So you believe you deserve a patch.

[KodiaX987]

This applies if you meet any of the following criterias:

• You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to patch bugs in the game.
• You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to release content updates for the game.
• You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
• You believe that a game developer is in the moral obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.

Before I continue on, I will remind you that any company ever made in existence is made with the sole purpose of generating profit. It must generate profit in the quickest and most secure possible manner. A company that does not make profit is a dead company. A company that breaks even and stagnates is a dead company. A company is only concerned in its brand image to the extent that it will allow it to generate more profit.

Furthermore, a company will release patches and updates if this includes a sizeable chance to make a substantial profit that is worth the effort. A company will release patches and content updates if this will cause people to buy more of the game, or another game that this company has made.

Therefore, the truth is:

• A game developer has no obligation to patch bugs in the game.
• A game developer has no obligation to release content updates for the game.
• A game developer has no obligation to listen to its community and heed its requests.
• A game developer has no obligation to deliver games that people can enjoy.

At any time, the developer can choose to disregard the community's suggestions. In fact, the developer disregards those suggestions on a daily basis, and this is a good thing too, for the sheer majority of those suggestions are completely fucking stupid. If you believe you somehow have a flair for game design and balancing, I'll let you in on a secret: you do not. Trust me, you do not. No matter how much you want to sink in that delusion, do not even expect for a second that your is balanced.

There is no quality law for video games. None. If there had been, the makers of Big Rigs would have gotten arrested a long time ago and Electronic Arts would be under a severe audit at this very moment.

There is no law that forces a developer to fix its game.

In fact, a company may publish a game that simply does not work, and there will be nothing you can do about it. There won't even be a class action lawsuit because so few people will have bought the game that taking the company to court would be meaningless - and good luck on winning the suit in the first place.

You'll notice this all looks familiar to something I said a while ago. Yes, it is. But I want to be more generalized this time.

You might feel entitled to more content than you paid for in your game. You are not.

You might feel entitled to a sequel to the great book you bought that proclaims "First of an upcoming series!" on the cover. You are not.

You might feel entitled to follow-ups from a business because you bought from them. You are not.

You might feel that the business will listen to you if you threaten to stop buying from them because they won't fix something for you. They will not. In fact, businesses are more likely to refuse service to known complainers - because complainers are more trouble for a business than they are worth.

In fact, we'll cut this short and to the point: any obligations you feel a business has to you, it has not. The best thing you can ever expect from a business is for it to replace a defective product for a new and working one.

For everything else, you can pretty much suck it.

[beatrixkiddo]

A student has no obligation to do schoolwork either, but if you don't you're not going to be getting any grades...

That's how I see your issue here.

You can neglect updates/patches, but don't expect to be getting as many customers as you would had you done all of those things you listed...

[Nitro Vordex]

A student has no obligation to do schoolwork either, but if you don't you're not going to be getting any grades...

That's how I see your issue here.

You can neglect updates/patches, but don't expect to be getting as many customers as you would had you done all of those things you listed...

Actually, ignore what I previously wrote.

This is the part where you're missing the point of the rant.

He understands that they get money and blah blah blah. He's saying that the customers aren't the boss. Nor does the company have to respond to someone bitching because they found a little tiny bug that no one else would have found otherwise, or because they want higher res textures.

[beatrixkiddo]

Actually, ignore what I previously wrote.

This is the part where you're missing the point of the rant.

He understands that they get money and blah blah blah. He's saying that the customers aren't the boss. Nor does the company have to respond to someone bitching because they found a little tiny bug that no one else would have found otherwise, or because they want higher res textures.

I ignore everything you say, so that's not an issue.

The customer may not be the boss, but it's stupid to think that you can ignore glaring flaws in your program without some sort of monetary penalty.

To clarify, I'm not referring to people who want "balance changes" because they think XXX is too strong. I'm talking about valid content/stability patches.

[Nitro Vordex]

I ignore everything you say, so that's not an issue.

No wonder you're an idiot.

[jShazBot]

You're wrong. All of you.

[Nitro Vordex]

You're wrong. All of you.

Prove it.

[Powder Keg]

A student has no obligation to do schoolwork either, but if you don't you're not going to be getting any grades...

That's how I see your issue here.

You can neglect updates/patches, but don't expect to be getting as many customers as you would had you done all of those things you listed...

OHKO'd

[SStrikerR]

I think beatrixkiddo has a point in saying that a company SHOULD updates games if they want more players to come and stay, but businesses don't have to really worry about that, like Shuri said.
I'll give an example.

Sega and PSU

Their fanservice sucks, and yet there are still making money off the game.
"How's that possible, me and [friend] quit! They lost 2 customers there!"
Well, sega doesn't give 2 shits about you. They make enough money off of the players that already play and the players that are joining to really care if you quit or not.

As of right now, they can afford to continue on how there are because they're still making a profit. Once they start LOSING money, however, I expect them to either get their act together or to drop the game entirely. I'm thinking it'll be the latter.

[Powder Keg]

I don't think anyone is expecting any kind of special treatment (if they are, they're just being stupid) But if they didn't feel a need to patch harmful bugs / ban harmful users or release content, well then they wouldn't be making anything close to what they are now off of this game. So if they want to be a successful team/company, of course they're obligated to do these things.