A problem happened with certain links between Google Play and our store pages not working. Now we have to do a whole new build/submission to get the games back up. This is a bit difficult at the moment (for the same reason the 2.6 patch has been delayed). Right at this moment I'm afraid it will take more than a few weeks.
More than a few weeks = end of the month earliest.
Figuring we do not even know why 2.6 is delayed, this is probably all the information that is going to be made available from Beamdog.
Silver lining, since they broke something here it should light a fire under thier ass to fix it and get out 2.6 at the same time.
A problem happened with certain links between Google Play and our store pages not working. Now we have to do a whole new build/submission to get the games back up. This is a bit difficult at the moment (for the same reason the 2.6 patch has been delayed). Right at this moment I'm afraid it will take more than a few weeks.
More than a few weeks = end of the month earliest.
Figuring we do not even know why 2.6 is delayed, this is probably all the information that is going to be made available from Beamdog.
Silver lining, since they broke something here it should light a fire under thier ass to fix it and get out 2.6 at the same time.
Its not lighting a fire though. Support have no answers and the devs are silent on it.
Beamdog Support has no information on it and the Dev's are not responding to concerns in this thread. The lack of communication from Beamdog is not good. Beamdog need to be held accountable for this and need to provide us with more information.
As Beamdog is silent on it, I want to fill the void with my speculations. The only software developer who can make code changes went on a maternity leave, so Beamdog is waiting for her to come back when her child is 1 year old. Till then, nobody in Beamdog is able to update links in a codebase guys, tough luck.
We've been honest about the issue, and will continue to be honest. The previous reply was 6 days ago. The team was at PAX East at that moment, so further details couldn't be provided. Now they have returned to Edmonton, and I plan to post an update today, after hearing back from Luke and Trent.
My local backup copy does not let me play as well!! The app is DRM and expects a Google Play link?! I backed up the apk and the obb files (in the past they worked fine) and now the app starts and says it's connecting to the internet and looking for resources to download, and it keeps on saying that forever...
Perhaps Beamdog should offer their products on GOG.com? Would be really great...
And in case of further problems, perhaps we could send our Google Play receipts to Beamdog and get access to all app versions on a cloud drive for us to download and archive WITHOUT DRM!
Then offer on GOG.com as well and let us do the same, for the sake of us all.
I really appreciated all the wonderful work of porting these Classics to our beloved Android OS, I hope Android OS will be supported in the future.
Heads up for what you've told us nothing, who cares who's at pax east? Excuse's, excuses. So what kind of compensation will we receive? since you're holding our purchased goods and our money. I'd be happy with a refund this is a joke. Can you actually get someone with a bit of clout to reply and honestly tell us what's going on and not take nearly a week this time please, no offence Julius you're just the guy they put in the firing line bud
Having a go isn't going to speed things up. I get that most games on the play store are silly little time wasters so you are having a hard time coping without your BG2 and IWD.
Julius, thank you for letting us know what is going on. It would be appreciated if you or a colleague could keep us informed as the team work through this issue. A small post every couple of days even if it is just to say there is no new info at that time would be gratefully recieved by myself and hopefully some of the less tightly wound gamers.
We're currently working to resolve the issue with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition being removed from the Google Play store. The issue is related to a condition in Google Play that now requires in-game privacy policies, rather than allowing apps to link to privacy policies. We're building an update that will make sure these games comply with the in-game privacy policy, but this may take some time. We apologize for the inconvenience this has created for our Google Play customers. Our goal is to get these games back into your library as soon as possible.
If you have downloaded the games you should still have access to them. If you have not downloaded the games, they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved. Those who wish to seek refunds will need to request this through Google Play support.
We'll keep you posted about updates as soon as we can. In the meantime, we thank you for your feedback and understanding.
Thanks for tagging me Julius. I'm not even effected by this, I was just talking nonsense. I'm a PC user exclusively. Though I want to say, openness is at least as much appreciated as honesty. So, I appreciate this explanation.
.More technical red tape brought to you by Google. Thank you for the update, Julius. I'll be grinding through Neverwinter for a while it seems.
This does not sound like red tape, but like a very reasonable policy by Google. The issue with putting it behind a link, is that the link might break in the future and that Google can't review the policy (as the contents behind the link might be changed without notice).
The question is whether Google announced this policy change in advance; one would certainly expect and hope so.
@JuliusBorisov Just for clarity: why does this issue not affect the other four products (BG:EE, SoD, PST:EE anders NWN:EE)?
I wondered that myself and asked it as well. Actually, it might affect them, there's no guarantee it won't. The executive team has been in constant talks with Google, though, so there's hope the required update will happen first.
