Refund for Preorder

[Raisei]

Yeah it was, when I bought it. But the Release Date was 'updated' and maybe I'm seeing this too negative or I'm just 'damaged' from my job. If I'd promise my customer that I'm finished earlier and I can't hold it due to bugs, they will get really, really mad.

You may of course be mad to have been presented with false hope. I am too. Since I am one of those that actually sheduled vacation time for the 27th. But it still does not constitute a deadline in the legal sense, they basically announced they would be done sooner then agreed upon and now had to take it back, but every date until the 31st of December is legally still fine.

The PR fallout is another story of course. Many people aren't happy about the delay, they expected it to be ready and assumed (in many cases correctly) that the streamers were being negative to reap money from the drama. That is why I think that Blizzard is offering the refunds despite not legally forced to. It's basically damage control. "If you are unhappy, no problem, here is your money back. Have a nice day." Most bigger companies will rather give you your money back then start some arguments. They can usually afford it, it makes them look generous and take arguments from the pitchfork crowd.

The general response was pretty positive though (funnily enough more positive then any reactions I have seen for month) so they might not have had to worry.

From the bug perspective. The game is really unplayable right now. I'm testing on beta or at least I'm trying. I'm not playing too much because I don't want to spoiler myself, but when I do 4 quests a day, one of them is so bugged I can't finish them. My warrior just stops having animations for some abilities at some point.

I'm complaining about blizzards quality assurance because I've worked in multiple jobs in Development and I don't know what changed with Legion, but the quality of the code started heavily decreasing. There are now bugs that are a sign for lazy developers. It was even more in BfA and SL is now unshippable.

Yes, but that is the beta. These days games go live this way and are then patched later. I don't think there is any quality control that can assure a bug-free game, so I have come to judge Devs on the speed in which they fix the bugs.
Usually on an expansion launch in WoW if you are working on that day you have the first set of hotfixes already applied when you come home in the evening. In SWTOR they do not have Hotfixes, they do one patch a week. After an expansion goes live you better hope things work because there is no fixing for a week.
That is the big difference I mean. Both games will have bugs, that is nearly unavoidable, but one company fixes them quickly while the other takes a week off and let's you hanging. To me at least it is clear that the first way is how I want a company to treat me, so that company deserves my praise.

So yeah, what ever comes after Shadowlands will be even worse, because the high quality code base the old blizzard left will be completely destroyed by the new generation of activisions developers.

That's quite a bit dramatic. And really what do we as consumers care about the code. Yes, maybe if you have a professional interest in it, but otherwise as long as it works they can write the code how they want. I cannot even imagine how many lines of code are making up this game so recreating things might just not be time efficient. If the other way works, I am fine with that.

I'm concerned because Shadowlands will not be 'awesome due to delay'. It's not some wine that gets better over time. Shadowlands will only be closer to being shippable. The moment Shadowlands will be playbale enough they gonna release it and balancing won't even be considered in this.
It's just about not having enough bugs to stop the people from playing.

Of course. People that hate SLs now will not suddenly like ti because of a month of extra dev time. People who think that are lying to themselves.

If I would care about competition I wouldn't even consider buying SL, but I'm more interested in new features, playing a rpg and the story and as bad as the code quality is.. the other things are good (enough) for me!

Well, I can tell you without any reservation that WoW, despite all the doom and gloom, is still the best MMORPG on the market. No other game delivers this much. The competition is barely noteworthy, all WoW-Killers have failled. Badly. SWTOR which I have been playing for year, simply decided to become a single player game focussed on story, other games have just given up (TSW) or are getting expansions at a snails pace (GW2). Probably the only contender left atm is FF and we will see how that goes. It takes a monumental effort to kick WoW off it's throne.

[Dystemper]

You shouldn't be applauding them for being so bad at their job they can't meet their deadline. You basically want to applaud incompetence. ANd people have every right to ask for a refund when Blizzard doesn't deliver on their promise.

Hell If it was up to me, Blizzard should give everyone a refund for BFA.

- - - Updated - - -

Most of you here assume that people are refunding only because of the delay, and that's probably not even the case. I don't care about the delay, in fact, I think that's the right thing to do. I just don't like the direction they are going with covenants, legendaries and borrowed power in general.

I shouldn't have preordered in the first place, I agree. That's my fault. I was hyped as hell. Now I'm not. If I get a refund, that's ok. If not, that's ok too. My bad for preordering. Lesson learned. But I think there is no need to get that mad for people asking for a refund.

