Mammalian Platypus - How do we get the avatar now?

[Druesling]

Ah, bummer.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

Source for this is the email you got when you signed on to project augustus. Check your email folder, you got the same one.


Look what you did, the clicker is online again:
https://launchpad.stellarisgame.com/game

I guess you'll find similar text to that in the email in the FAQ somewhere on that site. At least google brought me there when I put the text in there.

Ah! That'd explain why I can't find it anywhere. It's in an email I deleted ages ago.
Here's the thing though - when I go back to the minigame, **nothing** on it states outright whether any of it is exclusive other than the implication that all of the rewards are participation ones. Although, I have to admit I'm reading that in based on standard practice in a signup/participation campaign like this one.

I most certainly have never demanded any DLC be released for free, but I AM advocating that completely preventing (a large number of) people from getting access - paid or free - is a bad move, both ethically and from a purely business standpoint.

For me personally it's no skin off my nose if everyone got my pre-order and Nova DLC for free at some point - those were not the reason I pre-ordered, just a nice bonus. But realistically given that they actually cost money to get (the Nova things at least), I find it more likely PDX will release them as paid DLC. They could give it away for all I care though - I have it, and will keep having it, and already having a blast with the game - and the "unique" races.

As for the platypus and the symbols of domination - I think it's such a small pack that it'd be hard to justify taking the normal price for cosmetic DLC and should probably be either free, require some action like the clicker game, or cost a few cents, but at the end of the day as long as it's at least *available* I'm happy. If they want to charge $5 for the one race and a few symbols I'm ok with that - it's their game. What I'm not ok with is artificial scarcity.

As for me personally - if I *really* wanted the race and symbols so bad you know all the resources are with the game - just locked without the DLC. If I wanted them so very bad I could just mod them in for myself. We are not supposed to do that, but I'd have a hard time getting morally outraged if PDX had decided to make the content impossible to get any other way. But as it happens I haven't felt the need to play with the platypus, so this isn't about me personally.

So you don't think that going back on an offer to those who helped promote the game is ethically a bad move? Or that changing your mind and making something that you gave to those who helped promote the game available to everyone, regardless of if they helped promote the game or not, rather spits in the face of those who helped?

You don't think that at least heavily implying that something is part of a giveaway targetted only at the participants and going back on it rather spoils the point of having a participants only giveaway?

By the way, and now that we are speaking of sources, where is your source for your dogma that the platypus or the flags were advertised as exclusive rewards at any time?

It's the equivalent of a kid on his birthday party demandig that the others kids dont get cake because it's "birthday child exclusive".
Wouldn't it be a bad sign to have you stamp your feet and let you have your will of nondeserved and nonpromised exclusivity?

I have to admit I read it as an implication of the mini-game, and previous practice with promotional events. It's also the conclusion that the wiki ( http://www.stellariswiki.com/Species ) appears to have drawn. It's also apparent from BjornB's comment earlier that it was intended to be exclusive, otherwise they wouldn't be "considering" making it available to everyone - they'd just have said that it not being available to everyone was a mistake, and activated it for everyone.

Finally, if you look at the "keys" section of the forum, it lists the platypus as a "sign up bonus". That suggests to me that it's a bonus for signing up to the promotional campaign, and thus something that was intended to be unique to those who signed up, not given to everyone.

The attitude of "You got that and I didn't know about it! I want one!" reads very much to me like a young child stamping his feet and demanding that he be given an icecream or a toy just because some other child has one, and screaming that "it's not fair" that someone dares to have something he doesn't.

 

[Druesling]

Ah! That'd explain why I can't find it anywhere. It's in an email I deleted ages ago.
Here's the thing though - when I go back to the minigame, **nothing** on it states outright whether any of it is exclusive other than the implication that all of the rewards are participation ones. Although, I have to admit I'm reading that in based on standard practice in a signup/participation campaign like this one.

Again ***nothing*** states it as being exclusive, and it's common practice in Paradox games, that every last sprite will be available to buy for 2$ or 60 cent somewhere down the line.

So you don't think that going back on an offer to those who helped promote the game is ethically a bad move?

Nobody goes back on an offer. The offer of exclusivity is only in your mind. We have clearly established that by now.

