Redownloading

[scmerc224]

So is there any reason why I cant download the game I paid 55 dollars for after the asinine time limit? I understand that it may save them money but now i need to pay more money for a game that I already paid for. I suppose the developers of Achtung Panzer will appreciate my money more considering the game is vastly cheaper and doesn't limit the customers downloads just for the sake of limiting their downloads. Thanks for nothing I suppose I had some fun with the game but its a shame that I have to rebuy it because my hard drive containing the backup crashed.

[scmerc224]

For anyone interested they force you to pay another five dollars to give another download link that works. This is one hell of a business practice that actually puts Electronic Arts to shame with is pointless nickel and diming. Good work.

I can only hope that you can learn to think more of your customers in the future.

[sburke]

or you could have just saved it to a USB. (it is a good practice for all your DL only games)

[scmerc224]

or you could have just saved it to a USB.

Or i could just go burn my money for heat.

If all of my backups failed, which they did, then my only option is to rebuy the game. This is an astounding business practice that I can only hope that companies such as EA and Ubisoft dont find out about. They have quite an impressive hustle going on here I dont want companies like EA getting in on it.

[c3k]

Sometimes it sucks when you don't read the instructions. Seriously. In this case, it's the hassle of $5. No, I'm not minimizing it, but, well, it is just $5. There have been many threads pointing to the reasons for the additional surcharge. My understanding is that it only kicks in after a year. (I may be conflating activations w/downloads.)

FWIW, I keep ALL my downloads in specific archive folders. Yes, for ALL my programs. Hard-drives are pretty cheap these days. An external case and a 1TB drive (USB 3 or eSATA) runs about $150. That's a whole lotta backup.

I know why you're angry, but I don't think it is appropriate.

[cool web head]

Sometimes it sucks when you don't read the instructions. Seriously. In this case, it's the hassle of $5. No, I'm not minimizing it, but, well, it is just $5. There have been many threads pointing to the reasons for the additional surcharge. My understanding is that it only kicks in after a year. (I may be conflating activations w/downloads.)

FWIW, I keep ALL my downloads in specific archive folders. Yes, for ALL my programs. Hard-drives are pretty cheap these days. An external case and a 1TB drive (USB 3 or eSATA) runs about $150. That's a whole lotta backup.

I know why you're angry, but I don't think it is appropriate.

Where does it say you will be charged money to get another download link? If I had known this I never would have bought the game in the first place. I find this very worrying, and I regret recommending this game to my friends. God forbid they lost their installation files, I'm gonna feel like such a jerk.

e: Also for people telling OP he was wrong to not back the game up, you should actually read his post.

[scmerc224]

Sometimes it sucks when you don't read the instructions. Seriously. In this case, it's the hassle of $5. No, I'm not minimizing it, but, well, it is just $5. There have been many threads pointing to the reasons for the additional surcharge. My understanding is that it only kicks in after a year. (I may be conflating activations w/downloads.)

FWIW, I keep ALL my downloads in specific archive folders. Yes, for ALL my programs. Hard-drives are pretty cheap these days. An external case and a 1TB drive (USB 3 or eSATA) runs about $150. That's a whole lotta backup.

I know why you're angry, but I don't think it is appropriate.

I do thank you for being somewhat civil you damned fool but that wont stop hard drives from failing. I could buy the most expensive hard drives and that will not stop them from failing because thats how technology works. Thats the problem here. I dont understand why this practice is being defended. the principle of this is beyond me, how can a developer who obviously cares enough about the quality of a game care so little about their fans? I gave these people 55 dollars and all they could be bother to tell me was deal with it give us more money. Where was this even stated that I would have to give them more money to redownload a product from their fragile internet pipes. I know the strain put on an indie company can be great but is offering the download at a later date too much to ask for? Is this really a thing to be looked down upon because my technology isnt infallible?

My installation was backed up and it crashed. All I regret is recommending this product to anyone.

I guess if me using your bandwidth is too much to handle Ill have to take my business elsewhere.

[sburke]

Where does it say you will be charged money to get another download link? If I had known this I never would have bought the game in the first place. I find this very worrying, and I regret recommending this game to my friends. God forbid they lost their installation files, I'm gonna feel like such a jerk.

e: Also for people telling OP he was wrong to not back the game up, you should actually read his post.

