Official Apology from AC13 officials

[puddleduck]

Aliens Colonial Marines is a terrible abomination of a game.

It made millions of pounds.

Movie licensed games continue to be churned out with terrible production values and they make loads because consumers buy them regardless of how crap they are.

Something like Vanquish or Journey or, well I'm not going to list them all because this would take hours, are superbly made games that didn't sell anywhere near the units they deserved to.

I also fully understand the principle behind pre-ordering. I think the people moaning over the first two pages that Trickstar took their money and then didn't deliver a game are the one's struggling

Anyone who preorders a game, and then complains the game doesn't deliver, is an idiot. Fact. If I bet everything on the roulette wheel, I can't complain that it doesn't then land on my number. We live in a time where information is readily available from many sources, it's not hard to figure out whether something is worth purchasing.

 

[cricket_online]

Aliens Colonial Marines is a terrible abomination of a game.

It made millions of pounds.

Movie licensed games continue to be churned out with terrible production values and they make loads because consumers buy them regardless of how crap they are.

Something like Vanquish or Journey or, well I'm not going to list them all because this would take hours, are superbly made games that didn't sell anywhere near the units they deserved to.

I also fully understand the principle behind pre-ordering. I think the people moaning over the first two pages that Trickstar took their money and then didn't deliver a game are the one's struggling

Anyone who preorders a game, and then complains the game doesn't deliver, is an idiot. Fact. If I bet everything on the roulette wheel, I can't complain that it doesn't then land on my number. We live in a time where information is readily available from many sources, it's not hard to figure out whether something is worth purchasing.

I think you missed the points people raised...

1. People were not complaining about publishers "taking their money" coz no money actually changes hand during a pre-order - at least I haven't been charged ever for a pre-order till my pre-order is actually dispatched. People were complaining about the lack of morals & ethics to even allow pre-ordering when you as a publisher know the game is not ready and will not be released anytime soon.

2. Another reason was the lack of respect shown to consumers by publisher by not even bothering to tell them the game was delayed. Most folks learnt directly from the retailers, which is first time I have ever seen happen.

3. i)"Game doesn't deliver" means the game was not good enough and you were disappointed with the game in general due to graphics, gameplay or any no. of reasons.
ii) But in this case the "game was not delivered". See, two very different things.

I have no sympathy with anyone who complains about (i) as that's the risk you take when pre-ordering, but game not released on time without any notification till a day before release day as in (ii) is a different beast altogether and publisher should be held accountable for the same. It's the same as you buying any goods/service (say TV) and you are stood up by the manufacturer/service provider at the last minute. That's what people were complaining about and rightly so IMO.

 

[isrararrafi]

Too late for the apology though. The horse's bolted and I don't think I can ever take 505 Games or Mike Fegan's word at face value.

One interesting thing to note is that Chief/Jamie is nowhere in this communication channel/mechanism proposed by 505 Games. Looks like Chief will continue to work on his podcasts, if he's still with 505 Games that is.

Wlso found it weird that it will be fegqn and not chief doing the videos/podcasts. Almost as if chief is not associated with this game right now...voluntarily or involuntarily.

 

[puddleduck]

I think you missed the points people raised...

1. People were not complaining about publishers "taking their money" coz no money actually changes hand during a pre-order - at least I haven't been charged ever for a pre-order till my pre-order is actually dispatched. People were complaining about the lack of morals & ethics to even allow pre-ordering when you as a publisher know the game is not ready and will not be released anytime soon.

2. Another reason was the lack of respect shown to consumers by publisher by not even bothering to tell them the game was delayed. Most folks learnt directly from the retailers, which is first time I have ever seen happen.

3. i)"Game doesn't deliver" means the game was not good enough and you were disappointed with the game in general due to graphics, gameplay or any no. of reasons.
ii) But in this case the "game was not delivered". See, two very different things.

I have no sympathy with anyone who complains about (i) as that's the risk you take when pre-ordering, but game not released on time without any notification till a day before release day as in (ii) is a different beast altogether and publisher should be held accountable for the same. It's the same as you buying any goods/service (say TV) and you are stood up by the manufacturer/service provider at the last minute. That's what people were complaining about and rightly so IMO.

What exactly is the problem then? No money is lost. The pre-order can be cancelled, and apprehension as to any future purchases replaces any previous good-will that's been earned through generating hype.

Which brings me back to my original point. Gamers are a mighty self-entitled bunch, despite the fact that no one forces them to part with their cash they spout vitriol and sound off as though someone's just broken both their knee caps and entered their dog.

