Game Data Erased :(

wawis

All of my game data from The Walking Dead was erased after finishing episode 4. I just found out about this bug. What the hell? Am I ever getting my original data back? I understand these things happen but I'm still very upset.

MattP

When you start the game, you are prompted to get the latest available patches. These patches will update your game version to 1.03. If you play the game offline and do not get the latest patches, the game may not work properly. please login and get the latest patch to avoid experiencing this issue again. Unfortunately, once your save data is gone, it cannot be recovered.

Thugnasty28

WELL i downloaded this magical patch your referring to... still gave me the "saved data corruption AGAIN at the end of ep4. cmon now guys. this has been happening since ep2-3. how have you not fixed it? how come this happens with you guys and not 2k, ea, activision, or any of those?? dont you have "experts"? it almost angers me to see all the awards this games getting but i didnt get to enjoy any of it bc all my saves were deleted. and wheres a public apology or at least a public recognition? are my saves gone forever? are you going to do ANYTHING about it, or keep putting out these phantom patches that dont even fix what they claim to?

MattP

The root issue was discovered and patched in v1.03. If you have this patch, you can no longer get the corrupted save message. The initial patch after episode 2 corrected another issue that was very similar, and originally thought to be the same. If you are getting a corrupted save message now, then you are playing offline and missing on of the required patches. Please login to your PSN account, sign on to the network, and then launch the game. When prompted to download the patch, confirm 'Yes', and after it installs, restart your PS3 and launch the game again.

jk0209

MattP wrote: »

The root issue was discovered and patched in v1.03. If you have this patch, you can no longer get the corrupted save message. The initial patch after episode 2 corrected another issue that was very similar, and originally thought to be the same. If you are getting a corrupted save message now, then you are playing offline and missing on of the required patches. Please login to your PSN account, sign on to the network, and then launch the game. When prompted to download the patch, confirm 'Yes', and after it installs, restart your PS3 and launch the game again.

So basically you guys are deflecting the problem by blaming it on players who play offline. As somebody who just had this happen an hour into Episode 5, is there any particular reason why you couldn't have notified people about this issue when they went to download the latest episode (i.e. have some sort of notification or message pop-up before downloading)? Or perhaps build the patch into Episode 5? I'm obviously no programmer, but are those suggestions just completely off base? An honest question.

It seems that would have prevented me from losing my saved data now, as I downloaded Ep. 5 less than a week ago. This patch was released well before that. As I've said in another post, I'm sure this will garner no response from TTG, other than perhaps their typical non-informative, corporate BS reply.

MattP

All patches are installed when the game is launched while connected to the PSN. To download additional content, you must also be connected to PSN. If you boot the game to download the next episode, you will get the patch. If you go online to download any additional content, it seems logical that the patch will be installed. If you cancel out of the patch installation, you will not be allowed to play the game. If you go offline to avoid receiving the patch, errors that the patch fixes will be experienced.

jk0209

MattP wrote: »

All patches are installed when the game is launched while connected to the PSN. To download additional content, you must also be connected to PSN. If you boot the game to download the next episode, you will get the patch. If you go online to download any additional content, it seems logical that the patch will be installed. If you cancel out of the patch installation, you will not be allowed to play the game. If you go offline to avoid receiving the patch, errors that the patch fixes will be experienced.

Well I guess there is my problem. And an odd choice of words. As though I proactively went offline to "avoid receiving the patch." No, my methodology was to download Episodes 4 and 5 under the assumption both episodes were actually ready to go and glitch free. But sadly assumptions are dangerous in the case of TTG. By now I should have realized I needed to remain logged in after downloading and then launching, since inevitably many glitches and bugs would have slipped past the incompetent people at TTG, making a patch necessary. And a simple google search of glitches and bugs for this entire series would provide ample evidence of consistent and numerous glitches that were "fixed" after release.

So I guess in an extremely odd way I am at fault - I greatly overestimated the capability of TTG in launching a bug-free product.

MattP

As I said, if you cancel out of the patch installation, which does not allow you to play the game, and then go offline to play the game, issues that the patches fix will be experienced. When you first launch the game, before going to the Download Content menu to download additional episodes, the patch will be installed. If you are downloading content through the PSN store, and immediately going offline before launching the game, then that too would avoid the patch. Unfortunately, launching the game to determine if you have the patch is the only way these patches are delivered. It's the same process on both Xbox and PS3. If we could have included this patch in the Episode 5 data, we would have, except the patch could not be delivered that way. It had to separately patch the base game. I understand your frustration as losing your save progress is very upsetting. Unfortunately, playing any game offline runs the risk of a necessary patch not being installed.

jk0209

Thanks for your responses, and your explanation behind how the patch was delivered (it had to go with the base game). Bear in mind that I wouldn't be so upset if the first 4 episodes weren't so good. I don't even feel ripped off from the price perspective of spending $25, but more so from the time I spent to get to where I was when the save corruption occurred. Playing everything over again from the start appeals little to me, since I know what events are going transpire and am satisfied with the choices I made during my first playthrough.

I am also willing to accept some glitches in games, having played Bethesda games such as Fallout 3 and Skyrim on PS3. However, the worst I would accuse those games of is some lag here and there, or freezes that require a manual restart of the PS3. Ultimately, those games didn't have any bugs or glitches that were nearly as game-breaking or harmful as this.

Once again, thanks for your replies. In the end I may be dissatisfied, but it is better than being ignored entirely.