I did read his post which is why I was recommending a USB. Seriously not trying to give him a hard time, but these days I do this for all my games. Better yet, suggest cloud storage to your friends and be a hero. You can get a decent size for free and then they never have to worry about a HD failing or losing a USB.

[Vanir Ausf B]

I'm not commenting on BFC's policy, but any game I download gets saved to DVD or thumb drive in case they go out of business.

[scmerc224]

I did read his post which is why I was recommending a USB. Seriously not trying to give him a hard time, but these days I do this for all my games. Better yet, suggest cloud storage to your friends and be a hero. You can get a decent size for free and then they never have to worry about a HD failing or losing a USB.

It was backed up and thats the problem. When the backup fails and it will, then my only option is to give them more money. Id say thats a pretty poor way to handle the situation.

[cool web head]

I did read his post which is why I was recommending a USB.

USB will fail just like a hard drive, so its a pointless thing to say.

I actually thought OP was mistaken about the way the system works, I was very surprised to find people not only confirming that you need to pay more money for a game you already bought, but actually defending this policy.

Everyone in this thread can be short sighted and say, "well I always save it to this and that type of media". But the fact is is that through no fault of your own the disc could get scratched, someone could steal your usb drive, your external HD fails, the file was corrupted when you uploaded it to the cloud, whatever. And after the fact the company you supported screws you over to get access to the game you already thought you bought.

[TheVulture]

You can re-download for a year after you first download it. I personally have backups of the installer on my hard disk, on a DVD and on USB. I have no problem with paying for the extra download should I need it for the same reason that I'd have to buy a new game if I break the DVD it comes on.

The point is that allowing infinite re-downloads ultimately leads to BFC needing to pay for more bandwith, which means the games cost more. I'm happy with the cheaper option in exchange for having to be responsible for keeping my downloaded installer safe.

Having said that, I can imagine being rather put out too if the first time I noticed this was when I came to redownload after a disk failure and discovered it would cost me...

[cool web head]

The difference is is that it costs much more to produce an extra copy of a dvd, and when you buy a dvd copy of the game you wouldn't expect to be given a new one if your break the first anymore than you'd expect to be given a new car if you crashed your old one. However, it is practically free to make copies of a file on a computer. Battlefront is the only company I've ever heard of which has this policy, even much smaller independent developers I've bought from don't charge you money to download the game you already thought you paid for.

It doesn't cost 5 dollars to transfer the installer twice in 2 years, and if the bandwidth really was that prohibitively expensive they would include the option to let you download it via torrent to ease the burden on their own servers (many other companies have done this). I guess its more profitable to do it this way though.

[c3k]

I do thank you for being somewhat civil you damned fool but that wont stop hard drives from failing. I could buy the most expensive hard drives and that will not stop them from failing because thats how technology works. Thats the problem here. I dont understand why this practice is being defended. the principle of this is beyond me, how can a developer who obviously cares enough about the quality of a game care so little about their fans? I gave these people 55 dollars and all they could be bother to tell me was deal with it give us more money. Where was this even stated that I would have to give them more money to redownload a product from their fragile internet pipes. I know the strain put on an indie company can be great but is offering the download at a later date too much to ask for? Is this really a thing to be looked down upon because my technology isnt infallible?

My installation was backed up and it crashed. All I regret is recommending this product to anyone.

I guess if me using your bandwidth is too much to handle Ill have to take my business elsewhere.

First of all, calling me a "damned fool" is both insulting, ironic, and humorous. YOU are an idiot. Really. We'll go over the facts, as you seem mentally incapable of doing so.

From the Battlefront.com storefront, in a very attention-getting style:

1. Purchase your game (no need to login)
   
2. A Customer Account is created for you during the Checkout and you are automatically logged in
   
3. Download immediately after purchase (do not wait for emails)
   
4. Look up your License key inside your Customer account immediately (do not wait for emails). The same key is used for download and license activation.
   
5. Change your Username and Password for your account so you can log in later even if your anti-spam filter block the email with your generated password
   
6. Backup the installation files you downloaded! Downloads expire automatically after 365 days or 10 downloads. We do not offer digital storage for your purchased games.
   
7. Install, launch, activate and start playing!

Let's have you focus your feeble-minded attention at what is labeled number 6. Oh, that is BFC's bold.

If you had it backed up, you'd need 2 simultaneous failures. First, your main installation had to fail, then, simultaneously, your backup needed to fail. A failed backup is not a backup.

