Obsidian Does it Again

[I_am_acting]

i'm gonna do a quick run down of the problems with most of the games


KOTOR 2, not enough dev. time


neverwinter nights 2, dev. team didn't have enough resources


alpha protocol, executive meddling [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExecutiveMeddling] by SEGA to change the game, that is why it was delayed from an oct. 2009 release


now as for fallout new vegas, i'm of this opinion, OE isn't a very big developer last time i checked so they don't have an endless pool of resources to call upon, stop bitching about OE sucking and blame the publishers for not supporting them with the resources they need


what's more, you need to understand that in the corporate culture releasing a game on time is more important then a game being unbuggy at launch, after all that's what patches are for right?

let's also keep in mind that just cause the game was released that way doesn't mean OE intended it that way, hell they were willing to do a patch to bring KOTOR 2 to what they originally intended but lucasarts said no


in short they're not just releasing buggy games on purpose, things beyond their control is what is causing this

 

[Rusty Bucket]

STOP buying their shit, day one then......

If ANYONE complains about Obsidunce's next game then it's entirely your own fault for buying it.

I'm sick to death of seeing people complain about their games, when it's been obvious for years that all they do is release crap now.... and it all comes as some big surprise??? :Oo WTF??

No one's surprised, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be complaining. Obsidian don't get a free pass for this just because thye do it all the fucking time.

 

[SimuLord]

Fallout 3 took three pieces of DLC and five patches to go from a game I ranked behind Mount&Blade in my 2008 Game of the Year vote to the third-best game of all time. (why three DLC? Because Operation Anchorage and Mothership Zeta really weren't necessary---even if OA justified its cost for the Stealth Armor alone. I'd have paid $10 for that and to hell with the quest.)

I fully expect New Vegas to have similar results, even if I agree wholeheartedly that Obsidian Entertainment has surpassed Paradox Interactive as "Buggiest 1.00 Release Developer".

(and I've played for ten hours and have very little real complaint about the bugs.)

 

[ilion]

I love Obsidian, i dont care. Iam actually laughing and enjoying the dialogues in New Vegas, try that in Fallout 3.

 

[Yureina]

I managed to get around this problem and was able to beat the game despite very nearly losing 8 hours of play when I ran into this save game bug. I do agree with this article, but... using the "normal" type of save does get around this problem. You can also re-name your quick or autosaves manually on your computer, and they will turn into "normal" saves. That way, you can at least keep your progress intact.

 

[Sutter Cane]

No actually I'm doing something entirely different... my 'opinion' (and tbh that too ambiguous a word) is based wholy on first hand AND past experience... opinion (for me) doesn't really enter into it.

However.. someone who states that all the problems are exagerated because they haven't noticed anything wrong, ESPECIALLY in the light of demonstable evidence to the contrary.. is ONLY giving opinion.....

..as for 'namecalling'... that was pretty weak, dude.

Look, fumblefumble looking back I think i've been too harsh on you. you have made some good points in the thread, and i'm not going to disagree that this game has problems with bugs. However when you started off the thread by calling Obsidian Obsidunce you started to remind me of those people who use the term "sheeple" in there arguments. It sadnes me that the game has major issues, and is giving Obsidian a worse reputation, as once you get past the bugs they are known for, they have well written, imaginative games.

 

[Yureina]

I fully expect New Vegas to have similar results, even if I agree wholeheartedly that Obsidian Entertainment has surpassed Paradox Interactive as "Buggiest 1.00 Release Developer".

I will never forgive Paradox for Hearts of Iron 3. Never.

 

[bjj hero]

Experienced Points: Obsidian Does it Again

Did Obsidian even test Fallout: New Vegas before releasing it?

Read Full Article

With their track record, you should have seen this coming. Why did you buy it? You (and everyone else who rushed to buy Vegas) are supporting this behaviour and substandard work. The people who buy Obsidians work keep them in business and allow them to continue to make unfinished games. There are no other industries where you can release an unfinished product.

I've not bought anything of theirs since KOTOR2.

 

[Imbechile]

After that they released some expansion packs. But they were expansion packs to a broken game with a reprehensible ending, so I didn't play them. Even if the expansion "fixes everything that was wrong with the original game," I didn't feel like rewarding them for their misbehavior.

You need to play Mask of the Betrayer, right now. NWN2 was too ambitious like everything Obsidian does. In fact there's an LP of it here http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/NWN2/index.html which will show just how much was left out in the end (the player was very in depth). But MotB was near to perfect and fixed up the engine really well.

The thing I will always love about Obsidian is that they will take risks. Bioware are boring. Great, but boring. Obsidian are like a studio of Peter Molyneuxes. They promise so much that even though they try really hard something will fail in the end. But they put so much love into their games and make them so unique that it's always worth the struggle.
And their excuses will always be a bit false, because I don't they would ever have enough time to make a game exactly how they want it, due to their scope. Blame Atari or LucasArts or Bethesda for releasing it before Obsidian were ready if you like. But I'm sure that, if given another year, there would be just as many problems if not more, because instead of fixing things they were more concentrated on adding new stuff someone thought of while driving to work which sounded cool.