I dont think they are even issuing many refunds. Most people on the official forums seem to be getting refused. I was told no refund because i used game time and the boost. Some are saying they received a refund even though they used a boost. Blizzard tried to avoid a PR nightmare by offering trefunds by sending out a mass email to everyone who preordered, no mention of restrictions. Now they created another PR shit show by refusing refunds. Blizzard is a complete shitshow at this point

[Raelbo]

You shouldn't be applauding them for being so bad at their job they can't meet their deadline. You basically want to applaud incompetence.

This assertion is flawed on two fronts.

Firstly, people aren't applauding anyone for being "so bad at their job they can't meet their deadline". We're applauding them for having the guts to admit that they can't deliver on time and committing to quality rather than releasing a bad product.

Secondly there are a multitude of reasons why deadlines are missed, especially when you're creating something new. And while it could be due incompetence it often isn't. Honestly, given the challenges of dealing with the Covid pandemic, I would have been amazed if they had managed to deliver on time...

ANd people have every right to ask for a refund when Blizzard doesn't deliver on their promise.

While 100% true, that doesn't mean we should.

[rrayy]

This assertion is flawed on two fronts.

Firstly, people aren't applauding anyone for being "so bad at their job they can't meet their deadline". We're applauding them for having the guts to admit that they can't deliver on time and committing to quality rather than releasing a bad product.

Secondly there are a multitude of reasons why deadlines are missed, especially when you're creating something new. And while it could be due incompetence it often isn't.



While 100% true, that doesn't mean we should.

But you are applauding them for being bad at their job. IF they were good at their job, the game would be on time. I am not going to applaud them for that.

ANd who are you to tell others what they should or should not do? Who made you sole arbiter? Players should do what they feel is right, not what you feel is right. The only way Blizzard is held accountable is by not spending money on them. Costing them money is how you get them to be better at their jobs if they don't want to be fired.

[Mosha]

The level boost, the mount etc. You get them immediately when you pre-order.

Just saying, if this is why people pre-order then you shouldn't be able to refund imo. You received the cool stuff you went after for pre-ordering, now just wait for the game.

Not saying you are complaining just saying if this is why people pre-ordered then oh well.

On topic- Why are people refunding their pre-order anyway? You are without a doubt going to be buying and playing the game once it is out anyway, that's why you pre-ordered. The money is already spent so just wait for the game now

/facepalm.

[glowpipe]

You can also contact your credit card-company and tell you that you paid for a service you cannot use, and they will refund you.

and your wow account is gone forever. Do this at your own risk

[MatPandaZ]

You shouldn't be applauding them for being so bad at their job they can't meet their deadline. You basically want to applaud incompetence. ANd people have every right to ask for a refund when Blizzard doesn't deliver on their promise.

Its almost like there was a global pandemic that threw a spanner in the works. But call it incompetence for not predicting it ye.

[BreathTaker]

The level boost, the mount etc. You get them immediately when you pre-order.

- - - Updated - - -

Have fun playing with nobody.The game is NOT better off with less people. I guess you want everyone to blindly eat what ever Blzizad shovels down our throats huh? This is how Blizzard is held accountable.

They're fixing things during this time, aren't they? Unstable people who're always like 'Oh, enough, i'm leaving!" bring Nothing to the game but constant whining. They're not even whining about the quality of the game, but because "I want it now!". I'm not persuading them to stay and continue playing the game.

[Revamp Man]

But you are applauding them for being bad at their job. IF they were good at their job, the game would be on time. I am not going to applaud them for that.

ANd who are you to tell others what they should or should not do? Who made you sole arbiter? Players should do what they feel is right, not what you feel is right. The only way Blizzard is held accountable is by not spending money on them. Costing them money is how you get them to be better at their jobs if they don't want to be fired.

ok blizzard is giving refunds because they dont have it coming out on time
HOWEVER
to say its just because they are bad at their jobs is idiotic
this expansion has
the entire covenant system
a level squish
a number squish
a new leveling experience
torghast
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
all of that is the new systems we are getting which is insane
they arent helping themselves by making it more and more complicated just to not admit the screw up

we also have players saying "its just for balance the streamers did it BAD BLIZZZ REEEEEE!!!!!"
when
leveling phasing doesnt work
covenant quests are bugged
talents are bugged
covenant abilities and soulbinds are bugged
scaling is horrible
class abilities arent working

its a broken game and they are making it right by fixing it

[Halyon]

