Patching new games before Christmas.

[WeepingAngels]

To me, these huge patches really are a problem and even more so on Christmas. I have 5 new games to wrap but for 4 of them I will be wrapping opened games because I need to insert the disc to patch them. I want my son to be able to play the games on Christmas day rather than wait for updates to download. The 4 games I will open and patch are:

Fallout 4 (PS4)
GTA V (PS4) - Patched already
Black Ops 3 (PS4)
Lego Jurassic World (Wii U) - Patched already

I also have Xenoblade Chronicles X but I don't know if I should open it and patch it, maybe someone here can tell me? I already installed the 10GB of Data Packs but Nintendo allowed those to be installed without the disc in the drive, thanks Nintendo.

To add to matters, we have threats from Phantom Squad to take down PSN (and Live) for a full week. Even without their threats, all the online services are going to be super busy on Christmas day with all the new consoles and games being connecting on that day.

So how about you guys, do you find yourself trying to patch your games early to avoid wasting Christmas day updating?

Don't you guys think it would be nice if we could download patches without inserting the disc? I wish I didn't have to open games just to pre-patch them.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Um. No? I never even thought about that. And i really don't think it's that big of a deal to be honest. I mean sure it's a little annoying but these are the days we live in. It's the norm now. Just install it during breakfast or supper and play afterward.

 

[Elfgore]

Never heard of this as a thing. Since most of these games are on PS4, you don't even need to patch to play them singleplayer. The patch can also download while playing, so just have him play Fallout or the singleplayer games of the other three.

I'd say patience is a virtue sums this thread up. I waited an hour after getting home with Fallout 4 at midnight to play it, waiting for a patch to download. I just did other things while it downloaded.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Never heard of this as a thing. Since most of these games are on PS4, you don't even need to patch to play them singleplayer. The patch can also download while playing, so just have him play Fallout or the singleplayer games of the other three.

I'd say patience is a virtue sums this thread up. I waited an hour after getting home with Fallout 4 at midnight to play it, waiting for a patch to download. I just did other things while it downloaded.

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

 

[kris40k]

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

We've always been at that point. Start the game patching and spend some time with your family or friends.

 

[distortedreality]

Never heard of this as a thing. Since most of these games are on PS4, you don't even need to patch to play them singleplayer. The patch can also download while playing, so just have him play Fallout or the singleplayer games of the other three.

I'd say patience is a virtue sums this thread up. I waited an hour after getting home with Fallout 4 at midnight to play it, waiting for a patch to download. I just did other things while it downloaded.

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

You don't have to accept it. Get your son a bike or something.

Realky, this is a non issue for most. There was a thread regarding this a while ago, and the consensus seemed to be that the alternative to not patching problems was far worse.

 

[Elfgore]

Never heard of this as a thing. Since most of these games are on PS4, you don't even need to patch to play them singleplayer. The patch can also download while playing, so just have him play Fallout or the singleplayer games of the other three.

I'd say patience is a virtue sums this thread up. I waited an hour after getting home with Fallout 4 at midnight to play it, waiting for a patch to download. I just did other things while it downloaded.

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

Yes, we are. Games are getting bigger and bigger by the year. Bugs, glitches , and what have you can slip through the best quality testers. That hour long patch is most likely fixing those things people missed and making the game work better.

I find it mind blowing that people can complain about devs fixing their games.

 

[Foolery]

I also have Xenoblade Chronicles X but I don't know if I should open it and patch it, maybe someone here can tell me? I already installed the 10GB of Data Packs but Nintendo allowed those to be installed without the disc in the drive, thanks Nintendo.

The data packs provided for X from the network are sufficient, no need to unwrap it. Can't speak for the rest.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Never heard of this as a thing. Since most of these games are on PS4, you don't even need to patch to play them singleplayer. The patch can also download while playing, so just have him play Fallout or the singleplayer games of the other three.

I'd say patience is a virtue sums this thread up. I waited an hour after getting home with Fallout 4 at midnight to play it, waiting for a patch to download. I just did other things while it downloaded.

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

I find it mind blowing that people can complain about devs fixing their games.

You are being dishonest here. I never said I didn't want devs to fix their games. I do prefer they fix them before they launch (actually I prefer they fix them before the disc goes to press) and I don't like the idea of consumers paying $60 to beta test but the situation isn't changing anytime soon. People have to go in the opposite direction to force that kind of change.

I think if patches are to be so big, then we should be able to download them at will, without putting the disc in. Alternatively (maybe preferably) we could download them on PC and put them on a USB stick. PC's seem to download much faster than consoles, even using a wired connection. Surely this is something that is not controversial?

