Piracy-users get better support !!!

moe182

Three (!!!) weeks ago I wrote an email to the support! Still NO answer!!!

It can't be right, that piracy-users play the latest version, while people who bought the game can't update!!!
(Forum says I'm note the only one!)

I've installed both Launcher of WinXP 32bit, but both crash on trying to update. Standalone does direktly after start, Beamdog-starter does when i click on "update".
So I can play with starting direktly ofer baldur.exe, but I want the update and future-updates!!!
Any suggestions?
Un- and Re-Installed both several times, no firewall aktive, ...
By the way: Standalone-Launcher did very well at beginning and for the first update. Since 2nd its fucks up (before update).

GIVE UPDATES FREE FOR DOWNLOAD !!!!
GIVE UPDATES FREE FOR DOWNLOAD !!!!
GIVE UPDATES FREE FOR DOWNLOAD !!!!

valky

Then why don't you get a pirated version or update instead? It's borderline legitimate as you own the real copy or in this case the purchase contract.

Having a WinXP system up and running nowadays is what a pirate really is afraid off! - no offense meant! :>

moe182

Sylvus_Moonbow said:

Those who download a pirated version, are stuck with the release version the game was cracked from - first release version - and receive no further updates.

They are not playing v1.0.2011.

the release-group SKIDROW released the updated version 2 days after the update... Expert!

moe182

valky said:

Then why don't you get a pirated version or update instead? It's borderline legitimate as you own the real copy or in this case the purchase contract.

Because I - WHEN BeamDog is FINALY doing what they were sayin when I bought the the game - want the "real" multiplayer-mode of future updates...

Troodon80

Sylvus_Moonbow said:

They are not playing v1.0.2011.

After doing a quick Google search for BG:EE updates by some of the more well-known groups, it seems they are playing v1.0.2011. Whether or not that is accurate would require downloading it, and I'm not going to be the one to do that. The entire update is linked at ~673MB.

However - RE: Piracy-users get better support:

To say that they are getting better support is silly. I wouldn't advise downloading a pirate/cracked copy since (aside from the stigma), if nothing else, you certainly won't get any support if something is wrong - either from the community or the devs, due to the fact that the problem may well be in the crack itself and might not even affect legitimate copies. You certainly needn't bother uploading any crash dumps. Both of which are big problems for those with cracked copies if they do happen upon a game breaking bug. In other words, you actually get zero support if something is wrong since those groups generally don't fix bugs.

Edit: I would suggest being patient since they are probably going through a backlog after the break.

moe182

@

Troodon80 said:

Fact 1: Piracy-Users have the update, I don't.
Fact 2: I'm sick of being patient!!!
I was when they said they would release it a few months later just days before the release should be.
I was when the release was buggy.
I was when it has not the promised features (multiplayer!).
I was, I was, I was....

BUT now they not even answer my emails to the support! Is that why I should buy the game instead of just copy it???

Dee

Okay, before this thread gets so out of hand that I need to start issuing warnings and the like, let's steer the conversation away from "Pirates are getting a better product" and towards "Why haven't I heard from support", since that seems to be what the original post was about.

And yes, you'll have to be patient. Right now their support staff is comprised of their development team, who are just as busy fixing bugs as responding to support tickets. And then they took a much-needed holiday break. If you still haven't received a response in the next few days, send them another email to remind them that you're still having issues.

I will say this only once in this thread: Bugs are not a legitimate excuse to steal (pirate) this or any other game. Promoting piracy on these forums will earn you a swift ticket out of here, which will make it rather more difficult to get help for your issues.

I do hope that the issue is resolved soon. In the mean-time, try to be patient just a little while longer.

Troodon80

And piracy-users may well have bugs that legitimate-users don't have, and won't be able to get support for from the devs. That's not a plus point.

The lack of e-mail response is probably more to do with the holiday break, and they are entitled to a little free time. If you feel you are being ignored, try tagging one of the admins and/or send them off a PM to jog their memory. Try not to promote piracy (then again, I think it was Nathan who said it: if people are intent on pirating something, no one is really going to be able to convince them otherwise).

( @Nathan, @TrentOster, @PhillipDaigle, @CameronTofer, @ScottBrooks, @Coriander, etc. )

As for the launcher issue, I think there was an issue reported some time ago about crashes. Have you tried downloading the latest installer version from the purchase page?

Edit: Odd how Nathan didn't tag properly.

bigdogchris

Some people here know a little too much about the pirated version of BG:EE.

Please support the game by purchasing a copy. This will help fund future titles beyond BG2:EE. Beamdog, unfortunately, does not have a money tree to pick from.

Objulen

bigdogchris said:

Some people here know a little too much about the pirated version of BG:EE.

Please support the game by purchasing a copy. This will help fund future titles beyond BG2:EE. Beamdog, unfortunately, does not have a money tree to pick from.

What he said.

moe182

That's simply stunning.

NO word about the the 6-months-ago promised features! But accusing a BUYER to "know too much about piraracy"...
Priceless support !

Kunzinator

I think some people are a little too biased against piracy, I pirated the game to check it out and make sure it worked, to see if it was worth buying, etc. then after evaluating it I went out and bought the game when I had the spare cash to do so. Most people who pirate games don't do it because they are trying to screw the devs, they do it because they are poor. I pirate games that I want if I can't afford them at the time and then when I get the money I pay for them to show support to the devs.

Dee

@Kunzinator
I think you'll find that the reason people are biased against piracy is because it's illegal, and because most of the people who pirate games have no intention of purchasing the game legitimately, which creates an unfair situation where the developer isn't paid for the work that they did.

It's not a question of whether you can afford it or not; if you can't afford it, or if you don't like it enough to buy it, then you shouldn't play it.

