Company will not send out the "Release" DVDs 10 months after launch because they don't want to disap

Slapshot1188

NOTE: This is a new discussion regarding the post just made on the official MO Forums and is not a continuation of previous threads.  Please limit this discussion to the linked post/statement.

Wow... this game launched 10 months ago and they still haven't shipped the "release" DVDs to their customers.  They claim it's because they don't want to disappoint them.    We are talking about a game that released in June 2010.  It's now April 2011.  How can they even say that with a straight face?   I really wonder what percent of people who pre-ordered this game back in 2009 are still even playing? 

Even better is that his first excuse is that they are simply too busy.  ROFL.   Sorry we are too busy to actually send you what you purchased from us.  Even though we wouldn't be making the copies ourselves, it would be too much trouble to have to contact a company to do what we promised.

I would have thought that at LEAST he would have said something like "We will look to have these made right after we launch our Dawn Expansion this month"  but no... apparently the first "expansion" is too early to expect them to actually send the "release" discs.

 

 

Today, 18:46	#28 (permalink)
Black Opal Community Manager     Join Date: Mar 2011	The development team is busy with working on Dawn, and the resources are best spent there instead of arranging for a manufacturing company to start stamping some 10 000 discs that by the time they arrive to the people who want them, will already be well out of date. For the time being Mortal Online is still being patched often enough that any CD will become obsolete long before it arrives. This is not something we wish to do, as that will lead to disappointment. __________________ Share MO with others

Slapshot1188

The Community Manager's reply has now been deleted from the thread on the MO Forums.

 

Can't wait to see the new response which is probably being re-written as I type.

Miles-Prower

Can't they be sued for this? Offering a product and then not delivering said product? Seems like the making of a lawsuit to me..

 

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

funkmastaD

wow, summer came early this year, the forum's already on re-runs.

Slapshot1188

Since the links from the OP don't work (As the Community manager's post has been removed) here is a link to the thread:

 

http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/60820-new-community-manager-will-you-ever-honor-new-disc-promise.html

lethys

This game's development has been an unfortunate roller coaster ride of excitment, disappointment, excitement, disappointment, moderate excitement, disappointment.

 

I wish the games with ideas like this one could actually function when released.  I am so tired of Rift and WoW and WAR and all other crappy games like it.

BoA*

So what?! What he said is true, there really is no point to "Release" more DVDs. It would be nice to have more up to date ones but do you really need it?

Slapshot1188

The point is that the company never shipped the product to the customers that bought it.  They sent beta DVDs out 6 months before release.  They said not to worry, that they would send the release DVDs to everyone at launch.  It's now 10 months after launch, they have not sent the DVDs and do not appear to have any plan to send them anytime soon.  He gives two excuses... one that they are just too busy right now (and I suppose for the last 10 months) and two is that they wouldn't want to disappoint their customers.

Wow... as someone else said... it could very well be one of the worst responses ever by a Community Manager.  Which is probably why the post in question was removed.

cirsyndic

Yup, this is exactly how I got my refund on Mortal Online. Purchased product was not delivered.

I really dont feel there is much to be said, as I dont really view Starvault as a serious company, or Mortal Online as a serious game. Basement developers I guess, a lot of people got conned. Lesson learned for next time!

BoA*

Originally posted by Slapshot1188

The point is that the company never shipped the product to the customers that bought it.  They sent beta DVDs out 6 months before release.  They said not to worry, that they would send the release DVDs to everyone at launch.  It's now 10 months after launch, they have not sent the DVDs and do not appear to have any plan to send them anytime soon.  He gives two excuses... one that they are just too busy right now (and I suppose for the last 10 months) and two is that they wouldn't want to disappoint their customers.

Wow... as someone else said... it could very well be one of the worst responses ever by a Community Manager.  Which is probably why the post in question was removed.

Point is they DID ship out a product, a DVD with the game on it, even if it is a beta version. Product was shipped.

Slapshot1188

Originally posted by BoA*

Originally posted by Slapshot1188

The point is that the company never shipped the product to the customers that bought it.  They sent beta DVDs out 6 months before release.  They said not to worry, that they would send the release DVDs to everyone at launch.  It's now 10 months after launch, they have not sent the DVDs and do not appear to have any plan to send them anytime soon.  He gives two excuses... one that they are just too busy right now (and I suppose for the last 10 months) and two is that they wouldn't want to disappoint their customers.

Wow... as someone else said... it could very well be one of the worst responses ever by a Community Manager.  Which is probably why the post in question was removed.

Point is they DID ship out a product, a DVD with the game on it, even if it is a beta version. Product was shipped.

No.  That is NOT the pont.  I participated in many betas.  In some of those I was sent discs.  At no point did those beta discs ever count as getting the final product.

