Poll: Is there such thing as overpolishing a game?

[Gritimo The Odd]

This is mostly directed at the Valve and Blizzard game companies but if you have a company to add feel free to sing out about it.

Star Craft 2, Diablo 3, Half-Life 2 episode 3 (lost coast doesnt really count IMO) All games I am dearly wanting to play and savor but seem to have always retreating release dates. Both Blizzard and Valve have been working on these for a while now and I have been wondering what has been keeping these games held up for so long? Both companies have a history of superior gameplay, quality and story but Im starting to wonder if they are trying to hard on them and this is causing them to delay. Anybody else feel this way?

 

[Kollega]

There is such thing as taking too long to polish,but no such thing as "overpolishing" the game. And oh,

I know there is such a thing as an under polished game. STALKER Clear Sky.

THIS.

 

[The Blue Mongoose]

Starcraft 2 is looking relly awesome... As in, more than worth the wait. Unless we include the time it'll take for the rest of the single player stuff to come out...

Anyway, I'm happy to wait, so long as the final game really is finished.

 

[TaborMallory]

I'm voting not just for bug free, but for aspects like balance and gameplay.

I'm more than happy to wait longer, as long as the game is--God forbid!--actually good.

 

[Vimbert]

I always thought Blizzard's style was great. Keep people in suspense while polishing the product to higher and higher quality. A clever marketing scheme that also results in great games for the patient.

 

[The Great Zegrool]

I always thought Blizzard's style was great. Keep people in suspense while polishing the product to higher and higher quality. A clever marketing scheme that also results in great games for the patient.

Your avatar made my day.

OT:Valve's games have always been excellent, and they have always taken long making their games. If a game is good, than I am definitely willing to wait.

 

[vonwenck]

there is no such thing of overpolishing a game but there is a point where it just gets anoying and i just want them to release the game and just patch it like......Diablo 3, they keep releasing great looking gameplay footage but there are posible release dates not till 2011?!!?!?! i mean i personally beleave it will becoming out mid 2010 latest hopfully 2009 but like really? id rather be playing a game with a few balance issues and bugs than having toi wait longer for it

 

[SimuLord]

There is a critical difference between working on a game until it's "perfect" vs. working on a game so long that you end up doing Duke Nukem Forever. Plus, try as you might, you will NEVER nail down every bug in a program as complex as a game, because some player somewhere will find something that thousands of hours of beta testing didn't find.

The absolutely required factor is that your company have excellent post-release support, and commit to letting your early adopters know that their feedback is valued. Don't just fix the bugs in your patches. Tweak settings, add free DLC/units/items for your registered users, let the customer know that your company cares about getting games right.

I'd rather spend a few months playing a game that's good but flawed than waiting forever and a day for a "perfect" release that inevitably isn't and which by dint of being "perfected before release" is more likely to provoke a "sorry, we're working on our next project, no patches" response from the developer.

 

[Jedoro]

I always thought Blizzard's style was great. Keep people in suspense while polishing the product to higher and higher quality. A clever marketing scheme that also results in great games for the patient.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Building up hype while polishing the game, works like a charm.

 

[Vimbert]

There is a critical difference between working on a game until it's "perfect" vs. working on a game so long that you end up doing Duke Nukem Forever.

That's a very good point. I doubt any one of us wants to go through anything quite as heartbreaking as that again.

 

[veloper]

there is never such a thing as too much quality

the problem is time and money.

I wish more developers would take the time like Valve and Blizzard to make their games work out-of-the-box.

I can wait. Plus the industry is so big, if everyone just tested and fixed their products, you still wouldn't have to wait for your next gaming fix.

 

[Spleeni]

Does everyone have to reference Duke Nukem? Come ON! I know of a game that's only popular because of its glitches. GunZ: The duel. It's so popular, it has a sequel coming out.

So I vote for intentionally putting in more bugs. Gunz was fun.

 

[traceur_]

I want a game to be as close to perfect as possible.

I HATE buggy and glitchy games that are shipped out and patched later. We are not your fucking beta testers so take the time to get it right!

 

[AlphaOmega]

I rather wait untill 2015 for EP3 and Diablo3 then for them to rush it like most devs seem to do more and more.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

yes. Crysis is so shiny it crashes your computer.

 

[Canadian Fodder]

IT NEEDS TO WORK PROPERLY!

 

[Awesometown]

we wouldn't want to make games too good now would we?