- You were instructed to backup your installation

- Even if you didn't, you still had a year to have 10 downloads. You must've had over a year, not something immediate.

- You said you backed it up. You lie.

- You hint that you may've had a hard-drive fail. Too bad for you.

- You state, my bold, that your installation was backed up and it crashed. You're an idiot.

- When told you've got to pull a 5 dollar bill out to replace a $55 game you purchased over a year ago, you bitch. You're cheap.

- When directly told why this isn't that big of an issue you become insulting.

Let's see where we're at, based on your exhibited and stated behavior: You're a lying, idiotic, cheap, insulting fool.

I usually give whiners a bit of leeway. I imagine they're spoiled, immature, pre-teens who are used to getting their way from their over-indulgent parents by the simple act of throwing a tantrum every time they want something. The fullness of time will usually correct such spoiled behavior.

Not in your case.

I do not think you are a pre-teen.

Now, I shall continue to enjoy a nice cup of coffee while I imagine how wretched your life must be for you to be so upset by your own incompetence. That's the humorous part.

Thank you for the smile and making the sun seem to shine a little bit brighter.

[hoolaman]

What I don't understand is that BFC freely allows downloads from the repository of 100s of MB of files to any Joe Schmuck on the internet, but doesn't permit something that is standard practice for digital delivery sites to their paying customers. I say allow six dowloads in six months, then one per year forever.

Or better yet put all their installs and patches on torrents. They are useless without a valid license anyway.

[para]

What I don't understand is that BFC freely allows downloads from the repository of 100s of MB of files to any Joe Schmuck on the internet, but doesn't permit something that is standard practice for digital delivery sites to their paying customers. I say allow six dowloads in six months, then one per year forever.

Or better yet put all their installs and patches on torrents. They are useless without a valid license anyway.

I'm with you

[Moon]

No, a poor way to handle it would be to tell you that your download period expired and you have to buy the game new at full price. The $5 fee we charge for bandwidth is something we do exactly because we do not want to have people stranded without a game they paid for. It offsets the cost for redownloads for another year, and it means that we do not have to charge every customer a higher price.

Lastly, there is the "Download and Mail" option as well, which gets you a disc (or the "Mail only" option which gets you a disc but no download).

Please do not confuse us with pure online storefronts or multiplayer clubs. Unlike some of those, we do not offer infinite digital storage for the games you buy from us. They have to, because without that service there wouldn't be much else that they do. But we are selling you a game, not an online service, and once the item you purchased is delivered, be it by mail or online, the transaction is completed as far as we are concerned. If the dog eats your disc you will be in the same situation as if it eats your backup, and while we do support fans who bought from us and are in the unfortunate situation to have lost their game, we do need to offset our cost in some way (and btw, the aforementioned storefronts and online clubs do, too, just in a less obvious way).

Martin

PS. What some people do if they are afraid of losing their backup is to use Cloud storage services. Many are free and will allow you to store your setup file online for your perusal.

[Ron]

Well said c3k, I would just add troll to complete the profile. I want to thank the OP also for a good laugh. It is incredibly amusing to see such a pathetic, incompetent creature. Generally the first instinct is to help the feeble, but in this case I think it is best to just let them sink.

[igbee]

No, a poor way to handle it would be to tell you that your download period expired and you have to buy the game new at full price. The $5 fee we charge for bandwidth is something we do exactly because we do not want to have people stranded without a game they paid for. It offsets the cost for redownloads for another year, and it means that we do not have to charge every customer a higher price.

Lastly, there is the "Download and Mail" option as well, which gets you a disc (or the "Mail only" option which gets you a disc but no download).

Please do not confuse us with pure online storefronts or multiplayer clubs. Unlike some of those, we do not offer infinite digital storage for the games you buy from us. They have to, because without that service there wouldn't be much else that they do. But we are selling you a game, not an online service, and once the item you purchased is delivered, be it by mail or online, the transaction is completed as far as we are concerned. If the dog eats your disc you will be in the same situation as if it eats your backup, and while we do support fans who bought from us and are in the unfortunate situation to have lost their game, we do need to offset our cost in some way (and btw, the aforementioned storefronts and online clubs do, too, just in a less obvious way).

Martin

PS. What some people do if they are afraid of losing their backup is to use Cloud storage services. Many are free and will allow you to store your setup file online for your perusal.

Battlefront Repository. Many of these files are in the 100+MB range.

