You are expanding too fast, and significantly damaging the quality of your product.

River Monster · Jul 30, 2012

I'm a huge supporter of Pinball Arcade, and automatically buy all the tables the moment they're out. I've supported via the kickstarter efforts as well.

You MUST Q/A your releases before sending them to the app store. There is NO WAY this release was QA'ed at all, and that is so very dissapointing.

If you don't' have enough resources to put out new games every month and fix bugs then put out new tables every two months, or every quarter. Make every other month a bug squashing month--who cares how... but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE work QA into the equation.

And lastly, whoever approved the GameCenter addition to Pinball Arcade in its current form * EXPLETIVE DELETED* It's better to not have it then to have the DISASTEROUS mess of different score boards and logins that have been added.

All in all I find my faith in the project VERY shaken. I believe strongly in what you're doing. Don't let your success cause you to get carried away and let the game go to ****--just b/c you're trying to pump out new games every single month. Quality over quantity or just throw in the towel.

Thanks.

darkuni · Jul 30, 2012

I hear you with this, man. I feel kinda bait and switched on this release.

I'm an Anti-Facebook guy; so for me, Facebook is out of the question. I made a public vow that when Facebook was removed from leaderboards, I'd start buying tables.

So, when this release came out, I updated and bought the latest pack (BK and CFTBL). It wasn't a pretty sight. Facebook is STILL required for "friend" leaderboards (which makes the new Facebookless login kinda worthless). BK is really not ready for production (I am enjoying CFTBL). I can rarely get logged in - so the login system isn't ready for prime time (I'd still like to know why Open Feint isn't being used).

Imagine I'm a BRAND NEW customer. And I am exposed to TPA for the FIRST time, and this is what I see? Yeah, not good.

I went ahead and bought the core pack as well to show my support, but we shouldn't see another of these sort of releases. I love the product, but when I do reviews or feature product on my show(s), people expect I'm guiding them proper - and I wouldn't want to recommend the current incarnation just due to the quality issues we currently have.

That being said - I'm a huge fan and will continue to pick up the tables that are quality and fleshed out.

Sean · Jul 31, 2012

Whilst I agree the Gamecentre integration was flawed a fix is due soon and the number of game-breaking bugs is pretty minimal. I suspect part of the reason for the monthly releases is to keep the cash flowing; i believe This is their major source of revenue and considering the scale of the task I'd say they're doing quite well.

starck · Aug 1, 2012

A 'fix' is always 'coming soon.'

Come on Farsight. You're clearly working hard. But at this point you are definitely risking the loss of a core group of die-hard fans who are completely frustrated with your half finished 'product.'

Example- did anyone over there even test out the magna save buttons on BK?! Clearly not! They're just placeholders (and in awful positions as well!!!). Yet you said, F-it and released the damn table anyways! Are you guys desperate for cash? Wtf is going on over there. Nobody would have cared all that much if you took some extra time to do more QA before releasing.

Tables lag like HELL and are unplayable once you reach certain scores now. Game center integration is a terrible mess and disastrous.

Do it right, or don't F-ING do it at all. End of story.

I will not be purchasing these tables as they stand, and am not going to purchase future tables until the current lineup has some hard work put into squashing the bugs, fixing the art on Gorgar, etc., etc. The list is endless now!!

Sean DonCarlos · Aug 1, 2012

starck said:
Example- did anyone over there even test out the magna save buttons on BK?! Clearly not! They're just placeholders (and in awful positions as well!!!).

Not true. They're soundless, and the buttons are in odd positions (although FS has already said they're being moved, and in landscape mode they're actually not completely out of reach even on an iPad), but they do function.

Logan812 · Aug 1, 2012

You guys are SERIOUSLY overreacting. It's not like FarSight only focuses on DLC and completely ignores bugs (which they do and are fixing, by the way.)

Have you ever heard of a game called Rock Band 3? It has the same obvious bugs and rushed feeling even today. Harmonix releases at least three new songs each week. (Of course if they stopped, there would be A LOT of complaining.)

darkuni · Aug 1, 2012

Serenseven said:
Not true. They're soundless, and the buttons are in odd positions (although FS has already said they're being moved, and in landscape mode they're actually not completely out of reach even on an iPad), but they do function.

They don't work on Android.

SoonPoker · Aug 1, 2012

For the moment, I'm patient with FS : They're hiring, so may be they reach their development limits this month, and they're actually working on the problem ...

I think they need to "launch the machine" before hiring. So, now it seems that the machine is launched, and things would go a better way.

"No problem, only solutions" !

Go FS, go !

BlindSpider11 · Aug 1, 2012

I think you guys are overreacting a bit. FarSight is doing a wonderful job at releasing DLCs and suppoerting TPA. There are very few bugs (I primarily play on iOS) and the few there are, are very minor to say the least.

Keep up the great work FS!

Dpdropout · Aug 1, 2012

BlindSpider11 said:
There are very few bugs (I primarily play on iOS) and the few there are, are very minor to say the least.

Have you even read the 1.1.5 thread? It's one thing to be a fan but denying that there are numerous game-breaking bugs in several tables since this release is just plain ridiculous.

Richard B · Aug 1, 2012

Many other companies would say "we've maximized revenue potential for that table, no need to sink anymore money into it." FS isn't doing that: when they improve one table, they update the rest to keep up with the latest ones. Most companies release flawed, even shoddy, products, and that's that - they don't bother fixing it (they then wonder why their title ends up in the bargain bin).

