I, for one, am extremely glad about the news of this patch, as well as the expansion. Truth be told, I wouldn't have disagreed with Epic if they decided simply to make the expansion purely a standalone product, a la 2k4.
The fact is, we're getting it for free. For a game that, before the announcement of the patch, few people cared for and even fewer played.
We put a new poll up on the front page about 36-48 hours ago. 174 votes currently - not much, I know, but here's the key factor: Of those 174 votes, 78% say they will give the game another try.
I'm no mathematician - it's my worst subject in fact - but that still means nearly 4 out of 5 people are willing - through all the bitching, whining, problems, and hangups they've had with the game - to give it another chance. That's loyalty.
For some, it might still be "too little, too late" or "should've been this way in November '07" but it would've been very easy for Epic to charge for this expansion, or even not do an expansion at all. The fact is, even though they didn't say it - they listened. And people hated not hearing anything, because their prejudice and hatred to Epic for "wrecking" UT3 made them assume silence = deafness. It's not.
And that's a lot more than some developers would do. Crysis had a patch cancelled so Crysis Warhead could be developed. COD5 is being made by developers who also made what some fans consider the weakest games in the series.
And yet... here's Epic Games, proving that they listen, that they heard your criticism, and, even though it could've been done sooner, they'll at least make UT3 to how they want it to be - and are still willing to give us extra content for free, a rarity in these days.
If that's not good enough for you, then that's fine, but rather than waste your time complaining about "how it should've been sooner" you should either stop complaining or go do something else that you find actually fun.
For 4 out of 5, UT3 was fun enough to be worth a second shot. And through the last 14 months of whining and complaining, that means that if it weren't for the bugs, a lot more people would've stuck with the game.
Throw in the fact that it's now dirt cheap and there's more computers with hardware that can run it, and that's a plus.
And if the Retail copies can get the Steam stuff, like achievements? Holy ****, look out.
Now, nobody should expect miracles - the UI won't be like 2k4's and (unfortunately) not UWindow2, Gamespy will still likely be the master server, and it might not even have every single thing you want in this patch. But the simple fact is, this patch will make 95% of the things people complained about, from lack of settings to silly bugs a complete and total thing of the past. Is it going to please everyone? No, of course not. But if you liked UT3 before, once this patch comes out, you owe it to yourself to give it a second shot, and if you were one of the few and proud who have stuck it out during these dark days - well, simply put, I feel vindicated.
Epic has listened. Epic will deliver. It's time to stop squabbling on why UT3 does or doesn't suck, and simply play the game and enjoy the hell out of it.
