Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsForum post of the day: Don't be bothered by bugs
by Amanda Dean 
Jan 22nd 2009 at 2:00PM
I don't really need to tell you that WoW has been a little rocky since patch 3.0.8 launched. The forums are filled with players who are angry and threatening to cancel their accounts. There are some that think we need to give a Blizz a break.Snagger of Quel'dorei pointed out that there are risks involved in launching new programming. The PTR cannot quite grasp the effect of millions of users. I've experienced bugs in new software releases in many areas. Everything from the Windows XP security bug in service pack three to software developed for my employer that regularly crashes the computer. We come up with work-arounds and the the developers work to resolve the issue. What we're experiencing is not unique to WoW. If you're missing out on your favorite WoW activity, try something else: run battlegrounds, work on reputation, help some lowbies, roll a healer.
Others refuted this point by saying that Blizzard makes enough money produce a quality product. The OP argued that not all problems can bee solved by throwing money at them. Aquinas of Feathermoon pointed out that his issue is not with the bugs, but with Blizzard's promises that releases will come out when they're done. This patch met Blizz's standards of quality, bugs and all. He suggested that Blizzard should reassess their patching process.
I have faith that Blizzard is working diligently to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Remember that we were quick to forgive the pain inflicted at Wrath's launch. In due time we will be enjoying a mostly smooth gaming experience once again. When the next patch is released, it will take some time to work out the bugs again. Such is the nature of software patching.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Bugs, Blizzard, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Flairy Jan 22nd 2009 2:46PM
Well said. Thank you.
Phreak Jan 22nd 2009 3:16PM
Nicley said. I also work in the software testing / codewriting industry and I can attest to the huge amounts of headaches bugs can be. And I don't mean in fixing them, I mean finding them. I have seen system crashing bugs happen only once and never be reproducable, and seemingly minor bugs become a major headache. No software on a scale as large as this can possibly be completely bug free. There are millions of lines of code involved with keeping this game going and i give a big THANK YOU to the devs that take the time to sift through it all and try to make it better for us. From my insiders-type perspective, I am absolutely amazed that Blizz has put this piece of software together for us to entertain ourselves with, and I will happily fork over my $15 a month to keep enjoying it, bugs and all.
Clevins Jan 22nd 2009 3:41PM
No one's arguing for bug free releases. But not testing what happens when Wintergrasp changes hands is a basic failure. You should test that anyway as a part of the standard acceptance process to make sure the buff changes correctly, NPCs spawn correctly etc. So when something like "Northrend crashes when WG is won" slips through, you really do have to wonder about their process.
Some of this can and should be automated too - it's not like everything needs to have an actual person doing it. Write scripts. For somethings you could probably automate high load via scripts.
Xigageshi Jan 22nd 2009 3:52PM
yay! people with some sense of scale :D
I too have enormous respect for what blizzard does.
perhaps the naysayers would be benefited from looking at it this way. when wow released 4 years ago, it was literally unplayable for a good month. every few hours the servers would restart, and you'd loose everything you'd done for the 30 minutes before it restarted.
not being able to play around in northrend for a night is small potatoes to anyone who remembers the game being unplayable by ANYONE for days after patches in days gone by.
JoeHelfrich Jan 22nd 2009 4:15PM
"No one's arguing for bug free releases. But not testing what happens when Wintergrasp changes hands is a basic failure."
If that's what happened, I agree.
On the other hand, if the updated code that registers the change in possession (which would be where I would start looking given the symptoms) works just fine when it has to update 200 users on a PTR, but panics when it has to update 5,000 simultaneous users on a live realm (numbers randomly made up by me), I'd cut them a little slack. The biggest problem in testing is scaling it up to production level scenarios.
Ashivor Jan 22nd 2009 2:24PM
I really enjoy the expansion and I appreciate the changes that 3.08 brought to my druid character. Most people who complain about bugs really have no idea what they are talking about. I used to work for a large company and did some testing. There are many things that show up in production that do not in beta. It is not possible to create accurate load testing in beta on a large scale no matter how much money you throw at it. Yes there are often benchmarking software and scripts that you can run, but nothing like real human interactions with the system.
Does anyone even grasp the amount of code that is involved with an mmorpg? And sure people will complain about the fact that they spend 15 bucks a month on the product so it should be perfect, but think about all the other things that you spend 15 bucks on. How much does it cost to fill some of your gigantic suvs and pickup trucks that many people drive? 15 bucks is really not much money these days, as last time I went to the movies it was 9 bucks a ticket for primetime and 7.5 for the afternoon. So even in the afternoon it costs 15 bucks for me to take my girlfriend to the movies not including any drinks or popcorn.
Could the patch have been handled better? Sure, but what patch couldn't. Its not like Microsoft, VMware, Adobe, Firefox or any other company has serious screwed up things in a patch before. Oh wait that's right they have. Compared to Microsoft locking up millions of machines with SP3, or VMware's licensing bug (oh really expensive VMware ESX software) that caused servers all around the world to stop responding, this is nothing. Nothing at all. Get over it.
Spicyness Jan 22nd 2009 2:34PM
Where are you going that Movie tickets are only $9? I pay $10 with a student discount.
Overall this patch isn't not what I would have hoped for. I am still able to enjoy the game. Of my list of 500ish things I want to do in WoW only about 10 or 15 of them are unplayable at the moment.
