Interview with head of quality assurance at Firaxis

[rockit3000]

Yesterday I read an interview in a german computer magazine with Timothy McCracken who is the head of quality assurance at Firaxis. They asked him about the early release date and this is what he said (translated back to english):

"I would say this was a combined decision from Firaxis and Take 2. They recognized that the game could be delivered earlier without being anxious about bugs."

There is something on my mind right now: Timothy learn how to do your ****ing job!!!! This is game is unplayable over networks!!!

rock_it

[rockit3000]

Just to add something to my ranting: Civ 3 Conquests was full of bugs and there are still some left. Back then I thought that this is understandable because this is network add-on, right? They added the complete network stack, communications and all the necessary stuff and this must be harder than building something like this from scratch.

But now? I see other games where dozens of players run around in huge maps, fighting and doing other stuff in REALTIME!! And Civ 4? Still waiting for the computer at the end of each turn to compute everything and transmitting it to another computer. And we are talking about just a few kilobytes that have to be transmitted. I am so _angry_ about Firaxis and their incapability of programming a network game.

Sorry, but I had to get rid of this to avoid gastric ulcer.

rock_it

[Dale]

I am so _angry_ about Firaxis and their incapability of programming a network game.

You write a better one then.

[jeff42]

Re: Interview with head of quality assurance at Firaxis

Hi,

Originally posted by rockit3000
Yesterday I read an interview in a german computer magazine with Timothy McCracken [...]

Can you tell me which magazine?

Or post a link to the interview, if online.

Yours, Jeff

[VetLegion]

Dale, were you a beta tester?

[Sirian]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Dale, were you a beta tester?

*Points to "Civ4 Scenario Designer" forum tag*

Although, one wonders, of what relevance is that, in either direction?


- Sirian

[kittenOFchaos]

Originally posted by Sirian


*Points to "Civ4 Scenario Designer" forum tag*

Although, one wonders, of what relevance is that, in either direction?


- Sirian

The relevance?

Presumably it was just VetLegion tagging Dale with the fanboy label (oh, yeah Dale was a beta-tester).

What a stupid name McCracken is, point and laugh

[Snotty]

Civ 4 worked over my LAN

Not tried it over the internet yet though

[rockit3000]

Of course I could not write a better game, but on the other hand I think I should complain about something that I paid for which is not working as expected.

When I get my car fixed and I complain about the repairs because they were not done properly then this does not mean that I could repair it better!

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.pcgames.de/?article_id=405680

And the interview starts here:
http://www.pcgames.de/?article_id=405680&page=3

regards,
rock_it

[lokiju]

Originally posted by Dale


You write a better one then.

We're not getting paid to, but you guys are.

LMAO, that's like me buying a car that's missing parts (bad QA testing), and the company saying, "Hey buddy, I'd like to see you do better!".

[Fried-Psitalon]

The funny thing is a lot of times cars DO come out of the shop not working correctly, and you have to bring it back for another look.

Since CARS are a LOT less complicated than computer games...

[lokiju]

Originally posted by Fried-Psitalon
The funny thing is a lot of times cars DO come out of the shop not working correctly, and you have to bring it back for another look.

Since CARS are a LOT less complicated than computer games...

Yes, but last time I checked, you can't return open software because a game has bugs. Plus, individual manufactured broken parts is not the same as, say, releasing a car which has a known issue or defect. Sure, it happens, but the cars are recalled. When was the last time a game was recalled?

[Fried-Psitalon]

They're not recalled. They're patched. Same acknowledgement, same desire to fix, though.

Ironically, other games come out a LOT less bug-free and they don't get this kind of criticism. Firaxis immediately gets to work on a patch after acknowledging the problem and they're still public enemy #1.

[vee4473]

Originally posted by Dale


You write a better one then.

I gotta say that this is the most childish response to a criticism.

I have no idea if the complaint is valid, but the poster isn't the one who is supposed to know how to write a better one, nor is he being paid to do so.

by that logic, no one should ever criticize anything that they pay for unless they themselves can do it better, and that's ridiculous.

[lokiju]

Originally posted by Fried-Psitalon
They're not recalled. They're patched. Same acknowledgement, same desire to fix, though.

Ironically, other games come out a LOT less bug-free and they don't get this kind of criticism. Firaxis immediately gets to work on a patch after acknowledging the problem and they're still public enemy #1.

I can return my car to be fixed immediately. I patch takes up to a month, if not more. But that's not the point. Cars are (99% of the time) not released buggy on purpose, because that would look bad. Software is KNOWLINGLY released buggy, and that's just not fair to consumers. If any other product was released broken, it would get reemed by the media...why is software supposedly immune to the same standards?

And don't give me that B.S. statement about other games receiving less criticism for being more buggy. Every game that comes out buggy gets shelled. Name a game that wasn't, and I might be inclined to believe your statement.

This is a top selling game, so of course it will get much attention drawn to it for being released in a beta state.