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[Tovarisc]

By the way, GMG buyers are only getting the chance to get a refund post-patch


http://blog.playfire.com/2015/06/batman-arkham-knight-pc-guidelines.html

I'm not surprised if GMG takes look at this now that WB has pulled game from the sale indefinitely.

 

[KingBroly]

Lets not act like this -- as unprecedented as it may be -- is some kind of olive branch extended to impacted customers out of the goodness of their hearts. It's a calculated risk mitigation move on their part; a way to sop up bad sentiment in a hurry, reduce damage to their reputation and finances, and re-position themselves for a re-release. It sure *seems* like they're taking responsibility, but we all know the time for that is kind of passed when QA stamped "Good" on the package. All the talk about working in the customer's best interest here is a side-effect of larger damages, thanks to Steam refund and bad sentiment (I'm sure they don't like that "mostly negative" review stuff, either). It's a smoke screen folks.

This is exactly what should happen of course, and it's the "right thing to do" whether that is their intention or not, and I would argue that their intentions up to this point seem to have been to release a shoddy port. Maybe harsh words, but I don't think anyone should think this is WB doing the right thing for the right reasons beyond their own corporate interest.

It's better than how they responded to Arkham Origins' issues, which was 'we're working on DLC, no fixing the game.' WB isn't exactly sunshine and lollipops when it comes to being a publisher.

 

[StarVigil]

Meanwhile at Ubisoft

Better start working on them PC ports. Refunds are coming.

 

[grandwizard]

This is huge. It's really bad they put out the product in such a state, but them doing this is a good sign of them owning up to it and committing to setting things right. Much more optimistic about the game now.

Considering how well Arkham City did on Steam it is really crazy how little thought they put into the PC port to begin with. We're not talking about small numbers with PC versions anymore, but numbers comparable to the console sales that also have a much longer tail of sales for years to come. They must be realizing this now and trying to fix it ASAP so they don't squander all that.

 

[OnionPowder]

Meanwhile at Ubisoft

Better start working on them PC ports. Refunds are coming.

They have a solution to that, activate it on uPlay as well as Steam so you can't get a refund.

I can't remember exactly if it were all platforms (AO performed better than AC/AA anyways) but I think people are throwing IG under the bus too quickly and it's pretty disgusting to see people flood their twitter/linkedin/facebook with hate messages when it should be directed toward WB, the only party we know who had the final say on when the game gets released.

The guy I know has been getting death threats. People always take it too far

 

[Revolutionary]

I may be wrong and please correct me if I am, but weren't the major bugs present in all versions of the game, indicating a WB Montreal problem and not an Iron Galaxy problem?

That bug was in all versions? Dear lord.
Was this one in all versions as well?

It would reload my game in that void every time. I had to use Cheat Engine to edit Batman's position to get back in the city and continue my game.

 

[Kriken]

By the way, GMG buyers are only getting the chance to get a refund post-patch (EDIT: posted before WB's suspension though)



http://blog.playfire.com/2015/06/batman-arkham-knight-pc-guidelines.html

I think with this announcement, refunds are all but guaranteed now

 

[Spoo]

It's better than how they responded to Arkham Origins' issues, which was 'we're working on DLC, no fixing the game.' WB isn't exactly sunshine and lollipops when it comes to being a publisher.

I don't disagree. This has a great side-effect for those effected; just don't want people confusing the side-effect for the purpose.

 

[Glitchesarecool]

The guy I know has been getting death threats. People always take it too far

...

It's a fucking videogame.

 

[charpunk]

GMG is shady as fuck. They would not let me purchase from then and asked me to send pictures of my credit card.

Sometimes things get wacky because they are based in London I believe and some U.S. Banks think it's a gambling site. Sometimes I can purchase fine, other times my account gets locked and I have to submit a ticket to get them to clear it. Either way it's a pain in the ass most of the time buying anything from them.

 

[Tainted]

Wait, the game is still available on Steam for me and I can add it to my cart. Won't be able to checkout or something if I want to buy it right now?

It will probably be updated in the next Steam store update for your region

 

[fargofallout]

So I guess Iron Galaxy has a lot to explain.

