Smile! If this is what you've got to complain about, your life must be pretty damn good. Otherwise, maybe your energy should be directed into solving real life problems.
Edit: I'm curious how it's legal for Google to remove the purchase history. It's a financial record that should be preserved, I think.
NDA? they had an NDA with wotc for a non story technical update to a game? Sounds unlikely, do you have evidence for that?
Allegedly they've an agreement with wizards that limits the platform they can release on (allegedly) this apparently prevented them releasing an APK to their customers (though we had varying reasons for that through this Saga)
Also the developers chose to release on that "poor" platform, it's there responsibility to support it, they dont get to take consumers money then go "ha lol, sucks to be you"
I'm glad you enjoyed gaming during this ordeal, a lot of consumers couldn't and beamdogs communication had been dire the whole way through.
You might be surprised by what can be covered under an NDA. I've had to sign a few of them over the years as part of my work, and there are penalties for breaching them.
How about being happy that, in the end, Beamdog didn't throw in the towel and abandon us all. It must have been tempting to just say forget it and drop the Android port.
NDA? they had an NDA with wotc for a non story technical update to a game? Sounds unlikely, do you have evidence for that?
Allegedly they've an agreement with wizards that limits the platform they can release on (allegedly) this apparently prevented them releasing an APK to their customers (though we had varying reasons for that through this Saga)
Also the developers chose to release on that "poor" platform, it's there responsibility to support it, they dont get to take consumers money then go "ha lol, sucks to be you"
I'm glad you enjoyed gaming during this ordeal, a lot of consumers couldn't and beamdogs communication had been dire the whole way through.
You might be surprised by what can be covered under an NDA. I've had to sign a few of them over the years as part of my work, and there are penalties for breaching them.
How about being happy that, in the end, Beamdog didn't throw in the towel and abandon us all. It must have been tempting to just say forget it and drop the Android port.
I certainly must have been tempting.
Btw. the same accusations/speculation was voiced back in the day when iOS had to be ported for 64 bit - many critics where sure that the EE version where history for iOS.
But still here we are, and until now Beamdog has delivered 64 bit versions for both Android and iOS for a variety of games - as promised. Beamdog really don’t stand out as the crocks and thieves some where saying imho.
Now all I need is for Beamdog to promise a iOS version of NWN:ee and I will be all set....
TL;DR: 2.6 is coming out on Google Play posthaste, including the re-release of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition on Android. Other platforms also inbound. Shouldn’t be too long.
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
Smile! If this is what you've got to complain about, your life must be pretty damn good. Otherwise, maybe your energy should be directed into solving real life problems.
Edit: I'm curious how it's legal for Google to remove the purchase history. It's a financial record that should be preserved, I think.
Ah the fallacy of relative privation, nice try.
Of course the only thing I have to complain about on this specific discussion forum is the fact Beamdog dropped the ball and lost me access to a paid game for 4 months and counting. The did this by using a process that hoovered up personal data without complying with the GDPR requirements.
What "real life problems" do you think I should be directing my energy towards solving on this specific discussion forum
Edit* Google left the payment data in the payments section, but deleted the purchase history, I think the proof of payment is all that's required - you can see you paid £x to company A but not what for
So have you confirmed with them that the game will definitely reappear in people's purchase history and they will be able to download it without charge?
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
TL;DR: 2.6 is coming out on Google Play posthaste, including the re-release of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition on Android. Other platforms also inbound. Shouldn’t be too long.
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
So have you confirmed with them that the game will definitely reappear in people's purchase history and they will be able to download it without charge?
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
We certainly hope so. On April 3 we said: "they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved." We still stand by that.
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
Requiring approval for new content is not the same as preventing them for explaining why an update takes so much time.
If they really have a NDA or contract that prevent them from posting updates to tell their customers what happen, it's a very dumb idea by WotC. The more I learn about these details about WotC, the less I understand who would want to work with them.
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
No, old communications would not work, for the reasons lefreut has posted above
TL;DR: 2.6 is coming out on Google Play posthaste, including the re-release of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition on Android. Other platforms also inbound. Shouldn’t be too long.
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
So have you confirmed with them that the game will definitely reappear in people's purchase history and they will be able to download it without charge?
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
We certainly hope so. On April 3 we said: "they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved." We still stand by that.
Look what worries me about this is the use of the word "hope" and "should"
If they don't what will you do if they don't? Will you offer refunds if proof of purchase I'd provided? Or are we going to be told to go hang
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
Requiring approval for new content is not the same as preventing them for explaining why an update takes so much time.
