November? really?

Square Enix really needs to invest in a larger dev team for this game, I also dont understand how the entire dev team was able to go on vacation at once :S

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Originally Posted by Velhart

It really is only an additional month.

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technically, it's 7 weeks from the 3 month mark, and 3 months being the expectation they set via previous patch cycles and interviews regarding Heavensward.

Currently, CAD is pretty weak (15 usd = 19.9 cad), so I am buying game cards ($35 for 60 days). Therefore, I am paying $28.50 during that 7 week time period. That time period which I prepaid with the expectation that I would have new content to play during this time (again this is an expectation that Yoshi himself set). Anyway, people pay for different aspects of it, but to me that's 30 bucks down the drain. I no longer wish to dish my money out for this game and will just stick to F2P and pay money for single player games like Fallout, Starcraft, Witcher, MGS etc.



I posted this on reddit, so just copy pasting here cuz lazy.

1. My understanding throughout this whole game was patches are on a 3 month window. So I was expecting 3.1 this week. Nov 10 is a 7 week delay. However, maybe I've been wrong that 3 months is the expectation they set? The 3 month cycle was actually referred to in an interview about Heavensward back in February iirc.

2. In another interview some time ago, Yoshi said 2.0 was to set the basics and 3.0 would expand and spice things up. Nothing in the preview, nor the expansion itself, changed anything or added any sort of flavour. It's essentially a rehash of 2.x in a different locale.

3. I feel that FFXIV feels like a F2P game tbh, but has an amazing story that I was paying $45 per update. That's a lot per patch of story content, but I figured I got other things out of it too. I'm not paying $75 + cost of heavensward for a content update, just because they took a vacation.

4. Never seen a business let an entire team take a vacation at the same time? Also never seen a business let their team delay major releases of things for a vacation. If I just up and left for 2 months and said, hey this report you wanted this week.. well it will be there in November, because I am going on vacation with the rest of my department.

5. Also, I would not have minded if they said a few months ago. 'Oh, btw, our next patch will be delayed by 2 months due to us taking a much needed vacation after the Heavensward launch." They could have said that when Savage launched at the least. Instead they say it now. Half way through a 60 day time card that imo has gone to waste.

Anyway, I am not raging. I've just already cancelled my sub renewal and plan to tell my static that I am done tonight.

Just based on these past few weeks alone, SE should have held off on releasing Heavensward at all until they had at least up to at least 3.2 finished. That way they would have released with MSQ, Relic, Alexander 1 and 2 (assuming the second arm releases in 3.2), Void Ark, Airships, and Lords of Verminion(?) at launch.

No idea how long that would have actually delayed the expansion mind you, but from a development standpoint, they'd probably be safer doing just that.

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Originally Posted by MilesSaintboroguh

Pretty much this. People talk the talk, but few walk the walk.

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This is very true, which is possibly why not much has changed as well (yet). As long as the subs stay somewhat the same..so will everything else haha.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

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3 months is being nice. Game patches usually go up to almost or over 4 months. Either intentionally or a delay happened.

2.0 - Aug 19
2.1 - Dec 14
2.2 - Mar 26
2.3 - Jul 7
2.4 - Oct 18
2.5 - Jan 20
3.0 - Jun 19

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Originally Posted by TheUltimate3

Just based on these past few weeks alone, SE should have held off on releasing Heavensward at all until they had at least up to at least 3.2 finished. That way they would have released with MSQ, Relic, Alexander 1 and 2 (assuming the second arm releases in 3.2), Void Ark, Airships, and Lords of Verminion(?) at launch.

No idea how long that would have actually delayed the expansion mind you, but from a development standpoint, they'd probably be safer doing just that.

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Probably early 2016 depending on how 3.2's development went. The shareholders would be mad to be sure.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

Probably early 2016 depending on how 3.2's development went. The shareholders would be mad to be sure.

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And player base. WoW has proven that a playerbase will go into open revolt if they had to wait a year for content. Unless they somehow peppered that year with more content, at which point those resources should have been going into the expansion.

