Actually not quite true, but I get where that thought process is coming from.
After all the people not buying into the kickstarter wouldn’t theoretically know that this promise was made, right?
The issue with that is that the promise is a contractual guarantee and those have to be formally rescinded or they uphold until it’s done.
Rescinding it formally can be done by proclaiming ‘we will make a expansion which will cost money’… which… is absolutely fine!
The issue for the company though is that everyone buying into the product before the guarantee was rescinded has now a legal claim to free updates forever.
Yes, bad business strat, absolutely! A mistake, absolutely! Legally solid? Also absolutely.
Battlestate Games (Escape from Tarkov) had the exact same issue with their ‘Edge of Darkness’ edition. That one was ‘limited’ and included their ‘season pass’ which is the inclusion of all DLC.
Then Battlestate Games went along to make a SP-/Coop-Mode and wanted to charge money for it.
Not only did it piss of the playerbase massively but it also nearly led to a lawsuit against them as that’s not allowed.
The writing in the kickstarter is distinctly saying ‘You only need to pay once to get the full experience’ which includes any and all future updates, it’s saying the same as Battlestate Games did just in different words.
As for the ‘planned’… that is not applicable to the end of the paragraph there actually. The writing is formed in a way that it showcases the pricing range to be ‘the plan’ (which wasn’t managed to be fulfilled as it took too long anyway) and the follow-ups are hence once more a guarantee.
This wouldn’t be the case if it stated for example ‘trying to provide all future updates for free’, which is a option to get out of it. But they didn’t… hence they legally can’t in the EU at least.
Under US court it’ll very likely uphold though to be a non-binding clause.
Which is the case.
I bought Last Epoch as the full experience without having to pay anything beyond to be able to enjoy it in full.
If you provide a addition to the game then it wouldn’t be the full experience anymore, hence I have contractually a right to it.
This is the ‘reduction’ of value here. Sure, the actual value goes up for the product as it becomes more (potentially)… but it’s not allowed as I was promised that I have always access in full.
Can you play it without the base game?
If not it’s not a separate product. It’s like including a AC in a car when the stock has none included. You still have the same car, it just has a addition. You cannot use the AC without the car.
If you consume it. That’s a important aspect first of all.
That is not entirely true.
EHG never stated that LE wouldn’t get that content.
What EHG did was provide information of moving the release back here:
And here:
While the second one was a potential window to ask for refunds. (As it was postponed the second time)
Also both times the red flag of ‘recruiting additional staff’ already came up by the way. Just mentioning that on the side. Expansion during a pre-planned project before realization is generally a negative, not a positive.
EHG also showcased that they’ll rise the quality and revise all areas according to new standards here:
This has never been done actually, the rework was solely Act 1-3, Act 4-7 are still at the old standard.
In 0.7.9 The Monolith of Faith was introduced finally, which is the first of three promised end-game mechanics upon release. Which is a massive extra red flag actually, having only released a single one when 3 were told to be supplied.
And to Quote:
Going into 2021 we will be focusing on multiplayer, optimization, expanding our itemization and end game systems, polishing existing content, and launching 1.0.
Nothing pointed to the Kickstarter goals not being met by the terminology EHG used.
Multiplayer and expansion of itemization as well as end-game systems. The polish also wasn’t removed there and it also included 1.0. Which didn’t happen - again - in time. Third time postponed hence.
Following up was the start of the major downfall already with the announcement of 1.0 here:
Last Epoch’s 1.0 launch will mark a new beginning for Eterra, and will set a new bar for quality, polish, gameplay feel, and visual excellence. Beyond 1.0, Eleventh Hour Games will bring substantial new content to Last Epoch every few months in what we call “Cycles”. These releases will contain additions and refinements to many aspects of the game, such as end-game content, skills, unique items, gameplay systems, quality-of-life features, etc.
These words are problematic as well and also imply a few things officially.
First off: Quality rises further. Why? Nobody knows since the darn Acts 4-7 still haven’t been touched! So even further quality when they can’t even deliver the former level? Nonsensical… but ‘eh’ for most people.
