Originally Posted by beep

It's my opinion that software PUBLISHERS (i.e. Ubisoft) and software MAKERS (e.g. Red Storm Entertainment) have different agendas, even though there can be a lot of overlap.

Publishers are concerned about marketing, promotion and sales...promoting community, etc...all those things to get buyers to put their money down. Their primary concern with "quality" is that it should not be so bad as to depress sales or create a problem for future game sales. I don't think they really have a direct hand in testing or examining whether the stuff works with "configerations".

Software makers ARE concerned about whether it works. AND they can't possibly test every single "configeration" of mobo/processor/video card/sound card...and all the various drivers for them. At some point in the final testing, they have to just say "go" and lock down the code for the publisher...KNOWING that patches will have to come.

All this is in the nature of the beast. Leejo is absolutely correct in his acknowledgement of the simplicity of programming for consoles. That is comparatively simple, cheap and a lot easier to manage. (Maybe we should hope for the "day of convergence" to come)

Bitching about this to ourselves may make us feel better, but it's not going to change the business model or the behavior of the publishers and software makers.

The corrective process for this is that over time we will support "good" companies by purchasing their product while avoiding the products of others. Giving them feedback is good, but it definitely needs to be in as specific a form as possible. Ubisoft responded to Jex's email as a product-specific customer support issue...and totally missed the point. I suspect that Jex's "ladder was leaning against the wrong building". The publisher isn't responsible for buggy games except in a very general sort of way.

Beep, a lot of what you say is right on the money. I have to disagree with the multiple hardware configuration issue though. If you look at every machine out there, ~90% of your PC gaming consumer market is running 1 of 2 CPU brands and 1 of 2 video card brands. Based on the unified driver systems that almost every company is implementing, you only have to write your code to support that driver system and then the issue falls to the hardware vendor. The PC game production companies like Red Storm Entertainment do not understand this concept at all. The only patches they should have to provide is code support for updated unified drivers. There is no reason your code should not be able to take advantage of a large majority of the system configurations out there.

Jex, all I can say is possibly start a petition for gamers to sign asking the companies to explain their release policies to the consumer. If the release policies do not coincide with public opinion they will instantly see the impression on their sales. I'm sure if you use Google, you will find a place that will support your petition online, and then you will have the market backing that is required to force the companies to do something about shoddy craftsmanship. It is simply a matter of letting people know it is out there. You should also continue to save any and all corespondence with any company you inquire with. It can be used at a later time to support your argument.