Broken Since Launch

[zyran]

Basicly, what I wanted to get across is that it is foolhardy to expect that any number of patches could ever fix all the bugs of any MMORPG.

This thread is not about fixing all the bugs. This thread is about ignoring the bugs for months on end while devoting energy to nerfing the game. I can understand that Nevrax might be more interested in slowing down character advancement than fixing things, but that doesn't mean I think it is ok.

Recently, the devs decided that it was too easy to get away from conflict using teleport tickets, so they added a bunch of new restrictions to the teleportation process. These changes were committed to the retail server without enough testing to find out that any failed teleport (sitting down, getting hit, changing your equipment, etc) caused a breakdown which results in you being unable to use a ticket until you spend the 5+ minutes it takes to leave the game and re-enter it. They were made aware of this problem immediately. They have added at least three patches to the server without addressing this game affecting bug.

You can feel free to write off my complaint as whining. The fact is, there seems to be some problem with priority assessment.

[usinuk]

Cause really, I'd like to know where you got that 1/2 the player base left in patch 1.

Somewhere between 75-80% of my contact list that had existed before patch 1 of hasn't logged on since then, and many others have the same experience. Of course, neither I nor anyone else really knows the attrition, but we all know it was huge. My point was to be gently sarcastic, not to nail patch 1 attrition. And I'm glad there are more people now, and if they were actually spending time on making the newbie learning curve easier I would be all for that being the priority. But that clearly isn't the case either, which is why Doubletap, I, and others continue to post about long-term broken items that need to be fixed.

don't be too pissed when PR forage goes down for like a day or so.

I've never posted about downtime, and never would especially when its something trivial like that. I do post about bugs that have existed for months with no timeline of them being fixed.

I'm sorry if you don't like our attempts to improve the game, but if you don't there are plenty of 'WTG devs' and 'I luv this game!!!!!!!!!' threads for you to express your satisfaction with things as they currently stand. This one is about trying to make things better. And if you want to be helpful, post broken TP sites or post the conditions in which you've used them rather than post an apologia.

[splatula]

No apoligies here. The attrition I put down squarely on the fact that Nevrax had to compete directly with Blizzard, which was bad timing for them, as Blizzard has already made quite the name for itself and it's Warcraft/Diablo branding. To be fair, I wasn't addressing the thread directly, but individuals within the thread. Many times in-game I HAVE seen people complain about various teles they couldn't get, which were available to me while standing next to them.

Is there not a petition system in the forums? We could use that a little more effectively than 30+ people starting individual threads about known issues that are being worked on. People want a quick fix, or they want the devs to email them with a daily progress report on how many lines of code they've sifted through and corrected/re-written, they don't realize it takes a LOT of time and evergy to do a boring job like sit there staring at C code all day. When you consider the sheer size of the game it makes it difficult for one hand to see what the other is doing too. That's why one patch might fix something, then the next one breaks it again. The dev departments need more "crosstalk."

I as well would like a DEFINITIVE answer as to when the major bugs that have been around forever will be fixed. Being a d i n k to the devs or to other players in the PvP areas won't get it done any faster than polite pestering. To be frank, Ultima Online is still the most polished MMORPG out there (albeit ugly compared to todays graphics standards), but they were the first and have had a long time to shine it up.

Anyhow, short quick bug lists without a lot of *****ing and moaning, and using petitions will mean a dev doesn't have to read all the retarded comments and can get right to business. Really they don't care that you're saying merry christmas to other people, or are having a bad time in wastelands... just get to the point quick and be done with it. The description of how pissed off you are, or the history of your time with the game is wasted space.

And FINALLY to address the thread directly. Yes Zyran, maybe we should start out our own list of bugs. Make it so that people have to PM you with the bugs to add to the list though, or keep adding them to the first post of the thread, so it stays organized enough to read.

[usinuk]

No apoligies here.

Apologia = something entirely different (read your ancient Greek texts). But no apologies are necessary, as your post was well thought out and I agree with more of it than not. My only disagreement is that experience has taught us the devs tend to pander towards those who moan the loudest. I don't like it, but if its what it takes, its what we have to do. But the point about getting responses and a bug thread are deadon.

