State of the Game

[sotmh]

It's unfortunate that other game studios in the 4x genre have had similar releases and made similar promises. I know that's not the fault of Paradox and Kerberos, but it's understandable that the community is a bit pessimistic in this regard.

[The Disaster]

I appreciate that company folks are showing up to apologize. That said: when you know you don't have a finished game, yet still sell people pre-orders for a finished game, it's not really 'mistake' or "failure" territory. It's 'crappy thing we intentionally did' territory.

Absolutely! You should be ashamed of yourselves for selling this incomplete mess to the public.
If I could, I would demand a refund. But gameplayers are the poor relatives, it seems, when it comes to Consumers Rights. The sooner that changes, the better.

[zdsdead]

We are sorry for the situation,
but we have complete confidence in the Kerberos development team and we believe in this game.

The developers are working very hard to update and patch the game,
they truly love their game and will support it for as long as it takes.
I completely respect that you are skeptical, but we will deliver.

But you have so badly failed us all......

[icehell]

But you have so badly failed us all......

lols heheeheh

[MyLego]

I do have to say it feels a bit like MOO 3 looking at this from a consumers perspective...

[Regina]

I appreciate that company folks are showing up to apologize.

That said: when you know you don't have a finished game, yet still sell people pre-orders for a finished game, it's not really 'mistake' or "failure" territory. It's 'crappy thing we intentionally did' territory.

I liked SotS, and I'll be happy to pay for SotS II whenever it's actually ready to go.

This isn't.
It's got menus, game modes, and other features that are supposed to be in the game but aren't.
It's got crashes galore, half the time it freezes when I try to confirm game creation.

It chugs along way slower than it should - I've got more than minspec on everything but graphic card and I've turned all settings to minimum so it should not be this choppy/laggy.

It should not have been released, and everyone at paradox/kerb had to know it but decided to release it anyway, and then rely on weeks/months of patches to get it finished. Not cool.

I'm asking gamersgate for a refund, using some copy&paste from this post. Their refund policy says that if you have issues that keep you from running the game, your computer meets spec, and their tech support guys aren't able to get the game working right, they'll issue a refund.

It's worth asking.

Let me know if when it's done and I'll happily repurchase. But I didn't pay forty bucks for a game that won't be done for at least weeks and possibly months.

I understand that you are upset, but the game will be updated frequently by Kerberos!
They are a small, dedicated development team that truly love their game and will support it for as long as it takes.

Our goal is that the game will be very improved shortly,
so we hope that you will stay with us!

But if you feel that you don´t want to wait for the updates, we do understand.
So you can absolutely e-mail our support if you want compensation or refunds at support (@) paradoxplaza . com
Even though we of course hope that you give us a chance to update the game and give you a good gameplay experience.

[Regina]

But you have so badly failed us all......

We are very sorry.
Please give us a chance to make it right.

[Wolfe1759]

SOTS2 should have been advertised and sold in the same way S.P.A.Z. was recently. Clearly stating that you were buying a Beta version of the game with the bonus of getting it a bit cheaper and getting the opportunity to play a beta version of the game between when you decided to purchase it and its eventual retail release. If that had been done I think a lot of us who pre-ordered may still have done so and would be a lot happier or at least patient now.

[HBernstein]

I do have to say it feels a bit like MOO 3 looking at this from a consumers perspective...

No, like it or hate it, at least MOO 3 was feature complete and working when released. This is more like the release of Outpost, if you remember back that far.

So Regina, are you saying we can get refunds by writing to Paradox support?

[nathanebht]

#

I kinda think the devs knew the state of the game leading into this week.They would also have expected this fire storm just like Paradox,hence no gaming press getting the game.

Very cogent point Ashbery.

[Wintermist]

I am not worried you will not fix the game. I am 100 % sure they do. But we're all just disappointed after looking forward to the game for so long. I will of course not ask for a refund because I want this damn game, so badly

You can just give us the Human Immersion pack instead

[Devilmay]

I understand that you are upset, but the game will be updated frequently by Kerberos!

Well that one, at least, is for certain.

Infact, we just received a small patch.

[Darkrenown]

No, like it or hate it, at least MOO 3 was feature complete and working when released.

Ha, point defence didn't fire on missiles/fighters and the racial diplomacy stuff wasn't hooked up, just off the top of my head.

[jeffb]

Are you talking about MoO 3 or Sots2?...

But seriously, you can't be surprised that people are fed up alittle when every Paradox release is the same shit can you? Would it really hurt to put some effort into respecting your fans?

[ashbery76]

Ha, point defence didn't fire on missiles/fighters and the racial diplomacy stuff wasn't hooked up, just off the top of my head.

Actually most of the game design was lobotomized leading up to release.

[quixotecoyote]

I understand that you are upset, but the game will be updated frequently by Kerberos!
They are a small, dedicated development team that truly love their game and will support it for as long as it takes.

Our goal is that the game will be very improved shortly,
so we hope that you will stay with us!

But if you feel that you don´t want to wait for the updates, we do understand.
So you can absolutely e-mail our support if you want compensation or refunds at support (@) paradoxplaza . com
Even though we of course hope that you give us a chance to update the game and give you a good gameplay experience.

According to GamersGate

Games with initial problems at release will not be refunded until the developers/publisher have got a chance to fix the problems with a patch, fix, update or similar.

So I figure we can wait a little to see if this gets more playable this week.

My opinion is all about "how long will it take," a question I know the staff can't answer and don't expect them too. If it gets to the point of being playable this week, where it doesn't crash, have frustrating lag, and lack enough information to play, then that's one thing. Like GG said, we have to give a chance to fix the problems.

[Darkrenown]

MoO3

[Pyriel]

MoO3

Heh. nuff said there huh?

[The Disaster]

But if you feel that you don´t want to wait for the updates, we do understand.
So you can absolutely e-mail our support if you want compensation or refunds at support (@) paradoxplaza . com
Even though we of course hope that you give us a chance to update the game and give you a good gameplay experience.

Does that apply to the people who bought via Steam?

[Darkrenown]

Well we don't sell it directly, so I would assume it's for all portals.