Obsidian Entertainment

The official release is rediculace. I have spent many hours trying to make a single jump in the stump lab. This was a good game when it was in beta. now that it is officially released it is terrible in my opinion. Even when set to easy mode it is still impossible to play. The saves are now limited I am trapped in the stump lab with no way out. Going to spend 1 more day trying the jump and then abandon the game. I will never purchase from obsidian again.

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below The business stated that they have directly responded to me on this issue, which is a complete lie and fabricationI've never received a word from the business, despite contacting them by email with regard to this issueSecond of all, the business's definition of "material" is wrongJust because it is a very small COMPONENT of the game, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a serious effect on the game as a wholeAn ignition switch wire in a car might be 0.000015% of the car's part total, but if that part malfunctions, then the car will not workSo, that argument is moot and irrelevant The fact is, the game developer changed the game in a substantial way, with a patch that was NOT optional, based purely on the input of an outside interest group, censoring the game, and alienating many consumers who support freedom of speechEthically speaking, somebody who values human rights such as freedom of speech, would not be comfortable playing the game The developer mentions that an "unofficial and unsupported" patch can be used to fix the issueUnofficial patches can also damage the game and/or the end users computerThis is not a valid responseIf the developer offered an official patch, that would've been acceptable It's clear from the company's response that they know what they have doneThey substantially modified the software title, changing it to a different game, in order to please a special interest group and make more moneyAt the very least, they could admit that fact, but clearly, Obsidian has no intention of being truthful with the end-user, unless that end-user happens to be backed by a strong third party interest group The company has shown absolutely zero interest in my concern, because I am not a special interest group, have modified my product without my permission, and have blatantly LIED to the Revdex.com by claiming that they contacted me, when I received no correspondence from them Obsidian entertainment is an unethical business which uses illegal means to expand it's business and ignores it's regular customers in the interest of whichever special interest group offers them the most money I have purchased many Obsidian products in the past, but I will never do so againI hope Obsidian entertainment is happy that they have secured my $and I did not receive any product in return You have gained bucks, but lost a customer for lifeOf course, since I am not a special interest group, you probably don't careBut at the very least, stop lyingI had not received a single response directly from you...only through the Revdex.com Regards, [redacted]

Dear Revdex.com: Thank you for contacting us and giving us an opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint and refund request. For context, Pillars of Eternity was funded via ***.com’s crowdfunding website in late As a reward for pledging to (aka “backing”) certain tiers,
these backers were able to each provide a short amount of text to include in the game as “memorials”These memorials can be displayed by clicking on different gravestones that appear in many of the areas throughout the gameThe “remo*** of certain features” the customer is referring to is one of these memorials: a word poem that was replaced in a recent patch. Prior to this change, a different customer complained on our forums about the content of the aforementioned poemWe reached out to the backer who authored the poem and asked him if he’d like to change it based on this complaint, and he provided us with a new word poem which we replaced in the subsequent patchThis backer talks about this in this forum thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74461-controversial-limerick-discussion/page-25...⇄ Of the 702,000+ words that appear in Pillars of Eternity, the change represents a less than 0.00005% change to the overall text in the gameThe inclusion of these memorials was merely intended as a diversion from the game itself; something these backers could have memorialized in a professionally-created, shipped product as a reward for their pledgesThe memorials provide no game benefit to the player; it changes nothing about the art, design, or programming created by our development teams, nor does it affect the player’s characters, their statistics, or any other gameplay system in any way. We feel the customer is disappointed that we changed the text for this poem because he doesn’t agree with the other customer’s opinion of itWhile we understand his disappointment, we do not agree with his assertions that the poem’s replacement materially changes the game and that we in any way misrepresented the product he was buying before he bought it. The disputed amount listed in the complaint is stated as $49.99, which is not a price point we have for the game, nor was it a price point for crowdfundersIt’s possible this is a typo (the game sells for $at the time of this writing), and if it is, the customer likely purchased the game through a retailer, such as SteamAs someone who purchased the game from a retailer, it is his right to request a refund from them; this does not guarantee the refund request will be granted based upon the policies of the retailer, howeverLike many products, retailers selling our products are responsible for collecting from and thus, returning to, any monies from customers directly when they have a problem with the productObsidian itself cannot grant refunds on behalf of retailers, and is not granting refunds for this issue for its crowdfunding backers. In short, the memorials were not intended or advertised to be a feature core to the gameplay or the overall game experience by its creatorsWhile we disagree with the customer’s assertion that we made material changes to the game by replacing this poem, we hope that he will eventually play the game and enjoy it for what it was designed to be. As an aside, there are some customers who have found ways to restore the old poem to the game by installing a game modThe customer can freely install this mod to restore the poem if he wishes (but it is unsupported by Obsidian Entertainment)This mod can be found through a Google search. As of this writing, we have replied to the customer directly in e-mail and had let him know of our position regarding this complaint. Sincerely, *** ***Vice President of OperationsObsidian Entertainment, Inc

