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Oculus Rift Launch Thread: Ballpark 2016
- Thread starter Compsiox
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Chairmanchuck
Member
Will they also sell it in Europe?
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B01DQ2C9K2/
Its on Amazon.
The thing is, that people who still preordered in the first hour still doesnt have their Rift, while people who just go into the store can just buy one.
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B01DQ2C9K2/
Its on Amazon.
The thing is, that people who still preordered in the first hour still doesnt have their Rift, while people who just go into the store can just buy one.
Pops Maellard
Member
Oculus doesn't really have a choice. They made these agreements probably months before accepting consumer preorders. It's an awful situation that makes them look even worse, but they have to do it.
It is incredibly pathetic that they haven't been able to fulfill the day one orders. I've been on the Oculus train since the Kickstarter, and I went into 2016 thinking that the Rift was my only real HMD option. Now I own a Vive and can't imagine going back.
The Elite
BOSS
International this fall.
Chairmanchuck
Member
I totally understand that they have agreements about that, but its still not good for the people who preordered. I mean for Americans its okay. They just schedule a Live demo, then take a Rift home after that.
International customers cant do that though.
Thanks!
bmcphail2008
Member
Of course they do. No retailer can legally force them to deliver, While it might be expensive (i.e. they may have to pay some money for the expenditures and other potential losses retailers have incurred advertising for something that they won't have available) and potentially damaging to the relationship with retailers, Oculus could decide to simply decline to ship further units to retail until all of the preorders are fulfilled. Of course, they won't because they continue to run this whole process incompetently and they refuse to be honest about what caused the problems to begin with which might go a long way to healing the bad feelings many backers and preorder customers have.
Can't legally force them to deliver? That's what a contract is for.
And I think you're underestimating just how damaging it would be for them to piss off the largest retailers in the country. It'll be far more damaging than the negative PR from this issue alone is likely to be; I highly doubt this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back for most of their customers if they haven't jumped ship already.
bmcphail2008
Member
I'm very familiar with contracts and specifically retailer and distributor contracts. Unless they retained the world's worst law firm, there is almost certainly a clause that allows them to delay or even cancel delivery. There may be liquidated damages or actual damages provisions, but again that's just money and nobody can force them to deliver. You're right that it would be damaging to their reputation with retailers, but I don't know that Best Buy or Amazon would be that upset about it if they were given some financial benefit and/or a promise of additional allocations in the critical holiday period. Again, a more experienced company would have been able to properly handle this. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Oculus has anyone with common sense or an ability to handle customer service and retail relationships.
Chairmanchuck
Member
Sure, but what does it matter, when in 1 week besides Demo-units everythings sold out again?
I doubt they can do a "Wii-like" situation. I think it would be far better, when they can actually fullfil normal orders before they try to have a retail presence.
They've already delayed delivery, as they said in their statement. And they are fulfilling their retailer agreement with the smallest number of units they can.
MaulerX
Member
No, it was the guy I was replying to who cared how they spin it.
It's fuckery no doubt, but was probably not something they could just back out of without even worse damage to themselves.
Enordash
Member
I can't speak for The Climb, but Chronos is amazing so far. VR gives it a sense of scale that's really difficult to achieve otherwise. It's also incredibly comfortable for those worrying about any sort of motion sickness.
bmcphail2008
Member
The point is, under their retail agreements, they likely can delay again and the only issue would be the relationship with retailers and the potential to have to pay some financial damages. A better company would have taken the financial hit to do the right thing. Unfortunately, Oculus lacks the integrity to do so.
flyinpiranha
Member
What company would do that? Burn bridges with the largest online and brick/mortar stores that will be selling product as well as take financial losses to please a loud minority online?
I'm pissed, but I know a lot of people see the delay as "shit happens".
I can't even name a single company that would do what you're asking.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
They already did that when they gave everyone who ordered before April 1st free shipping. In some cases like Australia that was over $100. For myself it was 65 bucks.
Pops Maellard
Member
I get that. The international situation is awful, and honestly the way a lot of these companies handle international releases is incredibly saddening.
Yes. But that "only issue" is not, I think, as minor as you make out. And I think the PR hit they're likely to take from this issue is far smaller than the hit to their retail relationships should they renege.
They say they couldn't delay longer, you say they can, but based on what? I'm sure there are details you and I are not party to.
Felix Lighter
Member
So after all is said and done, both my Vive and my Oculus will be delivered on the exact same day. Pretty crazy.
I got my Rift today and the Vive comes tomorrow. Yeah it's pretty crazy considering how shipping is for both. I have the next 3 days off work to enjoy it too.
The Elite
BOSS
So games I am considering off the Oculus Home store:
Chronos
The Climb
Pinball FX2 VR
The only games I am willing to buy off the Oculus store are games that you can only get there. Otherwise I would rather buy off Steam for their refund police.
Games I am considering off Steam:
Technolust
Apollo 11
Adrift
Windlands
American Truck Simulator (Don't think this works with Oculus yet)
Games I already have:
Eve: Valkyrie
Elite: Dangerous
Lucky's Tale
Project Cars (On Steam)
I also have:
AltspaceVR
Virtual Desktop
BigScreen VR
Anything that should be on my list? I don't know how much of these I am going to get but I will probably snag about four games tomorrow to add to my list.
