NCAA Football 09 Patch #1 Available

[CDowns430]

Quote: Originally Posted by dmobious

So for us PS3 guys, when can we anticipate on getting the patch?

It's with CQC right now and the plan is to get it back to Sony sometime tonight. If we are lucky, Sony will test it first thing tomorrow and give me the OK by the end of the day, at which point I'll throw it over to the retail servers. Don't count on that though, that's just what I'm hoping for. More realistic expectation would probably be late Monday or Tuesday.

[dmobious]

Quote: Originally Posted by CDowns430

It's with CQC right now and the plan is to get it back to Sony sometime tonight. If we are lucky, Sony will test it first thing tomorrow and give me the OK by the end of the day, at which point I'll throw it over to the retail servers. Don't count on that though, that's just what I'm hoping for. More realistic expectation would probably be late Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks a lot for the info, and I along with others appreciate you being here to answer questions. I am looking forward to the patch!

[approaching80]

I just want to let OMT and CDowns know I appreciate having them on the board. Thank you! As hard as it is to be patient waiting on the patches, it's refreshing to know these guys take the time to listen and communicate with us. Thanks again!

[stoncold32]

Quote: Originally Posted by CDowns430

It's with CQC right now and the plan is to get it back to Sony sometime tonight. If we are lucky, Sony will test it first thing tomorrow and give me the OK by the end of the day, at which point I'll throw it over to the retail servers. Don't count on that though, that's just what I'm hoping for. More realistic expectation would probably be late Monday or Tuesday.

How about you just "accidentally" let it and patch 2 slip out on the retail servers....mistakes happen....doesn't have to have your name tied to it...

[EAreaper26]

Quote: Originally Posted by stoncold32

How about you just "accidentally" let it and patch 2 slip out on the retail servers....mistakes happen....doesn't have to have your name tied to it...

yeah... give us a specific time, leave it on the server for 5 mins, then "realize" your mistake, and take it off the server.

[CDowns430]

Quote: Originally Posted by stoncold32

How about you just "accidentally" let it and patch 2 slip out on the retail servers....mistakes happen....doesn't have to have your name tied to it...

I couldn't if I wanted to - the servers are controlled by Sony and the option doesn't show up until the patch has been approved. Also, it would definitely have my name tied to it as I'm currently the only person with the ability to submit patches on the team

Can't blame you for trying though

[hud519]

Quote: Originally Posted by dmobious

Thanks a lot for the info, and I along with others appreciate you being here to answer questions. I am looking forward to the patch!

I second that.

[servo75]

What the hell is taking Sony so long??? How long does it take to certify a patch? Does this mean we have to wait until next Tuesday if it's not up by tonight?

[kestrel]

Quote: Originally Posted by CDowns430

The certification process basically is: 1. Our internal guys test it 2. EA central QA (CQC) tests it 3. Microsoft/Sony (3rd Party) tests it 4. MS puts the patch up/Sony tells me I can put the patch up Step one doesn't take very long usually because our guys are committed to our game. CQC takes a little longer usually because they also have to worry about other EA titles. 3rd Party takes even longer than that, because they have to worry about every single title on the platform. I won't discuss what the small issue is right now, and trust me, you don't want me to. Ask me again in a couple months... you'll laugh, I promise. I will say it was a PS3 only type of thing, so it wasn't a factor on 360. The fact that our guys, CQC, and Sony have all looked at the patch already means they won't need to be as extensive with it when it comes back through. We're trying to leverage the fastest possible turnaround with Sony by playing the "360 already has it" card. The second patch should still be on schedule for both platforms.

Thanks for the reply. Thanks also for taking the time to do this; despite what's going on here, I do appreciate being kept in the loop. Would I like more info? Sure. But I also appreciate what you (and OMT) are giving.

I'm guessing, from your responses (you and OMT), that these kinds of things are placed in some kind of queue, such that when one patch or game is certified, the group (whichever it is) moves on to the next item. Or is there some sort of prioritizing that goes on (I ask this because some have claimed that certain games' patches came out quickly when compared to NCAA's patches, and I realize that there can be other factors involved, such as work volume)? It seems there may be a combination of the two, since you are letting on that the renewed certification process for PS3 patch 1 should not take as long (did it jump to the front of the line because it was mostly certified once before?).

Again, however, I'm curious about the timing of things. Perhaps the queue situation will lend an answer to this. Why did this small issue come to your attention on the expected day of the release of the patch? Was Sony not ready to certify it and told you about it as soon as they found it? Or did they sit on this until they would have otherwise been ready to certify it?

What is EA/Tiburon's relationship with Sony (this goes to the conspiracy theories stating EA hates Sony or Sony hates EA)?

Thanks again for being here to talk (and listen) to the consumers...well, these consumers!

[Adam_Thompson_EA]

Quote: Originally Posted by kestrel

Thanks for the reply. Thanks also for taking the time to do this; despite what's going on here, I do appreciate being kept in the loop. Would I like more info? Sure. But I also appreciate what you (and OMT) are giving. I'm guessing, from your responses (you and OMT), that these kinds of things are placed in some kind of queue, such that when one patch or game is certified, the group (whichever it is) moves on to the next item. Or is there some sort of prioritizing that goes on (I ask this because some have claimed that certain games' patches came out quickly when compared to NCAA's patches, and I realize that there can be other factors involved, such as work volume)? It seems there may be a combination of the two, since you are letting on that the renewed certification process for PS3 patch 1 should not take as long (did it jump to the front of the line because it was mostly certified once before?). Again, however, I'm curious about the timing of things. Perhaps the queue situation will lend an answer to this. Why did this small issue come to your attention on the expected day of the release of the patch? Was Sony not ready to certify it and told you about it as soon as they found it? Or did they sit on this until they would have otherwise been ready to certify it? What is EA/Tiburon's relationship with Sony (this goes to the conspiracy theories stating EA hates Sony or Sony hates EA)? Thanks again for being here to talk (and listen) to the consumers...well, these consumers!

We weren't aware of the roster bug until the game was released and Fairdale and CDJ reported the crash. We reproduced it by reordering 116 depth charts, but since they had only gotten 40 teams in we guessed there was another way to get to the bug.

We found it in the EA Locker, but Fairdale and CDJ didn't think they used the locker. So we fixed that bug and went looking for bug #3. We had no luck so we gave them each a call.

After talking to them for a while, they both remembered at some point going into the locker before crashing. This would explain why they crashed earlier than when we got. It took about a week to get the patch out the door and then 3 weeks to get it approved, so that is why you are seeing it now.

Games that have patches on release day means that the dev team found bugs they wanted to fix so they were able to get the patch done and approved before the street date which is generally about 2 months after you final the game.