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Originally Posted by Fjaere

Square Enix really needs to invest in a larger dev team for this game, I also dont understand how the entire dev team was able to go on vacation at once :S

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Throwing money at the problem doesn't work as well as people seem to think. As someone already pointed out, you need to not just hire the right people, but they also have to be trained and taught how to use the tools the rest of the team is using for the game and they have to be brought up to speed on what the team wants out of the game. All that takes time and can cause delays to the development of the game, bringing us back here.

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Originally Posted by Velhart

3 months is being nice. Game patches usually go up to almost or over 4 months. Either intentionally or a delay happened.

2.0 - Aug 19
2.1 - Dec 14
2.2 - Mar 26 - This is 3 months and 12 days
2.3 - Jul 7 - This is 3 months and 11 days
2.4 - Oct 18 - This is 3 months and 11 days
2.5 - Jan 20 - This is 3 months almost exactly
3.0 - Jun 19 - I believe they delayed this? can't rememember

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So you can say the average is 3 months and 9 days from 2.1 to 2.5. If we go by that, then OK I'll give you 6 weeks delayed and only $24.50 wasted. That's despite the fact that Yoshi himself said that patches will continue on the 3 month cycle after Heavensward launches all the way to 3.5.

3.0 Jun 19 (let's say 23rd, cuz 19 is actually early access)
3.1 Nov 10 This is 4 months and 18 days

Just going to give an analogy about false expectations.

Imagine you go to a cell phone store and the rep says you get 1GB per month data plan. Great, sign up.

then 4 months down the road you prepay for your 5th month. Suddenly, a week later the cell phone company broadcasts "Hey, we're all going on vacation, so for the next 2 months you get 500 MB instead of 1 GB. No discounts. Cheers". Should you be happy with this? Should you be OK with this? No. You were specifically told before payment what to expect, and then you paid. Then you got something else.

To be completely fair, the server move and the VR Titan fight probably took some time to made as well

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Just going to give an analogy about false expectations.

Imagine you go to a cell phone store and the rep says you get 1GB per month data plan. Great, sign up.

then 4 months down the road you prepay for your 5th month. Suddenly, a week later the cell phone company broadcasts "Hey, we're all going on vacation, so for the next 2 months you get 500 MB instead of 1 GB. No discounts. Cheers". Should you be happy with this? Should you be OK with this? No. You were specifically told before payment what to expect, and then you paid. Then you got something else.

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Main difference is that you can't drop and resume a cell phone plan with nothing wasted. 14's a product; if you want something to change, the most effective way is to vote with your wallet. If they lose enough money they'd probably just can Yoshida, which I'm sure a lot of people here would love.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

Main difference is that you can't drop and resume a cell phone plan with nothing wasted. 14's a product; if you want something to change, the most effective way is to vote with your wallet. If they lose enough money they'd probably just can Yoshida, which I'm sure a lot of people here would love.

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Yes, I already unsubbed. It was hard to think of a direct comparison. Not many things have subs. It's particularly frustrating, because I either pay 33% more, or I buy 2 months at a time, so I've unsubbed, but I've already paid until the end of October.

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Originally Posted by Xellos2099

To be completely fair, the server move and the VR Titan fight probably took some time to made as well

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Big boss man tells them to make a VR and they have to.

The EU server could have probably waited if the result would end up like this. (Wait for it....)

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Originally Posted by Fjaere

Square Enix really needs to invest in a larger dev team for this game, I also dont understand how the entire dev team was able to go on vacation at once :S

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Probably wasn't all at once since people still need to run operations and take care of critical issues if they turn up.
That said, how does it matter if they go all at once or spread out? Or do you mean like... half the team go on vacation, and the other half do their own part as well as what the other half should do in that time?

Also, they probably should get more people involved... it will take time for those people to get into the work and the sooner they start, the better... Even if it's only to offload the core teams a little.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Just going to give an analogy about false expectations.

