4581

lol, just read a review of Brad’s book.

No offense to an aspiring writer, but it sounds his time would have been better spent on core business and focusing on some proper QA and UAT instead…

4582

Oh god, make it stop.

4583

Oh god, make it stop.

4584

Not sure how people who preordered over impulse are supposed to ship back an unopened box. Really it should be easier to get the refund because they credit your card and pull the game’s registration, but that’s not what’s happening.

4585

It’s funny enough to get me to long in here for the first time in forever, I’ve been lurking this thread since the RPS thing, I’m always up for qt3 vs developer drama.

This summer I preordered this game and Alpha Protocol since I quit my job and figured I could hang out and play those until Civ 5 was out…hopefully the end of a sequence of really bad decisions stretching back almost a year now

May Brad Wardell’s sequence end soon as well

4586

It’s not completely unreasonable. You do have the right to a refund, but if it’s a problem that can be solved without a refund- if it’s something that they can fix technically, it would be reasonable to try and see if that solves the issue before offering a refund.

4587

Technically the game sucks, the core mechanics suck, the interface is terrible, there’s a giant void where there should be a basic narrative, and if a company gets to the point where they are admitting to their customers they fucked up badly there should be a no-questions-asked refund policy, especially through the electronic distribution system they own, since people’s frustration with any other policy will taint their view of that as well.

I was kind of proud of not breaking the NDA for this early in beta but after Elemental and Alpha Protocol it’s time to change the way we talk about games before they’re released: previews are marketing and preorders are scratch tickets, moral journalists will encourage people not to engage either one.

4588

My own experience has Elemental’s release reminding me of Hellgate: London. They were games that held a lot of potential, were being worked on and improved, yet were released with a disregard for state of the product and before they achieved a quality that could fuel sales. Stardock, fortunately, has a history and a product base of support that’ll keep 'em going, unlike Flagship.

How likely would it be for gaming journalists to get access to game builds pre-release if they write critical previews? Developers would just say “things can change before release” and the preview would be meaningless…just as they are now. Previews are typically just a way to get a bit more info on game features for both journalists and the potential players. I don’t see that changing much.

Pre-orders, on the other hand, are something the consumer controls, and I agree that the consumer needs to take a bit more responsibility when it comes to their pre-order choices. The more games switch to digital distribution networks, the easier it’ll be for publishers to pack in all sorts of pre-order bonuses to lure in the masses. As long as the consumer can’t control their must-have-it impulse, and ignore critical thinking when it comes to making their purchase decisions, they’ll be on the losing end of pre-order decisions.

4589

Is it astroturfing, though?
She’s not really hiding and as she says, she’s not reviewing the book because she’s biased. She’s merely pointing out that Matthew is being a dick and quite frankly dismissing a review by pointing out the reviewer is “plus size” is being a grade one asshole.

It does read like a terrible review, and I do trust Angie in her thoughts on the book, so I’m not defending neither the book or this review on Amazon.
But being an asshole in the comments section is almost as stupid as rushing to your husbands defense instead of just ignoring it.

4590

“The princess, and the boy, whose name, Nym now knew, was Xander, though he had no idea whatsoever who the lad actually was.”

twitch

So apparently Random House will hire anyone to be an editor?

I have no qualifications, but I’ve read books, which is apparently one step above at least one of their people with the job.

4591

It’s a terrible book, but if Matt had pulled that stunt on anyone on this board he’d have been kicked from pillar to post.

4592

Which is, ironically, exactly what Brad’s wife (and Brad, and some Stardock employee, and various idiots on the Stardock forums) was advocating earlier with regards to Angie’s review of the book. “Her husband got banned, her review must be biased, etc, etc”.

4593

Except that none of them said that Angie was fat.

4594

indeed, wonder what is causing such bad blood and creepy internet stalking activity

The “plus size” is in reference to a specific item she had on her wish-list (as a side note, it’s amazing the sort of things people will voluntarily advertise to the whole world) … still makes him a Grade-A asshole though :)

4595

I trough ad hominen attack where vile…

But this is searching in the trash of other people trying to find questionable stuff.

This is disgusting.

4596

You made me go look and yes, the initial reviewer does have an “Office Tramp (plus size)” costume on their wishlist. The mind boggles - I hope they don’t work for Stardock!

4597

I admit to being baffled at the hate and venom here. If the game was released too early and wasn’t in the state it should have been, OK. Not like that’s rare in the PC gaming world. Did Brad say some things he shouldn’t have? Yeah, OK, a developer got upset when people trashed his game, he’s human. Developers shouldn’t be human. And he’s paid dearly for that slip.

But really: you guys want Stardock to go out of business and are gleeful at that? Have you ever tried to get in touch with, oh, EA, or any other big publisher and tell them you weren’t happy with their game, so give me my money back? Just cause I don’t like the game (or even some parts of it don’t work?) Do you like having to find CD check cracks to keep from having to have the CD in the drive or to play your game on a netbook without a DVD drive? Even the haters will admit that Stardock will support the hell out of a game for years, will take your suggestions and incorporate them into the game, will continuously add new free patches and upgrades and new content, etc.

If you guys are celebrating a small game company like that potentially going down, you’ve got a bigger reserve of hate than most people I know.

4598

Well put.

I’d always thought Matt went over the line here but was also able to make some interesting conversations without the vitriol. I was a little sad when he got banned. Now I read some of the stuff that he says, and it’s pretty much reached over the top insanity levels of stalking. Quite frankly, I just can’t overcome the cognitive dissonance between the versions of Matt I thought I knew and what I’ve been seeing of late.

Then again, I’ve also made the (perhaps poor) assessment that one of the “I only registered to spew hate and bile in the Elemental thread” people is likely an alt of his. If it isn’t, I’ll revise my opinion on him a little bit (not that he’d be likely to care overly much one way or another).

4599

Who are you talking to? The fuckwit troll who’s just joined the forum, or everyone else?

4600

Thanks for dragging me into a post about how you dislike what my husband has been doing so much that you think it’s criminal, Dan. Always classy.