I have a high bug tolerance, so I'll take their approach any day. Also, buying things several months after release means shit gets fixed, yo.

THANK YOU!
I love KOTOR 2. Yes it wasn't as good as the firts one but it's FAR from bad, and I thought NWN 2 was even better than the first. And Bioware being boring is true. I LOVED every game from Bioware ever since MDK 2 but it seems they are doing almost the same RPG over and over again.

OT:Black isle/Obsidian/Troika always had buggy games and I'm really suprised the haven't fixed the problem that has been with them for like 12 years.

 

[Fumbleumble]

i'm gonna do a quick run down of the problems with most of the games


KOTOR 2, not enough dev. time


neverwinter nights 2, dev. team didn't have enough resources


alpha protocol, executive meddling [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExecutiveMeddling] by SEGA to change the game, that is why it was delayed from an oct. 2009 release


now as for fallout new vegas, i'm of this opinion, OE isn't a very big developer last time i checked so they don't have an endless pool of resources to call upon, stop bitching about OE sucking and blame the publishers for not supporting them with the resources they need

I'll just put your post in to clear, unambiguous language..

KOTOR 2, not enough dev. time ...... and this ISN'T their fault how?... the only reason time would have run out is if they FAILED to complete the game on the date they agreed with the published.. and even AFTER cutting a shit load out it was still a broken, buggy mess... so miscalulation and poor coding effort is a GOOD advertiement, or something they should be excused for?

neverwinter nights 2, dev. team didn't have enough resources .... and again, why isn't this their fault... they took on a job that was too big for them to handle and ended up screwing it up... how is this any different to someone else mucking up a task in any other walk of life... still boils down to bad workmanship.

alpha protocol... I looked for that artical.. even searched for it, but didn't see it (your link doesn't point to anything)... HOWEVER.. as I remember things only started to get bad when an exec announced rather publically (and this very site picked it up) that the game 'didn't feel rpg enough'.. which was pretty piss poor considering that's EXACTLY what Ob were aiming for.. any changes that were made were surely to bring the game back into the vision that the publishers originally bought (pure speculation, however even given a certain amount of meddling (which still isn't a certainty) people were waiting for another disaster and it happened, the fact that people knew before hand speaks volumes for what people know about Ob's ability to make a polished game... and that rep falls squarely at their own feet for only producing crap in the past.

AND as for Ob not being big enough in general to handle their projects... this is UNTRUE... they were given THREE of the largest franchises to work with and NO publisher would give that kind of work away to a company they didn't feel had the general resources to handle properly (we're talking amount of staff and general working knowledge here... not competance).. and rememeber publishers do their own studies in these matters before passing work off.... so they WERE big enough to handle the jobs given to them, because everyone involved considered them to be so.

It ALL boils down to.. IT'S STILL OB's FAULT.

 

[Karlaxx]

Did they test it at all? Good question. I've lost 3-4 hours of gameplay three times now. Twice Wednesday, and then once again, everything I had done today. Honestly, I'm going to just shelf New Vegas for a good long while, because I cannot bring myself to redo the labor of an entire good afternoon of play.

Good job, guys.

 

[Fumbleumble]

No actually I'm doing something entirely different... my 'opinion' (and tbh that too ambiguous a word) is based wholy on first hand AND past experience... opinion (for me) doesn't really enter into it.

However.. someone who states that all the problems are exagerated because they haven't noticed anything wrong, ESPECIALLY in the light of demonstable evidence to the contrary.. is ONLY giving opinion.....

..as for 'namecalling'... that was pretty weak, dude.

Look, fumblefumble looking back I think i've been too harsh on you. you have made some good points in the thread, and i'm not going to disagree that this game has problems with bugs. However when you started off the thread by calling Obsidian Obsidunce you started to remind me of those people who use the term "sheeple" in there arguments. It sadnes me that the game has major issues, and is giving Obsidian a worse reputation, as once you get past the bugs they are known for, they have well written, imaginative games.

Lol... don't get me wrong.. even to me my comment was kind of weak.. I don't usually fall into that kind of trap.. so ..(brainfart)

However, when someone persistantly gives the same results time and time again.. there comes at time when you just have to admit that their working practices leave more than a little to be desired.

Also.. I should be the one to be forgiving these guys ANYTHING... Planescape: Torment is my all time favourite game (but AGAIN, not their engine, not their rules and again, pretty bloody buggy, with shit taken out).. absolute masterpiece that no one has even come close to... however you are only as good as your last game.. or entire catalogue as far as Obsidian is concerned.

