I have no problem with patching in general. It’s a very good thing for companies to improve their products for the people that have already bought them. My “beef” starts when you buy a game the day it’s released and you run the updater to find a whopping great big 82meg patchfile for it.
I’ve just bought Neverwinter Nights 2 and have installed it today (ok, 2 days after release) and I’m already having to put my mincey 1.1mbit ADSL line under pressure by getting this update. I know it’s optional, but why isn’t this patch on the DVD?
I know I’d be much unhappier if the patch wasn’t available and I’d paid for a broken game but I thought this is what testing was for. Don’t let me pay for broken merchandise in the first place!
Edit after a few hours of playing: Well I feel quite unwell. The sequel to the game I paid money for twice does not deliver even a tenth of what its predecessor did so well. The graphics are over the top and make moving and interacting difficult (one thing they definitely shouldn’t be).
The graphics also cause far too much load on the computer and at the end of it, they still don’t look as good as another recent RPG, Oblivion.
I was really looking forward to enjoying it as much as NwN1 but I’m having real troubles getting to grips with some of the quests.
Bethesda have really done their job well in spoiling this game for me. I’m physically upset that I cannot go into every building; upset that I cannot pick anything up and just roam around the countryside hitting things with my massively oversized greatsword (that’s what the ladies call it anyway =]); upset that the way to travel from zone-to-zone is worse than NwN1.
So it’s not all Bethesda’s fault. Obsidian have made some glaring oversights and it is obvious they have rushed (from the need to patch and the state of things in-game still). If I were project lead for this, I would keep it back until Christmas, at least.