Amanita Design forum

Here I was hoping we could discuss/debate this issue in a civil and mature manner, looks like I was wrong. It's never too late to voice your opinion, concerns if they are constructive however instead of being actively hostile about it.

Even if I would choose other words, I really don't understand how a company can act this way. I'd never do that. I mean, hello, it's release day and now all $9,99 customers see they can get the game for 1ct if they want without any notice to them. I'm pretty sure you'll lose some customers.

I came here to say exactly this, and I agree with the sentiment exposed in this topic. It may not be exactly euphemistic, but what Amanita did is not exactly the best thing ever done by a company. It is, in fact, a very low blow. I wanted to make a topic concerning the GOG.com issue, but I'm glad smebody else did

*expresses rage*

c'mon guys, should I play my violine ?!

yeah sure, they will do lose some... just customers but not the supporters. Of course the question is what the relation between two. From the other hand you paid those 10$ or euros for the pre-order, now spending 1c more you can have the rest- it;s still very good deal isn't it? or you are kind of customers who could pay just 1c if they could?

I signed up as well to express the same concerns. Whilst I don't think such language is necessary we need to vote with our wallets instead.

This was the first purchase from Amanita Design and sadly I think it will be my last. And not because I spent 9 dollars at GoG and could have bought it for 1 cent from Humble Bundle. I would have still paid 9 dollars on HumbleBundle (probably more) just to get the FULL soundtrack and also the steam keys (I like to keep all my games on Steam). I would have waited for the bundle however I never knew it was coming and I was under the assumption that GoG was the best way to get it.

This is going to generate massive negative press for your company.

But on that note people please don't be aggressive to the mods (they have no control over it as they are just fans as us).

According to the GOG terms of use, you can get some sort of refund, i.e. a different game of the same or lesser value (the preorder value), if you did not attempt to download it already.

As for screwing over GOG it might be worth noticing that "GOG.com" has donated $300, so maybe they don't mind. I guess that could be anybody though.

Do any of the pre-orderers actually feel cheated now they know that they could have waited and bought the game for a cent (ignoring steam keys/soundtracks/other games and prices in between, I'm trying to be very specific)? Surely if you think its worth that little you'd just wait till you can pirate it?

I can only speak for myself, but that is not the reason at all. I preordered on GOG because I liked Amanita's previous games and wanted to support them, but out of the blue they released a better package on the very same day. The Humble Bundle has above-average bonuses, Kooky and Windowsill, which sound quite interesting. But those who preordered on GOG either miss out on those or pay twice -- and that's just not a cool signal.

Humble Bundles are never announced in advance of going on sale.

Maybe they should be in the future, as I'll agree that in this case I'm sure a lot of people would have rather purchased from the Humble Bundle than gog.com.

However, whining and swearing because you pre-ordered the game for $8.99 on gog.com, when now "you can buy it for a cent" is idiotic.

No one forced you to pre-order the game, it was your own choice. Yes it may well have been better to know beforehand about the Humble Bundle, but like I said- Humble Bundles have never been announced in advance.

Also, the idea that Amanita are being "COMPLETE DICKHEADS to GOG" is ridiculous.

They are allowing gog.com to distribute their games, which is beneficial for both gog.com and Amanita. Also, gog.com most likely also knew that Botanicula would be in the Humble Bundle and obviously have no problems with it (check out the 2nd top contributor for the bundle. Hint- it's gog.com with $300).

...and honestly, if you were going to buy the bundle for 1 cent- why not just pirate it? 1 cent will most likely not even cover the bandwidth cost of downloading the games.

Even if you want to buy both the gog.com and humble bundle versions, it would only cost you about $18 at most (compare that to the price of almost any other game).

Both the gog.com and humble bundle versions (and even the version on Amanita's store itself) are incredible value in terms of the amount of entertainment and enjoyment you get per dollar compared to the majority of other games.

In my opinion this is really not something worth getting angry about.

I can see how Amanita screwed up and why you'd be angry, I was mainly wondering if anyone who pre-ordered would have payed 1 cent for the bundle if the pre-order hadn't happened. Speaking of which it seems GOG buyers are getting the "soundtrack, artbook and machinarium for the preorders" tomorrow, but not Kooky, Samorost or Windowsill. Source here (http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/release_botanicula/page8), apparently quoting amanita's facebook, but it turns out I can't find my way around facebook...

Same for me. I'm pretty disappointed. I've bought the previous amanita's games, even machinarium soundtrack LP. And I preordered on GOG since it looked like the only way to play the game. But I will have to pay gain the humble bumble I if want to watch Kooky with my kids... Confusing customers doesn't seem fair.

