Trading Standards

[dairymilk]

You buy a brand new car.

You take the key, turn it in the ignition and the car plutters to life. Then cuts out.

You do it again repeatedly....Same thing happens. The car is not driveable.

 

The guy next to you walks to his new car.

He takes his key, turns it in the ignition and the car starts flawlessly.

He presses the button to lower the electric windows.

Nothing happens.

He presses the button to open the sunroof.

Nothing happens.

 

Both of you walk into the garage, but amazingly the mechanics have dissapeared. The salesman is gone.

The manager gone.

 

You've paid your money and now....its just tough....

 

Some people have been described as 'moaners 'whingers' for expressing extreme unhappiness at the fact their games simply dont work.

 

I havent had any kind of crash in my game. The engines ticking over.

 

I cant do the swoop racing. It doesnt work. The scripting is wrecked. My electric windows are faulty.

 

Frankly I dont care WHAT the problem is. If you bought a car you wouldnt expect to have a faulty engine OR faulty windows.

 

You wouldnt accept it if you were told to put up and shut up.

 

For those for whom everything works...great...fine....but this forum is the ONLY way that people can query whether they are ever going to get the product they PAID for.

 

There's no-one to phone. No 'real' person to talk to. This is it for getting your experience of the product across to the people who 'matter'.

If that is, they even read these messages...which at the moment no-one can say....

 

All these messages of blame. All these messages defending the product.

 

The fact is this.

My windows dont work. Ive paid for them to work.

 

Why should I pay for something that isnt actually fit for the purpose for which it was bought and just 'put up with it'?

Just because its a computer game?

 

And why do those with working cars insult me for making my complaint. Im glad they own a working product. I dont.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY. Thats all anyone on here with a problem wants.

 

Chris

[DarthValia]

I agree, but I don't see anything I can do. I'm very lazy and let the sleeping dog lay.

[Taran'atar]

So your windows don't work. Fine. You have a right to take the car back to the mechanic and get the problem fixed. But after telling them the problem, do you stand over the mechanics shoulder as he tries to fix it (for free I might add) complaining incessantly at how the car wasn't working right initially?

 

There's also the matter of the right place to complain. If there was a meeting of people that liked their car and it was working fine, would you pick that place to voice your problems? Of course not. You'd go to customer support (ie, the tech support forum).

[Horus]

I buy KotOR2 package for 9 days and I can't get throught Character Creation screen until now. Not even have a swoop bike.

 

 

9 days try to solve a problem. 9 days waiting for a patches.

 

This sux

[Reveilled]

So your windows don't work.  Fine.  You have a right to take the car back to the mechanic and get the problem fixed.  But after telling them the problem, do you stand over the mechanics shoulder as he tries to fix it (for free I might add) complaining incessantly at how the car wasn't working right initially?

 

There's also the matter of the right place to complain.  If there was a meeting of people that liked their car and it was working fine, would you pick that place to voice your problems?  Of course not.  You'd go to customer support (ie, the tech support forum).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you went to customer support, you would actually be in contact with the company. Not so in the Tech Support forum. No one shows up to fix your problem.

[redmarkred]

Yeah but you always get this problem with PC Games! Get yourself an XBox!!!!! KOTOR 2 has run fine on mine......

[Volourn]

"There's also the matter of the right place to complain. If there was a meeting of people that liked their car and it was working fine, would you pick that place to voice your problems? Of course not. You'd go to customer support (ie, the tech support forum)."

 

The message baords - all of them - are the PERFECT place to voice complaints and concerns; not just the tech support forum.

[dairymilk]

So your windows don't work.  Fine.  You have a right to take the car back to the mechanic and get the problem fixed.  But after telling them the problem, do you stand over the mechanics shoulder as he tries to fix it (for free I might add) complaining incessantly at how the car wasn't working right initially?

 

There's also the matter of the right place to complain.  If there was a meeting of people that liked their car and it was working fine, would you pick that place to voice your problems?  Of course not.  You'd go to customer support (ie, the tech support forum).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Your point would be valid if it wasnt for the fact that we cant stand 'over the shoulder of the mechanics' when no mechanic has come forward to confirm that he is going to fix our problem.

 

What everyone seems to be missing is that all the moaners and whingers would stop IF they were told that people were definitely fixing their problems.

putting 'patch out soon' isnt actually any sort of reassurance, and with regards to the 'It happens to all PC games' quote, isnt it awful that companies can take the mick like that and isnt it a shame that some consumers are willing to attack people who come online and try to demand a working product!

[Gargantuan]

Your analogy is ok, but you'd pay a lot more for a car than a game. As I understand it, a car is covered by the maximum of 10 year / 10,000 mile drivetrain warranties for some brands, whereas the best one could hope for from a game is 90 days with unopened packaging. It's been established from the very beginning that in this business complaining would get you nowhere. You either mail them detailing the kind of problems that you're having, trade in the game that you just cannot cope with, or wait for the patch.

[buttfacepoop]

In my opinion, Obsidian isn't realizing how much something like this is hurting their image. I see companies like Blizzard, that strive to please their fans, release extra content in patches, and constantly let fans know what is going on with the patches - and then I see Obsidian, that says they will fix it, but does give any sort of timetable. Granted, Blizzard's games are extremely polished when they come out, and this game is not, but it is the image of the company that is at stake.

 

I think your analogy is perfect. Obsidian is sending over a mechanic, but it's one of those "I'll be there between 12am and 11pm on someday in the month of February or March".

 

And you are right, all I want is Accountability, and an explanation of how and when they are going to fix it.

 

Your analogy is ok, but you'd pay a lot more for a car than a game. As I understand it, a car is covered by the maximum of 10 year / 10,000 mile drivetrain warranties for some brands, whereas the best one could hope for from a game is 90 days with unopened packaging. It's been established from the very beginning that in this business complaining would get you nowhere. You either mail them detailing the kind of problems that you're having, trade in the game that you just cannot cope with, or wait for the patch.

 

The status quo does not determine what is right and wrong. If you bought a game under the pretense that it is relatively free of bugs, imho that is all that matters, and it is wrong for any company to deny you any less than what they led you to believe the product would be.

 

That's my issue with it.