Chronos
The Climb
Pinball FX2 VR
The only games I am willing to buy off the Oculus store are games that you can only get there. Otherwise I would rather buy off Steam for their refund police.
Games I am considering off Steam:
Technolust
Apollo 11
Adrift
Windlands
American Truck Simulator (Don't think this works with Oculus yet)
Games I already have:
Eve: Valkyrie
Elite: Dangerous
Lucky's Tale
Project Cars (On Steam)
I also have:
AltspaceVR
Virtual Desktop
BigScreen VR
Anything that should be on my list? I don't know how much of these I am going to get but I will probably snag about four games tomorrow to add to my list.
Dreamwriter
Member
Yeah, make enemies and burn bridges with the largest retailers in the world that would carry your product, that sounds like a sound business decision! Now, can you give one single example of one of these "better" companies that ruined their ability to ever make a profit "to do the right thing"?
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
BlazeRush
I also echo BlazeRush. Easily one of the best and most fun games right now. Note that it is on steam but the steam version doesn't support VR and it's unclear if it will. I would also suggest OmegaAgent. It's really well made and I think it gets overlooked compared to a lot of stuff. It does a pretty good job when it comes to making you feel like you are flying in a jetpack.
Just cancelled my order. Several reasons:
- My delivery date was at a really bad time when I'd be outta state, and I didn't wanna deal with that hassle.
- The launch has put a lot of doubt in my head about how ready Oculus is at this point in terms of support.
- I've been contemplating getting a PSVR/Vive over it.
- The current impressions seemed lackluster, atleast with the current lineup of games. I already have a gearVR, and althought it's a big step down there's a lot of repeated content that isn't even cross platform.
- I'm about to spend a crap ton of money on a trip, and maybe look into buying a house. So again bad timing.
Think in a couple months I'll re-evaluate the headsets and go from there.
- My delivery date was at a really bad time when I'd be outta state, and I didn't wanna deal with that hassle.
- The launch has put a lot of doubt in my head about how ready Oculus is at this point in terms of support.
- I've been contemplating getting a PSVR/Vive over it.
- The current impressions seemed lackluster, atleast with the current lineup of games. I already have a gearVR, and althought it's a big step down there's a lot of repeated content that isn't even cross platform.
- I'm about to spend a crap ton of money on a trip, and maybe look into buying a house. So again bad timing.
Think in a couple months I'll re-evaluate the headsets and go from there.
The Elite
BOSS
DoctorWho, just get Chronos so I can have someone to discuss it with
I am leaning towards it.
I will probably grab The Climb at some point in the next couple of months.
Grabbing From OH:
Chronos
Pinball VR
BlazeRush
From Steam:
Subnautica
Apollo 11
Technolust
I think that will do me for now.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
Palmer/Oculus = Konami at this point.
Fuck his company, how he runs it, and the terrible decisions made at every turn.
Can't wait for them to be wiped out of the market.
Fuck his company, how he runs it, and the terrible decisions made at every turn.
Can't wait for them to be wiped out of the market.
bmcphail2008
Member
Absolutely, Apple and Samsung. Apple and Samsung have repeatedly delayed distribution to secondary retailers of anticipated products that are backordered to preorder customers. It's frankly done all the time and to be honest, when I was working on a lot of retail contracts for manufacturers in the early 2000s, the standard version of those agreements always had clauses that allowed delays and or cancellation if for whatever reason the manufacturer could not fulfill the orders. Oculus is owned by one of the largest media companies in the world and retailers like Best Buy and Amazon depend on Facebook to promote sales and connect with their customers. As such, I doubt that delaying another month or two and/or accepting preorders in store rather than actually making units available for pickup before preorder customers would destroy the relationship between Oculus and retailers.
DoctorWho, just get Chronos so I can have someone to discuss it with
I've beaten it. Discuss it with me all you want.
Enordash
Member
Nice, I'll be looking forward to hearing what you think. We need some positivity in here after all. I've been thinking about getting Pinball VR since everyone seems to love it. I've never been THAT into pinball though. I'll be picking up The Climb if I have time before Edge of Nowhere. That game may give me a heart attack though.
Enordash
Member
I've beaten it. Discuss it with me all you want.
I just got into the treetop area. I have some items in my inventory like a locket and miniature piece from the bookshelf. Did I super miss something with those or will they be useful later? I don't want any explicit spoilers, just wondering. What kind of build did you use? I've been rocking the Krell Hammer ever since I got it and that thing is ridiculous so far.
Edit: Oh crap, double post. My bad.
You use them later on. It's fairly obvious when you do so you shouldn't miss them. It's just a lot later than you would expect.
I used a strength/vitality build. It's honestly better to min max either strength or dexterity instead of putting points into both. I mistakenly put some points into dex that I could have used for strength instead early on. I used the krell hammer for most of the game until I found a pretty good flail. I eventually went back to the hammer just because it did more damage although it is much slower. You get more variety in weapons if you go the dexterity route but I'm not sure how good those are since I never really used them.
