I think as long as you cant set proper multi game the minor fixes aren't worth it. I mean multi was supposed to be included ingame and not as an option for those who understand how to set multi with certain programs. I finished the game and didnt see a lot flaws in it.. how many flaws can be in certain patch?.. well bad question hmhm (DA).. but anyway we(the fans) want to know exact date of the release.
@Aranthys And yet, over two thirds of the votes are for the second option! (50/80, with the other 30 voting for the first option; no love for the third one)
@Aranthys And yet, over two thirds of the votes are for the second option! (50/80, with the other 30 voting for the first option; no love for the third one)
Problem stays the same : People that are not in the beta are able to vote, wronging the results anyway
Just a little remark : One of the big problem with your poll is that it's completely open, hence, people that are not in the beta will probably vote "Yes, the patch is awesome! Close the beta and release the patch!", giving you wrong overall results.
And yet they released v. 2014 with broken first quest in the game. What I mean no release will be completely bug free. Which is sad, but true. As I said in my post, there are many new things that really shine and everyone should be able to experience that. More patches are sure to come, so I say why wait.
Still, it seems that the second option will win, so whatever.
well, as it seems there will still be some testing ahead of us. i think it would be better to fix few outstanding issues, release the patch and then proceed as normal (hotfixes/new patches for later game bugs or something). patch is already excellent- tried playing previous version yesterday to test a few things but my eyes hurt, and i had to go back to beta- but it will never be perfect.
and please, add some mouse button mapping and option to manually set GUI resolution!
It might seem like glittery new features and UI makes up for the bugs that have come up and were there before, but this isn't the case. Looking at the bug reports at this point you might even get the impression that there are more bugs now than before they started patching, and releasing the patch now could only be defined as "premature", IMO.
Still, I'm sure they're close. It seems like the initial goals of the patch are done; now they're just patching the patch.
Patch patch patch patch. This word is starting to sound weird.
I personally haven't found any really big problems/glitches. Only a few small ones, that got fixed (or will be in short while). Just release it, so everyone can enjoy it.
It might seem like glittery new features and UI makes up for the bugs that have come up and were there before, but this isn't the case. Looking at the bug reports at this point you might even get the impression that there are more bugs now than before they started patching, and releasing the patch now could only be defined as "premature", IMO.
Still, I'm sure they're close. It seems like the initial goals of the patch are done; now they're just patching the patch.
Well you have a point. Broken hit dice in dual and multi is a gamebreaker. My fault since I always play a singleclass character so I didn't experience this. The xp cap is set pretty low so I didn't see the point of even considering playing dualclass or alone multiclass. BG:EE introduced some really good kits like Dwarven Defender, Dragon Disciple, Shadowdancer and Blackguard so I've been playing mostly them because the are really something new. And because beta mostly fixed their issues, in beta I only played Dragon Disciple and Blackguard.
Yea, please fix the hit dice problem and remove the experience cap! Moreover, well, we waited so long so I think what is needed now is a bug free (as much as possible) release; some days more won't make the difference.
On one hand: I'm a cautios guy and honestly I haven't had many problems with the beta and even thise were already fixed and I trust the devs, but I don't want another Firebead or BG East sound fiasco. So just to really be sure, I'd wait for a couple days. Possibly till the weekend.
On the other hand: And I know this was not my vote, but I was quite torn between them, we have waited looong enough for this patch So if you will fix the bugs as quick as you did with the beta, then RELEASE THE KRAKEN! I mean patch...
I think crashes to desktop (dragon disciple's dragon breath) and especially the hit die issue should be fixed before opening up the beta (let alone release).
Yea, please fix the hit dice problem and remove the experience cap! Moreover, well, we waited so long so I think what is needed now is a bug free (as much as possible) release; some days more won't make the difference.
FYI all your experience is recorded. You don't actually "lose" out on any experience in the case of BGEE if you go over the 161,000 limit. You just can't gain more levels in BGEE.
Some important bugs, like the Hit Dice, dialog loops or journal entries should be fixed, imho, before releasing the patch. Otherwise, seems pretty good to me. But feel free to erase the most bugs you can while you're in beta !
I personally haven't found any really big problems/glitches. Only a few small ones, that got fixed (or will be in short while). Just release it, so everyone can enjoy it.
Thank you that you fight for non-beta testers. :-) I want this patch soooo badly....
