So... that means I am not getting that marketing job? :ninja:
jokes aside, I really wonder what you folks at paradox think about my suggestion.
I mean, it seems to work for many smaller dev studios.
I mostly torrent games but this one time i wanted to buy the game and now i'm kicking myself for buying such crap.
And learn from a certain Starfleet Engineer, the very fictional Mister Montgomery Scott: If you're sure it the game will be in playable state on sunday morning, tell us 'We'll certainly have it ready by the end of Monday.'
Sots2 on Twitter said:@dingbat91 Yes, we hope to release the next patch on Monday!
This is actually quite funny if we compare the business models.
1. Release unfinished game after promising a full retail version and then use the customer money to patch it to acceptable state, like was done with this game.
2. Tell people to pay for beta and give a promise to release the full game. Good examples are Minecraft and Mount & Blade.
As you see in both approaches it is the same thing: customers pay for an unfinished product and thus funding the company to finish it. However in the first approach you have angry customers wanting their money back, in the second approach customers are loving supporting fans.
What should Kerberox and Paradox done in this case? Postpone the entire game until it is finished, but give the pre-order customers a "privilege" to an early "beta" access (which is the current released game). That psychological approach would make us feel privileged for "exclusive access", that we wouldn't even complain about the lack of features, but instead give feedback on many problems. Everyone is happy, developers get funding. It's a win-win situation.
Damn, I should apply for the marketing department at Paradox...
How to fix this? Tell us where the game is going. A roadmap for patches (without dates! Just 1.1= These fixes, 1.2= Implement these features, 1.3= Do This, Do That). Furthermore, I'm certain that the fanbase is willing to help. Start calling the game what it is, a commercial beta. Setup a system where you can take feedback and proper error reports.
Agree completely.
Right now I'm on the fence about asking for a refund; merely to be punitive. I'm a firm believer in voting with my dollar; I would total rebuy (and probably rebuy multiple times for family/friends) when the game is fixed. Currently, I feel somewhat lied to. The game was not complete. The beta test should have been characterized as a barely functional alpha, and the current state of the game is best characterized as a very early beta. 80% of core functionality has been implemented, but significant amounts of content are missing, documentation is completely missing, and stability is low. There are some crippling bugs, like the inability to correctly select the station you are upgrading, the incorrectly functioning province creation system, and basic zooming/GUI issues (startup in windowed mode only? camera rests in the ship design screen? fuzzy text in certain tooltips? tooltips that appear behind dialogues? these are early beta bugs.) Sorry, I love you guys, but that's the truth.
Paradox/Kerberos: The only way out of this right now is true, brutal honesty. The game is not complete. It is very cool, creative, and has a lot of potential. But it is not complete. It will be panned in the reviews, and most of the steam customers will be extremely pissed.
How to fix this? Tell us where the game is going. A roadmap for patches (without dates! Just 1.1= These fixes, 1.2= Implement these features, 1.3= Do This, Do That). Furthermore, I'm certain that the fanbase is willing to help. Start calling the game what it is, a commercial beta. Setup a system where you can take feedback and proper error reports. Heck, even simple things, I'm sure a couple of us will be willing to do things like write Sotsapedia entries. As long as we know the game has a future, the community would be quite willing to write the manual, I'd guess. Why not release the manual source under GPL, CC, or some other open document-type license?
This approach worked fairly well for the Star Ruler guys at Blind Mind. They ran out of money, and knew the game could not be completed. They told the fanbase, and "sold" the incomplete version, with the stated intent of completing it. The game went gold late last month, and the "re-reviews" are pretty clear about the massive improvements that occurred.
That's the only path out. A re-launch. Re-reviews. Keeping on the level with the fanbase, and working slowly, without panic, towards a true release. You have an extraordinarily loyal fanbas, trust us to respond like adults when we are giving all the facts and a "realistic" roadmap forward. As others have said, the quick-fix, time pressure, and being creative with the truth resulted in the current situation.
If you decide to ask for a refund, we absolutely respect your decision.
But we hope that you stay with us and give us a chance to update and improve the game.
As soon as the patch is out on Monday,
the developers will have a much better overview of the schedule of updates to come during November.
We will of course keep you updated regarding all patches and improvements!
And we will definitely take your suggestions into account and discuss what we can do for the game, they are appreciated.
While some of the more politic requests for an update are nice, I think that someone, maybe your President or whomever is in charge, should address this debacle
Technically you can do all that, even if it isn't particularly easy, unless you're one of the unfortunate people who can't get into the game at all, so I don't think it's the best benchmark. Latest news we have from Kerberos is there will be a patch on Monday and then they'll plan where to go for the next patch. By next week the game should be better, but in what exact ways we do not know yet.
The CEO, who's probably the closest thin Paradox has to a 'president' did exactly that. Although he can't give a full list of changes, because Paradox, as the publisher, is not the one who handles that.