Blizzard will fix it and we can go back to being happy and content.
silverdragon Jan 22nd 2009 2:44PM
here in texas i pay 4 dollars with student discount to go to the movies :)
Jon Jan 22nd 2009 2:24PM
The best part of that forum post, and the part that's not been commented on, is just how awesome that poster's name is. I am so jealous.
Blake Jan 22nd 2009 2:30PM
No one cares.
Terrorbyt3 Jan 22nd 2009 2:35PM
This is the same stuff that we have been seeing on the forums since day one. When something gets changed or something breaks, the forums explode with posts from two types of people.
The first type is very angry and eventually threatens to cancel their account (OMG WTF BLIZZ FIX THIS OR I CANCEL MY ACCOUNT!!!1!!!11!!!).
The second type is much calmer and says we should forgive Blizzard due to whatever the flavor of the moment happens to be (programming is hard and stuff; class balance; its their game, they make it they can change it; unaccountable due to acts of god; etc).
They clash and there is lots of gnashing of teeth. I couldn't care less, and its why I stopped reading the forums long ago.
If this is news-worthy, I guess it must be a slow day on the forums.
It seems that people either weren't around or have just forgotten the failpatches of years past. Like I said in my comment of Mike's QQ post entitled "The disaster of patch 3.0.8", (http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/01/21/the-disaster-of-patch-3-0-8/comments/16677464/)
This patch is not a failure. It is not a success either, but there have been far worse patches in the history of the game.
Paladron Jan 22nd 2009 2:39PM
Siona.. BLIZZ does have to update content if they want to keep customers. We pay a monthly fee for access to their game. If they didn't change the content think people would still play after a year? They make new content to stay competitive against other attempting MMOs.
Otherwise plp will get tired of the game and just move on. Now as for complaining about the product. Well you always have the choice of not playing, however wow has become an addiction for millions of plp and when the game does not run properly it is frustrating and comments are about to arise. That's just the nature of people.
Siona is obviously clueless go back to Ultimate online, oh wait they released new content, in the release of newer version of the game.
New content means new/happy gamers.
Siona Jan 22nd 2009 3:47PM
@Paladron
I"m aware of the fact that, yes, Blizzard is a business. But it doesn't make the "omg you ruined EVERYTHING!" behavior I see from people that I see every single patch. There's a difference between being being expected to be satisfied by a service you pay for, and being a dick about it.
Blackout Jan 22nd 2009 2:44PM
The bugs are nothing compared to what they did to the BM hunter. Weeks leading up to the patch Ghostcrawler was warned repeatedly that the nerd was way to heavy handed. He ignored the warning and rushed the patch. What we ended up with is servers crashing, Wintergrasp bugs, and the murder of the Beast Master Hunter. They didnt just tone down the BM hunter, they destroyed it. Most BM hunters are reporting a 800-1000 dps loss. And all because he felt BM was doing to much dps, his answer? Cut em down to the ground, leave them with nothing. Grats Ghostcrawler, you did a splendid job. *snicker*
Amaxe Jan 22nd 2009 3:06PM
Is GC the ruler of Blizzard that warnings to him are his fault if they are not implemented?
Or is this shooting the messenger?
Arcaria Jan 22nd 2009 3:27PM
Ghostcrawler is the lead games system designer. So yeah his voice is pretty important. The problem with the post is that nobody cares if BM hunters play or not anyway.
Kvothe Jan 22nd 2009 5:52PM
I have a BM hunter. While the nerfs hurt, they were not nearly a "leave in the mud to spit on" nerf as you implied. My testing shows me only 100 dps under my Ret Pally, who is slightly better geared. This is exactly how it should be, with gear and skill being most important, rather than just "pick the class/spec that's most OP".
Aarnando Jan 22nd 2009 3:01PM
The problem with this patch is that Blizzard announced that there were known bugs, but they were going to release it anyway. Then, once released, there were the previously announced bugs and quite a few more. Yes, there are always going to be some bugs, but the manner in which this patch was discussed and then released does make a reasonable case for questioning Blizzard's current QA procedures.
As consumers of this product, it's up to us to keep Blizzard in check. That means walking a fine line between being understanding of minor issues and expressing our thoughts on what we deem to be larger problems. You can go to the extremes and say, "This is the worst patch ever!" or "There are always bugs, just accept it!" But neither stance is very productive in terms of helping Blizzard maintain the quality of the game we all enjoy.
Dillbert Jan 22nd 2009 3:05PM
A world where I can play a buggy, patched WoW is better then a world without WoW. They will fix bugs, release new content, exp, whatever, I'm still just glad that the game is here.
Steve Jan 22nd 2009 3:07PM
You maggots who are telling the people who are upset about the bugs to basically shove it really need to get your moronic heads on straight.
Just because mommy and daddy pay the credit card bill every month with YOUR WoW subscription on it doesn't mean the rest of us who work for our money and expect a quality product as a paying consumer are wrong to be upset. In fact YOU are wrong for bending over and taking it in the a$$ every time (read: every patch) this happens. If it weren't for you people, the game wouldn't be in this sad of shape (broken) every time something new gets implemented.
It's YOUR attitude that Blizzard counts on every time they release a patch. They KNOW they can get away with it because there are people like you out there who, for GOD KNOWS WHY, defend them every time they break the game. If you want a quality product, DEMAND IT, STOP TAKING IT UP THE REAR. If you DONT want a quality product, then thats you're own prerogative and you can keep it to yourself.