If they really have a NDA or contract that prevent them from posting updates to tell their customers what happen, it's a very dumb idea by WotC. The more I learn about these details about WotC, the less I understand who would want to work with them.
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
I bolded the key part. I wasn't talking out of my ass when I was saying things like Blog posts need to go through WotC. When Julius says things like "the blog is written and just waiting for approval," its not Beamdog's approval they are waiting for. And why no one wants to work with them is one of the reasons IMO, that there hasn't been a decent D&D game in like a decade now. There is a reason why studios would rather sink resources into making their own fantasy IP than go with them where sales are guaranteed.
It's why Sven's hand is being held by a WotC rep for every interview they do regarding BG3.
TL;DR: 2.6 is coming out on Google Play posthaste, including the re-release of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition on Android. Other platforms also inbound. Shouldn’t be too long.
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
So have you confirmed with them that the game will definitely reappear in people's purchase history and they will be able to download it without charge?
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
We certainly hope so. On April 3 we said: "they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved." We still stand by that.
Look what worries me about this is the use of the word "hope" and "should"
If they don't what will you do if they don't? Will you offer refunds if proof of purchase I'd provided? Or are we going to be told to go hang
Julius doesn't control Google. Who knows what they'll do once the games are back in the store. He can't promise something he has no control over, hence the language. If they don't magically reappear in your library when the game finally gets uploaded, Beamdog will start putting out that fire then.
But if you are expecting a refund, you probably won't get it. It's been said countless times in this thread. You will however get what you paid for.
@wallaceprime, It's a tool I used, clumsily it seems, to highlight the amount of energy being directed at this particular problem. There's is not much we,as the consumer, can actually do about getting more concrete answers than they are able to give. It seems to me that if Julius could lay out every detail, then he would. If only to get everybody to shut the....up. I could've just said "Don't you people have anything better to do?"
@wallaceprime, It's a tool I used, clumsily it seems, to highlight the amount of energy being directed at this particular problem. There's is not much we,as the consumer, can actually do about getting more concrete answers than they are able to give. It seems to me that if Julius could lay out every detail, then he would. If only to get everybody to shut the....up. I could've just said "Don't you people have anything better to do?"
A fallacy is not an effective tool, if you turn to a fallacy, all it does is show your argument is inherently flawed. If you have to throw out that particular strawman, you don't get to complain about anything else at all in life until world hunger is cured and cancers a thing of the past.
You could have just said "dont you people have anything better to do" and you'd still be using that fallacy.
It takes about 30 seconds to a minute to knock out a forum post, how much energy do you think is really being dedicated to this?
I got a new tablet, went to play a game I'd purchased previously on it, only to find out that the company had screwed up GDPR and I didnt have access to my game
You're damn right I'm going to use a couple of minutes a day to rip on that company till they sort their ..... out and either give me my game or give me my money back.
You are not the Beamdog police, this discussion is limited to one thread on the forum that has been set up soley to discuss Beamdogs mishandling of the situation. Its not your job to get "everyone to shut the....up" If you've an issue with a customers of a company airing their displeasure, I suggest you avoid the one thread on the forum where thats going to be happening.
You're also incorrect when you say theres not a lot we can do as the consumer. We can continue to make our displeasure heard over the situation, social media is a powerful tool.
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
Requiring approval for new content is not the same as preventing them for explaining why an update takes so much time.
If they really have a NDA or contract that prevent them from posting updates to tell their customers what happen, it's a very dumb idea by WotC. The more I learn about these details about WotC, the less I understand who would want to work with them.
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
I bolded the key part. I wasn't talking out of my ass when I was saying things like Blog posts need to go through WotC. When Julius says things like "the blog is written and just waiting for approval," its not Beamdog's approval they are waiting for. And why no one wants to work with them is one of the reasons IMO, that there hasn't been a decent D&D game in like a decade now. There is a reason why studios would rather sink resources into making their own fantasy IP than go with them where sales are guaranteed.
It's why Sven's hand is being held by a WotC rep for every interview they do regarding BG3.
TL;DR: 2.6 is coming out on Google Play posthaste, including the re-release of Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition on Android. Other platforms also inbound. Shouldn’t be too long.
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
So have you confirmed with them that the game will definitely reappear in people's purchase history and they will be able to download it without charge?
