Why most of the bugs wont be fixed

Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:53 pm

Despite what many people on here think... the devs do know of the bugs and they did extensive testing to try and rid as many as they could before their release date. When you see this many large bugs on release its most likely that the problems are on a deeper core portion of code that isnt easily fixed.

When they get problems it costs time(money) to fix them and therefore they need to get permission from the publisher(people funding the game development) to do these fixes. This is mainly determined by how much money it will cost. Money spent paying programmers to fix bugs and money lost on lack of progress made. If the problem is only semi important but would take many programmers month/s to fix...they might not get permission to do it( other factors such as project management and time constraints will also play into this).

For them to get permission to make a patch, it largely comes down to how much money it will cost them to make (as stated above, time spent on the fix and time lost not working on next project or dlc), as opposed to how much money will they lose from loss of sales(short term and long term). Since most of these bugs do not keep you from playing the game, they probably wont be fixed. Some of the ones that keep missions from triggering might get fixed, they might not... since we didnt code it, we dont know how deep these problems lie. Game crashing bugs are annoying, but unless its literally happening every 2 hours, it probably wont be fixed... we'll probably just be warned to save on multiple slots and to save often. Terrain clipping bugs (like rad scorps being stuck in the ground) will most likely not be fixed. Anything that has to do with companions will probably not get fixed, since they are not needed to complete the game.

Main mission bugs that keep you from completing the game have the best chance of being fixed. I would guess that the secondary mission trigger problems will be next (e.g. i cant do veronica's side mission "I could make you care" because she wont trigger her conversations that lead into it).

All in all, i wouldnt expect to see any patches anytime soon. They have to determine where the bug is, how much work it will take to fix it and if they get the ok to fix it they have to test it before the patch goes live. The most we can do is politely list the bugs we find and hope they can fix the worst ones as soon as possible.

BTW- ive noticed that the longer a play session lasts, the worse the loading and crashing gets ( im guessing its a memory leak). If you notice that its taking longer than normal to load an area, save and reboot the game (be safe and turn the xbox off and back on). Ive noticed improved load times( they go back to the normal really long load times, as opposed to the obscenely long load times) and my game rarely crashes now.
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Oceavision
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:51 pm

Most of what you said is correct, but your speculation doesn't add up with your actual point.

Nothing is getting fixed, saying the major gamebreaking bugs are most likely to be patched doesn't even make sense. Those would've been a top priority before launch if they had the means/will to fix them. They've made it clear their primary concern with post-release patching was shutting down exploits, not actually making the game unbroken.
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benjamin corsini
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:04 am


BTW- ive noticed that the longer a play session lasts, the worse the loading and crashing gets ( im guessing its a memory leak). If you notice that its taking longer than normal to load an area, save and reboot the game (be safe and turn the xbox off and back on). Ive noticed improved load times( they go back to the normal really long load times, as opposed to the obscenely long load times) and my game rarely crashes now.


Sound advice.
I was in that scorpion valley area and the frame rate dropped alarmingly. I switched off and rebooted my Xbox and loaded the game back up and the problem was solved.
I also used this method when my loading times increased.
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FITTAS
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:55 pm

Despite what many people on here think... the devs do know of the bugs and they did extensive testing to try and rid as many as they could before their release date. When you see this many large bugs on release its most likely that the problems are on a deeper core portion of code that isnt easily fixed.

When they get problems it costs time(money) to fix them and therefore they need to get permission from the publisher(people funding the game development) to do these fixes. This is mainly determined by how much money it will cost. Money spent paying programmers to fix bugs and money lost on lack of progress made. If the problem is only semi important but would take many programmers month/s to fix...they might not get permission to do it( other factors such as project management and time constraints will also play into this).

