Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

[razen]

Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

Reading the massive amount of complaints for the past few weeks, I get the impression that the general consensus being the new patch being done by "people not knowing what the heck they are doing."

And that got me thinking... holy crap... it's so true!

It's been 9 years since the game came out. If you had a baby by day 1, your kid is now going to the 3rd grade. Most people don't even keep the same job for 9 years!

I think that's the problem right there... During this 9 year span, lots of things have happened. For one, Blizzard is sold. We are no longer talking about the same company that made Diablo. The world economy has changed, the way business transact has changed... we are talking about a brand new world in terms of marketing and business.

The original development team is mostly gone (if not all gone) Heck, there might be god knows how many teams in between the original one and the current one.

One thing I learned in programming is that it's always harder to read someone else's code than your own. (duh) So then... there should be a similar expectation for Diablo team. Think about it... we might not see these game codes, but through a couple team working through them? I can't imagine what kind of mess we are talking about... a couple generations of coders/designers trying to retro to a technology 9 years ago. While the work they do might seem only a week worth, the actual deciphering process might have been tedious than we imagined.

My point is... both the business and technical aspect of the game have changed, is it still reasonable to expect circa 2000? I mean, the game is so old, it still had dialup technlogy within. Heck, do most people now a days know what the heck a tcp/ip is?

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to be continued...

 

[jhtvman]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

People wouldn't be so upset if Blizzard hadn't asked for fan feedback and taken so long with it. Even though I like most of the changes that were made, it's perfectly understandable that people are pissed at Blizzard considering how much Blizzard hyped it up and how much time they took to get it done.

 

[Stebok]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

There are some fixes that were probably a lot easier than "fixing duping" but it was not done, that's probably why people are mad.

e.g.
"Take off teleport on enigma" would of been easy.
"Nerf the insight" would of been easy.

Those are the 2 most common things I see on bnet forums

 

[zarniwoop]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

If teleport is removed from enigma, I'm done with D2.

I know no one cares, but I cannot stand playing a sorceress. You need to play one to be worth anything as a mfer without enigma. Don't tell me about any other class, because nothing else can match a sorc.

When teleport is removed from enigma, that will start the exodus and kill a lot of builds as viable magic finders (viable = competitive with a sorc).

Guess what happens when enigma has no tele? Everyone rolls a sorc for pvp. Everyone. Problem solved and much worse problems created.

 

[DoomBoy]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

There's always teleport charges

Naj Puzzler + teleport amulets!

 

[jhtvman]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

Guess what happens when enigma has no tele? Everyone rolls a sorc for pvp. Everyone. Problem solved and much worse problems created.

More like everyone rolls a sorc for everything except Ubering. Removing teleport from Enigma is a horrible idea.

 

[sbn]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

People wouldn't be so upset if Blizzard hadn't asked for fan feedback and taken so long with it. Even though I like most of the changes that were made, it's perfectly understandable that people are pissed at Blizzard considering how much Blizzard hyped it up and how much time they took to get it done.

That there in lies the mess that was created by Blizzard, not by players. People have always complained about one thing or another, but really if they had never announced a patch, never asked for OUR input, never given the impression that the patch would be released with a ladder reset months ago, then everything would be normal. Blizzard brought this on themselves, then proceeded to dig themselves further with a lack of communication, and what communication provided was cryptic to misleading.

So why should we give them a break? Yes I get the argument that it is a 9 year old game blah blah blah. Well, they never intended this as some gracious gift anyways. The patch is a P.R. move, and as such the public is responding, just not in the way Blizzard originally intended.

 

[razen]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

That there in lies the mess that was created by Blizzard, not by players. People have always complained about one thing or another, but really if they had never announced a patch, never asked for OUR input, never given the impression that the patch would be released with a ladder reset months ago, then everything would be normal. Blizzard brought this on themselves, then proceeded to dig themselves further with a lack of communication, and what communication provided was cryptic to misleading.

So why should we give them a break? Yes I get the argument that it is a 9 year old game blah blah blah. Well, they never intended this as some gracious gift anyways. The patch is a P.R. move, and as such the public is responding, just not in the way Blizzard originally intended.

Could it be entirely possible that the team that was originally projected to do the patch was removed midway to support WOW or simply expense cutting move by Blizzard to release employees? We don't know the inside story, so both senarios are entirely possible.

If by public announcement is a crime, then sc: ghost must be a felony then.

Someone from another thread posted a link to a link to another link about why patch 1.13 suxors, and suggest to have 20000 people donate 5 dollars a year to hire a dedicated employer (or 2... even 3... 30 grand is a good pay now a days...) to work on d2.

I see that proposal from several angles in regard to out-sourcing:

1) If I am a Blizzard CEO, and most likely, I inherited D2 instead of being part of the original business team (probably true... isn't pretty much everyone from the original Blizzard are gone?). I ask myself, why should I dish out 100k a year to support a 9 year old game that I have no part of?

2) With the imminent release of D3, is it still wise to divert my limited manpower (oh come on, be realistic, Blizzard is not Google... they most likely have like 200 employees, most of whom not even major in CS) to work on a game designed for technology from the previous TWO generations?

And if you are a businessman, it's a no and no to the above 2 questions.

Here's the probably situation right now:

There are NO dedicated D2 team, they are all most likly part-timers from D3 development team. (Concensus? check)

This group of part-timers are most likely not the same team from D2... heck, they might not even be the same team from the original patch 1.13 announcement.

They get paid the same, d2 or no d2. If I am a project leader, I tell them to spend 1/40 of their week on d2 and get their beehind back on d3.

Concensus on the above 3? Viola... answers all questions on why no new contents and long delay.

 

[DoW Fanatic]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

Did I miss an announcement of Blizzard merging with EA or something? This is the kind of crap I'd expect of EA, not Blizzard.

 

[s4nder]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

It's not the patch that's so important for me but the ladder reset instead. I haven't played the game for eight months because "it's gonna reset any minute anyway." Boy was I wrong.

 

[krischan]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

IIRC no reset ever came without announcing it a week or two in advance

 

[razen]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

IIRC no reset ever came without announcing it a week or two in advance

The strangest thing about reset is that... why can't they just have an automatic timer that does it every 8 months or so? Why do they have to do it manually? That part about the reset made no sense to me...

Now THAT... is something a coder could do in 5 min or so. or if Blizzard is truly lazy, buy one of those electric outlet timer switch. set it for 8 months interval on all server power outlets, and every 8 months...BEUUU.... reset! problem solved! see, no coders require

 

[nukka]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

The thing that pissed me off about this whole update mess, is the fact that it took so long to get little results. You can't blame the code, because there are plenty of people who make mods and hax for D2. They don't do it for a living either, blizzard doesn't care enough about the game and its as simple as that. But why should they care if they make millions off of WoW?

 

[Punkonjunk]

Re: Patch patch patch... is it really that important?

Hey, you're right! maybe they could hand the project off to someone with years of commited D2 experience, like all the faithful modders out there who are at least sorta familiar with the code?
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