Teladi DLC would have been free?

Slashman · Post by **Slashman** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 20:28

I would have thought there were more sure ways to do this kind of thing.

For instance, sending a Steam coupon to the account of each Rebirth owner on the day before launch. They could then redeem the coupon for the free DLC.

Alternately, sending an activation key via registration of the game on the forums.

There may be downsides to each of those suggestions though, so maybe that's why they didn't use them. I know other companies have used them before successfully.

I'd just call the first DLC free. Period. And leave it at that.

ezra-r · Post by **ezra-r** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 21:29

I guess some can just...

[ external image ]

Ch4rged · Post by **Ch4rged** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 21:29

So Hello all. Long time X fan since X2, first time poster. I have been watching the updates periodically for rebirth eagerly waiting for this game to reach a solid state of finality, or at least resolve a sum of the issues. So today I reinstalled it knowing patch 3.0 came out a little ago. To my dismay I don't recall reading on steam, or at least understanding the patch and DLC for 3.0 had a timeline to claiming it. If anything I may have read it that people who purchased rebirth before DEC 15th would get it. I found out today this was not the case.

My issue is who do I have to ask to get my copy of this DLC? I was one of the first to preorder Rebirth on steam and I would like to believe that I was one of the persons the Devs hoped would claim the DLC sooner. Right now I feel a little betrayed simply for not sticking around for more then 6 months perusing the forums regularly. Honestly I just got tired of window shopping and being overly eager for new patch releases.

I totally get the devs need to make money for working on something and I am all for that. Once this game is kink free any dlc that comes out after I will gladly pay full price for Smile Very Happy.

Oh I'd like to add why I was confused. The News reel on steam states the teladi DLC is free to everyone.

"The DLC was initially going to be free for anyone who owned or purchased X Rebirth by November 1, but Egosoft has decided to make it free for everyone as "a thank-you gift for all X Rebirth owners." It does, however, require the 64-bit version of the game; Egosoft said in the patch notes that there will not be a 32-bit version of the 3.0 update, and that the Teladi Outpost DLC is not compatible with prior 32-bit releases."

As the News feed is directly controlled by the game publisher I hold responsible, despite the source of the written article.

spankahontis · Post by **spankahontis** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 23:12

Abraxis86 wrote:I did buy it, and I have clearly interacted plenty with this forum, and the modding of prior games, for 3 years prior to X:Rebirth's release.

I havn't checked in for over three months because life. This disqualifies me for reparations over having my money held for a year on pretense? This is just silly.

Why draw the line at an arbitrary time limit? Those that didn't notice lapsed due to lack of interest. No interest was due to having been sold something that wasn't interesting. Egosoft wants to apologize for this fact by offering first DLC for free, but only if you were interested enough in what they sold to notice the offer... This is an illusion from a paradox. By design, it rejects a large portion of us whom it is supposedly meant to target. A pretty easy way to say sorry.

A bit silly. And a poor way to treat initial investors if intentional, which I choose to believe it was not. Which is why I bring it to attention.

And yet you missed all the advertising, mentions on the forum about the new DLC.

You only have yourself to blame i'm afraid.

Slashman wrote:I would have thought there were more sure ways to do this kind of thing.

For instance, sending a Steam coupon to the account of each Rebirth owner on the day before launch. They could then redeem the coupon for the free DLC.

Alternately, sending an activation key via registration of the game on the forums.

There may be downsides to each of those suggestions though, so maybe that's why they didn't use them. I know other companies have used them before successfully.

I'd just call the first DLC free. Period. And leave it at that.

They must have a timestamp of when the game was installed?
Can't hurt Egosoft to be kind and see those that bought the game and give them it free?

Grevas · Post by **Grevas** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 23:34

Oh... My...

In case someone want's to complain for missing out on the free DLC, you should bother Steam support. It's their systems fault. Not that it'll help you much.

