"Gamestar" Interview with Bernd

[Pharoah]

Really, all this pseudo psych analysis of Bernd comes off as kinda silly. "Arrogant".."compulsive liar".."confirmation bias"..

The same sorts of things people say about politicians trying to put a different spin on a negative story. Why do we assume malice by default? Perhaps it's just that, like politicians, CEOs of game studios are sometimes in a position where all they can do is limit the damage caused by negative press. So they stick to the party line the PR dept. gave them, and end up sounding arrogant or deluded to most people. Do you really think Bernd doesn't know the game has been a total failure? He's not an idiot..im sure he's seen the critical reception. But i ask again: what's his alternative? This is ES' one title, the one they stake everything on. They don't have the luxury of larger developers to admit a mistake and let other titles take up the slack for awhile. If Bernd comes out and says, "hey, we ****** it up, it's more than just bug fixes..we made fundamental design mistakes"..he could kill the already-dwindling sales dead.

You have to bear in mind the uncomfortable truth that, if you already bought the game, Bernd isn't really talking for your benefit. You'll be patient or get a refund according to your personality and faith in Egosoft, not because of something Bernd says in a press release. He's speaking for those that are on the fence, put off by negative reviews and wanting something positive to make them believe the game has a future.

I'm more than disappointed with the way Rebirth has gone, but come on. This interview is the last thing to get upset about.

This is where you're wrong, Bernd admitting the mistakes on or before release, most of us would have been a thousand times more forgiving of the state of it's release.

You can't assume that you're logic is the logic everyone else follows, I happen to know for a fact that most people are upset with the apparent delusion Bernd seems to be suffering from, almost everyone who is upset with this release enough to complain about it feels doubly insulted by the comments made, with no real admittance of mistake, claiming the only mistake he made was not having an extensive QA run, nothing about the flawed features, no, their perfect according to him.

This game should have 2 modes, FPS, and RTS, both utilizing the exact same universe, exact same setup, with a different interface/command structure. THIS was the only way they would have made this work to retain old fans and obtain new ones, considering the new fans are the console generation.

If he knew what was good for his company, he would take that PR script, and throw it out the window, and be genuine for once since release. The more "PR" they try to do in a political fashion, the more damage their going to have.

[JClosed]

Really, all this pseudo psych analysis of Bernd comes off as kinda silly. "Arrogant".."compulsive liar".."confirmation bias"..

The same sorts of things people say about politicians trying to put a different spin on a negative story. Why do we assume malice by default? Perhaps it's just that, like politicians, CEOs of game studios are sometimes in a position where all they can do is limit the damage caused by negative press. So they stick to the party line the PR dept. gave them, and end up sounding arrogant or deluded to most people. Do you really think Bernd doesn't know the game has been a total failure? He's not an idiot..im sure he's seen the critical reception. But i ask again: what's his alternative? This is ES' one title, the one they stake everything on. They don't have the luxury of larger developers to admit a mistake and let other titles take up the slack for awhile. If Bernd comes out and says, "hey, we ****** it up, it's more than just bug fixes..we made fundamental design mistakes"..he could kill the already-dwindling sales dead.

You have to bear in mind the uncomfortable truth that, if you already bought the game, Bernd isn't really talking for your benefit. You'll be patient or get a refund according to your personality and faith in Egosoft, not because of something Bernd says in a press release. He's speaking for those that are on the fence, put off by negative reviews and wanting something positive to make them believe the game has a future.

I'm more than disappointed with the way Rebirth has gone, but come on. This interview is the last thing to get upset about.

I could not agree more. I have -however- a lighter view on how X Rebirth is going to be at the end.

Seeing bad intentions and diabolic things behind every word Bernd speaks is really over the top here. It's like seeing wolves and bears behind every tree. It almost feel like a form of Paranoia.

I can feel for the people that don't like this game, but this barrage of accusations and smearing is becoming completely ridiculous. It's like looking at a middel-age lynch party, complete with torches and pitchforks and raging people that stopped thinking rational. Unreal...

[Jumee]

thing is - if Bernd comes out and says "hey, we the game is/was broken sorry" - that will be an automatic green light for all the refunds, and even lawsuits, he simply cant say that

[Llothlian]

He has already apologised for the technical problems, both here and on the Steam forum. That's bugs, stability and performance. He has already apologised. Why would he apologise for not implementing features he didn't want to implement? Egosoft made the game they wanted, not the game you wanted. The world does not revolve around you...

[MrSuperKarti]

Well, theres a huge difference in saying "The game is not yet in a state where we are happy with" and saying "The game was at least a financial success so we must have done something right! And whats all the fuzz? 10k People played X-R on release! Must be success!".


And saying the first one doesnt open any lawsuit BS. He would just be honest.

[Llothlian]

Egosoft have said the game is not in a state they are happy with. They released patches, which says more than a thousand words.

