shake that reputation for especially buggy unfinished releases but lately they seem to be back to their old tricks.

 

PoE 5million stretch goal - 'Now with 10% less launch bugs!'

[Ophiuchus]

The import feature fiasco wrecked my hype for this game. I should've been playing it all weekend, but there's no point since I'll just have to restart anyways.

[The Sharmat]

 

It was released with a lot of bugs so they could get more money to spend on fixing the bugs. That's software for you. A bit sad though. Obsidian was almost to the point where it could shake that reputation for especially buggy unfinished releases but lately they seem to be back to their old tricks.

 

PoE 5million stretch goal - 'Now with 10% less launch bugs!'

 

I'd accept the bugs in exchange for Ydwin being an actual character. She has by far the most interesting premise and most potential plot relevance of all the companions but she's relegated to the least fleshed out sidekick in the game. Not sure why they didn't mention what she actually was in the figstarter pitch, might have brought in more donations.

[Silvestre]

I have to agree, the bugs are off putting and make me question whether waiting to play further is better than just restarting later. Can't get any progress with some character reputations, or I'm doing something wrong. The Hunt for Eothas quest is pretty messed up to me as I have sent a bug report explaining.

 

So now I'm trying to stitch the things in place to make some sense of it to try to follow the rest. The main quest possibly being broken or scrambled is a big deal, I hope it's adressed in a patch soon.

[Kragtor]

Yeah, the 2 things that have ruined all my enjoyment of this game:

1. Import/World State problems; it's not just that the import didn't work, it's that so many of the things you could do with companions in 1 aren't options in the World State creator for 2. They couldn't be bothered to let you pick the endings that the first game allowed in the quest lines. If you don't want to make it impact-full in the story, fine, whatever. But at least let us pick the ending we ACTUALLY GOT in the first game.

 

2. Quest Trigger/Spoiler problems.

     I just finished a side faction quest, and got told to go back to the quest giver. On my way, I pull up the map and see a giant fleet, and one of their ships is coming at me. Turns out, since the open world allowed me to go somewhere that had a quest tied to it, I had completed that quest before I was given it. And the giant fleet was there to support me and thank me, for completing the quest I STILL DIDN'T HAVE!

    Xoti's companion quest also gives away HUGE spoilers for the main plot. And you can complete it WAY before that story is available through the regular quest line.

    I found Eothas while just boating around. You know, the WHOLE ****ING POINT OF THE GAME!?!? I just ****ing found him. Just chilling, waiting for me to not be level ****ing 8. Or to have gotten ANY of the main story quests past fixing the ****ing boat. No, you can just GD sail up to where he is and find him. Get the (i assume) end game quest.

[stalfos]

This is pretty disheartening. I know that it approaches impossible to catch every bug before release, but these are both large and obvious. What's the point of pre-ordering or buying early if the game is virtually unplayable (for those with bugged companions and/or relationships) or actually unplayable (for Mac users)? I would rather have a later release date than to get my hopes up and then dash them :-/

[The Sharmat]

This is pretty disheartening. I know that it approaches impossible to catch every bug before release, but these are both large and obvious. What's the point of pre-ordering or buying early if the game is virtually unplayable (for those with bugged companions and/or relationships) or actually unplayable (for Mac users)? I would rather have a later release date than to get my hopes up and then dash them :-/

The point of pre-ordering isn't much different from backing the game. You're essentially just funding current development on the promise that you will eventually get a completed game. There hasn't been any purely consumer oriented reason to pre-order games since digital distribution became ubiquitous.

[yoyolll]

I agree.  And the reviews reflect this as well.  Nearly all of the negative Steam user reviews are about the amount of bugs, especially the save-game import bugs.

 

I'm not sure how a lot of these got through QA.  The import bug can be seen by a conversation with Eder in the very beginning of the game and reproduced 100% of the time if you chose any ending other than the night market ending.  Same with the Orlan baby.  And the companion relationships/reputations bugs also seem to be so widespread that I can't imagine it could be missed by a group of testers who played through the whole game.  They must have found these bugs.  Did they not have enough time to fix it?

 

I love the game, so I'm pressing through.  But my current playthrough feels more like a beta test than a $50 fully released game.

[The Sharmat]

My understanding is that usually QA is completely aware of this stuff but powerless to fix it before release. My final opinion of the game will depend greatly on how it looks after bugs are resolved. I'm not impressed with the companion side of things at all so far but if it's just because of bugs I'll look on the thing much more favorably after a fix.

