Guild Wars 2

The “Cannot drop bundles…” stuck bug is back. So is the ability to C&D walls. Necro minions seem to break and unbreak every other patch.

Every patch, there seems to be some fix from a previous patch that gets undone. Any programmers out there can shed light on how/why this happens so frequently?

There are a few possible reasons for this but one of them is version control. Lets say version 1 of the code has the bug. Two programmers A and B take version 1 and work on it. Version 1A is put back into live system with the bug fixed. Version 1B goes back into the live system later and it does not have the bug fix since it was not derived from 1A. It sounds stupid in a way but it is an ever present challenge in computing, especially in complex developments.

Stooperdale.3560:

There are a few possible reasons for this but one of them is version control. Lets say version 1 of the code has the bug. Two programmers A and B take version 1 and work on it. Version 1A is put back into live system with the bug fixed. Version 1B goes back into the live system later and it does not have the bug fix since it was not derived from 1A. It sounds stupid in a way but it is an ever present challenge in computing, especially in complex developments.

Interesting… you think this is a problem with Anet’s development system or a general problem with MMOs? I haven’t played any other MMOs before, but for other games (or just software in general), I’ve never seen bugs return from the dead with such frequency.

Stooperdale.3560:

There are a few possible reasons for this but one of them is version control. Lets say version 1 of the code has the bug. Two programmers A and B take version 1 and work on it. Version 1A is put back into live system with the bug fixed. Version 1B goes back into the live system later and it does not have the bug fix since it was not derived from 1A. It sounds stupid in a way but it is an ever present challenge in computing, especially in complex developments.

I believe every “bigger” software develpoment requires a version control system/program, with a VCS it should go as after 1A was “put back”, when developer B want to “put 1B back”, he get a “warning” that he must merge 1A with his 1B (automated or by hand), but it will never overwrite the older progress (only if Dev B want to overwrite it as his solution fix something in 1A somehow).
I have used VCS for my own little projects (mostly to gain some experience), but as I was not more hundred dev, I can’t imagine the problem on that scale.

But I don’t have an answer for The Return of Bug, and I believe that only Anet devs could answer this question.. and probably will not ^^