How far behind wil we get?

[rehtroboi40]

I am a pinball addict and I have bought every available table on ios, xbox 360 and ps4 and I will continue to buy them in the future. But let's face it. The Pinball Arcade is a must-have product in the hands of a lousy company. There is so much room for improvement. Nearly everything seems very unprofessional. Marketing and CRM are a joke, Quality Management is not existing. How could they not find some obvious bugs like the subpar audio on PS4, that every customer realized the moment he started the game. Not to mention some of the other bugs that plague some tables for many months. They had a chance to build a large fanbase at a time when not so many other games were available on ps4 marketplace, but they totally screwed it. Reminds me of the time when I waited for Xbox-DLC to arrive. Nevertheless I enjoy playing most of the tables, but I stopped recommending the product.

At last my wishes for future dlc, that I haven't read on the board:
Pro Upgrades for CFTBL, MB and TOM. Particularly MB would improve by the pro treatment, when you could set harder difficulty settings.
Simultaneous nudging on both sticks of the PS4 controller, so you could nudge left with your left thumb and nudge right with your right thumb.

Let me guess, you need TPA for your console.....console!

Great first post that sums up the PS4 pretty accurately. Welcome to the boards!

 

[GregoroV]

Psssst we are not talking about this here... Knights of FS are listeling!

 

[The Great Cornholio]

Let me guess, you need TPA for your console.....console!

Great first post that sums up the PS4 pretty accurately. Welcome to the boards!

Thank you.

In fact TPA was the only reason I bought a PS4 and I don't regret it, because it's a better experience than on the iPad. But considering the power of the PS4, it should blow you away. Which it doesn't. But at least I can play some of my favourite tables on the big screen. As you see I'm pretty modest after the Xbox fiasco.

I really can't understand Farsight's strategy. I think they should stop focusing on the handhelds. Since the most popular tables have been released, the casual players will abandon ship. If they haven't already. Left will be the pinheads, who sooner or later will buy a next-gen console so they can play their beloved tables the best possible way except the real machine. I guess there are enough of them, who would support FS and not get hysterical because FS charges 4,49 for a single table. I would spend even more if the quality was better.

 

[Rafie]

Why can't they say no? Because they sold the first two table packs on the previous generation console? I'm not sure why that means that they can't say no.

You're missing the business aspect of it. There's a large fanbase for TPA in the Xbox community that shouldn't be ignored. There's a lot of money there. Money that can also go to acquiring new licensing and such. Also, I'm sure FS doesn't want to disappoint the Xbox community anymore than they have to. Hate to use to use the old Nintendo excuse phrase here but, "Please understand"! That there sums it up.

FS didn't forget about Sony in the least. I think you're looking at it a bit one sided. Again, I don't have a Xbox One, but I do own a 360 with all tables available. Of course the PS3 and PS4 are my primary consoles for TPA. I have every single table available to both. I'm just thinking here that FS wants Xbox to start releasing side by side with Sony and give them a chance to catch up. I guess in the mean time, new bugs can be discovered and fixed before sending it through cert. I don't know, I guess I'm not too upset about it. As long as this isn't going to become the norm.

 

[The Great Cornholio]

FS didn't forget about Sony in the least. I think you're looking at it a bit one sided. Again, I don't have a Xbox One, but I do own a 360 with all tables available. Of course the PS3 and PS4 are my primary consoles for TPA. I have every single table available to both. I'm just thinking here that FS wants Xbox to start releasing side by side with Sony and give them a chance to catch up. I guess in the mean time, new bugs can be discovered and fixed before sending it through cert. I don't know, I guess I'm not too upset about it. As long as this isn't going to become the norm.

They haven't fixed a single bug within 4 months. Although they told their customers that they had submitted a bug fix, which was obviously a lie. At least they should have fixed the sound bug. I'm sure lot of former 360 customers own a PS4 now. Does FS realize that they are pissing off the same customers a second time?

 

[Daniel Osborne]

They haven't fixed a single bug within 4 months. Although they told their customers that they had submitted a bug fix, which was obviously a lie. At least they should have fixed the sound bug. I'm sure lot of former 360 customers own a PS4 now. Does FS realize that they are pissing off the same customers a second time?

Exactly, I'm an ex xboxer, and the lack of a decent friends leaderboard is totally unacceptable.

 

[Rafie]

Okay I can definitely understand that. There are quite a few problems on the PS4 that needs to be fixed. Sound, leaderboards, bugs, etc. I was really referring more to the tables and such with other platforms. I am quite shocked at the fact that it has been 4 months and no patch to at least make the tables that we do have more enjoyable to the others come *whenever that is*. I bet they are waiting to issue the patch along with the next batch of tables to keep the cost down.