You don't think that at least heavily implying that something is part of a giveaway targetted only at the participants and going back on it rather spoils the point of having a participants only giveaway?

If two of the items are clearly and explicitly marked as exclusive and the other three are not, there is no circumstance that *less* implies exclusivity for the last three ones. Wishing it so doesn't make it so.

I have to admit I read it as an implication of the mini-game, and previous practice with promotional events.

You should have better read the email you conveniently erased instead. You wouldn't have to trust some vague implications then.

It's also the conclusion that the wiki ( http://www.stellariswiki.com/Species ) appears to have drawn.

Where? The wiki just states who has access to the platypus right now. It doesn't make any claim about exclusivity of any kind.

It's also apparent from BjornB's comment earlier that it was intended to be exclusive, otherwise they wouldn't be "considering" making it available to everyone - they'd just have said that it not being available to everyone was a mistake, and activated it for everyone.

That's another big leap. Because he said they'll make it available for everyone, it's meant to be exclusive? That's some brain acrobatics right there.

Finally, if you look at the "keys" section of the forum, it lists the platypus as a "sign up bonus". That suggests to me that it's a bonus for signing up to the promotional campaign, and thus something that was intended to be unique to those who signed up, not given to everyone.

Does it say "exclusive sign up bonus"? Surprise! No it doesn't.

You just could have answered the question for any source of promised exclusivity with a simple "I don't have a source."

The attitude of "You got that and I didn't know about it! I want one!" reads very much to me like a young child stamping his feet and demanding that he be given an icecream or a toy just because some other child has one, and screaming that "it's not fair" that someone dares to have something he doesn't.

"I am the birthday boy! You are childish for wanting my cake, because it is ME who's birthday it is! It's not fair if the other children eat it too, I wanna be special! Wah Wah Wah!"

You could contribute playground reasoning to both sides, and to almost any argument in the world for that matter. Let's quit that, it doesn't prove anything.

 

[blue emu]

So to sum up you derive your happiness from the unhappiness of others.

"It's not enough to be happy... someone else must be miserable."
- French proverb.

 

[EmperorZelos]

First of, whats the freaking point about this? It's a damn platipus!

Secondly, if that's not enough, the platypus is exclusive by nature. If it wasn't it'd be everywhere and not australia. Realise it is by nature a virtiously exclusive creature and as such does not come to all.

 

[kazper]

So you don't think that going back on an offer to those who helped promote the game is ethically a bad move? Or that changing your mind and making something that you gave to those who helped promote the game available to everyone, regardless of if they helped promote the game or not, rather spits in the face of those who helped?

You don't think that at least heavily implying that something is part of a giveaway targetted only at the participants and going back on it rather spoils the point of having a participants only giveaway?

Sure. If anyone had done any of the things you scream about here. You were offered a free bonus for participating - and you got it. At the very least you will have enjoyed timed exclusivity, and most probably you will also have saved a bit of money, since I rate the chances of it being free as fairly low. There was no implication anywhere that this was an "forever exclusive" kind of deal - that's all in your head, and fits badly with every single PDX game ever released in the past. As such no one "spits" in your face.

Edit: In short had PDX promised you total exclusivity I'd have said they made a mistake, and still felt they would do the most good by reconsidering, but they haven't even done that. As such the answer is a no-brainer.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

Again ***nothing*** states it as being exclusive, and it's common practice in Paradox games, that every last sprite will be available to buy for 2$ or 60 cent somewhere down the line.

Take a close look at the minigame site - it doesn't state any of it as being exclusive on there. It doesn't say "unlock for everyone either", and it is unusual at best to have a promotional campaign where part of the unlock is exclusive and then the higher levels are universal, even to people who come along later. It tends to be either all exclusive, or all universal. If it is mixed, the *lower* levels tend to be the universal unlocks.

Nobody goes back on an offer. The offer of exclusivity is only in your mind. We have clearly established that by now.

We've established that you seem to be unable to read implications, and that we're reading it differently based on that.

If two of the items are clearly and explicitly marked as exclusive and the other three are not, there is no circumstance that *less* implies exclusivity for the last three ones. Wishing it so doesn't make it so.

Let's look at that quote again, and I'll add some emphasis to show the implication that all of the rewards are exclusive shall we?

