Can anything really be a perfect 10?

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Can you really have ‘perfection’? We often use the phrase to describe something as exceedingly good - definitely surpassing our expectations for the better but is it ‘perfect’?

I have recently been introduced to the game Baldur's Gate 3. Knowing nothing of the previous versions I was vaguely captivated by the recommender’s enthusiasm but it wasn’t until I got home and my teenager went wide eyed with excitement to the words “its based on Dungeons & Dragons” that my interest truly peaked.

After the usual financial negotiations (games are not cheap these days), the (digital) order was placed but I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had seen a few reviews saying it really was living up to the hype and obviously had my friend’s recommendation, however, this hadn’t (until now) been a style of game I had previously played. Well, nearly two months later and I can say it was definitely worth the expenditure. What a game! So much depth to the story, characters, dialogue, gameplay… definitely worthy of the high review praise and definitely exceeding my expectations. Obviously different review sites use different measures, therefore you do see the odd 97% but the majority consensus is an RPG of perfection with 10/10, 100/100 or 5/5.

But is it a 10/10? Can something be so good that you cannot improve on it any further? 

I have absolutely no doubt that now the game is out in the wild, the developers (Larian Studios) are having doubts over a couple of narrative choices or perhaps how they implemented certain player mechanics. In the same way that after sending an email you realise there was a better way of saying something or having handed in that essay realising you missed a key point. Perhaps even now they are going through a post release review and planning a set of functional changes to improve their product (rather than resting on their laurels)?

It certainly wasn’t ‘perfect’ from an initial release perspective as hotfix #9 was released a few weeks ago - nothing major and all credit to a seemingly responsive support team for fixing the reported issues. Like any development and deployment, despite rigorous testing, it is exceedingly rare not to experience slight issues once released to a wider user base. Perhaps we all except this as a known feature of modern development and therefore do not allow that to impact our perception unless of course either:

• the list of issue continues to grow 
• the developer does nothing to remedy the issues

When a product or service is provided to meet a particular need or provide a certain function, we expect what is provided to meet at least the basic requirements with a level of competence. As customers, we are happy when things are on-time, within budget, perform well and are well supported through their lifecycle. Perhaps when all these factors are met, even with minor bugs / issues, we accept this today as "as good as it gets" - still not ‘perfect’.

Of course there is the other end of the scale. Returning to gaming - for every example of Baldur's Gate 3, there are also examples like CyberPunk 2077. CyberPunk made a huge promise on millions of dollars of hype to be slammed on release and plagued by issues (so bad the developer offered refunds to some customers). That game has since been revised heavily and re-launched (version 2.0) to some solid 9/10 reviews but I suspect many gamers will shy away from ever trying it and reviewers will withhold the highest accolades because of those initial problems.

If that first release doesn’t meet the basic requirements competently, that application / service / product will forever be tainted. Subsequent revisions may eventually deliver and potentially exceed the initial requirement but there will always be those "do you remember the first release" comments. It occurs to me that, in this scenario, the major revision could be ‘perfect’ but because of previous experience, it is never seen as so.

There is a phrase I often repeat to myself - ‘good enough’. I can get caught in a cycle of procrastination, adjusting, tweaking (like this article) seeking ‘perfection’ but that is the point - perfection is in reality, a misty eyed dream, a concept that is hugely impacted by an individual's perception.

Can you have a perfect 10? Can you have perfection? Well, if you think it is perfect, then it is. Just don't expect everyone else to agree.

Toby Gilbertson. Director of Operations at PacSol. October 2023

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