Re: Seriously, People, This is Just Plain Wrong

In article <Xns97A295F2D851EtheSwami@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
SwamiRiver <dearme@xxxxxx> wrote:

Downloaded the "fix" patch inside of 20 seconds. Great. Went to sign
on.

Handshaking............................................................
..........................BOING.

Unable to connect.


Blizzard should simply extend all memberships in existence one month,
free of charge. Period. During that time, they need to patch and fix so
that when the clock starts again there's a playable game.

No, they shgould fix their servers/code, and or hire competent workers.

Yes. I know it's hard work. I don't care.

Imagine buying a new car and finding that it stops working, stalls,
won't start, the electrical system causes the windows to go up and down
at odd times without a finger on the button and more. Would you sit
back and defend the manufacturer, saying, "Hey, let's see YOU build
something better!"???

Of course not, but we're dealing with an addiction here. Fanbois will
say ANYTHING to defend Blizzard. Been there, done that, heard every
analogy/metaphor you can imagine, they don't care.

This is, without a doubt, the biggest single disaster in computer
gaming history, plain and simple. It's a shoddy product limping along
with radio silence from Buzzard as they point gleefully at an expansion
and lick their lips over more money coming in.

Perhaps. IF the media, specifically the gamer magazines start discussing
it, all bets are off.

I'm waiting for the shoddy servers to hit the podcasts. I listen to
several, and they all refuse to discuss it. Granted, anyone who puts the
time and effort into a WOW podcast is by definition a fanboi/girl.

This is incompetance to the nth degree, and you fanboys out there
who'll defend Buzzard against anything are like the idiots who now
defend Bush in spite of lies, more lies and mind-numbing inability.

Repeat after me: ADDICTION.

Ever deal with a speed freak or alcoholic who needs their fix?

It's the same deal.

It's their total inability to cop to the problems and provide a good-
faith effort to fix it that is topped only by our own sad wishes that
the game would live up to (or at least get to ground level for) it's
possibilities and potential.

Swami

We don't know what the true issues are, it could be a failed corporate
culture that rewards mediocrity, it could be a lack of talented people,
it could be legacy code that's spaghetti that newer devs can't firgure
out, it could be a failed vision and implementation for scaling the
game, it could be Vivendi refusing overtime for networking people/devs,
so many things get backburnered and only the biggest crisus gets
addressed (my bet there), it could be a lot of things, or none of these.

It's their lack of communication that's the most troublesome and
frustrating. All we get from the company is boilerplate excuses and
apologia, and more buggy code and failed hardware. Blizzards near
psychotic insistence on total secrecy has created a lot of the
frustration in it's player base. Yes, there are a lot of carebear
players who need their hands held, it's common in any forum these days.
Is it that big a deal to tell these folk the truth, so they shut up?

My personal "Spidey sense" hunch is the above restraints by Vivendi,
coupled with their lead dev Kaplan being in WAY over his head, and his
refusal to admit defeat and do what needs to be done to fix things. I
think he rams content through, like the AQ gate opening, with little
regard for server performance under the load the event created, so his
raiding buddies could "strut their stuff" (from the NTY interview).

The game is unbalanced. Kaplan was not the lead dev when it was being
developed, but got the spot after it was released. The guy has no
practical experience in a game of this size, he's only 29, and I think
his ego is the root of many, many of the problems with the game. His
role means he signs off on everything, and structures the devs workload.
My hunch is he has everyone focused ONLY on the Naxx patch, and the
expansion, and the retail game is dying on the vine. There's no way a
healthy and decent sized dev team could allow the bugs that are released
happen - and it's not sporadic, it's EVERY patch. They're playing
catch-up with their own code, and THAT points to a dysfunctional dynamic
somewhere behind Blizzard's doors.

Add to that he's probably the fair haired boy at Vivendi, as Blizzard is
one of a few divisions making a profit...

Well, that's my hunch. I could be totally wrong, or a little right. No
matter. I do know my account needs to renew in two weeks, and with the
current state of affairs with the servers...SimCity4 is calling me from
the shelf, and I never did get that far into Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas. Maybe it's time for a break, and see what's up with the
expansion.
.