Okay 505, Holiday's over. Time for some answers. (Linux/Mac)

dareka that is a God tier reply and I retract my sentiments about any part of the team making this decision from a mortally questionable standpoint.

I feel I have a certain self imposed responsibility as a community advocate. That comes with listening to everyone, and in this case I not only heard people's pleas for a refund, but for unaffected backers in agreement with them. Naturally, this made quite a few backers understandably angry. When I didn't hear a reason from 505 Games that made me understand why refunds weren't possible I just kinda fell in with those who are upset and assumed this decision not to refund a relatively small number of affected backers was morally questionable.

Your reply highlights some really good points there.

If refunds were possible, they would do them. No one wants the bad PR on any side.

That means for some reason refunds are not possible, and for some reason they won't come right on out and say exactly why. I think many people have figured out why though, which has been mentioned a few times in various places. My backer choices are locked for what platform I'm on, so I can't confirm it, but was there ever a time these backers actually chose the Mac or Linux platform? I don't recall it being an option in the list. The whole reason might very well be that they would have to open refunds to every PC backer, and that would just be very irresponsible and a decision that is obviously correct to refuse to pay refunds. It's the only thing that makes sense. I have no idea why they wouldn't just come out and say that is what happened. Ownership and accountability is a quality I expect from all involved companies, but if they haven't said why then there is probably a reason we can't see in public.

I wish someone would, because I hope that it would make those affected understand that it's not just an evil corporation money thing, and it would help those backers like me who sympathize so much to understand as well. In the end though, it doesn't change the fact that there will be no refund for Linux and Mac backers, so what ever reason they have for holding on to that must not outweigh this benefit.

Long story short, I formally apologize for insinuating that a morally questionable decision was made. Thanks Dareka.

You've hit the nail on the head.  The way they have communciated things has been, frankly, horrid.   If they were open about development and they showed real progress and gameplay rather than a tiny, tiny trickle of information, people wouldn't want to get a refund, they'd opt for the game.  I won't go as far as to call them scumbags; I tend to go with the attributing things to incompetence rather than malice with the lack of information at this point.  It doesn't change the end result in the least.  I've had a creeping sense of trepidation increasing with every update, long before they announced that Linux was getting dropped.

I've dodged some Kickstarters that went bad, but I backed the Mighty No., to my eternal shame.

For everyone saying "if they proved the product was good no one would get a refund", I don't think that's a fair statement. Opening it up to refunds is a fairly abusable opportunity, and not everyone in this world is a saint.

Everyone should also realize that losing support of a couple of platforms is not in itself a failure to provide the end-product. The end-product will still exist, just without specific parts of it. A backer may have backed specifically for that missing part, but the end product still exists. Providing a refund to those affected in this circumstance is not something that I find to be legally required, but to be a good PR opportunity as well as being morally upright.

Additionally, if Mac or Linux is the only platform you were able to play this game, I don't think you should have backed the campaign at all. That is in my mind an enthusiast level decision being made from the standpoint of a non-enthusiast. I can't find fault with those who are upset, but I do find fault with those who act as if nothing could ever have gone wrong during the very beginning of the campaign.

If you're upset, but you realize the complexity of the situation, then I'm with you 100%.

If they "tried to build" it, and ran into a problem during it, that is a technical problem.

Can you please make up your mind? We're aware of what Question suggested, and that it ultimately wasn't a technical issue.

browren You weren't too vague; and yes, I see what you're suggesting by italicizing it. I just didn't edit my comment in time.

But are you actually saying that they waited until performance testing noncommittally?

Ok I lied, I'm back. The problem here is rampant speculation. You guys are so busy trying to apologize and come up with excuses for 505 that you're not listening to what 505 actually said. The "complexity" of this situation is imagined.

Why are there no refunds for Mac and Linux backers? Is it because they couldn't think up a way to differentiate them from everyone else? Let's ask Question :



Ok, no. That's not the reason. It's because they used arguably fraudulent accounting to transfer assets from the Kickstarter campaign to 505. Assets on one side, liability on the other. This isn't a hard concept. We can only speculate why their business people think this is a smart move, and why they admitted to it when there are so many other possible explanations (which you super fans have been cooking up at an exponential rate, they should really hire you for PR). At the end of the day, though, we know. No further speculation necessary.

A popular theory that is being used to conveniently misdirect attention from the stated and verified reason. In their opinion they have no obligation to refund.