Skyrim set for day-one patch

Bethedsa has announced that it will be releasing a day one patch for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, which is set to hit retail this Friday.

[baboom223]

Good. already fixing bugs.

[Uomoz87]

Edited, soz, I need to realize the tone of a comment xD

[baboom223]

What..? I wasn't trolling. I was simply stating that there paying a lot of attention to fixing bugs already :3

[MAJ0R]

nah man I think it's meant to combat piracy, purposely leave bugs in the game and patch them day 1 to give people who got it illegally a bad day

[AngryTypingGuy]

MAJ0R, if they purposely left bugs in to combat piracy, then they could potentially have a class action lawsuit on their hands, unless the package says that an Internet connection is required to play the game.

Believe it or not, there are poor saps who don't have their consoles connected still, in the year 2011, so any game sold in a store unless specifically stated should be ready to be played whether a patch is available or not.

[MAJ0R]

it will be ready to play, just expect bugs (minor ones) and issues as the ones stated above

nothing that makes it unplayable of course

[Vortex3D]

Real question is why didn't the developer delay the game so that the game doesn't need "day 1" patch?

To me, when I see a new game getting "day 1" patch, that means the game was rushed out the door to meet the deadline schedule before it was done. I don't believe in paying full price for a broken product out of the box.

Somehow most gamers today are happy to buy broken product out of the box as long it comes out on time.

[HSx9]

honestly as long as they have the power to fix it with patches and its not a "game" breaker, release the game, I can't fuc'8ing wait.

[artynerd]

I record music for a living, and a record is NEVER done - there's always tweaking, level adjustments, EQing, etc. At some point, you just have to say "good enough".

I can only imagine how many millions of times more tweaking goes on for such a huge title at Bethesda:

Designer "Let's add this feature!"
Programmer "But then it will add more bugs"
Artist "I think I get get the textures to look juuuuust little better on this rock"
Sound designer "I think the clanking sound of glass dagger hitting a leather shield should come up 25% of a db?"

And how the heck can you play test a game properly that offers 400-500 hours of gameplay? That's JUST following the quests, never mind all of the crazy crap people try to do.

I applaud Bethesda for how few bugs were in Oblivion and Fallout. Considering the massive scope of those games, it's almost impossible to foresee every combination of game-breaking bugs that can arise. Sure, there are more polished open world games, but none that offer the freedom of an Elder Scrolls title.

Here's to hoping their new bug fixing system works as good/fast as they're saying.

[smartmart]

you also have to take account of the time it takes to burn those disks, package them (with all the stuff crammed in the box like in Collector's edition) and ship them around the globe for a simultaneous release in stores as diverse as it can be. this takes time, a lot of it. so they have to rely on patches to fix the games they make if they want to respect the schedule. we, on the other hand, just need to wait for a download provided free of charge. from my point of view this is responsible consumer service as in "we fix it before you experience issues"

[Yukicore]

You do realize that it takes time to actually write all the discs and print covers and booklets? Video-games should be done and ready to ship out to stores at least 3weeks before release.

[baboom223]

Just to add btw.. the patch fixes some minor stability and quest progression issues. for those of you who haven't seen the new article

[Highlife]

I never did finish Oblivion due to a bug. Now it wasn't on the main quest of the gates but it was a side story I wanted to finish. It pissed me off and I didn't want to start all over to finish the game. I learned the hard way to always remember to have multiple saves. Hope I am bug free in this one. Can't wait!

[arnyftw]

Ahh. They didnt fix the texture loading issues. Oh well I'll play off disc and use the fan that bought for Oblivion because it used to red ring my console.

[garos82]

a little off topic comment but any help would be appreciated. ive never played an elder scrolls game before but im more than likely to pick up skyrim. is there anything im missing in terms of story in the series or are they all independant from each other?

im actually looking forward to this having spent literally hundreds of hours on dark souls

[BitbyDeath]

I wouldn't worry about the story. Most people just play for the fun and get lost in the side missions.
I've been playing them since Morrowind and still have no idea what's going on half the time.

Great game though.

[AngryTypingGuy]

It can stand alone, but it won't hurt to Google or Wiki The Elder Scrolls to get a brief synopsis so you can at least have a little back story going into it.

[garos82]

much aprreciated guys plus bubbles

[Iroquois_Pliskin]

I tried going to TES wiki. After 5 minutes reading, i was more lost than before. And thats coming from a MGS fanboy.

[Sidewinder-]

It's pretty deep overall.

