Skyrim on PS3, and the general idea of Patching

For the bulk of this gaming generation I've been noticing a trend in video games, and that is patching. Patching is a great concept that updates the game we purchased with minor additional features and of course fixing a few issues here and there. How cool is that? Unfortunately companies in the video games industry have been using this little feature as an excuse to release untested, broken games on launch at full price, passing on much of the quality assurance testing onto the consumer. As a prime example, Skyrim, although a very meaningful and fantastic game, isn't so great on the PS3. From my experience with the game, Skyrim begins lagging to virtually unplayable levels after anywhere between 3 to 6 hours of continuous gameplay on my PS3. In addition, the game would hang my entire system, requiring me to hold the power button down to kill the PS3 (I am on a PS3 Slim 2501B 320GB, no touch sensors), and then restart it just to be greeted by a message prompting me to have the system check the HDD's filesystem for errors and apply repairs on damaged files if needed.

At the time of me writing this blog post, this hangup was the situation that just took place, which occurred only after 10 minutes of me playing the game. Since then, I decided to not play the game any longer for the rest of the day, and downloading Sonic CD into my system instead. I love Skyrim, I really do, but this situation is frustrating and Bethesda needs to get their head out of their ass by actually correcting the problems for the PS3 version. I want no lame idle promises of them fixing the game. I just want it done. We PS3 gamers paid 60 for this game, it should just work. I mean, it has already been two months post launch. There are no excuses Bethesda, as we PS3 fans are your customers just as much as the Xbox360 and PC fans buying your game. I want either the game to be repaired via a patch within a timely manner or my money back. I'll try demanding a refund from Bethesda if the former fails, but with a high chance of the latter failing with it.

This is a problem with this generation of console gaming. Last I checked console gaming should be console gaming: convenient, plug & play...and just work, just like how it was in the past 6 generations of video games. Relying on patches of varying sizes on a regular basis just to get a working game, and performance issues on the scale of Skyrim wasn't something consoles were remembered for. Some gamers prefer consoles over PC gaming not only because of its cheaper price but because it's convenient, streamlined, and designed for the TV. Thanks to idiot game developers and publishers, this generation of console gaming has failed to deliver an actual console gaming experience.

Being a huge lover of my PS3, Xbox360, and Wii consoles, I am not at all happy with this current state of console gaming, in the realm of third parties anyway, and last I checked third party games are some of the most important games for any platform. If I want to sit around for months relying on patches in order to get my 60 dollar game that slightly works, I wouldn't be playing games on console but on the PC. The consoles themselves of course are not the problem, but the fault of idiot game developers and publishers like Bethesda. MS and Sony intends their machines to be enjoyable to use but unfortunately game developers exploit the console's features just to find excuse for releasing lesser quality products. Between this, and the general downfall of many game franchises and even entire genres, where is gaming coming to?

[AtomicGerbil]

It's a sad truth that publishers are pushing these titles out the door to get the money in sooner rather than later, they all want money quick and often.

My heart goes out to the developers who more often than not get all the grief from the end users for doing what they can in the little time they are given. I'm certain almost all the developers now are still doing there job for the love of it, all we can hope for is that the best can find a way to break the back of these publishers so they can do their own thing in their own time.

[lorianguy]

I love you for two reasons.

1) Your comment makes excellent sense. I too feel sorry for the developers who get the short end of the stick when they are forced to push out an unfinished game by publishers.

2) MAURICE MOSS FTW!!!!!11one!!!!

[SaffronCurse]

On top of that Bethesda promised that the ps3 version would be up to par to the 360 version.

[Captain Tuttle]

Games today are larger and more complex than ever before so I'm OK with patching. It's just not cost effective for publishers or developers to spend the money and time to find every single bug in a game.

That being said, there's really no excuse for what Bethesda did to PS3 owners of Skyrim. It's terrible and hopefully PS3 owners vote with their wallets and PS3 sales tank on their next game.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

Patching is fine. It's the fact that developers think patching gives them the green light to throw out an unfinished not fully tested product.

Look at that one Socom Game. it was released a completely unfinished product.

[Arts1000]

YOU NAILED IT ............ Thanks ever so much !

Thank you for articulating all this junk in my head . Sadly the patch has become the the norm not the exception and the consumers have become the guinea-pig-quality-testers .
This is Totally unacceptable . My Copy of skyrim is collecting dust ...... and as a consumer product deserves a full refund . They may get it up to scratch,
............................. ....... Pat c h,............... ,P atch ,..................Patch...... .......................,
but I will likely be miles away in some other fantastic world. Shame on you Bethesda .

[birdykilla]

#10 all time favorite game Morrowind, and #11 is Skyrim. I just start over once I get to about a level 25-30 and the lag isn't as bad. Do some different missions then the ones I did before, explore and do different stuff than the time before. Its to bad though I still haven't beaten the game. I haven't even played the game in about a month cause I got tired of starting over after the third time. Still though the dragons when I played a month ago were out of control, deadly, and there just usually wasn't anywhere to hide. Hopefully this game will change over the next few months into a beast of a game.

[birdykilla]

There was this mission that had me going to a dungeon to kill something and there was a dragon just flying around the open valley and when I got close to the valley it would attack. I couldn't even make it to the mission cause the dungeon was right in the middle. I finally gave up after the 7th try.