As i see it by how Steam works (assumptions here):
The DLC has been free as long it wasn't released. After sending it out, you tack a price tag on it -> you can't get it free anymore.

Steam does not want to deal with developers and put stuff into players libraries. The only exception is free weekends - but those also get removed afterwards -> their system doesn't work that way.

To be able to claim a product for free, the publisher would've to give away Keys, which again go through Steam systems & i wouldn't be surpised if steam demanded some share on those sales.

TL;DR:
Technical limitations. Sorry.

Ebany · Post by **Ebany** » Thu, 15. Jan 15, 23:55

What advertising ........ Oh, you mean the email sent to everyone on the 16th of December which said the DLC was free so long as people got it before the 14th of December.

spankahontis · Post by **spankahontis** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 00:06

Ebany wrote:What advertising ........ Oh, you mean the email sent to everyone on the 16th of December which said the DLC was free so long as people got it before the 14th of December.

I knew about it early November from the forum, before that it was talked about before it even appeared on Steam as pre-order.
I wasn't visiting the forum that much yet still knew about it as I had just bought Skyrim: Legendry Edition a month earlier so was having a blast on that at the time.

Ebany · Post by **Ebany** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 14:55

spankahontis wrote:....... I knew about it early November from the forum, ........

But you love the game so, as anyone would who's currently enjoying the game, likely spend hours every month in the forums. For the rest, those who've had issue or aren't currently playing, the forums are a twice yearly visit when we get a Ego Universe newsletter.

I'll tell you what. I purchased a CE copy over Xmas, decided I'd do the proper thing and give it a go instead of just spending hours watching YouTube videos and reading other peoples experiences. I've been putting it off as I'm worried it'll be a disappointment and I'll be forced to leave an appalling review on Steam.

Thanks to your persistent optimism, I'll now give it a go. I'll start simple, maybe a campaign on medium using Joystick & keyboard input.

Night Nord · Post by **Night Nord** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 15:24

From a lack EgoSoft's of activity for a month already it might be possible that DLC should have been paid-for for everyone

Sam L.R. Griffiths · Post by **Sam L.R. Griffiths** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 15:56

The original announcement was on 26th September 2014 and originally the DLC was only going to be free for the first month after that announcement as I recall.

The announcement was also included in the Steam News thread for X-Rebirth as well so really if anyone did not see it, they really only have themselves to blame. It was no big secret as some seem to be trying to claim.

I do feel for those that missed the opportunity but you should take responsibility for your own actions (or lack there of). It is unreasonable to expect (and possibly inappropriate for) Egosoft to effectively (proverbially) go knocking on everyone's door and make sure they have kept up to date with the latest announcements/deals/sales.

Any potential bugs in Steam's system that may prevent users who did take notice and took the recommended action(s) from accessing the material is a whole separate issue.

xleto2 · Post by **xleto2** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 16:49

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:The original announcement was on 26th September 2014 and originally the DLC was only going to be free for the first month after that announcement as I recall.

The announcement was also included in the Steam News thread for X-Rebirth as well so really if anyone did not see it, they really only have themselves to blame. It was no big secret as some seem to be trying to claim.

Why would you feel the need to rush for a pre-order, or even check somewhere else if it's true, when the Steam News thread you mention actually said Egosoft has decided to make it free for everyone as "a thank-you gift for all X Rebirth owners."

Well turns out it's for everyone except this guy, that one, and a bunch of others.

Slashman · Post by **Slashman** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 16:50

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:The original announcement was on 26th September 2014 and originally the DLC was only going to be free for the first month after that announcement as I recall.

The announcement was also included in the Steam News thread for X-Rebirth as well so really if anyone did not see it, they really only have themselves to blame. It was no big secret as some seem to be trying to claim.

I do feel for those that missed the opportunity but you should take responsibility for your own actions (or lack there of). It is unreasonable to expect (and possibly inappropriate for) Egosoft to effectively (proverbially) go knocking on everyone's door and make sure they have kept up to date with the latest announcements/deals/sales.

