Case of VictoryGames review copy

[Guardian]

Hi. I was trying to contact one of you in order to get Aquaria to do a review for Victory Games. It's Polish site but later (undefined future) you'll be able to read content in English too. I and my friend sent you few e-mails (domain is the same, you should recognise it), all without reply. Could you please drop me a line if you're interested? Thank you in advance.

[Keksus]

I tried it the same way first, but didn't get an answer

So I bought the game. And I can tell you: It's totally worth the 30 bucks

[Alphasoldier]

I think buying it would be the best option, I also find it rather strange that when you review stuff, you get the things you review for free.

[Guardian]

What I can say is that everyone else give their games without any big hesitation (independent developers and big "factories"), so personally this is something new for me . Also - I totally understand. But why no one from Bit Blot is answering? If you two just want me to buy it, say something. Saying "sorry, we can't let you download our game for free, please pay." don't cost much. After reviewing I can erase all files if necessary, but first we need to talk to each other. I don't think that someone would get hurt. Otherwise, you're ignoring me. And this is bad. Not to mention "dishonest" and "rude".

[inkblob]

I think the devs were away at gdc and have been a bit preoccupied. no need to get feisty

[Guardian]

As far as I know, first mail was sent in a period of two first weeks of January. Two months (or 1.5) away, you say? Ok, let's wait for the official response. Until then - no Polish review will happen, I'm afraid. Sorry. I'm not the one who sets rules.

[Glamador]

You know what?  You're acting extremely unprofessional for a "respected reviewer."  Alec and Derek don't see or misplace your e-mail and you come here whining about it?  You don't even give them a day to respond and you start calling them "dishonest" and "rude."  If I were you, I would delete that post entirely if you want to save any bit of integrity you have on these forums.

Besides, if they really are ignoring you, take a hint and get lost.  From what I've seen here we're better off.

[Guardian]

They are dishonest and rude IF they are really ignoring me. I'm not the only one who haven't got the reply, you know. Not "whining" but trying to get some informations. And so far I'm not satisfied. Read more carefully what I wrote, ok?

I totally understand

Ok, let's wait for the official response.

Sorry. I'm not the one who sets rules.

I said so.

Last Active:     Today at 06:14:29 AM
Last Active:    February 26, 2008, 10:46:08 PM

At least one dev was able to read this topic. Very well.

Besides, if they really are ignoring you, take a hint and get lost.

Very... professional.

[Glamador]

I was going to say something rude, but I've decided to just let Alec deal with the situation.  It's his game to give away.  Next time try a Private Message.  It would help avoid you looking like an ass.

[Alphasoldier]

Glamador, chill. I think you're looking at this topic with jealousy just because he can get it free and you can't and I'm not saying it's alot of money, cause it isn't. People have jobs like this where they get even paid for and get free games, that's just the way it is~

Guardian, be wise and just buy the game, it's only 30$ and VERY good value, why do you need to wait for a responce from the Devs anyway, like Glamador said you could've PM'd them and you can just still ask for a refund or get back your money, Alec and Derek are both at this very moment very busy with things like the Mac Port and just being at GDC, and yes, they were that busy a month and a half ago too, maybe they even didn't notice your mail or that it came into their spam foler, who knows, I think they get enough mail as it is. Same with PM's.
Which I still wonder is why that polish/english review would do them so good, you going to make a commercial about it, you're gonna fund them? What?

Anyway, thing I'm saying is, chill, buy the game, have fun, if you didn't like it or something ask for a refund, and if you do like it be happy you bought it. Another thing I don't get is, are you the head of the website or something? If you aren't why can't they deal with it?

[Alec]

What email address did you ask us about a review copy from?

We get a lot of requests, and since there are only two of us we don't always catch every one. Occasionally, legit emails will also hit gmail's spam filter.

[Guardian]

Ok, what we have.
30$ may be a good price but it's a lot of money actually. 1USD for now is equal to about 2.3PLN (my country currency).  That means 30$ changes into ~70PLN. And this is not as good. We have better things to pay as we don't work for money (a living?). Victory Games is a big site, but not as big to fund every thing we want. Did I say we are bunch of amateurs? No? Here we go. We are something like independent developers in a world of reviews. For a worldwide scale we are small. Think about indie games from Poland. Any ideas? Here you go. No, we have some. "Soldat" or "B.E.U Net" games for example. We live in a "global village", don't forget about it. [and no, I'm just a reviewer]

I think they get enough mail as it is. Same with PM's.