@moe182
I was trying to avoid a situation where this thread needs to be closed because it starts to turn into a thread about piracy, which seems inevitable at this point.

This issue is non-negotiable. I'm not going to allow promotion of piracy on these forums. If that's what this thread is about, then we're going to have a problem.

Kunzinator

Should have acknowledge that nagging do not post feeling, I will shut my trap To get back on topic my game is updated no problem on Windows 8

Dee

@moe182
And to answer your question about multiplayer, I can tell you that they're working on it, but I can't give you specific dates on when the fixes/enhancements will be released. We seem to be waiting on Apple approval, which I think everyone knows at this point can be somewhat less than punctual.

moe182

@Aosaw
Didn't want to start a discussion about piracy as well.

It's just a Problem with software-devs in general. No fu**in other industrie could or would treat their custumers like they do. Ever bought a cheeseburger and they said, "cheese comes in 2 days"? Ever bought a car and they said, "front window will be delivered in 3 weeks"???

That's just not acceptable! In my oppinion....

Dee

That's understandable, and you're definitely not the only one who was frustrated by it. The multiplayer support was one of the major selling points for a lot of people, and when it wasn't ready at release it was unsurprisingly one of the first things people noticed.

TrentOster

Multiplayer turned out to be much worse than we estimated. We had allocated some time in the schedule and that time was not sufficient. We have allocated a lot more time since ship.

-Trent

TrentOster

@moel182 I think software is a little more complex than a cheeseburger. Baldur's Gate has close to one million lines of code and over one million words of dialogue. There is no way to assembly-line produce that content. All we can do is try and manage the chaos as those million lines of code interact with each other to create new bugs.

We've backed of an announcing dates as we're having a hard time predicting accurately how long certain fixes will take. As our visibility improves, so will the sharing of planned dates.
-Trent

moe182

@TrentOster
Then don't sell it, when it's not ready !!! Again: NO other industry...

And BTW: And I think building a car is a little more complex than re-designing an old game. ;-)

ScarsUnseen

Wait. Are you complaining about BGEE or the software industry? Because if you are complaining about bugs in software as a general thing, then you're simply ignorant of just how different end user software is from practically every industry in existence. That's not an insult, but hopefully a correctable observation.

Forget cheeseburgers. Let's talk about cars, since you brought it up. Cars are sufficiently complex that I think that a comparison to software development is valid. Both are intended for end user operation, so there's similarities in design concerns as well. So why do cars require revision less often than software post-release? Well let's look at what you are actually designing each product for.

Cars are meant to be directly operated by people. While people do come with variations, for the most part the basic model is the same. Two eyes, two hands, two feet. That's what you have to work around. Due to laws in most places, people who don't match up with that description either are not allowed to operate cars, or must provide their own way of enhancing accessibility. So as long as a car can be operated by a person with two hands, feet and eyes(with some adjustability for height and limb length), you've pretty much accounted for all user cases. All other concerns can be tested for in house, and in fact must be according to law(for safety reasons). If the law did not demand it, you can bet you'd see less refined products and more deathtraps on the road.

Software is different. You don't directly operate software. I've seen people play a vinyl album manually with a needle(though at very low volume), but I've yet to see anyone pick up an optical disc and access the data on it directly. So we use an intermediary. Well actually we use several layers of interdependent intermediaries. Operating system, drivers, a near endless possibilities of hardware configurations... a bit more variation than what a car manufacturer has to deal with(let alone a cheeseburger assembler). So software becomes more complex to design for right there, and accounting for 100% of all user cases just is not possible.

Then too does the complexity of a task grow with the size and scope of a software project. I can write a program that will say "hello world" and be fairly certain that it will work every time someone executes it. As I added more functionality, that certainty would grow less. When you get to the level of interaction possibilities that a video game has, certainty fades to nonexistent. You simply cannot account for every possible action or combination of actions a player might take, and you certainly cannot test for them all, even with a large dedicated QA team(which Beamdog lacks).

People still run into bugs and find exploits in World of Warcraft, a game created and run by a company with practically endless resources. Same applies to Call of Duty. BGEE is made by a small team with a limited budget. And we just came out of the holiday season, so they took a break(well earned, IMO). To expect instant resolution to one's issue in that situation is unrealistic. It may be a disappointment, and it may be frustrating, but at least they are working on issues and have a good attitude about it. Larger teams and bigger budgets certainly don't guarantee better support. Just try contacting EA support for proof of that.

moe182

In german we say "bla bla bla blub" for what may be in english "all about nothing"... Ok, software is diffrent from cars, because hardware.

Again, it's not about a few bugs, that would be alright. They were selling a product. And they got the money a long time before they deliver. And they delayed. Ok. But they were selling the product with promises they don't deliver. Till now.
I know no western (which I meen united states, canada and european union) state, where this corresponds to the law.

In germany we say "Wo kein Kläger, da kein Richter" ... for what may be in english ... F**k YOU!

Cerevant

Some suggestions for getting your problem solved:

1) Getting angry, accusing, and insulting will decrease your chances of finding a solution, not increase them. I've observed this as a cultural difference between North America and parts of Europe - language that might be considered "banter" or "spirited debate" to Europeans can be considered deeply insulting to North Americans.

2) Have you read the posts and tried any of the suggestions in the Known Downloader Issues thread?

3) You may want to post a description of your problem in that thread, since new threads about downloader issues might be overlooked by those interested in that issue. The lead programmer for the launcher was participating in that thread, so if you post there he might get involved.

4) Try disabling peer-to-peer (that was a solution proposed by some in the thread above). The following works for disabling it for the beamdog client:
* Run regedit
* Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BeamDog\Player\1.0 and set AllowUploading to 0

Sorry for your frustration, and good luck!