I don`t mind more polish of the patch but i have yet to get any game breaking bug, or any crash either for that matter. hehehe just found that "hit him with your staff" is still in the Tutorial even if u have another weapon equipped.
i followed the complete testing phase in the last 2 Weeks. I noticed the patch bring a lot of new interesting features and -more important- will allow player that cannot even start the game to have it. The one with the patch cannot (or no longer) be frustrated about that and it's much more frustrating that a hit dice bug !
I understand lot of you want some items fixed before releasing but please think about the users awaiting the software from months. The game will never be perfect and will never be what you want it to be, just because it is not made for you but all of us.
I think a good approach would be to open the phase III up to those who pre-ordered the game before it's original Launch. THis way you get more people helping out testing and finding bugs prior to the full Open Beta. This would help to quell the calls for access and also assist in ensuring the patch really is in a state to go to Open Beta before everyone get's thier hands on it.
@Dee or @LiamEsler would this be feasible and helpful in terms of helping idfentify issues, or would it offer too much 'cross taslk' for you guys to filter out the major issues?
I personally have found very few bugs, and all of them have been minor. That said, clearly others are not having the same experience so I bow to the majority ruling.
@Rahlik And your reason for selecting only those who pre-ordered is..? Why not, say, all BGEE owners who are also forum members who have posted more than 10 times?
Personally I don't think there's really a need to have an extra step like this (i.e. beta -> semi-open beta -> open beta -> patch), but if it has to be a gradual opening up, I could understand. However, I can't understand your choice of criteria... it sounds very arbitrary.
The only criteria for the selection was owning BGEE on Beamdog. Not prerordering. And the only reason for that was due to how you get access to the beta files.
If they were to open up the beta to more people it should continue along that same criteria. Anything more complicated would slow down the process for no good reason. Especially since its just minor stuff left to fix at the moment.
I still maintain its better to let people get this base patch earlier because it contains things you can only really take advantage of by starting a new game (i.e. new default colors, Rasaad having a kit, etc.). Minor stuff that doesn't require a game restart can easilly be patched later.
i followed the complete testing phase in the last 2 Weeks. I noticed the patch bring a lot of new interesting features and -more important- will allow player that cannot even start the game to have it. The one with the patch cannot (or no longer) be frustrated about that and it's much more frustrating that a hit dice bug !
I understand lot of you want some items fixed before releasing but please think about the users awaiting the software from months. The game will never be perfect and will never be what you want it to be, just because it is not made for you but all of us.
Hey I perfectly understand peoples frustration about the situation but I just don't think the patch is ready yet.
Its one thing for a patch to have minor issues. Like for instance (to use an entirely made up example) dialogue between Viconia and Safana wasn't triggering.
Its another when one of the kits abilities is causing game crashing and when there are bugs that persist (like the hit dice) that can have a lasting impact on a character (unless you use EEkeeper which may not an option for everyone). If there aren't any more of these sort of bugs left over the course of the next few days than then I'm all in favour of releasing the patch then.
As a beta tester and still finding bugs. I am in two minds. (You may have noticed a lack of postings on my behalf... I'm just playing BG in my spare moments an awful lot more now...)
But enough is enough. The Patch is Ready in my opinion.
People are now waiting for very minor fixes.
Release the patch and let the public play it.
The big bugs are squashed. Kill the tiny bugs left in a future patch.
The game has so many, many ways it can be played. There are many quests and usually many, many ways of completing said quests. This creates amazing replayabilty value. But makes finding bugs hard when only a dwarven defender with 16 con, doing a certain action to a NPC, with Kivan in the team, at a nighttime causes a bug to appear.
However wide a net we cast. Something will get through.
It's a bit like mummification... You can't expect to look perfectly healthy after 3000 years, a little bit of rot is to be expected.
...
On the other hand I love Beta's and the testers. Can we keep them? Or do we need to release them back into the wild?
@Rahlik And your reason for selecting only those who pre-ordered is..? Why not, say, all BGEE owners who are also forum members who have posted more than 10 times?
Personally I don't think there's really a need to have an extra step like this (i.e. beta -> semi-open beta -> open beta -> patch), but if it has to be a gradual opening up, I could understand. However, I can't understand your choice of criteria... it sounds very arbitrary.
Well the measurement used for opeining up the gates for more members to par-take in the beta is irrelevant.
It was merely an example of what could be used. Whatever yard stick used to select further members to partake in phase 3 however does not make it a semi-open beta it simply increases the number of testers, also any chosen method of allowing access could be deemed arbitrary based on a persons point of view.
Also the fact that I chose such a measurement was why i posed the question of whether a large amount more (based on the criterion I set of course) would be better or whether it would in fact make tracking the number of bugs coming in and prioritising more difficult.