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
We certainly hope so. On April 3 we said: "they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved." We still stand by that.
Look what worries me about this is the use of the word "hope" and "should"
If they don't what will you do if they don't? Will you offer refunds if proof of purchase I'd provided? Or are we going to be told to go hang
Julius doesn't control Google. Who knows what they'll do once the games are back in the store. He can't promise something he has no control over, hence the language. If they don't magically reappear in your library when the game finally gets uploaded, Beamdog will start putting out that fire then.
But if you are expecting a refund, you probably won't get it. It's been said countless times in this thread. You will however get what you paid for.
Seeing a lot of conjecture in that post
What possible reason could wizards of the cost have for requiring tech updates to go through them
and in the ridiculous case that was true, what possible benefit could they have for withholding that information?
You've one (uncredited) forum post there shooting down a new content proposal and you're using it to justify an utterly byzantian business practice.
I'm under no illusion that Julius controls google. I am holding him to account as Beamdogs mouthpiece in this forum and making sure he knows that people will expect their game to be refunded if they dont return the game to them
Thats what Beamdog signed up to when they started hawking their game in the G-play store.
For the vast majority of purchasers (those who purchased more than 2 months ago) the responsibility lies with Beamdog to provide refunds if they cant provide the original game, thats pretty clearly set out in the G-play terms and conditions, which Beamdog have signed up to.
But all we've had from Beamdog is "contact google" , then "we hope it all works out for the best"
When credible companies are incapable of providing the services they have already been paid for, they offer refunds or other types of compensation for the time they left their customers without the service they paid for. Is Beamdog a credible company then? If so, how will you compensate me for the 3 + 1/2 months and counting that I have no access to the games I paid you for? Excuse me for repeating the words PAID FOR, but I paid you. Real money. Not candy, not beans, real money.
That's something I'd like an answer for. "Posthaste".
@gtrax One problem with that comparison - usually that sort of compensation is for lost wages/lost earnings. All I would expect of Beamdog is to restore the games to the accounts of the people that had already paid for it.
To pervert your analogy, would a grocery store owe you fourteen weeks' worth of free apples if you went to their store and they didn't have apples for fourteen weeks?
@gtrax One problem with that comparison - usually that sort of compensation is for lost wages/lost earnings. All I would expect of Beamdog is to restore the games to the accounts of the people that had already paid for it.
To pervert your analogy, would a grocery store owe you fourteen weeks' worth of free apples if you went to their store and they didn't have apples for fourteen weeks?
Actually you didnt pay Beamdog. You paid Google... there is a difference.
Beamdogs game have been working the whole time, you just didnt have access at the Google store.
If you want a refund, you will have to ask Google. The know what you have paid and when. If Google want their money back from Beamdog, they can ask Beamdog. Not you
I am sorry, but thats the legal scope.
But lets be glad that not only did Beamdog commit to a fix. They ported it to 64 bit, so the game wont get withdrawn when that shit hits the fan..
Google's t&c states the developer can issue a refund, or at the developer's option fix the problem. Some devs chose not to fix the problem and have given refunds. Beamdog has opted to fix the problem. @wallaceprime, so repeating yourself on this forum is an effective use of your time? Is it really fallacious to say there are better ways to spend your time and energy than this? Had i said ...some people don't even have computers, so waiting got games to return is okay... that would be quite fallacious. I said there are better ways to spend your time, rather clumsily i admit.
Beamdog police??? What are you talking about? If you actually read my posts you would've seen me calling the handling of this situation incompetent. If you think that constantly badgering and berating Beamdog is going to get a good product on the shelves faster, you're wrong. I'd rather they take the time to do it right and have all the "I"s dotted the"T"s crossed. Plus the long awaited patch is included, plus ported to 64bit. I understand the frustration, and if you'd rather be angry and miserable, it's your life mate. I'd rather find something else to do that makes me happy, and that's all I was suggesting.
Actually you didnt pay Beamdog. You paid Google... there is a difference.
Beamdogs game have been working the whole time, you just didnt have access at the Google store.
If you want a refund, you will have to ask Google. The know what you have paid and when. If Google want their money back from Beamdog, they can ask Beamdog. Not you
I am sorry, but thats the legal scope.
But lets be glad that not only did Beamdog commit to a fix. They ported it to 64 bit, so the game wont get withdrawn when that shit hits the fan..
Under Uk law the storefront (google) is only on the hook for a fixed period=30 days, 60 days, it depends on whats warranted.
