GOG Patch?

Chester Rico

By Chester Rico
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paralipsis Wolfbait

paralipsis

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I was just visiting a developer forum for a different product I'm awaiting an update on. They have been experiencing issues for some time, but what really struck me is the difference in approach there as opposed to what I see happening here. They explained their difficulties providing the update, and then every two weeks since then they have posted to the status thread a simple message saying the situation remains the same and there is no new information on the topic. It's a small thing. It probably takes one person 5 minutes every couple of weeks to post that update, but it goes a long way to making customers feel like they are in the loop, despite the fact that there is no estimated time frame for resolution of the issue.

The two key differences in the way the situation is being handled there are;

  1. Transparency. Customers know why there is a delay in releasing the software update, and
  2. Engagement. It doesn't take much effort to post a "nothing new to report" post every couple of weeks, but it has a dramatic effect on the developer-customer relationship.

I really do enjoy The Long Dark. I have nothing but respect for the talent, hard work, and dedication that must have gone into making it. But, and I really hate to say but, I have to give really low marks for communication here. There should be someone at Hinterland who is taking the lead on this issue, whatever the problem may be, and as well as being responsible for its resolution, they should also be personally responsible for ensuring that the status of the issue is readily available. Perhaps the worst thing I have seen going on about this whole debacle is that various people have posted on the GOG forums about their contact with Hinterland over this issue, and the information that different users have received via different communication channels have directly contradicted each other. This is what happens when the only information we've received in an open forum is...

On 11/14/2017 at 5:34 AM, Patrick Carlson said:

when we have new information to share on this topic we will

The problem here, as has been mentioned above, is that we still don't know the original reason that GOG versions have been so massively delayed. Because of that, this response comes across as at least a little bit tone deaf. The GOG version is now several iterations behind all the other platforms, and is many months out of date. Not one official reason has been given in this thread (or anywhere else I can see) as to what has been happening since Hinterland released the version that is currently available on GOG. Surely there has to be some reason for this, whether it's a long standing problem, or an ongoing saga with new developments every day doesn't really matter all that much to me. I'd just like to have some vague notion as to what is going on. It's not like the lack of bug fixes for The Long Dark is even a major concern for me. I'm honestly just at a loss to understand why such a seemingly small thing could be so long delayed, or why the reasons behind the matter cannot be shared despite so many requests. None of it makes sense to me, and I think it's only human to have negatively inclined suspicions under such circumstances.

Just a little bit of clarity would go a really long way under the circumstances.

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Patrick Carlson Pathfinder

Patrick Carlson

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@paralipsis Thanks for your message. While we generally like to share news when there is something new to share, I can let you know we are still working on issues related to getting the very latest small patch delivered to GOG players. Whether in forum posts, or even direct messages with players, we like to deliver meaningful, accurate information. Sometimes that means patience is needed in some cases before that happens. I am sorry if in this case it came across as inattentive. But yes, we continue to work to resolve this issue for you. We appreciate your patience very much.

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Blinkin Pathfinder

Blinkin

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Hi all, I just wanted to say two things and add something:

1) I completely agree with you Paralipsis. Nothing to add. Communication is one of the most important things to do for customer satisfaction, even if there's nothing new to say.

2) I've said it many times: Hinterland is a small studio with great goals and achievements. There's no reason for being completely negative about the game as it's still a great game, it's even way better then I ever expected (let's not react in the absolute nonsense way some people did when the countdown timer this spring disappointed them and hundreds of negative reviews were written).

What I'd like to add:
I do appreciate it a lot that are people like Mel Guille and Patrick Carlson are taking their time and patience(!) to react to our questions. Let's be honest, we've been asking the same question quite a lot the past months. As a support worker at a help-desk I know how annoying it can be to have the same people asking the same thing over and over again, especially if there's still no new information available.
So thank you a lot for your time and patience! Much appreciated. ;):D

P.S. I'm glad for Hinterland community managers and support that you don't have a Black Friday sale, what a day hahaha.

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Mugger Prepper

Mugger

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On 24/11/2017 at 7:53 PM, Patrick Carlson said:

@paralipsis Thanks for your message. While we generally like to share news when there is something new to share, I can let you know we are still working on issues related to getting the very latest small patch delivered to GOG players. Whether in forum posts, or even direct messages with players, we like to deliver meaningful, accurate information. Sometimes that means patience is needed in some cases before that happens. I am sorry if in this case it came across as inattentive. But yes, we continue to work to resolve this issue for you. We appreciate your patience very much.

Patch 1.19 now live on GOG :)

 

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odizzido Pathfinder

odizzido

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I just want to mention that while patches are slower on GOG you're also not forced to use them. This is a big thing when for example a game patches out content and replaces it with microtransactions or other garbage. With steam DRM you have no choice but to downgrade your experience but on GOG you don't need to deal with that nonsense. If you have the install files or the install you're good.

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