THE ART OF THE PREMATURE RELEASE

[StannieDum]

I guess being inspired by the various bugs that PC gamers have experienced in Skyrim, I posted this over at the Bethesda Forums and have reposted here because I would like to hear the views of the Nexus members as well.

 

THE ART OF THE PREMATURE RELEASE

Are games arbitrarily released too early?

 

I would like to discuss what I believe is a very worrying trend in the gaming world today. On 11.11.11, the highly anticipated Skyrim was triumphantly released to an excited public desperate to lose themselves in the latest masterwork from Bethesda Softworks. It enjoyed near universal acclaim from critics and no doubt will bask in many awards in the not too distant future. Awards that I personally believe will be fully deserved.

 

So, what is the purpose of this post? Well, I also happen to believe that game developers (Bethesda included) are not doing themselves any favours when it comes to release dates, and that they need to tread carefully, lest they slip into the territory of selling goods that are not fit for the purpose for which they were made.

 

Now before anyone starts screaming for my blood, or a moderator decides to delete this thread because I am making accusations of illegal behaviour, Skyrim does not fall into this category. It is certainly fit for the purpose for which it was made, which is of course to play and enjoy. It is, in my opinion, an excellent game, despite its well documented flaws. But ... and there is a big but ... it seems that game developers have for a while now been knowingly selling goods BEFORE they have been satisfactorily completed.

 

In the case of this game, Bethesda decided last year that 11.11.11 was a really 'cool' date to release and stuck to it rigidly, and there was never a cat in hells chance of any slippage on such a great sounding date, no matter what the state of the game was.

 

Today, sadly, the vast majority of games are released this way, mainly because of strict publishing schedules, but it needn't be the case. 'People Power' can (and does) successfully bring governments to their knees, but only if enough people actually use it. The practice of releasing video games too early, for whatever reason, would cease very quickly indeed if enough people simply refused to purchase until the games were properly completed.

 

This is just an ideal of course. The real world plays differently and impatience dictates that the games are purchased en masse, the moment they are released. You cannot change this. It's just the way things are nowadays. But let's just pause and consider an analogy for a moment:

 

A famous pop star releases a new full priced album. Upon playing the disc, it is discovered that it contains only three tracks. The artist then makes a public announcement: "Sorry, but I didn't have enough time to record any more songs in time to meet the publishers release date, and will therefore finish recording the tracks at some point in the near future. Oh and by the way - thanks for your money!"

 

This would have course not be tolerated and would open the artist and/or publisher up to prosecution in the courts.

 

But are not game developers now doing this very thing, right now?

 

 

Stannie

[Matth85]

I agree with you.

Too many games have been released too early. A trend that started not too long ago, and is getting to normal. Setting a date is never smart! Look at blizzard, they are doing it perfect with Diablo III. They set a date, and then they set another. A lot better than what happened with Skyrim: They sat a date, they worked their asses off the last month, and we got what: Lots of bugs and no CK? We could've waited 2 months and gotten the CK, and less bug, at the same time and it wouldn't harm us in any way.

[BarefootWarrior]

You have to wonder about this. In any business, money is the bottom line, and along with that, time. These games are UN-godly expensive to produce as we all know, but, there seems to be 'quantity, not quality' thing going on for most of the producers anymore. I can cite the DA2 debacle as an example. I used to get excited about a new release, especially for games of this genre, but not anymore.

 

Will this change? I seriously doubt it. Can it change? Yes, I think it could, but the money will dictate how things will happen.

 

Today's game player (of any age) is much more sophisticated now days. All we can hope is that sooner or later the producers will catch on to that fact and start taking the time to bring the quality back into the equation. If a game was not as ready as it should be on a scheduled release date, and the producer announced that they need to set back the release date because they need extra time to polish it up for release, I'm all for it. I'd rather wait to spend the money on a game that is ready (as possible) rather then one that needs a ton of updates later. That's just me, but I don't mind waiting.

 

You bring up some god points here, good post.

Edited December 3, 2011 by BarefootWarrior

[jimhsu]

On the other side of the curtain, Extra Credits has something: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/working-conditions

[El`derina]

I completely and wholeheartedly disagree... as games become more complicated and new software/hardware comes out to relearn the ropes again- bugs are just gonna keep happening... 'especially' in this kind of game that bethesda makes. What would you have them do? delay a year more for bugs that are only effecting a handful of people? I have seen Skyrim playing for 3 others flawlessly besides myself... and not a single problem with many of the problems the minority are making a lot of noise about. Dont get me wrong, those issues are important, but I don't beleive you have the point your trying to make.

 

Furthermore, so what if they choose an abnoxious release date? do you really think it would be much better if they went with what they were originally planning? which could very well be 11/15/11 for all you know... or eariler!

Bethesda is under pressure by other factors than just if the game is bug free,... marketing locks them in, and higher ups demand their revenue. And other factors.

 

Fact is, near every game in existance has been released with bugs, and will continue so... as the scope of games increase, so will bugs.

And besides that... Bethesda has been pretty much on top of it as far as releasing patches... although they were too hasty and messed that up! I don't hold that against them and actually find it pretty funny, and I dont see why you or anyone else should get worked up over a few bugs either. (Game not working on systems it should, is another matter...)

