Is this game ever going to be updated?

[Blaeys]

TinyViking will only drop in here once a year to promise that this DLC is still in development by someone (but hey, he is reading all your posts, so PDX really cares about you!).

At least they finally stopped selling the DLC that will clearly never be released (this thread is now over 2 years old). They just have to insist that things go according to plan development-wise because they don't want to refund anyone.

Almost 2 years ago, I posted this:



I am glad that now, finally, you are not able to purchase the expansion pack #2. Good job, PDX! You can keep the expansion pack. I am honestly amazed this sub-forum hasn't been purged already.

Unfortunately, this isnt true. Expansion 2 is still part of the premium package if anyone buys it. It includes the language:

"The Expansion Pass grants players access to two post-launch expansions and instant access to the stylish Al Capone’s Fur Coat costume."

 

[Pete0714]

It has been five years since we preordered this content.

@TinyWiking does Paradox have any kind of update? Again, we are past the ridiculous point now. Someone needs to say something.

It has been five years, and all TinyWiking does is say the same thing every time. No offense to TinyWiking, but if that is all that the response is going to be, don't bother.

 

[makslaskabata2]

Complaining to Wiking isn't going to change anything. He essentially gave us a "fuck you, i'm out" because we were interrogating him too much and now he doesn't bother responding to anything.

 

[TinyWiking]

It has been five years, and all TinyWiking does is say the same thing every time. No offense to TinyWiking, but if that is all that the response is going to be, don't bother.

Complaining to Wiking isn't going to change anything. He essentially gave us a "fuck you, i'm out" because we were interrogating him too much and now he doesn't bother responding to anything.

I'm still here and I don't feel like you've been interrogating me . I genuinely like this game and want to be honest and upfront with you all about the current state but it's not as simple as spilling the beans on every little snippet I get.

You are correct in that I don't have anything new to say because what I know isn't yet official. I could say you should trust me that things are moving forward, I could tell you there are things going on behind the scenes etc but I doubt you'd believe and I don't blame you at all. I've said it before and nothing has materialized so why should you?

This project has dragged on immensely due to reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss but as you all know there is a new developer doing the second DLC (Moonmanaua) and they've been hard at work with the DLC for some time. Before anything can be released however it needs to be certified by all platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Steam, Nintendo) and this adds another layer of complexion to the mix. Patience is a virtue that's running thin, I get that, I really really get that, but I can promise you that whenever I'm able to tell you specifics, I will.

 

[TripleAgent]

I'm still here and I don't feel like you've been interrogating me . I genuinely like this game and want to be honest and upfront with you all about the current state but it's not as simple as spilling the beans on every little snippet I get.

You are correct in that I don't have anything new to say because what I know isn't yet official. I could say you should trust me that things are moving forward, I could tell you there are things going on behind the scenes etc but I doubt you'd believe and I don't blame you at all. I've said it before and nothing has materialized so why should you?

This project has dragged on immensely due to reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss but as you all know there is a new developer doing the second DLC (Moonmanaua) and they've been hard at work with the DLC for some time. Before anything can be released however it needs to be certified by all platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Steam, Nintendo) and this adds another layer of complexion to the mix. Patience is a virtue that's running thin, I get that, I really really get that, but I can promise you that whenever I'm able to tell you specifics, I will.

Certainly not directed towards you (thanks again for continuing to talk to us at least, way better than silence), but do your bosses not understand how bad, unprofessional, and frankly incompetent this whole debacle makes Paradox, an international publicly traded company, look? It's been YEARS without even a press release or blog post on a game that people have paid for.

The fact that they can't even draft a two-sentence official statement saying "The content is still in development under a new studio. Please forgive the delays and hopefully we will have something to show you soon" is insane to me.

 

[Blaeys]

I'm still here and I don't feel like you've been interrogating me . I genuinely like this game and want to be honest and upfront with you all about the current state but it's not as simple as spilling the beans on every little snippet I get.

You are correct in that I don't have anything new to say because what I know isn't yet official. I could say you should trust me that things are moving forward, I could tell you there are things going on behind the scenes etc but I doubt you'd believe and I don't blame you at all. I've said it before and nothing has materialized so why should you?

This project has dragged on immensely due to reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss but as you all know there is a new developer doing the second DLC (Moonmanaua) and they've been hard at work with the DLC for some time. Before anything can be released however it needs to be certified by all platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Steam, Nintendo) and this adds another layer of complexion to the mix. Patience is a virtue that's running thin, I get that, I really really get that, but I can promise you that whenever I'm able to tell you specifics, I will.

There is something that can - and most definitely should - be done now (and by now, I mean three years ago) that isn't dependent on development resources of any kind. Paradox can offer a refund for the product they sold us (but never delivered) five years ago.

Then we can choose to buy the new content if it ever comes out (and is actually worth buying).

 

[TinyWiking]

Certainly not directed towards you (thanks again for continuing to talk to us at least, way better than silence), but do your bosses not understand how bad, unprofessional, and frankly incompetent this whole debacle makes Paradox, an international publicly traded company, look? It's been YEARS without even a press release or blog post on a game that people have paid for.

