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PSA: Patch Days and what to expect!

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Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 274	Posted - 2013.09.05 17:02:00 - [1] - Quote After reading through several posts about patch woes, I really wanted to take a moment and write up a PSA on patch days, what they really mean, and what your expectation should be. First, please don't read this like I'm writing high-and-mighty. I just want to explain some finer points to players who may not be familiar with "typical" MMO patches, a category which I'm sure many a Dust "traditional" FPS player falls into. Ok, so patch days on an MMO typically introduce new features, objects, shinies, etc. into the game. In a traditional MMO, say World of Warcraft, this would mean new bosses, weapons, etc. How this applies to Dust is that we'll get new weapons, maps, equipment, etc. Features of the game will expand (new matchmaking), while we may get new or reimagined weapons or equipment (scanner!). BUT, patch days are notorious for having LOTS of problems! This is typical! It doesn't mean that CCP has crappy programmers or they didn't bother to test it or they wanted it to fail or whatever tinfoil hat theory we come up with. It all boils down to how the game is developed vs other, "traditional" shooters: In a "traditional" shooter like Call of Duty, the developers start by spending a lot of time building the game, testing it, polishing it, etc. and end with the game's release. Then, once the game is released, it is essentially "on autopilot" while the Devs begin that process all over again for a new map pack or a new game altogether. In Dust, however, the development table is more akin to a traditional MMO than it is to a shooter like Call of Duty. Really, what this means is that MMOs go through a smaller initial release but instead of the Devs stopping work on it and shifting development toward a new expansion or game, they continually update their work through mid-cycle patches. Patches sometimes bring new features, which we got this time around with new matchmaking and maps, and normally include minor adjustments. But due to the "ongoing work" nature of an MMO, Devs will test their patches and get them "ready," but sometimes it is hard to predict how the changes will actually work, given that they can't shut the game down for several weeks to test it. The patch still may include issues that they'll be able to continually "hotfix," or apply a small fix to a bug that popped up when the patch hit the server. In 1.4's case, you can see hotfixes for the matchmaking and squad deployment issues. Again, THESE ARE NORMAL! In an MMO, it's not as important that the "disc copy" of the game is 100% (and, honestly, its not even common now that disc games are 100% when shipped). Once the patch is applied on patch day and goes live, issues map pop up, and hotfixes are issued for the next few weeks to get that patch into a good place, then the Devs go to work on the next patch and then expansion, etc. So, knowing how patches work in an MMO context--mainly that MMOs represent an ongoing work--it is normal that patch days bring in with them problems to the game, and our expectation as players should be to realize these things happen and that the dev team is committed to getting their game in a good place. Just a bit of history but patch days used to take whole MMOs offline for several days or bring in game-breaking changes that Devs would scramble to get fixed in the following weeks. I guess as some of us have played MMOs for a while, patch days are routine events for us, and we realize how they work and set our expectations accordingly. As an MMO player, I realize that patch day problems will be fixed, just given a few days to a week or so, and that unlike my expectation that (AAA title) will be shipped in pristine shape, I know that MMOs are continual works in progress that get love over time. To my "traditional" FPS friend, though, he didn't understand why "the new map pack" caused so many problems until I explained to him in very much the same way I explained to you above. Once he realized that Dust is an ongoing work, and that Dust-as-an-MMOFPS means that there will continually be development and interation on it, I think it clicked with him how cool it is that there'll always be new things and changes happening in Dust. I hope this clears a little of the patch day confusion up to our traditional FPS friends. Please just bear with the issues you notice in the patches guys, as problems they create will be fixed. It's just hard to forecast sometime how a patch will affect the game when it goes live, since they can't turn off the game for several weeks to test it out, like they could with a game that's "on autopilot."
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 282	Posted - 2013.09.05 18:36:00 - [2] - Quote Spycrab Potato wrote: Wow. And here I was thinking that 95% of the fan base are whiny COD idiots. You sir, are the single flame in a sea of darkness speckled with other small flames. Thanks for the compliment! As soon as I realized it was an expectation issue, I really wanted to share what has become "routine" expectations for me and other MMO players who play Dust as well. It became obvious to me that it was an expectation issue when my friend asked how "the map pack" messed so many things up. It was a matter of setting his expectations to realize that Dust is ongoing as much as Eve Online or World of Warcraft is. Because it's ongoing, there's going to be continual updates over the "traditional map pack" model.
