and if the email will let us purchase the final episode what if we missed one out and wish to purchase that seperatley we can't do that either? making them seperate again will just make thing easier
I'm gonna throw this out there: No one here is upset that month to month episode purchases were killed. What we ARE upset about it is the timing and the response to our inquiries about it, which basically boiled down to "Why are you so upset? We SAID we'd get to letting you buy it eventually but its not important enough to do it quickly. Buy a season pass next time like everyone else!"
And jake, only one person was stomping and threatening piracy. I don't even think anyone was swearing. Way to show you barely bothered to read our responses.
No one here is upset that month to month episode purchases were killed.
Actually I'm very upset about that! Telltale based its entire business model on offering individual episodic games. Abolishing that takes away a lot of the allure. Telltale, like any other game manufacturer, doesn't consistently turn out the same quality. The first Strongbad episode was weak, as was the last S&M Season 2 episode. I have the ability to not buy those if I do not wish, and indeed I wait for the reviews before purchasing an episode I'm not that pumped about. It seems like Telltale has wised up to this, and is going to make us pay for a season, crap episodes and all, in the hopes that we will overlook them in the face of the better episodes. Kind of like how many bands hate itunes because people can just purchase the one or two good songs, and avoid the filler. I didn't like what I saw of SB episode 1 on youtube, or in the demo, and Telltale won't be getting my money for it, even if they try to wrap it up with some better offerings with a nice season pass bow.
Telltale, like Google, and every other lovable company is eventually corrupted by the promise of additional funds for less effort, and gradually grows away from its audience, until it dies due to lack of interest. Let us hope that this is an isolated faux pas from Telltale, and that they will continue to SERVE their customers.
We are not just regular old gamers, ruffling our own feathers over some minimal change, we are legitimately concerned consumers who are disgusted that a company would change the rules up so significantly midstream, leaving many of their customers out in the cold. Even if they sent an email giving us the option to buy the last episode a la carte (but just this one time guys! then its over! God forbid that the consumers should be able to give you their money for things they actually WANT!), the damage is done. I used to use Telltale as an example of a company that is really connected with its consumers, has a real grasp on what they want, and delivers it consistently; but no longer.
My point was more that what people are complaining about in this instance was a change in policy at, literally, the last possible minute and Tell Tale's initial refusal to explain said change. And when they did finally issue a statement they more or less ignored the issue at hand and offered an inferior solution to the problem and turned around later and insulted this particular customer base when further pressed for an explanation.
The loss of month to month buys is bad, it really is. And even more puzzling in this case because they're still available for some of their products. But again, its especially galling here because they could and SHOULD have waited until after episode five to pull it and if not, at least issued an explanation before the episode debuted. They handled this in the worst way possible.
hey guys! I sent a letter explaining all of this to Telltale support. Here's my response.
Hi Aaron,
I just checked your account and see that you've purchased Dangeresque 3, so you are eligible to get the full season for $26. If you'd like to do this, the details are here: http://www.telltalegames.com/store/sbcg4ap-upgrade
The other way to get the episode is through WiiWare, if that's an option for you.
-Emily, Telltale Games
Seriously? Basically she ignored everything I wrote, and just advertised their pricing system I already said I wouldn't pay.
This is why I have little hope for the supposed e-mail they're going to send out. How do they know who to send it to? Are they just gonna send individual purchase links to everyone who bought one more more episodes but didn't get an upgrade or season pass? And how is THAT a better solution than just keeping individual episode sales up for one last episode? That Doom's e-mail was ignored in favor of a sales pitch has me wanting to play this episode even less than I was before.
Telltale, you seem to have forgotten one scenario. I bought episodes one and two via Wiiware (where there is no 'season pass' option), but gave up on that service because here, in Australia, the Wiiware releases are erratic at best.
Episodes three and four were available on this site before episode 3 appeared on the Wii.
So here I am, having purchased episodes one through four in good faith, being told to fork over $26 US for the final episode. Thanks to the exchange rate, that's nearly $40 AUS.
