Dear Ubisoft,

Is there going to be a Patch for the clock not automatically starting after x seconds after someone joins an online ranked game?

Will you make it possible to leave a match before the game starts so that we don't have people just sitting at the board hoping the other person will quit for points or to avoid loosing any against a much lower rated opponent.

Will you patch the game so we can see who is hosting the match and hopefully avoid cheaters we have already run into?

Is there going be a patch for the rating system that gives you virtually no points for winning after you have taken a certain amount of losses i.e. I just played a game I'm ranked 775 my opponent is 993 and for beating him I got a grand total of only 4 points. This is not to mention the thousands of people who don't benefit themselves or anyone who would play them online being ranked only 300-400--the higher ranked person has no option to leave the game without taking a loss and gains nothing by winning. People are in some sort of debt from loosing that its virtually impossible to get out of and it shouldn't be. This sort of rating system only encourages cheating and should be changed to keep things competitive and to keep people playing.

Your loyal customer,

Alex

As it has been said many times before:

Ubisoft doesn't read this forums so you are waisting your breath here.

If ubisoft doesn't read these than maybe the people who hypothetically buy their games do and they will, hypothetically of course, know not to buy games that are not properly designed or all the way finished.

quote:

Originally posted by klemperal:

They will, hypothetically of course, know not to buy games that are not properly designed or all the way finished.

It would be nice if people did that, but my personal opinion is that computer chess players would be more of the "casual gamer" type who would just pick up the game and expect it to run fine, whereas people who play other types of game say FPS games would tend to play more computer games and do some more in-depth research before they part with their hard earned.

Also, do any other UBI games have this many problems, or is CM an exception as it is more of a niche so they think they can spend less recources and time on developing the game?

quote:

It would be nice if people did that, but my personal opinion is that computer chess players would be more of the "casual gamer" type who would just pick up the game and expect it to run fine, whereas people who play other types of game say FPS games would tend to play more computer games and do some more in-depth research before they part with their hard earned.

Also, do any other UBI games have this many problems, or is CM an exception as it is more of a niche so they think they can spend less recources and time on developing the game?

Well as long as we are talking chessmaster I probably shouldn't have to mention the computer version crashing for no good reason all the time for tons of people. As for another Ubisoft game with problems is Rainbow six vegas. This FPS still has tons of glitches and problems with the game on the 360. Everything from countless exploits on multilayer to problems with online achievements unlocking.

quote:

Originally posted by monstermunched:
Also, do any other UBI games have this many problems, or is CM an exception as it is more of a niche so they think they can spend less recources and time on developing the game?

Frankly, I don't think the problems with Chessmaster are that numerous... it's just the same few problems over and over again.

quote:

Frankly, I don't think the problems with Chessmaster are that numerous... it's just the same few problems over and over again.

Personally I think that the problems with the tutorials, constant 100% CPU usage, online ratings and the problem with online cheaters are fairly big problems. But that's just me.

quote:

rsonally I think that the problems with the tutorials, constant 100% CPU usage, online ratings and the problem with online cheaters are fairly big problems. But that's just me.

I have to agree. If you pay good money for a game or anything for that matter, than you expect it to work properly. More and more it seems like a scam to me the way companies don't fix the problem with the old and instead come out with something new that of course they charge you for....And in Ubisoft's case they don't even bother to fix the old problems without introducing a whole new set of technical problems.

Let me play devil's advocate... did you read the EULA that came with the game? If so, you would have seen phrases like "sold as-is" and "Ubisoft assumes no liability for damages". So legally, Ubisoft doesn't have to fix problems.

However, while many companies (including Ubisoft) realize that while they have no legal responsibility to release patches, it's in their best business interest to do so.

Users have a part in this, too. If you notice a problem, then contact Ubisoft Technical Support about it. This forum is a valuable resource, but it doesn't replace Technical Support, and as others have mentioned, Ubisoft doesn't read these forums.

quote:

Originally posted by KHollister:
Let me play devil's advocate... did you read the EULA that came with the game? If so, you would have seen phrases like "sold as-is" and "Ubisoft assumes no liability for damages". So legally, Ubisoft doesn't have to fix problems.

However, while many companies (including Ubisoft) realize that while they have no legal responsibility to release patches, it's in their best business interest to do so.

Users have a part in this, too. If you notice a problem, then contact Ubisoft Technical Support about it. This forum is a valuable resource, but it doesn't replace Technical Support, and as others have mentioned, Ubisoft doesn't read these forums.

With all due respect, that's a crock.

Picking up a phone to report a problem - especially with a game with online capability, is simply unacceptable. The faq only lists a few questions about Chessmaster XI (minimum requirements and similar stuff) and the link they give to the forums for more information is broken. That tells me they have no plans to find new bugs or fix them. What we have now, is what we are going to get.

These forums are hosted by Ubi. Ubi should hire a single person (community manager) to sift through the posts and relay back anything that looks meaningful. Not that there's a very low signal to noise ratio here, but there would be if there were an actual community.

