Jimquisition: Shaming PC Ports Because Why Not?

[Qvar]

Alrigth, alrigth, you win! Is there an anticheater mod? I have to try that... 2 out of 3 invasions the darkmoon ring called me for, I found a hacker with invulnerability mod on. Killed one of them kicking her out of one of the bridges, but still infuriating.

 

[Something Amyss]

[

At first I thought the video was taking the piss out of PC "master race"-ers for asking for a port, and then throwing massive bitchfits when they got exactly what they asked for.

That would have been epic, actually. It's a shame he tied games like Dark Souls to actually broken, unplayable shit.

You don't understand.

You mistake "don't understand" for two separate issues: "am addressing Jim's argument," and "think another argument is absurd."

Jim said he didn't want more. Hell, I've seen this before on the Escapist, where people pretended it was actually worse than the PS3 version and demanded they get the same quality. the problem is, they did.

I also think the argument that a port needs more it it's inferior to be absurd and contrary. I get your argument, I merely reject it. Especially in the case of Dark Souls, where PC gamers knew what they were getting and whined for it and then complained about it when they got it.

It's bloody ridiculous.

The one thing I don't understand is that kind of response. It seems hypocritical and falsely-entitled.

Oh, I agree.

No, YOU listen to...Oh. Wait. Heh.

But yeah, I do get that's why they get a pass. I just felt like pointing out it's also sort of the intrinsiic flaw in the system. The capacity to make content becomes an obligation to dig around and fix things. But you are aware of that. So...Ummm...Carry on...

I admit, I'm sort of guilty of this myself. I wouldn't have touched the PC version of Saints Row 2 if people hadn't modded all the shit out of it. However, I only got the game in 2013, so I'm wondering if I've really done any harm. CD Projekt stopped supporting the game like two days after release. I'm pretty sure the damage is done.

But I would be remiss to pretend I've never bought a game because someone else has fixed it.

I will also add I understand why people put up with a certain degree of glichiness and the like. When I bought GTA V I expected what was potentially the largest and most ambitious sandbox game of its time to have some flaws. But there are apparently some big ones in story mode, and they have fucked up literally every step of the way with online (which is what I cared about in the first place), so they've gone well beyond what I expect from a company.

And glitches have always been around and will likely persist no matter the level of quality control. Some of them are even cool.

I think there has to be some level of perspective, is all. But this isn't specifically aimed at you, so much as tacked on to my stream of thought as I go.

 

[Seracen]

[

No, YOU listen to...Oh. Wait. Heh.

But yeah, I do get that's why they get a pass. I just felt like pointing out it's also sort of the intrinsiic flaw in the system. The capacity to make content becomes an obligation to dig around and fix things. But you are aware of that. So...Ummm...Carry on...

I admit, I'm sort of guilty of this myself. I wouldn't have touched the PC version of Saints Row 2 if people hadn't modded all the shit out of it. However, I only got the game in 2013, so I'm wondering if I've really done any harm. CD Projekt stopped supporting the game like two days after release. I'm pretty sure the damage is done.

But I would be remiss to pretend I've never bought a game because someone else has fixed it.

I will also add I understand why people put up with a certain degree of glichiness and the like. When I bought GTA V I expected what was potentially the largest and most ambitious sandbox game of its time to have some flaws. But there are apparently some big ones in story mode, and they have fucked up literally every step of the way with online (which is what I cared about in the first place), so they've gone well beyond what I expect from a company.

And glitches have always been around and will likely persist no matter the level of quality control. Some of them are even cool.

I think there has to be some level of perspective, is all. But this isn't specifically aimed at you, so much as tacked on to my stream of thought as I go.

Yep, also a reason I tend to get PC launches. However, for me, Saint's Row 2 was one of the few exceptions.

No matter how many mods and patches I downloaded, I could never get the PC version to work for me. It's sad really, b/c I ended up buying the damn thing twice as a result.

I'm still pissed at EA for never acknowledging those of us who fixed their bugs on Dragon Age: Origins for PC. I didn't even want money for my contribution, just a "thank you." Although I won't lie, some free DLC would have been nice too.

But it's EA, I don't know what I'm expecting...

 

[Something Amyss]

The point was that "you can just plug controller and play" assumption didnt really help anyone because not all gamers used controllers or even preferred them.

So don't play a game if it's not suited to/built for your play style?

I hear Rocksmith requires a guitar to operate. Does this bother you?

 

[Strazdas]

The point was that "you can just plug controller and play" assumption didnt really help anyone because not all gamers used controllers or even preferred them.

So don't play a game if it's not suited to/built for your play style?

I hear Rocksmith requires a guitar to operate. Does this bother you?

IF you make a game you make it work with PC controls - keyboard and mouse. If you dont want to do that dont make the port.

The whole point of this video was your first sentence - we should not play games that fail to do properly on PC, and we shoudl shame them too if it can be fixed by an outside in 24 hours.

And yes, it does bother me.

 

[Rezeak]

Saying stuff like if you can't do X then don't make it is just elitist.

