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[jett]

ROFLMAO. Dying of laughter here. Let's avoid testing the game properly to protect ourselves from spoiler leaks of the DEEP AND IMPORTANT PLOT in a fucking Batman game. Lol.

I guess they aren't self-aware that the plot they concoct are fan service trash.

OH NO TEH TWISTS

p.s. giantbomb spoiled one of the game's bigger surprises 30 seconds into their quicklook LOL

 

[Interfectum]

EA's Origin has had refunds for awhile. Longer than Steam. I don't think EA deserves that reputation any more.

I might be wrong but aren't third parties allowed to decide whether or not to allow refunds on Origin?

 

[BadAss2961]

Why not just delay the game? Delays and after console releases are nothing new to the PC market.

 

[Kriken]

Thank God for the refund system. I'm sure WB would've just gone "Just wait a little bit for us to patch the game, but for now we're working on DLC" again

 

[Yudoken]

I'm shocked that people actually thinking that they did thought that they did NOT know that it was broken.

 

[noshten]

Can't say I didn't expect this revelation it was obvious from the get go

You cannot blame IG in all this
It's a horrible port but it's whoever green lighted it. There could be many reasons for this port to be awful, but it's up to the higher ups to bite the bullet. Who ever was doing the QA for this port regardless of what his bosses said is going to bite the bullet for this. If you are testing this game and releasing it on the PC Market you are also putting your name next to it. In corporate structure you are the guy who is pinned with the blame even though it's like you are not actually making the decision.
IG is definitely should not get the majority of the blame. I don't think they would be in control of the quality control someone above must approve this and in such a case no doubt someone from Rocksteady/WB was in charge of that.

 

[Askherserenity]

I believe it but it being confirmed is just mind blowing.

 

[styl3s]

I hope refund policies like that get introduced everywhere, including consoles. Consumers need that safe net with exploitative companies like WB.

console physical copies used to have a return policy until they realized people were just buying games, beating them and returning them.

And you can't put a 2 hour return on physical games because some people pick up games on their way to work and don't even get to play it till 9 hours later. So do you implement a 24 hour return? like 99% of games can be beaten in under 24 hours. You could implement a digital return policy which is a start i agree but you are still fucking the physical consumer.

But yes i 110% agree that consoles need a digital return policy. I apparently used up my 1 return with sony with Drive Club.

 

[jschreier]

Eh...isnt this article kind of unnecessary? I mean, how could they not have been aware of the PC port problems?

Why even bother posting if you've only read the headline? It's just embarrassing for you. If you read the actual article, you can see that it's full of interesting info, a complicated narrative, and details that are, yes, necessary.

 

[FunkyMunkey]

all i can say is thank fuck for steam refunds. i have a feeling this would have gone down much much worse without them

 

[Felix Lighter]

There isn't a scenario that I could think of that wouldn't put WB at the center of the problems and I had no doubt that they were aware they were releasing a terrible port. They may not have anticipated the immediate and overwhelming reaction to the product, but after the MKX debacle, I don't understand why they didn't.

 

[Zakalwe]

Why even bother posting if you've only read the headline? It's just embarrassing for you. If you read the actual article, you can see that it's full of interesting info, a complicated narrative, and details that are, yes, necessary.

You would say that, you sneak.

 

[DeaviL]

Hell, that Steam refund policy was just in time.

 

[jett]

All 3 definitely had a chance to warn consumers about what they were getting and decided to lie and pull a bait and switch instead.

But Rocksteady is perfect in every single way and had absolutely nothing to do in this situation AT ALL.

Or at least that's what a bunch of people would like to believe in this forum. I used the word people lightly because those fucking fanboys deserve harsher words.

 

[Bossniak]

Damn son. You done fucked it up Warner, done fucked it up. Never buying a PC game form you again. I wish I can return all my Arkham games even tho most of them were from promotions.

 

[stump sock]

Why even bother posting if you've only read the headline? It's just embarrassing for you. If you read the actual article, you can see that it's full of interesting info, a complicated narrative, and details that are, yes, necessary.

conversely, the argument could be made that the headline does a disservice to the actual content of the article

 

[ryseing]

ROFLMAO. Dying of laughter here. Let's avoid testing the game properly to protect ourselves from spoiler leaks of the DEEP AND IMPORTANT PLOT in a fucking Batman game. Lol.

