Siegfroh
Major
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Abandonware ? Neglectware ?

Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:34 pm

PhilThib wrote:We shall investigate this issue asap. Thanks for spotting

"asap" is a term which is not very exactly defined, but it causes expectations which, if not met, create disappointment and displeasedness.

For most of the mistakes, minor bugs and glitches which have been left in the game during the more than five years that it is being sold to naive and docile customers, there are workarounds (at least for those I came accross).

But with the severe bug of garrisons not being reinforced, introduced with the latest official and possibly also the latest beta patch, [color="#FFFF00"]currently the game is effectively unplayable[/color], even if users manage to install it in spite of the provided official installation routine.

I and other players are willing to "help to improve PON" by sacrificing some of our time in order to point out and describe mistakes and propose workarounds. But it is disencouraging to see that reports on errors are often just ignored when a new patch comes out after another few months (having "slipped under the radar" in the meantime), or the defective latest official "patch" is not repaired within a day or two after it has been pointed out by devoted players that its installation process doesn't work and why.

Loki in some posts mentioned some of AGEOD's financial problems with Pride of Nations (Paradox bla bla), but as long as money is demanded for a game (currently still 18.99 Euro, I paid more), I feel the publisher has got some obligations. And neglecting a game in this manner not only slowly but steadily reduces the number of fans of the game and eventually kills it (who would recommend it to others, encouraging them to buy and play it as well; and have a look when the latest AAR was posted - guess why ?). It is also no recommendation at all for the other AGEOD (or Paradox) games. Do I (and other potential customers) know whether these other games are treated the same way ? I don't want to invest money just to find out.

It is a pity, because the game concepts of Pride of Nations are really great, and the many modding and scripting possibilities make it even better. Otherwise I would have left the game for good since long time ago. At the moment, I feel like Tantalus: seeing the potential pleasures in putative reach in front of me, but not being able to attain them ...

Caoster
Corporal
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:31 am

Wed Sep 21, 2016 3:27 am

That seems to be the MO that AGEOD has slipped into.

1.) Release game early and full of game stopping bugs, but promise to fix them in patches after release.
2.)Make lots of promises for long term support of their games, as the trade off for being a "small developer" in a "niche market" and for customers putting up with buggy release.
3.) Never actually fix the bugs, just let them slide, literally for years.
4.) Stop working on the current new release a couple months after it comes out.
5.) Move on to release the next new game without ever fixing the old ones, and hope the customers forgot how they were tricked last time.

The same thing that happened with PON, is currently in process in WON.

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Pocus
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Location: Lyon (France)

Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:45 am

Your original post on replacements issue has been answered...
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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