Stopping to enrage raging people.

Yeah that's a fair comment, I just really wanna know how much those 44k copies actually affected things, cause y'know, if it did shift it into the top sellers, that's also kinda dodgy in my books.

I'd guess it isn't the case, because afaik (I remember a valve person as source for this) the list is based on generated revenue. The generated revenue of a free copy is 0.

There is also the question of how many backers actually use steam.
Backers especially all were given the non steam version. They had the option to convert it, but that's work you need to do. How many people love steam that much they would do that? I haven't converted my original backers version to steam either.

I have the progenitor commander. Soo why didn't i get the expansion. Yes i was a KS.. If the alpha key is necessary to proof i will gladly do so. ANd es i paid the 90 dollars.

Its plain good business ethics plain and simple

Contact support.

Cola get over it wrong is wrong.. I was KS backer i got screwed.....Plain and simple.. Proof me wrong and i will retract my statement. I'm probably the oldest player in this game.. I'm very business minded. Soo pro of me wrong and i'll show you my alpha keys. I got one of the first ones .. And i got paypal statements to proof it. Either put up or hash up sir

Cough cough, rofl, rofl... lol
Mr. ScottJames if you are a backer, you will get your free key. Support of Uber is a bit overrun right now.
But... you are right, they should send an email blast to let people know that support is a "bit" busy right now.
But... you are not getting screwed, you just need to wait for support to actually answer. Big difference.

This is like saying the postal service "screwed" you because your parcel didn't arrive at the EXACT predicted time.

He just needs to wait... Scott James will be fine.

you're absolutely right, as usual. For myself I do struggle with it. I had such a wonderful experience being part of this game and community that I sometimes just cant help myself, especially when some people are saying things wich I know to be untrue.
Good post.

I not raging.. If there having issues... Then they should communicate properly ... If this had been done i believe many players won't be frustrated.. I broadcast email to all players might have been helpful. You must use ALL FORMS OF COMMUNICATION AVAILABLE. that's just good business sense sir

just means that UBER wont get any game in EA on steam launched proper anymore as those who are willing to pay wont do it anymore and those who are remaining as they missed the great thing there are way less (as UBER is developing in a quite small genre)
but its pretty much that
two groups treated different = bad

In another way:

You treat your family better than stranger = bad...

Dat argument..

the problem is that the strangers felt as part of the family. And it is kind of reasonable for them to do so.

I think you have just summarized the reason for a lot of the anger.
I threw my money in at the first stage of early access, having not seen the kick-starter until after it was closed, in the hopes that the game would grow to be something great. It kind of stings when a replacement product then comes out where the only reason you don't get a copy is you heard about the game a month later than the kick-starter backers.

This replacement wouldn't bug me if I had paid the release price for the game but given the pricing difference for the early access it becomes a very hard sell for people who are being told "You paid extra for the privilege of beta testing the game".
Early access is by its very nature a way to show support for the project and if you are placing as much money in the pot as the kick-starter backers it is rather aggravating to be told you aren't worth as much to the end product as someone who provided 1/3 of the money you did but happened to find out a month earlier.
It is possible that the EA purchasers weren't important but that is only the case if the kick-starter money was enough to take the product the entire way to release. However at that point the price tag for early access, at least at the start of it, becomes highly dubious, however that is a discussion for another day.

I will be interested to see how this all turns out, I am of course hoping that the EA backers get the same treatment that the kick-starter backers did in relation to this. I am however under no illusion as to what this situation looks like from the various standpoints. As with all internet arguments, I wish this conflict had been civil enough to call it a discussion, there are a couple of standpoints with reason behind them surrounded in third party trolls and people who are trying to get in on the potential gains by trying to shift goalposts.

Sorry if this post rambled a bit, I will try to clarify anything about my position if needs be but I hope it is fairly self explanatory.

As an interesting side note the way this is handled in regards to the EA backers, particularly those at the higher price point, is likely to colour how those people see both Uber and EA in general.

So tired of all the hate going everywhere right now. I just swung by to say awesome post Colin! I'll be buying PA Titans later, but at the moment I'm actually without home so first things first, lol!~

I've got to say, thanks for being calm and reasonable with your thoughts, makes a change!