I, like everyone else in this thread, consider this to be extortionate and the promise of a 'fix' at some undetermined point in the future is not good enough.
Put the single episode up for individual sale.
The EA/Activision imitation is wearing a little thin.
First they move this thread to the very bottom forum, to ensure that no one sees it, and then they remove my post regarding it in the general forum. This is looking shadier and shadier.
Your post was removed because it was off topic and because there's already a discussion about this topic going on here. This thread was moved to this "bottom" forum because it's a shopping-related forum and that's where this kind of topic belongs. Sorry if that appears shady, but we're really just trying to keep the forum easy to navigate. We do it all the time around here.
The scenarios that have been brought up (i.e. bought some episodes on PC and some on Wii, etc.) are things we are trying to accommodate in the promotion we're working on for today. We already gave episode 5 away to people who bought episodes 1-4 from Telltale but hadn't considered how many people might have bought one or two on Wii and the rest on PC, so we're working on something that should make the episode affordable for you guys too. We're not trying to make anyone pay double!
I understand it can be hard to take it on faith until you've received the email about the promo we're working on, but please try to be a little patient with us while we get that finished up.
@ Emily: That's good. I'm glad that you guys are sending out a solution. I'm still curious why this happened in the first place? All of the Sam & Max episodes are still free to buy by themselves and there was no previous mention of you taking down the separate downloads. Why even change the way of buying episodes with only one to go?
Take it on faith? I don't care what you do, it will be a day late and a dollar short. Telltale is going for the quick money, and you're going to suffer in the long term because of it. You made a major change to your purchasing structure RIGHT BEFORE the last and most anticipated episode in the series in an attempt to cash out on people who want to play that last episode. I'm genuinely disappointed in your service.
Also apparently you didn't consider that you are leaving everyone who bought between 1 and 4 episodes on the PC out in the cold. People who bought 2 or 3, as I did, have to pay extra to play the whole season. My final price would come out to about 40 bucks, 5 more than the whole season retails for outright.
I have bought every episode that has come out ( and three episodes of Sam and max due to the October promotion) and have done so by buying each separately. I am kinda surprised that they would charge as if I never had bought any of them. I will not be buying at this time if I have to pay for the games that I have already bought again.
We've been promised some sort of fix. Let's go through the possible scenarios here-
Everyone can buy the last episode by itself, but just this one time- We get the game two days late and with extra hassle.
Everyone who has bought between 1-4 games gets to buy the season for 35 dollars minus the price of the episodes they have bought so far- We still get to play late, and we have to buy the episodes we don't want.
Everyone gets the episode free- Telltale loses more money than if they just let us buy the damn thing by itself in the first place.
Pick your poison Telltale. You've put us all in a bad spot.
Hey, I bought episodes 2-4 on the PC and episode one on the Wii. So you're telling me that because I was ONE episode short of a complete set on the PC that I'll likely have to buy Homestar Ruiner AGAIN just to get 8 Bit is Enough. Which means, in the end, that I'll have to pay fifty bucks, that is, FIFTEEN DOLLARS MORE than if I had bought a season pass. I'd say was I being presumptuous but that you still refuse to explain anything all the while telling us an affordable "promotion!" will be sent out via e-mail tells me that whatever you offer won't be as simple as just offering the single episode for sale which is what should have been done in the first place BECAUSE YOU DID IT WITH THE OTHER FOUR.
And again, none of this would be so bad if you would just explain the reason for the change. You guys made a terrible business decision and you're handling it in the worst way possible. This has me seriously doubting whether I'll buy future seasons of your games just because this episode is such a hassle to get and everything you guys have said and done so far to resolve the issue tells me I'm not important enough as a customer.
Actually, people who got the first four episodes from the Telltale store got a season upgrade for free earlier in the week.
Awesome, glad to see I made the "smart" decision to download episodes 2-4 on PC after I got headache fighting for several hours over multiple days to get the Wii network to download episode 1. Instead I just got another headache fighting for several hours over multiple days trying to download episode 5.
But at least now you tell me that if I had bought episode 1 on PC to begin with you'd have upgraded me to a season pass for free. Would you care to rub any more salt in the wound?