Even if there were any doubt however.  The company's own words state that:

b) everybody who wants a version of the release client delivered again will get the option to do so once we release the game.

http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/683696-post161.html

Release was 10 months ago...  and what YOU are claiming isn't even the same as the Community Manager.  His reasons were that they were too busy, and they didn't want to disappoint the customer. 

 

marinrider

I dont understand what would be "disappointing" about the customer recieving what they paid for.  I would be disappoined if I didnt recieve this in a timely manner (which it seems people haven't).

kastrix

You can use the "beta disc" to install the game so i dont see a problem there. And soulden't other companys do the same. Send out new DVDs when the old ones are outdated. What about wow's dvds. they are 7 years outdated by now. And if you want to install wow by DVDs you have to use 18!!!! DVDs. I would think its muh smoother just to download it even if you have slow internet than instaling it with 18 DVDs.

Toferio

Originally posted by kastrix

You can use the "beta disc" to install the game so i dont see a problem there. 

You can't, it contains wrong version of the client which can't be patched, so you have to download a new one instead.

Originally posted by kastrix

 What about wow's dvds. they are 7 years outdated by now. And if you want to install wow by DVDs you have to use 18!!!! DVDs. I would think its muh smoother just to download it even if you have slow internet than instaling it with 18 DVDs.

Where did you pull out that number from? Original WoW is on 4 CDs if I remember correctly, and then every expansion features one DVD which makes it 7 in total. Also, the latest expansions DVD contains everything you need to install the game from scratch, so you only need one DVD and not 18 (lol).

kastrix

original wow had 6, tbc 4, wotlk 4 and cataclysm 2.

 

edit, wotlk had 3. anyways, still to many dics to have any usufullness with them. ecpecally when 2+ gb patches are released ragularly. But egoungh about wow

 

Toferio

Originally posted by kastrix

original wow had 6, tbc 4, wotlk 4 and cataclysm 2.

edit, wotlk had 3. anyways, still to many dics to have any usufullness with them. ecpecally when 2+ gb patches are released ragularly. But egoungh about wow

 

I would suggest you checking your source a bit more carefully. Every expansion only featured ONE DVD with GAME on, the rest were bonus stuff like sound tracks ect, if that is what you mean. Also, nice dodge on the fact that you only need the latest expansions DVD to fully install the game from scratch.

Whole WoW folder is about 20gb, and you are trying to convince me that you need 6 CD and 10 DVDs (given that one single layered DVD can hold 4.7gb of info, and that is compressed info, mind you) to INSTALL the game?

Slapshot1188

Originally posted by kastrix

original wow had 6, tbc 4, wotlk 4 and cataclysm 2.

 

edit, wotlk had 3. anyways, still to many dics to have any usufullness with them. ecpecally when 2+ gb patches are released ragularly. But egoungh about wow

 

 To be relevant to this discussion... Blizzard would have to have sold you boxed copies of WoW but told you to use the digital download because they were too busy to contact a company and get the actual discs made.  Your dislike for discs is a valid opinion about them, but has no bearing on whether or not a company should actually ship release discs to customers that paid for them.

 

Rednecksith

I love this game so much. All the forum drama it creates truly is an amazing spectacle of entertainment.

More on topic, I agree with those above whom have stated that this very well may be the worst post by a community manager in the history of MMOs, maybe even in the history of gaming.

"Sorry guys, we're too busy to give you the product you paid for."

Wow, just... wow. Another fine example of how things work over there in Starvault-Land I suppose. Can't wait to see what other pearls of wisdom the CMs/Devs have for us regarding this issue.

*grabs popcorn*

cirsyndic

Everybody forgets all too quickly about the sandbox book. Or was it sandbox game manual?

kastrix

Originally posted by cirsyndic

Everybody forgets all too quickly about the sandbox book. Or was it sandbox game manual?

you mean the ART book witch it said exactly how many pages had pictures and how many of them where for notes. Tbh i have been much more dissapointed by other "special editions" witch iv'e payed even more for but i agree the mo one isn't the best. But anyways, you bought a dvd with the game, you got a dvd with the game. I still dont see a problem. Iv'e got alot of games witch are "outdated" in their dvds

 

One question. if you buy the boxed version today do you get the lastest game verion of the game?

Slapshot1188

Originally posted by kastrix

you mean the ART book witch it said exactly how many pages had pictures and how many of them where for notes. Tbh i have been much more dissapointed by other "special editions" witch iv'e payed even more for but i agree the mo one isn't the best. But anyways, you bought a dvd with the game, you got a dvd with the game. I still dont see a problem. Iv'e got alot of games witch are "outdated" in their dvds

 

One question. if you buy the boxed version today do you get the lastest game verion of the game?

The beta version they sent out could not even be used to install the beta version of the game for the first month or two.  I actually  have the beta disc in my posession. I decided to try and actually use it to install the game while writing this response.  Guess what.  It doesn't work.  First it installed 3-4 GB of old stuff.  Then when you run the "Mortal Beta Launcher" it tries to update but cannot:

 

 

 

 

Note the way the directories are spelled above.  It defaulted to install in a Start Vault directory!