[stalfos]

 

This is pretty disheartening. I know that it approaches impossible to catch every bug before release, but these are both large and obvious. What's the point of pre-ordering or buying early if the game is virtually unplayable (for those with bugged companions and/or relationships) or actually unplayable (for Mac users)? I would rather have a later release date than to get my hopes up and then dash them :-/

The point of pre-ordering isn't much different from backing the game. You're essentially just funding current development on the promise that you will eventually get a completed game. There hasn't been any purely consumer oriented reason to pre-order games since digital distribution became ubiquitous.

 

 

I would say that there is an incentive to pre-order now that you can pre-load (at least on Steam). Maybe not a huge incentive, not like back when stores would run out of physical copies of a game, but if you have a slow connection it can make a difference. Besides, pre-orders aren't presented as "pre-order and get a complete game Eventually"; it's "pre-order and get a complete game on Insert Date Here." It does feel like it violates the spirit of the agreement a little. If you're considering whether or not to back a project, you're going to consider the developer's past work, and "Hey, remember the time they knowingly released a thoroughly borked game?" does not exactly bode well.

 

I think Deadfire will be a good game, perhaps excellent, once all the bugs are fixed, and that it's a lot easier for me to play Armchair Dev/Tester/Project Manager than it is for the good folks at Obisidian to actually do those things. They've worked their butts off (and are continuing to do so), and the parts of the game I have seen (that are not bugged) seem very nice. I think that's why I found this frustrating, but as far as life problems go, this is ultimately pretty minor.

[korra_lover]

I have to agree that there are quite a few bugs. Especially around that Death something pirate island... I had so much BS happen there I felet like throwing my mouse at the wall...

 

*Fighting a lone pirate and killing them before anyone could see me and having a guy pop up at end of fight right next to party to blow horn...

*Kill main Pirate for mission and try to leave room, but cant  because 2 min later the game says Im in combat. I look around at the looted room scratch my head, then com music plays for a min. Nothing. Then 1 sole pirate appears from ground and dies. I can leave...

*Kill all at fort after quest is done, go to leave and dogs magic to fight me while Im stealthed, I was still stealthed the during and after combat(Party)

*Stealth never worked with a +5 at fort. Even the cook seen me...

*Spotted thru walls and locked doors

*Transition to other parts of fort would auto place me in combat when no alarm was sounded. Ex)I would leave Forge go outside, but be in combat while screen is black before world loads when no one should be left alive...

*Crashes to desktop where music is still going but cant access game with icon active and takes away Task Mangr ability to close anything...

*MC living after death in combat with 0 health, just no access to moves, melee only, etc

 

Despite all those bugs and more, Ive still had fun playing this game. The majority of the time, it runs great. It's just when those random glitches happen, it get really annoying. Ive only started the game a few days ago, but I can tell they put a lot of effort into the game. It doesnt feel like a beta. Mass Effect 3 felt like a beta when it launched for months! I remember not being able to play due to a glitch that happened 100% and left me stuck until patched! Or some of the glitches from Dragon Age 2 or some other titles from other companies I remember in the past... If I had to compare... The game's situation is this: "Well, good news is, you have a healthy baby boy! Congratz! Unfortunately, your wife's _ was as slick as an oil spill and we dropped the baby! Oh it's fine! It's just got a broken leg! We put on a splint so, as good as new, right?! Why do you look upset? It's not like it was going to walk in the next few months anyway..."

 

Games are just complex beast with a ton of hands, so you can't find all glitches until its in the wild. Or it's the difference between having the game out now vs 6 month to a year later to fix everything which might make or break a game/ company. Am I upset, shouting at Obsidian and ready to throw things when a glitch ruins my enjoyment of the game? Yes. I've raged more than a few times at this games glitches or poor game design choices, but it's not beta level broken for me. I seem to attract breaking games in weird ways and this hasn't been the worst Ive played.

[ArnoldRimmer]

I have got to Neketaka, I think I shall wait for the first patch before playing any more. Maybe try out a few Watchers of different classes on the first island. I'm really surprised that some people say they have finished the game already.

 

Also there is too much of that old age problem in fantasy about keeping track of too many people and parties with unpronounceable names... "This YThrende son of Ytzuewerdss, captain of the <insert-ship name>... blah blah blah" - every where we go the cipher witch tells me about someone I have never met who he knows about. I have lost track of who is who and what exactly they have to do with the story, or why it matters to me - and Neketaka has just made this problem worse. There are so many fractions to help out and people - it's like rogue one and trying to remember what planet the actors are on - there are too many to keep track of.

 

It's great that you go anywhere and do anything but I need some kind overview of all the information I have learned or maybe a list of people, families and their ships. It would help if the notes you make in the journal were shared across games - I don't feel like making notes every single game - who wants to do that?