If they actually try and fix things and this is just not a half assed attempt to cover their fuck ups. I tried to refund because I dont have any confidence now that SL is going to be better quality then BFA. But I was told no refund because game time and boost was used. I knew I was taking a risk buying the Preorder , But I gave Blizzard one more chance to impress me. Never again. Now I doubt I will play SL until well after 9.2 if at all . The same people making the same stupid game design decisions are still in charge. They need to go

...delaying to fix their fuck-ups is a valid excuse. Rather they do that then a shitty rushed product. Yes it sucks with a delay, but again, better than the alternative. But yes, Blizz needs reform in terms of leadership. The devs generally don't have that much say over shareholder interests.

[Lightning-]

I was told no refund because i used game time and the boost. Some are saying they received a refund even though they used a boost.

They refused mine two times, the third time they said they would make an exception. I contacted them three times, I was mad. But tbh, I was mad at them telling me they would not refund me because of the month and the boost. I told them that was a mean way to avoid refunds.

[Clozer]

...delaying to fix their fuck-ups is a valid excuse. Rather they do that then a shitty rushed product. Yes it sucks with a delay, but again, better than the alternative. But yes, Blizz needs reform in terms of leadership. The devs generally don't have that much say over shareholder interests.

What are you guys expecting in a couple weeks delay?

Nothing will change. They tune ability x down and ability y up but the result stays the same. Every system will stay the same they might fix 3 more bugs so the game will be released with 150 instead of 153 bugs. Honestly, this "its good that its delayed, it will be a better game now" is nonsense.

Just take a look at the beta build from 4 weeks ago and compared it to today, a handful less bugs and tuning, that's all. Same can be expected with the delay.

[Dystemper]

What are you guys expecting in a couple weeks delay?

Nothing will change. They tune ability x down and ability y up but the result stays the same. Every system will stay the same they might fix 3 more bugs so the game will be released with 150 instead of 153 bugs. Honestly, this "its good that its delayed, it will be a better game now" is nonsense.

Just take a look at the beta build from 4 weeks ago and compared it to today, a handful less bugs and tuning, that's all. Same can be expected with the delay.

Couple weeks? This will be a minimum of 1.5 -2months if not longer. I dont expect to see Sl launched till Early to mid Jan

- - - Updated - - -

I tried again today, no dice.

[rrayy]

They're fixing things during this time, aren't they? Unstable people who're always like 'Oh, enough, i'm leaving!" bring Nothing to the game but constant whining. They're not even whining about the quality of the game, but because "I want it now!". I'm not persuading them to stay and continue playing the game.

No but you are encouraging people to leave. That is bad for the game.You should not be encouraging people to leave or say the game is better off without them.

- - - Updated - - -

Just saying, if this is why people pre-order then you shouldn't be able to refund imo. You received the cool stuff you went after for pre-ordering, now just wait for the game.

Not saying you are complaining just saying if this is why people pre-ordered then oh well.

On topic- Why are people refunding their pre-order anyway? You are without a doubt going to be buying and playing the game once it is out anyway, that's why you pre-ordered. The money is already spent so just wait for the game now

/facepalm.

Then take away those things due to the refund. Problem solved.

[Rupenbritz]

So because your leave doesnt line up with the release you dont want to play the expansion at all? This kind of attitude reminds me of a toddler throwing a tantrum and saying "no, i dont want it at all now" because you gave them the WRONG apple from the fruit bowl. It is unfortunate that you cannot change your leave, but i dont see how that is cause to refund the product unless you literally only play wow for those 2 weeks and then would unsub and never touch it again.

Its obvious you're a neckbeard living in your moms basement, but the sad truth is real adults have jobs that sometimes unfortunately dictates your ability to play video games.

[anveena]

I ended up getting a refund on my $80. No amount of time is going to save this expansion.

[Dimsum84]

Why is this even a thing?

[Hyrja]

If people want a refund, let them have a refund.
No point in discussing this any further.

[munkeyinorbit]

Its obvious you're a neckbeard living in your moms basement, but the sad truth is real adults have jobs that sometimes unfortunately dictates your ability to play video games.

So are you going to answer the question or are you just going to get angry that life didn't go your way this time and abuse another poster? Do you only play during the first 2 weeks of an expansion?

[Rupenbritz]

I was only planning to play for 3 weeks before I had to out of the country for work yes.