Thoughts on the Matter

After the abysmal release of Sword of the Stars II and the subsequent apology from the head honcho at Kerberos, there’s what I call the “Be patient and the turd you bought will turn into a pony” sect of fans making the rounds telling people, especially those who have made it clear that they’ve asked for a refund, to put their faith in Kerberos and their dedication to the game. These people can be found in just about any gaming community for any game and these people are what I call being naive and gullible.

People working at Kerberos Productions are not your friends. Kerberos Productions is a company that makes a product that they sell to the consumer. They advertise their product to contain a certain set of features that the consumer can expect to be available on the product they have bought. Kerberos did not deliver on the promised features and now people are asking, rightfully, for a refund.

This is what should be expected and encouraged instead of being dismissed by the fanboys. It is amazing but I feel like the games industry is the only one where this sort of behaviour is by and large considered as acceptable.

What is even more amazing is that these apologists are ignoring all clear signs of a business that’s not doing well financially and might be going under. Considering the state the game was released in and the following quote from the lead writer of the game:

STATE OF ME PERSONALLY: Possibly irrelevant, but…I have mixed feelings. I’m a mother of two children, and no one knows better than I do that birth is a painful business. Even in the absolute best and healthiest deliveries, there can be a good deal of blood, mess and screaming. And if a birth does not go well, it is dangerous to the child AND the mother.

On the other hand, in game development as in life, sometimes there are times when the baby just has to come out or die. Both my children and I are alive today because when it came to a hard decision, the doctor was willing to use a knife to insure our survival. The release of this game was much the same. It was a thing that had to happen, and because of it the game and the team now have a chance to live that they would not otherwise have had.

You can read from between the lines that if they didn’t get the game out now even in its current state the company would have folded there and then. Considering the state of the game it’s pretty obvious that this game still requires several months of work on it and seeing the above quote makes me believe that in several months there might not be a Kerberos Productions anymore.

And maybe, just maybe, that might be the best thing to happen at this point because it would send a strong signal to companies that releasing unfinished products is not acceptable.

Bottom line: Not asking for a refund for a broken product that’s missing what was advertised is silent approval of businesses ripping people off and getting away with it.