Why doesn't Bethesda have a QA department? : V

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:04 pm

Either they have a Quality Assurance Department that lets broken content through or they don't have a QA Department at all. Why?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:55 am

1. Open Skyrim.

2. Watch the credits.

They have one hell of a big QA department. But they also have one hell of a big game.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:54 pm

Either they have a Quality Assurance Department that lets broken content through or they don't have a QA Department at all. Why?

It's quite difficult to test every bit in a game if this magnitude

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:30 am

Seems quality to me

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:48 pm

Skyrim seems well tested to me. Can't get them all, especially in a game this size.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:29 am

It's quite difficult to test every bit in a game if this magnitude

Yeah testing the user interface on the PC is one of those "it's difficult to test every bit of the game"moments I guess

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:00 am

Skyrim was tested by Bethesda, Microsoft, and Sony before it was released.
Though I will say that all QA processes have a margin for acceptable errors.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:16 am

Skyrim was tested by Bethesda, Microsoft, and Sony before it was released.
Though I will say that all QA processes have a margin for acceptable errors.

Unfortunately, none of the Sony testers thought to test it for more than 30 hours on any given save.

The problem with Skyrim is its scale and the complexity of the code.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:53 pm

Do enlighten us as to what "broken content" you refer to. Most of us are having a fine time with the game as is.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:20 pm

Either they have a Quality Assurance Department that lets broken content through or they don't have a QA Department at all. Why?

Because 2 years ago, Todd Howard looked at his staff and said: "You know guys, we don't have enough misdirected ire... lets get more of that."

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:10 am

M.A.S.S.I.V.E game + massive numbers of people playing it and doing things in hundreds maybe thousands of different ways in different orders = some unanticipated problems. Plus it's all interconnected. You fix one thing and that fix might break something else. It's very stable for what it could be. Either you love this kind of game and are willing to put up with some problems or it's just not for you. It's definitely the type of game I love to play the most. :tes:

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:36 am

M.A.S.S.I.V.E game + massive numbers of people playing it and doing things in hundreds maybe thousands of different ways in different orders = some unanticipated problems. Plus it's all interconnected. You fix one thing and that fix might break something else. It's very stable for what it could be. Either you love this kind of game and are willing to put up with some problems or it's just not for you. It's definitely the type of game I love to play the most. :tes:

Pretty much this. While I personally think Skyrim could've used more prerelease testing (ESPECIALLY on the PS3), there's no way that you'll ever be able to catch all of the bugs. (actually that's been proven to be true for all software)

But at any rate, Skyrim is remarkably stable for a game of its scope.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:23 am

Yeah testing the user interface on the PC is one of those "it's difficult to test every bit of the game"moments I guess

I love the interface on PC. :stare:

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:08 am

The QA department is the public. This usually remains in check for the first year of release. During which time numerous patches are released.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:22 pm

Yeah testing the user interface on the PC is one of those "it's difficult to test every bit of the game"moments I guess

Ok, I'll bite...

So it's the interface that's broken this time?
Please enlighten us: how is it bugged/broken/crap/not tested

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:55 pm

where the testers just on xbox? I mean clearly noone ever played the ps3 version for a few hours I mean just by playing it you can notice a unstable framerate, although slight a tester should be able to notice this

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:35 pm

Ok, I'll bite...

So it's the interface that's broken this time?
Please enlighten us: how is it bugged/broken/crap/not tested

Limited key mapping,could not choose with keys you want to bind to which hand,Mouse was not responsive in menu's,poorly organised inventory.I think i mod may have fixed it not sure myself but those are a few reasons why.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:47 am

Limited key mapping,could not choose with keys you want to bind to which hand,Mouse was not responsive in menu's,poorly organised inventory.I think i mod may have fixed it not sure myself but those are a few reasons why.

There you go, then it's working as intended.
If you wanted working controlls why didnt you buy the Xbox version??

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:56 am

where the testers just on xbox? I mean clearly noone ever played the ps3 version for a few hours I mean just by playing it you can notice a unstable framerate, although slight a tester should be able to notice this

I think it's something Bethesda realized but decided to just keep it as is. I'm a ps3 user and I realize it too, maybe they couldn't fix it at the time.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:10 am

Skyrim was tested extensively by Bethesda, and also needed to pass through Microsoft and Sony's own QA process to be certified. Yes there are bugs, but it's worth remembering that many people aren't encountering many problems. This doesn't make it any less important that the game be patched, but it does make your accusation that QA doesn't exist unnecessarily inflammatory.