Not buying a game because of bugs

[Brad]

How many of us have not bought a game because of the level of bugs in it? A general discussion but I've added a Fallout : New Vegas poll as it's the most recent example and Fallout 3 was very popular.

Personally I steer well clear. However, I don't have as much free game time as many so can afford to be quite selective.

[Darwock]

It's not quite what you mean but I returned GTA-IV because of a bug that prevented me from continuing. I was only half way through but the bug annoyed me enough that I couldn't be bothered with simply starting a new game.

It's rare that bugs are well publicised enough for us to make an initial buying decision based on them.

[Brad]

It's rare that bugs are well publicised enough for us to make an initial buying decision based on them.

True. Bethesda games are a special case I guess where we all wonder just HOW broken they are. New Vegas I deemed too broken to buy at the moment.

[Dogg Thang]

I have an internal debate going on about Fable 3 right now. I got hit with quite a few frustrating bugs in Fable 2 and the reports of Fable 3 seem to actually be worse. I loved almost everything about Fable 2 and really want another adventure in Albion.

My hand went to it on the shelf the other day. And then I thought about the bugs. And I thought, no, I don't want to have to battle with bugs. That would be inviting frustration. Perhaps they'll patch it? And I put it back on the shelf.

Like you, I don't have a huge amount of time for games. So, when I do play a game, I want to just play it. Not have to wrestle it.

I recently played through Fallout 3 and, I guess partly because I waited so long and it was the GOTY edition, it was well patched and I was lucky to experience very few bugs (in fact, my memory could be failing me but I don't remember any of note except the odd enemy getting trapped in tight spaces). But, even then, because of the reports of bugs, I finished the game with over 1000 saves - seriously. I wasn't taking any chances.

[merf]

I won't pre-order another Codemasters game, I will wait until its out and everybody else has discovered whether the faults are gamebreaking or not.

[PeteJ]

I won't pre-order another Codemasters game, I will wait until its out and everybody else has discovered whether the faults are gamebreaking or not.

Exactly what I came in to write. First Op Flashpoint now F1 2010, they have lost their good reputation earned from the early Toca and McRae days.

I bought Fable knowing it was bugged, but so far haven't found it broken (just unpolished). I avoided Fallout knowing it was bugged.

I haven't helped at all have I?

[nakamura]

F1 2010 is a fantastic game but they will never get my money releasing a product with so many shocking problems. Fifa 11 is bugged but the main game isn't too bad, i was annoyed when my career froze but I found away around it. On the pitch play is pretty much perfect.

[abigsmurf]

I probably would've never played Ar Tonelico 2 is they hadn't fixed some of the bugs in the EU version (a 100% reproducable crash bug on the second to last boss? Really?).

I also sold Agarest after a single play because the the translation made the game unplayable to me. Not sure I'll ever buy another Ghostlight title unless I'm sure they didn't do the localisation. Not exactly a bug though.

Games nowadays feature far fewer crash bugs on the PC than they used to (although a lot of that is probably down to better drivers and more fault tolerant OS') but they feature far more on consoles.

I'm of the view that a bug which prevents progress that is possible to activate without specifically trying to, is unacceptable. Crash bugs happen but they should be once in a blue moon events (especially in games without autosaves) if they occur in a reproducible manner, that is unacceptable.

I'm more willing to be forgiving about bugs in Fallout 3 because of the frequent autosaves and the ease of creating multiple saves. Save game deletion bugs... I'm of the view that if those make retail, someone should be disciplined for them Save systems should not be coded in a way where they're even possible.

[Neon Ignition]

Unless I found out the bug was a game breaker or such then I'm not too bothered by them. Some games are even enhanced by them, GTA3 for example. They can add to the enjoyment if they're humourous and incidental.

They can be annoying on a certain level, many of Fallout's are irritating because they're pretty blatant ones that people let go purely because it's a big game and put it down to the games having too much scope when in reality it's down to bad/lazy development.

But yeah, on the whole it wouldn't bother me. I think one of the biggest examples I can think off is Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. The game was slated for it's bugs but I never encountered anything that major in it and though not amazing, enjoyed it. That said, it was buggy in an era when it was less acceptable. These days it's so common place for dev's to release titles that aren't finished yet and just patch them later. Must be awful for people who are offline.

[nakamura]

I wouldn't buy EDF if it didn't have bugs....

[vanpeebles]

Haha EDF

I wouldn't have bought F1 2010 if I'd known what a buggy piece of rubbish it was before hand. I'll be waiting till they sort out New Vegas with a couple of patches as well.

[Number45]

I'm hanging back from picking this up in the knowledge that I'll be able to pick up a different version in a year or two that runs better and has more content, and probably for less.

I don't consider myself an early adopter any more, so I'm usually lucky enough to pick something up after the guinea pigs have done their work.

[S3M]

I'm hanging back from picking this up in the knowledge that I'll be able to pick up a different version in a year or two that runs better and has more content, and probably for less.

I don't consider myself an early adopter any more, so I'm usually lucky enough to pick something up after the guinea pigs have done their work.

Agreed with the amount of GOTYE now of games it pay to wait! Asnot only do you get a patched game but more often than not all the DLC as well.

I learned the hard way with Fallout 3, gave up on the orginial release due to the bugs and crashes and picked up the better but still not perfect GOTYE.

[FelixofMars]

Depends how many bugs. the type and what the game is.

[sj33]

If a game is good enough, I'll probably endure the bugs and see them as a minor gripe. Oblivion and Fallout are the most obvious examples. I won't deprive myself of a decent game simply because it's a bit rough around the edges.

That said, there is a threshold where the bugs are so extreme that a game is no longer good. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was a game that had the potential to be worth a play, but it was impossible to find anything worth playing amongst the game-breaking bugs.