CONSUMER ACTION: A Declaration of Disapproval, Intend to Return or Refusal to Buy

[yin26]

About Lemmings:

quote: Lemmings are good swimmers, but many drown trying to cross rivers and lakes. And they get eaten by trout. Others move to places where there's little food and starve. In some places, great swarms of lemmings have moved over wide areas of land to the sea, then plunge off cliffs and drown. But it's not animal suicide. The mass deaths are accidental.

Yes, but were CtP 1 and 2 accidents? Or part of an evil plot to see if human beings are as witless as Lemmings? The world may never know...

[yin26]

I agree with you, but sadly it never happens. That's another lesson I learned: NEVER trust the review that comes out relatively soon after a game's release. For unless there's some glaring issue, the true nature of the game simply can't be seen after playing it once or twice. Some magazines are reputable enough to put out a review after thoroughly testing a game, but most want to be out there with the first review so they can sell more reviews. The result of that is ovbious.

So what I always do now is watch the forums and read the player reviews...AND I wait about a month or so before buying a game (assuming the player comments are good enough). For example, I didn't buy Baldur's Gate 2 until two weeks ago. I read the player reviews at Gamespot and got a VERY realistic sense of the game's strengths and weaknesses before deciding to buy.
[This message has been edited by yin26 (edited February 01, 2001).]

[Slax]

We'll see who waits before buying Civ III...I know I will, but will you?

[Imran Siddiqui]

quote: "Damn, I'm gonna be more careful next time I think of rushing to buy a game." ...2 seconds later... "What? CtP3 is out?! Can I pre-order?"

ROFTLOL! Well, you can spot problem companies... Activision is one of them. I do have faith in Firaxis and Interplay (at least the RPG division consisting of Bioware and Black Isle) though, and thus I'll buy their games on the first day .

[yin26]

quote: We'll see who waits before buying Civ III...I know I will, but will you?

I guess if you're asking me, you missed the part where I said I didn't even ask for CtP2 as a gift. I imagine you are asking others...which is a good question.

Imran,

Yes, you gotta know your company (and then still be a bit careful).

[War4ever]

Yin..... i am one of those who bought CTP1... hated it.... refused to buy CTP2 ..... pirated it off the net..... played it for about 5 days..... hated it..... deleted it off my small harddrive..... glad i didn't waste another 65 dollars on more crap from ****ivision... oops activision

[Grumbold]

I got my subscription copy of PC Gamer (Uk) today and was intrigued to see that a month after giving it a pretty positive review (unsurprising on a couple of days play) they had it in their "Recommended" feature as well as #1 in their TBS rankings. On principle I emailed them (and PC Strategy Games, my other favourite) a summary of all the more concrete points raised in the Patch 2 wishlist. A weak AI is one thing to refuse to patch, but bugged gameplay and unstable multiplayer is another. I believe magazines have a responsibility to warn their readers about this sort of thing, even if they do get egg on their faces for giving it a good review a month earlier.

[yin26]

Nice work! Activision deserved to be treated that way (sorry, but some companies scream, "WAREZ ME!"). If more people took that attitude, maybe the wheat would separate from the chaff much faster.

Now let me just say, you should ALWAYS buy a game you enjoy (even if you played the whole thing on WAREZ first), since this is other important element: Rewarding GOOD companies for their work.

[Grumbold]

I agree, Imran. You learn to recognise companies which can be trusted to produce a quality game or at the very least keep patching until it works. Both Black Isle and Firaxis have a near perfect track record in this respect. Activision have caught me out several times and absolutely will not regain my trust. I'll be buying Civ III on the day it is released (even ordering from the US if the UK release is significantly delayed) but would wait for any future CtP product to bed in for at least a month before choosing whether or not to buy.

I'm just disappointed that some obviously talented programmers, artists and designers have ended up with their names associated with a game that could have been so much better if only a little more time had been devoted to the final testing and tweaking.

[supremus]

quote: Originally posted by Grumbold on 02-02-2001 06:50 AM Activision have caught me out several times and absolutely will not regain my trust. I'll be buying Civ III on the day it is released (even ordering from the US if the UK release is significantly delayed) but would wait for any future CtP product to bed in for at least a month before choosing whether or not to buy.

I agree in terms. In this field one should not trust
in any company, but wait for reviews and early buyers comments. Future CTP product ? How ? Activision have already give up (as far as I could understand) and said us good bye.

[Xerxes2]

It just must be this CtP crowd that they hired from various back alleys somewhere causing all the problems.

how obvious it is that you dont know what you're talking about....


Well, count me as one of those VERY unsatisfied customers. The game has never gotten beyond around 20 turns before hard locking my computer. Doubly bad is that I just spent $1400 getting a new computer so that I could play Zeus, because of that company's decisions regarding the non-ability of running that game. It seems that sometime, someplace, somehow these companies MUST be held accountable. If I, as a worker in my company, ever did such sleazy, shoddy work I'd be fired. How is it that a s/w company can just dump the people who made them what they are. We're supposed to be, as consumers, right (what happened to "the customer is always right"? ) or in this case dissatisfied/disillusioned. I don't want my money back, I want the game to work, period. If the company can't understand that I don't see why they're in business.

[MarkG]

quote: Originally posted by Xerxes2 on 02-02-2001 03:20 PM Well, count me as one of those VERY unsatisfied customers. The game has never gotten beyond around 20 turns before hard locking my computer.

and in my computer it has never crashed under normal conditions(when i dont try to play the alexander scenario with 32 civs for example). and there have been tons of people posting that ctp2 was far more stable than most games

[MarkG]

quote: Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui on 02-01-2001 08:59 PM I do have faith in Firaxis and Interplay (at least the RPG division consisting of Bioware and Black Isle) though, and thus I'll buy their games on the first day .

hay Imran,

here's something interesting!

quote: MobyGames Summary: David Ray has worked on games in 2000. Has been credited with Programming. Has worked with the following game development companies: Activision, Inc. and Black Isle Studios.

[Bkeela]

Yin26, I found your topic delightful. It is highly amusing to see MarkG on the defensive! I haven't even bothered downloading CTP 2 yet, and I don't think I will actually.

Bkeela.

[WesW]

Game stability from one system to the next is a gamble with any game, from my experience. I never was able to get past SMAC's NeedleJet bug, yet I never have had to even re-install Ctp1 despite a few HUNDRED crashes caused by my mod work.