Sept. 22nd, 2005 - new patchFollow

Ever wonder what the beta testers found besides the exploits that have been turning up?

Wow. So you mean if I create a character now I could still get that name I've always wanted?

You know, as an owner of every expansion of EQ, I am no stranger to the amount of patches that come into play when a new expansion is released.

But, d*mn, this is friggin' crazy.

I **do** agree that the AA EX "exploit" in EC needed massive adjustment, that was a massive nerf / fix waiting to happen, but this is just one more sign to me that QA is going to the birds.

Mebbe if they didn't use all their resources trying to make a new expansion, (less than a year since the last one, I might add,) and instead tried to actually correct things, this wouldn't have happened.

Beating a dead horse, I know...

Do you have any idea how easy it is to miss a problem when your dealing with software 1/100th the size of EQ? It's not possible to do full regression testing with every change they make to the software. It doesn't surprise, nor irk me at all that there are a few problems when they make changes as complicated as this expansion had included with it.

The patches will stop soon and the problems will be fixed, at least none of them are catastrophic in nature.

Do you remember the patches for particular servers that used to occur in primetime US? Now those were annoying.

Also, today's patch, 9-22-05, is supposed to fix a corpse looting bug that allowed others to loot your corpse if you were off-line. Personally, I'll trade a patch for the comfort of knowing that my gear would still be there if I had to log out.

Now, in terms of patches...

Don't forget you are adding new coding to a code that was written over five years ago and has been patched (Kunark) and patched (Velious) and patched (Luclin) and patched (PoP) and patched (LoY) and patched (LDoN) and patched (GoD) and patched (OoW) and patched (DoN) and patched (DoD) and patched (CT revision) and patched (Hate revision) and patched (Jagged Pine revision) and patched (Split Paw 2.0 revision) and patched (split paw 3.0 revision) and patched (Mistmoor revision) and patched (Halloween events) and patched (anniversary events). I think I covered all the major one. Also, don't forget that many of those patches were probably written by different teams.

With just this information, I would expect more patches that we are seeing; however, I think they have done a good job limiting the issues.

It seems to me they spend too much time testing spirit shrouds and not enough time with other things.

Yeah, this is not a patch I am going to complain too much about. The thought that someone could be running through Norrath, see my corpse, and then log out and create a new character with my name that could loot my corpse is not a happy one. Glad they moved quickly to fix it.

It just seems to me that SOE doesn't care enough to actually put a little bit more time into testing things before they make it live.

They would rather get the product out on the shelf so they can start making more money, before they even worry about if it works correctly.

I don't mind downloading patches. I know they are trying to correct things, and yes, I don't want my corpse looted while I'm offline.

I think you are all mis-understanding what I am trying to say:

The AMOUNT of patches, to me, is what is weird. The FREQUENCY is what bothers me.

Let me put things into perspective for a second:

Format a computer with the original service release of XP Pro.

Once the OS is installed, and your net connection is live, go to Windows Update. I will guarantee that there are updates you need to have.

So you download 75MB+ of patches, reboot your computer, and expect to go on your merry way. WRONG.

You have to go back to Windows Update, and now get patches for the patches. Then when your computer reboots again, you have to do it AGAIN, to patch the patches of the patches.

I work with computers as a job. I deal with them 55-65+ hours a week. Different OS'es, server management, clients, VPN's, routers, etc. I am the FIRST one to say that YES, it is a DEFINATE possibility that by putting a band-aid on something, you have a very distinct chance of creating a wound elsewhere.

I know this as a way of life.

My POINT is that rather than do a small download every single day, why not wait until you can do a once and for all huge rollout? I would rather download one massive 250MB patch, then 20 2mb patches over the course of a month.

I am GLAD to see they are patching this stuff - it tells me that the money I am giving every month is actually being put to good use, and not just burned up in a posh corporate back-patting orgy.

Am I making any sense??

I play both eq and wow and what i noticed with wow is that they have tuesday downtime every week and when they have a patch its on tuesday.