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On the front, entrance page to the Black and White website is the following posting:
Lionhead regrets that the patch which was expected to be released on the 21st May has been delayed for a further 10 days. This is because of one of the fixes which allowed online play to work over cable modems in the Netherlands was by chance at the last minute found not to work on certain other ISPs.
Lionhead regrets that it has not been able to make frequent annoucements about the patch until now but aims to keep the members of the Black & White Community better informed from this day onwards.
Sorry everyone!!
Oh well that's alright then.
2 months after release, 48hrs after we were promised info about what was going on, they put that up.
You don't stab someone in the face and offer them a plaster.
And the follow-up posts have said these sorts of things:
"Nice try Lionhead, but where was this info 2 months ago?"
"Another 10 days? By my reckoning, you owe about 436,000 customers a refund"
"I dont care when this patch is out, damage done. Over and Out"
The lesson here?
Customers are not an irritation to be dealt with after hundreds of thousands of post just begging for info.
Lionhead have damaged their rep with this behaviour, and I can predict how well any future games sell.
Shame on you Lionhead.
Lionhead regrets that the patch which was expected to be released on the 21st May has been delayed for a further 10 days. This is because of one of the fixes which allowed online play to work over cable modems in the Netherlands was by chance at the last minute found not to work on certain other ISPs.
Lionhead regrets that it has not been able to make frequent annoucements about the patch until now but aims to keep the members of the Black & White Community better informed from this day onwards.
Sorry everyone!!
Oh well that's alright then.
2 months after release, 48hrs after we were promised info about what was going on, they put that up.
You don't stab someone in the face and offer them a plaster.
And the follow-up posts have said these sorts of things:
"Nice try Lionhead, but where was this info 2 months ago?"
"Another 10 days? By my reckoning, you owe about 436,000 customers a refund"
"I dont care when this patch is out, damage done. Over and Out"
The lesson here?
Customers are not an irritation to be dealt with after hundreds of thousands of post just begging for info.
Lionhead have damaged their rep with this behaviour, and I can predict how well any future games sell.
Shame on you Lionhead.
Message Repeat for those that are readingly challenged.
The game itself is brilliant, the customer service aspect sucks.
The game itself is brilliant, the customer service aspect sucks.
its not coming out for dreamcast ha ha but its coming out for Ps2
Yeah.
But what really angered people was the fact that we were just ignored for 2 months.
Everyone accepts that patches are commonplace for PCs, that was a minor gripe.
It was just Lionhead refusing to talk to the customers on the official web-site, they went to a fan site and posted on the bulletin board there. People caught on quick and went ballistic.
They promised a patch on May 21st, the board almost crashed that day with people waiting there.
Nothing.
They didn't post an update until the afternoon afterwards and said that key personnel were at E3 and couldnt authorise the release of the patch.
However, they seem to be taking notice and posting updates now on what's what.
It's a shame, because the game itself is brilliant, just the customer service side that really sucked.
I stand by my review posted on this site.
A top game, bugs later on but they will be fixed.
Shame though.
But what really angered people was the fact that we were just ignored for 2 months.
Everyone accepts that patches are commonplace for PCs, that was a minor gripe.
It was just Lionhead refusing to talk to the customers on the official web-site, they went to a fan site and posted on the bulletin board there. People caught on quick and went ballistic.
They promised a patch on May 21st, the board almost crashed that day with people waiting there.
Nothing.
They didn't post an update until the afternoon afterwards and said that key personnel were at E3 and couldnt authorise the release of the patch.
However, they seem to be taking notice and posting updates now on what's what.
It's a shame, because the game itself is brilliant, just the customer service side that really sucked.
I stand by my review posted on this site.
A top game, bugs later on but they will be fixed.
Shame though.
Me personally, i believe that Lionhead Studios have badly damaged their reputation in the eyes of the gaming public. I've been to the main website and looked at other Black & White websites created by gamers. I've paid a lot of attention to the bulletin boards and everybody who has posted something about the patch have been really ticked off with Lionhead for releasing a game that had so many Bugs in it and then delaying the release of the pacth that everybody had been waiting for.
Although saying that this wouldn't be the first game that has been released with bug problems. I can remember a game (sorry can't remember what it was called) that was so rushed it had very bad bug problems and the company who made it released a patch that was about 40MB big! That would take a few hours of downloading on my modem.
I lost interest in the game because of the amount of times it would crash and on the second level the loading and saving times were very long. I've only noticed the other bugs because other people have mentioned them on their web sites or on bulletin sites.
