Amit
December 20th, 2012, 04:52 AM
This is a blog post of sorts. I skip a few details to get the main events in order. Skip the snacks or you'll be binge eating by the time you're done reading this riveting scenario.
Alright, well the hammer fell yesterday and I feel that I need to create a thread to help explain it to people. I have encountered too many people online and in the real world who are confusing DayZ with the game, The WarZ. This is an attempt to show the treachery of Hammerpoint Interactive and their crappy game, The WarZ. Hopefully this will prevent people from falling prey to their scam, yes, I daresay scam of a game and/or confusing it with the Standalone version of DayZ.
I'll do sort of a timeline with some articles and videos, too, to make it easy to follow:
July 19th, 2012: The WarZ, zombie survival shooter-MMO, is announced one month after DayZ mod explodes in popularity (http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/19/the-war-z-announced-zombie-survival-shooter-mmo-with-strong-parallels-to-day-z/).
July 27th, 2012: Executive Producer claims that WarZ was in development for 2 years (even before War Inc. was released) despite no proof to back it up. (http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/27/the-war-z-new-screenshots-interview-on-weapons-game-systems-ambition/)
August 21st, 2012: An aggressive youtuber named RhinoCrunch goes on a quest to find information on the WarZ since most of what was said by devs, doesn't add up. He made a video, asked for responses, and made the following video to follow up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FXKu5lV69V8
October 16th, 2012: WarZ Alpha released the day before and RhinoCrunch gives us an update on the state of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5SvhJubPtAA
November 19th, 2012: An ex-moderator from the WarZ forums runs to RhinoCrunch's forums and revels a bunch of stuff that makes your skin crawl. (http://www.rhinocrunch.com/forum/general-discussion-of-things-and-such/82-hey-rhino-you-were-right-about-warz?limitstart=0)
December 4th, 2012: Shit gets weird when the same guy creates a youtube video saying that everything he stated in the post is a lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Svd-p3-CURk
The reason this video was made was because HammerPoint interactive threatened him with legal action. So by now he was on full back-pedal, but you know, this is is the internet; once it's on the web, it's out there forever. RhinoCrunch said as much when receiving a PM from the guy:
http://i.imgur.com/hO71G.png
More egg on the face of the WarZ devs.
December 17th, 2012: The WarZ launches their "Foundation Release" on Steam with three purchase tiers.
(http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/12/17/the-war-z-foundation-release/)December 17th, 2012: The WarZ hits top seller on Steam within hours due to it's promise of amazing features. Unfortunately, the people who bought it were sold on numerous features that don't actually exist within the game.
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/122/1226980/warz1_1355886416.jpg
The Steam Page as it existed on launch.
Now let's check how many of those major features are real:
Multiple persistent worlds that span 100-400km2? NOPE. 1 Persistent world that barely meets 10Km2, yes I said 10! Details here. (http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/how-big-war-zs-map)
Hardcore mode? NOPE. Not a chance in hell.
Friends List? NOPE. Placeholder imagery.
Rent servers? NOPE. Placeholder imagery.
Skills? NOPE. Non-existant.
Marketplace to buy stuff? HELLZ YEAH. Cash flow is priority :eng101:
Up too 100 players/server? Yeah right. Try 50.
Single purchase? NOPE. If you consider microtransactions and a 4-hour waiting period before respawning a feature of buying the game once, then you need your head examined. Did I mention you can pay to instantly respawn again?
So, what do you think happened once people figured this out? Well, naturally they took to the Steam community page in droves to complain. They were swiftly met with the banhammer even there by the WarZ dictator-like forum mod, Kewk, as others on the WarZ forums were previously.
December 18th, 2012: In an attempt to save face, the WarZ devs quickly sent an updated description of the game to be placed on the Steam store page.
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/122/1226980/warz2_1355886301.jpg
The current Steam Page updated on December 18th.
Once again, this is the internet and people WILL notice your bullshit. GameSpy certainly wasn't having any of it. They published a full-fledged IM interview on Tuesday that confronts the Executive Developer (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-war-z/1226980p1.html) of this smoke and mirrors campaign the WarZ has against consumers.
December 19th, 2012: WarZ devs insults the intelligence of everyone by making an apology that blames the consumer. (http://forums.thewarz.com/showthread.php?79251-Steam-purchase-page-issues)
The executive producer says that people misread the information presented on the Steam page:
As you all know we launched the game on Steam yesterday. Okay - we're number one top grossing game on Steam right now - thank you guys for your support.
At the same time it was clear that there were a number of customers that felt that information about the game was presented in a way that could have allowed for multiple interpretations.