 

And why does everyone I meet know who I am and call me "The Watcher" - it's the middle ages, there is no "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Even random paupers in Neketaka pass me saying "hello Watcher" - does no one else find that odd?

Edited May 14, 2018 by ArnoldRimmer

[kiqqun]

I agree with you in most points you made. Concerning the names and fractions -> I find it helpful to occassionally look up the fractions again in the encyclopedia.

 

And why does everyone I meet know who I am and call me "The Watcher" - it's the middle ages, there is no "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Even random pauper in Neketaka passes me saying "hallo Watcher" - does no one else find that odd?

 

Well, if you have not changed your ship flag you are sailing under the flag "Watcher from Dyrewoood" so I guess it makes sense that the city will tell rumor about you landing in the docks and spitting out souls around you

[Sotnik]

BTW, there is a presumption that the game will be polished at the launch of the 1st (2nd? 3rd?) DLC. In this case it is a smart strategy to have players buy it as they won't have been able to finish the GAME before.

[BrokenMask]

Eh, I decided to play game with one of preset history choices while waiting for import bug to be finished(and to know what choices are traps to be avoided because Obsidian likes to do those "Oh you did that thing? Well it backfires in ending!" sort of deal xP) I had fun and was never bothered by bugs, except when I realized because of bugs I never got Concelhaut pet. Like, I'm really hoping unique items randomly not being dropped by bosses that have them bug (assuming its bug) is fixed by time I do my import playthrough

 

I do think this game is very replayable so if you have time and don't mind replaying games, that is fun thing to do. But yeah, it still sucks how modern game development is usually "Ah **** we have to release game even though its still really buggy or else our company goes under and we lose money because we didn't plan this development through better! Let's fix it post launch!"

[illathid]

All things considered, there's not that many bugs. Compared to a lot of other games in the genre, this is actually a really polished release. That said, the import reactivity bugs are disproportionately disappointing when compared to other bugs as they hurt player investment a lot.

[Mari]

 I found Eothas while just boating around. You know, the WHOLE ****ING POINT OF THE GAME!?!? I just ****ing found him. Just chilling, waiting for me to not be level ****ing 8. Or to have gotten ANY of the main story quests past fixing the ****ing boat. No, you can just GD sail up to where he is and find him. Get the (i assume) end game quest.

 

Sorry, but this is killing me XD 

 

I can just imagine the faces everyone would make as you sail past Eothas, who is just hanging out, waiting for you to get your **** together. Hahaha. 

[Verde]

The amount of bugs specifically in dialogue are unacceptable. I'm only 15 hrs in and what feels like most encounters have dialogue missing or something I should know.

[daven]

I have got to Neketaka, I think I shall wait for the first patch before playing any more. Maybe try out a few Watchers of different classes on the first island. I'm really surprised that some people say they have finished the game already.

 

Also there is too much of that old age problem in fantasy about keeping track of too many people and parties with unpronounceable names... "This YThrende son of Ytzuewerdss, captain of the <insert-ship name>... blah blah blah" - every where we go the cipher witch tells me about someone I have never met who he knows about. I have lost track of who is who and what exactly they have to do with the story, or why it matters to me - and Neketaka has just made this problem worse. There are so many fractions to help out and people - it's like rogue one and trying to remember what planet the actors are on - there are too many to keep track of.

 

It's great that you go anywhere and do anything but I need some kind overview of all the information I have learned or maybe a list of people, families and their ships. It would help if the notes you make in the journal were shared across games - I don't feel like making notes every single game - who wants to do that?

 

And why does everyone I meet know who I am and call me "The Watcher" - it's the middle ages, there is no "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Even random paupers in Neketaka pass me saying "hello Watcher" - does no one else find that odd?

Yes this bothers me, only very few specific people should know who you are by face. Not every random joe blow you walk by.

[omegazen]

I'm about past halfway through the game now, did pretty much all the side quests before doing the "He waits in fire" quest, now I'm a bit past that. Found very few bugs.

 

It seems like a lot of bugs happen to people who had something to import. I didn't play POE1 so I had a fresh game. I also didn't play with a couple of the later companions that showed up yet so I don't know if they have any issue. Overall it runs very well without an import, based on my experience.

[Cdiaz]

Hello Everyone! 

 

Thanks for posting all your feedback and it is appreciated to get it If you have specific bugs that havent already been posted please feel free to utilize the forums with posts and savegame files so we can assist you in getting them fixed as you assist us making the game better as a whole!

 

Thank you again,

 

-Caleb