Maybe I've spent too much time listening to Bombcasts, but everything Dave Lang has ever said makes me think he's a supremely competent guy. Killer Instinct Season 2 seems to be pretty good, so I suspect/hope this is a case of a shitty publisher not giving the developer enough time to do the port job.

I'm not ready to completely give Iron Galaxy a pass - a bad job is a bad job - but it would be nice to know how this happened. And, of course, we won't ever get the full story, because I doubt any small developer would ever risk future work by saying "[insert big publisher] sucks and didn't give us enough time/money to do the job."

 

[Joeku]

That bug was in all versions? Dear lord.
Was this one in all versions as well?

It would reload my game in that void every time. I had to use Cheat Engine to edit Batman's position to get back in the city and continue my game.

Well, for what it's worth, I first played Origins on 360 and fell through the world a few times, then got it much later on PC for like $5 and it performed fantastically. This is months apart, though.

 

[CreepingFear]

You sure you were on the right site? I have shopped there for years and never had anything like that happen.

Pretty sure.

What the hell? GMG has always been great with me. Just use paypal next time or something.

I only use paypal if no other options exist. Not a big fan of it. Edit: Actually, when I think about it, I did try paypal. Rejected.

You sure you were on the right site? I have shopped there for years and never had anything like that happen.

Yep. I was able to purchase a game(I think Bioshock Infinite) before. I believe I tried to buy Batman Oranges, and they asked me to send a pictures of my card.

Sometimes things get wacky because they are based in London I believe and some U.S. Banks think it's a gambling site. Sometimes I can purchase fine, other times my account gets locked and I have to submit a ticket to get them to clear it. Either way it's a pain in the ass most of the time buying anything from them.

Too much work to purchase a game. I end up finding it else where for cheap or just paying full price.

 

[Patchy]

They have a solution to that, activate it on uPlay as well as Steam so you can't get a refund.

Calling it now, Ubisoft will pull all games from Steam in the near future due to the refund function.

"The Steam Refund functionality devalues our brands" or some such nonsense.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

The Batman must come back. He must.

 

[Schweinehund]

They have a solution to that, activate it on uPlay as well as Steam so you can't get a refund.



The guy I know has been getting death threats. People always take it too far

Yeah it's pretty crazy. I worded that kind of wrong too, I'm not condoning hate messages sent at WB, rather the advocacy not to buy AK and to be wary of future PC ports.

 

[mugurumakensei]

Meanwhile at Ubisoft

Better start working on them PC ports. Refunds are coming.

Eh, Ubisoft's ports have been competent more than competent actually. Watch_Dog is the only outlier. Otherwise, Ubisoft games have performed on par if not slightly better on PC hardware equivalent to a PS4 (i3/750 ti).

 

[iNvid02]

this probably bodes poorly for Mac batman and Linux batman

 

[Ysiadmihi]

You sure you were on the right site? I have shopped there for years and never had anything like that happen.

I know a couple of people who have had their cards denied by GMG for no reason.

Never had a problem myself, though.

 

[D4Danger]

By the way, GMG buyers are only getting the chance to get a refund post-patch



http://blog.playfire.com/2015/06/batman-arkham-knight-pc-guidelines.html

this is such a hostile anti-consumer stance.

people should be able to get a refund for any reason but especially when the thing that bought is fucking broken. This wouldn't fly in another other situation.

 

[noshten]

And to think alarmists were trying to paint refunds as a huge negative for PC gaming.

We need working games, hell if Companies pull out of making money on PC that's fine. As long as the games you buy - are working it's still better. Having your first experience with a new game ruined by some bad decisions or rush jobs.

If all online shops had a very easy refund policy for downright broken games - we would get no broken games. If a game I buy is broken, I don't care if it's fixed in a week - usually for me that whole game is ruined just because of that first impression and winding myself up because of it.

 

[Fantasmo]

This probably only happened because of Steam refunds and terrible Steam reviews. They're probably hoping it will stop the negativity and refunds. But good move regardless.

 

[Ibuki]

Yep. I was able to purchase a game(I think Bioshock Infinite) before. I believe I tried to buy Batman Oranges, and they asked me to send a pictures of my card.