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 312	Posted - 2013.09.06 00:53:00 - [3] - Quote Needless Sacermendor wrote: Soldner VonKuechle wrote: needs to be read by the masses. I agree, but can you do it in pictorial comic strip or something with not more than 15 words (and none of them more than 4 letters) Or perhaps a festive GIF.
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 331	Posted - 2013.09.06 02:52:00 - [4] - Quote J4yne C0bb wrote: I'll be honest, I have little to no experience with MMOs, which is why I've been continually frustrated at Dust, compared to other games. I had no idea this was a common experience for MMO players. Thanks for explaining -- this does need to be stickied. People might ***** a little less if they understand the nature of Dust as being a work in progress, and be more constructive in their criticism. Yeah, I sort of realized that when my friend wanted to talk about "the new map pack." I knew the release was much more, and honestly for many MMO players--it is true that patches have gotten more stable over the years--it was always fun to "bet" if the patch would be up and running at the end of downtime or what would break, etc. MMOs trickle out content, which is great for the players, since we don't have to wait a whole year before getting new toys, updates, etc., but it can be a little jarring, especially if you're not used to it. Traditional FPS games launch "map packs" or expanded content that is, for the most part, fully complete when it is shipped. There is very little done after the fact. MMOs are gradual change monsters. But the good kind of monsters. The kind that constantly deliver content and fun things for its player base. For example, here's a link to Eve Online's Odyssey release (the latest expansion), that "launched" on June 4 with version 1.0.0. But, you can follow the patch notes all the way through and you'll see on June 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, July 2, 9, 16, 17, 18, August 1, 13, and 21st they all had patches released to address issues that popped up in Odyssey 1.0, with the last patch (of 1.0) being Odyssey 1.0.20. So they had 20 days of patches and hotfixes to address various issues. The latest release of Odyssey is 1.1, and that launched Sept 3rd with Dust's Uprising 1.4. It's not all that uncommon for there to be hotfixes and patches all along the way with an MMO, and since Dust is a new kind of MMO, a shooter so-called MMOFPS, I think we can expect a learning curve. The "major" thing that happened here, though, is that it was a matchmaking bug, which is sort of the cornerstone of the Dust experience. (The other things that would have been game-breaking, for example, would be if the market were down or if your skills were inaccessible.) The whole game runs based on pvp and matchmaking, so it was a show stopper. The great thing here, though, is how quickly CCP has worked to address the changes and get the game in a good and playable state. Sure, there'll be some niggles along the way, but overall they're doing solid work.
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 342	Posted - 2013.09.06 07:35:00 - [5] - Quote Noc Tempre wrote: You don't know how normal MMOs are made. The "incomplete game" model is actually very new western take on the F2P model. New features used to come in expansion packs, not patches. Oh, and almost all "incomplete game" projects are flopping hard. Even PS2, which I love, and admittedly uses this same model (albeit now at 15 months of consistent new content) is not as financially stable as SOE hoped, which is probably why they are focusing on making the game more accessible (optimization so lower powered hardware and consoles will run it smoothly). Really? I think I have a pretty good idea about how these things work. How about some real-world facts? Let's look at patch history for what is arguably the largest MMO, World of Warcraft, and let's see if they released their full game model, with only new features in expansion packs and what I would presume you meant were minor fixes in patches: World of Warcraft release: Version 1.1: (Nov. 2004) Release bug fixes Patch 1.2: (Dec. 2004) 5-man dungeon (maraudon), outdoor PvP area, holidy content Patch 1.3: (March 2005) 5-man dungeon, outdoor raid bosses Patch 1.4: (April 2005) PvP honor system Patch 1.5: (June 2005) Two battlegrounds Patch 1.6: (July 2005) Raid dungeon (BWL), Darkmoon faire Patch 1.7: (September 2005): Raid dungeon (ZG), Battleground (AB) Patch 1.8: (October 2005): Outdoor PvE bosses, Revamped questing in Silithus Patch 1.9: (January 2006): Two raids (AQ20 & AQ 40) Patch 1.10: (March 2006): Weather effects & Teir 0.5 armor set quests Patch 1.11: (June 2006): Raid dungeon (Naxx) Patch 1.12: (August 2006): Cross-realm BGs Burning Crusade release (expansion): 2.0: (December thru Feb 2007) Preparation & release of TBC Patch 2.1: (May 2007) Raid dungeon (BT) Patch 2.2: (Sept 