 

[The Great Cornholio]

It's not the waiting for bug fixes or additional tables in the first place. It's the lack of proper communication. There wouldn't be so much speculation, disappointment or anger, if FS had a better pr department. If you release buggy software, tell your customers when they can expect a fix. And stick to this date. If you can't, say why and announce a new date. Or better, start releasing bug free tables!

 

[amv71]

I'd love it if the update schedule on the next gen platforms could be sped up. I'm a beta tester for an Android app and my comments get pushed through to the play store at quite a rate. It'd be glorious if FS's updates could get through quickly, almost like a 2 week scrum cycle (if that means anything to any software developers here), meaning more iterative updates instead of months-apart single mega patches as has been the case recently.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I really can't understand Farsight's strategy. I think they should stop focusing on the handhelds.

The iOS version alone is responsible for a majority of FarSight's income. Add in Android and mobiles dwarf the other platforms combined. (Steam may be starting to make a dent in this.)

To be blunt, the console versions are the biggest pain in the arse for FarSight (submission fees & waiting for review, launch restrictions, bizarre technical restrictions on patching, etc.) and are the least profitable.

I am not at all suggesting that FS abandon the console market, but know that it is not where the money is for them.

 

[rehtroboi40]

The iOS version alone is responsible for a majority of FarSight's income. Add in Android and mobiles dwarf the other platforms combined. (Steam may be starting to make a dent in this.)

To be blunt, the console versions are the biggest pain in the arse for FarSight (submission fees & waiting for review, launch restrictions, bizarre technical restrictions on patching, etc.) and are the least profitable.

I am not at all suggesting that FS abandon the console market, but know that it is not where the money is for them.

For all the complaints about TPA bugs, there is still no reason to question FarSight's technical proficiency. Look at what they've done to bring all of these tables to us.
The problems are: (A) They've extended themselves to far too many platforms, (B) Each platform has different and ever-changing rules for approval, and (C) FS is way too small to be doing so much.

Moreover, I don't see that there's anyone else who could bring these great tables home, or would. I really don't want to see FarSight be bought out by some soulless corporation.

 

[PinballLizard (Mark Wyda)]

Any word on season 3 + T2 this month?

 

[joeblow]

Lol, we'll be lucky if we get ANY tables (or bug fixes) before Farsight pleases their new Microsoft overlords if the rumors are true. Worst case estimation right now is that we might not get jack until mid summer.

 

[smbhax]

Any word on season 3 + T2 this month?

T2 no, for season 3 see the middle of the previous page of this thread. Also today on FB, FS mentioned that Sony's publishing speed is slightly slower than usual at the moment, but they still seem to think the tables might appear this month.

 

[Oldskool1969]

I don't want excuses, I want results far too long to wait, even for an indie developer. SONY or FS, who cares. Give me now

 

[Bowflex]

Any word on season 3 + T2 this month?

T2 is not coming until season 2 gets released. It was never even rumored to be coming early. I had posted it would make sense to push it out early because of the time limit on their license but it will not be coming out early.

 

[Kemetman72]

T2 no, for season 3 see the middle of the previous page of this thread. Also today on FB, FS mentioned that Sony's publishing speed is slightly slower than usual at the moment, but they still seem to think the tables might appear this month.

Well that's some good news. There are 5 weeks in April this year so here's hoping and crossing every body part known to man.

 

[brakel]

I've decided to take a wait and see on the whole MS gets preferred treatment issue. If MS comes through on streamlining the approval process for the indies and Sony keeps its 6 week approval process, then the net result could be that MS gets its exclusivity without the Playstation 4 customer actually losing anything. If that winds up being the case then I'll forgive FarSight and keep my hatred of MS simmering on the back burner.

 

[rehtroboi40]

They haven't fixed a single bug within 4 months. Although they told their customers that they had submitted a bug fix, which was obviously a lie. At least they should have fixed the sound bug. I'm sure lot of former 360 customers own a PS4 now. Does FS realize that they are pissing off the same customers a second time?

And the first time, is was mostly M$'s fault, and we at least understood FarSight's plight. This time, however, it's all FarSight. When TPA first came out on the PS4, FarSight was hyping up that version and riding the wave of great reviews. Since then, they've done nothing and said very little. If there's nothing in the upcoming newsletter, I may sell my PS4, as there is nothing else on it I want to play.

 

[smbhax]

Today someone asked about being able to remap the flipper buttons, and FS's answer implies that at least one gameplay feature change will be coming along with the table update--so maybe they have rolled one or two of the promised patches in with the DLC update after all:

"The Pinball Arcade Yes, when the new tables hit the PS4, that option will be there. PS4 3D support is on the way, but not for a while."