'War Z' Game Producer Lists Non-Existent Features, Blames Customers' Eyesight And Overactive Imagination

from the self-immolation-as-'customer-service' dept

Thu, Dec 27th 2012 1:00pm — Tim Cushing

As has been discussed here many times, screwing up in public is rarely pleasant, but if the one screwing up takes fast, direct action to respond to the problem and handles complaints with the right blend of contrition and forthrightness, damage will remain minimal. Not only that, but considering that contrition and forthrightness are a rarity in an era where companies sue individuals for writing bad reviews, this sort of action often sees the erring person/company earning praise and new customers for taking the road less traveled.

For zombie-shooter "The War Z," everything that could be handled badly was, starting with a rushed development cycle that resulted in a game that underdelivered and overpromised. Things went from bad to worse when executive Sergey Titov decided to blame his games' issues on the now-angry customers.

The first misstep was releasing the game in beta state while still expecting customers to pay between $14.99-49.99 for the dubious privilege of traipsing around an underpopulated MMO with only the promise of more and better features somewhere down the road, most of which will require additional payment. Considering the game went from alpha to "worth actual money" in under two months (beta began on October 10th), the supposedly "worth paying for" version seemed a bit, well, unpolished, to say the least.

It seems that the description put on Steam was a touch… exaggerated, perhaps listing what the game is eventually planned to include, rather than what’s in there right now. And it didn’t even mention that the game is not yet beyond beta. Claiming to feature “areas between 100 to 400 square kilometers”, the game in fact currently only has one map, and it’s 72 square kilometers.* It listed itself as having private servers, which it does not. And it sold itself as having skills to buy with experience points, despite the game having no skills at all. An imaginary “hardcore mode” was listed, and it claimed the complete rubbish that 100 players could join a server when the limit is 50.

*According to PCGamesN, the actual size of the map is considerably less than that -- 9.7417 sq km.

Pretty much nothing was true other than you could, if you so desired, throw money away on a beta version masquerading as finished product. Naturally, customers were unhappy and took the the forums to express their displeasure. That's when executive producer Sergey Titov waded into the fray, offering the sort of apology that lays the blame at the feet of those being "apologized" at.

“We’ve taken steps to correct this and format information presented on our Steam Store page in a way so it provides more clear information about game features that are present in the Foundation Release and what to expect in the coming weeks.

We also want to extend our apologies to all players who misread infromation about game features.”

Rock, Paper, Shotgun suggests this might be a translation issue (ha!). Perhaps Titov meant "miswrote." Gamespy followed up on Titov's statement, giving the producer a chance to actually apologize for the missing features. No dice.

“I’m sure there’ll be people who will look into small details and will say “no I was mislead,” where in fact they imagined something to themselves without checking details first.”

RPS thoughtfully grabbed a screenshot of the empty promises for posterity, giving all of us a chance to "imagine" a set of features that aren't actually included in "The War Z."

Titov also added: hey, if you don't like it, go get a refund. Well, sure. That's what the process is for, even if getting a refund for digital purchases is about as fun as playing an insta-fail escort mission that involves herding story-dependent cats through a catnip-laced minefield.

So, naturally, people made attempts to get their money back, only to find out that the terms of service (whatever wasn't copied directly from the "League of Legends" terms of service) now contained language stating that agreeing to the TOS waived their right to a refund.

ONCE YOU AGREE TO THIS TERMS OF SERVICE AND THE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THE GAME (THE "EULA") AND SERVICE FOR THE GAME COMMENCES, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND FOR ANY AMOUNTS OR OTHER CONSIDERATION PAID BY YOU FOR THE USE (OR FUTURE USE) OF THE GAME CLIENT OR THE SERVICE.

All of this added up to "The War Z" being removed from Steam and Steam itself is offering refunds to unhappy customers.

Because of these actions, Titov's reputation is currently being burned to the ground (often with Titov himself pouring the gasoline) and sown with salt, something that could have been avoided with an actual apology. Kotaku's roundup of news surrounding "The War Z" grows longer by the day, detailing further hole-digging by the producer, including asking forum users to "upvote" his game at Metacritic (where it currently carries a 1.5/10 rating) as well as preventing members of the game's Steam message board from detailing why they have quit the game.

All it would have taken is for the producer to state the game had been prematurely released and pulled it back until it could actually meet the specifications it posted. Or failing that, released with an altered, realistic set of features. Instead, Titov decided to accuse customers of "misunderstanding" a completely unambiguous features list.

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Filed Under: apologies, blaming consumers, sergey titov, war z

34 Comments

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Rikuo (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:05pm

I know saying this is a bit old, but did people demand refunds from Steam/EA and get them, over the ending debacle of Mass Effect 3?
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S. T. Stone, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:16pm

He has apparently come out with an actual apology now.

http://kotaku.com/5971562/war-z-creator-apologizes-i-became-arrogant-and-blinded-by-the-earl y-success-and-quick-growth
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Mesonoxian Eve (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:26pm

Re:
Actual apology?