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. This in reference to now closed complaint #[redacted] which I filed against Obsidian Entertainment. At the time the complaint was made, I was not satisfied with the business response and made a statement regarding that when the complaint was closed. However, the business has now reached out to me and resolved the issue entirely to my satisfaction. I would like to withdraw my complaint entirely, or to revise it to let the public know that Obsidian Entertainment ended up resolving the issue with me to my satisfaction.I don't feel it's fair to leave the complaint "as-is" on record in consideration of the resolution I have reached with the company. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
The business stated that they have directly responded to me on this issue, which is a complete lie and fabrication. I've never received a word from the business, despite contacting them by email with regard to this issue. Second of all, the business's definition of "material" is wrong. Just because it is a very small COMPONENT of the game, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a serious effect on the game as a whole. An ignition switch wire in a car might be 0.000015% of the car's part total, but if that part malfunctions, then the car will not work. So, that argument is moot and irrelevant.
The fact is, the game developer changed the game in a substantial way, with a patch that was NOT optional, based purely on the input of an outside interest group, censoring the game, and alienating many consumers who support freedom of speech. Ethically speaking, somebody who values human rights such as freedom of speech, would not be comfortable playing the game.
The developer mentions that an "unofficial and unsupported" patch can be used to fix the issue. Unofficial patches can also damage the game and/or the end users computer. This is not a valid response. If the developer offered an official patch, that would've been acceptable.
It's clear from the company's response that they know what they have done. They substantially modified the software title, changing it to a different game, in order to please a special interest group and make more money. At the very least, they could admit that fact, but clearly, Obsidian has no intention of being truthful with the end-user, unless that end-user happens to be backed by a strong third party interest group.
The company has shown absolutely zero interest in my concern, because I am not a special interest group, have modified my product without my permission, and have blatantly LIED to the Revdex.com by claiming that they contacted me, when I received no correspondence from them.
Obsidian entertainment is an unethical business which uses illegal means to expand it's business and ignores it's regular customers in the interest of whichever special interest group offers them the most money.
I have purchased many Obsidian products in the past, but I will never do so again. I hope Obsidian entertainment is happy that they have secured my $44.99 and I did not receive any product in return.
You have gained 50 bucks, but lost a customer for life. Of course, since I am not a special interest group, you probably don't care. But at the very least, stop lying. I had not received a single response directly from you...only through the Revdex.com.
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear Revdex.com: Thank you for contacting us and giving us an opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint and refund request. For context, Pillars of Eternity was funded via [redacted] website in late 2012. As a reward for pledging to (aka “backing”) certain tiers, these backers were able to each provide a short amount of text to include in the game as “memorials”. These memorials can be displayed by clicking on different gravestones that appear in many of the areas throughout the game. The “remo[redacted] of certain features” the customer is referring to is one of these memorials: a 33 word poem that was replaced in a recent patch. Prior to this change, a different customer complained on our forums about the content of the aforementioned poem. We reached out to the backer who authored the poem and asked him if he’d like to change it based on this complaint, and he provided us with a new 34 word poem which we replaced in the subsequent patch. This backer talks about this in this forum thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic[redacted] Of the 702,000+ words that appear in Pillars of Eternity, the change represents a less than 0.00005% change to the overall text in the game. The inclusion of these memorials was merely intended as a diversion from the game itself; something these backers could have memorialized in a professionally-created, shipped product as a reward for their pledges. The memorials provide no game benefit to the player; it changes nothing about the art, design, or programming created by our development teams, nor does it affect the player’s characters, their statistics, or any other gameplay system in any way. We feel the customer is disappointed that we changed the text for this poem because he doesn’t agree with the other customer’s opinion of it. While we understand his disappointment, we do not agree with his assertions that the poem’s replacement materially changes the game and that we in any way misrepresented the product he was buying before he bought it. The disputed amount listed in the complaint is stated as $49.99, which is not a price point we have for the game, nor was it a price point for crowdfunders. It’s possible this is a typo (the game sells for $44.99 at the time of this writing), and if it is, the customer likely purchased the game through a retailer, such as Steam. As someone who purchased the game from a retailer, it is his right to request a refund from them; this does not guarantee the refund request will be granted based upon the policies of the retailer, however. Like many products, retailers selling our products are responsible for collecting from and thus, returning to, any monies from customers directly when they have a problem with the product. Obsidian itself cannot grant refunds on behalf of retailers, and is not granting refunds for this issue for its crowdfunding backers. In short, the memorials were not intended or advertised to be a feature core to the gameplay or the overall game experience by its creators. While we disagree with the customer’s assertion that we made material changes to the game by replacing this poem, we hope that he will eventually play the game and enjoy it for what it was designed to be. As an aside, there are some customers who have found ways to restore the old poem to the game by installing a game mod. The customer can freely install this mod to restore the poem if he wishes (but it is unsupported by Obsidian Entertainment). This mod can be found through a Google search. As of this writing, we have replied to the customer directly in e-mail and had let him know of our position regarding this complaint. Sincerely, [redacted]Vice President of OperationsObsidian Entertainment, Inc.