Almost to the degree of Tolkien.

Like there's a whole creation myth to the world, there being a bunch of demi-gods/gods that are worshipped. With some races having different names and meanings for them, even though they are the same thing.

Yes Elder Scrolls is deep. I mean you can go into the game, sit in a book-store or library and just read up on legends and history. You could sit there for hours reading stories, within the story. It's beautiful. :D

Some books even explain happenings in the previous games. For example 'The Real Barenziah' series of in-game books.

Bottom line is, you can learn about the previous games, in-game if you wish.

But in the end...you're here to enter an immersive world with Dragons. This will be the main focus for sure :P

[BlackUmbra]

From what I got the story lines are not as connected as you'd think. It's basically that all the lands are in tamriel but they don't share allot of the same story aspects

[Blackpool]

Its good that they're fixing bugs but all these games with day 1 patches should already be bug free.

[Romudeth]

Although Skyrim looks amazing I can't bring myself to buying it based on my experience with Bethesda games this generation. They are by far the buggiest things I have played and I'm not very eager to experience the constant freezes and glitches that I did with the Fallout games and Oblivion.

If Skyrim isn't any buggier than a regular game then I'm there but if it's anything like Bethesda's last few games then I'm going to have to regretfully pass this title up.

[Crystallis]

I totally agree with you. Thats why im waiting at least a week to hear from the folks who bought it.

[arnyftw]

They ran it through a glitch engine 24/7. I think they have finally learned from their mistakes.Those fallout glitches were annoying and frustrating, but Oblivion had less glitches. I mean it did have glitched quests but most of the glitches gave an advantage to the player. Like in Oblivion my vampirism quest glitched, but my vampirism glitched too, so I had the abilities of a full vampire, but took no sun damage.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Haha didn't know Blade was in Oblivion. I should boot it up.

[chretienm]

I'm glad to hear that they ran it through a glitch engine! I love Bethesdas games, but damn were they buggy as hell. I remember playing Fallout 3 and a Super Mutant Giant was hovering above me. This glitch actually helped me because I killed the damn thing without taking any damage; seeing as he was standing in midair.

[Drekken]

Why is his disagrees so high? Bethesda sucks when it comes to coding. FO3 broke my PS3 60GB.

My expectations are low for a bug free game this time around.

[Romudeth]

There are more disagrees for my last post because some people obviously don't want to hear the truth. Bethesda has released some of the most bug filled games this generation. This is well documented.

Yes, the games are amazing but you can't deny the fact that they would be true masterpieces if not for the game breaking glitches. Don't get me wrong, I WANT Skyrim to be a near seamless game but judging by Bethesda's track record this gen I don't trust them. I'm going to wait for the inevitable Game of the year/Ultimate edition of this game to come out next year and hope that it runs relatively smooth.

[Dits]

1.1 on 11/11/11

[seinfan]

omg 11 agrees!

[PS3Freak]

at 11:11 A.M?

[Captain Qwark 9]

need time machine so i can hit fast forward......

[WetN00dle69]

You can always hibernate till the 11th.

Thats what ill be doing.......lol

[jriquelme_paraguay]

LOL...
if game launch and have glitches and Bugs: COMPLAIN

If they make a Launch day Patch: COMPLAIN

Such big game its almost impossible to test every possible variable.

Its impossible to make a perfect game on Day One.

[Captain Qwark 9]

a game that size may be impossible to ever make perfect, i dont have a problem with patches as long as the game is playable enough from the start. one thing i don't like is game breaking bugs though, glitch here, glitch there, no biggie.....losing 80hrs of your life becuase a key or npc doesn't show up where they need to, thats unacceptable

[jriquelme_paraguay]

thanks god i survive to "glitchy games" like Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Dead Island...
(Platinum in Fallout 3 and Dead Island)

..and know what? i reaaaaaally enjoyed, and even with those glitches, i dont think Bethesda make/publish/wathever Broken games

PS: i dont say YOU say bethesda make broken games or something like that...

[yess]

It should be imposible to lose 80 hrs of gameplay, unless you rely only on autosave.

Thats why quicksave and manual save is an option.
I allways turn off autosave, and save in more than one slot, and never lost more than an hour, which is no biggie to me.

[Blackdeath_663]

i sort of disagree and agree at same time cus it depends what game. for RPGS or massive open world games like red dead redemption, skyrim and other open world games yes your right it is impossible to make it perfect. same thing with multiplayer, online is often buggy and again that cant be perfect unless people are online so they can see if it works or not.

