PlayStation Plus - Page 7

"What competitors system [scans save files]"

Nobody's, of course. But that is what it would take to have a far more Steam-like "patched before you notice" auto-patching system.

"it takes time to get everyone on board"

No it doesn't as this is not something that developers need to concern themselves with in the least. It is purely a system software and network capability issue.

"I have plenty of game info on the PS3 where I haven't played the games in forever and wouldn't want all my space eaten up"

To cater to the likes of you, Sony could have thrown in a simple "last used" date cut-off for the save-file scanning. These are the guys that have a freakin' font selection option in there system setup, so we know that they obviously aren't concerned with possibly frivolous user settings.

"I certainly didn't subscribe because of that feature. I suppose if I had, and it wasn't working, I'd be a little miffed."

It is 100% the only reason that I subscribed. I don't care about "free" DLC or PSN Games. If I want those, I'll buy them. $50 a year to get away from the horrible default patching system? That sounded like a fair trade. The raw inelegance in the implementation is absolutely frustrating, and it really is only a huge problem for me because the proper method of this system working is so very obvious. All it would take is a simple setup wizard that initiated upon purchase, much like the PS3's Networking Wizard that asked:
- Do you want to turn autopatching on?
- What time do you want it to run?
- Do you want every game to be patched, or just games you have played in the last 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months?

Bam! Every user gets what they want, and more users even turn on the auto-patching, since they were prompted to do so instead of needing to dig through a menu to go find the option.

mw2 had an update last week and my PS+ didnt auto update it. and i do play that game almost daily. wtf sony!!

I just started up Peggle and am sitting through a 5+ minute update. Me thinks this system needs some work. Maybe they should have not even mentioned this feature until it worked as most people would have expected it to.

Same with Pain (but longer update time...).

I went through and started up every game I own yesterday, cancelling out of the patches for several games. I then left the PS3 alone over night, giving it a chance to patch stuff on it's own. It didn't patch a single goddamn thing.

This isn't immature software. This isn't me expecting too much.

THIS IS VERY SIMPLY BROKEN AS ALL HELL.

The auto-patching system does not work no matter how hard you try to trick it in to working. It patches some stuff, sometimes, when it feels like it, at random. I didn't think it was possible, but this auto-patching system is even more retarded than the default patch system. Way to be a pile of win, Sony.

Got a list of games that needed patching. You'll save me work going down my list as well. I'll be curious to see if they patch 48 hours later.

Here's my question for all you PS+ owners... with this whole auto-patching stuff, what are you guys going to do when Sony releases a new firmware and your PS3 does it's thing when it's supposed to and then your PS3 goes into "brick" mode... what then?

I'll add that to the list of "Things I'll worry about after it has actually happened." I've always updated the firmware when it's been released without worrying about it. I'll continue to do so. And, I'll continue to backup the HD like I have been, too.

In fact, I'd be happier if they added an automatic backup that ran weekly at 1am on a Sunday than I ever would be with automatic updates. I guess I should get angry, and froth on the internet about it. That seems to be the standard way to express displeasure at PS+.

Equally as vexing and relevant... what if after an update the PS3 becomes self-aware... then, in a panic, Sony tries to pull the plug... causing our PS3's to retaliate and wipe out mankind?

In all seriousness, an automatic update has no more propensity to "brick" a PS3 than a manually installed one. It's not as if the user had any control over firmware updates other than to accept or decline.

When I turned on the PS3 this morning, it auto-patched Pain (after I cancelled the updates last night when I tried to play it).

To the poster that wanted a list of games that need patches, that's going to be different for everyone based on the last time you've played that game.

Duh, very true. I don't know why I didn't think about that. Thank. Well I'll sit down today and make a list of my own. Sounds fun. Auto-patching my @ss.

I think this just shows you are a poor consumer, paying for a service based on the least defined feature in the list. Most people view the auto updates as a value add, not a reason to subscribe. I appreciate your frustration, but not your continued hyperbole.

lolz

I guess if I was one of those people who wait a week after a firmware drops to make sure that only a few 100 people complain about it "bricking" their ps3 this would be a concern.

If a firmware makes something not work, a firmware update can fix it. Sony has acted fairly quickly when problems do arise, so I'd a expect I wouldn't have to wait too long for a patch.

lol, I was just discussing the whole "bricking" thing with a friend and I truly wonder how often it ever happens. Not saying it doesn't but I think the numbers are a lot lower than people assert. And I'm talking across a wide range of devices, not just the PS3.

I would have said that the 'cross-game chat, someday,maybe' was the least defined feature, myself.

Admittedly, the auto-patching system, if it actually worked reliably, would have been worth the money for me, whereas the 'free' stuff wouldn't. When I was showing off the PS3 to some friends a couple of weeks ago and I needed to patch Motorstorm: Pacific Rift before loading it...there were stares of confusion from the non-PS3 owners at the convoluted process. When your upgrade option is in third place to the Wii...you could stand some improvement. Sony's implementation isn't horrible, but it feels kludgy compared to the relative elegance of other solutions.