For them to get permission to make a patch, it largely comes down to how much money it will cost them to make (as stated above, time spent on the fix and time lost not working on next project or dlc), as opposed to how much money will they lose from loss of sales(short term and long term). Since most of these bugs do not keep you from playing the game, they probably wont be fixed. Some of the ones that keep missions from triggering might get fixed, they might not... since we didnt code it, we dont know how deep these problems lie. Game crashing bugs are annoying, but unless its literally happening every 2 hours, it probably wont be fixed... we'll probably just be warned to save on multiple slots and to save often. Terrain clipping bugs (like rad scorps being stuck in the ground) will most likely not be fixed. Anything that has to do with companions will probably not get fixed, since they are not needed to complete the game.

Main mission bugs that keep you from completing the game have the best chance of being fixed. I would guess that the secondary mission trigger problems will be next (e.g. i cant do veronica's side mission "I could make you care" because she wont trigger her conversations that lead into it).


All in all, i wouldnt expect to see any patches anytime soon. They have to determine where the bug is, how much work it will take to fix it and if they get the ok to fix it they have to test it before the patch goes live. The most we can do is politely list the bugs we find and hope they can fix the worst ones as soon as possible.

BTW- ive noticed that the longer a play session lasts, the worse the loading and crashing gets ( im guessing its a memory leak). If you notice that its taking longer than normal to load an area, save and reboot the game (be safe and turn the xbox off and back on). Ive noticed improved load times( they go back to the normal really long load times, as opposed to the obscenely long load times) and my game rarely crashes now.


Is this based on some knowledge, or an attempt for you to come on these forums and sound like you know what you are talking about? I bet I know where you got this opinion...
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Jack Moves
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:10 am

No-one will buy thier precious DLC if the game is still broken, so yes they probably will fix it.
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Darren
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:10 pm

No-one will buy thier precious DLC if the game is still broken, so yes they probably will fix it.

This just isn't true. People keep using this HURR DURR PEOPLE WONT KEEP BUYING THEIR STUFF IF THEY DONT FIX NV but it's just not true. Consumers have proven time and time again they'll keep buying broken, unmaintained games.
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joseluis perez
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:42 am

Is this based on some knowledge, or an attempt for you to come on these forums and sound like you know what you are talking about? I bet I know where you got this opinion...



i got this opinion from past discussions i had with family that works in the industry and from knowledge i've gained from being in school to program in the industry. I know im not 100 percent correct, but that its the basic concept of what's getting fix will most likely be a mix of cost as opposed to how important and easy it will be to be fixed.

in response to nemt:

i didnt say nothing is getting fixed, but there is way to many problems for them to fix even most of them. The fact that the game shipped with this many problems most likely means (in my somewhat educated opinion) that they are not easy, quick fixes. I would think that fixing the bugs to a more acceptable point would be well ahead of cheating...if you read the following you can see one of the may ways of how easy it is to cheat (if you read other posts, you can probably find other exploits that are more game breaking).


|| SPOILER / EXPLOIT ||
for those of you who are interested in how to exploit the game, there are many skill challenges (like requiring X amount of speech or barter..etc. to convince someone) where after you do it, you can go back and do it again and again... and i have found many of them by accident. e.g. when you first meet house and he asks if you'll do the job of getting the platinum chip, you can use a barter of 50 to convince him to pay you more, just to deny him will give you the 50 xp. Immediately start another conversation and repeat. You can do it all day long, although 50 xp is the the best and you might be able to find a different repeatable skill challenge thats the full 100. FYI - you can have a barter for 30+ and use a barter skill mag to hit the 50 and still do it for a long time (since gametime stops while in conversations, pitboy, lock picking, computer hacking..etc. you can take as much time as you want as long as you jump strait back into the conversation when its over... if done right, it's a fraction of a second of time used on the magazine between between conversations, it will last a long time.
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Marguerite Dabrin
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:07 am