Yes.. they may have some very good and very original ideas (PS:T PS:T PS:T)... however a game has to become something more than an idea... gameplay... FUN, consistant, clean gameplay is also paramount to maintain any kind of positive reputation... what good is the 'idea', when execution is so blatently piss poor, resulting in non fun for a lot of it's players.

 

[SimuLord]

I fully expect New Vegas to have similar results, even if I agree wholeheartedly that Obsidian Entertainment has surpassed Paradox Interactive as "Buggiest 1.00 Release Developer".

I will never forgive Paradox for Hearts of Iron 3. Never.

But Victoria 2 is excellent. With the 1.2 patch, I say all is right with the world again on the Paradox front.

 

[camazotz]

I haven't encountered any bugs yet in FNV which is odd because I actually had almost unplayable issues with Fallout 3 for the longest time, and F3 still regularly dies on me at odd moments....I can usually get 3-6 hours out of it at a stretch before the game freezes. FNV so far has been smooth....so far...I am really expecting bugs, as it's pretty typical in Bethesda games, regardless of Obsidian.

I also rely on manual saves all the time, so maybe that's why I haven't run in to the autosave glitch.

 

[nighthawk55]

the auto-save glitch happened to me as well the second patch from steam fixed it
I've only experienced crashes (the good clean ones) upon quitting

 

[Fumbleumble]

STOP buying their shit, day one then......

If ANYONE complains about Obsidunce's next game then it's entirely your own fault for buying it.

I'm sick to death of seeing people complain about their games, when it's been obvious for years that all they do is release crap now.... and it all comes as some big surprise??? :Oo WTF??

No one's surprised, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be complaining. Obsidian don't get a free pass for this just because thye do it all the fucking time.

Lol.. you haven't read the rest of my posts, have you.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

It's not just Obsidian, all gamebryo games suffer from the same glitches.

 

[Rusty Bucket]

STOP buying their shit, day one then......

If ANYONE complains about Obsidunce's next game then it's entirely your own fault for buying it.

I'm sick to death of seeing people complain about their games, when it's been obvious for years that all they do is release crap now.... and it all comes as some big surprise??? :Oo WTF??

No one's surprised, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be complaining. Obsidian don't get a free pass for this just because thye do it all the fucking time.

Lol.. you haven't read the rest of my posts, have you.

Not at all, no. Simply responding to this one.

 

[Casimir_Effect]

You need to play Mask of the Betrayer, right now. NWN2 was too ambitious like everything Obsidian does. In fact there's an LP of it here http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/NWN2/index.html which will show just how much was left out in the end (the player was very in depth). But MotB was near to perfect and fixed up the engine really well.

The thing I will always love about Obsidian is that they will take risks. Bioware are boring. Great, but boring. Obsidian are like a studio of Peter Molyneuxes. They promise so much that even though they try really hard something will fail in the end. But they put so much love into their games and make them so unique that it's always worth the struggle.
And their excuses will always be a bit false, because I don't they would ever have enough time to make a game exactly how they want it, due to their scope. Blame Atari or LucasArts or Bethesda for releasing it before Obsidian were ready if you like. But I'm sure that, if given another year, there would be just as many problems if not more, because instead of fixing things they were more concentrated on adding new stuff someone thought of while driving to work which sounded cool.

I have a high bug tolerance, so I'll take their approach any day. Also, buying things several months after release means shit gets fixed, yo.

Word. Black Isle / Obsidian have always had a cool way of looking at games. That has always been their problem, as you said, they try to do to much cool stuff, and don't stop to put out a finished product. In Kotor2 case I really liked the game play changes they made to the game. The ending was a little weak, but I think that was from being rushed out. In short they do have good ideas, just no discipline to get it into a game without bugs, in a reasonable manner of time.

That being said the save problem is by far a very big problem in the game. I can take a game crashing, or a quest bugging. I can't take playing two hours and crashing out, and coming back to find my saves have reverted to hours ago. I'm currently hesitant to play any more till I know the save issue has been solved. The time I have to play games these days is very limited so every minute counts.

I completely agree - a bug which screws up your save games is where I would draw the line. I have so little spare time these days that there's lots of games I can't play because they involve so much dicking around. It's a bit of a crap situation where I find myself searching through my collection to find games which will give the most satisfaction in the time I have. So a bug which erases the last _ hours of my life would piss me off monumentally. I tend not to play autosave-only games because of this.

But I rarely buy games when they come out as, being a pc gamer, I expect them to be a bit dodgy upon release (at least from certain studios). Also, I resent the cost of games these days. Unfortunately there are still some games I will support by buying immediately, and one of these will be The Witcher 2. If there is any game on the horizon right now which promises to be bugged to hell and back (going by past studio experience) it's that one.

 

[Fumbleumble]

It's not just Obsidian, all gamebryo games suffer from the same glitches.

Ah.. but the main thing being said is that Obsidian have screwed up every engine and every project that they've been given so far.