Stardock will be closed for the week starting on Monday, June 29th and we will be returning on Monday, July 6th. We will be monitoring support tickets and forums during this time but expect delays in responses during this time.
Sins Forums
So, i've seen that there is an increase in starclad's customer service ability.
Does this mean that the producers are going to mitigate public ire over the minidumps with this cheap and do nothing strategy so that they don't actually have to rework the game to get rid of this GAME CRIPPLING BUG?
Sareth, minidumps are not a bug... A minidump is an error report (basically a log file in which can be seen what caused the game to malfunction). Minidumps can be caused by all kinds of bugs.
Thank you for the clarification, I wish the developers had explained this to all of the community years ago.
The fact remains that there is/are a/multiple bug(s) causing the issue, so you haven't really done anything to alter the initial question or the initial line of thought. The question holds firm along its line of reasoning.
Anything that triggers the end result, which in the players mind is AS BAD AS A CRASH TO DESKTOP, is EXTREMELY undesirable.
As a consumer of starclad's product, I find the continued existence of this/these bug(s) to be a continued source of agitation that causes me to lose faith in the Stardock and Ironclad brand names(this agitation goes far into the early days of the game and is not limited to this beta alone).
P.S. since you seem to know so much about the minidumps, please assist me (and the rest of the community) in understanding why the developers have a forced CTD dump file created as part of their game, and how this assists in improving the player experience.
P.P.S. I have played many games, and i've never seen the likes of a minidump in ANY of them, period. This game is singularly unique in this aspect of my extensive experience.
To be fair, the minidumps you're getting are likely not the same ones as you got a year ago or even a patch ago. When you're adding new stuff you get new bugs, thats just a law of programming.
So there is almost always some data the devs can request in the event of a crash. Sadly often minidumps alone are not enough to diagnose problems, but they can be a start and help narrow down an issue once a better source of data (developer.exe log, save game that can replicate the issue) becomes available.
you can stab your face multiple times with a knife and have the same result too
@ flannicus90 and Classicvibe
Both are terrible suggestions, perhaps you need to engage your brains and think for once. If you read I question the reasoning behind the existence of the minidump in the first place. Minidump issue is 100% the developers fault. They are both the cause and the solution, although the solution is too late in coming and currently isn't effective at all.
sareth. it was a joke. they are joking. though. its hard to tell which is funnier... the jokes themselves, or the fact that you didnt get them.
Actually, i chose not to laugh because they were both terrible. That and I don't like the mental image of stabbing myself in the face. Not laughing at a terrible joke is everyone's choice.
The fact that you think these were jokes and think that they were funny says a lot.
I can honestly say with full clarity of memory that I have not experienced a minidump in Sins of a Solar Empire Diplomacy that was not caused by me overdoing the 2 gig limit when enabling mods. I also have not had one with Rebellion's beta so far. This makes me feel that your overreacting to just how serious this is, though I can understand that if this problem has plagued you specifically a great deal, I would find that extremely frustrating if I were in your shoes.
Granted this experience has been only with comp stomps with a friend, but we've done them atleast once a week with games taking usually 10-15 hours. If minidumps were a common issue for the consumer base as a whole, I feel it would have come up atleast once.
Either that or I'm just really lucky.
Are you certain you are not hitting the 2 gig limit in some way?
Edit: I just looked around and saw other posts you have regarding this issue...man you really go something weird going on there. Good luck, bro.
Nope, Beta 3 is a bit buggy. It just impacts save games MP games more because the game is typically over when some drops due to a mini-dump or desync.
I seem to be a little more positive the mini-dumps and desyncs will be addressed though.
Edit - Meant to say MP games and was thinking save games are no value here either...
@ doshka
Well i'm a voice because I choose to talk about it. Most sane people get so fed up they just leave online multiplayer, for good. I'm one of those rare few who will endure the tragic negative experience of a minidump to get the awesome multiplayer experience. Staying silent doesn't help us gamers out, in fact if we stay silent on this issue the issue possibly won't get the full attention it deserves and therefore the game suffers. Its our job as beta testers to scream bloody murder when a CTD of any form occurs. At least, thats what I always have done with every CTD that i've ever beta tested for 5 other games. I've helped these games release without CTD issues. As for diplomacy, I also didn't have minidump issues, it was the most stable version of SOASE that has come out to date. I'm currently testing the beta, so i'm fulfilling my beta agreement with this thread. 
The current bugs are the worst the game has ever had, to the point where EVERY GAME i've played online has either ended with a desync, or a minidump. For the first time since the vasari were released I started not being the only one minidumping games. I actually outlasted the minidump.
Online, in addition to saying "GL, HF"(good luck, have fun) before a match starts, we now say "GL, HF, may the minidump always happen to the other guy". Its tragic.
@zombie
Heh, I'm sure the developers want to fix them, and are working hard. I'm sure they are also frustrated because they seemingly had this under control, and now a nasty bug(s) is causing a serious playability issue. I've got a longer time investment in the game, and i've had hundreds of minidumps over the years while most players have only a few. So, for me its beyond annoying, I downright hate the bugs causing it.
I don't know, I kind of like these frequent minidumps...gives us modders a chance to beat the pros...
Well, I definitely wasn't around when the original game was released, but I did join in with Entrenchment and have quite a few MP games with Entrenchment and Diplomacy (I realize not in the thousands like some of you). I've had my fair share of mini-dumps just when the game was getting good 
With Rebellion, I just haven't had any desire to play 4v4 or 5v5's. I've played several 2v2's and 3v3's with Rebellion and had a decent amount of fun. I just have a hard time getting excited to play in the larger games with the exploitable balance problems (IMO) right now despite the mini-dump/desync issues.
lol, its frustrating. The other day i was in the suicide spot in a 5v5, and double rushed both guys near me, and was winning both fights.
Then I minidumped. What a buzzkill! lol.
We can't help these new guys learn the game if we keep dumping! lol.
honestly seleucia, i think you'd prefer the desyncs, as then both players get to win!
@ zombie
yeah rebellion beta is hard to beta test, at the critical moment where large scale balance is going to be achieved. Its like the beta was going smoothly up until the point of the vasari release. My greatest fear is that the game will get released without getting the balance attention it needs because the developers would have been spending large amounts of their precious time hunting down some of these horrible CTD/desync bugs.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.