monday Patch

Technically regression testing is verifying old shit works more than looking for new bugs.

Bit of semantics, but still.

Im sure their sole QA guy testing gameplay (because the rest, all 3 of them, are likely testing Promoter) and likely isnt actively simming because it could potentially be labeled 'not doing work' at many angles.

A few people were testing it last night and it seems that either

A) theres a small delay in the whip logic taking hold

or

B) it's wonky 'dazed' logic overriding the whip logic

Counters are apparently not counting themselves as whips at all, and duck-n-dodge supports the potential A/B scenarios.

Yeah, it's borked out either way.

Yeah, I'll see one leapfrog occasionally, then the character will run the ropes and both will just collide. That's the only other thing that I've been seeing. I don't actually mind that, if I'm honest, as it's close to the double shoulderblock spot that happens all of the time.

What's nuts is the thing that they replaced, which was tossing someone into the ropes and then making a tag, was so much less of an issue. It happened, it was stupid, but this is a lot worse. 

The "X steps forward, Y steps back" approach has been frustrating for the past year. Any game that is on its third development team in less than 2 years is having issues, obviously. We all know it. And it's like every time I allow myself to get really deep into the game, they change or break something that turns me off to it.

I already made my thoughts known on the big touchwork tag changes from last month. And while some of the negative feelings about it have healed to the point that I can sim tag matches again, I still get really irritated whenever I see frustrating things happen that wouldn't have happened under the old touchwork engine.

That is why ONE of the reasons I was initially happy to see the recent patch on Monday was because Spike allowing wrestlers to complete their moves after the irish whip and not interrupt that spot to tag out. The irish whip issue itself was indicative of the overall problem of edits interrupting "normal pro wrestling spots" to suddenly tag out just because that arbitrary "time frame" under the new touchwork rules had run out. I was hoping (and still am) that Spike's realization would eventually translate to them preventing an edit from tagging out in the middle of completing a priority sequence. So that part of the patch was very much welcomed by me but then I heard about the bugs. I just hope Spike realizes that their initial attempt to fix something was good. They SHOULD continue fixing the game and also properly compensating for the problems the new touchwork rules created. It was their failure to properly test the ramifications of that fix (plus the fact that it was so easy and quick to actually see the problems had they properly looked) which was the problem.

It would be like making a substantial logic change to my edit, then uploading that edit before simming it first. We wouldn't do it for an edit so I don't see how Spike did it for a major patch. It's not like people were even pressuring them about making the specific intentional changes they did in the patch or that they were late in promising that specific patch. They just launched the patch up there with the seeming immediacy/impatience of a patch that we all were clamoring for and that they had promised us two years ago.

I've tried to stay fairly positive throughout the past year while still voicing my displeasure at some of the changes that I felt were negative or the bugs that we've seen. Spike was INCREDIBLY approachable and helpful during Early Access and granted many of my specific requests - some of them a bit esoteric.

But after EA was over, I feel as if Spike focused on projects that many of us did not rank as highly to us, and at the cost of continuing to improve basic functionality. Then they got overextended with having too many projects and too little time/money to do them properly. Now it seems like they are operating on a small budget, with an even smaller team, and are doing things that puzzle me with a new team that may not actually understand a lot of the mechanics and basic appeal of Fire Pro. For example, suddenly fundamentally changing touchwork to solve a problem that didn't need that huge type of change was a red flag to me that something isn't quite right. Not testing a patch to find problems obvious within one simmed match is another red flag. There were so many things that needed more attention before EA was over and it almost seems like more problems are being created now with each new thing that they do. I don't really know the specific reason as to why they are having these issues. My guess (just based on industry practices) is that they suffered from a very limited budget and time frame for the game and post-release patches. But it's just bad form to release a patch that breaks things that are so easily detected that have not been a problem in the series in the past.

In any case, I certainly believe that you can support the game and even support Spike while still being VERY clear about what the problems are. And the only way to make the game the best we can, assuming Spike really is still listening, is to alert them to the problems. Dawn did an excellent job with his tweets a few days ago. Spike needs to know and I think it only helps us to constructively and patiently tell them what the issues are. But around here, I understand the frustration with the game. I feel it too. It's still the best Fire Pro ever created but the potential has really outpaced the reality. And that's without even taking mods into account. Just the basic rules of "stop breaking the game" and "For Goose sake, PLEASE ALLOW US TO EASILY SEARCH FOR OUR EDITS IN A PC GAME WITH ALMOST LIMITLESS CAPACITY" shouldn't be broken this many times.

But uh, yeah, rabble rabble!

It's hilarious, though, because this bug has turned me off demonstrably from playing the game, because it's so egregious and so commonplace in practically every single match you sim. One of the worst things a developer can do in ongoing support of a game is create an environment in which its customers don't want to play its games anymore. You can do this by either A) releasing patches that bork the game really badly or B) not giving enough support to the game via updating content, events, etc. (depending on the type of game.) Funny enough it feels like Spike has failed on both of these fronts. But I still enjoy Fire Pro enough that even if it's gonna take until like 2040 until all the DLC comes out I actively want to play it. That enthusiasm is diminished considerably when I see this kind of shit in every single match, though.

Y'all can play the game or not find it a big deal. That's fine. But the notion, to me, at least, that this escalated beyond one person being completely ridiculous is... completely ridiculous. And then he was dealt with. We all know it'll get fixed eventually, but some of us are pretty tired of the notion that A) "eventually" means "who fucking knows" and B) this shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. And honestly C) this definitely isn't the first time something like this has happened and definitely won't be the last. I can nearly guarantee something in the patch that comes out around the time of Fire Promoter will bork the game just a little bit—not enough to break it, but there will be some annoying-ass thing that'll suck enjoyment out of the game. And that compounding of everything combined with outside things like maybe just having a shitty time of things or limited time to play games will mean some people will be much more unforgiving and done with Spike's shit. Again.

No one is calling for Spike's heads. At all. People are allowed to vent and voice their frustrations with what has been a very frustrating situation. Yes, doing things like Dawn did is useful too, and at some point it all becomes a useless echo chamber (re: the whole NJPW DLC delay debacle). But this thread never got to that point, I feel. It's just people being rightly frustrated and using a venue they have access to to vent said frustrations. Really... not a big deal. *shrug*

I'll live with it.

It's fucking stupid as shit, but I'll live with it.

I'm not changing any of my edits and it won't keep me from working on any scheduled edits I have in the pipeline.

Thankfully I don't run any regularly scheduled shows where fuck-ups like that can happen.