Why is In-Store DVD-ROM different?
To Telltale,
Why is the DVD you sent to customers DIFFERENT than then the version that is in stores? I was told the in-store version DOES NOT require online activation. WHY would you send customers a different disc?? This is HIGHLY annoying.
Why is the DVD you sent to customers DIFFERENT than then the version that is in stores? I was told the in-store version DOES NOT require online activation. WHY would you send customers a different disc?? This is HIGHLY annoying.
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As far as I know, the Telltale DVD does not require online activation. It only checks to make sure the disc is in the drive.
Oh, and plrichard: W&G, as well as SBCG4AP, were both released to retail by Telltale, no middle man this time around.
Yes it does. The Wallace and Gromit DVD has the same episodes as the downloadable ones. With the same activation.
What are the differences?
Oh ok, cool.
I don't think we've ever received a definitive answer from Telltale about the differences. So to repeat RevolverBobcat's question to Telltale: what exactly are the differences between the TTG store DVD and the retail DVD?
Sounds pretty bad to me... :?
If this is the case, then it should be noted on the item on the site. For instance saying "The retail version ONLY does not require online activation. For those who want to play without online activation, then this is the version for you. However, if you want a the Collectible DVD-ROM, which is exclusive to TellTale, then buy ours, but note that this edition will require online activation since the included versions are the one from the site. You may wish to have both editions if you are interested in the collectible special features and the offline activation." Then, in their store they could offer BOTH and let those who want both get a discount for buying both at the same time, and those who just want the retail edition, just buy that one from them or another source.
My largest complaint is that when I read the site FAQ, it said this:
I believe this is the post you are looking for:
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=264268&postcount=15
Emphasised bold text is mine. Reason why I point this out is it seems more likely than not that future DVD releases may feature online activation rather than standard disc checks. Tie the bolded text to the final line "Thus far, you are the only person that has actually complained..." (even though complaints have been made in the W&G forums) shows that they may have hoped to have this issue slip by without anyone noticing.
I hope I'm wrong, I honestly do. I have invested quite a bit into buying Telltale products. Hell, I even ordered the Tales of Monkey Island DVD along with Sam & Max Season 3 in order to get the free shipping without first waiting to see what the DRM on the disc actually is. If the Tales DVD does include online activation, rest assured it would be the last product/DVD I buy from Telltale (Sam & Max Season 3 DVD included).
I'd rather not delve into speculation over motives that can't really be known. I'd rather talk about what we actually have. It's a fact that the Wallace and Gromit DVDs use online activation. Whatever the reason, that's a problem. If they continue to require this, no matter what the intentions, the disc copy will lose all value for me, because it's NOT a disc copy at all. It is, at the very best, misleading to say you get a disc copy when online authentication is used.
If Tales has online activation as well, I'll wait to see what they do for the Sam and Max DVD. If that requires online activation, I think I'm done buying Telltale games directly from Telltale. However good intentions may be, they may as well send me an empty box if it's an online-activation DVD, and the DVD is the main reason I buy direct and new from Telltale's store.
What's the point of paying the price of shipping for a 'physical copy' when it would be far cheaper and easier to just download the digital versions and burn them on a DVD? Up until this point, the DVDs from Telltale had value. I could install them whenever I wanted to, on as many machines as I wanted to, as many times as I wanted to because I own the license to play the game(s) I legally bought.
As it stands now, I regret buying Wallace & Gromit and am almost ashamed to have it sitting on my shelf of games as the DVD is useless. Sure, I get the Wallace & Gromit short-movies yet the entire W&G DVD is made up of items we could have downloaded ourselves! In fact, that's exactly what I'll do. For your viewing pleasure, here's the W&G DVD in its entirety.
- First, if you have the digital versions of W&G, go to your Games page up the top and download all the W&G episodes.
- Youtube/Google Video "Wallace & Gromit Cracking Contraptions". Watch all 10 of them.
- Go here: http://www.telltalegames.com/videos/ and download/watch practically all the trailers advertising all of Telltale's games.
- Go here: http://vip.telltalegames.com/ and scroll down to Wallace & Gromit and download some concept art.
- Go here: http://www.videogamer.com/videos/wallace_and_gromits_grand_adventures_fright_of_the_bumblebees_making_of_feature.html# to download the 'Behind the Scenes'.
