For the Love of the Twelve Can We Get Smaller Patches At Faster Intervals?

[Fated]

They give us lettered patches in between the big ones. You may not like them, but they are there.

[Keftenk]

Better idea. Give us content that is lasting, so we don't have to bitch about the long time delays between one patch and another. Lasting content doesn't mean absurdly ridiculous time sinks such as the old Moogle keystone acquisition.

[Rydin]

That is not what I am talking about. What I'm talking about is the 15MB of completely identical data between patches. For example, here is the 1.20 vs 1.20a comparison:



There is a 15MB identical block (not ok), followed by data differing in a few bytes (patching in new files - ok), followed by 15MB of completely new data (ok).

So the patch could have been 15MB smaller! While it's not a big issue with a 40MB patch, it would be with a 200+ mb patch. It looks like they just threw a modificated 1.20 package in a torrent instead of only distributing the modified versions.

Its so with a new install there are less patches to go through... so many of them include previous patches

Greetings!

In the future would it remotely possible to release smaller patches at an increased frequency (Maybe every 2-3 weeks) rather than release one behemoth of a patch every 3-4 months?

Having smaller patches come out every 2-4 weeks would give people a reason to log into the game more frequently to check out new content. When a mammoth sized patch gets released people log in for 1-2 weeks after watching the videos the elites posted on Youtube 1-2 days post-patch and walk through the scorched path already made. Then they log off for 2-3 months til the next patch, or in some cases (such as some of my LS mates) cancel their subscription until next patch (Or patch 1.xx that's on the development road-map).

Yoshida himself has stated that different aspects of the game (Story, Quests, Monsters, etc.) all get worked on independently of one another. So why can't they release patches at a more frequent rate if this is true? It all has to go through QA anyway...

It would also eliminate the need for time sink threesomes of horrid drop rates, Kupo Nut Charms/Inferno Totems, & a broken loot system to stretch out the life of content til next patch.... (I'm looking at you SE!)

It's better to eat a small portion of a cake rather than the entire thing because not only will it last longer, but you won't get sick of eating it. Why can't the same thing be said of patches for this game?

Thoughts?

Thats not the best solution.... If you think about the most important thing being content (And the only thing that could really get people to log on) then there is technically only 1 big content item per patch... so releasing smaller patches in closer intervals would just mean that there are a bunch of patches you could ignore and still only log in once every couple months when the big Primal Battle or dungeon drops

Also I am the COMPLETE opposite of you... I think every change from 1.18 to 1.22 should have all come at the same time.... Even if that meant holding it off for months
Recipes/HQ in 1.19/1.20/1.21 could have all just come in 1.21
When they give people an unfinished system... people complain and SE ends up spending more time fixing the little shit... and instead of working to release the rest of whatever system so that people can judge it as a whole
As it stands right now... I can't really have an opinion on Mounts, Battle system, Items, Synthesis recipes or personal combos... because it isn't finished....
But that desn't stop a lot of people from complaining that this and that needs to be reworked, blah blah blah

So no.. I don't want smaller more frequent patches.....

[Jynx]

That is not what I am talking about. What I'm talking about is the 15MB of completely identical data between patches. For example, here is the 1.20 vs 1.20a comparison.

This is so the only patch they need to ever host is the current one, no multiple patching if you dissapear for a year. I remember trying to update XI after a fresh install...lol.

[Elexia]

SE actually updates FFXI/FFXIV at a decent pace compared to a lot of MMOs. They're updating as fast as they can for an MMO being overhauled.

[Raldo]

That is not what I am talking about. What I'm talking about is the 15MB of completely identical data between patches. For example, here is the 1.20 vs 1.20a comparison:

This isn't new, and I don't see the problem with it. They do it so people don't have to download a bajillion patches when they return or start for the first time, they just need to download 1 for every major patch.

[Elexia]

That is not what I am talking about. What I'm talking about is the 15MB of completely identical data between patches. For example, here is the 1.20 vs 1.20a comparison:



There is a 15MB identical block (not ok), followed by data differing in a few bytes (patching in new files - ok), followed by 15MB of completely new data (ok).

So the patch could have been 15MB smaller! While it's not a big issue with a 40MB patch, it would be with a 200+ mb patch. It looks like they just threw a modificated 1.20 package in a torrent instead of only distributing the modified versions.

Ah if only you knew that almost every company that runs an MMO or online game repackage data for an obvious reason. It's "redundant" for concurrent players but it's not for new players.

[Rydin]

Ah if only you knew that almost every company that runs an MMO or online game repackage data for an obvious reason. It's "redundant" for concurrent players but it's not for new players.

Agreed
And honestly... not enough extra time is spent downloading the redundant data to warrant mentioning
Its a couple more minutes a month...

[Coldfire]

The update method is actually very bad compared to some other MMOs. Using bittorrent is just a way to save money but it's inconvenient for the users and comes with lots of overhead. Hopefully they work on that in 2.0. A good system would adapt to each customer and send him only the data he needs which can then be applied in one go. There are even games that only require a client executable and download the rest at runtime.

[Elexia]

Actually, most MMO companies use P2P because it can get really congested for a new player to download YEARS worth of data. (Especially on Korean and Chinese games where you need to connect to a Korean and Chinese server even if you're playing a localized version.)

P2P is the better solution for it handling updates, especially large updates.