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Thanks to OBD

Posted By: CaptSopwith

Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 03:38 PM

Hi All,

Hope everyone is doing well as fall comes creeping in once more. I know I haven't had much flying time lately but I did want to stop by and draft a note of thanks to Pol and Winder. I recently picked up a new, much anticipated game for my PS4 and last night - during one of the only free evenings I've had in weeks - I encountered yet another gaming moment that made me ever more thankful that we have OBD around.

As I sat down in my chair to play a game I had owned for a grand total of 30 hours I was greeted with: "The game sever is down for maintenance: your progress will not be saved. Please try to reconnect to the server when it is available."

Colorful obscenity followed.

$60 (closer to 70 with tax) plus an online subscription fee and the game is fundamentally broken the day after launch because the servers are down. Not only that, but the game can't even create a local save - so it announces to you, the player, that anything you do in the game - which is now limited to one mode only - will be lost regardless because the game can't phone home.

This is hardly rare these days. Most titles launch with massive "Day One" patches that dwarf the file size of the game on the disc you just bought at the shop. It is almost expected that games will miss their launch dates, and when they do go live, they will be buggy, often broken experiences that are feature thin and unfinished. After all, DLC won't sell itself...

Thank goodness we have OBD - I often think we don't realize just how lucky we are to have a developer that actually launches games that are complete experiences, as free of bugs as possible, and that actually work once you buy them. They can't be broken by a downed internet connection or a server that goes offline. I can fire WOFF:UE up anytime I want and take to the skies - no error messages, no lost progress. Just a few clicks and I'm back in the air again. How rare is that experience these days? And last night, that is precisely what I did.

So I wanted to say thank you for having the integrity to treat your customers with respect. We all know that the next great flight sim from OBD will launch when it's ready - "in two weeks!" - because that's what you tell us. We know that it'll be an amazing experience out of the box. And we know that even years after release, you will still patch the sim - often based on the postings of less than a handful of players - because it matters to you that the game is right. I wish I had a way of helping to fund the studio with a heaping of cash - but know that when WoTR is ready, I will be first in line, credit card in hand (huzzah for employment after grad school!). As mainstream games keep moving in this direction, I feel more inclined to stop giving them the benefit of the doubt and start voting with my wallet.

Just wanted to say that I am very grateful that you guys are still around. We'll be here supporting you all the way!

Cheers!
Posted By: Raine

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 03:53 PM

There's very little I can add to Captain Sopwith's post except to applaud OBD and say "I think what he said."

Okay, perhaps allow me one observation. Building a true and immersive campaign structure like WOFF's is uncommon these days. Doing it properly takes a great deal of research (if I'm not mistaken, we can thank Shredward for much of this) and time. But building an immersive single player experience has a benefit to the developer. Folks like me get hooked into a campaign and don't leave this sim for the latest eye candy. WOFF has never become yesterday's news, unlike so many other games and sims. I have a number of favourite sims that have given me many, many hours of entertainment, but I seldom visit them now. WOFF keeps calling me back and daring me to push my guy through to the Armistice. I've almost forgotten the buttons and key controls for WOFF's competitors. Now the only thing that will break this devotion to one sim could be the release of WOTR next year. Still, I suspect I'll drift back to WOFF frequently.

Thanks, OBD!
Posted By: Robert_Wiggins

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 04:22 PM

Thanks Capt'n, for your post. I think it's moments like your recent experience that helps erase any complacency we may have fallen into. We often forget just how lucky we are to have the support OBD gives us and it is easy to take it for granted. That kind of support is certainly exceptional in this day and age when sales efforts tend to trump support! That said, let me add my thanks to OBD as I can't say it often enough!

Best Regards;
Posted By: carrick58

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 06:07 PM

Like Wise for me too.
Posted By: Space_Ghost

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Raine
There's very little I can add to Captain Sopwith's post except to applaud OBD and say "I think what he said."

Okay, perhaps allow me one observation. Building a true and immersive campaign structure like WOFF's is uncommon these days.

-snip-


As a new WOFF flier who has tried all of the modern offerings, I really can't reiterate that enough. What WOFF brings to the table for guys like me who don't care for MP is completely unparalleled by any other existing product.

What it may lack in eye candy or fidelity is exponentially made up for by every other thing WOFF offers.
Posted By: matmilne

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/19/17 08:19 PM

Bingo, it's a quality experience like no other. Once you get away from what you've been recently encouraged to believe is good, you find it lacking somehow after, OBD products offer every user young and old, the joy of something larger scale and lasting.
Whilst many a new player may hate to be told that company and product they admire went the way it did, because it followed that model, and they're here because they desire something better and different; eventually you do see that. There are few companies in the industry that survive more than 10 years without significant outside help, we're one of them.

Hang tight folks, you're in for a different, wild ride.
Posted By: Trooper117

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/20/17 10:17 AM

I'm pretty sure WoFF will always stay on my hard drive... It's one of those games you can start up and loose yourself in.
All credit of course to that small team that keep it alive smile
Posted By: rtoolooze262

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/20/17 12:01 PM

Very well said Cap'n! WOFF will always stay on my hard drive for sure.
Posted By: Dark_Canuck

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/20/17 07:42 PM

Fully agree! It is amazing to see a company in the industry thay actually cares about its customer base as people!
Posted By: Mr_Dirt

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/21/17 01:48 PM

Well said Capt, my times in WWI very similar, always enjoy the flying of a simpler age. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
John
Posted By: cptroyce

Re: Thanks to OBD - 10/23/17 02:35 AM

WOFF is a "time machine" that puts you back to the air war of WW1..doesn't get any better then this!
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