Crocodile tears.

Companies need to realize the internet is both their best friend and worst enemy.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:26pm

Re:
I hope not. Playing the hours and hours of a game and then just being disappointed by the last few mins of it isn't grounds to get a refund, any more than if you go to the movies, watch the whole thing, then walk over to the box office and say, "I didn't like the end of that movie, I want my money back," you're not going to get anything.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:27pm

Re:
Holy crap that's a giant wall of text.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:28pm

I don't care about zombies or this game, but I'm glad I read the article for the cats in a minefield simile.
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out_of_the_blue, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:31pm

Isn't this just innovative use of crowd-funding?
He outlined a proposal and sought funding with some apparent promises that were in fact negated by the "TOS", had it been read (I guess; timeline seems vague from above). And now those who participated in this bit of creative marketing seem to be claiming they were rooked!

Yet Cushing seems able to maintain a "caveat emptor" balance and isn't calling for the well-deserved lynching. Hmm.

My bet is that "Titov" -- IF that is his real name -- is now set for life and doesn't care.
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Jake, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:38pm

Re:
Probably not, but this is a somewhat different scenario; it's one thing for a product to be merely bad, and marketing departments have a certain amount of wriggle-room when it comes to using hyperbole, but telling a barefaced lie in the promotional materials brings all kinds of laws into play that give buyers a more or less automatic right to their money back.
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Rikuo (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:40pm

Re: Re:
It's not that people didn't like the ending, its the fact that ME3's developers were on video, marketing the ending of the game as not being cookie cutter, as your choices mattering to the final outcome.
Which it didn't. Granted, the rest of the game may or may not be fun to play (I haven't played it yet), but when a game developer promises X, and I don't get X...that means false advertisement. In that case, I'd certainly feel entitled to a refund, just like here in War Z.
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The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:41pm

Re:
That apology puts me in mind of Gandhi who said "Bitch, please."
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:41pm

Re: Isn't this just innovative use of crowd-funding?
"He outlined a proposal and sought funding with some apparent promises that were in fact negated by the "TOS", had it been read (I guess; timeline seems vague from above)."

Well, if you call putting a "completed" game on Steam which wasn't actually completed innovative, I guess it is.

Also, the TOS only negates refunds. But it doesn't negate the rest of the issues with the game. Namely things that were not stated as being in the game and yet weren't actually there. In most ventures this would be considered "bait and switch" and refunds would be required by regulatory agencies/laws.

My bet is you're an idiot and Titov, who apparently has done some equally shady things before is NOT set for life and very much cares now. The internet doesn't forgive and doesn't forget. He's pretty much fucked himself out of video game development. No one will risk buying a product and all because much like you, blue, he doesn't have a clue about how to conduct business or treat customers or remotely understand how this interwebs thingy works.
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Rikuo (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:45pm

Re: Isn't this just innovative use of crowd-funding?
I sincerely hope to fucking God that this is someone else parodying Out_of_the_blue...

CROWDFUNDING?

You are now at the same level as bob when it comes to paywalls and not recognising what isn't a paywall/crowdfunding. The War Z developer sold a final product as containing X, Y, Z. At no point did he say it was crowdfunding � la Kickstarter.
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John Fenderson (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:46pm

Public Relations 101
this sort of action often sees the erring person/company earning praise and new customers

I remember this being explicitly taught in business classes & reiterated in countless business books, and it amazes me how few companies understand the importance of admitting to mistake and rectifying them.

Personally, I view this as a sign of a company (or person, for that matter) that has its act together and that I'd like to do business with. Every company screws up. What's really meaningful is how they react to screwing up.
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Rikuo (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 1:47pm

Re: Re: Isn't this just innovative use of crowd-funding?
"TOS only negates refunds"

Actually, it doesn't. It's illegal to say in a TOS that you can't do refunds (which is odd, considering that it's been ruled legal for TOS's to say you give up your right to join a class action lawsuit).
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Artietude, 27 Dec 2012 @ 2:09pm

Re: Re:
just like having a bi-polar supermodel girlfriend...
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zegota (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 2:19pm

Re: Re: Re:
Bullshit. Your actions certainly contributed to the ending -- the entire game was essentially a denouement, and it played out VERY differently depending on your choices in previous games. Just because the last 5 minutes weren't changed doesn't mean it was false advertisement. And being disappointed in a game's execution is far different than a game that out and out lies about quantifiable features (and 'your actions contribute to the ending' is not very quantifiable, which is why the whole ME3 argument is so heated).

