Hello Friends.
I have a few updates to share with everyone. First up our Castle Crashers figurines are now back in stock, yes ! We spent most of last week inside of a warehouse folding boxes and getting everything ready for shipment.
In addition to the figurines now back in stock we’ve added some new products as well!
Behold the Ninja Pirate Tee, and the long awaited Behemoth shirt.
That’s pretty much it for now. More updates to come as we receive them. Thanks!
-Emil-
yes, good.
sweet! about time you guys came out with some new products. that ninja pirate shirt looks pretty good. i think i’ll pick one up.
Ordered the figures when the post was made they were available again in the forums. 🙂
Any idea when the Halloween contest winners will be announced?
wheres the patchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
@brian; the patch wont be out til spring ’09. M$ is too busy with other things like the new dashboard, and licensing other arcade games to rip us off with.
@name
hey, relax guy! no need to insult a company because it’s taking its time to verify the Title Update. And Spring ’09 is justifies my point of insulting them. it’ll be more like Winter 2008 – 2009.
that pirate shirt is awsome
Recap…
Aug 26: The Behemoth releases their game and it’s broken.
Sep 02: They return from a trip to PAX.
Sep 03: They say “Title Update is Coming”.
Sep 24: “SOON WONDER WILL BE ACHIEVED”.
Oct 20: The Behemoth returns from a week or so in Tokyo.
Oct 24: The Behemoth say they sent the update to MS for certification.
Nov 09: They pimp some more merchandise.
Nov 14: It’s been three weeks since it was sent to cert and no update.
Assuming that MS is just moving more slowly than normal perhaps due to the NXE coming out (and the patch hasn’t instead failed cert and been sent back to The Behemoth), it’s going to be a grand total of 3 months (or more) since the game was released – broken.
What are The Behemoth’s plans (if any) for customer satisfaction / recovery? (In the past other companies have responded to similar situations by making their first round of DLC free, for example.) Or, is the opinion of The Behemoth that “fixing the bugs is enough” and that you need go no further than that?
Ohh look it’s a game where we list stupid facts and don’t support any of the information.
“In the past other companies have responded to similar situations by making their first round of DLC free, for example”
Which companies, which games ?
Let’s breakdown the stupidity
Aug 26: The Behemoth releases their game and it’s broken.
–Hmm looks like the behemoth released their game and it was one of the largest hits for xbla history, what’s it at now 400k+ users on the leaderboards ?
Sep 02: They return from a trip to PAX.
— they brushed their teeth. they drank some water, they checked their emails. yeah, let’s list all of the things they do and pretend that just because they go to the penny arcade expo they have stopped working on everything. last time i checked their pax recap the programmers were not in attendance. but hey since we’re throwing out random facts that have no validity, sure why not. —
Sep 03: They say “Title Update is Coming”.
–and your point is ??? —
Sep 24: “SOON WONDER WILL BE ACHIEVED”.
— ohh i see what you did there, what’s that called again…. humor ? nahh that can’t be it —
Oct 20: The Behemoth returns from a week or so in Tokyo.
— the behemoth eats breakfast, the behemoth makes a phone call, the behemoth makes a dev blog post, the behemoth breathes oxygen. wow this is pretty easy so we just pick out things that they do and some how we try to relate that to the fact that you have no understanding how the xbla system works. —
Oct 24: The Behemoth say they sent the update to MS for certification.
— sweet! that’s pretty exciting news to hear. thanks behemoth —
Nov 09: They pimp some more merchandise.
— how dare they try to let their fan base know that they have merchandise on their store. bad behemoth, bad !!! you should stay in doors and quiet for the rest of eternity. i demand it!!! —
Nov 14: It’s been three weeks since it was sent to cert and no update.
— it’s been three weeks of idiots like this and they still don’t make any sense —
this is fun let’s do it again.
