Oblivion Patch Causing Issues

The much anticipated patch for Oblivion is here, but it has come at a cost. 1up reports on complaints from users about lockups, lagging, and some curious technical problems. From the article: "Even though the patch cleans up a number of glitches quests, many are still upset because it doesn't solve their existing issues. If you've already run into and experienced a glitch quest, there's a good chance the patch will do nothing to fix it; the patch can't fix contaminated saves. Consequently, Bethesda employees have been recommending fans start new characters if they want to experience these quests."

Re:On a More Serious Note

[Traiklin]

pretty much do what Bethsadia said.

restart the entire game over again becuase you are the idiot that did something you weren't supposed to BEFORE you activated the quest you had no clue was going to involve that creature!

I love how this looks on bethsadias part, they fuck up to rush a game out there instead of properly bug testing it (cause let's face it, some of these bugs are rather serious) and their responce ot everyone who has been enjoying the game only to find out the hours/weeks/months they just spent on the game are all flushed down the toilet because (like you said) you killed something you shouldn't of.

so basically here's what the F.A.Q.s or Troubleshooting should look like from nowo n with any game they release,

"Do not kill any creature you encounter when not on a spacific quest that tells you to kill said creature, It may cause the game to error and you will be unable to complete a quest further down the road."
"We realize this is an RPG and you gain levels by completing quests and fighting creatures, just be warned when you fight creatures it could cause irreversable harm to your game and you will have to restart the game."
"Be sure to save before you encounter a creature, in fact, Just save every single step you take. Better safe then sorry!"
"Lastly, don't bother playing this game till we release the next on in the series, by then everything SHOULD be taken care of and all the glitches in it SHOULD be taken care of. We make no promises though. Play at your own risk!"

I understand it's next to impossable to repair a save file, but to be unable to fix the game which in turn would fix the save file is rather suprising. there's only been a few games I have played where a patch rendered save files useless and they are usually in massive patch files that introduce new things to the game that the save file doesn't have. So I suppose my next question would be, How come the save file can't fix corrupted quests, yet it has absolutly no problem loading in mods that weren't in the game to begin with? all with their own quests aswell.

Re:It's funny...

[AuMatar]

This is a problem with quests being uncompletable if you accidently do step 2 before step 1. Thats pretty much impossible to be caused by spyware.

Re:Suck it Bethseda...

[JDevers]

Most highly open-ended games are like this. Think of how difficult it would be to play test a game like Oblivion versus a typical FPS.

Meh...

[Feanturi]

I haven't got sympathy for anyone on Slashdot of all places, that wants to complain about a broken quest. Particularly anyone that runs Linux. One of the great strengths of Oblivion, and Morrowind before it, is how far under the hood you can get. Got a broken quest? Then get in the editor and fix it. That should actually be *fun* for most of the people here. I've spent about a month so far not actually playing the game. I've been immersed in the editor, having just as much fun (while admittedly missing the beautiful scenery - the other reason I bought this game), and Morrowind was the same way for me. Either game would be less fun if I couldn't change it up and mold it to my liking. Your mileage may vary, but if you come in here flashing geek creds you can't stop to complain that you need to fix your game. Have FUN fixing it, and improving on it, that's what we do, isn't it?

Re:Meh...

[Gr33nNight]

Yeah, I fix shit at work all day and get paid for it. I shouldnt have to shell out $50 and then work some more to fix Bethesdas mistakes. Paying a company to fix their mistakes for them is not my idea of *fun*. Its my idea of getting ripped off.

Damn complainers....

[friedmud]

What a bunch of complainers...

I have logged around 90 hours so far in this game... and it is unbelievable. I haven't hit anything that I have noticed as a bug... but I'm also an extremely careful player (hence the 90 hours).

What other game out there gives you _SO MUCH_ with so few problems? In such a huge game like this there are bound to be some issues. Have a couple of minor glitches in a couple of side quest and get castrated even though there are _hundreds_ of quests with no problems.

Good god people... get over it!

Man... people just don't appreciate things. You have to take the good with the bad. I'll take an incredible game with a couple of coding flaws in it over another FPS on rails game with no bugs anyday.... but I guess that's just me.

Damn,
Friedmud

Re:Indoor issues...

[k_187]

I'd imagine its the raidiant Ai or whatever its called. when you're near NPCs the game has to caculate everything they're doing and/or going to do. I'd imagine that there isn't much you can do about it w/o upgrading.

Re:Damn complainers....

[friedmud]

The genre/game content most definitely has something to do with it.

I can't see how anyone can argue that Oblivion is _not_ a polished product. Just because a couple of small things slip through Q&A doesn't mean it's not polished. I haven't bought/used a single piece of software that didn't have atleast one bug... it's the nature of large software products. Does that mean that I've never used a "polished" piece of software? I don't think so.

What I'm trying to say is that $50 buys you a very polished game, with a couple of small flaws (maybe making up 1/1000 of the game's content). For me that's a damn good ratio. The rest of the game content (graphics/scenery/voice acting/quests/music) are so great that it more than outweighs any small flaws.

As for genre... my point is that in a 15-20 hour shooter... where all you do is run around and blow shit up (not putting these games down I own plenty of them and greatly enjoy them) and you don't have all the intracacies that are present in Oblivion I expect there to be a lot less flaws... I'm looking for a flaw/content ratio that is very low and I think Oblivion definitely delivers that.

Friedmud