[Pharoah]

thing is - if Bernd comes out and says "hey, we the game is/was broken sorry" - that will be an automatic green light for all the refunds, and even lawsuits, he simply cant say that

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

[Llothlian]

thing is - if Bernd comes out and says "hey, we the game is/was broken sorry" - that will be an automatic green light for all the refunds, and even lawsuits, he simply cant say that

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

All you are owed is working software. Egosoft is bringing that about with the patches. They don't owe you an apology, they don't owe you a refund, they don't owe you a debt of gratitude for allowing them to keep their jobs.

[Alee Enn]

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

Gotta love typos.

EDIT: For the record, Pharoah quoting me below, isn't putting words in my mouth, but quoted me while I was deleting what I had said.

[Pharoah]

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

Gotta love typos.
I think though, even though you bought the game, Bernd owes you nothing. Egosoft, however, do have an obligation to make sure the game works as they intended, hence the patches to fix problems, but not anything to change the things you don't like.

Lol, didn't even notice the typo.

Considering he has admitted he's using his customers as beta testers, admitting the game is in fact, in beta stage, selling it as a complete package, is room for lawsuit, I don't personally care, I'm simply saying it does warrant one. But someone with a rich daddy might.

[JClosed]

thing is - if Bernd comes out and says "hey, we the game is/was broken sorry" - that will be an automatic green light for all the refunds, and even lawsuits, he simply cant say that

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

All you are owed is working software. Egosoft is bringing that about with the patches. They don't owe you an apology, they don't owe you a refund, they don't owe you a debt of gratitude for allowing them to keep their jobs.

Exactly!

What is done is done, and I have seen enough apologies and admittance that the game was not as it should be - not only from Bernd but also from some developers. For me that is enough. What do people want more then that? Public hanging or something? This is gone far enough, and it's getting completely absurd..

[MrSuperKarti]

Egosoft have said the game is not in a state they are happy with. They released patches, which says more than a thousand words.

The problem i have is that they invest far more words saying that the game is still a success in /some way/. And thats on topics where EGO_Bernd is absolutely ignoring the truth. You cannot talk about sales figures and how many people played X-R on release and then ignore that not even 10% of the release figure still play it today (and less people than X3 (TC+AP)) and then sell that fact as a proof of success.

After all, this just proofs that your marketing worked - and there are more than enough threads in this forum that show how the marketing promised a game that is not what we got ( even with 1.18 ).

And as stated in my previous post, i see that problem in Bernd, that with that kind of interviews and statements he kinds "destroys" the good will and hard work the other egosoft devs have to do now. Cause after all, people will remember stuff like this in retroperspective.

I dont expect Public Hangouts or something, but the "official" communication between Devs and Players is pretty ... chaotic. I kinda miss the "sticky" posts where the devs actually crowdsource issues ; The first step into that direction was made with Beta Testing Patches, but please improve that!

[MordantJake]

He has already apologised for the technical problems, both here and on the Steam forum. That's bugs, stability and performance. He has already apologised. Why would he apologise for not implementing features he didn't want to implement? Egosoft made the game they wanted, not the game you wanted. The world does not revolve around you...

Why do you muddle the discussion in every thread? You're just winding people up by telling them a game they bought isn't for them to judge. If ES wants to make games they like but consumers won't, they'll deservedly go out of business.

[Pharoah]

thing is - if Bernd comes out and says "hey, we the game is/was broken sorry" - that will be an automatic green light for all the refunds, and even lawsuits, he simply cant say that

He already admitted that by admitting there were gamestopping issues. If someone wanted to sue Egosoft, they would have started the process by now, We want to be heard, We want to know the truth, WE are owned this much.

All you are owed is working software. Egosoft is bringing that about with the patches. They don't owe you an apology, they don't owe you a refund, they don't owe you a debt of gratitude for allowing them to keep their jobs.

Exactly!

What is done is done, and I have seen enough apologies and admittance that the game was not as it should be - not only from Bernd but also from some developers. For me that is enough. What do people want more then that? Public hanging or something? This is gone far enough, and it's getting completely absurd..

Absurd to the people who can play, or actually enjoy this game for whatever reason they have. I'm entitled to working software ON RELEASE, not a month or 2 after.

This was NOT a beta release, yet it's admittedly in Beta stage, this was NOT early access, which it clearly should have been. Denial will get you nothing, Bernd is living proof. The more he denies things are wrong, the more people will walk away from this game.

[JClosed]

Egosoft have said the game is not in a state they are happy with. They released patches, which says more than a thousand words.

The problem i have is that they invest far more words saying that the game is still a success in /some way/. And thats on topics where EGO_Bernd is absolutely ignoring the truth. You cannot talk about sales figures and how many people played X-R on release and then ignore that not even 10% of the release figure still play it today (and less people than X3 (TC+AP)) and then sell that fact as a proof of success.

After all, this just proofs that your marketing worked - and there are more than enough threads in this forum that show how the marketing promised a game that is not what we got (even with 1.18).

