FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

[Aeni]

Unready for takeoff: The five worst PC game launches (that aren’t SimCity) | Ars Technica

Yeah ... lol. No, it is about launches, so I'm hoping SE would avoid the same problems in ARR. Blizzard, apparently, didn't learn when D3 was released ...

[Malacite]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

Huh, funny how they included the Sega Saturn as a bonus (Virtual Boy says hi? Or what about the 3DO?)

[Armando]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

Huh, funny how they included the Sega Saturn as a bonus (Virtual Boy says hi? Or what about the 3DO?)

Well, they were talking specifically about launches. I think people were mostly indifferent to the Virtual Boy, whereas the Saturn launch made some people angry.

[Icemage]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

Well, they were talking specifically about launches. I think people more mostly indifferent to the Virtual Boy, whereas the Saturn launch made some people angry.

Yup. No one was hyped for the Virtual Boy or the 3DO, so people weren't actually disappointed when expectations were already low.

We've still got 2 console launches left to go this year though, so there's always an opportunity to add to the list.

EDIT: How in the hell did Daikatana not make it on the list? Unless maybe the criteria is that there is potential for improvement? But that doesn't explain the presence of the Saturn...


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

yeah fair enough. then again, PS2 was kind of "meh" when it first came out too lol (though not nearly as much, and it picked up speed fast - the Saturn just tanked from day 1)



Xenoblade is slowly killing me via OCD... and some really, really freaking hard NMs. Getting tired of seeing level 70+ enemies constantly in my path as well.

[Aeni]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

EDIT: How in the hell did Daikatana not make it on the list? Unless maybe the criteria is that there is potential for improvement? But that doesn't explain the presence of the Saturn...


Icemage

I think, although I'm not a mind reader of Kyle Orlando, the author was focused on titles with a modicum of expectations that had a particularly painful launch. Daikatana, on the other hand, was essentially the joke, the meme, the joke of the meme and the meme of the joke of the meme, both in terms of delays and as well as the fact that the game pretty much was dead-on-arrival or a non-starter (which means, no launch)

[Armando]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

I'll never forget "John Romero's about to make you his bitch" though.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

...

These aren't even in the same league as SimCity's failure.

With D3 as the only exception in that list , the core difference between SimCity and the rest of these games it is a singleplayer game with online-only DRM. The only reason your game even touches other player's games is because you have to connect to other player's games to make your power grid function.

That's by design. Its not because the AI is so complex a server has to do the heavy lifting, the AI is dumb as shit. Police never expand their patrol routes as more police are added to the force, its just more police patrolling the same fixed paths as before. Having a larger fire department doesn't mean they spread out to control the blaze, they just have more guys converge near the core fires while other ilttle ones flare up and expand.

All of this could have been avoided. AI could have been improved through more development time. Server issues, lost cities and people not being able to play could have been addressed by not having an online-only DRM for a single-player experience. Like D3, the only reason to connect is for microtransations, everything was contrived to serve that purpose. Maxis wants to deflect blame from EA and say it was their idea?

These other games had different situations. WoW was an MMO from a different time. While MMORPGs are known to have launches like this that's also because they are actual online multiplayer game. Being online, working with other players - that's the whole point. Even with D3's contrived DRM multiplayer was at least part of appeal to start with.

SimCity never had that and never needed it. EA and Maxis knew this was going to happen last year when they announced it, we knew this would happen when they announced it would be online only. Everyone knew

We didn't know WoW would take the world by storm and make waiting queues a thing, but the fact that we now have them for single player games almost a decade later for a simulation game his beyond pathetic and a brand new low for the industry. Whatever problems Half-Life 2 had, it wasn't related to requiring an internet connection to play the campaign.

There is no reason for SimCity to exist and Will Wright is probably thanking God he's no longer attached to the IP or EA and just teaching game design now. Hell, they gave him another lesson to teach his students - how to fuck up your game and consumer trust with completely unnecessary online-only DRM. Bravo, EA, just when I thought you couldn't top yourselves by ruing Bioware, shutting down EA big or constantly baiting people with a Mirror's Edge 2 that will never happen - you do this and do it knowingly.

There are already games that have online-connectivity features that aren't invasive like this. Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are some of the earliest and best examples, but you also have The Walking Dead, Catherine and Persona 4 Golden which let you see what other players did without messing with the core single-player experience. Yes, one day Dark Soul's servers will go down, but the solo game will still be the solo game.

[Aeni]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

I don't think there was any separation of online versus offline games. At least, the way I read it, and the reaction from the posters, it appears that many have agreed to at least two of the 5 on that list as having particularly (or preceived to) "horrible" launches. Admittedly, it isn't clear as to whether or not he (the author) chose a certain theme or had set criterias for these choices, but I can't remember too many titles, console, PC or otherwise, having exceptionally terrible launches that made the evening news.

Edit: And a bit of news related to your post BBQ: Fans, press uncover massive holes in SimCity’s AI, server connection | Ars Technica

[Taskmage]

Re: FFXIV 1.0 Wins an Award...

Just stating the obvious here: For the publisher, online-only DRM is its own point. If it can be made to interact with the gameplay mechanics in some way that seems to justify its inclusion, that's just whipped cream on the mud pie.