However, with story games like single player of uncharted, assassins creed, dead space or bioshock for example i expect all those games to be perfect on launch. any glitch on those sort of games give me the implication that the company hasnt done its job.

[nightmarex121]

Assassin creed is open world though you give free pass to rdr and skyrim but not assassin creed?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The nature of software is a breeding ground for glitches. If compiled code is shipped, overflowing with glitches, then yea, they didn't do their job efficiently. But just because a single player game is linear with a 'tighter' game world, it doesn't mean the developer didn't do their job if there is a glitch here or there. A game breaking glitch is one thing, but a lot of them are random and can't be consistently recreated. Thankfully, we can usually tell when a game was rushed to meet a deadline versus a game just needing some tweaking.

[DARK WITNESS]

I am just wondering why you brought up Dead space in that list.

I have played all of those games and out of all of them I have played Dead space the most times over and I never once came accross any glitches or anything with that game.

I am just wondering if you mentioned it for a particular reason, thats all.

@ Nightmarex121

I think the reason he added AC to the list is that even though AC is open world, it's not as dynamic as RD or a game like Skyrim.

I mean in AC all the npc's do is walk... just endlessly walk from when spot to another and thats it. apart from the guys that steal stuff and run, they hardly do anything, there is not really a whole lot else going on in the game world.

In a game like skyrim and RD, the npc's are a lot more dynamic and they do a lot more. with all the different interaction between them and the environment it leaves them a lot more open to bugs and stuff.

[Blackdeath_663]

my replies to above comments:
@nightmarex121
assasins creed is open world,it just dosent feel that way wich is why i put it in that list but regardless my point is still valid. assasins creed had some glitches AC2 had the multiplying guards on roof top and AC1 had glitch with guard humping a wall and the horse also glitched. im not pointing out a games fualt just to put it down or anything but yeah, AC is another example of a glitched open world game.
@DARK WITNESS
i mentioned dead space as an example of a game that i dont expect to glitch and im not at all sayin its glitchy since i havent played it before. but if i were to play it i wouldnt imagine seeing a litch either.

[kramun]

I don't care about a day-one patch, I know it's a day-one purchase.

[Ren_]

Completely agree :)

[PS3Freak]

Came here to say this.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Makes sense the game is pretty massive.

[vicheous]

So what the PS3 version of MW3 is already on 1.02 LOL and when is that out?

[RyuDrinksTheDew]

4 days guys!!!

[The_Kills]

Game went Gold a few days back according to Bethesda (obvious lie is obvious)... How on Earth could it need a patch if they were working on it and patching thing up according to the producer since Sept?

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

So if a game goes gold they can't release patches, which are post-completion updates?

A reviewer could have came up to them and pointed out some flaws after it went gold and they fixed those flaws.

[The_Kills]

Testing games is a luxury these days it seems. And yes, I don't want a day 1 patch before the game is even out considering they've been working on "refining" the game and fininshing it up for the past 2-3 month's before release, as well as saying it went Gold like a week ago.

It's not a real issue to me, but it's the principle of the matter that grinds my gears when they boast about something in their interviews and such.

[aGameDeveloper]

Or the day one patch went gold a few days back.

[GraveLord]

No surprise a Bethesda game launches with bugs and glitches...

[kevnb]

its the "you pirated it" patch.

[Mithan]

Good. Can't wait to play.

[Krakn3Dfx]

Show me a game these days that doesn't come with a patch Day One, it's pretty rare on any platform. Developers figure most people have internet, so they can skimp on the bug fixing and make it a post-release thing. It's pretty sad, but even sadder for people who don't have internet and buy these games. At least the PC version requires internet/Steam, so I guess that's something.

Imagine buying a copy of Fallout 3 for the PS3 and not having internet on your PS3 to patch that game. What a disaster.

[Ren_]

Surely it is better to patch it post-release than to just leave it as is though? They can't discover every bug before a game goes gold in a game of this magnitude.

[NotSoSilentBob]

Never had to worry about day 1 patches last gen.

[MasterCornholio]

Suxs but its good that they are fixing bugs this early.

XperiaRay

[PooEgg]

I am happy to hear they are already patching. Bugs were my only concern, and this makes me hopeful.

And I personally would rather see a day 1 patch as opposed to the release date being pushed back to fix the bugs prior to shipping.

[jay2]

Devs are getting more and more lazy these days, you should never have to dl a patch on day one of a game launch, I think that you pay £40+ (depending on edition etc). and you have to repair broken shipped gold code? erm, no,they games shouldn't need patching anyway.