Both Little Big Planet (Media Molecule) and Chromehounds (From Software) released their first round of DLC as free to apologize for bumpy launches.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/10/30/available-116-official-lbp-dlc-on-the-playstation-store/
http://boards2.sega.com/chromehounds_board/viewtopic.php?t=778
I’m simply trying to show the timeline of events – it has been awhile since release and 3 weeks since the last update. Also, I’d hardly say my information is inaccurate since all I did was grab the dates and subjects of past blog posts on this blog.
My question is directed to the behemoth. What are their plans to make things right by their customers? Are the current plans to simply release the patch and that’s it? If so, my opinion is that I don’t think that’s quite good enough.
If I may use an analogy:
If you order a steak, but get chicken instead… some folks will say the chicken’s fine and just enjoy the chicken. Others really wanted the steak, and send it back. Now an hour later they get their steak – and it’s a great steak, and they enjoy it – but in most situations the manager would appear and at the very least comp your dessert.
So, Behemoth, are you comping our dessert or what?
Given how heavily the blog is being moderated these days (I noticed Dan go off on someone 2 days ago only to have both posts deleted) I’m guessing you’re putting up the “CLOSED” sign and booting us from the restaurant.
(Interesting also that my posts are deleted while those that violate your own forum rules aren’t)
You guys suck. I used to be firm believers, but now you guys are doing squat on your blog. All you are doing is waiting for the TU to be approved, but I don’t see many attempts to counsel your customers. I am pretty sure that I will not by another one of your products.
you suck fallenclover and no one cares what you do. If you don’t like the behemoth quit coming to their blog every 20 min.
I agree someone please ban fallenclover. Now back to reality. That pirate shirt is just about the best thing I’ve ever seen
everyone just be cool please. in the event you haven’t understood that we are still working on the title update, i’ll say it again. we’re working on the title update.
if we could say every single detail that has possibly been involved from the time we started this up until right now we would, but some things can’t be elaborated on for now. if you choose to accept this, thanks and we appreciate your patience and support. if you feel there is some massive conspiracy and we’re out to steal your money then i don’t know what to tell you other than that’s not true.
if that’s not enough and you still feel the need to jump on here to express your hatred for all things we do, you’ll never buy our games again, etc, etc, then that’s your choice. if it gets vulgar, out of hand and just completely unnecessary i’ll delete your posts because that’s just what i can do so deal with it.
also for anyone curious about who sets the price for pdlc… it’s microsoft. i’ll say it now, i’ll say it again later, and in a week when we make another post and some anonymous person wants to say “behemoth sets the price”, i’ll say it again.
thanks
-emil-
Deftone: to be fair, I am not sure how the resounding success of Castle Crashers is a retort to InaccurateInformation’s decidedly accurate criticism that the game was released “broken.” I am among the 4 bazillion people who purchased the game and made it such a huge hit. I made this purchase for the express purpose of playing online multiplayer. I have played and enjoyed the single-player experience, but I paid for a 4 player online multiplayer adventure.
I have no doubt that the good people at Behemoth have done everything in their power to expeditiously prepare and submit the Title Update to Microsoft. However, that does nothing to explain how the game got released with such significant issues in the first place.
To answer your question about other companies dealing with similar issues, when Civilization Revolution’s release was delayed, the company tossed in a certificate with every game for free DLC (this is a game that released without bugs, the DLC was a “sorry for the wait” gift).
I do not think it is out of line to express disappointment with the Behemoth’s PR handling of the situation. First, I think that anyone who had purchased the game should have been offered a refund (contingent upon the game being disabled from their system). That way people who honestly felt that they did not get what they paid for could get the equivalent of a return. People who love single player and are happy to wait for the TU can do so. People who felt ripped off can get their money (points) back. Simple as that. Second, the game should probably have been pulled from the Arcade for any subsequent purchases until the TU was done and released, or a clear and unmistakable disclaimer should have been affixed to the game BEFORE purchase to be certain that customers knew functionality was (and is) limited. I understand that Microsoft probably holds the power to any decisions like this, but there is no indication (to my knowledge) that anything like this was seriously pursued.
I agree that the criticism of Behemoth attending industry events is absurd and baseless. Likewise to the audacity of a company selling merchandise to make money with which to pay its employees who have worked on the TU that we are all so hungry for.