I also have Xenoblade Chronicles X but I don't know if I should open it and patch it, maybe someone here can tell me? I already installed the 10GB of Data Packs but Nintendo allowed those to be installed without the disc in the drive, thanks Nintendo.

The data packs provided for X from the network are sufficient, no need to unwrap it. Can't speak for the rest.

Thanks, I did open it and install a small update last night, took about 5 minutes.

 

[baddude1337]

While I'm all for patches, they shouldn't be a quarter or more of the games total file size, that just means they have sloppily packed the files for the game in a few big file lumps, and makes patching downloads far bigger than they should be as you need to download the entire packed file (if this makes sense...).

People with slow internet speeds are worst off by this. Being able to get a patch is great. Having to wait 12 hours or more for it, whilst not being able to use the internet in that time, does suck. And lets not forget download caps that make this even more of a hassle for many people.

One thing I personally would like to see is for Steam to not force downloads. You can turn automatic ones off, but if you try to play a game that has a patch available it will download it whether you like it or not. Let me download the patch when I have the time free, not force me to.

 

[WeepingAngels]

While I'm all for patches, they shouldn't be a quarter or more of the games total file size, that just means they have sloppily packed the files for the game in a few big file lumps, and makes patching downloads far bigger than they should be as you need to download the entire packed file (if this makes sense...).

People with slow internet speeds are worst off by this. Being able to get a patch is great. Having to wait 12 hours or more for it, whilst not being able to use the internet in that time, does suck. And lets not forget download caps that make this even more of a hassle for many people.

One thing I personally would like to see is for Steam to not force downloads. You can turn automatic ones off, but if you try to play a game that has a patch available it will download it whether you like it or not. Let me download the patch when I have the time free, not force me to.

Download caps and (to a lesser extent) slow internet speeds are blatantly immoral and should not exist. Why should one industry be held back by the greed an immorality of another?

They will be though. I read today that broadband usage is on the way down. People are opting out of home broadband and using their phones as their primary source of internet.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/21/technology/broadband-pew-2015/

Slow internet speeds, high prices and bandwidth caps will lead to problems for not only Netflix type services but also game publishers who put out ridiculous sized patches. Another thing is that storage space is an issue for consoles. Consoles come with small and expensive storage solutions (especially Wii U) built in compared to buying the same amount of storage on PC. Buying external storage is an extra cost to the consumer too. I would expect console consumers to be more protective of that storage (given it's cost) by opposing huge patches. If the game had been fixed properly before the disc went to press, these patches would be smaller or even non existent.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Yes, we are. Games are getting bigger and bigger by the year. Bugs, glitches , and what have you can slip through the best quality testers. That hour long patch is most likely fixing those things people missed and making the game work better.

I find it mind blowing that people can complain about devs fixing their games.

I know you're trying to put a nice spin on this, buts I'm afraid you're being way, way too optimistic about company intent. Quite a number of my friends currently work in the game testing department of a major industry player that I'm not going to divulge. They spend hours every day testing the most inane stuff to try and pick out all the bugs and they've told me many, many stories about how even the most game-breaking bugs that they've reported are outright ignored by the development team. Even for bugs that the developers know won't be fixed for months after release, because they just got to hit that release date.

In fact its practically a joke among the QA testers I know about how much they get ignored. To the point its sometimes questionable why they're even employing testers in the first place.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Considering how vital having a good internet is to gaming, I REALLY doubt that statistic has much relevance to the games industry and their customers.

When money is tight, the internet will be one of the first things on the chopping block in my house, along with Netflix obviously. Am I that different from other gamers in that regard? Besides, I would imagine that people with bandwidth already worry about these huge patches and that is likely to get worse over time.

So yell at the ISPs to make their service better instead of yelling at game developers to make their service worse.

I want devs to make their products and services better. I want the patches to be smaller because they fix most of the bugs BEFORE sending it to press. As for ISP's, have you not been paying attention to all the negative attention Comcast has been getting for bandwidth caps?

So? At least it's there as an option. And frankly, you should be buying most of your games on disc anyway. In the few years I've had my PS4, Wii U and my 300 GB PS3, I havent filled up any of them.

I do buy my games on disc but we are talking about huge patches here. If only most of those bugs were fixed before the disc was pressed.

Or more likely, they'd leave all of the bugs in and only fix them when they literally break the game.

Your reasoning for believing this?

I believe that many of the bugs are left in BECAUSE they know they can patch them after release.