[kcuthbertson]

Are they lazier or are they more dedicated?

How many PS1 and PS2 games had glitches? Tons upon tons of them. They just had no way to fix them back in that era.

If you honestly see patches as a bad thing, then I think you're crazy. The dev is making the game better, when in truth, they don't have to...they already made the sale...they patch because they care about the consumer.

[tickticktick]

Welcome to Bethedsa games

[NotSoSilentBob]

What Bethsada game doesn't get a day 1 patch this Gen?

[LGIT1]

Greetings to all! First comment on N4G and just had to express my feelings on this news. Skyrim is and should be supported by the developers now to whenever the last dlc content is released and bundled on the goty edition. A game of Skyrim's magnitude demands that you fix certain things here and there, but rest assure that none of these minor bugs are gamebreaking. And its not even fair to call these hiccups bugs, I believe Bethedsa is just trying to craft the smoothest open world experience ever seen. And trust me they deliver. Im about 12 hours in and I haven't even scratched the surface. The graphical leap on the same console generation is astounding. The atmosphere is so engrossing. Every character feels important to the world. Now my first Elder Scrolls game was Oblivion, and I was highly impressed by the musical score and the artistical scenery in that game. And I must say, Skyrim takes what we've all come to expect in our AAA titles and surpasses that bar with beautiful precision. You will be blown away. The story telling in this game is second to none. The NPC's dialogue is vastly improved. The vast amount of choice in this game can be overwhelming though. But I enjoy that. I simply will go on record by saying Skyrim is a materpiece because I truly feel it is in a league of its own when it comes to video games. Being a RPG is one thing, but shattering the level of epicness that a game like Uncharted 3 delivers is entirely different. And I've played both, and as great as Uncharted's 3 campaign is, it just not as great. Again not fair to compare but when you talk about all the great games the have dropped this year its certainly clear which title stands alone at the top of the mountain, and that's Skyrim...and you can actually go all the way up there. :-)

[byrnezy]

Always going to happen, as long as they work to keep the game stable I don't mind the patches at all

[Megaton]

As with all Bethesda games, it'll launch with a minimum of 5,000 bugs/glitches. Every patch will fix about 1,000 and cause 200 new ones.

[Alltimeaj]

so I'm guessing if our x-box is not connected to the internet that the patch will not go through? fml..

[SnakeShady]

.

[SnakeShady]

I can confirm it. I got the game today and it downloaded an incredible 2.0 patch.

[keiren]

You know, Every game ever made has a glitch. It is nearly impossible for software not to have a glitch at some point. I mean for gods sakes, even real life has glitches sometimes. I/E (2 headed cats, etc...)

I see this as a good thing. That means that the game is already finished yet more testing was done in the meantime. Whoops! Looks like there is issues with progression etc... Lets patch her up. Hopefully this will continue like it does on most PC games. Only this time it will be on consoles.

[memots]

Hmm i remember the same thing happened with Resistance3.. and it got bashed to no end for this.

I say no big deal when the game is pressed the game is still getting tested. Having a day one patch is a luxury that developers are using to be able to make deadline.

[kcuthbertson]

The reason i think resistance 3 got bashed was because the patch was half a freaking GIG!

[bluegreenman]

Seriously, you guys can't make a game yourselves. Would you rather they not fix the small bugs? Try making a game as massive as skyrim and finding every single bug. Impossible. So get over it and enjoy the game of the century.

[Killzoned]

Was wondering will the pc version come with a automatic updater? or will I have to manually download the patch and apply it?

[kcuthbertson]

It has to be activated through steam, which includes an automatic updater for all games...so, yes, it will automatically update =].

[zero_cool]

The game isn't even graphically comparable to other games that leave this game in the dust alone not counting other technical aspects which still top this games by far!

P.S..Also gameplay length & simplified gameplay mechanics dose not equal a better game if it's mostly filler like this game has & hardly offers much new & subtracts core gameplay mechanics from the equation.

Cheers Gamers & Happy Gaming!

[zero_cool]

No surprise here considering that bethesda have put out all buggy filled games this gen & i bet even after a series of patches the game will still suffer noticeable technical problems to a degree.

P.S..This company shot itself in the foot long ago this gen & their only adding more salt to the unhealed wound lolz!

Cheers Gamers & Happy Gaming!

[samholyyy]

dayone patch already ? they're fast !!
same was applied with oblivion, which i rarely saw a bug unfixed for too long.