Promising multiplayer and delivering a single player game, for instance, would be a quantifiable false advertisement and grounds for a refund. Or in this case, promising multiple maps with large areas and delivering a single small one.
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Caleb (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 2:23pm

Hilarious Train wreck
This train wreck is even more hilarious and tragic when you realize that "The War Z" was rushed to completion as clone of the "Day Z" mod to try to capitalize on the mod's positive press and community as the mod tried to make it's transition to a retail game.

The tragedy is in the confusion caused by consumers and reviewers that don't know how to read causing problems for "Day Z" because they didn't realize that "The War Z" was made by a totally different group of people.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 2:39pm

Where it this Tit guy from, he seems like a true tard.
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That Crazy Freetard (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 2:43pm

Re: Re: Re:
Features are added and cut throughout the development cycle of any software. Besides, to prove false advertising you have to show that their remarks weren't true under any number of interpretations. That one's decisions make a difference at the end, shit you could just say that's something that's true of all games.

What Titov did here is just egregious by comparison.
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Watchit (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:12pm

Ughhhh warZ... What an awful money grab on the popularity of DayZ...
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:16pm

Re:
Only having heard of Day Z and some of its success, I immediately thought they were related... So yeah.
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John Fenderson (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:17pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Features are added and cut throughout the development cycle of any software.

True, but they aren't usually advertised as being present in the marketed product when they aren't.
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John Fenderson (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:18pm

Re: Re: Re:
I love that analogy. It works on many, many levels.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:25pm

This reminds me of a flame wars with Derek Smart, the developer of the Battlecruiser series.
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Starke (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:29pm

Re:
Well, Mass Effect 3 wasn't released on Steam, for one thing, so asking them for a refund would be... a little weird.

And, yeah, there were some people asking for refunds, over it, or threatening to boycott EA/Bioware/Origin/whatever as a result.

That said, it didn't reach the same levels as this one did. In large part because ME3 (mostly) the game it claimed to be. There were some really idiotic or flat out misleading statements in the lead up and advertising, but nothing quite like what we had with War Z.

The game claimed to have 100 player servers, when it launched with server population caps of 50, it claimed to have multiple maps ranging from 100 - 400 square km each. It shipped with one, that they claimed was 100 square km, but, from people actually examining it, it looks like it's most likely a little under 10. It claimed to have private servers, that wasn't functional. It claimed to have a skill system, that didn't exist at all. (I know the article covered these, but still.)

To put this in perspective, with Mass Effect 3, the best analogy would be if all the stuff that was on the box was still there, but the game itself contained only what we saw in the demo.

Rather hilariously, after the game went on sale on Steam as a "foundational release", there were still notifications in game saying that features were still part of an alpha state, and would be subject to change.

As much as I loathe what Bioware did with ME3, they did deliver the game they said they would. It was just, like all writing from Bioware, terminally idiotic.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2012 @ 3:36pm

All I see is that War-Z is pushing up the Day-Zs.
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nasch (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 4:14pm

Re:
Even that seems kind of euphemistic, or at best unclear: "Along with that thanks, though, I need to admit that we failed to effectively communicate some of our plans and actions to both our existing players and to our new prospective players." Is he saying all those things were supposed to be a list of future features and were accidentally worded as current features, or what? He didn't explain how the screw-up happened, which I imagine is what a lot of people want to hear.
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Get off my cyber-lawn! (profile), 27 Dec 2012 @ 4:17pm

Maybe Sergey Titov is a zombie himself
he seems to enjoy sticking his foot in his mouth...maybe he's just hungry?
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2012 @ 12:43am

I know Titov from Russian professional gamedev forum. He always seemed a bit arrogant, although his post were sometimes quite interesting (in good sense).
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Michael, 28 Dec 2012 @ 4:38am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I liked ME3, but I will agree that their marketing was misleading on the ending. They said specifically that the outcome would be driven by your decisions. It is true that most of the third installment was driven by decisions in that and the first two games, but the ending was driven by - the ending. I understand why some people were a bit disappointed.
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Buster, 28 Dec 2012 @ 7:28am

Although an officially apology has ben released, it's far too late. The damage has been done. The ONLY way to come back from this is to make an utterly awesome zombie game in the likes that noone has ever seen. On top of that, offer it at a low introductary price to get it out there, THEN MAYBE that will be enough to redeem itself... Maybe.
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JMG, 28 Dec 2012 @ 7:56am

Titov may just be bitter for being responsible for this amazing piece of computer gaming.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Nov 2013 @ 6:10am

the game was terrible from when i went in the makers spawned in op weapons and vehichles for themselves and any one who would not say a bad thing about the game accused people who camp to survive as faggots then wont refund well that is just a recipe for disaster
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Nov 2013 @ 6:11am

Re:
yeah i agree gayme maykers suck the D
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