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I'll give you one right now. Nowhere did they ever guarantee a 3 month schedule. It is not in the terms of service. They only said their plan was to try to keep it that way. It was never promised. The idea that some of you have that they did such a promise shows how much you were not paying attention to everything they said.

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Originally Posted by Wildsprite

I'll give you one right now, nowhere did they ever guarantee a 3 month schedule. it is not in the terms of service and they only said their plan was to try to keep it that way. it was NOT promised.

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False expectations, not promises. Yoshi himself said that they would stick to a 3 month cycle in interviews. Yes, it's not in the ToS, you are right there.

It's fine if you want to keep supporting this, but to me it's not a very good business practice.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

False expectations, not promises. Yoshi himself said that they would stick to a 3 month cycle in interviews. Yes, it's not in the ToS, you are right there.

It's fine if you want to keep supporting this, but to me it's not a very good business practice.

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he said time and time again their plan was to try to stick to that schedule.

The only contract that was signed was your obligations to SE, being your ToS Agreement. I recommend reading it through. There's a clause there for delays an interruptions in service that you accepted (without looking, likely).

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Originally Posted by Wildsprite

I'll give you one right now. Nowhere did they ever guarantee a 3 month schedule. It is not in the terms of service. They only said their plan was to try to keep it that way. It was never promised. The idea that some of you have that they did such a promise shows how much you were not paying attention to everything they said.

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Actually Yoshida did say in an interview that they were planning a yearly, or almost year expansion release schedule, while releasing 5 major patches too. While it's not offical, anyone who read that would expect patches to be released at the same, or a faster pace than usual.


Source.

I'm glad and upset at the same time, I'm glad because during this time I was able to do many things that I was not able to do before, pony farms, relic quest line,pvp , craft and lvl up 3 classes to 60 (dps, tank and healer) but I'm upset because I'm already sick of Alexander Savage, the same two dungeons and that at this point I'm the only one playing since my friends quit the game, also my FC is dead so I need to look for a new one T_T

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Originally Posted by Wildsprite

he said time and time again their plan was to try to stick to that schedule.

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I am confused. Are you agreeing with me now?

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

The only contract that was signed was your obligations to SE, being your ToS Agreement. I recommend reading it through. There's a clause there for delays an interruptions in service that you accepted (without looking, likely).

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Honestly, I don't care what the ToS agreement states. I am not asking for a refund, or suing them or anything like that. I'm simply no longer supporting them.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

I am confused. Are you agreeing with me now?

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yes and no, the issue here is translation sometimes isn't exact. I believe he very well did intend to stick to the 3 month schedule. but I don't believe he worded it like that even though a lot of people took it as a guarantee

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Originally Posted by Wildsprite

yes and no, the issue here is translation sometimes isn't exact. I believe he very well did intend to stick to the 3 month schedule. but I don't believe he worded it like that even though a lot of people took it as a guarantee

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I definitely did not take is as a guarantee, but a plan. This delay was due to a vacation, not due to some 'unexpected' delay. Therefore, if he was planning to delay it by 1.5 months, he should have told his paying subscriber base. Not telling us much sooner than just a few days prior to 3 months, in my opinion, is a pretty dodgy thing to do.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

I definitely did not take is as a guarantee, but a plan. This delay was due to a vacation, not due to some 'unexpected' delay. Therefore, if he was planning to delay it by 1.5 months, he should have told his paying subscriber base. Not telling us much sooner than just a few days prior to 3 months, in my opinion, is a pretty dodgy thing to do.

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that I can agree with, he and or a community rep should have put something up on lodestone telling us about the vacation. would have left a lot less angry people.

I'm glad they decided to take a vacation. It's much deserved. I can say that over the last 2 years they have provided with me with endless amount of entertainment and fun. I have much love for that and have gotten my moneys worth and will continue to gladly support this game. If they are reading this I just want to say thanks and take your time. I see a lot of angry and up tight people here but very few take the time to say thank you. But I'm sure they know that this forum represents a vocal minority and the reputation it has amongst the community for being extremely negative, but regardless many people are appreciative of your dedication. Keep up the good work.

