Why the hell is this thing so buggy after more than a year?

[hair10]

Really Icarus, it's more than a little annoying that the game is still as buggy as it is after more than a year of being out. Yes, it's made some great strides but why are we still encountering so many general issues?

I can understand some issues with special power interactions. You have to create new rules for all of the goofy powers that come out. But standard powers and team abilities should be set in stone by now. Not that long ago I had to argue with game dev after finding a bug about movement. Now I just sent another bug about the SHIELD TA. In both cases I got a response back saying basically "we're right, you're wrong... non-issue". In the first case, I argued with them and pointed out the rules. They came back later after talking to the rules people for WK and they confirmed that I was indeed right. I didn't even bother with this second time around. It's not worth it.


Tonight I'm in a HoT sealed game (finally get good pulls too!) and what happens? That stupid blue-cloudy screen when the tourney never loads. I eventually get booted and handed the loss. Argg! Really? After a year we're still doing this? And to add insult to injury, I have to fill out a bug report AND submit an email requesting a refund. Why? You know what the problem is! We've all ran into this issue... you should have a hundred bug reports on file about this one issue alone! Why do I have to submit yet another bug report through your crappy bug tool (seriously, that thing sucks)?


Please take some time and/or hire some devs to fix these fundamental issues. After a year, it's getting pretty old.

[rystalquinn]

...I agree with this statement completely. Hair thank you for saying the same thing I am.

-PC

[BREAKALLDAY]

Diddo
And When are you going to have the update for Power Cosmic and Quint, so that we will be able to choose if we want to take pushing damage or not?

WGPCGR

This is a signup page...please ask this question in the "Dear Icarus"

[rystalquinn]

Power Cosmic / Quints don't take pushing damage properly. The wording on their power is, "does not take pushing damage." This isn't a case of willpower being granted, and being able to use or not use it.

-PC

[BREAKALLDAY]

Power Cosmic / Quints don't take pushing damage properly. The wording on their power is, "does not take pushing damage." This isn't a case of willpower being granted, and being able to use or not use it.

-PC
AAAAH, BUT IT DOES grant now, as of the posting ov the updated DC & Marvel team abbilities WIZKIDS posted a few weeks ago with the Comprehensive Tournament Rules on 03/15/2012
MARVEL
POWER COSMIC Characters using the Power Cosmic team ability can
use Willpower and their powers cannot be countered. Uncopyable.
DC
QUINTESSENCE Characters using the Quintessence team ability can
use Willpower and their powers cannot be countered. Uncopyable.

"WGPCGR"

[rystalquinn]

I'd say give them a bit on that one. They have keywords that are still wrong that have been out for a long time, verses a guide which changed the wording on a power in the last two - three weeks.

-PC

[hair10]

Yeah, they have the SHIELD TA screwed up too. They're telling me that they just haven't updated to the "new wording". I was going to tell them that it's never worked the way they have it, but decided it wasn't worth the electrons. :rolleyes:

[WildTurkey]

Yeah, they have the SHIELD TA screwed up too. They're telling me that they just haven't updated to the "new wording". I was going to tell them that it's never worked the way they have it, but decided it wasn't worth the electrons. :rolleyes:

What's wrong with the shield TA? It seemed to work just fine for me every time I use it.

[krusticlese]

I don't know why you'd continue to throw money at the developers when they can't get some basic functionality issues resolved.

Vote with your wallet.

[hair10]

What's wrong with the shield TA? It seemed to work just fine for me every time I use it.

I'd tell ya, but I don't want it abused more! :eek:

[WildTurkey]

I'd tell ya, but I don't want it abused more! :eek:

Totally respect that.... Unless you yourself are said abuser lol :cool:

[W.I.T]

I don't know why you'd continue to throw money at the developers when they can't get some basic functionality issues resolved.

Vote with your wallet.

This. 1,000,000x this.

Weren't you the one advocating for more people to come try this game out Hair :noid:?

I don't post in this forum usually, because I don't play HCO, but when I see stuff like this, it simply reaffirms my decision to stay away.

[NeoShazam]

I don't know why you'd continue to throw money at the developers when they can't get some basic functionality issues resolved.

Vote with your wallet.

This. 1,000,000x this.

Weren't you the one advocating for more people to come try this game out Hair :noid:?

I don't post in this forum usually, because I don't play HCO, but when I see stuff like this, it simply reaffirms my decision to stay away.

I was one of the Beta testers and got tired of the game pretty quick. When they announced they were done with beta testing and going "live" I knew our ideas of quality control were really far apart and that I'd have to wait a long time for my expectations and the game to mesh (figured ~2 years).

[Peers]

The problem is that developers (and I'm speaking from a position of over a decade of experience here) have different jobs depending on who you ask.

For users, the developer's job is to fix bugs and make for a smooth game.

For investors/owners, the developer's job is to implement new features that will bring in more revenue.

For managers, the developer's job is to do what they're told. And what they're told to do is what the managers want them to do.