[plarfman]

***** moan ***** moan, devs are lazy,there no content, I hate pvp, No PvP, wash my feet, i want my 15$ a month worth of content, Im not satisfied, Fix it NOW,Your an ass, Im an Ass, Cerest doesnt know anything, You people who played sence launch dont know anything , I cant harvest, Why Kill Harvesters, Mobs to strong,fame is dumb,my sword is dumb, yubos are dumb, Im leaving, so many patches nothing fixed, ect ect ect.

note: while i do think there are things needing fixing lets take a look at how far they have come sence launch way way back.

http://ryzom.com/index.php?page=releasenotes

[hklown]

Wow! I totally agree! FLAME FLAME FLAME MISINTERPRIT FLAME FLAME RABBLE FLAME.

Okay, I think that voicing your opinion and whatnot is just super (no really, I do ) but you are opening yourself to people who disagree with you, and flaming ensues 99% of the time. So I think that in the intrest of everyone wanting to be happy for a little while, we just stop arguing here. cmon, just think- if we stop one flame thread, then everyone will have a slightly better day, cause instead of making enemies on the forums, we can make friends in the game.

And on a small side note, I'm willing to bet that someone replies with something along the line "we have the right so say what we want on the forums, $15, rabblerabblerabble."

But one can hope, right?

[usinuk]

But one can hope, right?

Actually, what one can really hope for is that people who want to come over here to defend the devs instead DO SOMETHING USEFUL and post the broken TP bugs that were the original topic of this thread to light a fire under the devs behinds. Or, post exactly how we're wrong. Maybe there are some that we all think are broken that aren't. In that case, give out your exact level and faction fame so we can check ourselves. Since...maybe that process will improve the game!

Oh yeah, my definition of fanboism is to cheer so loudly to drown out any complaints, or to consistently flame those of us who wish change to try to get us off the board. Censorship don't work for any price.

[varelse]

we are now at 30+ patches since retail launch. I'd like to know why there are still so many karavan/kami altars that do not work. Are they that difficult to fix? Are the devs unaware that they are still broken? Do we, the players, need to create and update a list of what you guys SHOULD be working on? Who is responsible for assigning a higher priority to making prospected source spawn with zero content over fixing broken teleports?

Oh, and in fairness, I'll give you kudos for the relatively painless launch of patch 2.2 -- only major bug I spoted was the accidental pvp in fleeting gardens.. did you guys actually listen and hire someone to do QA finally?

I can't help wondering if some of the non-functional teleporters are actually intended to be working only for people who meet certain requirements in fame, or, even worse, ALL of them are supposed to be fame-dependant and only certain ones are turned on just for minimal convenience to the players.

So much of what was supposed to be ready when the game launched in September is only now being patched in to the game, so it's not far-fetched to guess that the "broken" teleporters are actually deliberately turned off for some reason relating to content or features that are not yet available, such as outposts, guild challenges, and "PvP rewards".

At this point in time, anyone who has teleport tickets to the PvP enabled areas in the game would have a huge advantage over those of us who have not made the run successfully. So, it's understandable that we'd see posts appear now about this issue which up until now has been ignored not only by the devs, but also by most players.

With so many people leaving the game mentioning a lack of content, meaningful rewards, depth, storyline, and quests, and very few people clamoring for PvP development of any sort, I think it's likely that the inactive teleporters are on a "to-do" list somewhere underneath the pile of work the devs need to do to keep most of their existing players from leaving for more polished games.

Traveling and exploring have provided players with challenging gameplay outside of the level grind... working teleporters in all areas might have removed some of that challenge too early.

[tinpony]

all the ticket sellers work,but many of them have requirements you must meet (fame, or level) before they will sell you anything.

Really? Because I've had GMs confirm that at least two not working are bugged.

And remember, all the patches thus far are designed to stop people from exploring easily. A bit cynical, but I see that the disabled teleporters are very low priority because they assist people in travelling.

Tin.

[esrevni]

If your patience runs that thin.... leave for a month and head over to one of the other mmorpgs.

I'm sure your experience will be ABSOLUTELY perfect with no bugs, excellent staff that will answer your page immediately and new features every 12 hours to keep the gamers happy.

I agree sometimes that a little push is needed here and there, but I'm certain nevrax is aware of these problems and the time they take to read about your griefing is more time they could be spending fixing these problems.

My bottom line:

Out of the 8 years I've been playing mmorpgs, this is by far the best to come along. True, buggy, but is it really worth three pages of flames/*****ing?


Again, if you're so unsatisfied, leave. Simple as that.