Originally Posted by
TwilightShadow
Welcome Alpaca.
Im a newish player - only been playing for a couple of months now.
Yesterday I was intent on purchasing a quantity of gems for 100 GBP. However after considering this thread carefully I decided against it.
In the event that I was to lose my island due to a bug I would want 100% reassurance from BB that everything would be replaced to the same state it was in prior to the loss. In UK law this is called restitution and is an established legal principle. Unfortunately as the game is still in a Beta format it gives BB a lot of latitude as Ubisofts T & C's state in clause 14 (g)
"Beta versions of games and more generally any Test Contents are supplied to you as is and according to availability without any explicit or implicit guarantee of any kind. You play on a beta version at your own risk. You accept that (i) the Test Contents may include known or unknown bugs and that (ii) the games and/or other Test Contents may be available only on subscription once the beta phase is completed or at any other time subsequently. You acknowledge that UBISOFT is not obliged to allow you to play free of charge for any period, nor even to authorise you to access these Test Contents. You also accept that all your data, particularly any bonuses, points, Credits, states of progress and statuses attained in the course of the game may be erased and/or reset at any time. In this case, your progress and your data will be erased and you will return to the initial status"
A further argument would be that a contract was created for each and every purchase and surely their must be some form of redress in this situation. Section 15 of the contract covers this and in particular subsection 15(e) which states
"Your sole remedy in the event of a dispute with UBISOFT or its licensors is to:
cease to use the Services and terminate your Account; and
if applicable, seek damages for your losses."
I guess the "seek damages" term would mean via Ubisoft/BB but failing that through the courts - a potentially complex, costly and time consuming process.
So it appears that according to the contract that 'all bases have been covered' and anybody who loses their island through no fault of their own are completely at the mercy of BB who can pretty much avoid any liability whatsoever. The offer made to those who've fallen prey to this bug have been offered on what is clearly a 'goodwill gesture' and nothing more.
This may be an explanation as to why BB appear to be dragging their feet when it comes to full restitution.
To lose an island through something which is through no fault of the player/s and then not immediately and appropriately compensate the player is appalling and to be honest i'm astounded that a corporate body would not seek to address this issue within hours of the problem being identified by appropriately and fully compensating the affected player. The damage to the player base's confidence in Settlers and the long term viability of BB with Settlers are intrinsically linked.
I for one will most definitely not spend any money on Settlers until this issue as been resolved, the affected players appropriately compensated and the T & C's amended accordingly to reflect this (or at least clarified) - which is a shame as i really enjoy settlers and I think its got great potential!
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