I understand that not all community members are going to agree on what the right way to manage the beta membership or go live is. But the question I posed is there simply to glean whether the guys at overhaul/beamdog have any ideas on how they would wish to manage opening up to more beta-testers prior to the closure of phase 3. I think that's quite a justifiable question to pose, it might not be one I get an answer too however.
Comments
And yet, over two thirds of the votes are for the second option!
(50/80, with the other 30 voting for the first option; no love for the third one)
Still, it seems that the second option will win, so whatever.
patch is already excellent- tried playing previous version yesterday to test a few things but my eyes hurt, and i had to go back to beta- but it will never be perfect.
and please, add some mouse button mapping and option to manually set GUI resolution!
Still, I'm sure they're close. It seems like the initial goals of the patch are done; now they're just patching the patch.
Patch patch patch patch. This word is starting to sound weird.
Moreover, well, we waited so long so I think what is needed now is a bug free (as much as possible) release; some days more won't make the difference.
On the other hand: And I know this was not my vote, but I was quite torn between them, we have waited looong enough for this patch
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/21860/dual-class-multiclass-hit-die-system
Otherwise, seems pretty good to me. But feel free to erase the most bugs you can while you're in beta !
hehehe just found that "hit him with your staff" is still in the Tutorial even if u have another weapon equipped.
i followed the complete testing phase in the last 2 Weeks. I noticed the patch bring a lot of new interesting features and -more important- will allow player that cannot even start the game to have it. The one with the patch cannot (or no longer) be frustrated about that and it's much more frustrating that a hit dice bug !
I understand lot of you want some items fixed before releasing but please think about the users awaiting the software from months. The game will never be perfect and will never be what you want it to be, just because it is not made for you but all of us.
... and let more people in to help you
@Dee or @LiamEsler would this be feasible and helpful in terms of helping idfentify issues, or would it offer too much 'cross taslk' for you guys to filter out the major issues?
(I think this is the time to run and hide....)
Personally I don't think there's really a need to have an extra step like this (i.e. beta -> semi-open beta -> open beta -> patch), but if it has to be a gradual opening up, I could understand. However, I can't understand your choice of criteria... it sounds very arbitrary.
If they were to open up the beta to more people it should continue along that same criteria. Anything more complicated would slow down the process for no good reason. Especially since its just minor stuff left to fix at the moment.
I still maintain its better to let people get this base patch earlier because it contains things you can only really take advantage of by starting a new game (i.e. new default colors, Rasaad having a kit, etc.). Minor stuff that doesn't require a game restart can easilly be patched later.
Its one thing for a patch to have minor issues. Like for instance (to use an entirely made up example) dialogue between Viconia and Safana wasn't triggering.
Its another when one of the kits abilities is causing game crashing and when there are bugs that persist (like the hit dice) that can have a lasting impact on a character (unless you use EEkeeper which may not an option for everyone). If there aren't any more of these sort of bugs left over the course of the next few days than then I'm all in favour of releasing the patch then.
But enough is enough. The Patch is Ready in my opinion.
People are now waiting for very minor fixes.
Release the patch and let the public play it.
The big bugs are squashed. Kill the tiny bugs left in a future patch.
The game has so many, many ways it can be played. There are many quests and usually many, many ways of completing said quests. This creates amazing replayabilty value. But makes finding bugs hard when only a dwarven defender with 16 con, doing a certain action to a NPC, with Kivan in the team, at a nighttime causes a bug to appear.
However wide a net we cast. Something will get through.
It's a bit like mummification... You can't expect to look perfectly healthy after 3000 years, a little bit of rot is to be expected.
...
On the other hand I love Beta's and the testers. Can we keep them? Or do we need to release them back into the wild?
It was merely an example of what could be used. Whatever yard stick used to select further members to partake in phase 3 however does not make it a semi-open beta it simply increases the number of testers, also any chosen method of allowing access could be deemed arbitrary based on a persons point of view.
Also the fact that I chose such a measurement was why i posed the question of whether a large amount more (based on the criterion I set of course) would be better or whether it would in fact make tracking the number of bugs coming in and prioritising more difficult.
I understand that not all community members are going to agree on what the right way to manage the beta membership or go live is. But the question I posed is there simply to glean whether the guys at overhaul/beamdog have any ideas on how they would wish to manage opening up to more beta-testers prior to the closure of phase 3. I think that's quite a justifiable question to pose, it might not be one I get an answer too however.