After that the requirement to fix or refund the game falls to the dev.
I think, and I've not checked recently, that google plays time limit is 2 months.
Google's t&c states the developer can issue a refund, or at the developer's option fix the problem. Some devs chose not to fix the problem and have given refunds. Beamdog has opted to fix the problem.
And so far we've nothing but their word that they are fixing the problem, which has been ticking along for 4 months now. They have not earned any trust from the bumbling handling of this.
And when questioned about refunds they gave absolutely incorrect information, so what faith should we have in them?
@wallaceprime, so repeating yourself on this forum is an effective use of your time? Is it really fallacious to say there are better ways to spend your time and energy than this? Had i said ...some people don't even have computers, so waiting got games to return is okay... that would be quite fallacious. I said there are better ways to spend your time, rather clumsily i admit.
You are missing the point, you don't get to say what an effective use of my time is
Its fallacious to say that there are more important things in life so your complaint is null and void, which is essentially what you said originally:
Smile! If this is what you've got to complain about, your life must be pretty damn good. Otherwise, maybe your energy should be directed into solving real life problems.
I'll repeat myself in an effort to get my point across- this issue is the only thing I have to complain about on this forum, right now, in this thread, which exists to discuss this issue.
You know literally nothing about me, or anyone else posting here, so you making a judgement that they should be spending there time "more productively" based on a few posts is pretty crap, and ties back into the Fallacy of relative privation, its on tv tropes, go look it up.
As an FYI, At work I get a 30 minute break every two hours, I cant leave the building, but I can chill out in the rest room and spend a few minutes posting in this thread to keep the pressure on Beamdog.
Beamdog police??? What are you talking about? If you actually read my posts you would've seen me calling the handling of this situation incompetent. If you think that constantly badgering and berating Beamdog is going to get a good product on the shelves faster, you're wrong. I'd rather they take the time to do it right and have all the "I"s dotted the"T"s crossed. Plus the long awaited patch is included, plus ported to 64bit. I understand the frustration, and if you'd rather be angry and miserable, it's your life mate. I'd rather find something else to do that makes me happy, and that's all I was suggesting.
Listen mate, I'd rather they spent the time "dotting the I's and crossing the T's" before this became an issue, like a halfway competent company would. Rather than use a 4 month period of unavailability of there own making as some further development time.
I called you the "Beamdog police" because you seem to want people to stop complaining about some pretty crappy actions by Beamdog, and I cant for the life of me work out why, It was an admittedly clumsy metaphor.
Of course constantly badgering companies is an effective way of driving results. Beamdog just announced that they are launching Collectors Console versions of the EE at 100 bucks a pop, they dont want this kind of negative publicity. If you think social media complaints and commentary dont have a driving force on company action, you're being niave, and missing out on a powerful consumer tool.
If you're happy with a company taking your money and saying "Oh we'll fix it at some point, no refunds thats to hard" then fill your boots.
Jeez, is it so hard to understand that if this issue occupies your thoughts to this degree, above any other issues in YOUR life, then you've got it better than most. That, or your priorities are askew. While it is upsetting, to some more than others, Beamdog has given what answers it can at this time. It's good news to me, if it's true. I just think that continuing to be antagonistic would be exhausting at this point. But feel free to carry on, it was just a comment after all.
Edit: as for the ungodly amount of time it's taking, yeah it's BS. but it's not only on Beamdog, they've had to do the work and then WAIT for approval at every step. A more proactive approach earlier would have been better, yes. Ah, the magic of hindsight.
Jeez, is it so hard to understand that if this issue occupies your thoughts to this degree, above any other issues in YOUR life, then you've got it better than most. That, or your priorities are askew.
I'll refer you to my previous post, you don't know me, but you feel happy to make some pretty serious judgements about me, based on nothing but a few forum posts
Edit: as for the ungodly amount of time it's taking, yeah it's BS. but it's not only on Beamdog, they've had to do the work and then WAIT for approval at every step. A more proactive approach earlier would have been better, yes. Ah, the magic of hindsight.
You're being overly generous here
Beamdog chose to use a feature that took personal data and didnt follow either googles policy, which may or may not have been updated, but critically GDPR, which isnt a new thing its been around for a while.
They dont get to say "Whoops, oh hindsight" when complying with GDPR
Uhm they used Google's feature that then violated their(Google) updated policy. Google created this monster.
