Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I have posted numerous times in the bugs area for network games uploading many crash dump files. The network game is currently unplayable due to the frequency of network crashes. This happens every year. With this in mind please can someone explain why the network game is never included in the playable Beta ?? We're always left waiting until about rel x.3 before the network side of the game becomes playable. If it were included in the beta we may have a fighting chance of a playable network game before Christmas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 ...but the Beta is available 2 weeks prior to full release. You're not telling me that it's not finished at that point ? Why don't they just open it up and see what response they get ? even if it's 5% of the population of FM players, it's feedback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 ...but the Beta is available 2 weeks prior to full release. You're not telling me that it's not finished at that point ? Why don't they just open it up and see what response they get ? even if it's 5% of the population of FM players, it's feedback. I don't imagine they keep it closed off each year because it isn't ready. There will be a specific reason why they can't/won't open it up, but as to what that reason is...only SI know I guess, and I doubt they'll tell. As for why existing bugs aren't addressed, well it's the whole priority issue. Simply put, more important things must have come up. It's extremely annoying I imagine for those who like to play online, but I guess it's the way it is. If online becomes more popular compared to standard single player, then you better believe those bugs will start getting looked at earlier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 I understand your point, what I cannot understand is that even two players playing the network game in beta may uncover bugs which could improve the experience for the full release. I understand that it may not be a priority in reality compared to the single player game but nonetheless knowing about a bug up to two weeks earlier surely has to be advantageous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I understand your point, what I cannot understand is that even two players playing the network game in beta may uncover bugs which could improve the experience for the full release.I understand that it may not be a priority in reality compared to the single player game but nonetheless knowing about a bug up to two weeks earlier surely has to be advantageous. Knowing about isn't the same as fixing it though. In fact, the chance of network game bugs being fixed in that first two week period are probably even smaller, as there are some pretty show-stopping things that come up then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 A Beta test should not be for show-stoppers. That's the job of the Alpha test. ...and I would consider the network game crashing consistently a show-stopper. Albeit for fewer users. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 A Beta test should not be for show-stoppers. That's the job of the Alpha test....and I would consider the network game crashing consistently a show-stopper. Albeit for fewer users. So are we just ignoring any that came up in the beta then? They happen, and they need to be fixed. Ideally there's no bugs whatsoever, but that's not going to happen either. You might consider it that, but SI probably don't, and it's their opinion that matters. Even if they did, a show-stopper that affects 5% of the user base gets trumped by one that affects 95% every single day of the week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Of course any major bugs need to be fixed, but the two week 'Beta test' is not the real beta test and no-one will convince me of that. Any major bugs and show-stoppers should be long gone by the time joe public gets his grubby mitts on it. I could be mistaken and the two week beta test is the real beta test, in which case I'm not surprised at the number of bugs we get each year and why it takes until release x.3 until the game is playable. Here's a radical concept...make the public beta test longer than two weeks and include the network game in it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Of course any major bugs need to be fixed, but the two week 'Beta test' is not the real beta test and no-one will convince me of that. Any major bugs and show-stoppers should be long gone by the time joe public gets his grubby mitts on it.I could be mistaken and the two week beta test is the real beta test, in which case I'm not surprised at the number of bugs we get each year and why it takes until release x.3 until the game is playable. Here's a radical concept...make the public beta test longer than two weeks and include the network game in it. Not sure what you mean by "real" beta test. SI perform a closed beta with hand-picked people way before anything gets made public. Obviously bugs should be long gone, but saying that and expecting it to actually happen are two very different things. Bugs will always be there, they just have to hope to catch the largest ones. But given they can't test on every single person's set-up, and will probably struggle to think up every single way to give input to the game, then it's unrealistic to believe that everything is going to get caught. Here's a "radical" concept. Just accept that all games have bugs, and maybe not fall into the trap of hyperbole, claiming that the same isn't playable until a third update. It's playable now. The network game is bugged, but it doesn't matter if that part was available six months before release, it still wouldn't be of high enough importance to take precedence over larger bugs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Duly patronised and chastised. I am however paying for this game and am thus allowed a voice. I accept that all games have bugs, but if the network game is so low in importance that game breaking bugs are not going to be fixed then don't include it, or admit that it's so low in importance in the devoted network game bug section instead of completely ignoring any bugs and crash dumps that are posted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Duly patronised and chastised. I am however paying for this game and am thus allowed a voice.I accept that all games have bugs, but if the network game is so low in importance that game breaking bugs are not going to be fixed then don't include it, or admit that it's so low in importance in the devoted network game bug section instead of completely ignoring any bugs and crash dumps that are posted. Looks from the network bugs forum that they're doing the exact opposite of ignoring them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 oh aren't they ? my mistake ? I'll be specific for you. No response on my particular thread regarding network game crashes due to press conference/media activity since 13/11/2014 despite 3 subsequent crash dump uploads. Not even an acknowledgement of receipt. Poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 ...but, I forgot. It's low priority, so I'll just accept that my £30 is wasted and forget about it because the network side of things is not important. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hluraven Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 oh aren't they ? my mistake ?I'll be specific for you. No response on my particular thread regarding network game crashes due to press conference/media activity since 13/11/2014 despite 3 subsequent crash dump uploads. Not even an acknowledgement of receipt. Poor. No response? SI responded twice in your thread, and asked you for a save game, which you cannot provide. Despite this, they have tried to find out from your crash dump what is going on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 I can't provide a save game because it's been overwritten because I'm having to save the game so often because it keeps crashing !!! Granted they acknowledged the first grumble and the first crash dump but I've uploaded 3 more since then hoping that it may give more insight but nothing has been forthcoming. I'm trying to be a pro-active member of the FM community her which should hopefully make the game better for all of us. Along with another user I think that we've established that press conferences or media interaction between the host and the clients is the problem but I need some agreement from SI that this is the case so that I can advise all clients not to participate in any press or media elements of gameplay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 somewhat ironically this thread discussing my bug thread is now 18 long and it was only started this morning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 sorry 20 long ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Neil Brock Posted December 1, 2014 Administrators Share Posted December 1, 2014 It's a tough area to test as obviously you have many different set-ups running with many different configurations. Then you have different anti-virus programs and the like which can throw up issues which can cause problems. I'll make sure any network game issues raised we look into. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Thanks Neil. So you think it could be anti-virus related? I run as the host, and it's the host which crashes out. Is it worth me trying a network game session with my anti-virus turned off ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 Any news on a fix ? Doesn't look like there has been any progress on network fixes in 15.2.0. forameuss - am i still "falling into the trap of hyperbole" ? in claiming that the network game is never truly playable until release x.3 ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 You obviously haven't paid attention. I've uploaded countless crash dump files outlining the scenarios at each crash. So I'm not just whining as you put it 'my game is broken, fix it'. Which by the way I'm entitled to do as a customer and purchaser of the product. ...and as a software developer I do actually understand how complicated FM is, yes. I also understand that its difficult to get to the bottom of certain bugs. That's why we create crash dump files, they capture all the relevant information at the time of the crash...hence me uploading them at every crash to assist with development. My advice to you is...read the full string before posting a comment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
santy001 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Have to admit I've never really had a problem with the network game side of things this year or any other year (the primary way I play FM is through a network game). It's solid and the only issue experienced this year was the occasional crash on continue which could affect any games network or not. If your own computer is having problems would it not be better to have a friend host the game? The most common game I host is on a PC with an i7 920 D0 processor and AVG antivirus and had expected difficulties due to my mate having a mac laptop and windows PC but he's able to connect fine on either one and without incident. Also have a different network game with 3/4 others that I host which is played less often, but still doesn't have any issues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 It's good to hear that there are other network gamers out there who are playing problem free, it gives me hope. I just wish more focus was given to ironing out the network bugs. I've been playing since release and have reported issues ever since, in the hope that i could both contribute something to the community, and selfishly so that my issues could be resolved. I'm hosting on an i7 quadcore with 16Gb RAM and dedicated 2GB graphics card so it must be something other than hardware surely ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibber Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 ...and i wholeheartedly agree that the single player game is solid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSpecialness Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I too hope SI invest further resources in network stability and responsiveness. I really do think it will help the franchise longer term too. In the meantime would it be helpful if we could establish a pre approved config of OS's and antiviruses( if they are usually the problem to stability/responsiveness). Either from the community or SIs in house testing prior to release. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSpecialness Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Fwiw from experiences custom skins usually cause crashes in our annual games so we always make sure we run stock skins. Hamachi helps too on the responsive front Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.