 

Now that said,.. I have been playing Skyrim 'near'-completely bug free on my computer... since release and after every patch... so I havent run into many of the gripes the rest of you have. I didn't even lose my save file after patches like some others.

 

EDIT: Your analogy is pretty bad also... it would be more like, all the tracks are there, but the quality on one or two of them is shoddy. Or the music stops playing for a half a minute between tracks

Edited December 3, 2011 by El`derina

[XxTaLoNxX]

This topic name made me laugh hysterically, in fact my girlfriend thought I had a seizure I was laughing so hard. Not sure if intentional or not. *insert sexually oblivious rhino meme here*

[El`derina]

This topic name made me laugh hysterically, in fact my girlfriend thought I had a seizure I was laughing so hard. Not sure if intentional or not. *insert sexually oblivious rhino meme here*

 

This guy gets it!

^.^

[jimhsu]

I completely and wholeheartedly disagree... as games become more complicated and new software/hardware comes out to relearn the ropes again- bugs are just gonna keep happening... 'especially' in this kind of game that bethesda makes. What would you have them do? delay a year more for bugs that are only effecting a handful of people? I have seen Skyrim playing for 3 others flawlessly besides myself... and not a single problem with many of the problems the minority are making a lot of noise about. Dont get me wrong, those issues are important, but I don't beleive you have the point your trying to make.

 

Furthermore, so what if they choose an abnoxious release date? do you really think it would be much better if they went with what they were originally planning? which could very well be 11/15/11 for all you know... or eariler!

Bethesda is under pressure by other factors than just if the game is bug free,... marketing locks them in, and higher ups demand their revenue. And other factors.

 

Fact is, near every game in existance has been released with bugs, and will continue so... as the scope of games increase, so will bugs.

And besides that... Bethesda has been pretty much on top of it as far as releasing patches... although they were too hasty and messed that up! I don't hold that against them and actually find it pretty funny, and I dont see why you or anyone else should get worked up over a few bugs either. (Game not working on systems it should, is another matter...)

 

Now that said,.. I have been playing Skyrim 'near'-completely bug free on my computer... since release and after every patch... so I havent run into many of the gripes the rest of you have. I didn't even lose my save file after patches like some others.

 

EDIT: Your analogy is pretty bad also... it would be more like, all the tracks are there, but the quality on one or two of them is shoddy. Or the music stops playing for a half a minute between tracks

 

As I said, if Bioware or Activison-Blizzard were to release an Elder Scrolls game, it would be amazing, have fleshed-out characters, and be virtually bug free -- but would it be something that YOU want to play? Games these days are designed to last for hours or days - would an Elder Scrolls designed by those guys last for 6 months, or even 6 years? Also, people tend to romanticize the past -- the number of bugs in Morrowind at release, or even a genre definer like Deus Ex, was astounding.

Edited December 3, 2011 by jimhsu

[Matth85]

released with bugs

Nobody talks about a bugfree game. We talk about a game with a OK ammount of then. Have you seen the buglist we got as of now? It is huge! That is NOT acceptable.

Bethesda was not locked down by economic reason, but by a idiotic decision to get a "cool" release date. A month more, and we could have gotten rid of some serious bugs like:

 

1) Clicking in the UI sometimes cancels out. Irritating when shopping.

2) Main quest/Faction quest bugged. That is HUGE, and should never happen.

 

Their decision of this release date, costed their artists a HECK of a month. They got a small break, and now they got thousand of people nagging the for the CK, and for patches. They will have more hazzle these months than they would delaying it, and give us the CK and get rid of the worse bugs.

 

We could never get a bug-free game, but we ask for a game that got the basics in order and the CK released so we could fix what is left. Now they got to do both, right after a month of painfully hard work and what, a week vecation? I feel sorry for them. That is a LOT of work for a "cool" date.

[El`derina]

 

As I said, if Bioware or Activison-Blizzard were to release an Elder Scrolls game, it would be amazing, have fleshed-out characters, and be virtually bug free -- but would it be something that YOU want to play? Also, people tend to romanticize the past -- the number of bugs in Morrowind at release, or even a genre definer like Deus Ex, was astounding.

 

maybe less bugs, but not bug free >.>

 

This is what you were trying to say I think and this is just a matter of opinion and preference- but if blizzard bought out elder scrolls, I would be done... wouldnt even look at the series... I've lost all faith in that company and for good reason.

same with bioware, since their with EA

and im not some fanboy of Beths... its just that those companies make me puke with their business practices and 'lack' of any well caring about their customers and the s*** they leave them in... for them it REALLY is all about the money

 

@Matth85

So they could predict this a year ago? that they needed a month more? nice.. thats some talent...

As I said... havent run into those bugs. And if you put a soul into Ro, thats your fault *wink* lol

UI mostly fixed within 2-3 weeks? seems reasonable.... and hey, theres a mod for it already :) doesnt help 360 tho.

 

but really... should they have delayed the game to fix such a minor thing when its "already" being addressed?

 

and besides... is the UI working fine for the 360? it was just a sloppy port for that, right? *shrug*

there's worse things happening with the gaming industry than this...

this issue of bugs has always been around, in varying degrees for every game. Are you gonna get this worked up over every game that has a shaky release? lol

Edited December 3, 2011 by El`derina