We've taken steps to correct this and format information presented on our Steam Store page in a way so it provides more clear information about game features that are present in the Foundation Release and what to expect in the coming weeks.
We also want to extend our apologies to all players who misread infromation about game features.
At the end of the day our goal is to serve our players as best as we can, and we love when you guys steer us into the right way of doing it !
He flaunts their success on false advertising and goes on to say that the customer is an idiot because they expected to get what they saw on the product description.
December 19th, 2012: The Steam forum shitstorm appears to be over as Valve is doing damage control there. (http://steamcommunity.com/app/226700/discussions/0/828925849078277433/)
December 19th, 2012: Shit gets real when The WarZ is removed from Top Sellers and Featured lists on Steam and purchasing the game is no longer an option. (http://kotaku.com/5969836/the-war-z-removed-from-steam)
Valve issued the following apology for the situation:
From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam. We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build. Those who purchase the game and wish to continue playing it via Steam may do so. Those who purchased the title via Steam and are unhappy with what they received may seek a refund by creating a ticket at our support site here. (https://support.steampowered.com/newticket.php)
That lack of confidence by Valve speaks volumes about the integrity of this game and its developers. Hell, even their official subreddit on Reddit, /r/TheWarZ (http://www.reddit.com/r/thewarz), has lost all confidence in the game. All moderators resigned in an attempt to distance themselves from the game and the last remaining one edited the stylesheet to show this to people when they access the page:
http://i.imgur.com/Frqpn.png (http://xx.reddit.com/r/thewarz/comments/153zak/getting_a_refund_consider_donating_your_money_to/)
There's nothing more shameful than when an entire community of loyal fans forsake the game and shut down their discussion board. Just 4 days ago they had a loyal following still discussing the game as a serious pastime. The difference one paragraph makes is huge.
To sum it all up, this two minute review from RhinoCrunch summarizes almost all the nonsense that has been surrounding the WarZ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BUrKdAjN4DM
Now if you guys still can't comprehend how bad the situation is, then I fear I must present the following. Pyong, our resident producer of WTF is even baffled by this. He is the one person who knows no shame in the gaming arena. He will play any and all games, regardless of whether they are great or overflowing with shit. This is a man who has owned every Call of Duty game on PC since we figured out what Activision was doing and plays them to this day. Yes, even he has utterly rejected the WarZ and is scrambling for a refund. What does that tell you about the WarZ?
Alright, well the hammer fell yesterday and I feel that I need to create a thread to help explain it to people. I have encountered too many people online and in the real world who are confusing DayZ with the game, The WarZ. This is an attempt to show the treachery of Hammerpoint Interactive and their crappy game, The WarZ. Hopefully this will prevent people from falling prey to their scam, yes, I daresay scam of a game and/or confusing it with the Standalone version of DayZ.
I'll do sort of a timeline with some articles and videos, too, to make it easy to follow:
July 19th, 2012: The WarZ, zombie survival shooter-MMO, is announced one month after DayZ mod explodes in popularity (http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/19/the-war-z-announced-zombie-survival-shooter-mmo-with-strong-parallels-to-day-z/).
July 27th, 2012: Executive Producer claims that WarZ was in development for 2 years (even before War Inc. was released) despite no proof to back it up. (http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/27/the-war-z-new-screenshots-interview-on-weapons-game-systems-ambition/)
August 21st, 2012: An aggressive youtuber named RhinoCrunch goes on a quest to find information on the WarZ since most of what was said by devs, doesn't add up. He made a video, asked for responses, and made the following video to follow up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FXKu5lV69V8
October 16th, 2012: WarZ Alpha released the day before and RhinoCrunch gives us an update on the state of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5SvhJubPtAA
November 19th, 2012: An ex-moderator from the WarZ forums runs to RhinoCrunch's forums and revels a bunch of stuff that makes your skin crawl. (http://www.rhinocrunch.com/forum/general-discussion-of-things-and-such/82-hey-rhino-you-were-right-about-warz?limitstart=0)
December 4th, 2012: Shit gets weird when the same guy creates a youtube video saying that everything he stated in the post is a lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Svd-p3-CURk
The reason this video was made was because HammerPoint interactive threatened him with legal action. So by now he was on full back-pedal, but you know, this is is the internet; once it's on the web, it's out there forever. RhinoCrunch said as much when receiving a PM from the guy:
http://i.imgur.com/hO71G.png
More egg on the face of the WarZ devs.
December 17th, 2012: The WarZ launches their "Foundation Release" on Steam with three purchase tiers.
