Obsidian Admits it Has a Bug Problem

[octafish]

"NEARLY bug-free." Way to reach for the stars, Obsidian.

What, exactly, is Obsidian's recurring problem? An inability to meet deadlines or inexperience with someone else's software?

They focus on story, character and settings, creating a fully realised world with difficult choices and nuanced decision making. Quality control comes second, and publishers (except Valve) don't like to delay products. I like Obsidian, they carry on the fine tradition of companies who make the most interesting games also being unfortunately buggy. Troika, Black Isle there is definite a thread here.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

That's nice. Now they need to admit their loading screen problem. That's what is keeping me from New Vegas, not the bugs.

 

[A Curious Fellow]

One of my most beloved games of all time is KOTOR 2. Even more sp than the original KOTOR, despite the predecessor's undeniably superior quality, because Sith Lords had so much potential and such deep deep lore.

Obsidian makes amazing games, or rather, games that would be celestial if they had spent another month of two in development and playtesting.

As a fan who's always seen Obsidian's gems through Obsidian's filth, I'm glad to read that they're working to clean themselves up.

Their games are too good not to polish.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

I don't have to big a problem with "all" bugs in games like fallout.
Hell some are even helpful, and others are entertaining.
The problem with New Vegas is that even to this day after
all the updates it still has bugs that ruin quests, mess with the NPCs, and other things
of the like that ruin the game when I try to get
everything the way I want it to be. The worst thing is that there's a lot of those.

 

[wammnebu]

Hi,Im obsidian

Hi Obsidian
and Im have a bug problem

I kept ignoring my problem, blaming it on develoment time, or resources, or publishers. But all the while my life was spiraling out of control and my career started to be affected. Eventually i just started thinking it was normal, but i was spiraling out of control. Next thing I know its been 7 years since Kotor and my games dont even start anymore. *chokes up* When Bioware left me i realized i need to act, to get straight.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

ha well thats nothing new, and i'm sure they have known that for years

but still, they make some of my absolute favorite rpg's of all time, i can't find that kind of depth other places, so as long as the quality of what they have working doesn't deteriorate then i'll buy dungeon siege III twice just to show my support

 

[Nikolaz72]

Hi,Im obsidian

Hi Obsidian
and Im have a bug problem

I kept ignoring my problem, blaming it on develoment time, or resources, or publishers. But all the while my life was spiraling out of control and my career started to be affected. Eventually i just started thinking it was normal, but i was spiraling out of control. Next thing I know its been 7 years since Kotor and my games dont even start anymore. *chokes up* When Bioware left me i realized i need to act, to get straight.

Damnit, ninjaed. But yea, Admitting it is the first step towards correcting it.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Good that they admit it. Not sure it'll change much. I still don't understand why other companies trust them with their IP.

They either need to fix their problems or go away. There are many studios out there that are not known for making broken games, and those studios need to stay in business.

have you not played some of their games? kotor II blew the first one out of the water, and that one had near infinite success in the star wars universe

i would ALWAYS prefer a great game with a few bugs than have shitty shovel ware games that come out by the truckloads from other companies.

 

[WorldCritic]

First step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Now get working Obsidian.

 

[McMullen]

Good that they admit it. Not sure it'll change much. I still don't understand why other companies trust them with their IP.

They either need to fix their problems or go away. There are many studios out there that are not known for making broken games, and those studios need to stay in business.

have you not played some of their games? kotor II blew the first one out of the water, and that one had near infinite success in the star wars universe

i would ALWAYS prefer a great game with a few bugs than have shitty shovel ware games that come out by the truckloads from other companies.

I wouldn't have even stopped to read the article had I not experienced their work directly. I don't think it's accurate to call the IP that Obsidian inherited from studios like Bioware and Bethesda shovelware. I also spent enough time modding Neverwinter Nights 2 - just to make it possible to bring up the world map so I could continue the game - to come to the conclusion that it was not a product made by people who value professionalism.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Good that they admit it. Not sure it'll change much. I still don't understand why other companies trust them with their IP.

They either need to fix their problems or go away. There are many studios out there that are not known for making broken games, and those studios need to stay in business.

have you not played some of their games? kotor II blew the first one out of the water, and that one had near infinite success in the star wars universe

i would ALWAYS prefer a great game with a few bugs than have shitty shovel ware games that come out by the truckloads from other companies.

