Why is In-Store DVD-ROM different?

edited May 2012 in Wallace & Gromit
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.
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Comments

  • edited March 2010
    It is my understanding that Telltale does not distribute retail versions of their games. Therefore, the retail version will be mostly different than the version you get directly from Telltale. I personally would suggest that you purchase the games directly from the Telltale store. Not only do they give you ridiculously good deals on most of their items but they are also amazingly helpful in getting their games to work when people are having trouble.
  • edited March 2010
    cringer wrote: »
    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.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    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.

    Yes it does. The Wallace and Gromit DVD has the same episodes as the downloadable ones. With the same activation.
  • edited March 2010
    If you're buying Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures now, I'm sad to say I'd support the retail box instead of the Telltale store one. The Telltale Store DVD lacks pretty much everything that makes Telltale's Collector's DVDs attractive in the first place, other than the presence of a box and a disc.
  • edited March 2010
    I'd support the retail box instead of the Telltale store one.

    What are the differences?
  • edited March 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    Oh, and plrichard: W&G, as well as SBCG4AP, were both released to retail by Telltale, no middle man this time around.

    Oh ok, cool.
  • edited March 2010
    My theory is that W&G didn't sell as well as anticipated (note the fairly quick price reduction to $20), and Telltale released a scaled-back DVD for financial reasons -- it may not have made economic sense to put together a DVD that has Telltale's usual quality.

    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?
  • edited March 2010
    Well, for starters owners of 'shop versions' seem to get a whole load of additional issues ingame with crashes and non-interactive areas.

    Sounds pretty bad to me... :?
  • edited March 2010
    It is my understanding that Telltale does not distribute retail versions of their games. Therefore, the retail version will be mostly different than the version you get directly from Telltale. I personally would suggest that you purchase the games directly from the Telltale store. Not only do they give you ridiculously good deals on most of their items but they are also amazingly helpful in getting their games to work when people are having trouble.

    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:
    QUESTION: Do Telltale's games have copy protection?

    ANSWER: Yes, but we try to keep it as low-key and non-annoying as possible. Our downloadable games use a version of SecuROM that requires online activation. Our disc-based games also use SecuROM. Disc games don't require online activation, but the disc must be in the drive while you play.

    This is located under Support / Technical Questions on the site.
  • edited March 2010
    I would guess that if it requires online activation (mine didn't, but that may be because I had previously activated the downloadable versions on my PC), that it was an oversight. I doubt they intentionally added online activation this time around.
  • edited March 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    I would guess that if it requires online activation (mine didn't, but that may be because I had previously activated the downloadable versions on my PC), that it was an oversight. I doubt they intentionally added online activation this time around.
    There was a Telltale post on the issue, but I can't seem to find it. From what I can recall, it was a "technical hurdle", and they chose getting the DVD out sooner over fixing it. I think that was a bad judgement.
  • edited March 2010
    Same here. Hopefully TMI got a better treatment. Oh well, we shall see this spring.
  • edited March 2010
    There was a Telltale post on the issue, but I can't seem to find it. From what I can recall, it was a "technical hurdle", and they chose getting the DVD out sooner over fixing it. I think that was a bad judgement.

    I believe this is the post you are looking for:

    http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=264268&postcount=15
    Will wrote:
    I can't comment on the longterm situation of DVD DRM, since I don't know what it will be. The reason WG went in this direction was primarily a technical one. To get the standard disc-based securom protection for WG would have required a major technical overhaul and would have pushed the production of the dvd out months later. It would probably have been summer before we would have been able to create it, and we felt that people would rather have the DVD with existing DRM than making everyone wait that long.

    As for the future of DRM on disks, it's hard to say. I'm a pretty strong proponent of the disk based DRM, but there are new technical difficulties on the horizon that we are currently researching.

    Thus far, you are the only person that has actually complained about the issue outside of the company.

    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).
  • edited March 2010
    Klink wrote: »
    I believe this is the post you are looking for:

    http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=264268&postcount=15
    EXACTLY the one. Thank you for finding it.
    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'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.
    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).
    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.
  • edited March 2010
    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.
    Exactly the reason why I buy direct from Telltale. I'm usually against any form of online activation, which is precisely the reason why I haven't bought Mirror's Edge yet for the PC (boxed copy of course). In Telltale's case, I'm willing to forego the online activations for the digital copies as, up until this point anyway, we've had the option for a physical copy with a traditional disc check protection system. As you say:
    ...[T]he 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.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    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.
    Meh, I would stop getting DVD's, but would still buy here. After all, you get more stuff here for the same price compared to other downloadportals (Steam, GG, Direct2Drive etc.)
  • edited March 2010
    Klink wrote: »
    Voila! I r maek teh DVD!