What it clearly states though is that after 1.0 it’ll bring substantial amounts of new content every few months.
That’s clearly a broken promise, isn’t it? Also the promised kickstarter state isn’t yet instated.
Now people start to give lenience to EHG already. ‘Not done? Well, they’ll just add it post 1.0, let em cook!’.
That’s the goodwill they built up over time.
Now, as we see goodwill as 2 sides of the coin. If you have it people close both eyes at once and let you just do stuff, thinking you’ll do right. If you don’t have it then people are harsh and act immediately instead.
Here EHG didn’t faul because of goodwill, which also washed over to outsiders through word of mouth, hence the big release spike.
Does this excempt them from any legal guarantees they made? No… no it doesn’t, but it creates a window of action which is important and has passed afterwards.
But EHG did have lenience until the release date itself anyway. They’re open to do whatever and just provide people with the missing stuff then!
That’s only from the announcements as well, not even the ‘News’ section yet which is also filled with stuff.
The partnership with Tencent:
It became clear that as we gained traction and set our sights on a more ambitious game, that our growth would require more talent, hardware, software, and ultimately more funds.
This is a fallacy by design.
EHG here clearly states after gaining traction they expanded the scope of their project rather then providing the initial promises made in full first.
This can actually be a legal issue for them following up.
Also the statement combination of:
This investment does many wonderful things for EHG and Last Epoch, including:
* Ensuring our stability and growth as a studio for years to come
Is a clear-cut sign of mismanagement.
This was posted in 2022 and is a complete and utter lie in hindsight.
Not only hasn’t it provided stability or growth, it hasn’t even provided the ongoing existence.
That’s the company people are defending since Krafton’s acquisition. To be extremely precise… lying to hide uncomfortable truths and hence not enabling the community to support them towards success in a combined effort. Instead they hid it and hoped for the best, ill-advised.
It even doubles down again with:
So what does this ultimately all mean? Eleventh Hour Games is healthy. Healthier than ever, growing more rapidly, and excited as hell to put these funds to work in creating an amazing action RPG for all of us to enjoy.
Really now? Are they? Kinda a short timeframe to fail completely and having to sell out, wouldn’t you say?
And *still not an inkling of the promised content. But… we got some more things!
The roadmap:
1.0 was a successful disaster. Not only was half of the main selling point (the factions) utterly broken but also server issues. The second are excuseable, the first are not as it’s not been fixed as of date.
But EHG provided this lovely post for the roadmap as emotions were high, people calling them out left, right and center at the time.
What better way then to show what they’ll give us? Maybe something to be adequate instead of the missing 2 end-game mechanics?
And yes, there it goes actually! ‘Primal Hunt endgame events’, nice! That sounds large! So we have a whole mechanic around hunting something? Awesome, that can be a huge time-sink for people hence, finally something else for end-game as promised!
And we know how that ended.
The following one was weaver, which was provided earlier… procedural side zones? Count me in!
Nobody told us though it’s basically 1 layout used in 2 mechanics (tombs and cemeteries) and that’s it. EHG simply provided a huge chunk of effort with mediocre impact… rather then trying to have the least work with the most impact. A ongoing thing.
But one saving grace is still there… new endgame bosses, transmogrify system, dyes… ok… more character customization which wasn a stretch-goal we didn’t manage to get. Nice… how about providing the basis first?. But there’s a ‘beyond’ still, EHG postponed several times anyway, right? Just means it takes longer then expected.
Then the whole mess with the delay came. Then Krafton acquisition and now we’re here with a potentially paid expansion.
Lenience from the customers doesn’t excempt from legal responsibility. ‘But they played so much in the meanwhile!’ Yes… and? If I wait for an upgrade to my board-computer in my car since half the functions are missing and I drive the car in the meanwhile… does that mean I accepted to use a half-assed product? I still have the right to it nonetheless, and if the company then tells me ‘pay to get the remainder’ when I was lenient towards them I suddenly have a surprisingly solid legal situation at hand.