(http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/12/17/the-war-z-foundation-release/)December 17th, 2012: The WarZ hits top seller on Steam within hours due to it's promise of amazing features. Unfortunately, the people who bought it were sold on numerous features that don't actually exist within the game.
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/122/1226980/warz1_1355886416.jpg
The Steam Page as it existed on launch.
Now let's check how many of those major features are real:
Multiple persistent worlds that span 100-400km2? NOPE. 1 Persistent world that barely meets 10Km2, yes I said 10! Details here. (http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/how-big-war-zs-map)
Hardcore mode? NOPE. Not a chance in hell.
Friends List? NOPE. Placeholder imagery.
Rent servers? NOPE. Placeholder imagery.
Skills? NOPE. Non-existant.
Marketplace to buy stuff? HELLZ YEAH. Cash flow is priority :eng101:
Up too 100 players/server? Yeah right. Try 50.
Single purchase? NOPE. If you consider microtransactions and a 4-hour waiting period before respawning a feature of buying the game once, then you need your head examined. Did I mention you can pay to instantly respawn again?
So, what do you think happened once people figured this out? Well, naturally they took to the Steam community page in droves to complain. They were swiftly met with the banhammer even there by the WarZ dictator-like forum mod, Kewk, as others on the WarZ forums were previously.
December 18th, 2012: In an attempt to save face, the WarZ devs quickly sent an updated description of the game to be placed on the Steam store page.
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/122/1226980/warz2_1355886301.jpg
The current Steam Page updated on December 18th.
Once again, this is the internet and people WILL notice your bullshit. GameSpy certainly wasn't having any of it. They published a full-fledged IM interview on Tuesday that confronts the Executive Developer (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-war-z/1226980p1.html) of this smoke and mirrors campaign the WarZ has against consumers.
December 19th, 2012: WarZ devs insults the intelligence of everyone by making an apology that blames the consumer. (http://forums.thewarz.com/showthread.php?79251-Steam-purchase-page-issues)
The executive producer says that people misread the information presented on the Steam page:
As you all know we launched the game on Steam yesterday. Okay - we're number one top grossing game on Steam right now - thank you guys for your support.
At the same time it was clear that there were a number of customers that felt that information about the game was presented in a way that could have allowed for multiple interpretations.
We've taken steps to correct this and format information presented on our Steam Store page in a way so it provides more clear information about game features that are present in the Foundation Release and what to expect in the coming weeks.
We also want to extend our apologies to all players who misread infromation about game features.
At the end of the day our goal is to serve our players as best as we can, and we love when you guys steer us into the right way of doing it !
He flaunts their success on false advertising and goes on to say that the customer is an idiot because they expected to get what they saw on the product description.
December 19th, 2012: The Steam forum shitstorm appears to be over as Valve is doing damage control there. (http://steamcommunity.com/app/226700/discussions/0/828925849078277433/)
December 19th, 2012: Shit gets real when The WarZ is removed from Top Sellers and Featured lists on Steam and purchasing the game is no longer an option. (http://kotaku.com/5969836/the-war-z-removed-from-steam)
Valve issued the following apology for the situation:
From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam. We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build. Those who purchase the game and wish to continue playing it via Steam may do so. Those who purchased the title via Steam and are unhappy with what they received may seek a refund by creating a ticket at our support site here. (https://support.steampowered.com/newticket.php)
That lack of confidence by Valve speaks volumes about the integrity of this game and its developers. Hell, even their official subreddit on Reddit, /r/TheWarZ (http://www.reddit.com/r/thewarz), has lost all confidence in the game. All moderators resigned in an attempt to distance themselves from the game and the last remaining one edited the stylesheet to show this to people when they access the page:
http://i.imgur.com/Frqpn.png (http://xx.reddit.com/r/thewarz/comments/153zak/getting_a_refund_consider_donating_your_money_to/)
There's nothing more shameful than when an entire community of loyal fans forsake the game and shut down their discussion board. Just 4 days ago they had a loyal following still discussing the game as a serious pastime. The difference one paragraph makes is huge.
To sum it all up, this two minute review from RhinoCrunch summarizes almost all the nonsense that has been surrounding the WarZ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BUrKdAjN4DM
Now if you guys still can't comprehend how bad the situation is, then I fear I must present the following. Pyong, our resident producer of WTF is even baffled by this. He is the one person who knows no shame in the gaming arena. He will play any and all games, regardless of whether they are great or overflowing with shit. This is a man who has owned every Call of Duty game on PC since we figured out what Activision was doing and plays them to this day. Yes, even he has utterly rejected the WarZ and is scrambling for a refund. What does that tell you about the WarZ?