I meant no judgements, just offered an opinion that if this is such a major issue to you, You should be a happy person. If your offended by being judged as happy... I just don't know how to respond to that. It's a crappy situation that has been handled poorly, but I think repeated posting of essentially the same thing is pointless. Yes, social media is a powerful force in today's world. If this had been rushed to please your timeline and released prematurely, you'd be complaining that they didn't give it the proper attention. A lot of people claim to be done with Beamdog, yet they don't leave. They want to berate the perceived villain in this story into bloody submission. Where as I would simply walk away, writing off the whole thing as a learning experience. But that's me, not you or anyone else. To be honest, there are problems with the Android client that prevent me( this device to be precise) from running some Beamdog games decently at all. It took weeks to get any kind of response from support, and I will no longer purchase Beamdog from Google because of it. But I still come to the forum, you folks are neat-o. But i don't constantly complain about it. Ever been around someone who just whines and whines about the same thing so much that even though they may be right you just wanna yell at them to stfu? Or maybe remind them to smile?! That's all I was saying.
I'm surprised you haven't turned it around on me. As in don't you(me) have anything better to do than tell me what to feel? Lol because i actually do, but you've made this interesting.
I meant no judgements, just offered an opinion that if this is such a major issue to you, You should be a happy person. If your offended by being judged as happy... I just don't know how to respond to that
I meant no judgement, immediately cops to judging someone, right......
You're changing your narrative here. You essentially said "if your life isn't perfect you have no right to complain about this, you should be putting your energy into fixing "real" problems". Otherwise your priorities are skewed.
That's just wrong, ascribing to the philosophy means that you believe that as long as their are "big issues" in the world, little issues don't matter and mentioning them is overreacting.
It's a crappy situation that has been handled poorly, but I think repeated posting of essentially the same thing is pointless. Yes, social media is a powerful force in today's world. If this had been rushed to please your timeline and released prematurely, you'd be complaining that they didn't give it the proper attention.
Its absolutely your right to think it's pointless, what you don't get to do, is then say people with dissenting opinions have some kind of issue, or scewed priorities.
You don't know how I would have reacted had this been "rushed" more judgement with little knowledge there..
This situation is something that needed to be rushed as it removed access to everyone's game without warning.
It should have been delivered separately from the 2.6 update and 64 bit conversion, both are important, but this own goal should have been prioritised
A lot of people claim to be done with Beamdog, yet they don't leave. They want to berate the perceived villain in this story into bloody submission Where as I would simply walk away, writing off the whole thing as a learning experience. But that's me, not you or anyone else.
I'll leave when beamdog return my product, they are the villain in this story, both through their original incompetence and then their poor handling of it.
I don't particularly care about the forum outside of this issue, I hadn't posted until this issue raised its head and I likely won't once it's been resolved.
If it makes you happy to portray yourself as better than folk who are (legitimately) complaining, then fill your boots.
To be honest, there are problems with the Android client that prevent me( this device to be precise) from running some Beamdog games decently at all. It took weeks to get any kind of response from support, and I will no longer purchase Beamdog from Google because of it. But I still come to the forum, you folks are neat-o. But i don't constantly complain about it. Ever been around someone who just whines and whines about the same thing so much that even though they may be right you just wanna yell at them to stfu? Or maybe remind them to smile?! That's all I was saying
.
Reminding someone with a genuine grievence over something to smile is incredibly patronising.
If people complaining about an issue (not whining) in a thread dedicated to that issue causes you such distress, you could avoid that one thread, rather than try and paint yourself as better than those complaining, or making snide remarks about priorities and real world problems.
You don't get to tell them to STFu because that would be in breach of the forum rules.
I'm surprised you haven't turned it around on me. As in don't you(me) have anything better to do than tell me what to feel? Lol because i actually do, but you've made this interesting.
Telling you to make a better use of your time would be falling into the same logical fallacy you seem so fond of.
I've told you don't have a right to tell anyone how they should use their time or feel over an issue, because you lack both the actual authority and moral authority to do so.
And when questioned about refunds they gave absolutely incorrect information, so what faith should we have in them?
We gave the information we could give - we don't handle Google Play purchases. The decision not to provide refunds and forward the players back to us, while being under their authority, is unfortunate.
@wallaceprime You've made it clear that you want your money back and Beamdog have made it clear they are not in a position to do so. You now argue everything in your obsession against Beamdog.
Prove me wrong, prove you are not obsessed and don't reply moaning that we are all wrong and you are right like some religious zelot.
