Now You've Made Me Mad

Summary

In this rant, the speaker vents their frustration over the problematic launch of *Doom Dark Ages*, citing frequent crashes and a driver update that only made things worse. Despite being a passionate Doom fan, they feel misled by the game's prompts to update drivers, which resulted in performance issues. The speaker criticizes the finger-pointing toward players, arguing that the blame should lie with the developers and the poor state of the game's launch. Drawing comparisons to other games with smooth launches, they express deep disappointment with the state of modern AAA game releases, emphasizing the need for better optimization and accountability.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker is frustrated with persistent crashes in Doom Dark Ages, a game they were excited to play.
• 😀 The crashes make the game borderline unplayable, with around 20-21 crashes during a 4-hour stream.
• 😀 The speaker is a huge Doom fan and has a Doom Eternal statue and display, highlighting their disappointment with the game.
• 😀 Despite troubleshooting, the crashes continue, even after rolling back drivers and implementing other fixes.
• 😀 The speaker criticizes the game's launch, comparing it to other games like Dragon's Dogma 2, which had similar issues.
• 😀 People are blaming the speaker for updating drivers, but the speaker feels the game and the drivers should be at fault.
• 😀 The game explicitly recommends updating drivers, which led the speaker to trust the update, but it caused persistent crashing.
• 😀 The speaker rejects the idea that the issue is unique to their PC, stating their rig can run nearly any game.
• 😀 The speaker emphasizes that this is a widespread issue affecting many players, not just them.
• 😀 They are upset that players are being blamed for following the game's instructions, while the game itself has fundamental issues.
• 😀 The speaker highlights the broader issue of poorly optimized PC game launches, pointing out that games like Expedition 33 set a high standard for performance.

Q & A

What is the primary issue the speaker is facing with Doom Dark Ages?

The primary issue the speaker is facing is frequent crashes while playing Doom Dark Ages, making the game almost unplayable. They encountered around 20-21 crashes during a 4-hour stream.

What was the speaker’s expectation when updating their drivers for the game?

The speaker expected that updating the drivers, as recommended by the game, would result in better performance and resolve potential issues. However, this led to further crashes, frustrating them.

Why does the speaker feel they are being unfairly blamed for the crashes?

The speaker feels they are being blamed for updating their drivers because others are claiming it was their fault for trusting the update. They argue that the game itself recommended the update and that the crashes are a known issue, not the player's fault.

How does the speaker compare their experience with Doom Dark Ages to other games?

The speaker compares the poor launch of Doom Dark Ages to a previous issue with Dragon's Dogma 2, noting that while it also had issues, it was not as widely criticized. They also mention the flawless launch of Expedition 33, which was optimized and did not suffer from similar problems.

What solution did the speaker try to alleviate the crashing issue?

The speaker tried rolling back to previous drivers and troubleshooting various settings, such as disabling integrated graphics, but the crashes continued, although less frequently.

Why does the speaker feel that the blame for the game's issues is misplaced?

The speaker feels the blame is misplaced because the game and the Nvidia drivers both had known issues that led to crashes, and yet players are being blamed for following the game’s recommendation to update the drivers.

What is the speaker's opinion on the current state of gaming in 2025?

The speaker is frustrated with the current state of gaming in 2025, particularly the tendency for AAA titles to be released with significant technical issues. They expect better optimization and believe it’s unacceptable for players to act as beta testers after purchasing a finished product.

How does the speaker feel about the development and marketing practices behind Doom Dark Ages?

The speaker is highly critical of the development and marketing practices, feeling that the game was released in an incomplete and unoptimized state, and that the issues were known but not addressed prior to launch. They are upset by the idea that players are being blamed for following the game’s guidance.

What was the speaker’s emotional reaction to the issues with Doom Dark Ages?

The speaker’s emotional reaction is one of extreme frustration, anger, and disappointment. They express being ‘peeved’ and ‘livid,’ describing their experience as almost laughable given their high expectations for the game.

What does the speaker think should be the focus of the conversation about Doom Dark Ages' launch?

The speaker believes the focus should be on the game's poor optimization and the failure of the companies involved, rather than blaming the players. They emphasize that the issues are widespread and that the blame should be placed on the developers for pushing out a broken product.