That's really messed up. I knew about the whole thing where some US banks think it's a gambling site, but I've never heard of that happening before. I've used 3 different cards over the years and never had anything shady happen. Sorry to hear it.

 

[spannicus]

...

It's a fucking videogame.

Fucking around with some real Gamesters will get you dealt wit!

 

[dEvAnGeL]

this is such a hostile anti-consumer stance.

people should be able to get a refund for any reason but especially when the thing that bought is fucking broken. This wouldn't fly in another other situation.

flood their twitter linking the post made my WB about the game, they might change their stance on this

 

[Spoo]

this probably bodes poorly for Mac batman and Linux batman

In the near future? Probably. But if it's ported from a "fixed" release, it might actually bode quite well for them.

You don't want to see what these eyes have seen.

 

[d00d3n]

I'm actually sorry for Iron Galaxy studios... I work on IT Consulting, and sometimes there is just so much you can do with what your given, I'm sure the decision to release the game as is was not Iron Galaxy's doing.

I kinda feel the situation went like this:

*Meeting at WB HQ*

IG Team Leader: So, we have been optimizing some things here and there but we are only 12 people and its kinda taking us a long time.
WB/RockSteady: Yeah yeah, don't worry, you just go ahead and add pretty smoke and stuff.
IG Team Leader: But... the framerate is not very stable right now and that wont help at all, we would like some time to optimize this, or even some help to get it done in time.
WB/RockSteady: Nah, we're busy with the preorder DLC chart, we still have to butcher a couple more parts of the game and five or six more costumes.
IG Team Leader: Ermmm, well, so extra time then?
WB/RockSteady: Nah, well just slam what you have into a couple DVD's, the rest will be downloaded, and make sure you absolutely PRIORITIZE the inclusion of that denuvo thing thats so safe.
IG Team Leader: That will actually make the game run worse...
WB/RockSteady: We don't care, we already made profit with preorders and season passes!
IG Team Leader: geez.. ok, got it then...

*IG Team Leader goes back to IG office*

IG Team Leader: Guys, we gotta wrap this up.
IG Devs: Boss, this ain't anywhere near done...
IG Team Leader: Our client doesn't care, no extra time, no extra help.Stop what you are doing and implement that denuvo shit.
IG Devs: *Sigh*, people are gonna hate us because of this and it ain't even our fault...


*Dramatic music, camera starts flying away, exits window, flys away from building while focusing on dev team through window.... looks at sunset*

CREDITS ROLL

So yeah, this is kind of a humorous approach, I just feel it hits home and its not the first time I have not been able to do my best because of circumstances. I'm not sure how the real situation went and this could very well be IG's fault for doing a shitty job and all, just want to think that this game just caught up on corporate BS instead of on developer incompetence.

I'm really feeling sorry for those guys right now .... Not for WB or RockSteady though.

Hey guys, I got my hands on a behind the scenes conversation between a Rocksteady developer and WB executive.

RS: "We are so excited to bring our vision of Gotham City and the conclusion of our epic saga to PC with the best IQ and fancy Nvidia effects! Glad we expanded our company with all these new programmers"

WB: "Oh, you won't be working on that. We hired Iron Galaxy Studios to port it."

RS: "Dave Lang's D-Tier outfit with his 11 employees? I don't think that's a great idea..."

WB: "Don't care. They said they'd do it for 15 bucks, some cheeseburgers, and a case of beer."

RS: "But our PC audience is paying just as much for these games, and some shell out thousands on high end components for a quality experience. Don't they deserve the same treatment as the in-house console versions?"

WB: "No, no, no. A PC gamer is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. PC games can be pirated, hacked, or modded. But if you make yourself more than just a collection of parts, if you devote yourself to an ideal(Based 8GB GDDR5), and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely."

RS: "Which is?"

WB: "Playstation 4, Mr. Wayne."

WB: "Oh yeah, and tell them to throw that Denuvo shit on the PC port as well. That way we get a weeks worth of sales before it's cracked. Now get the fuck out of my office and go work on DLC while I snort cocaine off this hooker's ass."