AND

you could've PM'd them

Which I still wonder is why that polish/english review would do them so good, you going to make a commercial about it, you're gonna fund them? What?

Here in Poland is only one big (and popular) site about indie (freeware, shareware and so on) games. Our. That means more people would know that Aquaria even exist. Next step says "income". Or just being better known for non-materialists. For that translation part - you know Polish? No? That's the point. If I were a dev whose game was reviewed I would love to read what people say - all over the world, let's say.

Next one. Sorry if my previous words sound impolite. I hadn't got bad intentions. You could have thought so after my second post. I had a very bad day, sorry. That wasn't irony or sarcasm (or anything else), just writing that deforms senses. Let's forgive each other

And if you are angry at me that I can get games for free, you're welcomed to be one of us Really. Just writing and party-work skills are necessary.
(Sorry for that, I couldn't resist saying that riposte )

And last but not least. Alec, as I said, I totally understand. That e-mail address can be found at my profile. It's guardian<at>victorygames<dot>eu (second one, my friend's, is non-important now). I can wait (do what you have to first), but I need to know that I'm doing it for a reason

Cheers, regards and so on for anyone interested

[Glamador]

I'm not angry that you get games for free.  I think it's good that review sites get to play these things (at least on a trial basis) because reviews (especially positive ones) are great for games.  Considering how often I disagree with them I personally don't set much store by reviews, but I know some guys who don't buy a game if the review is bad.  The thing that offended me, is your self-justifying and generally unprofessional tone that you've been using in your posts.  Be more concise (I'm amazed at your English for being from a Polish site) and just ask politely for a copy for review purposes.  Alec will say yes or no.  I'm sure they know by now if it's worth it to them to give out review copies so I don't think you're doing very much by trying to convince them.  If you REALLY want to play it that badly, which I can understand, you can always pay for it.  But the post above is tantamount to begging...which I just think is unbecoming of a journalist.

[Derek]

Yeah, we didn't mean anything by it.  We just get a lot of emails (including review requests) and we don't always get to them all.  I don't know if I would call that "dishonest" or "rude."

[Guardian]

I started from the trial. And, strictly speaking, after that I realized that doing a review of Aquaria based on those few hours of playing (the longest trial I have ever played...)  would hurt it badly. So I came up with that e-mail thing. We dropped trials as a source of our experience (to write) looong time ago.

If you REALLY want to play it that badly

Are you selling Aquaria T-shirts? [Joke]

But the post above is tantamount to begging

I'm just talking. Answering Alphasoldier's questions. Did you know how a indie market looks like in Poland? No? So now you know a bit more. It's simple. This week I heard about two guys from US that write about 8 reviews a week. I was amazed until I realized that their educational system is different and allow them to do so much at their free time (as they probably HAVE more free time). We are all the same people - but from different "worlds".

I'm amazed at your English for being from a Polish site

Thank you! But don't forget that English is being used all over the world. Learning is easy. And if you play some MMORPGs too... "Peace of cake". Try to learn Polish

just ask politely for a copy

I did it at the beginning. As I said - I had a very (and I mean VERY) bad day. Sorry once again. I apologise.

Now you know about me and my request. I won't say anything else about it just to keep Glamador in mood. I'm afraid reading those all "delights" would turn him mad. What is more, I don't think that spamming your PMbox is really necessary (if it's only me, just say what you need). All is up to you now. You are the boss on this ground. Make a decision, please. [that's the charmi... I mean, polite element )

Today we should learn that the first impression is often treacherous and dangerous for setting proper relations between people. Someone said that we learn all our life. Now I can say that we learn things all over and from beginning in the same way (of course if no one said it before). Even if we know them already. Life

Cheers, regards (and you know the rest).

PS: Thank you very much! I'm not certain when you can expect the review to be published (and done in the first place). You will be informed anyway.