That's fine and dandy for you, but there are people that have already paid for something that doesn't work right.
I'm sure at this point it's quite reasonable to ask for a refund. If you play on Mac, you can then repurchase the game through the Beamdog website, or GOG, or Steam, all of which have gotten the update already if I'm not mistaken. iPad users are out of luck, it would seem.
I would very much like to do what you're suggesting. But how can I actually get a refund from the app store? Or do I have to ask someone at Beamdog? @Dee ?
Crap. BGII 1.3 Update was Rejected some UIFileSharingEnabled key issue. We fix, then re-submit.
Ok, a technical problem. Well then I'm looking forward to play a UIFileSharingEnabled key issue-free version in 2 weeks, whereas you other people have to deal with that!
Beam Dog pretty much the same, except passed a little of the blame onto Apple, by saying they have no way of knowing who actually bought the game through them.
It's still showing up as 1.2 in the App Store, and I cant' download it onto my phone. What gives?
It's still stuck at version 1.2. After 14+ months, we still don't have a 1.3 patch for it, and that means it does not work on iPhones. What gives is that Apple changed their guidelines and apparently nobody bothered to read the changes or just didn't notice them.
We here at Beamdog are truly and profoundly sorry that so many of you have been frustrated and disappointed with your App Store purchases. We recognize that our partnership with the App Store has been, for too many of you, subpar at best. We’re continually striving to improve all aspects of our company, and we promise you we’ll work with Apple to make your experience better in the future. That said, if you're still not happy with your purchase, please get in touch with us, and we'll do everything we can to make it right.
Wow! So much traffic today! Just want to say a big thank you to @Dee for bringing us the information as soon as possible - it may not be the result we wanted, but I'm pretty sure that goes for BeamDog folks (and then some!) too.
It does make the wait considerably more bearable knowing I should not spend the next two weeks or so checking the app store several times a day, reinforcing disappointment.
This was always my concern - that it was so long since you sent BG2EE through the app store, the acceptance rules were bound to have changed, but we had no idea where the axe might fall (2 OS releases on Mac, and counting. I think just the one on iOS so far...)
I don't know how the review process works, but do they do a proper review and let you know everything that needs fixing? Or find the first thing to fail and bounce it right back, so you never know how many iterations may be needed?
I'm on the road most of Feb, so hopefully when I land back in March the patch will just be waiting for me - not so easy for others here I know. My only concern is that last March it was decided we should skip the current patch and wait for the next one, and I am worried that I come back patchless, and start hearing discussion of v1.4. Can you give us any assurance that you will the 1.3 release through to completion, before dropping Mac development to focus on a 1.4 patch?
Essentially, Apple will reject a patch if the Devs enable the UIFileSharingEnabled key in the Info.plist, but they do not actually make it functional. If that's what occurred here, it sounds like an oversight.
This was always my concern - that it was so long since you sent BG2EE through the app store, the acceptance rules were bound to have changed, but we had no idea where the axe might fall (2 OS releases on Mac, and counting. I think just the one on iOS so far...)
This is a fantastic point and a solid argument for slightly faster patch cycles (not a bunch of hot fixes that lead to new bugs, but maybe 9 months would be better).
Oh please Dee, at least do us the courtesy of giving your customers some transparency. How long will this fix take? When will the resubmission take place? What was the turnaround time for this latest rejected submission?
Such a statement of the obvious does Beamdog no favours at all
@Dee I think the decent thing to do in situations like this is to give those customers who have purchased the game through the app store access to your own up-to-date version of the game through the Beamdog website.
I know the difficulty is figuring out who actually purchased the game through the app store as you might not have access to that data, but maybe you could contact Apple to find a solution, or alternatively, ask for some manner of confirmation from customers who want to get access. You know, receipts and such.
And, of course, keep everyone in the know of what's happening and how Beamdog is trying to resolve the issue.
P.S.: I'm not one of those affected as I do not own a Mac or an iPad, these are just mere suggestions on my part.
@LucianNailor -If Dee just got the rejection notice on Friday and posted here straight away, it is unlikely he will know how long a patch will take. Hopefully it is something that can be turned around quickly, but until you jump into the code, you never know for sure. The Apple submission process is also not a guaranteed response time, but seems to take around 10 business days at the moment (following BG progress). That fluctuates up and down depending on how many other folks are also filing new products and patches for the stores.
So my guess is don't expect to see an update on the store in less than 2 weeks, unless we get really lucky with the Apple timeline. It may be longer if, on investigation, the bug proves tricky to solve.
I think they should test everything and make a list. Not just take the first error they see and send it back. Thats very lazy and sloppy. This is not the Apple I know and pay good money for using their products.