Review: The following is a complaint regarding Obsidian Entertainment software product, "Pillars of Eternity". The company delivered a different product from what they advertised it by changing the product after the release date. A few days after I originally purchased the software, Obsidian Entertainment, released a software update that significant changed the material quality of the game. One of the functions of the software update was to remove a piece of poetry from the title in response to a complaint from an interest group. The game was updated to remove certain features, and is thus, no longer the same product as the one I had originally purchased. It is now materially different, and Obsidian is not giving me the option of having the original software that I purchased.

In addition, I had contacted Obsidian by email with regard to this issue, but they have ignored my email and failed to respond despite several business days passing. I would like to receive a refund for my purchase, since Obsidian failed to deliver the product which I had bought and instead modified it to a materially different product.

Thank You.Desired Settlement: I would like either a refund or store credit for the $49.99 that I spent when I Pre-Ordered the software.

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com: Thank you for contacting us and giving us an opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint and refund request. For context, Pillars of Eternity was funded via [redacted].com’s crowdfunding website in late 2012. As a reward for pledging to (aka “backing”) certain tiers, these backers were able to each provide a short amount of text to include in the game as “memorials”. These memorials can be displayed by clicking on different gravestones that appear in many of the areas throughout the game. The “remo[redacted] of certain features” the customer is referring to is one of these memorials: a 33 word poem that was replaced in a recent patch. Prior to this change, a different customer complained on our forums about the content of the aforementioned poem. We reached out to the backer who authored the poem and asked him if he’d like to change it based on this complaint, and he provided us with a new 34 word poem which we replaced in the subsequent patch. This backer talks about this in this forum thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74461-controversial-limerick-discussion/page-25...⇄ Of the 702,000+ words that appear in Pillars of Eternity, the change represents a less than 0.00005% change to the overall text in the game. The inclusion of these memorials was merely intended as a diversion from the game itself; something these backers could have memorialized in a professionally-created, shipped product as a reward for their pledges. The memorials provide no game benefit to the player; it changes nothing about the art, design, or programming created by our development teams, nor does it affect the player’s characters, their statistics, or any other gameplay system in any way. We feel the customer is disappointed that we changed the text for this poem because he doesn’t agree with the other customer’s opinion of it. While we understand his disappointment, we do not agree with his assertions that the poem’s replacement materially changes the game and that we in any way misrepresented the product he was buying before he bought it. The disputed amount listed in the complaint is stated as $49.99, which is not a price point we have for the game, nor was it a price point for crowdfunders. It’s possible this is a typo (the game sells for $44.99 at the time of this writing), and if it is, the customer likely purchased the game through a retailer, such as Steam. As someone who purchased the game from a retailer, it is his right to request a refund from them; this does not guarantee the refund request will be granted based upon the policies of the retailer, however. Like many products, retailers selling our products are responsible for collecting from and thus, returning to, any monies from customers directly when they have a problem with the product. Obsidian itself cannot grant refunds on behalf of retailers, and is not granting refunds for this issue for its crowdfunding backers. In short, the memorials were not intended or advertised to be a feature core to the gameplay or the overall game experience by its creators. While we disagree with the customer’s assertion that we made material changes to the game by replacing this poem, we hope that he will eventually play the game and enjoy it for what it was designed to be. As an aside, there are some customers who have found ways to restore the old poem to the game by installing a game mod. The customer can freely install this mod to restore the poem if he wishes (but it is unsupported by Obsidian Entertainment). This mod can be found through a Google search. As of this writing, we have replied to the customer directly in e-mail and had let him know of our position regarding this complaint. Sincerely, [redacted]Vice President of OperationsObsidian Entertainment, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The business stated that they have directly responded to me on this issue, which is a complete lie and fabrication. I've never received a word from the business, despite contacting them by email with regard to this issue. Second of all, the business's definition of "material" is wrong. Just because it is a very small COMPONENT of the game, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a serious effect on the game as a whole. An ignition switch wire in a car might be 0.000015% of the car's part total, but if that part malfunctions, then the car will not work. So, that argument is moot and irrelevant.