I have noticed if I reboot my XBOX every 4 hours or so, maybe take a break and get a drink or whatever and then come back my Load times generally go back to normal. I also tend to do the LB+RB+X trick to clear the game cache as well every time I boot up the game, just in case. Doesn't seem to hurt anything and I have not run across any major instances that would prevent me from playing. I also have not downloaded the DLC, either because I have heard all the problems with it before I bothered.(I didn't want to waste the time when I can usually find better stuff by Level 5 in the game anyway.) I haven't had problems with any of the missions like 'Come Fly With Me', or going into Vault 3. I have tended to kill a lot of people that might be important for quests later, though. lol.
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Erin S
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:29 am

Consumers have proven time and time again they'll keep buying broken, unmaintained games.
Consumers? That's a generalization. Of course SOME people will buy their broken products, but SOME other people will not. New Vegas is the last Bethesda or Obsidian game I will ever buy, even if it does get fixed.

No matter what way you look at it, this will hurt Bethesda's sales. Whether or not it hurts enough for them to start releasing their games in full working condition remains to be seen. I'm thinking not.
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ImmaTakeYour
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:54 pm

They will do the same thing they did on FO3, they will fix as many bugs as they need to make sure people buy the DLCs, once all DLCs have been released, they will stop fixing bugs.
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Enny Labinjo
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:23 pm

I am wondering just what the point of your post is? Why do you come on here and give frustrated people an opinion, which frankly will make their day worse? If you have advice or encouragement fine, but people who are experiencing these bugs do not want to hear you infinite wisdom based on whatever knowledge you think you have.
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Niisha
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:42 am

"Since most of these bugs do not keep you from playing the game, they probably wont be fixed"

The pvssyr in this forum is focused MAINLY on the save game crashes. They quite objectively stuff your save files. It prevents you from playing the game.

If I enter a cave, find I am going up against tough enemies and die and I can't reload the last save, or the previous seven, then I consider myself very much kept from playing the game.

If Bethesda does not pull rank and fix this problem, I will honestly never buy a game published by them again.

Frankly, Bethesda needs to get their heads out of the sand. In my scope of the gaming industry, they are good at one thing alone, making expansive RPGs. They have out-sourced their stellar creations to an inexperienced (with the engine) team of developers, and the results are now obvious.

Bethesda knows what the deal is, we're a bunch of nerds that love to be engrossed in their huge worlds. We like to collect and search and complete and lose ourselves. If Bethesda fails to be able to offer than experience perfectly, something they have been doing for me since 2004, then they cease to have the only thing that I could care for. It makes boycotting easy.

Forget your various quest specific bugs, I am plagued by a plain and simple game breaker (the DLC bug), and if we want to bring about change, then we should be able to march forward with these game breaking bugs to demand a better deal from the developers and publishers...

The OP suggests it's futile, but if there's a bug that can't be avoided at such an early stage of the game, we have a real issue here that we should drive home until we see improvement, or simply bever purchase a Bethesda game again... especially because if it aint TES/FO, why in the hell would anyone care?
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Alex [AK]
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:53 pm

This just isn't true. People keep using this HURR DURR PEOPLE WONT KEEP BUYING THEIR STUFF IF THEY DONT FIX NV but it's just not true. Consumers have proven time and time again they'll keep buying broken, unmaintained games.


Seriously, brother, what the HELL is your experience with Bethesda games?

We invest hours of hour lives in these games because NO COMPANY does it quite like Bethesda. The first few days I played Morrowind was surreal for me and as a gamer I have never looked back.

So obsessed with Bethesda games I am that I know the sickening feeling you get when you lose a save file and hours of gameplay.

I mean, it's bad enough that we're literally contributing nothing to society with our hobby other than boosting the economy, taking those extra hours from us is more nothing than nothing, it's a bitter feeling...

So do I get a more fun and active social life to compensate... NO, I make sure I am VERY careful with my save games. Catastrophe usually means replaying an hours worth of stuff, nothing like that time I lost HALF my Bloodmoon progress.