Hey,

Thanks for joining the effort to unlock exclusive Stellaris rewards! Keep the ship moving to unlock the following:

Exclusive Stellaris forum icon
Exclusive Stellaris forum avatar
Stellaris flag pack for use in-game
Platypus alien portrait and empire symbol for use in-game

Invite 10 friends and name a commander in Stellaris

Now, there is an implication there that everything on the list is exclusive, and that they are emphasising this for the forum icon and avatar.

You should have better read the email you conveniently erased instead. You wouldn't have to trust some vague implications then.

Don't even start accusing me of "conveniently" erasing things. It's an email from months ago, and I don't always keep old, seemingly irrelevant emails once the event they are to do with has ended.

Where? The wiki just states who has access to the platypus right now. It doesn't make any claim about exclusivity of any kind.

No, it just says that they're available to people who signed up to Project Augustus. As in an implication that it's **only** available to them.

That's another big leap. Because he said they'll make it available for everyone, it's meant to be exclusive? That's some brain acrobatics right there.

Really? So a statement that "we're going to make this no longer exclusive" doesn't imply that their intention was to make it exclusive?

Does it say "exclusive sign up bonus"? Surprise! No it doesn't.

Does it say "exclusive sign up bonus" on any of the other stuff for the pre-orders? I didn't sign up to them, so I don't know.

You just could have answered the question for any source of promised exclusivity with a simple "No."

And no, there aren't any explicit statements either way, but when the email (as posted by you) says "here's a list of exclusive things you get" and lists things, there's a strong implication that *all* the things on the list are exclusives. When a dev comes on and says he's looking at making a (currently) exclusive thing available to everyone, that's a strong implication that the original intention was to make it exclusive.

"I am the birthday boy! You are childish for wanting my cake, because it is ME who's birthday it is! It's not fair if the other children eat it too, I wanna be special! Wah Wah Wah!"

Yeah, you already said that. I'm merely suggesting that you're the child who turns up to a birthday party and demands that they get presents as well as the birthday child.

You could contribute playground reasoning to both sides, and to almost any argument in the world for that matter. Let's quit that, it doesn't prove anything.

Nice try to grab the moral highground. And yet you continue to use it before then trying to stop me being able to respond in kind... Nice try.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

Sure. If anyone had done any of the things you scream about here. You were offered a free bonus for participating - and you got it. At the very least you will have enjoyed timed exclusivity, and most probably you will also have saved a bit of money, since I rate the chances of it being free as fairly low. There was no implication anywhere that this was an "forever exclusive" kind of deal - that's all in your head, and fits badly with every single PDX game ever released in the past. As such no one "spits" in your face.

Edit: In short had PDX promised you total exclusivity I'd have said they made a mistake, and still felt they would do the most good by reconsidering, but they haven't even done that. As such the answer is a no-brainer.

Ah.. so exclusivity should only ever be temporary? The bonus that was offered to participants should in fact cease to be a bonus for them and just be given out to everyone, and thus cease in any way to be a bonus for participation?

Again. A reward for participating that is now being "requested" by those who didn't participate, thus making it no longer a reward for participating, but rather something that everyone can get.

Regardless of that though, I have a question which so far you've steadfastly either missed or refused to answer, and it would be nice to get the answer from someone.


You were part of the Pre-release. Was the pre-release more expensive than the release?

If it wasn't, why are you only obsessed with getting the participation reward given away, and not the pre-release one? Are you going to start requesting that the pre-release shiny things be made available, for free, like you earlier suggested the promotional material should be?

 

[kazper]

Ah.. so exclusivity should only ever be temporary? The bonus that was offered to participants should in fact cease to be a bonus for them and just be given out to everyone, and thus cease in any way to be a bonus for participation?

Again. A reward for participating that is now being "requested" by those who didn't participate, thus making it no longer a reward for participating, but rather something that everyone can get.

Regardless of that though, I have a question which so far you've steadfastly either missed or refused to answer, and it would be nice to get the answer from someone.


You were part of the Pre-release. Was the pre-release more expensive than the release?

If it wasn't, why are you only obsessed with getting the participation reward given away, and not the pre-release one? Are you going to start requesting that the pre-release shiny things be made available, for free, like you earlier suggested the promotional material should be?