Any potential bugs in Steam's system that may prevent users who did take notice and took the recommended action(s) from accessing the material is a whole separate issue.

I just don't get why they would even make that arbitrary rule for having it be limited time. Just make the pack free for all owners and be done with it.

Anyone looking to jump into Rebirth now is unlikely to buy the full-priced game along with a 9.99 DLC that doesn't add all that much. That's not saying it is worthless, but that's a $60 investment to get everything. Not sure how many people would find that enticing and worth the money for a game with this kind of stigma/reputation behind it.

Night Nord · Post by **Night Nord** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 17:11

Welcome to the EgoSoft world. EgoSoft always makes games in the same way: releasing an unfinished crap, patching it up until it's somewhat finished but lacks depth/polish, running out of money, releasing hastily made another pile of crap, patching it up...

This way we end up with insanely broad games with tons of unreleased potential - just because EgoSoft never have enough money to polish existing stuff and have to put out MORE STUFF in the market to stay afloat.

Same goes here. The new DLC is hastily made pile of unfinished, untested, unthought content. It was made to raise more money, because they are running out of funds they've got from X:R sales.

So it can't be free for owners - as you've said not a lot of people are going to buy X:R + DLC. So only those who already own the game left. The basic idea behind DLC was to attract owners back to the game, so they will check it out in the new playable state and then use focks' radio to attract even more people to buy a DLC for funding.

I dunno if that's all worked, but steamdb says that there was no activity since the 3.1 release and EgoSoft is internally working via Steam, so no Steam activity means no activity at all. Which means that either EgoSoft run into funding problems or they are on extended holiday vacation all together.

I've said that many times, but if EgoSoft will continue the same funding policy their games will never ever reach a quality level they deserve.

I would suggest (once again) making a new X:whatever game (the X:R in the current state, essentially) as an early access game and raising funds for a future development in more open fashion. If people will know what they are paying for they'll be more eager to pay even for a promise of that. But EgoSoft still relying on the old scheme of "hyping" the product before the release, so people will build their own expectations to motivate them paying more.

Sam L.R. Griffiths · Post by **Sam L.R. Griffiths** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 17:14

@xleto/slashman: They explained why they only made if free for the limited time period, if you can't understand or accept their explanation then I am afraid that further discussion is not going to help.

Going back to the Steam news article I was referring to...

Until the release of The Teladi Outpost in December, as a thank-you gift, all owners of X Rebirth can preorder the DLC for free!

That is pretty crystal clear in intent (at least the English translation of it is) and it would have taken all of a few seconds to add it to your library (hardly a case of rushing to do anything).

I believe the original month limit may have been part of an Egosoft forum pre-pre-order announcement but ultimately what may or may not have been said prior to the official announcement is moot.

pref · Post by **pref** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 17:30

Iirc ES would even have had to pay for this to make it completely free on steam. Something about keys and such, think the post is in this thread.

Though 60 is clearly a ripoff for this as i see.

Spami · Post by **Spami** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 17:37

Night Nord wrote: Same goes here. The new DLC is hastily made pile of unfinished, untested, unthought content. It was made to raise more money, because they are running out of funds they've got from X:R sales.

So it can't be free for owners - as you've said not a lot of people are going to buy X:R + DLC. So only those who already own the game left. The basic idea behind DLC was to attract owners back to the game, so they will check it out in the new playable state and then use focks' radio to attract even more people to buy a DLC for funding.

I dunno if that's all worked, but steamdb says that there was no activity since the 3.1 release and EgoSoft is internally working via Steam, so no Steam activity means no activity at all. Which means that either EgoSoft run into funding problems or they are on extended holiday vacation all together.

That is one possible interpretation but keep in mind that this is yours and not an actual fact.
Personally I loled a lot when reading your text because I disagree with like anything you said but as I said "interpretations and speculations".