The fact that they can't even draft a two-sentence official statement saying "The content is still in development under a new studio. Please forgive the delays and hopefully we will have something to show you soon" is insane to me.

The reason there hasn't been much communication is because we no longer have a community team managing the product. I've been pushing for us to say something for a very very long time but since that never materialized I kind of decided to take on the role of telling you whatever I'm at liberty to say. It's not an ideal situation and I fully agree that we should have been more open and transparent but that's a decision that happens way above me.

There is something that can - and most definitely should - be done now (and by now, I mean three years ago) that isn't dependent on development resources of any kind. Paradox can offer a refund for the product they sold us (but never delivered) five years ago.

Then we can choose to buy the new content if it ever comes out (and is actually worth buying).

We did look into this back but due to how retailers do refunds it wasn't possible. It's not possible to do partial refunds and since the vast majority of sales were either the Deluxe Edition or Season Pass this made it impossible to do. The only option would be to refund the entire package but that would also mean that everyone who bought it would lose access to whatever we refunded. Add to this that refunds after a certain period of time incurs a fee for the person that gets a refund (as banks tend to charge a service fee for late refunds) and you can see how this would probably cause more frustration and anger.

 

[TripleAgent]

The reason there hasn't been much communication is because we no longer have a community team managing the product. I've been pushing for us to say something for a very very long time but since that never materialized I kind of decided to take on the role of telling you whatever I'm at liberty to say. It's not an ideal situation and I fully agree that we should have been more open and transparent but that's a decision that happens way above me.

We did look into this back but due to how retailers do refunds it wasn't possible. It's not possible to do partial refunds and since the vast majority of sales were either the Deluxe Edition or Season Pass this made it impossible to do. The only option would be to refund the entire package but that would also mean that everyone who bought it would lose access to whatever we refunded. Add to this that refunds after a certain period of time incurs a fee for the person that gets a refund (as banks tend to charge a service fee for late refunds) and you can see how this would probably cause more frustration and anger.

Do you know if there's a reason why Creative Assembly seems to be able to process partial refunds on games but PDX isn't?

Moving on to the recently released and struggling Total War: Pharaoh, Creative Assembly said it will issue partial refunds to all customers via Steam Wallet funds because it has lowered the price of the game to $39.99/€39.99/£29.99. “We don’t think it’s fair that our fans, who put their trust in us on Pharaoh, should in any way feel disadvantaged for buying the game at the previous price,” Collum explained. Meanwhile, Creative Assembly has pulled the higher priced editions of Pharaoh from sale, leaving just one edition to buy.

Total War Developer Creative Assembly Apologises to Its Community, Issues Partial Refunds for Pharaoh - IGN

Creative Assembly has addressed the disgruntled Total War community, apologising for what has admitted were a series of missteps this year with the release of Total War: Warhammer 3 and the struggling Total War: Pharaoh.

www.ign.com

As publisher, it seems like PDX would have the ability to set the price to $X, issue refunds, and still let people who bought it keep the game? I doubt that this game is selling anything at this point anyway.

 

[Blaeys]

The reason there hasn't been much communication is because we no longer have a community team managing the product. I've been pushing for us to say something for a very very long time but since that never materialized I kind of decided to take on the role of telling you whatever I'm at liberty to say. It's not an ideal situation and I fully agree that we should have been more open and transparent but that's a decision that happens way above me.

We did look into this back but due to how retailers do refunds it wasn't possible. It's not possible to do partial refunds and since the vast majority of sales were either the Deluxe Edition or Season Pass this made it impossible to do. The only option would be to refund the entire package but that would also mean that everyone who bought it would lose access to whatever we refunded. Add to this that refunds after a certain period of time incurs a fee for the person that gets a refund (as banks tend to charge a service fee for late refunds) and you can see how this would probably cause more frustration and anger.

The lack of communication is pretty much a reflection on Paradox's lack of respect for customers and, community team or not (which is an internal Paradox issue and shouldnt be used as an excuse), it is just bad.

As far as the refund, as the poster above said, CA chose to offer significant refunds and a HUGE DLC for free (without taking the game away at all) simply because of some bad reviews (which I disagreed with - I enjoyed TW Pharoah from the start). That shows respect for the customer base and, just as importantly, for your own product. Customers weren't happy, so the company wasnt happy and decided to take what had to be a significant financial loss (because they also made concessions on the WH III DLC at the same time) to fix it. I dont see how refunding us even the price of the season pass for this game could come anywhere close to the hit they took.

And I know Paradox may think it's unfair to compare to another company - but that is the way a market-based economy works.

This company owes us money or a quality product worth the money we spent. I can see it taking a year to fix, but it has been five.

 

[kamikazerockets]

Let’s face it. It is probably cheaper for Paradox to give out a partial refunds for the DLC than actually release the DLC and provide reasonable support for the base game and its new DLC. Some people may even accept a game key for another Paradox game instead of an actual refunds. I am not sure why Paradox is not taking this path. Paradox maybe expecting increased sales with Empire of Sin once the DLC is released, but that is very unlikely to happen. I would suggest to just refund the game and get over with is mess. Empire of Sin is “on going game” with “active development” but don’t even get a community manager or a regular news updates. There is no good way to clean this mess. It’s all about how to lose less in lose-lose situation.