The fact is, the game developer changed the game in a substantial way, with a patch that was NOT optional, based purely on the input of an outside interest group, censoring the game, and alienating many consumers who support freedom of speech. Ethically speaking, somebody who values human rights such as freedom of speech, would not be comfortable playing the game.

The developer mentions that an "unofficial and unsupported" patch can be used to fix the issue. Unofficial patches can also damage the game and/or the end users computer. This is not a valid response. If the developer offered an official patch, that would've been acceptable.

It's clear from the company's response that they know what they have done. They substantially modified the software title, changing it to a different game, in order to please a special interest group and make more money. At the very least, they could admit that fact, but clearly, Obsidian has no intention of being truthful with the end-user, unless that end-user happens to be backed by a strong third party interest group.

The company has shown absolutely zero interest in my concern, because I am not a special interest group, have modified my product without my permission, and have blatantly LIED to the Revdex.com by claiming that they contacted me, when I received no correspondence from them.

Obsidian entertainment is an unethical business which uses illegal means to expand it's business and ignores it's regular customers in the interest of whichever special interest group offers them the most money.

I have purchased many Obsidian products in the past, but I will never do so again. I hope Obsidian entertainment is happy that they have secured my $44.99 and I did not receive any product in return.

You have gained 50 bucks, but lost a customer for life. Of course, since I am not a special interest group, you probably don't care. But at the very least, stop lying. I had not received a single response directly from you...only through the Revdex.com.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com: Thank you for contacting us and giving us an opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint and refund request. For context, Pillars of Eternity was funded via [redacted] website in late 2012. As a reward for pledging to (aka “backing”) certain tiers, these backers were able to each provide a short amount of text to include in the game as “memorials”. These memorials can be displayed by clicking on different gravestones that appear in many of the areas throughout the game. The “remo[redacted] of certain features” the customer is referring to is one of these memorials: a 33 word poem that was replaced in a recent patch. Prior to this change, a different customer complained on our forums about the content of the aforementioned poem. We reached out to the backer who authored the poem and asked him if he’d like to change it based on this complaint, and he provided us with a new 34 word poem which we replaced in the subsequent patch. This backer talks about this in this forum thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic[redacted] Of the 702,000+ words that appear in Pillars of Eternity, the change represents a less than 0.00005% change to the overall text in the game. The inclusion of these memorials was merely intended as a diversion from the game itself; something these backers could have memorialized in a professionally-created, shipped product as a reward for their pledges. The memorials provide no game benefit to the player; it changes nothing about the art, design, or programming created by our development teams, nor does it affect the player’s characters, their statistics, or any other gameplay system in any way. We feel the customer is disappointed that we changed the text for this poem because he doesn’t agree with the other customer’s opinion of it. While we understand his disappointment, we do not agree with his assertions that the poem’s replacement materially changes the game and that we in any way misrepresented the product he was buying before he bought it. The disputed amount listed in the complaint is stated as $49.99, which is not a price point we have for the game, nor was it a price point for crowdfunders. It’s possible this is a typo (the game sells for $44.99 at the time of this writing), and if it is, the customer likely purchased the game through a retailer, such as Steam. As someone who purchased the game from a retailer, it is his right to request a refund from them; this does not guarantee the refund request will be granted based upon the policies of the retailer, however. Like many products, retailers selling our products are responsible for collecting from and thus, returning to, any monies from customers directly when they have a problem with the product. Obsidian itself cannot grant refunds on behalf of retailers, and is not granting refunds for this issue for its crowdfunding backers. In short, the memorials were not intended or advertised to be a feature core to the gameplay or the overall game experience by its creators. While we disagree with the customer’s assertion that we made material changes to the game by replacing this poem, we hope that he will eventually play the game and enjoy it for what it was designed to be. As an aside, there are some customers who have found ways to restore the old poem to the game by installing a game mod. The customer can freely install this mod to restore the poem if he wishes (but it is unsupported by Obsidian Entertainment). This mod can be found through a Google search. As of this writing, we have replied to the customer directly in e-mail and had let him know of our position regarding this complaint. Sincerely, [redacted]Vice President of OperationsObsidian Entertainment, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. This in reference to now closed complaint #[redacted] which I filed against Obsidian Entertainment. At the time the complaint was made, I was not satisfied with the business response and made a statement regarding that when the complaint was closed. However, the business has now reached out to me and resolved the issue entirely to my satisfaction. I would like to withdraw my complaint entirely, or to revise it to let the public know that Obsidian Entertainment ended up resolving the issue with me to my satisfaction.I don't feel it's fair to leave the complaint "as-is" on record in consideration of the resolution I have reached with the company.

Regards,