Had the exact same thought when I was reading this, especially since the AK's identity ended up being incredibly obvious.

LOL Rocksteady.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Welp. Never buying a WB game until solid impressions are in from now on.

 

[Ridley327]

I haven't played Knight yet, but from what I've heard the plot ain't nothing to write home about.

Did Rocksteady really value their plot so much as to jeopardize a version of their game in order to avoid leaks?

It seems like ever since they got such great feedback about the Scarecrow sequences in Arkham Asylum, they want to treat everything related to the story like that. They were really secretive about the story in City, as well, and outside of the very, very end, there was hardly anything in there worth the shroud of mystery.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Hell, that Steam refund policy was just in time.

Yep. I bet this game would still be for sale if it weren't for that.

 

[Xater]

console physical copies used to have a return policy until they realized people were just buying games, beating them and returning them.

And you can't put a 2 hour return on physical games because some people pick up games on their way to work and don't even get to play it till 9 hours later. So do you implement a 24 hour return? like 99% of games can be beaten in under 24 hours. You could implement a digital return policy which is a start i agree but you are still fucking the physical consumer.

But yes i 110% agree that consoles need a digital return policy. I apparently used up my 1 return with sony with Drive Club.

The thing with physical games is, as shitty as it sounds, I can sell it to the next schmuck. That is. It possible to do so having at least that on consoles as well would be great.

 

[Altered Juice]

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Well, I mean, there's no way they didn't know.

 

[inner-G]

Why even bother posting if you've only read the headline? It's just embarrassing for you. If you read the actual article, you can see that it's full of interesting info, a complicated narrative, and details that are, yes, necessary.

Why would anyone click a Kotaku link?

 

[Wanderer5]

Funny thing is that this game was originally going to come out last Oct heh. Too bad the PC version didn't get another delay.

 

[Visualante2]

PC builds
Arkham Asylum - rocksteady
Arkham City - rocksteady
Arkham Origins - Iron Galaxy with alleged support from Warner Montreal
Arkham Knight - Iron Galaxy with alleged support from rocksteady

is this right?

Why would anyone click a Kotaku link?

this conversation is really going places.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Having worked in QA this doesn't even surprise me a little bit.

Same. I'm not even one bit surprised. If only GAF knew what QA depts know about the states of games before they're released, there would be riots.

 

[Zakalwe]

Welp. Never buying a WB game until solid impressions are in from now on.

I'm not buying another of their games full stop. Real shame as I'm sure RS's next effort will be great, I'll settle for playing a friend's copy if I feel I have to, but they definitely won't be seeing my money ever again.

They've more than proven they shady fuckers, just can't support it.

 

[The Cowboy]

There isn't a scenario that I could think of that wouldn't put WB at the center of the problems and I had no doubt that they were aware they were releasing a terrible port. They may not have anticipated the immediate and overwhelming reaction to the product, but after the MKX debacle, I don't understand why they didn't.

Because even with the MKX situation being as bad as it was, it didn't affect their financial situation in a way they could see, Steam refunds didn't exist at the time and as such no one (unless someone got very lucky) could refund the game - sure word of mouth likely affected sales, but they can't really count a possible sale as a lost sale..

With Batman coming out after the Steam refund system was put into effect, when a refund is processed the publisher gets informed of it and each refund is a clear "you aren't getting this $60 as the customer got their money back" lost sale (its not a possible lost sale ala MKX word of mouth lost sales, its a very clear this customer got their money back lost sale), they didn't expect this simply because it hasn't been seen before on PC.

 

[Nibel]

One unexpected problem? The game’s secretive story. Rocksteady was deeply afraid of plot revelations being leaked ahead of release, said the same source, so traditional PC testing firms that are used to stress test games on different hardware configurations—one of the PC’s biggest hurdles—were avoided. From what I’m told, this is not an uncommon practice for major video games with story-heavy elements.

This is crazy.

 

[viveks86]

But Rocksteady is perfect in every single way and had absolutely nothing to do in this situation AT ALL.

Or at least that's what a bunch of people would like to believe in this forum. I used the word people lightly because those fucking fanboys deserve harsher words.

