Unstuck, And Why It Can Encourage Bug Reporting

[Quetzhal]

I've been trying to properly articulate my thoughts on this for a while. It was said in the recent livestream that /unstuck wasn't being implemented because giving people a way to get out of getting stuck in terrain would discourage people from making bug reports, as they would be able to just carry on with the mission. Now, this is a valid enough, but I'd like to present my own thoughts on the matter nonetheless.

The way the system currently works, I feel, actually discourages reporting bugs. When you get stuck in terrain, there's not much you can do to show how you got stuck. The best you can do is take a screenshot, which depending on your actual position on the map and where your camera is currently jammed, may not even be recognizable. Moreover, a screenshot would do nothing to show how it is that you managed to jam yourself into that specific area.

Worse than that, it discourages exploration - albeit not that much. I love exploring in this game - even the update that removed rewards if you failed a mission didn't stop me from trying to explore every inch of every map. That said, I explore less than I did before, because every time I commit myself to exploration I'll end up failing or aborting the mission from getting stuck or just straight up falling out of the map (four times, yes; I am extraordinarily good at it. Falling out of the map, I mean). I don't particularly mind that much, since I explore for the sake of exploring and I know it'll happen, but it's still a worry - and if I get something I want, exploration is kinda out of the question.

In any case, once you get stuck, there's no good way to report the bug - you're already stuck, you can't get out of it to take a video and show how it happened. Your best bet is to rerun the mission, and you have no guarantee that that specific tile will spawn again - especially amongst the rarer tiles, for instance. And if you get a mod or resource on the way that you want, you now have no reason to report the bug at all.

Also importantly, players don't have any particular reason to report bugs as is. Even with the "punish players that get stuck" system in place - unless it's a bug that's easy to trigger and happens a lot of the time, like Void doors - players will know to just avoid that area on that next run. There isn't any particular reason to actually take the time to document the bug - not any more than there would be if there was an /unstuck command in place.

By implementing an /unstuck option, you'd be enabling players who are interested in exploration and bug reports to actually do so more easily, allowing them to set themselves back so they can try to replicate the bug and document it for you. At the same time, you reduce frustration for all players in the system so that no one's actually losing stuff they already earned.

Bottom line is I guess that I hope you reconsider not implementing the option at this stage in the game.

[Azure_Kytia]

Whilst I mirror your sentiments, I feel the developer response was one that focused on the function and forgot that they were developers.

 

If /Unstuck discouraged people from reporting bugs, then it would be EASY to implement both restrictions.and measures that reduce the loss of potential information gleaned from reporting the bug.

 

For example: Using the Unstuck function could come with a teeny little disclaimer that states "I acknowledge that diagnostic information will be taken of the game in it's present state to determine where I am".

 

When the uses clicks on that, it would send information regarding the map itself, the way the tiles generated, the tile you were currently in (or last in), your X,Y,Z coordinates and statistical information. HEK, it could even take the time to take a screenshot of the game so that the Devs can see it, all before the game plonks you back into the normal area of the game.

 

That way, you are not getting 50% of diagnostic reports regarding how players got stuck because they got too frustrated to even bother. You are getting 100% of diagnostic reports, players are happy because they don't have to lose all of their found items, and if they want to, they can even supply additional information on the forums.

 

I feel the Dev response last week was a little bit of a copout, but oh well. It's their call I suppose.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Azure_Kyte

[Nuko_Miko]

Whilst I mirror your sentiments, I feel the developer response was one that focused on the function and forgot that they were developers.

 

If /Unstuck discouraged people from reporting bugs, then it would be EASY to implement both restrictions.and measures that reduce the loss of potential information gleaned from reporting the bug.

 

For example: Using the Unstuck function could come with a teeny little disclaimer that states "I acknowledge that diagnostic information will be taken of the game in it's present state to determine where I am".

 

When the uses clicks on that, it would send information regarding the map itself, the way the tiles generated, the tile you were currently in (or last in), your X,Y,Z coordinates and statistical information. HEK, it could even take the time to take a screenshot of the game so that the Devs can see it, all before the game plonks you back into the normal area of the game.

 

That way, you are not getting 50% of diagnostic reports regarding how players got stuck because they got too frustrated to even bother. You are getting 100% of diagnostic reports, players are happy because they don't have to lose all of their found items, and if they want to, they can even supply additional information on the forums.

 

I feel the Dev response last week was a little bit of a copout, but oh well. It's their call I suppose.

tbh I never saw the /unstuck command from your perspective. But now that I did I kinda agree with you :D

As a developer myself, I wouldn't give my users debug tools. But the way you describe the /unstuck command I can't really consider it a debug tool. Its more of a troubleshooting tool much like the crash report.

[SilentCynic]

I can understand the reasoning behind the developer's answer, but it most certainly felt like a rather blatant 'F*** your fun' response to the playerbase. Moreso when you consider the fact that many of these (inescapable) bugs occur often in the new Orokin tileset, which means that you're costing people money, but refusing to allow them to get their full worth for it.

 

I entirely agree with Azure Kyte. Combining the /unstuck function with a log dump and a bug reporter solves the dev's issue, and also the player's. They brought out the excuse that people could use it to escape dangerous scenarios, but that's just a load of crap, really. You can just add a 30s countdown timer or some such to avoid abuse.

[Azure_Kytia]

Just have it if you'd taken damage in the last 15 seconds, that it wouldn't work. That way, it would be impossible to do in the middle of a firefight, where it could be abused. Also maybe make it that using Unstuck also automatically set AI to alarmed, so that you can't use it to bypass hard areas stealthily.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Azure_Kyte