Good grief, sir!! Either you're a desperately failing comedian or you're utterly deluded(???) If it doesn't cause too much mental trauma in the process, we'll allow you to choose
.
(Do you just not want to deal with it or are you just happy to ignore the fact that tens or possibly hundreds of thousands have
already paid a significant premium for a product that has since been found wanting in almost every possible regard or remains broken? Enough said really
.)
-----***------
Otherwise,
If it's not passing Xbox testing & scrutiny, & it's not up to a predefined acceptable standard, then by default it
IS failing, period.
The manner in which some rather veiled explanations are also repeatedly offered of how Xbox keep refusing these patches also reads as if they [BA] have no prior experience of Xbox or their testing procedures. Obviously, that's not the case & those procedures didn't suddenly fall into their laps from the skies above..... It's just something else on a now growing list of issues that BA were woefully unprepared for with a radically unfinished product. Only in this instance, it's finally caught up with them & now continues to bite them squarely on the backside as a direct result. (I fail to see how Xbox are at fault here by turning down patches that don't meet predefined standards.) Lord help them if they don't learn some rapid lessons here & this drags on. (I'm personally a bit "bah humbug" when it comes to Xmas myself
, nevertheless, I still remain truly empathetic for any individual (especially sprogs) that now may well receive what's essentially a DOA Xbox copy on disc for Xmas too if a patch isn't very rapidly pushed through this week
. That tends to stick in the proverbial memory banks of upset kids & parents alike for...., well, forever really.)
I don't want to turn this into a game of "
them and us" either as it's painfully obvious that's
not what this about at all. (Anyone with a degree of common sense who has remained even loosely informed over the state of this release can realise that easily enough alone.) Meanwhile, the entire Xbox consumer/fan base remain stuck with the now notoriously & completely broken day one release BA pushed out upon us
ALL.)
The current state of affairs regarding Xbox has unequivocally reached an unacceptable level of professional conduct, & the trust of each & every consumer (regardless of platform) has also been breached. Especially given the pre-release attitude of absolute silence about any of these known issues, & the publicity videos that BA did participate in that were released via third parties that gave the impression that we could
ALL expect a working & "acceptable" product on release day when that impression couldn't have been further from the truth. (Not until the day of its release when there was ultimately no other choice than to "fess up" did BA finally admit the fact that the game had -- "A lot of issues". (That was without doubt an understatement of epic proportions, it was far too little too late,
& for many still remains an unaddressed reality.)
(Yes, modern game developers can sail awfully close to the wind at times with their practice of taking pre-orders & failing deadlines or publicly pushing an unfinished product out far too early. It's not an acceptable or popular practice by far & many have simply continued to get away with that practice in the past, but there are exceptions to every rule & BA's gamble is backfiring horribly. This is a prime example of just how quickly & spectacularly things can go pear shaped if electing to roll those particular dice!
BA apparently need to adjust their approach to resolving this Xbox debacle entirely & they need to do it
pretty damn quickly as the Xmas holiday rapidly approaches as that's just compounding already significant issues further still.
If nothing else, I'd like to see a complete but
temporary halt to
all PS & PC patches at this stage (unless resolving an urgent game breaking issue of itself), while the
ENTIRE BA team is
immediately brought to bear on resolving this initial Xbox patch once & for all. As soon as the first patch is released for Xbox successfully, obviously staff can immediately return back to their routine department. The reasons for this are completely self observant & it's
not about denying something from others, it's about others accepting a very small delay themselves while those that have
remained stuck since day one are merely given the opportunity to catch up, especially in the hope that BA can fix this mess for kids etc. rather than they face this kind of disappointment as an Xmas gift.
If only to alter the existing experience from completely broken to partially broken, (even that would be something). Before anyone starts bleating at that viewpoint, I also own many titles for PC myself & of course I have countless friends or family who also use a PC or PS for gaming too, as well as Xbox
. Ergo, I'm fully aware of the situation on all sides of the "platform fence", so to speak
.
This frightful patch issue is
not about favouritism, starting a platform war, or neither does it disguise a "them & us" backdrop/mentality!! I
t's purely about priorities at this stage! BA seriously need to alter theirs if only until they get one patch through Xbox testing after these
REPEATED failures, especially while other platforms disappear off into the distance too
. A huge number of customers have now essentially entered a stage of open neglect regardless of the "Tweeted" reasons. (Ultimately, who can really trust any reasons that are posted on a social media platform given the absolute breach of trust that now surrounds the release of this title???)
Meanwhile, BA are clearly still not taking this seriously enough or apparently lack the vision to divert and/or reassign the FULL resources at their disposal to address what is undoubtedly the most serious problem they presently have. (WAKE UP!!)
The PC & PS versions are now at least playable to some degree, (ongoing known issues notwithstanding), no real harm would come from a brief pause in the patches these other platforms may receive when you consider the current situation (all aggravating factors, the time of year, & the scope of those presently stuck in limbo), in its
entirety.
Dealing with this Xbox problem
piecemeal, with divided resources, while juggling far too many additional problems clearly just is not working. (It would take a pretty cold hearted individual PC or PS user at this stage to deny there's an obvious problem with BA & Xbox too or to insist that they themselves can't go without another patch for the next 3 or 4 days if it would help an
entire platform receive their
first patch to resolve the absolute worst of the reported game breaking problems on day 1 for Xmas as well!!!)
Enough is enough, Ross, you're right there!! Xbox testing is simply a formality that needs to be overcome, it's not some mysterious hidden art & as far as I'm aware it doesn't yet require animal sacrifice
. Only BA have the power to shift their priorities to now do what's right. Or, if my distant observations of "the mob mentality" on the various social media platforms are any sort of a gauge of which way the wind is now blowing, leave an entire platform to grow in frustration, anger, disgust & growing resentment by the day at a time of year when any company can ill afford such an oversight without sustaining significant damage. (Other platform owners are still going to take note even if they're not presently so affected themselves. After all, if BA can carry on in such a manner with one platform, next time that platform so affected could be
YOURS.)
