Raider_MXD: From my point of view there are two simple options:
1) Automate releasing patches just as it is the case on other platforms. Provide delevopers a means to upload their fixes and then have some batch job that takes care of packaging the stuff and making ithe download available
2) If you insist on having a manual approach ensure that service can be provided 24/7 just as many other IT companies bound by SLAs do
klauspeter28: You're absolutely right.
I personally do not care at all about Christian or whatever holdiays.
Sometimes, if there is an important issue, I have to work during my week-end or throught the night, too.
So, when I have some free-time (like now), I want to play the fixed version of the game.
GOG team, just do your job!
But there is a law that gives the employees free times on those holidays. IF GOG doesn't comply, there are some hefty fines in place. But, i guess you don't comply to law, either. And pay the fines for the employees, as well the money that will be required by law when the said employees sue you and win, as the law is on their side.
Do i care that is Easter?! NO. Do i have something else to do?! Definitely, yes. Plenty of games on my backlog, books to read and so on.
And things are not as easy as Raider_MXD thinks. Steam had how many years to get there?! Is it perfect?! No. If a patch is fragged (as it happened in quite a few occasions), there is a rollback and you download (sometimes) the whole game again. That system is not perfect either, after so many years. Origin?! They release patches only in the week days and only for the EA games. So, that's a lot of control, as the owner of the store is also the publisher and the developer. Other games published on Origin have a different treatment. As GOG did not received the patch in time, Origin has the same problem. I don't see any of the people that bought the game on Origin (yeah there were some) doing the pitch and forks lynching mobs there. Mostly because EA forums are heavily moderated and being locked on Origin means no access to your games for a while.
And don't get me started on Uplay...The company that never heard about cumulative patching. And guess what...PoE has the same patch as GOG and Origin, there.
You want to fight someone?! Fight with the publisher. It's Paradox Interactive in case that you did not see the logo. THREE online stores did not receive the hotfix. THREE. Because Steam was the priority and screw anyone else. Go complain on their forums first and Obsidian's after that for choosing a publisher that made a fetish for Steam (not the only one, mind you, but Paradox started as a DRM free company and forced Steam on the people that bought the Crusader Kings 2 DRM free version, by cutting the support for that version). The true offenders are elsewhere.
As an extra-bonus, it seems that 1.03 introduced more bugs, linked to the aSronghold and not only. Check the Obsidian forums in the Tech support section. So wuth hotfix or without, the 1.03 is not a good patch. Repairs something and damages other things(like the adventure feature from the Stronghold). My own believe is that the game will be bug free, at best in the late summer and at worst in the fall. Obsidian had to respect the will of the publisher and release the game before was polished. But again, Paradox does the same with their own games. And none of their fans comments. Obsidians should have self-publish the game and learn from Larian. D:OS had way fewer problems at launch and they've solved them in a relatively timely fashion. Still, to reach the state of polish that their game enjoys now, took them over 8 months. That's why, i, personally, am calm and patient. As i mentioned: i do have a backlog.