Vwolla! I r maek teh DVD!
I don't know about you but that certainly wasn't worth the price of shipping. To be honest I have no idea what Telltale were thinking. I would have waited a few extra weeks/months in order to get a DVD that was worth the price WITH a standard disc check for the games themselves. As it stands this was a worthless DVD and a worthless purchase.
Don't say 'voila', Sam.
You crack me up, pale little buddy.
Except that it's not a bargain. It honestly is the worst value-for-money (or no money in this case) product Telltale has ever produced. Go back to my post near the end of page one to read exactly what's on the DVD.
This wasn't a bargain, this was a scam.
Had I known beforehand that this would be an online-only game, I might not have been willing to buy the games. I think this is just downright dishonest business. The offline DVD version is a big deal to me (and many others, apparently), Telltale sold it to us, but they won't deliver it. Frankly, I feel scammed.
I really liked the old "Buy Online with activation first, get activation-less disc later for cost of shipping" business model, and I think this change is a really big step in the wrong direction. And I think it would have been better to wait a little longer for the DVD and have it activation less, than do it the easy way and just put the web-installer on the disc.
But the activation is just one problem of this DVD. Compared to the other discs Telltale has to offer (especially the Sam and Max DVDs) it just seems to be done with less love or at least a bit rushed. I really was looking forward to watch the Cracking Contraptions short on my TV, but I can't because all the Videos are just .wmv files and those can't be played by my DvD-Player. I don't even know if there is any Player that can play those. Maybe a more open Format would have been better, but then maybe i just dislike wmv-files for some reason ;-)
I think the W&G DvD is the worst DvD Telltale has ever produced :-( and I really hope that future Discs will be better again. I'm really glad I did get the DvD together with other really great Items, when there was a free shipping deal. Otherwise it would have been a great disappointment, because I expected something like the DVDs of Sam and Max. It was free for me so I can't really complain, but there are people who are paying for it and I really understand it if those are angry about this DvD.
To echo the first bolded point, yes, this DVD was rushed. No thought, no love, nothing but a quick cash-in. What makes it more disappointing is that this is supposed to be a 20 year anniversary celebration. 20 years of Wallace & Gromit and all Telltale could do was pull out a half-***ed DVD. I honestly can't imagine what Aardman are thinking at this point but if I were them I'd be pretty angry and disappointed.
To the second point, glad to see another satisfied customer.
They're just Windows Media files? Seriously?! I'm frankly shocked.
I really liked the games though. But the DVD is way below Telltale's high standards.
There's a freezing bug in Fright of the Bumblebees, but it is easily gotten rid of by deleting two files (the .dlg files in the "pack" folder of fright of the bumblebees) that were accidentally included with the game.
The Telltale logo is slightly lower on the spine, so it doesn't perfectly match their other releases
Mostly because I have also personal problems with the DRM Scheme they are using, and I'm not asking for my Disc just for that. But also because I brought just one episode and the rest got them free. Somehow.
The good thing is, there's still the release of Wallace and Gromit DVD with the Mac Double Boot (Around this year eventually), so, there's a chance to get that fixed. I'm waiting for that. I hope the complains will be addressed.
My problem goes with the people who has already the Disc. I know is beyond difficult because is a physical product, but I hope those guys had a fix too.
They can't do a half-assed job with ToMI's DVD. Dave Grossman worked as a designer on SMI and MI2 back in the day, and now on ToMI. He has to know that it will piss off a lot of people.
At first, I didn't care much about the issue of online activation on a disc version, since I was sure there would be a patch to break it if TTG ever closed. But since I read Klink's post that you can find everything from the game on the net already, and Mirko's post that the clips on the disc are just .wmv's... Well, I have to say that it's changed my mind about it all. This is terrible.
Dave wouldn't do the same thing to MI fans. He's been around since the beginning, so he has to know how much it means to us to have it done right.
...perhaps, if we made a big enough stink, they might improve the W&G disc? I know I wouldn't buy it after reading Klink's post unless it had stuff that wasn't so obviously easily burnable on my own.
That's true, they have a chance at redemption with the Mac version. After all, we know they have functional builds of the disc-check version, that's what they released to retail after all.
Not gonna happen.
Must have been expensive to make a load of little black serial port plugs though lol