There is now a bit of a discussion of this issue on the Giant Bomb thread I created. All of the users there appear to agree with Telltale: we stupid consumers who didnt buy all of the episodes or a season pass don't really matter.
Someone also made a cute little edit to the information I put on the 8 bit is enough page on Giant Bomb, removing the part about consumers being left out in the cold and replacing it with a much friedlier (and less accurate) "To compensate telltale is offering everyone who bought 4 episodes the fifth one free" or something along those lines. This, like Telltale, forgets that consumers exist out of that camp.
Apparently the S&M episodes are still available. I checked yesterday and I was pretty sure that they were not. Perhaps I was mistaken. I wonder why the Strongbad fans are getting the shaft?
I'd like to add that I recently got a message from Emily that was in fact quite nice and helpful informing me that they really are sorry and are working to let us buy the final episode at normal price.
Yes, it is annoying that we have to go through all of this, and that there still isn't ANY explanation from Telltale why this had to happen in the first place, but I really am pleased with the fact that they are willing to personally send me a message saying they are fixing the problem. Lots of other companies would just ignore the user completely, so even though I am still fairly upset over the entire solution, I think that members of the Telltale staff are still setting a fair example of how to deal with customer complaints.
That's it, I've seen enough. I am very disappointed in Telltale's scummy last minute decision to remove individual purchase. Such a poorly thought out choice, and such cavalier, uncaring responses have lowered Telltale to a station from which it cannot be redeemed. Telltale will never see another dime of my money. It's a shame it has to be this way, but the choice was yours.
Anybody think we'll get it today? It's already been 41 hours since release! Also, anybody got details on why they removed te past games for individual purchase?
We're in the middle of sending out e-mails to customers right now (about half have gone out at this point). Hopefully everyone will be happy with the contents
Comments
Allow me to summarize: "We don't care about the customers who don't buy whole seasons".
Very classy, Telltale.
And jake, only one person was stomping and threatening piracy. I don't even think anyone was swearing. Way to show you barely bothered to read our responses.
Actually I'm very upset about that! Telltale based its entire business model on offering individual episodic games. Abolishing that takes away a lot of the allure. Telltale, like any other game manufacturer, doesn't consistently turn out the same quality. The first Strongbad episode was weak, as was the last S&M Season 2 episode. I have the ability to not buy those if I do not wish, and indeed I wait for the reviews before purchasing an episode I'm not that pumped about. It seems like Telltale has wised up to this, and is going to make us pay for a season, crap episodes and all, in the hopes that we will overlook them in the face of the better episodes. Kind of like how many bands hate itunes because people can just purchase the one or two good songs, and avoid the filler. I didn't like what I saw of SB episode 1 on youtube, or in the demo, and Telltale won't be getting my money for it, even if they try to wrap it up with some better offerings with a nice season pass bow.
Telltale, like Google, and every other lovable company is eventually corrupted by the promise of additional funds for less effort, and gradually grows away from its audience, until it dies due to lack of interest. Let us hope that this is an isolated faux pas from Telltale, and that they will continue to SERVE their customers.
We are not just regular old gamers, ruffling our own feathers over some minimal change, we are legitimately concerned consumers who are disgusted that a company would change the rules up so significantly midstream, leaving many of their customers out in the cold. Even if they sent an email giving us the option to buy the last episode a la carte (but just this one time guys! then its over! God forbid that the consumers should be able to give you their money for things they actually WANT!), the damage is done. I used to use Telltale as an example of a company that is really connected with its consumers, has a real grasp on what they want, and delivers it consistently; but no longer.
The loss of month to month buys is bad, it really is. And even more puzzling in this case because they're still available for some of their products. But again, its especially galling here because they could and SHOULD have waited until after episode five to pull it and if not, at least issued an explanation before the episode debuted. They handled this in the worst way possible.
Hi Aaron,
I just checked your account and see that you've purchased Dangeresque 3, so you are eligible to get the full season for $26. If you'd like to do this, the details are here: http://www.telltalegames.com/store/sbcg4ap-upgrade
The other way to get the episode is through WiiWare, if that's an option for you.