It is a real shame. The game has potential and if it was released with one or two bugs then it would have been one of the best games of the year (but it properly will be anyway)
This sort of thing really annoys me. Companies either don't give themselves enough time to finish the game or are forced by whoever to release the game early, sometimes with damning bug problems then expect people to wait for a patch to be released on the internet which is so big only people with very fast modems can download it. A lot of people still don't have the internet but it is more convenient and a lot cheaper to release the patch on the net. They don't even apologise, they just say "we're doing a patch it will be released blah, blah, blah" and it isn't cause they have already got the money out of you and frankly don't care after that.
Lionhead Studios, and many other companies, should be ashamed of themselves. People pay good money for a game they expect to work on their machine with as little fuss as possible.
Darkreaper
Although saying that this wouldn't be the first game that has been released with bug problems. I can remember a game (sorry can't remember what it was called) that was so rushed it had very bad bug problems and the company who made it released a patch that was about 40MB big! That would take a few hours of downloading on my modem.
I lost interest in the game because of the amount of times it would crash and on the second level the loading and saving times were very long. I've only noticed the other bugs because other people have mentioned them on their web sites or on bulletin sites.
It is a real shame. The game has potential and if it was released with one or two bugs then it would have been one of the best games of the year (but it properly will be anyway)
This sort of thing really annoys me. Companies either don't give themselves enough time to finish the game or are forced by whoever to release the game early, sometimes with damning bug problems then expect people to wait for a patch to be released on the internet which is so big only people with very fast modems can download it. A lot of people still don't have the internet but it is more convenient and a lot cheaper to release the patch on the net. They don't even apologise, they just say "we're doing a patch it will be released blah, blah, blah" and it isn't cause they have already got the money out of you and frankly don't care after that.
Lionhead Studios, and many other companies, should be ashamed of themselves. People pay good money for a game they expect to work on their machine with as little fuss as possible.
Darkreaper
The general response this morning is:
Bull***t.
And that's toning it down for younger readers.
Contemptous behaviour from a company that I used to respect.
Bull***t.
And that's toning it down for younger readers.
Contemptous behaviour from a company that I used to respect.
Wouldn't it be funny if 2 million punters all sued Lionhead! Tee hee...
Basically, the common opinion (and Lionhead have neither confirmed nor denied this) is that they relased a beta version to meet deadlines.
The reasons for this:
Hugely bugged gamplay that only comes to light obviously in land 5, the curse you cannot lift, but then other bugs come to light that you dont consider:
The opposing Diety being able to reach outside the area of influence (not apparent until Land 3).
Creature forgetting everything learned each time you start the game from a save (you have to do each spell once or twice before it remembers)
Online games only show 4-5 servers.
Excessive loading/saving times
Crashing/freezing on load-up
Worshippers eating 3-4000 units of food instantly.
And, the most puzzling thing, and the one that has had programmers leaping on Lionhead and claiming a beta version, if you go into the directory, a folder called "Data", where the scripting is for the entire game.
I've never seen that before, you can go in and change the scipting if you want, hence all the skirmish maps.
Loads and loads of features in the scripts that aren't in the game: Dancing to MP3, football fields, a whole host of items that are missing.
Including having to download the creatures to swap with (gorilla, leapord etc).
So they are offering a patch in 10 days, they wont say how large it is, and the extra features (written out but still in the code) are to be released as CD extras, costing £10-£15 a pop.
You cant discover these bugs, or rather they dont become apparent until you get far into the game, and then they all hit.
Something to do with Land 3 script triggering all the probs, so reviewers may not play all the way to land 3.
So either Lionhead lied to EA, or EA knew and released it anyway to cash in, current worldwide sales stand at almost 2 million copies.
That's a big incentive to release a beta, or just severley bugged version.
You cant register at BWgame right now, and the other main site has gone offline.
Lionhead claimed originally the patch was delayed because of "key staff appearing at E3 so we are unable to sign off the patch" (meaning it's done, they just need to nod from a suit), now they claim it's because of The Netherlands.
I dont believe any of it, and I've returned my copy to Lionhead demanding a refund.
Most of the threads there are "Yeah, right! Eat it Molyneaux" and I certainly will not be buying any more of their products.
I'm interested to see how large the patch will be, bearing in mind the English language download for foreigners is 90 meg.
The reasons for this:
Hugely bugged gamplay that only comes to light obviously in land 5, the curse you cannot lift, but then other bugs come to light that you dont consider:
The opposing Diety being able to reach outside the area of influence (not apparent until Land 3).
Creature forgetting everything learned each time you start the game from a save (you have to do each spell once or twice before it remembers)
Online games only show 4-5 servers.
Excessive loading/saving times
Crashing/freezing on load-up
Worshippers eating 3-4000 units of food instantly.
And, the most puzzling thing, and the one that has had programmers leaping on Lionhead and claiming a beta version, if you go into the directory, a folder called "Data", where the scripting is for the entire game.
I've never seen that before, you can go in and change the scipting if you want, hence all the skirmish maps.