 

[WeepingAngels]

I think that the greedier ISP's get, the smaller the patches will have to become. If many gamers can't download your 20GB patch because it will exceed their cap, then the complaints will get louder and louder. Towards both the ISP and the game company.

Anyway, originally I was just asking about being able to download patches without having to put the disc in. Let me download the patches for a game before I get it so that when I get it, I can pop it in and play it. Nothing kills the excitement of opening a new game and putting in the console more than having to wait for it to download a patch.

Maybe people here on this forum don't mind waiting to play their new games for a patch to download.

 

[Irridium]

You're doing a good thing OP. Getting a new console/game and then having to wait for it to patch can be really annoying. Especially if you have a connection like this.

In which case you spend most of the day patching. Granted my situation was extreme but still. it's a huge buzzkill. And they don't even put manuals in games anymore to help the time pass. I get what everyone else is saying "it's the times" and all that. But it's the principle of the thing. On a day like Christmas where you get a bunch of new stuff you don't want to sit around and not play with them.

 

[WeepingAngels]

You're doing a good thing OP. Getting a new console/game and then having to wait for it to patch can be really annoying. Especially if you have a connection like this.

In which case you spend most of the day patching. Granted my situation was extreme but still. it's a huge buzzkill. And they don't even put manuals in games anymore to help the time pass. I get what everyone else is saying "it's the times" and all that. But it's the principle of the thing. On a day like Christmas where you get a bunch of new stuff you don't want to sit around and not play with them.

Many people may see those speeds on PSN/Live on Christmas day because the servers will be super busy. Anyone waiting till Christmas Day to setup their new consoles or patch their new games may spend more time than they expect doing it.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm going to go on record saying I don't really give a crap about "patching without the disc" either way. However....

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

Dear god, I remember when I was like, five, and we'd have to wait to play with pretty much all of our toys. Seems like the concept of acceptability is in no way a new thing. I can't imagine how the lack of instant gratification is something that should be called "unacceptable," and honestly, I'm a bit taken aback that instant gratification is something for which anyone would argue acceptability.

Maybe people here on this forum don't mind waiting to play their new games for a patch to download.

Elfgore already pointed out you can play these games in offline mode and download patches. Since you've already correctly pointed out the problem with trying to play online during the holidays in the first place, it'd be ridiculous to call this any sort of burden since you're not going to be getting your son on PSN anyway.

Fair enough if you feel that there is some pressing need to try your hand at getting online during the already-identified connectivity issues that will happen over the holidays, but you already have a solution and you're doing it. At this point, it seems like your problem isn't so much not being able to play day one, but not being able to play online the minute you get the game without a perfectly viable solution you've already come up with.

Myself? I load my games in advance. And on the off-chance I get a game for Christmas, I will be too busy with friends and family to realistically get any gaming done. I could say it's not fair or not right, but...I've made my choice.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

It's probably a wise idea because theres a rumor going around Xbox and PS4 servers will be hacked again this christmas like last year.

 

[WeepingAngels]

I'm going to go on record saying I don't really give a crap about "patching without the disc" either way. However....

So now we have come to the point where waiting an hour to play your new game is acceptable?

Dear god, I remember when I was like, five, and we'd have to wait to play with pretty much all of our toys. Seems like the concept of acceptability is in no way a new thing. I can't imagine how the lack of instant gratification is something that should be called "unacceptable," and honestly, I'm a bit taken aback that instant gratification is something for which anyone would argue acceptability.

Maybe people here on this forum don't mind waiting to play their new games for a patch to download.

Elfgore already pointed out you can play these games in offline mode and download patches. Since you've already correctly pointed out the problem with trying to play online during the holidays in the first place, it'd be ridiculous to call this any sort of burden since you're not going to be getting your son on PSN anyway.

Fair enough if you feel that there is some pressing need to try your hand at getting online during the already-identified connectivity issues that will happen over the holidays, but you already have a solution and you're doing it. At this point, it seems like your problem isn't so much not being able to play day one, but not being able to play online the minute you get the game without a perfectly viable solution you've already come up with.

Myself? I load my games in advance. And on the off-chance I get a game for Christmas, I will be too busy with friends and family to realistically get any gaming done. I could say it's not fair or not right, but...I've made my choice.

There is just so much hostility towards what I thought was a pretty simple idea. Patch your games before the Christmas day rush (and Christmas day hackers) and wouldn't it be nice if it could be done without opening the game first.

What the fuck happened to this forum?

Mods, please close this thread.

 

[Barbas]

Thread closed by OP's request.