I personally wish All Game Releases were held to the standard they were held to BEFORE everyone had internet. Why? Let me explain, but for the TL:DR people, it's called Quality Assurance.
Back before any game in the world could have bugs patched out on Day-0, all games released by all companies had to work the whole way through without the customer having to do anything aside from go to the store and buy the game. If a game wasn't playable the whole way through, or didn't work right "out of the box" it went BACK TO THE STORE and the Customer got a FULL REFUND, and the company that made the game had a "Defective Product" returned to them at Their Loss.
Game and Software makers no-longer have to hold up to things working out of the box because they can rely on their customers having the internet so they can get that Day-0 patch to "fix" what they released supposedly as a working product. In NO OTHER INDUSTRY is this a Acceptable Business Practice. Only in Software and Games, and it isn't right. NO COMPANY should be allowed to release a product that doesn't work as intended from day 1, period. But software companies don't have to live up to the consumer code like other companies always have.
Case in point, Car Dealerships.
Is it ok to go buy a car, and for the dealership to sell you that car, but then say "Oh, by the way, the car you bought doesn't have any brakes. Don't worry though, we'll ship the brakes to your house for free but you'll have to install them yourself." ? Of Course Not!!! You'd say "keep the car, I want one with working brakes".
Back in the day before patches, if Nintendo or Sega or even a PC game like Diablo 1 was sold, it had to be Complete and Work the whole way through, period. Expansion Packs could be sold later to add to the game, but the base game Had To Work as intended because there was No Way to "Fix" it once the customer came home and opened their game. Everything wasn't hooked into the internet so it couldn't be fixed "on the spot" at the customer's home via online.
All of us as consumers should hold All Companies to the old standards. Believe it or not there are still people who live in areas that don't have good internet or in some cases no internet at all, I know because I had to live in an area with no internet but dial-up for almost 11 years. Luckily when I lived there every game in the world didn't need the internet just to be able to play it.
I used to be a Paid Beta Tester back when I was in the industry. I did work for Origin, EA, and Microsoft. It was standard policy back then to make sure everything worked as intended and advertised before a product was pushed to market because there was no way to fix it later and no company wants returns on a sale.
Today the industry no longer lives up to that standard and "Paid Beta Testing" doesn't even exist as a career anymore. Now days companies have suckered the consumers into doing their Beta Testing for them and even paying them to let them do it by making the customer think they're getting something special by being in a beta, or getting something early by being in a beta. Today 90% of people playing a "Beta Version" of anything aren't hunting for bugs, they aren't looking for errors, and half the time the few people who can and do those things aren't even rewarded by having the "bug" they reported even fixed before launch.
The worst part is it's US as the consumer who have spent money time after time allowing this practice to even be acceptable in the industry when no other industry is allowed to function this way. Consumers should DEMAND a "working" product from day 1 Without the Need for a "Fix" for it to work when we get our product home. Just because the internet exists and is an amazing tool, doesn't mean companies and corporations should be allowed to release defective or unfinished products just because they know they can "fix it later" with a patch or update.
Ok, I've typed too long, I'll get off this soapbox now and go back to playing this awesome game.
