Gratuitous Space Battles - (by Red Marble Games)

[Grimstone82]

Originally Posted by DaviddesJ

Your expectations are unrealistic. You must have noticed this happens a lot, most games are released with some bugs. If it's going to bother you, then just don't buy games in the first few days after release.

How is expecting to be paying for a finished product unrealistic? As it stands, I can barely even play the game I paid $10 for. I almost feel like I lent them the money so they can afford to finish the game that I was under the impression was already complete. If it was $1 or $3 I wouldn't care but at $10 you would think they would have all the kinks ironed out, or at least the major ones. Crashing every single time I try to play it is a MAJOR kink. I know $10 is nothing for a great game, but on iOS that price point is very high and the developer should be damn sure their product is playable before they try to charge that much. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game- I have and love it on my Mac and was very excited to have it on my iPad but come on... test your game before you release it.

[DaviddesJ]

Originally Posted by Grimstone82

come on... test your game before you release it.

Are you assuming that it crashed on their devices in their tests? I think that's unwarranted, you only know it crashes for you. There are lots of reasons it might crash for some people and not others. Apple doesn't have the variety of devices and versions that Android has, but it has quite a few.

[Grimstone82]

Originally Posted by DaviddesJ

Are you assuming that it crashed on their devices in their tests? I think that's unwarranted, you only know it crashes for you. There are lots of reasons it might crash for some people and not others. Apple doesn't have the variety of devices and versions that Android has, but it has quite a few.

Did you even read through this thread? Or the reviews on iTunes? It is crashing for a TON of people on every device that it has been released for. If it wasn't crashing for the developers, then CLEARLY they didn't test it enough and on enough devices because this isn't an isolated incident. This is pretty damn widespread.

Are you just bored or something? It boggles my mind that you are going out of your way to defend them in this situation. Seriously, if I charged my customers for a system and told them it was complete but left it pretty much non-functional, I would be out of a job REAL quick. And for the record, I program control systems for a living so I know what it's like to run into issues and bugs, but I would NEVER hand a system over to a customer without testing EVERY function in every situation imaginable.

[Royce]

Originally Posted by DaviddesJ

Are you assuming that it crashed on their devices in their tests? I think that's unwarranted, you only know it crashes for you. There are lots of reasons it might crash for some people and not others. Apple doesn't have the variety of devices and versions that Android has, but it has quite a few.

He knows it's not just him. Many people have posted here and elsewhere about the rampant crashing. Personally, if I avoid the few actions I know will cause a crash, I find the game quite playable, but it's certainly a buggy release. Do releases often have bugs? Sure, but this one has a lot, and many very obvious. I'm not just talking about crashes either. For example, there are several instances where text stays in place on screen when switching views making information unreadable. I've played hundreds if not thousands of iOS games, and this release is certainly subpar in terms of stability and polish. I am not sorry I bought it, but it's hard to argue it wasn't released a bit to soon. For $10 (not much to pay for a good game, but a premium price nonetheless on iOS), people expect a bit more. So a game that is buggier and crashier than even the average 99 cent game is gonna take some flak and see some negative response. I'm not sure why this seems to surprise you

To be clear though, my experience is not the same as people who are saying they can't play without crashes. I've played a few times for several hours straight without a crash by avoiding the actions that have caused me to crash before.

[DaviddesJ]

Originally Posted by Grimstone82

I program control systems for a living so I know what it's like to run into issues and bugs, but I would NEVER hand a system over to a customer without testing EVERY function in every situation imaginable.

That's the difference between control systems and games. When a game crashes, people have to wait a few days for a fix. It's not life or death.

[Grimstone82]

Originally Posted by DaviddesJ

That's the difference between control systems and games. When a game crashes, people have to wait a few days for a fix. It's not life or death.

The point I am trying to make is that if you have a product, whatever the product may be, you need to make sure it works BEFORE you release it, not after. It doesn't matter what the product is, it could be a game, a control system, or a ping pong paddle- it needs to work before you charge people money for it. What if Ford sold a car that every time you turned left the engine died? Sure you could get to where you are going making only right turns, but would that be acceptable? No. Same goes for the game. I can play it if I avoid messing with my ships or changing races but those are core aspects of the game... should I have to avoid doing those things on a game that I PAID for? Nope. Yes, I know that my comparison is a little extreme but the point is there.

[noahcg74]

To unlock stuff you have to have iTunes credit and to get iTunes credit you can buy it or get the free app, app trailers and watch videos and then get free iTunes credit. If you enter the bonus code awesomeman74 you will get 50 points to start with. You can also get lots of other gift cards.

[chespace]

Haha, that was random.

I'm enjoy the crap out of this game, crashes (and I mean TONS of crashes if you're fiddling around with ship designs) and all.

Amazing game for someone like me who grew up daydreaming about Stark Trek II tactical battles and was tempted to play Star Fleet Command (the pen and paper game) but never had the friends or the courage.

What's the easiest way to earn currency in this game?

[DaviddesJ]

Originally Posted by Grimstone82

The point I am trying to make is that if you have a product, whatever the product may be, you need to make sure it works BEFORE you release it, not after.

Of course, as a matter of fact, when I release software I *don't* have to make sure it's perfect on day one. The great thing about software is, unlike a car, it's easy to fix after release. And if it's just a game, not a nuclear reactor control system, if there are problems they do little harm. You can spend huge amounts of money and effort on testing and you still won't release a perfect product or find all of the problems that your users will find on day one. It's much more important to fix problems when they are found, than to find them all in advance.

But, if it really bugs you, again, there is a simple solution. Just don't buy it on day one, at least wait to read the reviews.

[Grimstone82]

Originally Posted by DaviddesJ

You can spend huge amounts of money and effort on testing and you still won't release a perfect product or find all of the problems that your users will find on day one. It's much more important to fix problems when they are found, than to find them all in advance.

But, if it really bugs you, again, there is a simple solution. Just don't buy it on day one, at least wait to read the reviews.

Little problems, fine. I can deal with slight graphical or sound glitches, misspelled words, frame rate drops, etc... But bugs that render your game nearly unplayable? No excuse no matter how you try to justify it. You are then just basically using paying customers as unwitting guinea pigs and I'm sorry, but that is shady business practice.