Blizzard Tracking 180,000 Bugs in WoW

[Guest]

LOL!!!! I wonder how they are dealing with Diablo 2... still waiting for that patch and I bet the bugs that have been reported since years ago still won't be addressed. I know D2 is not subscription, and that they are throwing us a bone with a new patch, but still, the bugs have been flagged, documented, even modders have offered advice on how to correct the issue without making large modifications yet still no fix. >_>

 

[Guest]

someone call an exterminator

 

[zendax]

[citation][nom]cablechewer[/nom]If a skill is over powered it gets a bug.[/citation]

Don't confuse balance issues with bugs. If for example Death Knights are doing more damage than intended, it's not a bug, it's a balance issue. The skills are all working properly, they're just combining to create more output than the developers expected.

Now, if the skill is overpowered because it has a 200% spell damage coefficient, instead of the 80% intended, then it's a bug

 

[cablechewer]

Zendax, I understand the distinction. I was thinking more from a what happens internally perspective. In the beta programs I have worked anything that requires investigation or a change is opened as a bug after the initial coding pass (prior to the initial coding pass all data and work units were in a spec).

The problem may be a poor design choice ("Hey it is working exactly as intended/specced, but the customers hate it"), a coding bug, a typo in the help or other problem. Bottom line is that if it wasn't in a bug it couldn't be assigned to a developer, artist or other member of the team to consider. When you follow an internal process like that far simpler products than WoW can 'ship with 100K bugs' in the database. Of course X percent of them will be duplicates, Y percent will be resolved, Z percent will not be reproducible, etc. However it makes for nice headlines if the press gets the number.

 

[cablechewer]

One other thing - after the initial coding pass some companies will use a bug to spec a new feature and assign it to a developer. Need to add the kitchen sink into the product? No problem. Open a bug, specify that this is a design change, select the proper category, describe it, write a justification and submit it to the queue for assignment to the proper personnel (who will accept, reject or defer the change).

It isn't a bug in the usual sense. The company is simply using their bug database to track and assign work. From an accounting and business management point of view the reasoning is - why have two processes where most of the steps are shared? Make and document one process for all product changes. Saves money and prevents internal confusion.

 

[ptroen]

Still even over it's lifetime a 180k bugs is really COSTLY. You have to wonder what's the average cost per bug. I mean you have to repro it,track it, fix it?, test it, etc... Even if you pay the QA team third world wages it's going to cost you alot of money at the end of the day. Always better to test more before you release the product...... On the other hand doesn't say how many of those bugs were fixed before being released either.

 

[pythy]

I think this is a smart move by Blizzard to be open about the bugs in their software. For one, they're sorta promoting themselves by admitting that it's a really huge game so inevitably will have some bugs, unlike some others *cough* apple *cough*. The other reason would be to let their subscribers know that they're actually doing some work with our money. So by openingly discussing some of these issues with us, I think it's a win-win for Blizzard.

 

[Thurin]

No offense to any of you folks, but 180 000 bugs over the span of nearly 5 years and in an MMORPG I think is admirable not a shame.

Imagine this:
Game development is a staged process:

Concept
Design
Coding
Animation
Scripting
Polishing
Revisiting
Rethinking strategies
Rethinking concepts, designs, coding...etc
Realizing changes
Polishing
Bug testing
rinse and repeat

This is a process that takes years before the first version even gets released.

After release the real mass bug filtering will start, as not a single game developer can possibly keep into account ALL of the different user hardware/software combinations.

People always rag on any and all game developers for bugs and flaws without thinking even once about what kind of work goes into the making of a game.

It's very easy to only look from the "me" perspective and think about the problems you encounter and how it all effects you... but the truth of the matter is that you are only one in so many users. For you there are possibly millions of others who have not a problem in the world with the game in question.

Please remember peeps, the world doesn't revolve around us as individuals.

Take it easy folks, and keep your chins up.

Peace,

Mike

 

[Guest]

They still will not fix the vanish bug for rogues.

 

[knickle]

I would guess 97% of these bugs never made it into the final product. 180,000 is a good indicator of the size of the project and the effort required to maintain it.

Like any form of media, the truth gets "touched up" to lure in readers. It's just like the Daily Bugle vs Spiderman.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

Hardly a surprise that the game contains a shitload of bugs. After all they're changing things on the client side every 2 weeks, and on the server side even more often. The game's changing all the time, and subsequent bugs are unavoidable.

ps. the server side code doesn't stay in use 24/7 - once a week all servers are rebooted, and more often if severe bugs occur.

 

[eyemaster]

Well, considering that the bugs aren't always with the game engine themselves, but for each quest, I guess that's OK. A bug can be a simple little thing like a NPC twitching or abnormal behavior when doing a certain quest.

 

[Guest]

Blink.

I rest my case.