[PCE]

Have you tried recruiting companions to help you or using conjuration spells to summon a Familiar or an Atronach? Those should help. Use potions, healing spells, mine materials to upgrade weapons at a grind stone or armor at a blacksmith workbench. Don't give up dude, it's a fantastic game.

[DragonKnight]

Dragons aren't really so hard to handle until you get the Elder and Ancient varieties. Yeah, Frost Dragons can be a pain, but not if you built your character well enough. For example, Bretons are 25% resistant to magic as a racial bonus. That's ALL magic, meaning they automatically have a decent enough defense against dragon breath attacks. The Alteration Magic path has a Magic Resist branch with 3 perk levels that can grant you an additional +30 to magic defense no matter what your race.

Nords are 50% resistant to cold, so that makes them good against half the dragons. Dark Elves (Dunmer) are 50% resistant to fire. Same deal for them. You should recruit a companion to join you. The very first companions you can get are either Sven or Faendal depending on which one of them you help in Riverwood. If you go to the Giant's camp near the Shearpoint Dragon's Lair/Word Wall (the one with Krosis) your companion can pick up a Giant's Club as a weapon. The great thing about that weapon is that its attack power increases as your level does, so you will never have to give your companion another weapon ever again and they usually can take on pretty much anything solo.

Beyond that, remember that Shouts are your friend. Especially with dragons. There are at least 4 shouts that can make any dragon fight much easier. Unrelenting Force at its fullest stuns any dragon. Dragonrend forces dragons to land, making them easier to fight. Marked For Death does a constant DPS and doesn't seem to wear off until whoever is hit by it is dead. And probably the best of them is Storm Call, though it can damage NPC's and companions too, so use it if you're alone.

Finally, good equipment is your friend along with Alteration spells and Wards (I've never used Wards myself though, find them wasteful) to mitigate damage taken.

[Sarick]

What I did is after reaching riverwood, I stopped progression of the games main plot and lvled myself to 81.

Before I even fought the 1st dragon I was lvl 81, Leader of the thieves guild, Owned a house in Markoth (SP),a warewolf and leader of the mages

JUST DON'T go to Whiterun and talk to the nations leader. You'll never see the dragons until you kill your first one in the main game storyline. With the one exception of the undead one in a mages quest.

At that time you can be ready for them with capped alchemy, enchantment, smithing, destruction, and melee. With perks and boosted gear you can make have a weapon damage of over 500 and an armor rating over 1500 easy without hacks or cheating.

You'll be ready for any dragon that attacks, In my case they're the ones running from me. They won't attack they just fly around annoying me.

My game is glitched in markoth the Talos place has the constant evil guard that always attacks me for meddling. The system needs reset a lot from lag but it runs.

[DragonKnight]

You could do that, or just do the Oghma Infinium glitch to save time. But yeah, if you don't do the Dragon Rising quest for the Jarl of Whiterun, there are no dragons on the world map.

Also, you have to remember you can only block 80% physical damage, so an armor rating of 1500 isn't really necessary, I found that around 800 does the trick.

And I don't think your game is glitched at Markarth, unless you're saying you finished the Forsworn Conspiracy questline and still have the guards coming after you. If you haven't, then the guards are supposed to take you and lock you up as part of the quest and there's nothing you can do about it. Trust me. I killed every single guard, and then when I made it to the Jarl, he and his aides started attacking me and they are immortal.

[Jack_n_Hoff]

In what bizzaro blindfolded naive world did you grow up in where previous generations of games were not pushed out broken? This stupid rant of the quality of games is laughable. Dead lines are not new, they have always been there. Games have always been pushed out too early, the only difference now is that games have the opprtunity of being patched. But hey, cant argue with naivety.

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

Are you 12? Is the ps3 your first game system? I don't remember any bugs in any of my Super NES, PS1 or Game Boy titles. I started seeing minor bugs on the PS2.

And if you go back to before the NES, again, bugs are almost unheard of.
Rant all you want, I was there.

[maniacmayhem]

I agree with Jack.

Take a look at some retro reviews and you will see games had plenty of bugs.

Hell,the original Super Mario Bros. had bugs and glitches. Remember the minus worlds where you would go on and on and on forever?

PS1 games had a ton also, collision detection, missing polys, falling out the world, you name it.

I think nostalgia is clouding your judgment. You only remember the good times of yesterday gaming as opposed to the shi**y times you're experiencing now. But trust me, there were plenty of rushed out crap games back in the days.

[Jack_n_Hoff]

Hahaha, bugs are unheard of, geee let me think, how many retro video game critics are there, that go back to show how shitty games used to be? AVGN only made a career showing this, but hey, your glasses have you blinded, because it popped into your head, doesnt make it so, cry more?

[Jinxstar]

I know I must be in the minority. I have the PS3 version. The game has frozen on me 2 times total. I finished the game. Have daedric armor, Finished mages quests, storm cloaks, bards, thieves, most of my skills are sky high and I'm over level 40. I have had very little slow down or stuttering even after 6 or 7 hour marathons... My save is over 10mb and I'm even on a launch 60 gig PS3... Almost no bugs what so ever. Got stuck in a hole once or twice climbing a mountain but that happens in games like this...

I'm done with the game now and I dunno... Seems like I waited for a patch for nothing... Great game.