Yeah SteamDB says no activity since 3.1 because it was ****** Christmas and New Year! Didn't you got the memo?
Don't know how it is in your country but in Germany those days are holidays.

Also for a DLC containing mostly only new eye candy like new ships, stations and other you seem to have found a lot of bugs when calling it 'unfinished content'. I haven't found any missing parts on ships or stations, the number of Teladi ship classes is also correct.
I am confused what you actually want to point out.

Night Nord · Post by **Night Nord** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 18:01

Yeah SteamDB says no activity since 3.1 because it was ****** Christmas and New Year! Didn't you got the memo?

Holidays are over for a few days already worldwide. And German holidays are over a long time ago (AFAIK they only have 1 january as a holiday. Google agrees with that).

So this is either an extended holidays, as i've said - which is quite possible, as it could be that whole EgoSoft team spend the whole year patching their game without any rest and now they just want some time off.

Also for a DLC containing mostly only new eye candy like new ships, stations and other you seem to have found a lot of bugs when calling it 'unfinished content'.

That's exactly what is missing - anything else, but a bunch of new ships. Bugs? Yes, a lot.

For instance: the new Teladi station seems to have a lot of problems with calculations, so any IZ calculations are forcing a otherwise powerful enough CPU on it's knees. It might be a also problem with LODs and rendering the station no matter which direction you are looking at (like it's BBOX is too big).

Just a fact of such a system exists from the very start make the main plot even more hilarious. Starting from "OHMYGODGATESAREACTIVATED!!!111" while you already have an active gate and ending with Xenon already present and mentioned in the galactapedia lore. Oh, and active FO->Omicron gate from the very start - so much for surprise later in the plot, when you enter the already well-known system.

TONS of UA/CAR pirate destroyers killing everything around and no one cares. No refuel stations - intersector economy within the system stalled and The Overwatch left without any water. The whole sector economy is pretty much dead and traders moving into Albion are rare.

Prices for Phoenixes are unbalanced with efforts to capture them and overall OOZ power compared to other destroyers.

In short: unbalanced, untested, unpolished. That's what I call unfinished.

You see - there is a tradition that EgoSoft release a new "addon" annually or so which have a bunch of new systems/ships and breaks pretty much everything else. It was like this for all the previous games. Eventually they'll fix everything, add more actual game content.

Of course, if you were expecting "Red boots DLC" - that's kinda what you've get. More or less.

VincentTH · Post by **VincentTH** » Fri, 16. Jan 15, 23:54

@Night Nord

Re: No refueling station in TO

Ugh, actually the TU Overwatch station in Verdant Profit __IS__ both a SY, and a Refueling station, and to top it off, also a URV Wharf.

But I agree with most everything you wrote, and I hope that Ego fix the problems, especially the problem with UA/CAR Marauder Phoenix plundering player and TU freighters without any resistance/hindrance from TU's and player's patrolling cap ships.

Araknis · Post by **Araknis** » Sat, 17. Jan 15, 03:29

Tbh, i too, had to register the teladi dlc twice.
First time early November and then checked again early December to see when its coming out and to my surprise i had to register it again as it was deleted from my library.
Not to mention i have CE and steam prompts me to upgrade to CE !!

xleto2 · Post by **xleto2** » Mon, 19. Jan 15, 17:10

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:Going back to the Steam news article I was referring to...
Until the release of The Teladi Outpost in December, as a thank-you gift, all owners of X Rebirth can preorder the DLC for free!
That is pretty crystal clear in intent (at least the English translation of it is) and it would have taken all of a few seconds to add it to your library (hardly a case of rushing to do anything).

Sadly, the next day, another news states that Egosoft has changed their mind and decided to make it

free for everyone as "a thank-you gift for all X Rebirth owners."

. "Free for everyone", that's what I call crystal clear.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Teladi DLC would have been free?