I wouldn't have even stopped to read the article had I not experienced their work directly. I don't think it's accurate to call the IP that Obsidian inherited from studios like Bioware and Bethesda shovelware. I also spent enough time modding Neverwinter Nights 2 - just to make it possible to bring up the world map so I could continue the game - to come to the conclusion that it was not a product made by people who value professionalism.

oh i'm not calling bioware/bethesda shovelware, far from it, i love their games, but what i meant by that statement was when you said "other companies" i was merely referring to alot of the companies out there that shoot out shovel ware year after year and have the casual person get suckered into buying them.

you had it that bad? that sucks, i put everything up to max except for the shadowing i believe, that was the one effect that screwed it all up otherwise i played that whole game without a single slip up, so i feel very sorry you weren't able to finish that awesome game (basically a more open world dragon age for its time imo)

 

[ark123]

I'm hopeful the conflicts in the middle east will end too, but neither are going to happen anytime soon

 

[FullMetalZ]

I give props to the guy admitting it, but it doesn't hold much weight until I see a polished and glitch-free game from them. Regardless of any future titles, I don't think I can ever forgive Obsidian for the mess that was KotOR2.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Obsidian has has more bugs than Sony has pirated accounts

Obsidian has a bug problem!
Water is wet!
And the sun is hot!

More at eleven.

You're a little slow
bro

Wow... That response couldn't have been any better.

Serious props to you O.O

Took me a second, but, I see what you did there >.>

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

That's why i'll wait till they release the game with all the dlc in the disc. Hopefully by then they will have worked their shit out.

 

[talideon]

In fairness to Obsidian, part of their bad reputation is (genuinely) down to the tools they have to work with. Comparing, say, Alpha Protocol to FO:NV, the former isn't particularly buggy but lacks polish, whereas the latter is a total bugfest. In the former case, ti was built on the UE3, which is a pretty solid engine which has few showstopper bugs these days, whereas the latter was built on top of Gamebryo, which is a steaming heap of crap.

I'm looking forward to the redeeming themselves with Dungeon Siege 3. Fingers crossed and all that.

That said, I'd like to be able to safely start playing FO:NV again, damnit!

 

[standokan]

Ah, admittance, the first step

 

[McMullen]

Good that they admit it. Not sure it'll change much. I still don't understand why other companies trust them with their IP.

They either need to fix their problems or go away. There are many studios out there that are not known for making broken games, and those studios need to stay in business.

have you not played some of their games? kotor II blew the first one out of the water, and that one had near infinite success in the star wars universe

i would ALWAYS prefer a great game with a few bugs than have shitty shovel ware games that come out by the truckloads from other companies.

I wouldn't have even stopped to read the article had I not experienced their work directly. I don't think it's accurate to call the IP that Obsidian inherited from studios like Bioware and Bethesda shovelware. I also spent enough time modding Neverwinter Nights 2 - just to make it possible to bring up the world map so I could continue the game - to come to the conclusion that it was not a product made by people who value professionalism.

oh i'm not calling bioware/bethesda shovelware, far from it, i love their games, but what i meant by that statement was when you said "other companies" i was merely referring to alot of the companies out there that shoot out shovel ware year after year and have the casual person get suckered into buying them.

you had it that bad? that sucks, i put everything up to max except for the shadowing i believe, that was the one effect that screwed it all up otherwise i played that whole game without a single slip up, so i feel very sorry you weren't able to finish that awesome game (basically a more open world dragon age for its time imo)

I did finish it, I just had to figure out a way to get the map working in the areas where it didn't. Eventually modded in a spell that would bring up the map so I could actually leave places like Fort Locke and Port Llast. I would happily play it again for the game it was supposed to be; it's the bugs that make me hesitate.

This is why I wish someone besides Obsidian had made it. I am sure that there are far more studios out there that would have done it better than there are that would have done it worse. Obsidian needs to either learn to do its job correctly or let others do it, so that otherwise great games don't get tainted like this.

 

[70R4N]

Well, I have never played an Obsidian game I liked, so bugs or not, it really won't make a difference for me. I didn't like Neverwinter Nights 2 or New Vegas (I prefer Bethesda's approach to rpgs)

Ah, I bet you're unaware that Bethesda developed Fallout 3, although it's pretty much the same as New Vegas, albeit less buggy and with a better setting.

No I like Fallout 3. I didn't like what Obsidian did with it.

Didn't like what they did with it? What they "did" was make it a proper sequel to Fallout 2.

Indeed. New Vegas is superior to Fallout 3 in every way (besides the bugs).
The most obvious thing they fixed was the dialog. THANK GOD they fixed the atrocious dialog of Fallout 3.

 

[squid5580]

Bullshit. There is no way they are in any way working on fixing any of the problems. Not when they release a second patch to a game that causes the exact same issue the first patch they released caused. Dumb shits just don't learn.