As much as some poor 13 year old loves to cry that the game they've hyped in their own head as the answer to all their problems, the reality is game development is fraught with difficulties and there are actual real people who's entire livelihood (familes and all) can hinge on their work.

A nice example for you:

"LOL, did they seriously think they will get away with an apology after all we fans have gone through."

"Yeah but you still lied to us, kept taking our pre-order money, bragged about your false claims, held a press conference and lied straight to our face even though you knew it all along."

Meh.

 

[cricket_online]

What exactly is the problem then? No money is lost. The pre-order can be cancelled, and apprehension as to any future purchases replaces any previous good-will that's been earned through generating hype.

Which brings me back to my original point. Gamers are a mighty self-entitled bunch, despite the fact that no one forces them to part with their cash they spout vitriol and sound off as though someone's just broken both their knee caps and entered their dog.

As much as some poor 13 year old loves to cry that the game they've hyped in their own head as the answer to all their problems, the reality is game development is fraught with difficulties and there are actual real people who's entire livelihood (familes and all) can hinge on their work.

A nice example for you:

"LOL, did they seriously think they will get away with an apology after all we fans have gone through."

"Yeah but you still lied to us, kept taking our pre-order money, bragged about your false claims, held a press conference and lied straight to our face even though you knew it all along."

Meh.

I think the issue was more about people being led down the garden path, especially given how much some people at PC were involved with and contributed to the game (on the players list and stats side of things). It was akin to taking someone for a ride and nobody likes to be in that position.

 

[MattW]

So I suppose that means they will be taking Q&A questions from the Facebook page, look forward to 10 weeks of the DRS question with slightly different wording being answered.

Fegan talked in interviews about this site being part of their process, even ignoring my self interest, totally ignoring this site in favour of pages they control and selecting internally the questions they are willing to answer shows no change in their current approach, they have been answering the softballs on Twitter for weeks, only the people who haven't bothered reading a thing on the game and just squirt out the same old questions can be satisfied by that. It's not a new change in approach, it is a promise to resume doing half of what Chief was doing on these forums.

But on the flipside people are still going on with the totally false claim that it is just a rehash of IC2010, so perhaps they do need to keep repeating the basics.

If Trickstar/505 want to answer some questions, we have plenty.

 

[cricket_online]

^^^
I am expecting lots of "Stay tuned..." and "Just wait... our podcast is nearly done and we simply need to upload it"

There's a reason they will pick questions on FB coz out here they would literally be eaten alive.

 

[nahid]

We are members ! So we think before we ask something. But now go check the FB fans are killing them by asking stupid questions lmaoo. Basically they still stuck on the DRS thingy. Poor AC13. Posting in FB IS WORTHLESS

 

[isrararrafi]

I think the issue was more about people being led down the garden path, especially given how much some people at PC were involved with and contributed to the game (on the players list and stats side of things). It was akin to taking someone for a ride and nobody likes to be in that position.

Actually a lot of stores charge full amount or keep a deposit (5-10 bucks) to hold a pre-order copy.

 

[cricket_online]

Actually a lot of stores charge full amount or keep a deposit (5-10 bucks) to hold a pre-order copy.

They do? I only pre-order online and haven't been charged a cent till the time the game is dispatched. They might check my credit card by crediting and debiting my CC 1 GBP (or is it .01 GBP) but that's about it.

 

[isrararrafi]

Yes. I believe even best buy often has a $5 deposit for pre ordering games in michigan. So i would assume a lot of other places do it also.

 

[sobti]

Now that's matter of months....

yeah..I agree, it now sounds to be a delay of more than a month but nevermind I am not dying to play this game before Ashes is over but I am dying to play this game before BA is out..and now when they have officially apologized we should give them last chance to produce the best product

 

[sami ullah khan]

Back to square one. I would like for Chief to come out here and share his thoughts on the delay, not necessarily an apology.

 

[kingoffuel]

Wow, a well constructed apology. They've got some clever PR people there. Good use of key words to gain some kind of emotional attachment. That being said, happy they have apologised and hopefully we get a game worthy of the Ashes title.

 

[angad]

Fegan talked in interviews about this site being part of their process, even ignoring my self interest, totally ignoring this site in favour of pages they control and selecting internally the questions they are willing to answer shows no change in their current approach, they have been answering the softballs on Twitter for weeks, only the people who haven't bothered reading a thing on the game and just squirt out the same old questions can be satisfied by that. It's not a new change in approach, it is a promise to resume doing half of what Chief was doing on these forums.

This guy gets it!!!