GOG.com Pre-order and Humble Bundle debate topic

[Mildare]

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.

[gnubelebung]

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

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.

[iglock]

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.

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.

[Stephen1212]

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

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.

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.

[gnubelebung]

I have to say I like the deal.

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.

[jd]

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.

[Vunktabir]

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 as great 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).

[litewo]

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.

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.  

[Vunktabir]

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?

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. 

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

[litewo]

What exactly is stopping you from getting the bonus content for $0.01 as suggested?

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

[Vunktabir]

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