I think the issue wasn't really uber trying to snub the early access backers, rather they do need some people to buy the expansion and had to choose a cut off point to who does and doesn't pay.

Maybe they should have gone on price instead? I dunno, although wherever the line is drawn somebody would be left out

I mean the discount is a nice gesture and my personal opinion is its definitely worth it if you like PA, however I can understand your position if due to bad timings you've missed out and would rather leave it for now (on a side note, I expect titans will go on sale later in the year, judging by how original pa went).

I have, because I know if Uber ever goes under, the servers will probably shift to valve, like what happened to CoH

The way I see it there were 3 ways they could have done this to avoid bad reactions:

1) Everyone who purchased prior to release gets it for free, how kick-starter backers have been treated. This is the most consumer friendly option.

2) Everyone above a certain pay grade gets it for free. This is the balanced option where the devs get more money off of people who paid retail or less.

3) Nobody gets it for free. Outrage is still generated but no feud between EA and KS splitting the community. This has the potential for highest profit but may not generate as much as 2 in reality.

It is worth bearing in mind that people who backed on kick-starter already got extra in-game benefits for doing so past EA and Titans appears to have been kept under the radar and appears to not have been part of any of the kick-starter incentives.

Personally for PR reasons I would have gone with options 1 or 2 because that way it doesn't make people angry. I am fairly certain anyone who paid retail or lower could understand having to pay for it but anyone who paid any significant quantity more than that is bound to feel cheated.

I see the value of KS but given the massively inflated price of EA either the devs wanted to milk supporters or they needed the money to get the product finished. If it is the latter then while the KS was needed to get the development started the EA program was needed to fund the development past the early stages and get it to launch build.

I would like to give the devs the benefit of the doubt and assume they aren't being intentionally brutal to those who supported in EA but that is the end result of this. I know that I wouldn't have bought the game if I knew this situation was going to arise, I would have waited for a sale and they would only have received at maximum 1/4 of what I paid them. The reason I paid more money for EA was to support the game and get it to a point where it could succeed so it feels like a kick in the teeth to be told "oh, you paid £60 to support our game, well to get the last major bit of content for it you will have to pay another £10."

"(on a side note, I expect titans will go on sale later in the year, judging by how original pa went)." It is 2/3 off for people who already own it however the devs are not getting another penny out of me for this game without an addition of FA proportions. It comes back to price point essentially. If someone pays double retail and you release a "SAE" which you are giving retail price purchasers 2/3 off you are going to make people who paid more in EA to help support you very angry. If there hadn't been different price tags for the finished product and EA then nobody would have an issue with this. The problem stems from assuming that people who backed in early access only bought it to play a beta version when, quite frankly, a lot of people buy early access titles in the hope that they will help the project get to release as something they would actually like to play.

I won't pretend I didn't launch the game during early access, I played it for a bit under an hour to see how it ran, but that wasn't the reason for buying it in my mind. I suspect this is probably the same motivation of a lot of the now angry customers.

The long term repercussions of this are likely to be along the lines of: if Uber makes another RTS they had better have all the money they need before starting because they are unlikely to receive any meaningful early access funding at this point as they have definitely lost consumer trust at this point.
As fun as it is to say things like 'look at those neanderthals screaming in the steam forums' is it does not help public image and if a large portion of your customers are yelling in any forum then it is probably a good idea to try to open up a dialogue with them. After all the lack of dialogue is essentially why #GamerGate blew up to such a large movement. Before anyone makes any assumptions about what I mean I am simply saying that by ignoring people and not addressing the issues put forward by those who can express calmly what the problem is you end up creating a far bigger problem which is likely to come back to hurt you in the long term.

As to me being calm, yeah I find it very unproductive to scream and shout at people adopting an us and them mentality. I would rather have a rational discussion about the issues as in most cases you get taken more seriously and as a result issues tend to be resolved more smoothly. This is especially true if I suspect that there hasn't been a chance for a reasonable discussion.

I suspect that one of the best things which could happen in regards to this whole situation is for the developers to actually respond in some manner and, at an absolute minimum, explain their rationale. My preference would actually be for them to discuss the problem with those who agree to a civil discussion.

Sorry mate i see excuses... that's whats upsetting people the most