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Originally Posted by TheUltimate3

Big boss man tells them to make a VR and they have to.

The EU server could have probably waited if the result would end up like this. (Wait for it....)

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It will take the same amount fo time eventually, it is either now or later.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Honestly, I don't care what the ToS agreement states. I am not asking for a refund, or suing them or anything like that. I'm simply no longer supporting them.

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I'm sorry, did I quote you?

I mean between this response and the declaration of your removal of support, you seem to have some pretty big ideas as to your self-importance.

Hate to break it to you, but the subscription button is a revolving door. They've already anticipated ebbs and flows for such things and being a soap box dramatization on it isn't going to help - especially if the argument is that they should hire more staff so that a vacation does not delay production. Removing subscriptions does not aid this. As I am sure you well know.

Feel free to remain unsubscribed as long as you wish for FFXIV to meet your expectations again.

Now, to clarify for you, this next part is a general rant, Kaurie. It does not concern you directly.

I'm trying not to have an brain hemorrhage from the sheer level of self conflict and complete absence of consideration when it comes to complaints about this. Between expectations completely divested of any ground in reality and the statement of opinions as facts and facts that are patently false. It's exasperating to see just how uninformed people are in this day and age on how things work, thinking that they do, when the information is open to research with the slightest amount of effort.

I feel like someone needs to make an educational video targeted at a bunch of middle schoolers to explain what happens in these situations.

I don't mind the wait. That will be a bad time period though since gaming always has a lot of releases in November.

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

I'm sorry, did I quote you?

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My bad, I thought you were directing your post at me, as I had a couple of posts before yours and your post was relevant.

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

I mean between this response and the declaration of your removal of support, you seem to have some pretty big ideas as to your self-importance.

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I have no exaggerated ideas of self-importance, and I am not sure how you can come to that conclusion. I'm simply a previous paying customer participating in the discussion of the 'November? Really??' thread on the general discussion forum.

I am hoping that my concerns are seen by Square Enix. As I said, it's a dodgy business practice.

Coming from many customer service jobs, I can tell you that it's very important for the company to receive this kind of feedback. For example, AT&T Wireless listed 'amiable' customers as the 'most dangerous' throughout my training. That is because the amiable customers will simply cancel when they are upset. However, the angry vocal customers (the ones every customer service rep hates) are the ones that are the most helpful to the company. They are the ones that 1. you have a chance to convince to stay and 2. you can learn from why your consumer base is upset and adjust accordingly.

The reason why this is a 'dodgy business practice' is because they set an expectation to their consumers. They then charged a subscription model to those consumers. Then, once they have received money for the month of which they won't meet their expectations that were set, they announce that they won't meet their expectations. Had they simply announced 1-2 months ago that 3.1 will be in November, then this wouldn't be a problem.

In the business world you can do 2 major things when you are unhappy with a business practice. You can tell them, and you can take your money elsewhere. I've done both. To clarify, this doesn't mean that I think that I am the only person who matters, or have some sense of great importance. It just means that I've voiced my opinion.

As for your rant, I don't really get what you're talking about. It does, however, seem rather offensive, but I won't take it directly.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Just going to give an analogy about false expectations.

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Lets see if I can come up with something actually fitting to the situation.

You have Cable TV. You're paying monthly for your TV channels. In the month of October nothing runs that interests you (lets say new movies) because cinematic movie release schedule was wonky this year.

Are you going to go complain to your Pay-TV company that nothing runs that interests you and you definitely want Mad Max Fury Road now instead of in November?

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Originally Posted by Rakeesh

Lets see if I can come up with something actually fitting to the situation.

You have Cable TV. You're paying monthly for your TV channels. In the month of October nothing runs that interests you (lets say new movies) because cinematic movie release schedule was wonky this year.

Are you going to go complain to your Pay-TV company that nothing runs that interests you and you definitely want Mad Max Fury Road now instead of in November?