[igbee]

Well said c3k, I would just add troll to complete the profile. I want to thank the OP also for a good laugh. It is incredibly amusing to see such a pathetic, incompetent creature. Generally the first instinct is to help the feeble, but in this case I think it is best to just let them sink.

Why is the OP a troll?

He clearly said his backup failed. He could have gone about it in a different way for sure. Its obvious the user is angry or frustrated. That should be fairly obvious...... Except to maybe you. Calling anyone pathetic or incompetent I'm sure is against the terms of posting. However, I am sure this will be allowed as these forums tend to be caustic in nature anyhow.

[Ranger33]

Moon, why not offer a torrent link for install files? It costs you nothing and creates a viable alternative for this kind of situation. The DRM as we all know is still there so the files are useless without a key. I would happily seed the game, and I'm sure others would as well.

[poesel]

+1 to that. If BFC is wary about spreading their files around they could use a private tracker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_tracker#Private_trackers). Since they already have their customers accounts they could add them to the tracker and thus limit accessibility to those who bought all the while enjoying all the benefits of torrents.

[cool web head]

First of all, calling me a "damned fool" is both insulting, ironic, and humorous. YOU are an idiot. Really. We'll go over the facts, as you seem mentally incapable of doing so.

From the Battlefront.com storefront, in a very attention-getting style:

1. Purchase your game (no need to login)
   
2. A Customer Account is created for you during the Checkout and you are automatically logged in
   
3. Download immediately after purchase (do not wait for emails)
   
4. Look up your License key inside your Customer account immediately (do not wait for emails). The same key is used for download and license activation.
   
5. Change your Username and Password for your account so you can log in later even if your anti-spam filter block the email with your generated password
   
6. Backup the installation files you downloaded! Downloads expire automatically after 365 days or 10 downloads. We do not offer digital storage for your purchased games.
   
7. Install, launch, activate and start playing!

Let's have you focus your feeble-minded attention at what is labeled number 6. Oh, that is BFC's bold.

If you had it backed up, you'd need 2 simultaneous failures. First, your main installation had to fail, then, simultaneously, your backup needed to fail. A failed backup is not a backup.

- You were instructed to backup your installation

- Even if you didn't, you still had a year to have 10 downloads. You must've had over a year, not something immediate.

- You said you backed it up. You lie.

- You hint that you may've had a hard-drive fail. Too bad for you.

- You state, my bold, that your installation was backed up and it crashed. You're an idiot.

- When told you've got to pull a 5 dollar bill out to replace a $55 game you purchased over a year ago, you bitch. You're cheap.

- When directly told why this isn't that big of an issue you become insulting.

Let's see where we're at, based on your exhibited and stated behavior: You're a lying, idiotic, cheap, insulting fool.

I usually give whiners a bit of leeway. I imagine they're spoiled, immature, pre-teens who are used to getting their way from their over-indulgent parents by the simple act of throwing a tantrum every time they want something. The fullness of time will usually correct such spoiled behavior.

Not in your case.

I do not think you are a pre-teen.

Now, I shall continue to enjoy a nice cup of coffee while I imagine how wretched your life must be for you to be so upset by your own incompetence. That's the humorous part.

Thank you for the smile and making the sun seem to shine a little bit brighter.

1) The first step says "purchase the game". By using the word "purchase", people are mislead to think this alone is the price of admission. When I think about other things I have purchased (a car, a toaster, other games both digital and physical), the act of purchasing doesn't include a later charge to access whatever it is I already purchased based on whatever arbitrary conditions. So this is immediately misleading, because we aren't really purchasing the game.

2) No where does it indicate that there will be a 5 dollar fee to get another link to the installer, because everyone (even battlefront) knows thats unfair and it might scare off customers. Furthermore, no one in their right mind would ever assume that there will be a 5 dollar fee to access the game, because as far as I know there is no other company which takes advantage of their customers like that. There really needs to be text there that says you aren't actually purchasing the game, and there will be additional charges to play later on if you lose your backup.

3) Two simultaneous failures is something that is well within the realm of possibility. More than that, it's not even an "outlandish" scenario. One time I had some old pictures on my computer that I backed up to a USB. A year or so later I had to reformat my hard drive. After that was done I wanted to get the pictures and was disappointed to find the USB had failed in the interim. Is this really beyond imagination for you?

