Weekend Open Forum: Why are PC games so buggy these days?

It's somehow excusable that the developers/publishers are getting more money/backing than before yet the quality seems to go down rather than up as time passes?

I don't think so.

It seems to me, at times, like the QA function has been switched from a dedicated group of professionals (with the actual time & resources to perform the task) to a infinitely cheaper group of unsuspecting & untrained muppets. And by muppets, I mean us.. the end users of course.

The problems really started when consoles got hard drives and an internet connection. Before that, developers and publishers had only one chance to release a game. If it was a well made game, it could turn a nice profit. If it was buggy, regardless of the content, it would flop. If they wanted to make money, they'd have to ensure the game was as bug free as possible before release.
Even for PC games, back then "Patch" was a four letter word, so to speak. Companies were embarrassed if their games needed more than two patches to resolve all issues.

Now, they can release whatever rubbish they like and consider patching it later. A dozen patches per game (and still broken) has become the norm. Half of the problem is the greed of these companies, min-maxing where ever possible and skimping on the bug testing. The other half of the problem is the end users, with their lowered standards, short attention spans and constant whining to have everything as soon as possible.
They don't care if the next instalment to a franchise is buggier than a TraveLodge hotel bed, or if the plot is completely devoid of content. They just want it a week after the last game was released, and will happily pay through the nose to be a beta tester.

I agree wholeheartedly. What I find amazing, as a gamer since the late 80's on PC is that with respect to "beta programs" that I have been in.....hundreds, but as of late, the companies do not FIX the problems we report. I cannot tell you how many forums I have seen with problems posted (BIG ONES) where we, the beta testers respond by saying "we told you about this in beta". The betas are no longer for testing....they are a marketing gimmick. This makes me sick.

@ramonsterns

"It's somehow excusable that the developers/publishers are getting more money/backing than before yet the quality seems to go down rather than up as time passes?

I don't think so."

How does that relate to what I said, I disagree with the assertion that quality (in terms of bugs) is going down, I said the exact opposite - that games are generally less buggy and patched more quickly then they were ten years ago, other than a couple minority offenders.

Gameplay quality on the other hand has gone down drastically, but that's a separate topic altogether.

still think there is a problem ant its
greed by both sided
the consumer who just cant wait for the product to be finished
and the companies who want to stop bleeding money in production and just put it out there too early
and the last reason is I think we are at the limit of 32 bit programing for what the customer wants to be a top end gaming program
I think its time to move into 64 bit programing it would open up all memory problems and erase some video problems
but in doing so the console boxes as we know then would have to be dropped and new versions would be required

Sorry, my original thought was, "no amount of improvement in connection speed justifies laziness".

It's because pc games are so damn buggy that I made it my new years resolution that I'm not buying any games anymore until after they have been out for at least three months. I can get the actual finished "shoulda been at retail" game at a discounted price. It's kinda absurd when you think about it. Why have we all tolerated this for so long?

No one wants to be the next Duke Nukem Forever. Better to release it half broken and fix it than 12 years late.

Don't even bring up DNF.

That game didn't have 12 years in development, it had 12 years in the making. There was almost two generations before it was finally miscarria- I mean, conceived.

Its simple. Most games today are designed for consoles. Consoles have hardware that is consistent across the globe making it easier to program for. That game is then ported to PC where there are literally hundreds of different hardware and software configurations. There are bound to be issues.

Look at BF3. It started out being designed for PC, but halfway through they switched focus to console. The result is the most broken and buggy game to have come out in a long time.

I think it's mostly the increased complexity. Often when a subtle bug is found after release, or the developers continue working on the engine to improve performance on more systems, the new changes are very hard to refactor correctly, and a bug is introduced that the game would never have been released with. Another issue is that the old games weren't so bug free, Take the original starcraft for example, 16 major and 13 minor patches, and there are still exploits after what 14 years?
Compare to Starcraft 2, 4 month beta 17 patches, 1 year since release 4 major and 15 minor patches....so far. I would expect at least 1 more major patch before heart of the swarm is released as well, because 1.4 broke some things that need to be fixed.

Simple:

a) The PC platform is dead (and it has become dreadfully boring) not to mention the constant expense and the rubbish nature of components (constantly required).

b) Most PC owners steal their games so why oh why would any sane developer waste his / her / their times with a bunch of thieves ?

There you have it. Piss about all you want but it is the sad truth.

Source or troll

The whole "PC gaming is dead" thing is so early 2000's; things started to swing back the other way a long time ago, which is why nearly every game is cross-platform now. In terms of sales of new titles, generally Xbox takes first place, PC version close behind, with PS3 a trailing third, so if you don't cater to the PC users, you're alienating around a third of your customers.

Reserve your copy 2 months prior to release, lines around the block since midnight, 1 million copies sold in 3 hours. The consumer has to shoulder most of the blame.

Manufacturers will do " what the market will bear".

Don't believe the hype games aren't bugging because they are to complex. This is why consoles are being pushed so hard; shorter development cycles, developing is much easier and less costly. In short companies can produce a lesser quality product for more money PS3 & XBOX360 games are 60 bucks, when was the last time you paid 60 bucks for a PC title?
Once shareholders and bean counters got involved it became all about the might dollar.
Developers now have formulas on rather a bug is worth fixing before shipping. Think of Fight Club when Ed Norton is explaining how a car company decides to issue a recall or not. It all comes down to money. Do you think iD would have released Rage with so many bugs ten years ago? Of course not,the PC community would have killed them. Remember when developers sent out beta's BEFORE titles shipped? How would have Rage sold if the beta didn't work on the majority of ATI cards? That was done away with because it empowered the consumer, now a new game purchase is a roll of the dice. If it doesn't work, too bad for you they already have your $29.99. Add to the fact that most "game reviewing magazines and websites" are in the pockets of big publishers the consumer is now powerless, except for sites like metacritic where average joes can offer a true evaluation of a title.
Remember money corrupts EVERYTHING. Don't believe any thing else.

I think its really because games are so damn big. they aren't N64 games anymore. They could spend another 6 months polishing everything, but with the interwebs, its not really necessary to wait that much longer.

Games are more complex?
Not sure but i think 22gb Rage is not more complex than Doom3.
Game engines are a couple of hundred mb usually the rest is Video Sound and 3DStuff which is seldom buggy...
I tthink Companies release buggy games to discourage illegal copies so that with every patch they can renew the copyprotection...

Beta testing no longer seen as proper testing by many companies and is use more for publicity than actual bug hunting. You can see this in most genre especially MMORPGs and FPS where the push to get it out first (especially when competing with another franchise) is key.