If you think I, or thousands of Bethesda fans like me, will go and buy DLC when at this present stage New Vegas is providing us with that aforementioned empty feeling time and time again, despite our careful saving habits, then I think you are very wrong.

More and more people buy NV for XBOX every day, more and more people will get this bug and hit these forums and state that they will not be buying DLC.... Something's gotta give.

I hope it's as much a case of "will be fixed" as it is " it bloody well SHOULD be fixed".

EDIT: Ha ha ha... I said "Something's gotta give" - that was honestly subconciously done, no reference to the game's music intended at all!
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Astargoth Rockin' Design
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:01 pm

It's a major problem without doubt that the game is very bugged. Not everyone who bought this game has a Xbox Live service.
Which precludes that the games fix will be huge to download and most likely have to be by disk also for those whom dont have live service.

I am of the opinion this mistake could be MARKET GOLD if those people in charge of the sales understand the game is flawed and fix it within the companys confines and offer exchange of the bugged game disks sold. In other words recall the product with flair and thank the consumers for being the BETA testers. Market the exchange as holding honer for kept promises that the company values it's customer base enough to exchange their disks for new ones without the bugs.




AS a large Fallout fan I would be in the line to recieve a revised fixed disk without any compliant and if the games plays as it's suppost too would recommend it to others whom take interest in the vast experiance the game allows people to roam around in. Fallout 3 is something to behold for the feel of the game and so many play hours it staggers the mind, as is New Vegas.

It should never be taken that the world is perfect, mistakes are made every day. How they made up for is anouther matter.
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Andrea P
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:29 am

If this game isn't fixed to an acceptable standard. Say FO3 standard. I'll be the first to scrap my £25 trade in, and snap my disc in half. Seriously. I'm still yet to start up my game and my patience is thinning.

I don't mind the odd framerate issue/clipping. But any gamebreakers and my game will quite literally be broken.
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Nany Smith
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:41 am

I am sure it'll get fixed and that they are working hard on it, my problem is that all they have said is that they are "working on it" and thats it... It would be nice for them to tell us what they are working on and if they have a deadline or anything.
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stevie critchley
 
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Post » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:41 pm

I am sure it'll get fixed and that they are working hard on it, my problem is that all they have said is that they are "working on it" and thats it... It would be nice for them to tell us what they are working on and if they have a deadline or anything.


I don't want a day-by-day update report. I just want something, you know? I've read this past week about five patches announced for other games on the 360, each with patch notes and an ETA.

Sure, they may be much easier to patch due to the size of the game. But at least they are letting people who have bought the game know. I'm confident that Beth/Obsidian will patch this game to an acceptable standard. I've put faith in them, and ignored my warranty. I hope I made the right choice.

If not. Well, I've said what I'm doing.
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Kelvin
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:12 am

I've started my own mini revolution by convincing 3 of my friends not to buy this game due to its horrendous bugs. I showed them this forum and the myriad of complaints and that was enough for them to get something else/not bother.
Its a damn shame because normally i'd be telling anyone who would listen, what a superb game it is.
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joseluis perez
 
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Post » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:38 am

I don't want a day-by-day update report. I just want something, you know? I've read this past week about five patches announced for other games on the 360, each with patch notes and an ETA.

Sure, they may be much easier to patch due to the size of the game. But at least they are letting people who have bought the game know. I'm confident that Beth/Obsidian will patch this game to an acceptable standard. I've put faith in them, and ignored my warranty. I hope I made the right choice.

If not. Well, I've said what I'm doing.


Yeah I agree, they have said on their twitter profile that they are working on it, thats enough for me. I could imagine that the patch will be huge and thats the reason why its gonna take a while.

I also hope that I havn't wasted my money on a game that stays in beta, though on the bright side, 50$ ain't all the money in the world. In the end, if it doesn't get fixed, I'll just skip next years Madden NFL or CoD :)
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Add Meeh
 
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