I used a strength/vitality build. It's honestly better to min max either strength or dexterity instead of putting points into both. I mistakenly put some points into dex that I could have used for strength instead early on. I used the krell hammer for most of the game until I found a pretty good flail. I eventually went back to the hammer just because it did more damage although it is much slower. You get more variety in weapons if you go the dexterity route but I'm not sure how good those are since I never really used them.
Version 3.0
Member
Well, Nintendo and Amazon had some kind of dispute going on for quite a while.
If you're asking for precedent in this specific situation, though, first we'd have to find a company that had a launch as poorly supplied as this one has been. I don't think there is one.
But really, to speak about the situation without any real knowledge of the agreements in place doesn't mean much. Maybe they're as bad at contracts as they are at launches.
Enordash
Member
Thanks for the heads up on the top point. It doesn't seem like there's a ton of fluff in the game, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
My personal play style doesn't fully lend well to one attribute or the other. For the most part, I'm a stand and block type of person, but with the big, slow enemies, I'll evade quite a bit. I also made the mistake of balancing points in strength and agility early on. I'll make sure to just focus strength and vitality from this point forward. I got that weird weapon from the blacksmith, but it's horrible compared to my Krell Hammer +3. Maybe it's +4. I just used some enhanced shards to upgrade it.
I just got to a part where I pushed a statue down to break through into a new room. I guess I need to hop down there? It seemed like it would kill me. I also had to stop so I just quit there. That's where I'll be picking it up tomorrow.
My personal play style doesn't fully lend well to one attribute or the other. For the most part, I'm a stand and block type of person, but with the big, slow enemies, I'll evade quite a bit. I also made the mistake of balancing points in strength and agility early on. I'll make sure to just focus strength and vitality from this point forward. I got that weird weapon from the blacksmith, but it's horrible compared to my Krell Hammer +3. Maybe it's +4. I just used some enhanced shards to upgrade it.
I just got to a part where I pushed a statue down to break through into a new room. I guess I need to hop down there? It seemed like it would kill me. I also had to stop so I just quit there. That's where I'll be picking it up tomorrow.
There's an item you find later in that area that lets you get down. You have to combine it with something else though.
Enordash
Member
Enordash
Member
A transformer blew up outside of my apartment on the first real day I had with it. The thing is cursed!
They're not going to burn the future of VR by killing its retail presence all so they can satisfy some noisy discontents that preordered.
Zepp Twofist
Member
It does, but you need to join a beta on Steam first. It also might require some tweaking to run alright. I've spent some time getting it pretty good on Vive, but I suspect the built in ATW on Oculus is going to make it a lot easier to get up and running than the stuff I had to do.
bmcphail2008
Member
You mean early adopters who had faith that they would deliver on their promises and were willing to preorder a $600+ device without a demo or any retail sales pitch? Yes, I do think they should do everything and anything they need to in order to honor their commitments to backers and preorder customers before a single stand-alone unit is delivered into retail.
I also disagree with you that they would be burning the future of VR. Retailers will stock things that sell and generate margins with the least possible risk and floor space investment even if it means dealing with a manufacturer that has supply chain management issues. Delaying the retail availability of the Oculus for another month or two until they catch up is not going to result in retailers slamming the door on Oculus or VR, especially if the positive PR generates more interest in the device at retail down the road.
I am a bit mad about the retail thing with bestbuy and amazon, but oculus did have a contract with them before they had component issues problem. I figured that both of them couldn't have more than a thousand units each based on bestbuy only having around 58 stores with stocks in them for sale. Oculus did emphasize that it was extremely limited stocks.
Ha at least it got me to bust out the board games for the first time in a long time.
flyinpiranha
Member
That seems like a good decision. Buying a house has so many little things that cost hundreds that pop up
I own it! But I don't have a Rift ...DoctorWho, just get Chronos so I can have someone to discuss it with
This won't happen.
We're not really privvy to the contractual obligations - other than consumer facing ones, which unfortunately don't really favour the consumer in terms of delivery expectation. There are also alternative VR suppliers, so while the death of VR is overstating things, it certainly would've put Oculus themselves (and the Rift by extension) on rocky ground.
Anyway... this is far from the first time consumers (and gamers in particular) have gotten angry about some shit only to quietly walk it back. Unfortunately, as a group, we have a history of making noise with little follow through.
These are the kind of signals that tech and gaming companies factor into the decision making process.
Is it right? I don't know. But there are alternatives if you're really that annoyed. Maybe throwing a big enough hissy fit, getting everyone on the Vive train will change the behaviour of future companies.
Personally, I see it as the realities of a complex marketplace - shit goes down, sometimes catastrophically, and the rest of the shittiness largely cascades from that. I guess the consumer reaction is part of that, given its predictably self serving nature.
I don't know that pressure on the consumer facing company can do much to mitigate those realities of contracts, supply chains and other bullshit that happens behind the scenes. If anything, it seems like it should encourage it more (i.e. supply companies seeking greater protection against public exposure).
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