Buying Planetside?

by **FarginMofo** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 12:36 pm

No purchase plans here.

by **BulletToothTony** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 4:39 pm

I play NC with the squad I used to play WWII Online with (The 6th Marine Division) Up to BR7 and play using the alias I had in WWII which is Haze01. You can usually find me fighting on the Cyssor continent, but like Edogg stated above, when you get in the heat of battle you usually aren't watching the chat window too closely.

Like any MMO game you have to figure it's going to have crash issues early on. Looking fast the technical difficulties that are inherent in a game that is beta, I think this is a fun game with potential. I've preordered it through EB which is offering free shipping.

-BT

by **Edogg** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 5:17 pm

looks like this is the week they really crack down on stability issues... http://planetside.station.sony.com/beta/patch_history.jsp

here is the important part of that link:

Some Know Issues Remaining:

a) We have crash to desktop issues. We'll be focusing on these all next week.

b) We have server stability issues (zones going down). These are also the highest priority next week.

c) VoiceIP is on the way...but still not ready yet.

d) We'll be examining lag states to see what can change in our code to compensate for some of the spikes we're seeing.

by **RCinator** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:09 pm

So in other words, they're saying - "Hey, we know this product is NO WHERE near ready to ship yet, but we're going to put it in a box and sell it to you anyway." I'm getting soooo tired of companies thinking it's OK to release buggy software. Practically every other industry on the planet is subject to some sort of rigorous standards - it's getting to be time for the software industry to have the same level of accountability. Imagine if Honda was like "Well this airbag is really only 90% of the way complete, but it's close enough that we're going to sell it to you anyway."

by **SaintTigurius** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:13 pm

So in other words, they're saying - "Hey, we know this product is NO WHERE near ready to ship yet, but we're going to put it in a box and sell it to you anyway." I'm getting soooo tired of companies thinking it's OK to release buggy software. Practically every other industry on the planet is subject to some sort of rigorous standards - it's getting to be time for the software industry to have the same level of accountability. Imagine if Honda was like "Well this airbag is really only 90% of the way complete, but it's close enough that we're going to sell it to you anyway."

Thats why i have almost every blizzard game out there becuase they take there time in creating a work of art.

I am also wondering if there is going to be more guns and other items, than there is in the beta, ? if anyone knows?

by **Edogg** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:27 pm

actually rcinator i was trying to look at it in a more positive way. As in they recognize problems and they are acknowledging that they exist. The big point I was trying to bring up is that is that they are really focusing on stability now. I think they might be able to make a stable product before they ship it. I was already experiencing better stability last night. I only crashed once in about three hours of gameplay.

as for sainttigur's post, yes most likely there will be more weapons and vehicles, and other features added to the game further down the road. That is how these pay to play games usually work.

by **RCinator** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:33 pm

Edogg - I'm not trying to bash your enthusiasm by any means. But the fact remains that no credible software developer should have a release date of 5/19 with this many bugs still in the product. That gives them at best a week and a half to "finish" the product. By that point, they have to be pressing CDs if they intend to meet their ship date. It's plain irresponisble for ANY company to put out ANY product that has glaring problems with it. The software industry has been getting away with murder for years, and it needs to stop. Planetside is one of the most blantant examples of this I have seen to date. It's a shame that we, as consumers, have lowered our standards to the point that we're willing to pay for shoddy merchandise.

by **{CN}Doomfarer** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:51 pm

Tribes 2 would be the most blatant example you are looking for RC. Trust me on this. PS is the Queen of Stability as it is now compared to the shape T2 was in at release. Would be cool to find SOME WAY to enforce responsibility, when you think of one let me know.

by **RCinator** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 9:07 pm

You're right Doom - T2 would take the crown here . . . which is exactly why I never really played it.

It would be easy enough to set up some sort of QA organization to certify software as having met some sort of criteria before being released. Unfortunately, it's not in the software industry's interest to do so right now because we keep paying for products that suck. Thus they have no impetus to make products better. I'm not asking for "bug free" software, since as we all know, there is no such thing, but waaaaaay too many applications are released with flaws so big that you really shouldn't be allowed to call the products anything other than beta. The only thing that will really stop companies from heaping the shoddy stuff onto us is for us to stop paying for it. When their wallets start to run thin because consumers are finally taking a stand, I'll bet you a lot more effort goes into proper QA testing.

by **Cpl. Bingham** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 9:30 pm

I firmly believe that we will never see truly "bug free" software anymore. People always use the argument that games never used to need so many patches. Yeah, and you didn't need to be a programming genius to make a game either.

Games and the code their based on are so complex these days that it's pretty much beyond any developer to find and fix all the bugs with the size of the testing crews they have available to them. Sure, some like Blizzard release fairly bug free games, but also remember they've been making sequels of the same three games since the mid 90's, and that all rely on fiarly similar tech. It'll be intersting too see if their track record for bug free games holds up when they release the first upcoming FPS .

by **Edogg** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:51 pm

well with me being a computer science student, all i have to say is that I have nothing but respect for any game programmer that has to debug hundreds of thousands of lines of code.

by **RCinator** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 12:43 am

I'm a programmer too, but I have zero respect for anyone that would willingly release crappy software to the public under the premise that it is ready for primetime when it is no where near so. It gives us all a bad name and demonstrates a lack of pride in one's work and one's field. That said, I'm sure that Sony corporate is responsible for rushing this one out the door, so I'm willing to cut the programmers some slack.

by **Sir Loin** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 3:33 am

edogg...i have no clue what is happening there...

by **Edogg** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 9:19 am

Originally posted by Sir Loin
edogg...i have no clue what is happening there...

um ok...tell me what you dont understand from the conversation, and Ill try to explain it a little better. :help:

by **Wairudo Enjin** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 10:26 am

Edogg,

Many of us on here are programmers and have been doing it for years. I do have respect for the programmers also. The problem, as it usually is, is that management is trying to rush the project out the door when it's not ready; you'll find this out when you get out in the real world. As all of us programmers know, the more complex the code the more bugs that are going to be in it. However, ALL of the glaringly obvious ones should be taken out before putting a piece of software into production. Right now they are talking about selling (not even just using in house) a piece of software that has hundreds of obvious bugs. Management wants the public to help debug their code while they pay for it. Why would they do this? The short answer, the bottom line. It's just WRONG. I REFUSE TO PAY FOR A GAME THAT DOES NOT WORK CORRECTLY. I also refuse to pay for a vehicle that is a lemon or a sandwich that was not what I ordered or a coffee maker that doesn't work. Get the drift? THe game needs to be working as best it can BEFORE it is sold to the mass audience. Small bug fixes are just that small, but this game has HUGE ones. Sony is gonna have A LOT of pissed off people if they try to go live with it....oh wait I forgot...no they won't....because hardly anyone minds paying for broken software...JUST LOOK AT MICROSOFT and WinDoze.

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