RS: (Everyone is going to hate us) ;__;

Anyone else gleefully looking forward to this executive being fired?

 

[Tunavi]

If you think this is adding fuel to the fire you are wrong

 

[diaspora]

Eh, Ubisoft's ports have been competent more than competent actually. Watch_Dog is the only outlier. Otherwise, Ubisoft games have performed on par if not slightly better on PC hardware equivalent to a PS4 (i3/750 ti).

Did Watch_Dogs even run badly or did it just not look as good as the original reveal?

 

[OnionPowder]

I know a couple of people who have had their cards denied by GMG for no reason.

Never had a problem myself, though.

Usually it's because the bank thinks it's a gambling site and because it's foreign.

 

[Odrion]

Calling it now, Ubisoft will pull all games from Steam in the neat future due to the refund function.

at this rate good riddance

 

[Hedrush]

Wow, in the era of the day 1 patch this is an unprecedented move. I doubt this is going to be fixed any time soon.

 

[Ermac]

I WAS WONDERING WHAT WOULD BREAK FIRST .. YOUR TEXTURES ... OR YOUR FRAMERATE!

smh, hope WB fixes this so I can rebuy it again. Some free DLC would be nice too.

 

[Loxley]

When a publisher steps in like that, everyone on the development side is completely toast.

May they rest in peace.

Somebody definitely got in trouble at WBI for the mountain of backlash they've been receiving all day.

 

[scitek]

I wonder if this will just lead to WB no longer putting their games on PC.

 

[bearythebear]

I understand when a company is blindsided by shit like server load, because that's just hard to predict. But its crazy to me that they released in this state. Feels like game companies aren't learning from the last few years...

I wonder if they calculated the risk of backlash when releasing the product.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

Victory has defeated them. Peace has cost them their strength.

Rocksteady must jump without the rope

 

[Shepard]

Game is gone from Steam. Page is still there, but no button to buy.

 

[komorebi]

I'm LTTP here but all I can say is this is a good move and hopefully a good sign.

 

[Schweinehund]

Calling it now, Ubisoft will pull all games from Steam in the neat future due to the refund function.

Yeah Activision might follow suit. Who knows though, EA offers refunds on origins wasn't it, before 48 hours?

 

[OnionPowder]

Did Watch_Dogs even run badly or did it just not look as good as the original reveal?

It was unnecessarily CPU dependent if I remember correctly. Getting it to run at 60FPS was insane. I remember seeing a picture of 100% CPU usage across 4 cores.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Lol, turns out Iron Galaxy Studios is 40 minutes from my house.

I wonder if they'll let me come in for a Q&A if I call ahead and make an appointment?

 

[jackdoe]

I'm just hoping that they aren't suspending sales because the issues are so extreme that it's going to take a long time to fix them all.

 

[mugurumakensei]

Did Watch_Dogs even run badly or did it just not look as good as the original reveal?

Some stuttering due to how it was handling texture streaming initially. Completely competent port, but AC: U and Far Cry 4 are still better ports.

 

[a secret-boss]

So people who has it do we get free DLC? (all skins)

 

[Havel]

Game is gone from Steam. Page is still there, but no button to buy.

Yep. This is actually happening..

 

[Rich!]

I'm just hoping that they aren't suspending sales because the issues are so extreme that it's going to take a long time to fix them all.

that is precisely why they have suspended sales.

there is no quick fix.

 

[diaspora]

Some stuttering due to how it was handling texture streaming initially. Completely competent port, but AC: U and Far Cry 4 are still better ports.

AC:U had bugs initially like that missing face dealio, though no downgrade the game looked fucking unbelievable. Far Cry 4 was sparkling clean though.

 

[vg260]

I can't remember exactly if it were all platforms (AO performed better than AC/AA anyways) but I think people are throwing IG under the bus too quickly and it's pretty disgusting to see people flood their twitter/linkedin/facebook with hate messages when it should be directed toward WB, the only party we know who had the final say on when the game gets released.

Upset people tend to not exhibit the best reasoning, especially on the internet. It's a shame if Rocksteady or IG take the heat if WB didn't do their due diligence. No one knows though, so all parties are taking heat.