    Don't say 'voila', Sam.
  • edited March 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    Don't say 'voila', Sam.

    You crack me up, pale little buddy.
  • edited March 2010
    Ugh, thanks for warning me. Just sent an e'mail to TT support cancelling my order for W&G and TOMI DVDs. I don't need a worthless paperweight of a DVD that won't run without phoning home. If I want to play like that, I'll just get the downloadable versions from my account!
  • edited March 2010
    Online activation is certainly disheartening to hear. Still, the disc is free. Just lump it in to a purchase of some other fine Telltale products and pretend it's a bargain.
  • edited March 2010
    Online activation is certainly disheartening to hear. Still, the disc is free. Just lump it in to a purchase of some other fine Telltale products and pretend it's a bargain.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    That's why I said "pretend"
  • edited March 2010
    That's why I said "pretend"
    Seems like a rather flimsy delusion to me.
  • edited March 2010
    Still, the disc is free. Just lump it in to a purchase of some other fine Telltale products and pretend it's a bargain.
    No, because I bought these games with the understanding that I could get a lasting hardcopy on DVD at the cost of shipping, a couple months after the games were released online. That's what I paid for. But now it seems Telltale won't deliver what they promised.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    I also dislike this change from disc-based copy protection to online activation for the DVD. While I accept online Activation for the downloads, I really hate it if disc-based games use it. It is even worse when there is a limit on activations, which is for me genereally a reason not to buy a game until it is really cheap or the limit is removed (which is mostly at the same time).

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    Mirko wrote: »
    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 :-(...

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    Klink wrote: »
    I honestly can't imagine what Aardman are thinking at this point but if I were them I'd be pretty angry and disappointed.
    If it was my property, I would have been very impressed with the actual games, but extremely disappointed with how it ended up being packaged. Especially if I picked Telltale due to the amount of care they normally put into the properties they adapt.

    They're just Windows Media files? Seriously?! I'm frankly shocked.
  • edited March 2010
    I've gotta say I'm really disappointed as well... even the "Cracking Contraptions" shorts were just copied to the DVD as WMV-files and not even named properly. A VERY poor release, and totally pointless since it still needs my Telltale-login to work... you know, I could've burned that stuff to a DVD myself!

    I really liked the games though. But the DVD is way below Telltale's high standards. :(
  • edited March 2010
    Don't know if anyone cares anymore, but I bought the store (blue box) version and it indeed does not require any online activation, so the information in this thread is accurate.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    Also, a screen with no hotspots apparently (same episode).
  • edited March 2010
    Tero wrote: »
    Don't know if anyone cares anymore, but I bought the store (blue box) version and it indeed does not require any online activation, so the information in this thread is accurate.
    Wait, wut?
  • edited March 2010
    Well, the first post says "I was told" and I'm just confirming it.
  • edited March 2010
    I'm surprised no one has mentioned the most heinous problem with the DVD release yet:

    The Telltale logo is slightly lower on the spine, so it doesn't perfectly match their other releases :(
  • edited March 2010
    I imagine Telltale will come up with something to make up for the shoddy release of this DVD. Even if they just lift the activation limit for these particular episodes.
  • edited March 2010
    I don't know what to say, actually.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    Klink wrote: »
    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!
    Mirko wrote: »
    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 ;-)





    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.
  • edited March 2010
    GinnyN wrote: »
    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.

    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.
  • edited March 2010
    GinnyN wrote: »
    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.

    Not gonna happen. :(
    I don't think there will be updated DVD's of older games. Somewhere (I can't find where), Will said they were interested, but that the cost was probably going to be too great.
    Will wrote: »
    What HumpsMcLovin said. We'd love to, but it's just not feasible.
  • edited March 2010
    I have a new proposal for DRM. It is a unique and innovative idea that has never been done before.

    monkey_island_codewheel.jpg
  • edited April 2010
    I used to have a golf simulator for the Atari ST and you had to plug in this little black thing into one of the serial ports in the back for the game, you can't get much better than that!!

    Must have been expensive to make a load of little black serial port plugs though lol
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