2007) Voice chat Patch 2.3: (November 2007) Raid dungeon (ZA), guild banks, Season 3 Arena Patch 2.4: (March 2008) Raid dungeon (Sunwell), 5-man (MGT) & Isle of QuelGÇÖDanas daily quests Wrath of the Lich King release (expansion): 3.0: (Oct thru december 2008) Preparation & release of WotLK Patch 3.1: (April 2009): Raid dungeon (Ulduar), Argent Tournament daily quests Patch 3.2: (August 2009): Raid Dungeon (ToC), 5-man (ToC), PvP battleground (Isle) Patch 3.3: (December 2009) Icecrown Citadel Patch 3.3.5: (June 2010) Ruby Sanctum Raid Cataclysm release (expansion): 4.0: (October 2010 to November 2010) Preparation & release of Cataclysm, world revamp Patch 4.1: (April 2011) 5-man Dungeons (ZA, ZG) Patch 4.2: (June 2011) New Firelands Raid Patch 4.3: (Nov. 2011) 5-man Dungeons (CoT, ET, WoE), Raid Finder feature, Transmogrification item customization, Void Storage shared inventory, Darkmoon Faire Island zone, Dragon Soul Raid Patch 4.3.2: (Jan. 2012) Cross-Server Raids Mists of Pandaria release (expansion): 5.0: (Aug. 2012 to Oct. 2012) Preparation & release of Mists of Pandaria Patch 5.1: (Nov. 2012) New world PVP conflict and factions, Brawler's guild pvp system, Battle Pet upgrade feature, new scenario challenges Patch 5.2: (Mar. 2013) New zone Isle of Thunder, new Raid Throne of Thunder, New world bosses, new scenario challenges, Sunsong ranch iterations Patch 5.3: (May 2013) New battleground (DG), New Arena, new scenario challenges, quest campaign escalation (For those players who never looked at WoW, a "Raid" is a large 10-40 man dungeon to "kill the dragon") * * * So even looking back all the way to 2004, which I would argue hardly qualifies for "very new western take" on the "incomplete game model," you can clearly see that the original WoW release was shipped, much as modern MMOs are with a "ship-ready" version of the game that Blizzard's developer team then iterated on and released content via patches, with major content being "shipped" from expansions, as I explained in the OP. I'll admit that there's a trend toward larger, more content-rich patches, but the idea that a patch is used to introduce something new to the game is hardly new. I just as easily could have pulled Eve Online's patch history (link) or EverQuest's (link) as well, and we'd have seen a similar development history, but the point is that MMOs development is done in a similar fashion (and EverQuest goes back to 1999). Now, if you were referring to the "freemium" sales model, where players get the product for a nominal cost and can opt for in-game upgrades with real-world funds, well I would agree that that sales model is somewhat new, but patches as a source of content for MMO players? Not so much.
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 357	Posted - 2013.09.06 15:02:00 - [6] - Quote The Amusing Ciderman wrote: I am on a break from Dust at the moment, mostly due to my own Skirmish fatigue & just playing the same maps over and over getting boring to me. Seeing these new maps arriving has sparked a new interest in Dust. However I am waiting for the inital pain of patch deployment to dissapate before I return to try it all out. That and Payday 2 has got me by the balls! I can totally understand the "same-old" feeling you may have about Dust, but if you haven't played 1.4 yet, the changes to squad view and active scanning, combined with visual tweaks here and there, plus the new maps have made the matches feel much more dynamic. And the new maps and scenery are beautiful!
Vespasian Andendare Subsonic Synthesis Alpha Wolf Pack 379	Posted - 2013.09.09 14:45:00 - [7] - Quote The Amusing Ciderman wrote: Vespasian Andendare wrote: ]I can totally understand the "same-old" feeling you may have about Dust, but if you haven't played 1.4 yet, the changes to squad view and active scanning, combined with visual tweaks here and there, plus the new maps have made the matches feel much more dynamic. And the new maps and scenery are beautiful! That good huh? Good enough that I might start buying boosters again? It's more a case of the Payday 2 shine wearing off and then I will return to Dust. At the moment I have my heistin' mask on. At least a passive booster! May as well not miss out while you're not online! That's the beauty of the passive sp system! But yeah, matches feel much more dynamic with less information. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but lack of shared vision with changes to active scanning gives the element of surprise when you see someone, and it fosters more communication with your team. The active scanner gives you a glimpse of what's around you for a limited time, and that helps with tactics. And just add on some visual polish, and it's pretty solid overall, especially now that matchmaking issues are being worked out. (Just as a bonus, you can get into battle so much quicker now. It's a lot of fun!)

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