Exactly. I don't understand how people are jumping to Rocksteady's (and Iron Galaxy's) defense. Everybody shares the blame here. WB can take the fall, but there is a whole trail of incompetence and/or negligence that cannot be ignored.

 

[Wanderer5]

PC builds
Arkham Asylum - rocksteady
Arkham City - rocksteady
Arkham Origins - Iron Galaxy with alleged support from Warner Montreal
Arkham Knight - Iron Galaxy with alleged support from rocksteady

is this right?

this conversation is really going places.

I thought Asylum and City were outsource too?

 

[LiK]

Why would anyone click a Kotaku link?

Now you're being unfair.

 

[qa_engineer]

I'm (not) surprised by this. They were up against a deadline and didn't think it would be a big deal, or that they could just patch it a little later down the road. Maybe they didn't want to go over budget with additional dev resources / time.

 

[Orayn]

Why would anyone click a Kotaku link?

Because you're expected to read the story before commenting on it instead of being a supreme smartass.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

The story thing just sounds too ridiculous to be true.

Spoiler

It probably is.

 

[Visualante2]

I thought Asylum and City were outsource too?

Who to then? Weren't they much better ports?

 

[inner-G]

Because you're expected to read the story before commenting on it instead of being a supreme smartass.

I read the complete OP

 

[cyberheater]

That was a good write up.

I'm never getting another PC game day one again. Ever.







/Apart from that Star Wars Battlefront. After that I'm done with day one. I swear...

 

[Zakalwe]

Why would anyone click a Kotaku link?

They have their share of click bait blog posts and low quality opinion pieces, but their investigative stuff is generally very well done and full of interesting information.

Also all the major sites have at least a few decent writers and actual journalists, can't write off the entire thing just because of some awful bloggers.

 

[Caj814]

Exclusive footage of the PC port being tested

 

[Mad Season]

Why not just delay the game? Delays and after console releases are nothing new to the PC market.

as Gerstman said, marketing had deadlines and $$ behind release date

 

[Shake Appeal]

ROFLMAO. Dying of laughter here. Let's avoid testing the game properly to protect ourselves from spoiler leaks of the DEEP AND IMPORTANT PLOT in a fucking Batman game. Lol.

Rocksteady have a high opinion of their bad writing, it would seem.

 

[The Cowboy]

Apart from that Star Wars Battlefront. After that I'm done with day one. I swear...

LOL, yeah I'm guilty of this one to, I have a no pre-order rule and don't really break it - but its Battlefront, I NEED it .

 

[pahamrick]

I thought Asylum and City were outsource too?

Steamworks integration for Asylum and City were outsourced (To Iron Galaxy).

 

[DrGonzo615]

Why even bother posting if you've only read the headline? It's just embarrassing for you. If you read the actual article, you can see that it's full of interesting info, a complicated narrative, and details that are, yes, necessary.

Wow....just chill there buddy, remember to breathe.

I did read the article. Sure, theres some interesting tid bits about how exactly this train wreck happened but the idea that this is a big revelation is ridiculous. Whether or not anything in that article is "necessary" is subjective. I think most people, especially people who would read an article like this, already deduced that the port was farmed out.

 

[stump sock]

That was a good write up.

I'm never getting another PC game day one again. Ever.



/Apart from that Star Wars Battlefront. After that I'm done with day one. I swear...

good plan, trust DICE to put out a working product

 

[SerTapTap]

Our second source said Warner Bros. internal QA focused on bug-checking specifically at 720p resolutions. Most PC players with decent hardware expect to run games at 1080p or higher. If Warner Bros. was using 720p at as a benchmark, that helps explain the large performance gap.

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...I wonder if this is common. A LOT of PC games default to 720p for no apparent fucking reason on my 1080p display.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Because you're expected to read the story before commenting on it instead of being a supreme smartass.

I assume he was being facetious since it was a response to Schreier.

 

[jett]

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...I wonder if this is common. A LOT of PC games default to 720p for no apparent fucking reason on my 1080p display.

Until like a few years ago the usual default resolution was 1024x768. It's inexplicable.

That was a good write up.

I'm never getting another PC game day one again. Ever.







/Apart from that Star Wars Battlefront. After that I'm done with day one. I swear...

Man at this rate free benchmark tools should be mandatory for certain games.

Then again that would've made no difference in this game's case since its internal benchmark tool runs much better than the real game!