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This was almost true, but it is more like the cable company (somehow having power of this) says "All of these shows are launching in October." .. "OK, now that you've paid for October, we're actually just kidding and it will be in November. Peace."

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

This was almost true, but it is more like the cable company (somehow having power of this) says "All of these shows are launching in October." .. "OK, now that you've paid for October, we're actually just kidding and it will be in November. Peace."

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Only that Square never said that 3.1 will be released in October. "First 10 days of November" is the first thing close to a release date we have heard by now. Everything else was just speculation by the player base. So it's more like "Oh... last year they released the shows in October they probably will do the same this year too." "This year the shows will come out November because of difficulties on the set." "Let us riot in the streets go get the pitchforks! We were promised October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

This was almost true, but it is more like the cable company (somehow having power of this) says "All of these shows are launching in October." .. "OK, now that you've paid for October, we're actually just kidding and it will be in November. Peace."

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More like you pay for October, they later say they ran into issues(the vacation was only one factor. According to Yoshida, they also had to fix something with the workflow) and it'll be delayed. You have full access to the rest of the catalog, but it won't be updated until November. You ask for a refund, they don't give you one because they legally don't have to due to what was stated in ToS.

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Originally Posted by Rakeesh

Only that Square never said that 3.1 will be released in October. "First 10 days of November" is the first thing close to a release date we have heard by now. Everything else was just speculation by the player base. So it's more like "Oh... last year they released the shows in October they probably will do the same this year too." "This year the shows will come out November because of difficulties on the set." "Let us riot in the streets go get the pitchforks! We were promised October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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My assumption is not based off last year. It's based off an interview in February when Yoshi said "We will be following the 3 month patch cycle in Heavensward from 3.0 to 3.5".

Except... There were no difficulties, they went on vacation. It was a planned delay that they didn't tell us until 3 days prior to the expected release based on their own interviews.

If you want to get precise, it's more like
Cable company: We will be releasing a new show every 3 months
September, 3 months later hits, October bill paid for.
Cable company: Oh lol we went on vacation, so you can expect the new show in November instead.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

More like you pay for October, they later say they ran into issues(the vacation was only one factor. According to Yoshida, they also had to fix something with the workflow) and it'll be delayed. You have full access to the rest of the catalog, but it won't be updated until November. You ask for a refund, they don't give you one because they legally don't have to due to what was stated in ToS.

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Never asked for a refund. As for issues, see above. Don't care about legal stuff lol. No idea how many times I have to repeat myself.
TBH this thread has been more entertaining than the game. Nice that it's free.

This is a silly thing to complain about. Would you rather work without your own paid vacation? I'm excited for the release of 3., and early November was when I was predicting it'd come out. Just relax, everything will be good.

Wow. The sheer number of people who can not be patient is ridiculous. The delay of 3.1 is not that long. Calm down folks. There's plenty to do in the game and the servers aren't being taken down, which if that were the case, it would be justifiable to feel that you aren't getting what you're paying for. It was never guaranteed to us that we would absolutely, without any shadow of a doubt, receive content updates once every 3 months. As adults, I don't, for the life of me, understand why everyone is so very upset that the patch has been slightly delayed. We all work very hard to obtain our gear. After all the time and effort that has been put into acquiring all of the gear, and any other items, that you guys have acquired up until now, why is there such an extreme desire to have more content added, as fast as possible, so you can get more gear, to replace what you worked so hard to get?

I think a lot of the upset people here really need to take a break. If you can not find any enjoyment from what the game has to offer in it's current state, it may be time to take a break, enjoy other hobbies or aspects of life, and come back after the patch has been released, with a fresh attitude so that you can enjoy the game again.

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Never asked for a refund. As for issues, see above. Don't care about legal stuff lol. No idea how many times I have to repeat myself.
TBH this thread has been more entertaining than the game. Nice that it's free.

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Not referring to you specifically, just the people that are demanding some sort of compensation.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

Not referring to you specifically, just the people that are demanding some sort of compensation.

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My bad, 2nd time I made this mistake. *whistle*