Yes, Wallace, of course. For all your good sense you still can't tell the difference between telling someone how to feel and suggesting that things aren't that bad? I meant no judgement can also mean that whatever judgement YOU feel from me was not intended. You assume a lot. If I've aggrieved you so, then...
I'm sorry i suggested that you should smile. Be a miserable sot over some game. Personally I don't care, just trying to offer a little sunshine into a dark thread.
EDIT: You are correct that I've made an assumption if other people lives. I really do assume that EVERYONE has more important issues in their lives than a couple video games. I don't apologize for that either.
Comments
Edit: I'm curious how it's legal for Google to remove the purchase history. It's a financial record that should be preserved, I think.
You might be surprised by what can be covered under an NDA. I've had to sign a few of them over the years as part of my work, and there are penalties for breaching them.
How about being happy that, in the end, Beamdog didn't throw in the towel and abandon us all. It must have been tempting to just say forget it and drop the Android port.
I certainly must have been tempting.
Btw. the same accusations/speculation was voiced back in the day when iOS had to be ported for 64 bit - many critics where sure that the EE version where history for iOS.
But still here we are, and until now Beamdog has delivered 64 bit versions for both Android and iOS for a variety of games - as promised. Beamdog really don’t stand out as the crocks and thieves some where saying imho.
Now all I need is for Beamdog to promise a iOS version of NWN:ee and I will be all set....
Please, could also confirm that all customers who purchased games on Google Play will automatically get them back to their libraries once the game is back in the shop?
Ah the fallacy of relative privation, nice try.
Of course the only thing I have to complain about on this specific discussion forum is the fact Beamdog dropped the ball and lost me access to a paid game for 4 months and counting. The did this by using a process that hoovered up personal data without complying with the GDPR requirements.
What "real life problems" do you think I should be directing my energy towards solving on this specific discussion forum
Edit* Google left the payment data in the payments section, but deleted the purchase history, I think the proof of payment is all that's required - you can see you paid £x to company A but not what for
So about that question I asked last week, any progress on that?
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
“While we enjoy the content, it's not something that we are able to publish, unfortunately, under the Familiar name. We've made an inquiry, and when it comes to using a brand (and the Familiar is a brand) there are additional steps that need to be taken for WOTC approval and we don't want to go down that route.”
We certainly hope so. On April 3 we said: "they should reappear in your purchases once the issue is resolved." We still stand by that.
Requiring approval for new content is not the same as preventing them for explaining why an update takes so much time.
If they really have a NDA or contract that prevent them from posting updates to tell their customers what happen, it's a very dumb idea by WotC. The more I learn about these details about WotC, the less I understand who would want to work with them.
No, old communications would not work, for the reasons lefreut has posted above
Look what worries me about this is the use of the word "hope" and "should"
If they don't what will you do if they don't? Will you offer refunds if proof of purchase I'd provided? Or are we going to be told to go hang
"I've discussed your offer with Trent. The big issue here is the approval of WotC for everything that is being posted from the Beamdog's name.”
I bolded the key part. I wasn't talking out of my ass when I was saying things like Blog posts need to go through WotC. When Julius says things like "the blog is written and just waiting for approval," its not Beamdog's approval they are waiting for. And why no one wants to work with them is one of the reasons IMO, that there hasn't been a decent D&D game in like a decade now. There is a reason why studios would rather sink resources into making their own fantasy IP than go with them where sales are guaranteed.
It's why Sven's hand is being held by a WotC rep for every interview they do regarding BG3.
Julius doesn't control Google. Who knows what they'll do once the games are back in the store. He can't promise something he has no control over, hence the language. If they don't magically reappear in your library when the game finally gets uploaded, Beamdog will start putting out that fire then.
But if you are expecting a refund, you probably won't get it. It's been said countless times in this thread. You will however get what you paid for.
A fallacy is not an effective tool, if you turn to a fallacy, all it does is show your argument is inherently flawed. If you have to throw out that particular strawman, you don't get to complain about anything else at all in life until world hunger is cured and cancers a thing of the past.
You could have just said "dont you people have anything better to do" and you'd still be using that fallacy.
It takes about 30 seconds to a minute to knock out a forum post, how much energy do you think is really being dedicated to this?
I got a new tablet, went to play a game I'd purchased previously on it, only to find out that the company had screwed up GDPR and I didnt have access to my game
You're damn right I'm going to use a couple of minutes a day to rip on that company till they sort their ..... out and either give me my game or give me my money back.