You are right that Ubisoft has no legal responsibilty to fix bugs, so long as the product works as advertised, which it does, but I don't have a responsibility to keep buying their stuff either.

Obsidian is a company I can name that just can't seem to finish titles. I will never buy another title from them until I hear lots of good reviews of the product after release, and see a patch or two come out if needed (they did KotOR 2 and NVN 2 - both decent games, but neither one finished).

It was a toss up for me honestly whether to take this one back to the store or not (yes, they will accept returns from me). I'm keeping it - mainly for the major increase in the number of personalities, and the nicer post game analysis over the 9000 I was using. I never played online before, so even the little I get is a plus over what I had (I actually won a couple games today ).

I will be sure to let my local gamestop know my impressions of the game, good and bad - which I do for all the PC games I play. They should probably pay me, since most of their staff just reviews the console games . If everyone did that, and posted reviews on the sites like Amazon where people bought the game, that would make a difference in the quality of software that gets released.

Money talks, all else walks.

Wow... you make it sound like contacting Technical Support is a herculean task. It's not. It's not an unreasonable request, either.

You can contact them online, or by phone. It's easy, and only takes a few minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by KHollister:
Wow... you make it sound like contacting Technical Support is a herculean task. It's not. It's not an unreasonable request, either.

You can contact them online, or by phone. It's easy, and only takes a few minutes.

Ok, I found the online link after reading their tutorial(?!) on how to use their support website. I didn't realize you needed to be logged into your Ubi account to contact them.

My main point was that if a console company released games in the state that PC gamers seem happy to put up with, they'd be out of business after one (maybe two) titles. And that's not limited in any means to Ubisoft.

I understand your point, but you're missing something...

Keep in mind that an Xbox is pretty much the same no matter where you get it. You can't say the same about PCs. There are several different operating systems, levels of hardware, etc. That's why PC games are normally more complex; there are more variables to consider.

That's why there are normally less problems with a console game than a PC.

The great thing about PCs is that you can do much more than play games (after all, would you want to do your taxes on a Xbox?)

quote:

Originally posted by KHollister:
I understand your point, but you're missing something...

Keep in mind that an Xbox is pretty much the same no matter where you get it. You can't say the same about PCs. There are several different operating systems, levels of hardware, etc. That's why PC games are normally more complex; there are more variables to consider.

That's why there are normally less problems with a console game than a PC.

The great thing about PCs is that you can do much more than play games (after all, would you want to do your taxes on a Xbox?)

The reason console games are released in a better state is that console gamers will not accept an unfinished game. PC gamers will, and the game developers know it. It's worse in some genre's than others (MMO's would be the worst), but the attitude is there in all of them.

And as for the complexities of programming for PC's: as the saying goes, that's why they get the big money.

Although I don't know how much longer that will be true. Shelf space for PC games is shrinking nearly every time I walk in a store from Walmart to Gamestop. More and more devs are moving over to the console side of the world. If this trend continues, we'll pretty much be seeing the end of PC gaming in a few years, with the exception of online titles like MMO's and other download to purchase and play titles.

I'm not trying to bash Ubisoft or Chessmaster. They are just a symptom of a larger problem, and honestly they haven't done that bad a job compared to some other recent releases (*cough*Vanguard*cough*).

As a heads up, I just spent a few back and forth things on a bug I was reporting. All I got was generic scripted general tech help. And it was then flagged as solved without a further reply.

Not sure Ubi even does in house tech support honestly :/. I'm going to keep trying though, maybe it will eventually get somewhere.

A few weeks ago, I reported the bug about ratings not being properly adjusted. I got the same type of lame, chain-letter reply. So much for online trouble tickets!

I may try calling Technical Support by telephone tomorrow to see if I get a better response...

quote:

I may try calling Technical Support by telephone tomorrow to see if I get a better response...

That would be cool. Please inform us about the phone-call here. It`s totally beyond my abilities to make such a call in english myself. I.e. to explain the problems and bugs with the online playing.

Okay, I actually called Technical Support today, specifically about the problem with ratings that many people are having.

I had to listen to a pre-recorded message for options and such before I could talk to a real person. No big surprise there. However, I got the impression that they're more equipped to handle issues like game crashes, as the biggest part of the message dealt with how to run dxdiag... Anyhow, the wait wasn't long, and I was talking to a representative from Technical Support rather quickly.

I explained my issue, and the rep replied that my rating will always go down if I lost, but wouldn't necessarily go up if I won or tied, as the ratings are calculated on several different factors. It wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but again, no big surprise.

I then asked when another update would be released. The rep said that there were several known issues concerning Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition, but that Technical Support doesn't receive any information until an update is released to the public. That did surprise me.

So, I didn't find out anything. However, the representative I spoke with was polite and courteous, so I have to give them credit for that...

Not a big surprise. Especially since they have now just closed my online ticket as 'solved' and aren't replying. I can't really be mad at UBI though. Everyone has zero tech help now, outside of what anyone can do by just searching google.

It's a shame really, but oh well. The thing I will stay less than pleased about is that they never did tell me where to report a bug. And after playing tag with scripted form letters I'm not about to go digging around to find it on my own.