@pirrie I live in the real world, I'd deleted iwd and bg2 don't fit on my tab anyways. Listen and try to envision you buy trainers from a local clothing store, 2 weeks later the store come and take your trainers back without your permission and can't really be arsed to explain why, also they don't refund you. This my friend is robbery just cus it's virtual it doesn't count? Lol. Is this how used to takING crap you have become as consumers? I hope I never become so passive. It's the principle, I'm no mug
@pirrie I live in the real world, I'd deleted iwd and bg2 don't fit on my tab anyways. Listen and try to envision you buy trainers from a local clothing store, 2 weeks later the store come and take your trainers back without your permission and can't really be arsed to explain why, also they don't refund you. This my friend is robbery just cus it's virtual it doesn't count? Lol. Is this how used to takING crap you have become as consumers? I hope I never become so passive. It's the principle, I'm no mug
It's a bit premature to be accusing anyone of a crime. Yes, it's annoying, but unless or until it is clear that the games are being permanently delisted, it's just that - an annoyance. Unfortunately, it's part of what we gave up when we moved from CD/DVD to downloads.
I love these games as much as anyone else, and I have been incredibly happy to get to play them again on my tablet (which I carry more often than my PC). I would feel pretty let down having them jerked away again, especially after shelling out for the trilogy, but I'm willing to cut Beamdog some slack for now since both Google and Apple have been getting more stringent with their privacy policies.
it's just that - an annoyance. Unfortunately, it's part of what we gave up when we moved from CD/DVD to downloads.
I'm not so sure that's a direct connection though, there are plenty of online sellers that do not have such requirements. The great thing about android is the ability to circumvent the play store altogether. We might not have a physical disc anymore but I'd argue we retain the same rights over our purchases.
@pirrie I live in the real world, I'd deleted iwd and bg2 don't fit on my tab anyways. Listen and try to envision you buy trainers from a local clothing store, 2 weeks later the store come and take your trainers back without your permission and can't really be arsed to explain why, also they don't refund you. This my friend is robbery just cus it's virtual it doesn't count? Lol. Is this how used to takING crap you have become as consumers? I hope I never become so passive. It's the principle, I'm no mug
Not sure why you directed that comment at me, but in the "real" world I wouldn't use trainers as an analogy. Your analogy states that as you removed the software to make space for other software you also discarded your trainers for different trainers. Now you expect to walk into the shop where you bought the first trainers and take another pair without paying for them.
You've got until the games are re-instated to come up with another, more fitting analogy. After then I will not be frequenting this specific post. Plenty of time for you.
@pirrie I live in the real world, I'd deleted iwd and bg2 don't fit on my tab anyways. Listen and try to envision you buy trainers from a local clothing store, 2 weeks later the store come and take your trainers back without your permission and can't really be arsed to explain why, also they don't refund you. This my friend is robbery just cus it's virtual it doesn't count? Lol. Is this how used to takING crap you have become as consumers? I hope I never become so passive. It's the principle, I'm no mug
How about you think of it like a car instead, that has a safety recall and it needs to be in shop to be fixed for a couple of weeks before you can drive it on the road again.
It’s not like you’re never going to get the product back like your scenario suggests.
@JuliusBorisov Thank you for tagging me as well, sir. Like @Ludwig_II, I am also currently unaffected by this. I play all my games on my desktop PC, but I am considering purchasing all the Infinity Engine titles and NWN:EE for my mobile device after Beamdog and Google have updated their policies. If anything, it would provide your company more revenue (what little it may be) to spend on broad bug-fixing. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
@pirrie it seemed like your comment was aimed at me apologies if it wasn't , I would prefer put trainers into loft to make more storage in wardrobe analogy though. If my tablet had infinite storage like a magic bag of holding I wouldn't have deleted it at all. To the guy who described the car scenario would you not expect a courtesy car? Or at least money for a bus pass for being put out?
@pirrie just read the last bit of your post, lol you for real? You're analogy made no sense bud. How am I trying to get anything free??? Delta gos post was a much better analogy. I'm not arguing with you mate it never ends arguing with fan boys no offence but you'll probs back these guys even if game doesn't return. Sorry if I've offended you as well not my intention just seems we have different opinions which isn't a bad thing. Peace neighbour and to you juliusborislov no offence meant in my posts.
@pirrie it seemed like your comment was aimed at me apologies if it wasn't , I would prefer put trainers into loft to make more storage in wardrobe analogy though. If my tablet had infinite storage like a magic bag of holding I wouldn't have deleted it at all. To the guy who described the car scenario would you not expect a courtesy car? Or at least money for a bus pass for being put out?
Fair enough. Would suggest if you ever get a new tablet to go for one that allows adoptive storage, which would mean avoiding Samsung unless you don't mind using a custom ROM.
Just in case you are unaware, adoptive storage is formatting the SD card so it can be used as internal storage. I believe it uses a format similar to Linux.