I'm surprised Beamdog hasn't offered us Apple Store customers a free download from their (Beamdog's) site. They've already gotten our money and it would cost them nothing and just about give us what we want. Plus, then those of us who complain publicly would probably stop.
(That's not why Beamdog should do it — they should do it because customer support matters and they've left us hanging in that regard for over a year.)
I think the decent thing to do in situations like this is to give those customers who have purchased the game through the app store access to your own up-to-date version of the game through the Beamdog website.
I'm surprised Beamdog hasn't offered us Apple Store customers a free download from their (Beamdog's) site. They've already gotten our money and it would cost them nothing and just about give us what we want.
Agree x 1,000,000,000. It is 2015. Human beings have put robots on Mars and performed face transplants. I am 100% sure there is a reliable way to determine who bought what where. Offering us some form of replacement (for any and all MAS purchases, because I vote no confidence at this point) would indeed be the magnanimous choice. I cringed to see IWD:EE finally on the MAS yesterday, thinking of all the oblivious souls it might seduce. Come on, Beamdog: be the company we've always hoped you were.
That really only helps App Store users if they're playing on a computer. iOS users would be left out in the cold again.
This is correct, but I don't think it matters. The problem for iOS users is that without the Apple Store there is no way at all to get you the patched app. The problem for Mac users is different, and in my opinion even more vexing (but I can understand disagreeing with that last part): there IS a way to get us the patched game, but even though patches have existed for 14 months now they haven't gotten them to us. (Recall that with the last patch, they eventually admitted that it "seem[ed]" that it wasn't ever submitted to the Apple Store at all; having discovered that omission, their fix was to announce that they wouldn't fix it until 1.3 was written.) Neither group can run the app (iOS users at all; Mac users, only a version that is so buggy that it effectively doesn't work), but they have a trivial way to fix it for Mac users, and there is no reason not to do it.
I understand the sentiment of 'just giving MAS store customers' access to the BeamDog client, but I don't think it is that simple - Apple, not BeamDog, have those customer records. Apple have no interest in releasing those records, as in the grand scheme of all things Apple, BeamDog, and BG2 in particular, are very small fry. Making this happen, if it can happen at all, is going to take resources I would rather see focused on just getting the patch submitted and working. I suspect, given the lack of novelty in fixing and submitting a patch, that will still be the fastest way to get the product in our hands, frustrating as it seems.
Frankly, that's BS. Yes, I agree that it might require work to work up a complete list; if Apple doesn't cooperate it might not even be possible. But it is very little work to give a download link to anyone who shows proof of purchase on the Apple Store. Given that they have certainly violated the laws of several states (which impose an implied warranty of fitness for every product) and are therefore liable to be sued if they keep this up, and more importantly, given that they have available to them a straightforward way to fix the problem for anyone who requests it, it would definitely be both the honorable and the prudent thing to do.
I have no idea what the sales numbers of BG2EE are on MAS, or what typical MAS sales numbers are, so I'm going to pluck a round figure out of thin air. Let's assume the number of MAS sales is around 1000 (it could be much higher, or significantly lower). BeamDog have no easy or automated way way to validate a MAS purchase, so first they are going to have to decide what constitutes proof, then manually process each case. Hopefully setting up the BeamDog account for each such customer is something the customer can take care of, as part of the application process for the rerouted patch. So discounting management time, planning, and implementing this policy, and assuming that a reasonably easy proof of purchase can be established, let's assume 6 minutes of work per transaction, manually processing each case. I pick six minutes because it is generally tough to complete any transaction in less than 5-10 minutes, and it gives a nice round figure - 100 hours, or 2 1/2 man weeks. Do note the not insignificant overhead I already discounted above. If this process involves coding up any automated systems, there is application developer and QA time on that as well coming from other teams, in addition to this pure admin task.
In practice, it would probably take significantly less time, as I suspect the large majority of MAS customers do not frequent this forum, and without the list of known customers from Apple, it is not easy to contact them and let them know such a scheme is in operation. So let's factor in additional overhead for publicizing the scheme and trying to reach all customers.
We have also ignored various accounting rules - are those 'patches' technically new sales, as you are obtaining a second copy of the product via a different source? How does that affect the books? Someone has to spend time figuring that out and making sure it shows up correctly in the audited accounts.
And all of this does nothing for the iOS customers.
And I hate to say it, but after all the hassle simply releasing a patch that is essentially producing game code, their main line of business, how confident are you that BeamDog could pull off something quite different like this quickly, efficiently, and correctly?
Compare this to the overhead of just fixing the patch, which by current accounts, has an Apple objection to a single thing. With luck that can be patched and QAed within a day, and sent on its merry way. The problem is 2 weeks of Apple time that we can do nothing about - the vast majority of patch delay is down to Apple and their policies, and not BeamDog (although you might argue BeamDog could have done a better job researching how changes to policy might have affected the release).
