how to polish a turd

Day five of the sunless sky, the rain continues... this morning it's subsided to a damp drizzle. It's unusual to go without the sun for this long in the fall. My mood has changed and I'm feeling truly unmotivated today.

Even though I successfully returned Failout: New Lost Wages yesterday, I'm still pissed off about the whole 'gaming industry/marketing machine'. People/gamers have this widespread acceptance that if it is only a game, it is okay to sell you a broken product and then tell you that they're going to fix it.

I know they have to really fix this and make it playable or future sales plummet. But this becomes the movie industry marketing plan at this point. I think the further out that they start showing off/hypeing a polished turd, the more the company is are relying on it's pre-orders to hide the epic fail they will be releasing. Movies are no different. If they start pumping it for a release date 6 months away, 95/100 of the time it's going to be shite.

Release day and the following 3 or 4 days are critical. But does it really matter. No. Because once you buy the product, the company in theory has your money. The risk is all yours at this point. To ensure it works properly, you have to open it. And once you open it, your options for being made whole diminish.

If it works.... awesome... Game On. If it doesn't too bad you opened it therefore you own it. Exchange for the equally defective unopened product, or trade it in for a pittance of the original purchase price.

The problem with Bethesda is trust and a clear lack of deadlines. Saying a patch will be forthcoming in upcoming weeks, is at best, vague. The return clock is usually 14 days on software, which games are, and once you open it... it's yours. Broken or not.

Although it took every shred of my willpower not to open it, it paid off. I got my $91.99 back. A full refund. Good luck to the rest of Betathesda's Beta Testers (aka the customer).

the return of FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES

After much hand wringing, over earlier pre Newvemberlutions about my Fallout kood-aid addiction, today I returned my unopened FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES Collectors Edition to Best Buy for a full $91.99 refund.

It was hard to leave it unopened... but it was for my own good. I expected this to work, and be a great game, and it may eventually be playable, but I wasn't willing to trust them again. The new game update on Bethesda's forums says "we’ll have something available in the coming weeks. When we have more details, we’ll let you know."

Reads, thanks for the money suckers. I'm not that trusting anymore.

Fuck you Bethesda and your lack of respect for your customers.

FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES ARTWORK

I have re-worked/created the artwork that should have appeared on Fallout: New Vegas. Based on the post-release game title FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES.


I am aware of the problem and am currently working on a patch ; ]...

Days since Failout: New Lost Wages release: 4
Days until Failout: New Lost Wages patched: :cricketsounds:

bestbuy.ca sucks and Failout: New Lost Wages

Pre-ordering from BestBuy.ca SUCKS. I'm not going to back away from that statement. Because it's the truth.

Although this morning there were 3 emails from them, apparently the night shift in customer service has a better grasp of how things work in BB's fucked up supply chain. And today there is an In Stock symbol in the cart with my Fallout: New Vegas Collectors Edition. One of which, should be mine. It doesn't change the fact that my order has still not been processed and after that it will still be another 5 days to actually receive the game. Maybe.

But should it ever arrive.... it will remain unopened... so I can return it for a full refund.

In typical Bethesda fashion, the Fallout: New Vegas Hardware and Software Issues forum has been created and the all telling stickie at the top almost doesn't need to be read. But just for shits and giggles... here it is

Posted Today, 12:48PM

Just wanted to let everyone know, we are currently working on releasing patches/updates as quickly as possible for Fallout: New Vegas, for all platforms. Announcements regarding the patches are forthcoming.

WOW, well that's a relief.

I would like to point out at this time that the GOTY version for Fallout 3 was NEVER fully fixed or patched. Despite a Bethesda moderator stickie stating

We're aware of issues being reported. We are currently working on releasing patches/updates as quickly as possible for Fallout 3, for all platforms. Announcements regarding the patches are forthcoming.

The crashes, bugs and freezing patches were never fully released for the GOTY edition. Horrible stories then and now.

But it's so funny to go back and re-read the Gamespot.com previews of the Failout: New Lost Wages from 'hands on testers', who tester it twice. Now a short 5 weeks later Gamespot.com has posted this video review and think the game is almost unplayable.

Some quotes:
"Absolutely swarming with disastrous bugs"
"Not to mention frequent crashes on both consoles and corrupted game saves, which might cause you to lose progress."
" These are but a small number of the major bugs we encountered. Fallout: New Vegas is a technical mess."

So where was this little snippet of honesty... pre-release date. By not reporting issues within the game they are in fact endorsing it. But the gaming industry is such an incestuous thing. Shhhhhhhhh, we're still waiting for our cheque from BetaThesda to clear.

A sad thank you to all the BETA TESTERS across all three platforms, that PAID $60 -$90 dollars for the honour of attempting to play Failout: New Lost Wages on release day. Note to self: check worstbuy.ca return policy.

furkids and Fallout

Sunday. Quiet. Inner calm.

The warmth of the coffee pulses through my veins after a trip across the street to medicate, feed, water and litterbox clean the furkids I have been entrusted with for the last 5 days. I'm starting to dread when the neighbours go away. Sam is pushing 20 and needs his meds twice a day. Griffin is maybe 4 or 5 and a bully when it comes to food. My greatest fear is something happening to Sam while they are away. Hopefully it won't be on my watch. They are supposed to be home today. To say he's always more than vague with details would be an understatement. So at what time today? That would be at best, a guess on my part. I think we'll be back on Sunday he says, as he drops the keys into my hand.

Todays agenda. Fire up the PS3 and play some Fallout3 to get ready for Tuesday's release of Fallout: New Vegas.

Although after being booted off the Bethesda Fallout3 forums for calling their GOTY edition for PS3 the 'Grift Of The Year' edition. The truth is, they totally fucked the PS3 owners. And the retailers stopped taking the games back because of the problem. And all Bethesda would post was that they were aware of the issue. Not working on a patch mind you.... but aware of the problem. It left me with a nagging doubt in my mind.

I had never had a problem with my plain vanilla collectors edition. So I chose not to 'upgrade' with any of the DLC's (downloadable content) or BUY the unPS3 unplayable in some regions 'Grift Of The Year' version. Bethesda's customer service leaves a lot of room for improvement.

So I have pre-ordered Fallout: New Vegas Collectors Edition. The love fest of game review sites is always sickening. I guess you never bite the hand that feeds you. But the hype for this game is leading me to wonder if this isn't the same 'Pump and Dump' scheme as their GOTY edition of Fallout3. I guess time will tell. The key will be to not open or play it until I can see some platform specific reviews.

Two more sleeps.

Ah, Sunday morning
cold grey and windswept dawn
hints at next season