So drawing from my previous MMO experience, I was wondering what might help the playerbase feel a little more trusting and at-ease with how things are progressing for our game.
Hotfixes
http://ffxiv.zam.com/wiki/Updates_%28FFXIV%29 <---clicky Here is a list of every single patch FFXIV has ever had.
Now as we all know, we're tentatively on a 2 patch-per-month schedule. One is generally a large content patch, the other includes tweaks/system changes. However both of these patches include things that could be pushed out in smaller, more frequent doses.
My suggestion? What if we had "Hotfix" patches? These patches would be small, frequent changes and tweaks and bug fixes to the game. Once these tweaks have been programmed, tested and verified, push them out for the players to 1) benefit from the changes and 2) help reassure folks that the wheels are turning over there in the XIV studio.
Save the major content additions for their own large, monthly patches. Get us the minor changes in more frequent, smaller doses.
Hotfixes: In Addition to Content Patches
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05-10-2011, 06:28 AMBalbanesHotfixes: In Addition to Content Patches
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05-10-2011, 06:35 AMKurokikaze
I can agree with this. It's how other companies handle bugs and balance fixes instead of making players wait till the next patch.
It's funny but things like the SP changes and some changes that were done to enmity could have all been hotfixes. -
05-10-2011, 06:50 AMAva
Hotfixes would be great, but something tells me their back-end technology isn't capable of such a thing. =/
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05-10-2011, 07:24 AMAkira_Tenshi
The less updates we have to download the better. The stupid downloader is mega slow.
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05-10-2011, 08:04 AMKurokikaze
................................................................
seriously wtf. -
05-10-2011, 08:30 AMRenshi
Nah, wheels are already going. We just have to wait to mid-june, which is far, but near.
And I don't think people likes little updates sometimes. From what I've seen, every time there has been a minor update, some players were screaming for more.
Let them do their job =) -
05-10-2011, 08:41 AMBalbanesNobody believes that the wheels are indeed turning more than I do ;) And I'm far from one of the players screaming for more. I just think this would help alleviate some of the negative views of the dev team's mission to turn the game around. More of a PR thing, really.Quote:
Originally Posted by Renshi
But, more frequent updates would also be nice in and of themselves :) -
05-10-2011, 08:48 AMNuru
Although it would make it seem like the wheels are turning, people generally care more about what the patches entail. The hotfixes are nice and the bugs need to go, I'm all for this idea, because bugs should gone as soon as possible.
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05-10-2011, 09:09 AMJennestiaIf they can patch the game they can do "hotfixes" -- patching is all the same no matter how big/small/quick/etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ava
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05-10-2011, 09:11 AMAvaHotfixes aren't patches. In wow, hotfixes were streamed straight onto live servers with no patching. I would assume this is the same thing the OP was thinking, I don't know who else does hotfixes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennestia
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05-10-2011, 09:43 AMKurokikazeYeah but then again does SE have the capabilities to stream hotfixes...? =_=Quote:
Originally Posted by Ava
We've all seen how small bugs get drawn out for long periods of time due to (I'm guessing here) spaghetti code.
Btw... What the fuck happened to Auto Target?
Also, heres another bipartisan suggestion, like the LS vault suggestion, that is getting opposition. No hope for this community. -
05-10-2011, 10:24 AMAvaYeah, that's what I said earlier. I don't remember where I read this (it may have been on these forums somewhere) but I think Eastern programmers are just years behind Western programmers in general experience. I'd wager the code behind their game is just awfully messy and they're probably trying to clean it up as they go. I'm sure they are capable of cleaning it up as it's easier to see errors after the wheels start moving, the problem is how long are people willing to wait? I mean, I'm sure if/when they can fix the code, things will be a lot easier... but that can't be an easy task.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurokikaze
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05-10-2011, 10:37 AMviion
I'd support hotfixes for tweaks, better to change rapidly to get it something like SP change working rather than spanning it over 3-4 months
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05-10-2011, 10:54 AMJennestiaThey are the same - with hotfixes you just resync everyone which you could do with normal "offline" patching as well if you want but it's risky to do so.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ava
I said if they can patch the game they can do hotfixes as both requires you to have an infrastructure that is "open". Most don't do hotfixes because most choose to knock things out in one go in a big patch, but that doesn't mean they don't have the ability to do so. -
05-11-2011, 05:50 AMBalbanesActually, of all the MMOs I've played, WoW isn't really one of them. Played it for about 2 months years and years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ava
I do indeed mean just regular style patches, as Jennestia mentioned (just smaller more frequent ones).
As for XIV's patcher... yeah, it's not so great, but they've at least acknowledged it and have added it to their mountain of things they need to work on.
However, if they're able to stream it to players while playing the game, that sounds pretty cool too!