Its a sad situtation that bugs seem to be the norm these days. Ya buy a game, just assume there will some kind of problem, and hope you can get around it or a patch comes out soon to fix it - <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
too true. But, the problem really is, that publishers and investors put so much pressure on developers to get their games out at an ever increasing pace. Just a few years ago, a typical game cycle was 2-3 years to fully develop a game. Now, it is really less than 1 year, or you run the risk of losing your funding. the games have to be way more complex than they used to be as well, in order to compete.
It doesn't suprise me that most games have bugs on release, what surprises me is that new games from relatively unknown companies like Larian can even make it into the scene given todays market constraints. That's why companies like Black Isle are so successful; they released one really good game with an engine that was adaptable and (relatively) stable, and then basically released many clones all using the same engine to cut down on production time. Most of us think the "Baldur's Gate" game engine is a bit worn, and yet they still are releasing games made with it (Icewind Dale II just came out here). IMO, games will become ever buggier on release so long as unrealistic production schedules are insisted on by publishers and investors. or else you will get ever more and more clones being produced using the same tired game engines.
The only way we as consumers can help slow this madness is to make sure we support new game developers buy buying their products (if they look even remotely creative). Hopefully, publishers and investors will get the clue that innovation is important too, and will back off on the unrealistic production schedules.
just my 2 cents