Jeez man - that where words that where spoken one or two day's after release! Do you really trying to say those words are still relevant now?

At time of release indeed sales figures where high. Nobody can deny that, and it was an reaction on THOSE numbers.

I wont defend what is said in any way, but keeping repeating the words that where valid at that time, and relating that to numbers that are valid at this time - almost a month later- is spinning an false web.

[Usenko]

. . . Because that's what you have to do!!!!!

Look, people, when you're in a car accident, do you say "Sorry, it's my fault!", even if it is? Of course not. And if you do, your insurance company will go ballistic at you. You don't admit liability. You just don't. Not ever.

Same in business. If your company has one product (which, for most small game developers, will be the case - the back catalogue won't sell enough to pay wages and develop future programs), you SIMPLY CAN'T admit liability. If Berndt were to come out and say "Yeah, the game is crap," he'd be a colossal idiot.

Those who want him to do that are asking of him something that NO responsible businessman would do.

If he genuinely believed that, he would have only one option - to resign. Then he could say what he liked (subject to any NDAs of course). Since he hasn't resigned, he has to keep on accentuating the positive. It's basic stuff, people.

[Pharoah]

. . . Because that's what you have to do!!!!!

Look, people, when you're in a car accident, do you say "Sorry, it's my fault!", even if it is? Of course not. And if you do, your insurance company will go ballistic at you. You don't admit liability. You just don't. Not ever.

Same in business. If your company has one product (which, for most small game developers, will be the case - the back catalogue won't sell enough to pay wages and develop future programs), you SIMPLY CAN'T admit liability. If Berndt were to come out and say "Yeah, the game is crap," he'd be a colossal idiot.

Those who want him to do that are asking of him something that NO responsible businessman would do.

If he genuinely believed that, he would have only one option - to resign. Then he could say what he liked (subject to any NDAs of course). Since he hasn't resigned, he has to keep on accentuating the positive. It's basic stuff, people.

I have to ask where you're from, here in Canada, we admit fault if it is our fault, and accept the consequence. This kind of logic is extremely self serving.

Let me guess, the words "Sorry" and "My bad" don't exist where you're from.


Also, just for the record, I don't know a single businessman that would lie to their customer base when their customer base is, in the grand scheme of things, less than a handfull of people.

[Llothlian]

This was NOT a beta release, yet it's admittedly in Beta stage, this was NOT early access, which it clearly should have been. Denial will get you nothing, Bernd is living proof. The more he denies things are wrong, the more people will walk away from this game.

The game is not a beta, as you fully know. The patches are released in a beta form so that we can test them before they go live. Or are almost decade old (or more) games like World of Warcraft and Eve Online still in beta as the public beta test patches? Beta testing of patches is a long standing tradition with most hugely complex games, like X Rebirth.

I have to ask where you're from, here in Canada, we admit fault if it is our fault, and accept the consequence. This kind of logic is extremely self serving.

Let me guess, the words "Sorry" and "My bad" don't exist where you're from.


Also, just for the record, I don't know a single businessman that would lie to their customer base when their customer base is, in the grand scheme of things, less than a handfull of people.

Look at it from the other side of the coin. You are the legal representation of the guy who was in the car crash. Would you rather represent a person who had admitted liability, or one who had not? If you were any of the financial backers or publishers of Egosoft would you want them to admit liability? Would you hold them accountable if they did for the financial loss you would suffer as a result?

[MrSuperKarti]

Jeez man - that where words that where spoken one or two day's after release! Do you really trying to say those words are still relevant now?

At time of release indeed sales figures where high. Nobody can deny that, and it was an reaction on THOSE numbers.

I wont defend what is said in any way, but keeping repeating the words that where valid at that time, and relating that to numbers that are valid at this time - almost a month later- is spinning an false web.

Im referring on the interview linked in this thread, released on the 4th of December in the year 2013.

But good that you figured out that Bernd is basicly repeating the same arguments since release.

Here is the specific quite from Page 2 of the Interview in Original German:
" Bernd Lehahn: [...] Aber man muss natürlich auch sagen, dass es wohl bei vielen auch gut läuft, immerhin hatten wir in der Woche nach dem Release ständig mehr als 10.000 aktive Spieler. Da muss man die Kritik auch immer in Relation sehen."

But clearly im spinning the false web here by accusing Bernd to spin a false web.

[Pharoah]

This was NOT a beta release, yet it's admittedly in Beta stage, this was NOT early access, which it clearly should have been. Denial will get you nothing, Bernd is living proof. The more he denies things are wrong, the more people will walk away from this game.

The game is not a beta, as you fully know. The patches are released in a beta form so that we can test them before they go live. Or are almost decade old (or more) games like World of Warcraft and Eve Online still in beta as the public beta test patches? Beta testing of patches is a long standing tradition with most hugely complex games, like X Rebirth.

Do all the features work? Are most if not all of the bugs fixed?

If the answers to either of these questions is "No", then this game is in Beta.