-Emily, Telltale Games
Seriously? Basically she ignored everything I wrote, and just advertised their pricing system I already said I wouldn't pay.
I hope this "solution" fixes things.
Episodes three and four were available on this site before episode 3 appeared on the Wii.
So here I am, having purchased episodes one through four in good faith, being told to fork over $26 US for the final episode. Thanks to the exchange rate, that's nearly $40 AUS.
I, like everyone else in this thread, consider this to be extortionate and the promise of a 'fix' at some undetermined point in the future is not good enough.
Put the single episode up for individual sale.
The EA/Activision imitation is wearing a little thin.
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7422
First they move this thread to the very bottom forum, to ensure that no one sees it, and then they remove my post regarding it in the general forum. This is looking shadier and shadier.
The scenarios that have been brought up (i.e. bought some episodes on PC and some on Wii, etc.) are things we are trying to accommodate in the promotion we're working on for today. We already gave episode 5 away to people who bought episodes 1-4 from Telltale but hadn't considered how many people might have bought one or two on Wii and the rest on PC, so we're working on something that should make the episode affordable for you guys too. We're not trying to make anyone pay double!
I understand it can be hard to take it on faith until you've received the email about the promo we're working on, but please try to be a little patient with us while we get that finished up.
Also apparently you didn't consider that you are leaving everyone who bought between 1 and 4 episodes on the PC out in the cold. People who bought 2 or 3, as I did, have to pay extra to play the whole season. My final price would come out to about 40 bucks, 5 more than the whole season retails for outright.
Everyone can buy the last episode by itself, but just this one time- We get the game two days late and with extra hassle.
Everyone who has bought between 1-4 games gets to buy the season for 35 dollars minus the price of the episodes they have bought so far- We still get to play late, and we have to buy the episodes we don't want.
Everyone gets the episode free- Telltale loses more money than if they just let us buy the damn thing by itself in the first place.
Pick your poison Telltale. You've put us all in a bad spot.
And again, none of this would be so bad if you would just explain the reason for the change. You guys made a terrible business decision and you're handling it in the worst way possible. This has me seriously doubting whether I'll buy future seasons of your games just because this episode is such a hassle to get and everything you guys have said and done so far to resolve the issue tells me I'm not important enough as a customer.
Awesome, glad to see I made the "smart" decision to download episodes 2-4 on PC after I got headache fighting for several hours over multiple days to get the Wii network to download episode 1. Instead I just got another headache fighting for several hours over multiple days trying to download episode 5.
But at least now you tell me that if I had bought episode 1 on PC to begin with you'd have upgraded me to a season pass for free. Would you care to rub any more salt in the wound?
http://www.giantbomb.com/strong-bads-cool-game-for-attractive-people-episode-5-8-bit-is-enough/61-24490/telltale-tells-its-return-customers-to-suck-eggs/35-222008/#5
Someone also made a cute little edit to the information I put on the 8 bit is enough page on Giant Bomb, removing the part about consumers being left out in the cold and replacing it with a much friedlier (and less accurate) "To compensate telltale is offering everyone who bought 4 episodes the fifth one free" or something along those lines. This, like Telltale, forgets that consumers exist out of that camp.
Apparently the S&M episodes are still available. I checked yesterday and I was pretty sure that they were not. Perhaps I was mistaken. I wonder why the Strongbad fans are getting the shaft?
Yes, it is annoying that we have to go through all of this, and that there still isn't ANY explanation from Telltale why this had to happen in the first place, but I really am pleased with the fact that they are willing to personally send me a message saying they are fixing the problem. Lots of other companies would just ignore the user completely, so even though I am still fairly upset over the entire solution, I think that members of the Telltale staff are still setting a fair example of how to deal with customer complaints.
Now...to wait for that e-mail....
Telltale! Quick question to tobacco- Can you smoke yourself?
Anyone who still has questions (or if a while goes by and you don't receive an email from us), please send me a PM.