Lionhead working on Fable II 'Abbot' glitch fix
by Randy Nelson 
{ Oct 24th 2008 at 9:30PM }
Lionhead has gone and fessed up to a particularly irritating glitch many Fable II players have unfortunately stumbled upon. Specifically, when speaking to an abbot at the outset of the "Monk's Quest," the game will simply not let you progress any further if you choose to brush the guy off and walk away while he's talking.
The developer said in a post on its official forums that, "Some things slip through the net during development, especially when a game is the size and scope of Fable II," and went on to offer its apologies to those affected. It doesn't have any advice, though, for what to do if you're already stuck. It is planning a title update to patch the bug – so that this doesn't happen to anyone else – but hasn't provided an ETA.
The developer said in a post on its official forums that, "Some things slip through the net during development, especially when a game is the size and scope of Fable II," and went on to offer its apologies to those affected. It doesn't have any advice, though, for what to do if you're already stuck. It is planning a title update to patch the bug – so that this doesn't happen to anyone else – but hasn't provided an ETA.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chase @ Oct 24th 2008 9:43PM
Back in the days of my youth, we didn't have patches. We had broken games with glitches that exponentially increased the difficulty. And we liked 'm.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 24th 2008 10:01PM
Haha...Super Ghouls n' Ghost......Wait...I just sucked
Haggard @ Oct 24th 2008 10:06PM
*looks at the mission in Scarface he's tried and failed to get past over a hundred times*
halo 3 sucks. @ Oct 24th 2008 10:55PM
"We might be silent on these boards, but we are watching you..."
masturbating.
awkward.
Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 24th 2008 11:21PM
while scrolling through the Lionhead forums?
VERY awkward.
Ignatius @ Oct 25th 2008 12:05AM
It's not a glitch, it's a feature!
Meta @ Oct 25th 2008 12:18AM
"Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature."
-Rich Kulawiec
uberjack @ Oct 28th 2008 7:24PM
Heh, I remember how MegaRace had this bug that basically made it impossible to catch up with other cars on faster systems, and I had to call them and have them ship me a floppy that fixed the bug. *sniff* memories...
Pyramat @ Oct 24th 2008 9:44PM
Haha...Fax 2
Chase @ Oct 24th 2008 9:49PM
Fax 1 is very underrated. The bagel mechanics were groundbreaking, at the time.
thethirdmoose @ Oct 24th 2008 10:34PM
I googled Fax 2... I feel dumb.
cerilli @ Oct 24th 2008 11:53PM
Don't worry. I Googled after reading that you felt dumb for Googling to see why I should also feel dumb for googling it.
Then I felt uber-dumb.
Foetoid @ Oct 25th 2008 2:31AM
So what does that make me after googling it after you two?
Misfit Toy @ Oct 25th 2008 8:47AM
I Googled "feel dumb for Googling Fax 2" and I got a link back here.
Funny how these things end up coming full circle.
Markez @ Oct 25th 2008 11:43AM
Hopefully Fax 3 will fix the coop bagel mechanics that underdelivered in 2.
And to steal a line I've been seeing Turtle use lately...
HIYO!
Will @ Oct 24th 2008 10:04PM
Hey nifty, look at the 12th result for a Google Image Search of "band aid graphic"
It's like Joystiq behind-the-scenes!
Will @ Oct 24th 2008 10:05PM
Whoa! My avatar finally updated! I've been trying to get rid of my old pictures for months.
Will @ Oct 24th 2008 10:06PM
Oh, very funny. The buggy comment system had my avatar change just long enough for me to make a fool of myself.
I think it's becoming sentient. We should be wary, for it apparently harbors a strong distaste for humans.
Snap Count @ Oct 24th 2008 10:15PM
I just don't comment, then I don't have to deal with the "glitchy comment syst.....Ahhhh crap tricked again..
Haggard @ Oct 24th 2008 10:16PM
So all in all, this year I think the NES has won.. I can't wait to see what Nintendo have up their sleeves next!
Haggard @ Oct 24th 2008 10:17PM
^ oops, wrong decade.
Robert @ Oct 24th 2008 10:18PM
I'm still amazed that internal betas don't pick this up (if a lot of people have this problem). They may say that it's because it's a complicated game... but that should actually make you test it more.
And my opinion is based on not having Live access. Which means I can't update games after they're released. Which sucks.
Snap Count @ Oct 24th 2008 10:25PM
I don't get it either. It sounds like it's a fairly "main" portion of the quest. Unless the tester had Homer Simpson Syndrome.
Tester: "That's odd every time I get here and do this this way it freezes up.....ooooooooo donuts"
ZippyDSMlee @ Oct 25th 2008 1:33PM
They can;t do tat that would mean they would have to work on a project more and that would break their crap in crap out for short term gain rule. :P
Obie @ Oct 24th 2008 10:26PM
HEEEY AAABBOT!
LaughingTarget @ Oct 25th 2008 12:20AM
I hate that guy.
Rob Bourne @ Oct 25th 2008 5:02AM
Haha, kudos
DarkTetsuya @ Oct 24th 2008 10:28PM
That reminds me, I have yet to see a single story on what happened to the people who exploited the 'Pub Games' bug... What gives? Did nothing really materialize of that? Or is it so embarassing nobody wants to admit they found out what happens?
Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 24th 2008 10:50PM
cheating in pub games gave your character 500 or 5000 (I forget how many zeros the number had) evil points when starting the game. People didn't really talk about it much because it was not a big deal.
LaughingTarget @ Oct 25th 2008 12:21AM
Didn't hit my character, probably because I never did patch it.
DarkTetsuya @ Oct 25th 2008 12:25AM
Ah ok, cause it's been bugging me ever since the game came out. I thought for sure there'd be at least *some* mention as to what happened to those people... even if it was something minimal like the 'massive evil marks'
Lavat @ Oct 24th 2008 10:32PM
There are so many small glitches and odd occurrences in this game...But with Fable series you never really notice...Hell I do even think Fable 1 had a problem at all with any glitches....
Games today are being pushed out to fast and not bug tested enough...The developers never want to take the time to look at the giant games they created. Sill Hill Home Coming for example...My entire game was ruined and didn't continue after a certain enemy did not spawn...I was stuck in a sewer forever...without hope...
Brian @ Oct 25th 2008 2:04PM
I've seen a Monk fly into the air.
Town NPC was carrying a chair.
And see that bridge?
My dog fell through there...
The glitches may be numerous, but they are very entertaining. It's like finding an easter egg.
aj @ Oct 25th 2008 8:18PM
My copy of Morrowind on the original XBox had this bug where a quest item that was supposed to appear after defeating a boss wouldn't appear.
And this was HOURS and HOURS and HOURS into the storyline, too. I was.....upset.
Premature ejaculation man @ Oct 24th 2008 10:50PM
Are you able to slaughter people when they talk to you? Would killing him midsentence fix it rather than walking away?
Thatoneguy64 @ Oct 24th 2008 11:01PM
I need a patch for the glitch that makes the game freeze, because now I'm stuck. I can't even load my save so now I have to start over.
Misfit Toy @ Oct 25th 2008 8:53AM
Not familiar with the save system in Fable 2 (I get my copy next week), but Fable 1 (and many other RPGs) offer multiple slots to save. I ALWAYS save my games alternately between two saves. That way in case there is a glitch or my save oddly gets corrupted or whatever, I'm safe. Generally the second one is further back than my latest save, yes, but its not all the way back at the beginning of the game.
Just a thought for you going into the future.
Thatoneguy64 @ Oct 25th 2008 7:10PM
Now I'll take it easy since you don't know how the saving works, but you only get one slot in Fable 2. Molyneux wanted players to live with the choices they make.
You think I wouldn't have used multiple slots if I could?
aj @ Oct 25th 2008 8:19PM
ONE save slot?
Choices my ass. He wanted people to buy two games if you happen to have more than one gamer in the household.
I was going to buy a 360 just for this game, but I'm just not even going to bother at this point.
DBoyFlex @ Oct 25th 2008 8:28PM
That's retarded, they should allow multiple saves. Maybe if we bitch enough they will patch it. I heard you cannot copy your save either, to move it to a memory card. Is that true? If so, I will just have to keep the card in when I want to play an alternate game.
Thatoneguy64 @ Oct 25th 2008 9:00PM
@aj wut? Ever heard of gamertags? Yes, you can have multiple of them.
And at DBoyFlex, you can copy your save. I plan to use my other gamertags and copy my saves from now on so that I at least have a roundabout way of back-upping my saves.
Misfit Toy @ Oct 25th 2008 11:05PM
Wow. One save. That is lame. Heck, in Knights of the Old Republic I had like 15 saves at one point. Now that is choice...and overkill. But I liked it that way ;-) And that was an XBOX 1 title.
Fable 1 had multiple saves, Oblivion, even the Japanese title Lost Odyssey has multiple saves.
Stunned.
Unknown @ Oct 24th 2008 11:09PM
What about being constantly getting kicked off line while playing the game? Is that being addressed?
Ben @ Oct 25th 2008 2:53AM
So I think it's pretty glitchy that whenever I try to get some sweet lovin' from my wife in the game, like a million random people from out on the street just walk straight into my house and hang out in the bedroom, and I guess she's nervous or something because she just won't give it up. Not cool. Especially if it happens on a second playthrough and I can't get some girl/girl love going on.
BlackBeltJones @ Oct 25th 2008 7:38PM
Peter just hates impatient people, I say keep it in.
aj @ Oct 25th 2008 8:21PM
Well, if Peter likes people giving him 80$ he'll fix his damn game.
Ethan @ Oct 25th 2008 5:44AM
It seems a quality lacking in testers is impatience.
Ignatius @ Oct 25th 2008 8:24AM
Er, don't you mean they're lacking patience?
Ethan @ Oct 25th 2008 8:41AM
Well, they all apparently waited for this abbot guy to say his piece before wandering off, otherwise they'd've caught this.
Saria the Cat @ Oct 25th 2008 7:14AM
Well, that would suck. Is it significantly far in the game that people would lose a lot of playing time, or is the abbot always "accessible?" (Sigh...that's what she said).