Pretty much this. It's not that I might have gotten the game for cheaper but that for the same money Humble Bundle offers more. I'm not a huge fan of exclusive pre-order bonuses, but actually receiving less when you pre-order is just wrong. (Allthough there is some extra artwork to download with the GOG release, and Amanita has announced at https://www.facebook.com/Botanicula (https://www.facebook.com/Botanicula), that GOG.com pre-orderers receive full soundtrack, the art-book (not released yet) and Machinarium for free.)

So, all in all, feeling cheated is putting it bit strong, but there's certainly some room for improvement on how the release was handled.

No to mention, if I had purchased it from Humble Bundle for the amount that I payed at GOG, Amanita's cut would probably have been larger.

Really bad move from Amanita. Way to screw your reputation guys, not to mention paying customers...

I didn't pre-order, but thought about getting it full price once the first feedbacks/reviews where available. I wouldn't mind seeing a price-drop or even a bundle in a month or so, but on release date excluding those who pre-ordered?
For those who think this is about the amount of money someone put down - think again. It's not about the money. It's about taking advantage of every store that was willing to carry and promote their game for them as well as all paying customers who pre-ordered, then giving them the middle finger on release date.
That's NOT how you run a business.

While I completely disagree with the opening posters wording, I also had two suggestions for the GOG.com team put down on their forum:
1. Ask Amanita why they even went that road, putting Machinarium (which was on sale several times) and Botanicula (sale on release + full soundtrack) on GOG.com.
2. In case of a unsatisfactory answer - tell them to get lost and drop them. Fast.

I'm fully aware, that apparently the 3 songs demo will be upgraded to the complete soundtrack + art book and what not for the GOG.com version. However, this is damage control, nothing else - which is pretty much prove enough, who screwed up.

Yes, I just bought the HumbleBundle with all money going to charity. Nada for devs and no humble tip. I will however support GOG.com with my money this weekend - I may be in the minority, but I DO vote with my money Amanita.



The GOG team had no idea about this stunt. Check for yourself here: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/release_botanicula/post8

How is it beneficial for GOG.com to distribute Amanita's games, they way it was handled here? Not at all. Which is the disturbing thing about it.

Machinarium is up for $9.99 which was on countless sales before, with Humble Bundle #2 and #3 among them. About everybody or at least 98% who wanted it, already have it. Not much happening here at all, but nice to have it covered.
Now Botanicula is also up for $9.99, but everybody who wants it can get it for a lot less. Taking Steam as a "do want" in account, it's 50% for three games compared with only the newest game for $9.99 - yes, that is absolutely and without a doubt RIDICULOUS to even think GOG.com will sell a lot of those.....

Anybody can come up with a HumbleBundle username like "Notch", "gog.com" or "Marilyn Monroe". This certainly isn't any prove at all.

Following this up...
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/20/amanita-sorry-to-botanicula-pre-orders-give-free-stuff/

I'd really love to get some direct answers from Amanita, other than awkward damage control memos. I mean, it's easy to assume that they're just wicked and are doing this to get all the more sales, and I'm actually going with that right now (it's the most logical answer, I mean, think of all the money GOG.com could lose on refund fees, Amanita could have at least let GOG know. GOG wasn't aware of this stunt, they've expressed their lack of happiness towards the whole incident. This could even be considered dumping, which is illegal in most countries, and has frankly changed my view of Amanita design as a whole)

Certainly, it's not very nice releasing your game the same day as GOG.com, considerably damaging their sales. I don't really mind that much about pre-order bonuses.

As I said, I'm going with the "Amanita is wicked" story, and I don't really want that, see, and Amanita is getting some really bad rep right now, so maybe some direct replies could be sent our way.

Now the only thing the preorder customers miss out on is

• the Machinarium soundtrack
• Samorost 2 (plus Soundtrack)
• the Kooky movie,
• Windowsill,
• Linux version of Botanicula and the other games,
• Steam keys (additionally to the DRM-free versions),

but they will apparently get the digital artbook for Botanicula. Can't say I like the deal.

Thanks for the link, I didn't know about that.

In that case, I guess that poor communication from Amanita and/or the guys at the Humble Bundle is the cause of this.

Like I said, I agree that this is a problem- I was just trying to point out that it's not as big a problem as most people are making it out to be.

Also, when I said that both gog.com and Amanita benefit from gog.com distributing their games you have to bear in mind that gog.com will have the game available to buy permanently, while the Humble Bundle only runs for two weeks.

Obviously during those two weeks, the Humble Bundle is the best deal (though you do miss out on gog.com's extra content)- however after that, gog.com will be one of, if not the best place to purchase the game from.