 

Anyhow, back to our story:

After the outcry when the discs were recieved, the company realized this was unacceptable, and promised that these were only beta discs and that they would send the real discs at launch.  THEY made that promise and the links are readilly available to prove that they made that promise.   It's now going on one year since release and their CM has claimed that they were just too busy to contact a company and have the discs made.

 

THAT my friend is the difference between your theoretical "every other company" and StarVault.

cirsyndic

Originally posted by kastrix

Originally posted by cirsyndic

Everybody forgets all too quickly about the sandbox book. Or was it sandbox game manual?

you mean the ART book witch it said exactly how many pages had pictures and how many of them where for notes. Tbh i have been much more dissapointed by other "special editions" witch iv'e payed even more for but i agree the mo one isn't the best. But anyways, you bought a dvd with the game, you got a dvd with the game. I still dont see a problem. Iv'e got alot of games witch are "outdated" in their dvds

 

One question. if you buy the boxed version today do you get the lastest game verion of the game?

 

If you pay for a box with 2 CD/DVD slots, and you only get 1 CD/DVD slot, and when you ask about it they tell you that you will receive the 'release' client when the game releases... Wouldn't you kinda EXPECT the CD/DVD to arrive on release/shortly after?

As for the "art book", there is more art in public bathrooms then there was in that book. 10 pages of nothing for 1 page of "art" if memory serves.

Slapshot1188

Surprisingly, or not... the Community Manager never updated his response.  He simply deleted his old one (or was told to by Henrick) and went on his merry way as though nothing happened.

 

I would be VEEEERY cautious about giving money to a company that has yet to ship the promised "release discs" 10 months after release.  Particularly when the only reasons I have seen are that they were "too busy" and didn't want to disappoint their customers.

Slapshot1188

Thread linked from MO forums is closed.. saying the question was answered.. which is wasn't.  The question was whether or not Starvault would honor their promise to send out the new "release" DVDs.  Instead, they copy a response from someone who is NOT a SV employee saying you can use your old discs (which is a lie as proved a few posts above http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4177255 ).  The "Community Manager" never even reposted his deleted response,

 

I suppose this is them trying to say "No we lied and will not be sending out any release discs" without actually saying the words...

 

 

Today, 15:51

#49 (permalink)

Talwin Lead Community Moderator     Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Your Profile

Quote: Originally Posted by Paratus The old shipped disc will patch up to the recent version, too. The download size in patches, doing so, will be close to what a fresh install would need. This is how it goes for MMO's that have very frequent patches. Discs work well for games like WoW because the majority of the content updates are in expansions that you see only once every year or two. Because of this they're viable, although when the game is overhauled often like MO is that data is quickly outdated. TL;DR: You CAN still use that old disc.. if you have a thing for discs, go for it. I believe this answers the question. Closed. __________________

 

I really wonder if the discs they are selling TODAY are still the beta discs from Dec 2009/January 2010.  It would not surprise me in the least.

 

Edit to add:  Lest some still doubt here is a screenshot of my running the Mortal Online Launcher installed from the beta disc against the background of this very post to show it is current.

 

Talonsin

I think this game and StarVault are a joke and when I watch videos of the game I am still amazed that anyone plays it but...

 

The only official wording used for your argument is:

b) everybody who wants a version of the release client delivered again will get the option to do so once we release the game.

 

The trouble with this is, it does NOT say a customer is entitled to a DVD, it says THE OPTION to do so will be available and the option of a digital doanload is still an option.  As much as I think this game is weak beyond anything I have ever seen and that those of you who pay a sub fee for it are out of your mind, the issue of getting new DVD's is a weak point at best.

Slapshot1188

Originally posted by Talonsin

I think this game and StarVault are a joke and when I watch videos of the game I am still amazed that anyone plays it but...

 

The only official wording used for your argument is:

b) everybody who wants a version of the release client delivered again will get the option to do so once we release the game.

 

The trouble with this is, it does NOT say a customer is entitled to a DVD, it says THE OPTION to do so will be available and the option of a digital doanload is still an option.  As much as I think this game is weak beyond anything I have ever seen and that those of you who pay a sub fee for it are out of your mind, the issue of getting new DVD's is a weak point at best.

 There are a half dozen posts that say new DVDs will be sent out at release.  There is even a second one linked in that thread which is from the Lead Moderator stating:

They have said they would ship the Discs out early, and at release send a copy of the game that it is at release, free of charge for the person who bought the boxes.

 

Regardless though.  Even assuming that was the case...  Why would the Community Manager not just SAY so? Why post a response saying they couldnt send the discs out because they were too busy?  Then delete that post.. and never respond again?   Why not just be honest and say "No discs will be shipped"?  To me it's not the disc that is the issue so much as the continued pattern of dishonesty (at worst) or misleading statements (at best).