You are not the Beamdog police, this discussion is limited to one thread on the forum that has been set up soley to discuss Beamdogs mishandling of the situation. Its not your job to get "everyone to shut the....up" If you've an issue with a customers of a company airing their displeasure, I suggest you avoid the one thread on the forum where thats going to be happening.
You're also incorrect when you say theres not a lot we can do as the consumer. We can continue to make our displeasure heard over the situation, social media is a powerful tool.
Seeing a lot of conjecture in that post
What possible reason could wizards of the cost have for requiring tech updates to go through them
and in the ridiculous case that was true, what possible benefit could they have for withholding that information?
You've one (uncredited) forum post there shooting down a new content proposal and you're using it to justify an utterly byzantian business practice.
I'm under no illusion that Julius controls google. I am holding him to account as Beamdogs mouthpiece in this forum and making sure he knows that people will expect their game to be refunded if they dont return the game to them
Thats what Beamdog signed up to when they started hawking their game in the G-play store.
For the vast majority of purchasers (those who purchased more than 2 months ago) the responsibility lies with Beamdog to provide refunds if they cant provide the original game, thats pretty clearly set out in the G-play terms and conditions, which Beamdog have signed up to.
But all we've had from Beamdog is "contact google" , then "we hope it all works out for the best"
That's something I'd like an answer for. "Posthaste".
To pervert your analogy, would a grocery store owe you fourteen weeks' worth of free apples if you went to their store and they didn't have apples for fourteen weeks?
Yes had I already paid for the apples.
Beamdogs game have been working the whole time, you just didnt have access at the Google store.
If you want a refund, you will have to ask Google. The know what you have paid and when. If Google want their money back from Beamdog, they can ask Beamdog. Not you
I am sorry, but thats the legal scope.
But lets be glad that not only did Beamdog commit to a fix. They ported it to 64 bit, so the game wont get withdrawn when that shit hits the fan..
@wallaceprime, so repeating yourself on this forum is an effective use of your time? Is it really fallacious to say there are better ways to spend your time and energy than this? Had i said ...some people don't even have computers, so waiting got games to return is okay... that would be quite fallacious. I said there are better ways to spend your time, rather clumsily i admit.
Beamdog police??? What are you talking about? If you actually read my posts you would've seen me calling the handling of this situation incompetent. If you think that constantly badgering and berating Beamdog is going to get a good product on the shelves faster, you're wrong. I'd rather they take the time to do it right and have all the "I"s dotted the"T"s crossed. Plus the long awaited patch is included, plus ported to 64bit. I understand the frustration, and if you'd rather be angry and miserable, it's your life mate. I'd rather find something else to do that makes me happy, and that's all I was suggesting.
Under Uk law the storefront (google) is only on the hook for a fixed period=30 days, 60 days, it depends on whats warranted.
After that the requirement to fix or refund the game falls to the dev.
I think, and I've not checked recently, that google plays time limit is 2 months.
And so far we've nothing but their word that they are fixing the problem, which has been ticking along for 4 months now. They have not earned any trust from the bumbling handling of this.
And when questioned about refunds they gave absolutely incorrect information, so what faith should we have in them?
You are missing the point, you don't get to say what an effective use of my time is
Its fallacious to say that there are more important things in life so your complaint is null and void, which is essentially what you said originally:
I'll repeat myself in an effort to get my point across- this issue is the only thing I have to complain about on this forum, right now, in this thread, which exists to discuss this issue.
You know literally nothing about me, or anyone else posting here, so you making a judgement that they should be spending there time "more productively" based on a few posts is pretty crap, and ties back into the Fallacy of relative privation, its on tv tropes, go look it up.
As an FYI, At work I get a 30 minute break every two hours, I cant leave the building, but I can chill out in the rest room and spend a few minutes posting in this thread to keep the pressure on Beamdog.
Listen mate, I'd rather they spent the time "dotting the I's and crossing the T's" before this became an issue, like a halfway competent company would. Rather than use a 4 month period of unavailability of there own making as some further development time.
I called you the "Beamdog police" because you seem to want people to stop complaining about some pretty crappy actions by Beamdog, and I cant for the life of me work out why, It was an admittedly clumsy metaphor.
Of course constantly badgering companies is an effective way of driving results. Beamdog just announced that they are launching Collectors Console versions of the EE at 100 bucks a pop, they dont want this kind of negative publicity. If you think social media complaints and commentary dont have a driving force on company action, you're being niave, and missing out on a powerful consumer tool.