Dark souls was not a 'good' port but it did the job and even without patches it's still an amazing game and lot of people enjoyed and still enjoy it but in many peoples opinion we shouldn't be able to enjoy this game because they did have the time to rework the controls in a good way for keyboard and mouse.... how about you just don't buy the game and we can enjoy the game.

As for Bethesda they do pay back the people that fix there games by making the game easily modifiable and investing time and money in to making the modding tools for the game which are free. Really, if any company deserves a pass on this it's Bethesda because they built there modding community all the way back at Morrowind.

Funnily enough if you look at Battlefield which turned it's back on modders by becoming closed is now full of bugs and probably would be a working game by now is getting hammered for it (considering there delaying DLC and stuff just to make fixes).

At the end of the day releasing a buggy game isn't that bad because the people that don't care and rather get the game a month or 3 earlier get the game and the people that have the issue with it can just wait till it's on steam sale and save some $$.

Lastly, as for the people fixing these games getting credit. Do remember that making mods and fixing games is one of the cheapest ways to get into the gaming industry for some and for others it's just a hobby which they enjoy.

 

[Varrdy]

I agree! GTA 4, while being a really good game, suffered several issues with the PC port. I didn't realise just how bad it was until I played it on a friend's XBox 360. I also tried Saints Row 2 but the quality was woeful and the game, while doing it's best, wasn't as much fun as it should have been, thanks to the issues.

Although it's not a port, Mass Effect 2 required someone else to make a patch that allowed people who had PAID MONEY for the game to actually play it, thanks to the notorious CD-Key issue. To this day I still have to use the "no-dvd" hack to play a game that I still have the receipt for. Incidentally, I showed this receipt to EA when they asked me to and then they went very quiet - bluff-call fail?

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

It doesn't help that the media in general fawns all over any given developer/publisher with every new release that comes out and completely ignores what they did before instead of holding them accountable. Maybe if they started putting their money where their mouth was, things might start to change.

 

[Bonemeal]

The first minute-and-a-half of this video was just about the funniest, most cathartic thing I have ever seen in my life.

Thank God

for you.

 

[Habballah]

So Jim, are you expecting someone in the community to release a patch for your script? XD

Oh my God can I ^^?

 

[Neopopulas]

Imagine paying 100(ish) bucks in Australia for terrible console ports.

 

[JambalayaBob]

I played the unpatched version of dark souls on my years-old PC that barely met the system requirements.
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I had zero problems with it.

It was exactly the same as the console version, except not laggy.
I never expected them to do anything special with the port, considering it was a years-after-the-fact release.
Honestly, yeah, it was a bad port to PC because people expect to be able to change settings and shit, but if it was a port to another console, nobody would have batted an eye.

 

[Vicioussama]

Been gone sooo time to respond

EDIT:

I disagree that Dark Souls was a "shitty port." Mediocre port? Yes. Shitty? No. It was playable without ANY fix.

That's humorous. I certainly remember my copy (and many others) immediately crashing to desktop or coming up with a fatal error on start up.

Really? Gonna say it's humorous eh? You claim your copy immediately crashed eh? Why? Did you look into it? Maybe it was your computer? you claim many others, but what percentage? If it's under the average amount considered fair for scientific error? Then you're kinda not in the right here. Which is actually upwards of 10%. But even then, it's usually around 5% most consider acceptable. Let's look at the people complaining about bricked PS4s or XBones ya? Well reports show that the failure rate of the consoles so far is about less 1% for each. That means the consoles are, for the most part, a great success. With Dark Souls PC version, the failure rates, as far as I could find, is far less than the acceptable percentage. Something like 3% iirc. It sucks if you had those issues, I know people did, but did it later get patched? or did you later fix it by fixing your computer? I highly doubt it was just the "DSFix" (especially on Day 1 when it was FAR less than what it is now) that did it.

My point can be found in this other person's quote below.

I played the unpatched version of dark souls on my years-old PC that barely met the system requirements.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I had zero problems with it.

It was exactly the same as the console version, except not laggy.
I never expected them to do anything special with the port, considering it was a years-after-the-fact release.
Honestly, yeah, it was a bad port to PC because people expect to be able to change settings and shit, but if it was a port to another console, nobody would have batted an eye.

Basically this. It was not a "bad port" it was a mediocre port. It worked, it worked better than consoles. But it didn't work with the native control scheme of the PC nor did it work to the average PC gamer's full computer's power capacities. However, FROM Soft was ENTIRELY fair and open with the fact it would work about the same (moderately better) than consoles and really best work with a controller.

Basically, people hating on it are way to unrealistic/unfair with their standards and ignore information given to them prior to purchase or they are just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[mohit9206]

Well i disagree with one point that Jim made that PC ports should be the same quality as console version.I would say it MUST be better,a good port is one which plays to the strengths of the platform adding and optimizing the game for PC.Every PC port of a console game must have improved graphics,extensive audio and video options,unlocked frame rate and high resolution support among other things.Good video though.