Loads and loads of features in the scripts that aren't in the game: Dancing to MP3, football fields, a whole host of items that are missing.
Including having to download the creatures to swap with (gorilla, leapord etc).
So they are offering a patch in 10 days, they wont say how large it is, and the extra features (written out but still in the code) are to be released as CD extras, costing £10-£15 a pop.
You cant discover these bugs, or rather they dont become apparent until you get far into the game, and then they all hit.
Something to do with Land 3 script triggering all the probs, so reviewers may not play all the way to land 3.
So either Lionhead lied to EA, or EA knew and released it anyway to cash in, current worldwide sales stand at almost 2 million copies.
That's a big incentive to release a beta, or just severley bugged version.
You cant register at BWgame right now, and the other main site has gone offline.
Lionhead claimed originally the patch was delayed because of "key staff appearing at E3 so we are unable to sign off the patch" (meaning it's done, they just need to nod from a suit), now they claim it's because of The Netherlands.
I dont believe any of it, and I've returned my copy to Lionhead demanding a refund.
Most of the threads there are "Yeah, right! Eat it Molyneaux" and I certainly will not be buying any more of their products.
I'm interested to see how large the patch will be, bearing in mind the English language download for foreigners is 90 meg.
What about some games magazines that reviewed the "final" code, and didnt mention these problems?
PCZone reviewed the game for there 100th issue, which was the March 2001 issue. Surely the review must have been written in late february. If i remember rightly, there was an SR news piece late March saying Lionhead had finally finished the game. They held up a message to the web-cam if i remember rightly.
What i'm trying to say is, how did PCZone review the final version, as they claimed to do? Also, why didnt they mention the bugs?
Could it be because they were assured by EA/Lionhead that all the bugs would be removed before the game actually went on sale?
I'm not just having a go at PCZone here, i buy the magazine every month and they are usually spot on. It's just this one case that confuses me slightly. Also, how many other games mags are doing the same sort of things?
It makes me wonder....
PCZone reviewed the game for there 100th issue, which was the March 2001 issue. Surely the review must have been written in late february. If i remember rightly, there was an SR news piece late March saying Lionhead had finally finished the game. They held up a message to the web-cam if i remember rightly.
What i'm trying to say is, how did PCZone review the final version, as they claimed to do? Also, why didnt they mention the bugs?
Could it be because they were assured by EA/Lionhead that all the bugs would be removed before the game actually went on sale?
I'm not just having a go at PCZone here, i buy the magazine every month and they are usually spot on. It's just this one case that confuses me slightly. Also, how many other games mags are doing the same sort of things?
It makes me wonder....
Not to mention the thousands of customers who can't cownload the patch because they don't have internet access at home. It is disgraceful that a game can be released with so many bugs. Where's the quality control for these games?
On the front, entrance page to the Black and White website is the following posting:
Lionhead regrets that the patch which was expected to be released on the 21st May has been delayed for a further 10 days. This is because of one of the fixes which allowed online play to work over cable modems in the Netherlands was by chance at the last minute found not to work on certain other ISPs.
Lionhead regrets that it has not been able to make frequent annoucements about the patch until now but aims to keep the members of the Black & White Community better informed from this day onwards.
Sorry everyone!!
Oh well that's alright then.
2 months after release, 48hrs after we were promised info about what was going on, they put that up.
You don't stab someone in the face and offer them a plaster.
And the follow-up posts have said these sorts of things:
"Nice try Lionhead, but where was this info 2 months ago?"
"Another 10 days? By my reckoning, you owe about 436,000 customers a refund"
"I dont care when this patch is out, damage done. Over and Out"
The lesson here?
Customers are not an irritation to be dealt with after hundreds of thousands of post just begging for info.
Lionhead have damaged their rep with this behaviour, and I can predict how well any future games sell.
Shame on you Lionhead.
Lionhead regrets that the patch which was expected to be released on the 21st May has been delayed for a further 10 days. This is because of one of the fixes which allowed online play to work over cable modems in the Netherlands was by chance at the last minute found not to work on certain other ISPs.
Lionhead regrets that it has not been able to make frequent annoucements about the patch until now but aims to keep the members of the Black & White Community better informed from this day onwards.
Sorry everyone!!
Oh well that's alright then.
2 months after release, 48hrs after we were promised info about what was going on, they put that up.
You don't stab someone in the face and offer them a plaster.
And the follow-up posts have said these sorts of things:
"Nice try Lionhead, but where was this info 2 months ago?"
"Another 10 days? By my reckoning, you owe about 436,000 customers a refund"
"I dont care when this patch is out, damage done. Over and Out"
The lesson here?
Customers are not an irritation to be dealt with after hundreds of thousands of post just begging for info.
Lionhead have damaged their rep with this behaviour, and I can predict how well any future games sell.
Shame on you Lionhead.