Sean · Aug 1, 2012

Richard B is spot-on. I'd rather have an indie like Farsight struggling to keep on top of things than a major publisher "fire and forget."

I've been playing every table daily since the last update trying to big-up my Gamecentre score and the only game-breaking bugs I'm aware of are the slowdown issues in Gorgar and Black Knight and those aren't ones you encounter unless you're doing really well (which I admit sucks). The fact is that there are always potentially going to be issues given they're emulating the ROMs (I'd wager that bugs which have cropped up in Circus Voltaire are linked to the introduction of Creature of the Black Lagoon - none of the older tables was updated as far as I'm aware this past update).

And unless someone has actually polled the "loyal hard core" there is no basis for making statements about Farsight being in danger of losing them as fans (whomever they might be).

Supermans · Aug 1, 2012

Richard B said:
Many other companies would say "we've maximized revenue potential for that table, no need to sink anymore money into it." FS isn't doing that: when they improve one table, they update the rest to keep up with the latest ones. Most companies release flawed, even shoddy, products, and that's that - they don't bother fixing it (they then wonder why their title ends up in the bargain bin).

Agreed 100 percent. Farsight is hiring new workers to handle the increae in size and complexity the game is getting. I am glad they are still working on all the tables errors and glitches as their motto is for the presetvation of pinball tables and ofcourse profit as well. I think what Farsight needs to do is once a week give an update or statement as to what they are working on and most everybody will be happy.

Animator_pin_fan · Aug 2, 2012

I think we all know what will be the best solution to our problems, which is, hopefully once the PC version is released they can setup a voluntary beta testing for each table before releasing them. Then they can just schedule it into their release timeline, and use the PC version as the development platform that the other versions are based off of. However, with the PC version being so niche, I really hope that they'll take full advantage of high end video cards available, and not cater to the lower end of specs.

pseudokings · Aug 2, 2012

As someone who waited FOREVER for just the first two table packs to hit the 360, I find the idea that they are expanding too fast absolutely ludicrous. Do I want to see fixes happen faster? HELL YES. Do I want them to actually make it to consoles, and not just your phones/tablets? YES. Do I want them to slow down developing new tables? HELL NO. Come on, people, what do you think they've only got 1 programmer and if he's working on a new table the old ones will never get fixed? What kind of sense does that make?

I'm not claiming the tables are perfect, I've commented about things that need fixing/improving several times, but they are not "completely broken" as some have said, in fact, they are very playable, even the ones with obvious issues.

Here's another thing: I think some of you have never played a real pin in your entire lives, because as someone who makes it out to the arcade every couple weeks I can tell you that the issues in TPA are pretty minor compared to sticking flippers, malfunctioning toys, missing playfield rubbers, weak flippers, over sensitive tilt settings, burned out lights, and the litany of other issues that you'll run into playing real pins on location.

robx46 · Aug 2, 2012

It is pretty bad. I tend to catch more bugs or errors in 1 play through than apparently all their testers combined seem to catch. Granted, I know more about both real & virtual pinball than almost anybody, but some things I just don't understand, the magnasave placement being one of them. They said they are fixing the BK magnasave buttons? OK, well this means that this is fixable, but they just didn't get it right the first time? How did ALL beta testers not speak up on this? Let alone 1 or 2 of them. Or does FS get the feedback but choose to do nothing with it? As an owner of a BK2K, I know just how important it is to have super quick access & reflexes to the magnasave button. As it is, you aren't getting the full experience & greatness of the game.

SKILL_SHOT · Aug 2, 2012

GO PLAY A REALPIN. You most likely find somthing wrong with the table, weak flipper,not leveled right, lights out etc. So it seems FS NAILED the sim.

Sean · Aug 2, 2012

I almost didn't want to post this, but after playing some real pinball for the first time in over a year last week-end, I actually prefer The Pinball Arcade just because the action is more consistent so I can focus on improving my game rather than overcoming the limitations of the machine. The machines I was playing were in very good condition, but the power of the shots felt weak and on Lord of the Rings the ball movement on the table wasn't smooth and natural - it was like there were misplaced magnets below the playfield.

I expect two updates this month: one for bug fixes and the other for the announced pairing of Taxi and what must be Harley Davidson from Stern.

starck · Aug 2, 2012

I have played real pinball machines. This is an idealization of those machines. If this software actually worked.

BK is totally unplayable right now. It has horrible frame rate issues. Sometimes the game will glitch out and get stuck doing something and I'll have to completely quit and start over. Only here, I can't call the attendant and ask for my money back to play another game. I'm stuck playing the same horribly broken mess, for a flat fee.

In fact? Real pins are at least playable, even in poor condition. This sim isn't right now due to the horrible framerate issues across the board, not to mention the bugs.

For shame.

Very sad. I'm sorry, but this can't pass for software in my book. Just look at the latest iOS bug list. I didn't jump on this bandwagon as a beta tester.

bavelb · Aug 2, 2012

robx46 said:
How did ALL beta testers not speak up on this? Let alone 1 or 2 of them. Or does FS get the feedback but choose to do nothing with it?

Betatesters did mention this and all other issues. FS management chose to release the table as is. You can see this process on the android forums.

I expect two updates this month: one for bug fixes

An iOS patch is being tested atm with gamecenter slowdown fixes, along with MM (flippergap) Gorgar (lowres playfield) and BOP . No BK/CftBL fixes for that one atm, but Gamecenter slowdown took higher rpriority to get out the door quick I assume.

You are expanding too fast, and significantly damaging the quality of your product.

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