Most bugged version of the last few years

[dave byrd]

Here's what happens with FM:

1. The demo is released to the public a week or two before release, for no practical reason other than as a taster for the addicts and so that consumers can check whether the product works on their system.

2. The game is released religiously on a 12 month cycle, or less, with a bare minimum release date of November so as to cash in on Christmas.

3. The developers notice major bugs within the locked demo code during the two weeks between demo release and retail release, and prepare a patch to fix the locked code when retail release lands. This is the first patch.

4. The game is released with only two weeks of developer testing on the final code.

5. The game is badly bug-strewn as the code hasn't been Beta-tested to any large-scale degree, an opportunity that could be addressed by an extended demo release. The second patch is released in December, which addresses the flood of feedback from the forum. However, there's no time to fully test the newly altered code, so once more the developers only have around two weeks to test the locked code for new errors.

6. The community notice the errors from the first patch are fixed, but the second patch has created a load of other bugs (like the "Poland Bug" in 11.2). Urgent hotfix aside, these are ignored and will be addressed in February/March, after the community "Beta test" the second patch for two months.

7. The influx of bug reports, combined with the two to three month extended testing period for the dev team between December and March, allow the game code to be fine tuned to eradicate final bugs and the third patch basically completes the game.

Great post. This is why i will only buy FM after the final patch in future, saving me both hassle and money.