If you're happy with a company taking your money and saying "Oh we'll fix it at some point, no refunds thats to hard" then fill your boots.
Edit: as for the ungodly amount of time it's taking, yeah it's BS. but it's not only on Beamdog, they've had to do the work and then WAIT for approval at every step. A more proactive approach earlier would have been better, yes. Ah, the magic of hindsight.
I'll refer you to my previous post, you don't know me, but you feel happy to make some pretty serious judgements about me, based on nothing but a few forum posts
Its literally knocking out some forum posts, is that really exhausting to you?
You're being overly generous here
Beamdog chose to use a feature that took personal data and didnt follow either googles policy, which may or may not have been updated, but critically GDPR, which isnt a new thing its been around for a while.
They dont get to say "Whoops, oh hindsight" when complying with GDPR
I meant no judgements, just offered an opinion that if this is such a major issue to you, You should be a happy person. If your offended by being judged as happy... I just don't know how to respond to that. It's a crappy situation that has been handled poorly, but I think repeated posting of essentially the same thing is pointless. Yes, social media is a powerful force in today's world. If this had been rushed to please your timeline and released prematurely, you'd be complaining that they didn't give it the proper attention. A lot of people claim to be done with Beamdog, yet they don't leave. They want to berate the perceived villain in this story into bloody submission. Where as I would simply walk away, writing off the whole thing as a learning experience. But that's me, not you or anyone else. To be honest, there are problems with the Android client that prevent me( this device to be precise) from running some Beamdog games decently at all. It took weeks to get any kind of response from support, and I will no longer purchase Beamdog from Google because of it. But I still come to the forum, you folks are neat-o. But i don't constantly complain about it. Ever been around someone who just whines and whines about the same thing so much that even though they may be right you just wanna yell at them to stfu? Or maybe remind them to smile?! That's all I was saying.
I'm surprised you haven't turned it around on me. As in don't you(me) have anything better to do than tell me what to feel? Lol because i actually do, but you've made this interesting.
Allegedly, the requirements to be GDPR complaint were all known before this, from what they've (beamdog) said, their token effort wasn't close.
I meant no judgement, immediately cops to judging someone, right......
You're changing your narrative here. You essentially said "if your life isn't perfect you have no right to complain about this, you should be putting your energy into fixing "real" problems". Otherwise your priorities are skewed.
That's just wrong, ascribing to the philosophy means that you believe that as long as their are "big issues" in the world, little issues don't matter and mentioning them is overreacting.
Its absolutely your right to think it's pointless, what you don't get to do, is then say people with dissenting opinions have some kind of issue, or scewed priorities.
You don't know how I would have reacted had this been "rushed" more judgement with little knowledge there..
This situation is something that needed to be rushed as it removed access to everyone's game without warning.
It should have been delivered separately from the 2.6 update and 64 bit conversion, both are important, but this own goal should have been prioritised
I'll leave when beamdog return my product, they are the villain in this story, both through their original incompetence and then their poor handling of it.
I don't particularly care about the forum outside of this issue, I hadn't posted until this issue raised its head and I likely won't once it's been resolved.
If it makes you happy to portray yourself as better than folk who are (legitimately) complaining, then fill your boots.
Reminding someone with a genuine grievence over something to smile is incredibly patronising.
If people complaining about an issue (not whining) in a thread dedicated to that issue causes you such distress, you could avoid that one thread, rather than try and paint yourself as better than those complaining, or making snide remarks about priorities and real world problems.
You don't get to tell them to STFu because that would be in breach of the forum rules.
Telling you to make a better use of your time would be falling into the same logical fallacy you seem so fond of.
I've told you don't have a right to tell anyone how they should use their time or feel over an issue, because you lack both the actual authority and moral authority to do so.
We gave the information we could give - we don't handle Google Play purchases. The decision not to provide refunds and forward the players back to us, while being under their authority, is unfortunate.
Prove me wrong, prove you are not obsessed and don't reply moaning that we are all wrong and you are right like some religious zelot.
I'm sorry i suggested that you should smile. Be a miserable sot over some game. Personally I don't care, just trying to offer a little sunshine into a dark thread.
EDIT: You are correct that I've made an assumption if other people lives. I really do assume that EVERYONE has more important issues in their lives than a couple video games. I don't apologize for that either.