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Originally Posted by jbone
There are very few people who are like "Gee, that game sounds great, I think I'll really enjoy it. I know! I'll wait months to buy it until they have released a final patch."
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Actually, OOTP 2006 is the first game I have ever
pre-ordered, much less bought without waiting for the patch! If there is a game that's been released in the last 20 years that didn't require a patch, then it's a rarity. The game companies have always rushed their stuff to market, and some of them are way worse disasters than this game (remember Red Baron II? or Outpost?).
That is not an excuse for SI. I have repeatedly stated that if they had done a public beta (even charging for the game but telling people it was beta), then a good chunk of the hostility we are seeing on the forum would not have arisen. There would have been a sense of participation, and the cries of "release it now!" would have been satisfied.
But they didn't. So, what? Instead, they work overtime fixing every complaint they can, and getting a group of forum members to help replicate the bugs and test the fixes. That's way more than a lot of companies would do, and I appreciate it.
HOWEVER, I think that you are correct that they need to hear the complaints about their game release practices (especially if it's a pattern... I don't know, I have never dealt with them before). If they are responsive to their customers, they will change their evil ways. If not, then we can stop buying their games... at least until after the first or second patch.