Just wanted to add:
I personally will wait patiently for the TU. I love CC, I loved Alien Hominid, and I am sure I will love the next Behemoth game that I buy.
I appreciate the beautiful work that Behemoth puts out and I have no doubt that those guys have lost a lot more sleep over this than we consumers have.
I also appreciate the involvement on the forums and blog through which information is disseminated I am sure as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I certainly don’t see Bill Gates blogging about the status of the TU now that it’s in his hands.
Also, I do not want a refund nor do i expect any free DLC or anything else. I simply understand the plight of people who do.
My only beef is that I purchased the game AFTER the issues were discovered but since nothing was done about it by Microsoft, I didn’t know until after I bought the game and tried to play online.
Emil (and everyone else at behemoth) thank you for your continuing hard work and for keeping us informed to the best of your abilities. Thanks for understanding our frustrations.
shouldn’t the shirt say “we make broken games” and let me be the first to thank you for taking away my post in which i quote xbox customer service as saying “there is no patch coming” and guess what xbox customer service has advised me to contact you about resolving this issue… so what are you going to do for me?!?!?!? I’m so god damn mad that neither you or xbox is taking responsibility for this mess!!!!!!! So why don’y you put down your damn toys and fix what you started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had contacted Microsoft Customer Support as well. I asked them about a status on the patch and they said that it’s currently being worked on, and they had no immediate updates. DragonNose, it looks like you got a hold of the wrong support line, or you’re just making this all up. (though i’m pretty sure you just called the wrong line) Try calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX.
Either which way, looks like Microsoft is saying the same thing as The Behemoth has been, they are working on the patch. Seems strange to continue to ask the same question when the answer has remained the same.
Here’s to patience……
I contacted Microsoft Customer Support via email and 1-800-4MY-XBOX both (2 different people) told me there is currently no patch in the works. Waiting over 3 months for something i already paid for is no longer about patience, its called bad business no matter how you look at it!
Here’s to being a sucker…
Hey I saw everyone posting the number and decided to call too. The guy on the phone said that they were working on the patch. I also asked him why it’s taking so long but he didn’t know. I did notice a few posts about the status of it all on this blog it looks like they are working on it. This game is so fun! I played with a friend online last night and it worked pretty damn good. Can’t wait for a sequel. I’ve never heard of the behemoth before this, how big is this company?
Just got email from Microsoft support tyey said patch is being worked on by beheemoth. I try calling now too will see what customer support say. I like behemoth castle crashers is great game.
I really enjoyed the single player, of which I purchased on launch day. I bought it solely on the quality of the demo and the hype surrounding it, with no research, etc. Without the Live though I have had little reason to play it since however.
I admit that I am disappointed that this many months later the game is still ‘broken.’
I would have serious reservations of purchasing another game on such a whim.
Oct 27th, 2008: On Friday we sent the Title Update (TU) to Microsoft for testing and certification. From this point on we don’t have any control over the release of the TU.
A comment thread in the blog:
emil Says:
November 14th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
everyone just be cool please. in the event you haven’t understood that we are still working on the title update, i’ll say it again. we’re working on the title update.
I’d be cool. However, given the Oct 27th post, you can see why we are a bit confused.
So is it in MS’s hands or are you STILL working on it? If the first pass of the patch got rejected, the least you could do is be upfront and direct about it.
where teh patch at
“I’d be cool. However, given the Oct 27th post, you can see why we are a bit confused.
So is it in MS’s hands or are you STILL working on it? If the first pass of the patch got rejected, the least you could do is be upfront and direct about it.”
EXACTLY!
SF2HD Remix was sent to M$ before the TU was sent by behemoth, yet SF2 has already been approved and is set for release next week…
Why would it take them longer to approve an entire game than a tiny TU?
I’m afraid it got sent pack, and Behemoth is back at work with it. That’s why we’re getting no updates about… If this is true emil, you must be honest and tell us that you have to re-do it or verify it.