Why is exclusivity so important to you? Are the rewards really only valuable to you when you can point at someone else and go "Nya nya nya, you don't have this!"?

Why should exclusivity matter to you? You got your reward.

And I answered your question - you just fail to read it. I have written - in clear terms - that I'm fine with the pre-release stuff I got being available for all. It's not my fault you apparently don't read what I write.

Edit: Just to help you I found the links so you don't have to do any work to find the reasons you should admit you're wrong:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...t-the-avatar-now.926579/page-13#post-21209165
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...t-the-avatar-now.926579/page-14#post-21214464

 

[The Albatross]

The platypus just happens to be my favorite animal which is part of the reason why it bothers me so much.

Please, give us another opportunity to get this race. I bought the game intending to play that race.

Indeed - the platypus IS truly a wonderful creature - here is a pic until the DLC comes out.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

Why is exclusivity so important to you? Are the rewards really only valuable to you when you can point at someone else and go "Nya nya nya, you don't have this!"?

Why should exclusivity matter to you? You got your reward.

And I answered your question - you just fail to read it. I have written - in clear terms - that I'm fine with the pre-release stuff I got being available for all. It's not my fault you apparently don't read what I write.

Edit: Just to help you I found the links so you don't have to do any work to find the reasons you should admit you're wrong:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...t-the-avatar-now.926579/page-13#post-21209165
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...t-the-avatar-now.926579/page-14#post-21214464

Evidently you are *still* reading a lot into me. At what point am I taunting people that I've got something they don't? At what point am I trying to rub it into anyone's face?

Think about it this way. The reward was implied by

Thanks for joining the effort to unlock exclusive Stellaris rewards! Keep the ship moving to unlock the following:

to be exclusive. At the point it's no longer exclusive part of the concept of it being a reward goes away, because now everybody has it, rather than just those who were "rewarded" for their participation.

Now, I'll admit I'm reading it differently to you and a couple of other posters.

There's also a different emphasis there between "I'm OK with it being given away" and "I'm actively going to campaign for it". But hey, you could actually read the questions I've asked. You could even answer the one about "did the pre-release cost more than the product did on release day?"

So I ask again - are you going to kick up as much fuss about the pre-release DLC as you are about the participation DLC?

 

[BjornB]

We've discussed this, and we will sort it out. If you don't have the signup rewards, don't sweat it. We'll solve it for you. More info later.

 

[Druesling]

Take a close look at the minigame site - it doesn't state any of it as being exclusive on there.

So it doesn't state the platypus is exclusive, does it? As I said.

Now, there is an implication there that everything on the list is exclusive, and that they are emphasising this for the forum icon and avatar.

No, there is not. If I say "Four friends are coming over: Brad and Jerry who are new in town and also Steve and Phillip." Then the implication is clearly that Steve and Phillip aren't new in town. I guess you know that and are trying to obscure the matter by blatant misuse of the word "implication".

Don't even start accusing me of "conveniently" erasing things. It's an email from months ago, and I don't always keep old, seemingly irrelevant emails once the event they are to do with has ended.

You did erase it, and it is convenient to the wonky argument you are trying to make here. If you understood it as acusing you of erasing evidence on purpose that's maybe your

No, it just says that they're available to people who signed up to Project Augustus.

Yes, that is what I wrote essentially. But the wiki neither makes any predictions for the future, nor does it state that the Platypus will in any form stay exclusive forever.

Really? So a statement that "we're going to make this no longer exclusive" doesn't imply that their intention was to make it exclusive?

If they worded it that way perhaps, but the word exclusive never fell, afaik.

Does it say "exclusive sign up bonus" on any of the other stuff for the pre-orders? I didn't sign up to them, so I don't know.

I honestly don't know either.

And no, there aren't any explicit statements either way, but when the email (as posted by you) says "here's a list of exclusive things you get"

No it doesn't. It states that there are exclusive rewards, and then lists then several things, two of them explicitly exclusive. That's a common tactic in promotion to make the list of exclusive things appear bigger, but nowhere do I see the intention to make platypus, empire symbol and flag pack also exclusive. If so, they would have made it explicit. So the conclusion - or the implication to use your favorite word - is that even at that point in time they losely planned to sell the stuff marked as non-exclusive in some cosmetic minor DLC, like they did numerous times with CK2 promotional items.