Comments
More than a few weeks = end of the month earliest.
Figuring we do not even know why 2.6 is delayed, this is probably all the information that is going to be made available from Beamdog.
Silver lining, since they broke something here it should light a fire under thier ass to fix it and get out 2.6 at the same time.
Its not lighting a fire though. Support have no answers and the devs are silent on it.
You can make a report at https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/contact/takedown
For the app link, Google said to direct to the Beamdog Google play page (https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=7181203960062069413&hl=en)
Beamdog Support has no information on it and the Dev's are not responding to concerns in this thread. The lack of communication from Beamdog is not good. Beamdog need to be held accountable for this and need to provide us with more information.
How is he being silent on it when the post I quoted was only a week old.
But go ahead and keep complaining I guess. It's not going to get you anything, except worked up over a first world problem.
Perhaps Beamdog should offer their products on GOG.com? Would be really great...
And in case of further problems, perhaps we could send our Google Play receipts to Beamdog and get access to all app versions on a cloud drive for us to download and archive WITHOUT DRM!
Then offer on GOG.com as well and let us do the same, for the sake of us all.
I really appreciated all the wonderful work of porting these Classics to our beloved Android OS, I hope Android OS will be supported in the future.
Heads up for what you've told us nothing, who cares who's at pax east? Excuse's, excuses. So what kind of compensation will we receive? since you're holding our purchased goods and our money. I'd be happy with a refund this is a joke. Can you actually get someone with a bit of clout to reply and honestly tell us what's going on and not take nearly a week this time please, no offence Julius you're just the guy they put in the firing line bud
Julius, thank you for letting us know what is going on. It would be appreciated if you or a colleague could keep us informed as the team work through this issue. A small post every couple of days even if it is just to say there is no new info at that time would be gratefully recieved by myself and hopefully some of the less tightly wound gamers.
We're currently working to resolve the issue with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition being removed from the Google Play store. The issue is related to a condition in Google Play that now requires in-game privacy policies, rather than allowing apps to link to privacy policies. We're building an update that will make sure these games comply with the in-game privacy policy, but this may take some time. We apologize for the inconvenience this has created for our Google Play customers. Our goal is to get these games back into your library as soon as possible.
If you have downloaded the games you should still have access to them. If you have not downloaded the games, they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved. Those who wish to seek refunds will need to request this through Google Play support.
We'll keep you posted about updates as soon as we can. In the meantime, we thank you for your feedback and understanding.
@Juro66 @ElysianEchoes @Prince_Raymond @Istrate @RodgerBiles @JANT19294 @Loster @deree @thomasop @Maurvir @shabadoo @Criminogenesis @Arvia @dacat @MarkovichIDN @Mscheepbouwer @Rathenau @Pirrie @deltago @Ludwig_II @przelucki_andrew @Zackel @kieranovks
This does not sound like red tape, but like a very reasonable policy by Google. The issue with putting it behind a link, is that the link might break in the future and that Google can't review the policy (as the contents behind the link might be changed without notice).
The question is whether Google announced this policy change in advance; one would certainly expect and hope so.
I wondered that myself and asked it as well. Actually, it might affect them, there's no guarantee it won't. The executive team has been in constant talks with Google, though, so there's hope the required update will happen first.
It's a bit premature to be accusing anyone of a crime. Yes, it's annoying, but unless or until it is clear that the games are being permanently delisted, it's just that - an annoyance. Unfortunately, it's part of what we gave up when we moved from CD/DVD to downloads.
I love these games as much as anyone else, and I have been incredibly happy to get to play them again on my tablet (which I carry more often than my PC). I would feel pretty let down having them jerked away again, especially after shelling out for the trilogy, but I'm willing to cut Beamdog some slack for now since both Google and Apple have been getting more stringent with their privacy policies.
Otherwise, I'd completely agree with you Maurvir.
Not sure why you directed that comment at me, but in the "real" world I wouldn't use trainers as an analogy. Your analogy states that as you removed the software to make space for other software you also discarded your trainers for different trainers. Now you expect to walk into the shop where you bought the first trainers and take another pair without paying for them.
You've got until the games are re-instated to come up with another, more fitting analogy. After then I will not be frequenting this specific post. Plenty of time for you.
How about you think of it like a car instead, that has a safety recall and it needs to be in shop to be fixed for a couple of weeks before you can drive it on the road again.
It’s not like you’re never going to get the product back like your scenario suggests.
Fair enough. Would suggest if you ever get a new tablet to go for one that allows adoptive storage, which would mean avoiding Samsung unless you don't mind using a custom ROM.
Just in case you are unaware, adoptive storage is formatting the SD card so it can be used as internal storage. I believe it uses a format similar to Linux.