Since the managers can fire them, the developers do what the managers give them. Since the owners can fire them, the managers have the developers focus on stuff that will bring in more revenue. Since nobody can fire them, the investors don't care about bugs unless they cause enough people to stop paying in revenue.

So unless people as a group say "We're not giving you any more money unless you fix the bugs -- no, we're not buying new figures -- no, we're not throwing more money at you because you lowered prices -- no, nothing until you fix the bugs", then they're going to be low priority next to things that will bring in more money.

Especially if they're bugs that are extremely complicated to fix, or bugs that are in the code written by people no longer with the company and need to be thoroughly explored first. ROI (Return On Investment) is everything... if five hours of work result in a new Figure of the Week and bring in a few hundred bucks, it'll be more important than five hours of work to fix the SHIELD TA.

[hair10]

Totally respect that.... Unless you yourself are said abuser lol :cool:
Nope. It was done to me, but I have not done it to anyone else.

This. 1,000,000x this.

Weren't you the one advocating for more people to come try this game out Hair :noid:?

Yep. And it's still a worthwhile game. However, some of these outstading issues have gone on for (what I feel is) to long.

The problems detract from the overall experience but don't make it worthless.

[magerunner]

This is one of the reason that i don't want to spend any money on tourney for all the bugs and if for some reason you get kicked from the game when you come back your kicked.

[A_Higher_Level]

Well, being a software programmer for a number of years I can say that their lifecycle would be totally dependent upon a) their funding, and b) their manpower.

Bugs are alwas going to be present, and it really comes down to the process you use to both find, and address such bugs.

Unfortunately because this game deals with real world money so frequently, certain bugs will raise the ire of public opinion against you more than others (ie. getting booted from a game you paid to participate in).

Hence, most developers would make finding and addressing bugs that affect real-world money a priority (crashing when playing in a tournament) over others (like the SHIELD team ability). Especially if the smaller bugs where on a 'known bug list' so that everyone is aware and can account for it properly.

*Tosses 2 cents on the floor.*

My main concern with the game that I am still struggling with is the timer vs gameplay execution. 90% of the time I know EXACTLY what I want to do, but have to struggle with the interface to make it happen in the game. Add to this the slight delay that I get on my screen that occurs between perplexing my stats, carrying a figure, making my move, picking up an object, and executing my attack, and my timer has usually after the movement.

I wish there was an option that would either make the performance more fluid, or that the interface was more forgiving in terms of me throwing actions at it, and it figuring out if there is anyway possible to do so. I mean, it's a computer after all! And if I have to click out each and every step (which I'm not against) then give me more time to address it, cause I would never have run into that issue in a real game.

[Jackofhearts2005]

So unless people as a group say "We're not giving you any more money unless you fix the bugs -- no, we're not buying new figures -- no, we're not throwing more money at you because you lowered prices -- no, nothing until you fix the bugs", then they're going to be low priority next to things that will bring in more money.


Well then I have this to say to the entire playerbase of heroclix online.

You're welcome. Cause I've been doing exactly that from the beginning. :cheeky:

[hair10]

And more examples of exactly what I'm talking about... http://hcforums.icarusstudios.com/hcforums/showthread.php?t=2517

[QueensGambit]

I feel like I should add something here because I was the unintentional inspiration behind this thread, having used the Shield TA in a manner contrary to the rules. But first, a slight aside.

Those of you familiar with the MTG universe know that after over two decades and thousands of cards, questions over how some of those cards interact are common, and there isn't always an easy ruling available. Enter MTGO. On MTGO, if you have a question about an interaction you can simply play it out and get a semi-official ruling on the spot. This is because they have an entire team of rules professionals ensuring that if it works IRL it works the same way online, and before each set releases online it goes through weeks of beta testing, where veteran players can sign up to play sealed with the new cards alongside cards from all other sets. You don't get to keep the cards, but it's free and fun to do, and it weeds out bugs right quick.

Until Hair pointed this out to me in our game, I had no idea the SHIELD TA wasn't supposed to work the way I was using it. Partly because I've been spoiled by the professionalism of MTGO and partly because I should pay more attention to these details, I assumed that because it worked online, it worked IRL. And yes, I know what that makes me.

So again, my apologies Hair, and I agree with this thread completely. In the vein of what Peers and AHL already mentioned, Icarus could invest the time and money required to make HCO a world class product on par with MTGO, WoW, Aion, really any other online gaming studio with low monthly fees (Aion, for example, is going completely free this summer), they simply refuse to do so. After more than a year we have a depressing lack of new content, the same maps, bugs for basic powers, and an interface that doesn't even give the PS1 any competition graphics-wise. And somehow people think that giving them more money will incentivise them to significantly improve the experience.

Nuts to that.
/end rant.

[hair10]

I feel like I should add something here because I was the unintentional inspiration behind this thread, having used the Shield TA in a manner contrary to the rules.
You really weren't. ;) The SHIELD TA is just a small stone in the landslide that's been building for ahwile now.

[adamical]

I thought this was still in beta.

[disguy]

I thought this was still in beta.

It is still in beta...I don't see them fixing / testing anything new.