Comments on: Frenchman Apologises For World War One

By: Bobsy

Bobsy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:54:45 +0000

Personally I blame Archduke Ferdinand for irresponsibly getting shot. He’s been strangely quiet on the whole matter.

By: Cigol

Cigol — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:42:58 +0000

…and they should bring him in more often, kicking and screaming if they have to.

By: Jaz

Jaz — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:41:56 +0000

“My God, it’s an actual wargaming discussion at RPS.”

They did bring in Tim Stone to talk about it…

By: Rob Zacny

Rob Zacny — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:20:52 +0000

My God, it’s an actual wargaming discussion at RPS. And here I thought we only did high-concept shooters. I would also like to see more of this in the future, in addition to fair play from gaming companies.

I don’t doubt that AGEOD will come through this with its customer base intact. From the conversation here, at the Wargamer, and the AGEOD forums, the company has loyal fans who are quite proud of Mr. Thibaut’s stance.

However, there are a few things about this that still do not sit well. The first is that this seems to confirm that, even in the case of good companies with responsible leadership, you can never really count on a game working properly out of the box. It’s great that AGEOD is fixing this, and I look forward to hearing more about this game once it’s in fine working order, but it is still disappointing.

The real problem, though, is that it seems to have taken a major stumble followed by a gentlemanly response to get more people talking about and paying attention to this company. AGEOD, like a lot of wargaming companies, deserves more attention and a broader audience.

It is a pity that this is how a lot of people will hear about them. I just hope more people are like Gabanski83 and follow up on this game and this company.

By: Tinter

Tinter — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:14:54 +0000

Compare this to a certain other indie gamemaker that released a game with substantial technical difficulties and then practically begged people to buy it regardless.

I think this is the right move- AGEOD isn’t just an indie developer, its very niche and they need to keep their fanbase on board as it is never really going to grow overmuch.

By: Pantsman

Pantsman — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:05:04 +0000

Frenchman apologizes for World War One? Well it’s about damn time. :P

By: Gabanski83

Gabanski83 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:56:15 +0000

I don’t know; I think it’s rather noble of them to come clean and admit they rushed it out, and that it’s in a poor state. To be fair, I’d not heard about this game before now, yet after looking at it, I’m quite intrigued by it. If they can fix it up, I’d be quite interested in purchasing it.

How broken is it? I mean, what’s wrong with it, roughly?

By: Troy Goodfellow

Troy Goodfellow — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:10:41 +0000

The Matrix thing is a good point, but it’s not like they are known for hitting release targets. Empires in Arms, for example, was years late – they eventually stopped estimating a release altogether.

I don’t know enough about Ascaron to comment on how they roll out titles.

CMSF is an interesting comparison. It was broken in the review version, then some people were told that the review version was not the real review version before it became clear that there were larger problems throughout the game, most of which are now fixed, 10 patches later. I recall a lot of heated comments about people who ragged on the initial review release, but not many apologies to people who bought it in its original state.

By: Erlam

Erlam — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:01:59 +0000

It’s a brilliant move. Why? Had they said “Sorry, we’ll patch it!” this wouldn’t have been news to me. Now, I’m considering buying their stuff, because I have the assurance that my money will be well spent. Either the game will be good and I’ll enjoy it, or it’ll be bad and I won’t have wasted any money.

They stand by their product. That’s good.

To quote my sig-o: “If you buy a pie and it’s bad, what do you do? Get a refund. If you buy jeans and they’re torn, what do you do? Get a refund? Why do we just shrug and accept it when a game doesn’t work, and won’t take a defective game back?”

By: Tim Stone

Tim Stone — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:52:52 +0000

“there’s really no good reason for an independent wargame company to rush out a title so they can make some sort of empty symbolic Armistice Day release target… They don’t have shareholders to answer to or retailers eagerly awaiting their shipment.

Yes, the Armistice tie-in was a bit tacky and may well have been their undoing.

As to them not having retailers to satisfy, WWI is being distributed by companies other than AGEOD (Matrix, Ascaron…) so contractual obligations may have contributed to the debacle. Perhaps it was another CMSF situation – who knows.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:26:26 +0000

First the enhanced edition of The Witcher and now this.. it’s nice there are two developer/publishers that can admit mistakes were made. I second the call for Fair Play awards.

By: Lunaran

Lunaran — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:20:51 +0000

How well off is this studio? A lot of indie places like this, especially those with niche audiences, usually live paycheck to paycheck so to speak when it comes to releases. A blanket refund for one title essentially means “didn’t get paid this week”, and with economic things the way they are right now that could cross the line from surrender to ritual seppuku.