Batman: Arkham Origins Dev Bypassing Patches In Order to Work on DLC

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

and WB goes on the Ban List for games...

Seriously, it amazes me that devs keep getting away with this. What is it about Western game companies that makes them get away with making games as lazily and sloppily as possible and STILL getting millions for them? After the treatment WB gave the Wii U version they're going to have to whip themselves back into shape before I trust them again.

 

[Something Amyss]

This is pretty disgusting. There are game breaking bugs that remain unfixed and blocking people from playing the game.

So did they take the idea directly from the Army of Two developers or is it just a coincidence?

 

[immortalfrieza]

Welp, now I'm updating my "Never purchase games from this studio again" list.
It's important too have integrity as a gamer.

Too bad that there will be far too many idiots who will buy from them anyway for it to make a difference, and even if that wasn't the case it the studio would get the completely wrong message from it.

I know developers used to backdoor in bug fixes with DLC because of costs on the 360 and PS3, but I don't think that is the case now, but I really wish people would stop supporting developers that refuse to patch issues that break a game that require starting the game from scratch because of encountering an issue.

With that said I might understand why, but at the same time the severity of some of these bugs I have been reading about really need to be addressed, if it was a minor issue I could be more understanding, but when people are required to start a new game because of a bug that needs to be fixed.

I really wish developers would stop releasing games that are half-assed obvious betas as full games that even NEED to be patched to begin with. Why is the video game industry the only industry that can get away with putting out a product that doesn't work the first time?

 

[AgentLampshade]

It's a bit of a shame when reading the old interview from WBGames saying how they didn't want to be known as the guys who ruined a franchise and sullied their reputation and now they've done just that.

 

[Thanatos2k]

This is pretty disgusting. There are game breaking bugs that remain unfixed and blocking people from playing the game.

I'm serious, we are one step away from developers CHARGING for bug fixes. Capcom was halfway there. Who's gonna do it first so everyone else can follow? EA? Capcom?

EA did it with the Sims 3. Patch levels were pretty much locked with expansions, and expansions were rarely discounted on anything but origin.

So you are late by a couple years. No one cares because sim players are used to it.

They also patched a digital store and social network into the game post launch. single SMALL towns cost as much as expansions, with some going up to 40$ for a single town with a hand full of item reskins. The towns are specifically made to limit what you can build and place too, so you are limited by tiny towns with huge buildings with no scaling at all. Single objects with actual use can go up to 6 dollars. Just by themselves.

So EA monetized patches. years ago.

Capcom did the same thing, that's what I was referring to as being "halfway there."

They're doing it under the guise of you paying for the content and getting the bug fixes for free. Someone is going to go all the way and flat out charge for the fixes, with the same tired "Fixing bugs takes time and development resources. How can you expect us to do it for free?" logic.

 

[Alpha Maeko]

Patching a game-breaking bug would seem to be more important then introducing new potential problems to muddy up the waters, no?

I didn't get Origins, and I don't plan to. The core gameplay got old to me by the end of the first game. I burned myself out on these sorts of games after all of that AssCreed.

 

[immortalfrieza]

They're doing it under the guise of you paying for the content and getting the bug fixes for free. Someone is going to go all the way and flat out charge for the fixes, with the same tired "Fixing bugs takes time and development resources. How can you expect us to do it for free?" logic.

Hell, they're already pulling that with MMOs, it's one of the B.S. excuses used to justify the subscription and microtransaction models.

 

[JarinArenos]

Welp, now I'm updating my "Never purchase games from this studio again" list.
It's important too have integrity as a gamer.

It's kinda depressing, looking at Activision's games list... I'm not even giving up all that much by cutting the entire publisher out of possible purchases. I mean, aside from Destiny, they have what... another lousy Spiderman game?

Sorta feels like cheating. Like boycotting a publisher should be a personal sacrifice for principles.

 

[Thanatos2k]

They're doing it under the guise of you paying for the content and getting the bug fixes for free. Someone is going to go all the way and flat out charge for the fixes, with the same tired "Fixing bugs takes time and development resources. How can you expect us to do it for free?" logic.

Hell, they're already pulling that with MMOs, it's one of the B.S. excuses used to justify the subscription and microtransaction models.

MMOs are a bit different. They're not charging you for the fixes, they're charging you to continue using the game, and the game doesn't work unless everyone is on the same version.

 

[g3ko]

Wow...
On one hand, kudos for coming out clean with this, it takes some serious guts to announce something like this, considering how buggy the game is. Sadly, I believe that they missed the point entirely. When did the accessories become more important than having a functioning product? Ah, yes, well, who already bought the game has these problems, we're working on getting more money, this is the important issue for us. It's a sad day to see something like this happen (even though it's been happening for a while now), and although coming out on this issue is admirable, will it not set a dangerous precedent?

And here I was considering purchasing the inevitable "GOTY Edition." Guess I'm not going to buy it at all. I can use the money to buy a game that isn't broken by a publisher that actually gives a shit about that sort of thing. Thanks, WB Montreal!