When a dev comes on and says he's looking at making a (currently) exclusive thing available to everyone, that's a strong implication that the original intention was to make it exclusive.

No, thats a strong implication that they will make the platypus available sooner as planned, because a lot of people seem to really want it, argue about it, and the clicker game was kinda lame anyway.

Yeah, you already said that. I'm merely suggesting that you're the child who turns up to a birthday party and demands that they get presents as well as the birthday child.

I already have the platypus, I just don't see why it should be exclusive, when noone ever said so.

Nice try to grab the moral highground. And yet you continue to use it before then trying to stop me being able to respond in kind... Nice try.

Didn't you start the playground thing? I have the moral highground either way. I'm not the one hoarding platypusses.

Secondly, if that's not enough, the platypus is exclusive by nature. If it wasn't it'd be everywhere and not australia. Realise it is by nature a virtiously exclusive creature and as such does not come to all.

Best argument for platypus exclusivity i heard so far in this discussion.

We've discussed this, and we will sort it out. If you don't have the signup rewards, don't sweat it. We'll solve it for you. More info later.

Thanks!

 

[kazper]

I'm going to let this discussion lie here. The last few posts we've been repeating the same things and people are capable of reading what was said (if they care) and form their own opinions now.

We've discussed this, and we will sort it out. If you don't have the signup rewards, don't sweat it. We'll solve it for you. More info later.

Thanks

 

[Elothan]

We've discussed this, and we will sort it out. If you don't have the signup rewards, don't sweat it. We'll solve it for you. More info later.

Thanks
It warms a collectors heart.

 

[scorekeeper12]

So you didn't get a portrait, big whoop. There are more important things in life to cry about than this. Get over yourselves and play the game.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

I'm going to let this discussion lie here. The last few posts we've been repeating the same things and people are capable of reading what was said (if they care) and form their own opinions now.


Thanks

Still no answer about whether you're going to press for the pre-release DLC to be made available to everyone?

I guess that's enough of an answer.

Nice to see you're going to demand that one reward is made available to everyone, but you're only "OK" with the reward you have being made available to everyone.

We've discussed this, and we will sort it out. If you don't have the signup rewards, don't sweat it. We'll solve it for you. More info later.

In that case, what about the pre-release rewards? Are they going to be made available?

I wasn't able to participate in pre-release for various reasons, and if you're making one "reward" available to everyone, shouldn't that be balanced by making the other also available?

 

[Olaus Petrus]

Still no answer about whether you're going to press for the pre-release DLC to be made available to everyone?

I guess that's enough of an answer.

Nice to see you're going to demand that one reward is made available to everyone, but you're only "OK" with the reward you have being made available to everyone.




In that case, what about the pre-release rewards? Are they going to be made available?

I wasn't able to participate in pre-release for various reasons, and if you're making one "reward" available to everyone, shouldn't that be balanced by making the other also available?

I can't speak on the behalf of others or Paradox, but personally I think that those should be made available for purchase, just like in the case of EUIV where there are Pre-Order Pack, Call-to-Arms Pack, and Digital Extreme Edition Upgrade Pack DLCs.

 

[kazper]

Still no answer about whether you're going to press for the pre-release DLC to be made available to everyone?

I guess that's enough of an answer.

Nice to see you're going to demand that one reward is made available to everyone, but you're only "OK" with the reward you have being made available to everyone.




In that case, what about the pre-release rewards? Are they going to be made available?

I wasn't able to participate in pre-release for various reasons, and if you're making one "reward" available to everyone, shouldn't that be balanced by making the other also available?

So you baited one more repetition out of me. I already posted - twice - and linked to the posts that I feel the pre-order AND the Nova bonuses should be made available. However, I fully expect they will be as such has been released as DLC for each and every PDX title up till now. Now will you stop lying about me not answering you, thanks.

 

[Comradebot]

Meh, I got my platypus.

It's really the Creatures of the Void I'd like to see available for purchase. I have em too, but I also know people who want to pick up Stellaris and are most interested in portraits from there.