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I bought Black and White back in April, and have had numerous problems with it, as have thousands upon thousands of other people.
But that was ok, they are working on a patch for it.
To be released today at their site (bwgame.com)
After floating around all day there, at 5pm came a message "No patch released today as key staff have gone to E3 and are unavailable to give the go. Update tomorrow"
There are now literally thousands of postings from people all over the world screaming at Lionhead.
And I say good.
The bugs are MAJOR ones, your creature will sometimes just stop and do nothing, wasting hours/days/weeks of training.
On Land 5, the creature is cursed, shrinking it and reducing all the skills you have taught it- but a bug means that curse doesnt lift.
You can't upload the creature data, the opposing god can reach outside his sphere of influence whilst you cannot.
There are hundreds more bugs.
But Lionhead were releasing a patch.
Except today, they all went to play at E3.
They didnt even post the patch info on their website, it was on another unofficial site.
And you cant email anyone, they've disabled their email system to, and I quote, "stop being flamed by the mob".
That, to me, shows utter, utter contempt for their customers. People that have spent their money on a product, to find it faulty and unplayable in every single case are referred to as "The Mob".
I don't care about the new features in the patch, I dont care about new miracles, I dont care that the creature can dance to MP3s, I want to be able to play a game that I bought, and have since discovered that is too bugged to get anywhere in.
And in the other corner, we have Special Reserve.
A company that has discussion boards that are read by staff.
Even the guy that owns the company posts every day to the most inane and offensive postings (see "Oi Tony!").
A customer service forum that is read and dealt with that day, and any suggestions are taken and you know that people not only read, but care about we, the customer thinks.
We get involved with helping to design the site, we win free stuff occasionally, but most important of all:
We are treated with the respect that, quite often, we dont deserve.
A company that ignores hundreds of thousands of people screaming in frustration and removes any way of contact them.
A company that doesn't even post patch info on their own site, they use a fan site.
Utter, utter disgust is the only thing I can say right now.
I am sending my game back.
Not to Special Reserve, they have done nothing wrong.
I am sending it back to Lionhead and demanding a refund.
The Trades Description act states that "a product must be fit for sale and suitable for the use of which is was originally intended".
Black and White isn't.
Rude, offensive, a blatant contempt for customers and, more importantly, not complying with the basic legal requirements that protect us, the consumer.
So, a genuine thanks to Tony and staff for running a company that listens, tolerates and cares about it's customers.
It makes a world of difference.
*thanks for letting me rant a bit folks...normal service resumed in..er..6hrs time*
It's this afternoon that they will tell us when we can expect it, EA have said it could be another month or so.
To not progress too far in a game, to either leave it on the shelf or end up right back at the start is plain wrong.
People screamed when PS2 had shortages, people screamed when PS2 had problems.
SCEE replaced them within 4 days, free of charge.
People screamed when Black and White had bugs, major game ruining bugs and they announced a patch.
But not on the offical site, through a fan site.
And they didnt release it.
I'm not pi**ed about no patch, I'm furious that there has been no apology to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
You dont just suddenly, at 5pm realise "Hey, there's something called E3, maybe we should go".
No message in the moring, nothing at all.
All forms of contact removed.
This sucks, I expected more from Lionhead.
But that's me.
I dont care what anyone else thinks, I'm in a bad mood today.
Don't jerk off in my face and demand I say thanks.
have sex/get wasted/Learn to play the sitar...
(incidently... if you spell check sitar, one of the optins is, quite rightly, stash)
I bought Black and White back in April, and have had numerous problems with it, as have thousands upon thousands of other people.
But that was ok, they are working on a patch for it.
To be released today at their site (bwgame.com)
After floating around all day there, at 5pm came a message "No patch released today as key staff have gone to E3 and are unavailable to give the go. Update tomorrow"
There are now literally thousands of postings from people all over the world screaming at Lionhead.
And I say good.
The bugs are MAJOR ones, your creature will sometimes just stop and do nothing, wasting hours/days/weeks of training.
On Land 5, the creature is cursed, shrinking it and reducing all the skills you have taught it- but a bug means that curse doesnt lift.
You can't upload the creature data, the opposing god can reach outside his sphere of influence whilst you cannot.
There are hundreds more bugs.
But Lionhead were releasing a patch.
Except today, they all went to play at E3.
They didnt even post the patch info on their website, it was on another unofficial site.
And you cant email anyone, they've disabled their email system to, and I quote, "stop being flamed by the mob".
That, to me, shows utter, utter contempt for their customers. People that have spent their money on a product, to find it faulty and unplayable in every single case are referred to as "The Mob".
I don't care about the new features in the patch, I dont care about new miracles, I dont care that the creature can dance to MP3s, I want to be able to play a game that I bought, and have since discovered that is too bugged to get anywhere in.
And in the other corner, we have Special Reserve.
A company that has discussion boards that are read by staff.
Even the guy that owns the company posts every day to the most inane and offensive postings (see "Oi Tony!").
A customer service forum that is read and dealt with that day, and any suggestions are taken and you know that people not only read, but care about we, the customer thinks.
We get involved with helping to design the site, we win free stuff occasionally, but most important of all:
We are treated with the respect that, quite often, we dont deserve.
A company that ignores hundreds of thousands of people screaming in frustration and removes any way of contact them.
A company that doesn't even post patch info on their own site, they use a fan site.
Utter, utter disgust is the only thing I can say right now.
I am sending my game back.
Not to Special Reserve, they have done nothing wrong.
I am sending it back to Lionhead and demanding a refund.
The Trades Description act states that "a product must be fit for sale and suitable for the use of which is was originally intended".
Black and White isn't.
Rude, offensive, a blatant contempt for customers and, more importantly, not complying with the basic legal requirements that protect us, the consumer.
So, a genuine thanks to Tony and staff for running a company that listens, tolerates and cares about it's customers.
It makes a world of difference.
*thanks for letting me rant a bit folks...normal service resumed in..er..6hrs time*