I also can't figure out why my PS3 downloads stuff from PSN and the store at a far slower rate than either of the other consoles. Mind you, I rarely download anything of actual size for the Wii, but the 360 downloads content all the time and it seems to work at an order of magnitude faster, even though they both are plugged into the same switch and both are 100Mb f/d.

It's sounding like PS+ may have been rushed out the door a little.

Which makes sense since you can't agree to terms if you haven't at least had a chance to look them over.

I'm confused with all the issues some of you have with patching, you start a game, it says update available, you click X and wait. There is nothing confusing and while yes, the patches might be slightly bigger, it's hardly the technical shortcoming some of you are trying to paint it as. It requires no other manual intervention.

As for download rates, my experience is just the opposite, my PS3 downloads are far faster and more stable/sustained speeds than I ever get on my 360. I just fired up my PS3 and joined my wireless network and it's been snappy and solid ever since. My Xbox 360 on the other hand took several tweaks in WISH/QOS settings to get it from "suck" to "barely acceptable". Obviously experiences vary.

Maybe Im confused at autopatching...once you play a game since 3.4 it will start to autopatch going forward right? Its only games you havent played in the last month or two that require a manual patch? If you let it manual patch will it not start to auto patch? Do you HAVE to start the manual then cancel and let it auto for the autopatching to begin?

and No I dont want my saves scanned and autopatched. I've got saves from 06 for games I dont have anymore, why would I want to waste time/bandwidth/space to patch those?

So far, the "auto-patch" system seemed to patch all of my games that needed patching, but it is wierd as it took a few days to complete. One night it would do 2 games, another night 3 more, another night none, then another night another game.

The issue I have is that I had to go to each game, start it up, then cancel when there was a patch, shut off the PS3, let it update and then I got some.

It really is a stupid system, but I think I get it. If you want to play a game that needs patching (except online games), then you have to cancel the patch, play your game and when the auto-patch system does it's thing, it should patch the game, allowing you to play the next time without asking for an update.

Again, I don't know who makes the decisions for Sony, but they need their heads examined.

[quote=Conspiracy*;18900482]Maybe Im confused at autopatching...once you play a game since 3.4 it will start to autopatch going forward right? [/qoute]Don't know. Maybe. But that will take time to figure out.

Yes. PIA.


See again, I would think then the onus should be on you to delete game/save data after the game is long been done if you don't want to waste the time/bandwidth. Now you might tell me that you don't want to delete game data or saves. What would be the reason to keep them, unless you plan to play the game again. For the rest of us a scan of all the data/saves would save time and be more auto-efficient.

But if we really want best of both worlds, why couldn't they just implement check box system on you game data files. Check if you want auto-patch turned on. Then control at the user end can be made to leave those old files alone while at the same time forcing the patch to look at particular games the user wants looked at.

Hey, new free crap came our for PS+ today! Maybe the apologists can start talking about something other than "Expecting a function to work is unreasonable!!!1one".

It's not a question of size, but intuitiveness. We're not talking the tasks of Hercules, obviously...but it's just annoying that Sony chose to make every update less intuitive compared to their competitors. Why show me both a download AND an install bar? Why sometimes ask me to confirm when it's done? Why download some demos that DON'T install until I try to run them (what else exactly would I do with them)? And if there are ways of bypassing these within the settings, why aren't they the defaults or easy to reach?

On the 360, an update is at most one single click and one pop-up window. On the PS3, IME, it's several screens and may require multiple inputs from the user. It's tolerable, but seems so kludgy and I expect better from Sony. They once were THE company to define consumer electronics interfaces. Now they never seem to be willing to concede that their designs could stand improvement. Which isn't to say that they haven't improved...they have (the startup/highlights menu on the XMB, for example). But they're ride the XMB into the fires of perdition, regardless of how user unfriendly it actually is.

I can understand that folks impressions differ, but for me, I was hoping the auto-patching system would be a leap ahead and a true innovation that actually uses the machine's downtime to advantage (something really only the Wii does currently, in a very minimalist fashion). They could have made PS+ into the PS3 version of Steam and they would have had my money out the gate.

If PS+ actually offers enhancements to the PS3 experience and not just discounts on content i wasn't planning on buying, then I'll gladly put my money down. I hope to hear that Sony improves the service in the coming months.

I think they added PS+ to monetize all of the people complaining about HOME.

If you get people to fork over for a premium service they will complain if they don't think they are getting the value out of it.

The latest PS+ update was kind of embarrassing... they discounted a Resistance 1 map pack by three dollars. Who cares?

Off topic and trolling posts removed.

It's not stupid, it's obvious that you have to actually start up the game to prompt the update. You don't have a personal Sony server that connects to your PS3 every hour to check what games you have and need an update for.

Your understanding is correct and it's not stupid at all. It's how things work.