4Game

Just one guy's opinion. Take it or leave it.

We are all paying customers for a product. Someone's hard-earned money had to be used in order to use it.

If I spent my cash on kitchen knives, would I be ok if the knives didn't work the way they were supposed to? If they dulled immediately, and the handles fell off? And the company's response was, "Listen, hang in there, we will deliver better knives to you later." or when confronted about how poor they are, and how much I had spent, "Maybe these knives aren't for you. Just don't use them."

Just because BSG is hiding behind a "BETA" disclaimer, does not mean we as the consumer do not get to criticize/hold accountable. If the product is junk and isn't worth the $100+ we paid for it, we can tell them so. We can charge-back. We can report them to a consumer organization and tell them the product we paid for is not worth what we paid. We all know what we signed on to — but maybe I bought into an impossible dream.

Too many companies have a great idea and think they can get things going under an "upstart/kickstart" methodology. Unfortunately, I may be one of the fools that bought into it. It's apparent they are trying to keep the doors open, and the only way they can do that is to sell more product. How do you sell more product, when the product fails on the merits it promised? It becomes a ponzi. Consumer protection agencies exist for EXACTLY this reason.

Unfortunately, others have learned how to profit from this success in other ways, taking advantage of the mechanisms the product has on our human behavior. Some of us will pay money for items in-game. We will pay for a 'run' to get good items in the game. Just a little bit to catch up. We will cheat and steal and lie because it's 'just a game' — and 'just a BETA' at that. Anything we can do to be better in our mind or try to get ahead of others. And I'll argue that this side community of cheats/hacks/RMT sales brings in more cash than BSG can ever make selling the game itself.

This is a classic Kickstarter campaign gone over the heads of those that started it. They had a good idea, got people excited showing off the goods, then asked for us to fund the creation of the 'thing'. When it exploded, things really got out of hand. Nobody ever means to take advantage of others. But the further it goes, the more it goes into deep, questionable territory. New accounts benefit the company — more income means they get to keep the doors open. An EOD edition is just a "Satin Black" model with a nice bag to store the knives in for special customers. It makes us feel good to pay more because we are helping this company create something amazing. And in return, just think of it — SATIN BLACK!

Marketing blitzes and sales on the product brings in new customers and helps keep the doors open.

Meanwhile, we've paid a hundred dollars for a set of knives that had their handles come off. Yeah, you can still kind-of cut the tomato with what's left of the thing, but REALLY? "But hang on, someday a set of knives will be delivered that work properly. You just have to be patient while we work things out."

Lots of people move on and get another set of knives that work, leave the broken ones behind. Makes me a little sad to see things this way.