Son of a bitch! waves fist menacingly ;)
What’s stupid is they’re considering the time between the pre-order as part of that 90 days and not the time since release. How can they, with a straight face, claim the excess of 90 days when the product was only released a few weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, beta blah, blah, but the beta isn’t the end product, it was a tool the company used to aid its development.
rezaf
5283
As someone who didn’t preorder mostly because you had to make that commitment, I have to say I don’t feel sorry for you 90 days guys.
You preordered to get access to the beta, and SD has clearly stated that preordering effectively meant “no way out”, so if that bothered you, maybe you shouldn’t have preordered in the first place?
I mean, I understand where you’re coming from - they promised a worthy successor to the microwave oven and all you got was a bowl and a grilling tripod (and the promise to keep improving on what’s there until it IS a worthy successor to the microwave oven), but they still clearly stated the no-returns thing from the beginning on - without hiding it in the smallprint or whatnot.
rezaf
JM1
5284
I preordered because it was a decent price. I’ve preordered plenty of things I didn’t get a beta for.
And don’t act like getting access to the beta was some kind of prize - there isn’t a single person willing to argue that the beta was ‘fun’ or in any way representative of a whole game, given how it was done. Brad made that very clear. Beta testers were helping Stardock.
Mazuo
5285
That’s not the pitch I heard, rezaf. They clearly stated multiple times that there were no refunds during beta because they didn’t want people pulling their money seeing how bad a game in development looked. When they’re giving full refunds to people who just picked it up at release instead of customers like myself who actually supported their time spent doing…something, it’s pretty damn aggravating.
Three days not counting the weekend since I replied that store credit isn’t really reasonable and nothing heard back. Almost three weeks since I initially asked for a refund. ‘This just sucks’ is the best summation I can give.
Yeah, I’ve been trying to get a refund for 3 weeks now myself, and they stopped responding to my e-mails, though I’ve been polite. I assume they are hoping I’ll “go away and drop it” which is just making me more and more angry. I didn’t even start off wanting a refund that badly, but now I feel like the customer service is being so douchey I don’t even want to have any ties to the product any more, including waiting a few months to see where it landed.
NOT how I was hoping this release would turn out, though I still have respect for Brad and co. ability to put out a quality product (eventually), the customer service has just burned me all out.
Fenris99
5287
I have to say that I’m pretty unhappy with the way the game plays right now, but I’ll hang onto it anyway. The money’s spent. But the game is fundamentally broken. The Ai can run huge negative gilder balances without any consequences. This means that they have OMG huge armies that you could never afford. Sure you can probably rush them and end the game before that happens, but what’s the fun in that? Anyway hopefully it gets fixed soon…
Mazuo
5288
I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re just super-busy with lots of other upset customers, but when there are 82000 sales quoted, I don’t see how it can take so long to give a one sentence reply to one of them. Even if some huge number of those sales are all emailing in at once.
At this point I’d be happy if they just sent back something saying I was never getting a refund. Then at least I could go contact Visa and see if they can do anything or not knowing I gave Stardock plenty of time to do something about it.
An alternative approach would just be to wait for the game to be patched and ready for play.
Telefrog
5290
Sure, but why? These people could return the game now and use the money for other things while they wait. By the time Elemental is all sorted out, it will be $20-$30.
Well it’s obviously becoming a hassle for the guy so why just not wait. He’s losing a couple of dollars but i can’t see how that would be such a big deal unless he’s poor.
Ever hear of the phrase “it’s the principal of the thing”?
Mazuo
5293
Uh, I don’t know how it’s a reflection that I’m poor for not wanting to just throw $70 into a fire. As for the hassle, how does that get resolved? Right now I’m waiting for my money after I’ve already had access removed to the game.
Even if Impulse still let me play, I’d be waiting months for patching. What’s the point of that when I could just buy the game when it’s actually ready to be played and enjoyed?
I wouldn’t consider it throwing 70 bucks into a fire since the game will improve over time. Of course now that you’ve got your rights to play removed i can agree that it’s more of an issue.
Spoken like someone that doesn’t EARN the money they spend, by the way.
It is the principle of the thing, and Telefrog said it best as well when he pointed out the money could go towards some other (finished!) product NOW and I can pick up Elemental when it’s a complete (and theoretically FUN game) for $20 on sale next year.
I do earn the money i spend actually. If you don’t have problems with your economy it should be possible to buy the finished product as well as waiting for elemental to get finished. Again i can understand the quandry if you’re a student or if you’re not employed but otherwise i just don’t get why it’s an issue to get so worked up about.
Well, we can all rest comfortably now that Count Batman has admitted it’s more of an issue.
Come on Mazuo, you’re being unreasonable. Just because the game is unfinished, buggy and now you can’t play at all, that’s just no reason to return the game. After all, you can use the disc as a coaster so it still has use. So unless you’re a destitute, sadistic bum who is homeless, kicks stray puppies and wants to cause loss of the jobs of every person over at Stardock, returning the game is just not a reasonable request you pathetic loser!
Telefrog
5299
Amazing. Simply amazing.
Customer service being a “hassle” is not an argument for the customer to give up. It’s an argument for the seller to improve their customer service.
Even if you discount the economic reasons for getting a prompt return rather than waiting, there is another (some would say even more important) reason to get one. That’s to send a message that cannot be ignored - that you will not stand for half-assed software. If a thousand people complain on Stardock forums about how disappointed they are, but no one returns any of their purchases, what lesson should a developer take away?
snip Okay, Count_Batman, thanks for joining the Qt3 site and we can’t wait to see what else you can contribute! :)