Generally speaking, people buy the Humble Bundles because they are insanely cheap. They don't neccessarily know of (or would have decided to buy otherwise) all of the games in each bundle. For example, I already own Machinarium, Samorost 2 (and both of their soundtracks)- however I still bought the Botanicula bundle because I was also interested in Kooky (though I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise) and want to try out Windosill (which I'd never even heard of before) (and I like being able to redeem my games on Steam).

Games on gog.com, however, are rarely on sale (and if they are they won't go for any less than 40-50% of the price). Generally speaking, people who buy from gog.com are looking for quality games (that they know that they want to buy, rather than the "it's so cheap, I can buy it and it doesn't matter if it's not all that great" attitude of the Humble Bundle) and are willing to pay more (though prices on gog.com are always very reasonable).

Both distribution services bring in (generally speaking) different audiences, with gog.com focusing on quality (lots of sales, over a long period of time) and the Humble Bundles focusing on being cheap (lots of sales over a short period of time), and it makes sense for Amanita to expose their games to as wide an audience as they can.

I have to say I like the deal. My problem wasn't with the price. $10 is not a lot of money and the game is lovely and worth it. My problem was that humble bundle guys got stuff from Botanicula that the preorder people couldn't.

And the pre-order people don't miss out on that, as it was Botanicula alone that we bought and GoG.com never give steam keys.

I got a feeling when it all went live that it was Amanita saying "hey you foolish eager buyer you! If you waited you would have got so much more! Ha Ha Ha!" I know that wasn't their intention as you can't make such charming games and being that nasty. Their apology and make up gift tell me they get why people are upset and they are sorry.

Hopefully everyone can draw a line under it now, and enjoy the game, especially those people raging that didn't even preorder.

So we're cool Amanita, thank you in advance for the artbook(I bought the humble bundle for the soundtracks) And thank you again for such a lovely game.

On its own, I like the deal, too -- that's why I preordered. But confusing your loyal customers like this is a no-no. Well, they apologized and the game is fun. Also, GOG reacted really great, although none of this appears to be their fault, and will give a free copy of The Witcher to everyone who bought the game on day 1. In the end this is just another reminder never to preorder games, I guess.

hey everybody, I can assure you we fully admit it was a mistake and our fault but we are not as evil as some of you probably think. all the GOG's and GG's pre-orderers will get some free bonuses as a thank you from us and GOG. we are now trying to figure out even better solution but nothing is confirmed.

Greetings.

I must say that I am very disappointed in how people only think in terms of money. And even if you do (yes, you over there ;) ), don't you think Botanicula is worth mere $9? If its not (to you), why did you buy it for this price? If you played the game and it simply didn't match up to your expectations, I could understand you (a little) – but then, this can happen all the time you buy something. The only way is to inform yourself prior to you purchase. Alas, there is no 100% safety in this world.

Anyway, as long as the Humble Bundle is available (seven more days from now!), you're just one cent away from getting the bonus content. So please stop behaving like spoiled children and be fair to the developers.

Just two more cents from someone who paid $25 for the bundle only to find its Linux support not (http://amanita-design.net/forum/index.php/topic,3727.msg11091.html#msg11091) as (http://amanita-design.net/forum/index.php/topic,3779.0.html) great (http://amanita-design.net/forum/index.php/topic,3777.0.html) as he had expected – and who owned Samorost 1+2 and Machinarium already.

Cheers

Vunktabir

P.S.: By the way, I generally think "buying" Humble Bundles for $0.01 without need is not any different than pirating them (getting the bonus content like suggested above doesn't count though – to avoid misconceptions).

So far, this "better solution" is to add even more bonuses to the Humble bundle and ignore the fans who pre-ordered the game.  

If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would buy the bundle and give it all to charity while getting the superior package from the Humble bundle.  

Hello litewo,

you noticed the „will get“ in jd's post? Just be patient and trust that he (she?) won't make false promises here in the official forum.

And if you really can't wait some more days: What exactly is stopping you from getting the bonus content for $0.01 as suggested?


Oh thats fair and reasonable, really.  ::)

Again: You paid what you thought was worth it the time you bought it, you got what you ordered, now you rant over BONUS CONTENT you can still get easily and cheaply.

By the way, I am in no way connected to Amanita Design, just another fellow customer who is pissed about the unfairness and ingratitude displayed here.

Cheers

Vunktabir

I would need to spend more than $.01 to get access to the film.

You're right, I missed that. My apologies. So it's left to patience or currently $8.84 for a seemingly good movie.