4) "A failed backup is not a backup." ? I'm a little surprised I need to point this out, but this is a logical contradiction. I thought you were joking, but you go on to use this contradictory logic to argue that OP is a liar. I don't know how to explain this well since its so plainly contradictory, but by saying "a failed backup is not a backup" you are saying that if there is something that is a backup and that something has also failed, then that something is not a backup. In order for this statement to be true, something would need to be both a backup and not a backup. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm talking down to you, it's just that this is such elementary stuff.

5) It's "cheap" to not want to pay 5 dollars for something you were mislead into believing you already purchased? Personally, I think its foolish to pay for something you already bought. But this is a pointless vein of discussion, I think. Its just name-calling.

I don't understand why you are defending this policy with such anger. This policy is unprecedented, and hidden from customers at the time of purchase. It's misleading and exploitive. There are plenty of alternatives available to Battlefront which are far better for customers, but they go with this instead for obvious reasons.

[Wodin]

I have mine backed up in three different places. I did loose my CMSF module sin a HD crash and had to pay $5..which really didn't bother me as it was my fault..I should have backed them up in more than one place.

To compare BF to EA a multi million dollar company is silly indeed. BF is a small developer without the resources that EA will have.

For anyone who bemoans $5 because they didn't read up on the terms and conditions and didn't back it up on either a USB stick of a CD even then I have no sympathy for them. What other purchase can you buy that if you loose it you can go to the shop and demand another one??? They'd show you the door..they certainly wouldn't let you get another one for a fraction of the price. Yes Steam and Gamersgate have a download forever policy which is cool but it doesn't mean that all other developers regardless of size have to follow that example. I really see no problem with how BF go about and I for one as grateful I didn't have to buy the modules at full price and ti was only $5.

Graviteam don't actually publish their games and if you bought from Matrix it can be a pain getting it back. Also the next DLC from them is hi res textures of a few vehicles so come on now thats hardly generous is it?

Finally BF aren't ogres..if the game failed to download a couple of times when you first bought it I'm sure to god they'd wave the $5 fee. Only after a year does it come into effect. Over a year you have plenty of time to back it up on as many different devices you want. It isn't hard and really it's laziness why people don't do it on the whole. The internet can get really depressing when you see people moaning and getting all up tight over $5...

I think at times the community is better off without these sorts of people as I think they just like to be outraged at every possible opportunity which isn't fun to be around.

As I said I can't think of any other kind of purchase lets say you didn't lock a Bike up that was over a year old or you lost something where you could go to the shop and demand another one nor would they offer you another one for a small fee. The fact is you have to back it up as often as possible just to be on the safe side and really you will be OK.

[igbee]

I have mine backed up in three different places. I did loose my CMSF module sin a HD crash and had to pay $5..which really didn't bother me as it was my fault..I should have backed them up in more than one place.

To compare BF to EA a multi million dollar company is silly indeed. BF is a small developer without the resources that EA will have.

For anyone who bemoans $5 because they didn't read up on the terms and conditions and didn't back it up on either a USB stick of a CD even then I have no sympathy for them. What other purchase can you buy that if you loose it you can go to the shop and demand another one??? They'd show you the door..they certainly wouldn't let you get another one for a fraction of the price. Yes Steam and Gamersgate have a download forever policy which is cool but it doesn't mean that all other developers regardless of size have to follow that example. I really see no problem with how BF go about and I for one as grateful I didn't have to buy the modules at full price and ti was only $5.

Graviteam don't actually publish their games and if you bought from Matrix it can be a pain getting it back. Also the next DLC from them is hi res textures of a few vehicles so come on now thats hardly generous is it?

Finally BF aren't ogres..if the game failed to download a couple of times when you first bought it I'm sure to god they'd wave the $5 fee. Only after a year does it come into effect. Over a year you have plenty of time to back it up on as many different devices you want. It isn't hard and really it's laziness why people don't do it on the whole. The internet can get really depressing when you see people moaning and getting all up tight over $5...

I think you miss the point. This is not so much about $5 as the principle. The OP had the game installed and clearly said his BACKUP FAILED.

If the OP is being honest and I see no reason to call someone a liar unless you have something, even on line. The customer did what he was supposed to do. BACKUP the download.

Why is this such a hard concept for some of you to get? Also, as has already been pointed out. BF has options for allowing a paying customer to download the game again. BT is useful. BF could take it a step further by having an allow list. I accept bandwidth is costly but options do exist.