As Neverhoodian said, I was waiting to get a GOTY edition of the game aswell (since I have the previous 2 also GOTY).
Since I couldn't wait for a Goty edition to actually see what the story was going to be (i don't do youtube spoilers, i just find a copy on a friend, or rent it, and go a Gold-road walkthrough on it to see what the main plot is, pending a Goty edition release to actually buy it).
Now, I know full well that most games are designed for consoles primarily and then ported to PC... sadly, most aren't that much of a good job from a pc standpoint, so I got it for ps3 to get the best possible experience. On the ps3, it crashed 60% of the time when i used fast-travel (resorted to not using it eventually), and when it didn't crash, the sound gets cut-out completely. I find this to be unacceptable, especially considering consoles are all the same, xbox 360 and ps3. Game testing it on multiple pc components, let's say it's somewhat acceptable, nvidia vs ati, and so on. I was still inclined after finishing it to buy it when it went goty about 55%.
Now this little bit of news surfaces, and since i was also expecting a fix of the bugs, as it will be goty, all of the dlc included, even though i'd never touch the mp part. They lost me now. Even if they will fix the bugs, the blatant disregard of prioritising the fixing of a product vs the extra cash-in from removed content just to get customers to fork out a few extra bucks. NO, this will not do.

 

[immortalfrieza]

MMOs are a bit different. They're not charging you for the fixes, they're charging you to continue using the game, and the game doesn't work unless everyone is on the same version.

They're using the fixes as just one of the excuses to justify why it's necessary to keep paying money for something you've already bought. All the excuses are B.S. BTW, either their own fault to begin with or something that the player should at least have the option to do without, and thus again their fault.

 

[jaymiechan]

And another instance where the pirates will provide a better game experience, thus making more people pirate, in a self-perpetuating cycle.

 

[Kaymish]

well i was going to buy this game but now i think i will just haul it off my wish list for a few more months

 

[Foolery]

Buying DLC for a game that you can't even finish? Sign me up!!!

Crap like this is what happens when you change developers.

Not really. WB is simply retarded, that's all. Especially on PC releases. War in the North could definitely use a patch, but that never happened. Though I doubt many people care. War in the North was mediocre, if not outright bad.

Huh. I'm kind of thinking that the Wii U is better off at this point. Everything I've heard about this game just sounds terrible, especially WB.

Except folks with a Wii U don't get the DLC either. So no patch, no DLC, and we still already purchased the game.

I question why anyone would buy Arkham Origins on Wii U in the first place. Unless you don't own a 360, PS3, or PC. Is it more interesting with the gamepad or something?

 

[Reed Spacer]

Way to alienate you player base, guys. "Game-breaking bugs, you say? Our game needs a patch to address these, you say? Fuck that and fuck you; we're going to concentrate our efforts on making stuff you have to pay for!"

 

[Foolery]

I question why anyone would buy Arkham Origins on Wii U in the first place. Unless you don't own a 360, PS3, or PC. Is it more interesting with the gamepad or something?

A few reasons.

First, I wanted to show support for the Wii U. The gamepad is a technology that could be used in a lot of interesting ways -- enabling developers to make couch-multiplayer games that have "secret" components. Think CCGs or strategy games where keeping your resources hidden from the other player is important. But developers aren't going to bother thinking of original ideas for it unless it can be shown that there's a market for it. That's why if any game comes out that's cross platform that I want, I'll be picking up the Wii U version first and foremost.

Second, it didn't have the online multiplayer. I generally don't like online multiplayer. Too many asshats, and I tend to think the resources that went into multiplayer could have been used to make a better single player game. Not to mention that the online multiplayer component is only useful so long as there are other people playing. Unless the multiplayer part is exceptional, you can be pretty confident that after a year or so all that will be left is a graveyard of waiting time for players. And I knew Splash Damage was developing it..so while I knew I could expect cool high-concept ideas, I could also expect that the implementation of them was probably only going to be mediocre.

Third, it was cheaper. People always ***** about the high price of games, well, here was an opportunity to show developers that "hey.. cheaper sells"

And fourth, I was curious about how they implemented the gamepad functionality. Sadly, this was mostly a bust. Part of me was hoping for some damn cool version of "always on" detective vision when you held the pad up to look at the screen, or some sort of use of the touchpad functionality to make it really easy to switch gadgets mid combat. No luck there.

Those are some fairly solid reasons. Didn't know it retailed cheaper, that's cool. I've got it on the PC. I just ignore the multiplayer. It uses a separate launcher and exe, so that makes it easy.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Moral of the day:

Follow the leader usually has two horrible endings: A mass hit-and-run, and this.

While not worse, this is still pretty horrible. EA has been doing this crap for years, and it's ufuriating.

 

[nostalgiahuntr]

I really wish I hadn't bought it now.

On the plus side, it came with both Arkham Asylum and City, I'll still have something not crap.