I agree this is a pretty awful state of affairs at the moment, and has been for some time, but jumping ship is likely to delay, rather than speed, the patch even more.
Surely, Apple keeps tracks of who buys what and what has been bought. Can't be harder then copying and pasting the email. Reply to this email to get free copy from Beam Dog to download game from them. Said replied email is automatically forwarded to Beam Dog who then takes said email account and and adds game to account.
This is not a suggestion or anything of that nature. Just a "not as hard as you imagine" scenario.
Edit:
GreenWarlock, you're also assuming they don't "simply forget" to upload it to Apple again.
Of course Apple knows, but as has been said, they're likely in no rush to reveal their customer list to anyone, much less one of the many thousands of app developers. That list is worth an obscene amount of money.
Comments
Apple said too bad, so sad.
Beam Dog pretty much the same, except passed a little of the blame onto Apple, by saying they have no way of knowing who actually bought the game through them.
We here at Beamdog are truly and profoundly sorry that so many of you have been frustrated and disappointed with your App Store purchases. We recognize that our partnership with the App Store has been, for too many of you, subpar at best. We’re continually striving to improve all aspects of our company, and we promise you we’ll work with Apple to make your experience better in the future. That said, if you're still not happy with your purchase, please get in touch with us, and we'll do everything we can to make it right.
Sincerely,
The devs”
April fools.
It does make the wait considerably more bearable knowing I should not spend the next two weeks or so checking the app store several times a day, reinforcing disappointment.
This was always my concern - that it was so long since you sent BG2EE through the app store, the acceptance rules were bound to have changed, but we had no idea where the axe might fall (2 OS releases on Mac, and counting. I think just the one on iOS so far...)
I don't know how the review process works, but do they do a proper review and let you know everything that needs fixing? Or find the first thing to fail and bounce it right back, so you never know how many iterations may be needed?
I'm on the road most of Feb, so hopefully when I land back in March the patch will just be waiting for me - not so easy for others here I know. My only concern is that last March it was decided we should skip the current patch and wait for the next one, and I am worried that I come back patchless, and start hearing discussion of v1.4. Can you give us any assurance that you will the 1.3 release through to completion, before dropping Mac development to focus on a 1.4 patch?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10767517/rejected-by-uifilesharingenabled-key-set-to-true
Essentially, Apple will reject a patch if the Devs enable the UIFileSharingEnabled key in the Info.plist, but they do not actually make it functional. If that's what occurred here, it sounds like an oversight.
Such a statement of the obvious does Beamdog no favours at all
I know the difficulty is figuring out who actually purchased the game through the app store as you might not have access to that data, but maybe you could contact Apple to find a solution, or alternatively, ask for some manner of confirmation from customers who want to get access. You know, receipts and such.
And, of course, keep everyone in the know of what's happening and how Beamdog is trying to resolve the issue.
P.S.: I'm not one of those affected as I do not own a Mac or an iPad, these are just mere suggestions on my part.
So my guess is don't expect to see an update on the store in less than 2 weeks, unless we get really lucky with the Apple timeline. It may be longer if, on investigation, the bug proves tricky to solve.
(That's not why Beamdog should do it — they should do it because customer support matters and they've left us hanging in that regard for over a year.)
In practice, it would probably take significantly less time, as I suspect the large majority of MAS customers do not frequent this forum, and without the list of known customers from Apple, it is not easy to contact them and let them know such a scheme is in operation. So let's factor in additional overhead for publicizing the scheme and trying to reach all customers.
We have also ignored various accounting rules - are those 'patches' technically new sales, as you are obtaining a second copy of the product via a different source? How does that affect the books? Someone has to spend time figuring that out and making sure it shows up correctly in the audited accounts.
And all of this does nothing for the iOS customers.
And I hate to say it, but after all the hassle simply releasing a patch that is essentially producing game code, their main line of business, how confident are you that BeamDog could pull off something quite different like this quickly, efficiently, and correctly?
Compare this to the overhead of just fixing the patch, which by current accounts, has an Apple objection to a single thing. With luck that can be patched and QAed within a day, and sent on its merry way. The problem is 2 weeks of Apple time that we can do nothing about - the vast majority of patch delay is down to Apple and their policies, and not BeamDog (although you might argue BeamDog could have done a better job researching how changes to policy might have affected the release).
I agree this is a pretty awful state of affairs at the moment, and has been for some time, but jumping ship is likely to delay, rather than speed, the patch even more.
This is not a suggestion or anything of that nature. Just a "not as hard as you imagine" scenario.
Edit:
GreenWarlock, you're also assuming they don't "simply forget" to upload it to Apple again.