Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire - Now on Steam

Last Friday Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire became available on Steam with a 25% discount until the 23rd of November, but apparently has some issues.
In the meantime Gaming Blend reports that the devs refuse to fix the bugs until they get paid.

One of the reasons I love Kickstarter is because it cuts out this pesky virus known as a publisher. This virus basically feeds on currency of any and all kinds and usually it serves very little purpose other than to sometimes make people aware of a product, but in some cases even then they aren't necessary. Well, one virus – oops, I mean publisher – has decided to take things a step further by denying a developer the necessary funds for their work on the game and in result, a very broken version of Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire is on Steam right now.

The modding scene for Jagged Alliance 2 used to be pretty big back in the day, so I was surprised to see that a community-favorite project had found its way onto Steam's store called Wildfire, designed by a group of modders going by the name I-Deal Games. However, it's not all roses and daffodils.

There's a pretty blatant warning on the forums about staying away from JA2: Wildfire because the proceeds of purchases will not go toward the developers and that the game itself has some pretty glaring bugs and glitches due to not being properly finished. What's worse is that none of the planned patches have been released due to the hold up in funds.

More information.

Bugs, bugs, everywhere.

No big deal, if Skyrim's DLC sells like a cure, JA2's one will do too.

Unfortunately.

Why didn't the devs deliver the quality of code they were contracted to then?

Seems a bit odd that you can demand payment once to produce a product and then again to fix your own mistakes in said product. Presumably they agreed to the timescales etc. before getting funding.

Kalniel the valiant defender of the innocent publishers strikes again!

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Kalniel the valiant defender of the innocent publishers strikes again!

They're not all innocent, but it's always sad to hear just one side of the story without the other.*

I'm also a believer in doing what you said you were going to do - if you're contracted to provide something that you said you could then you should provide it and be judged on the results, not try and pass the blame to someone else/demand more money. That applies whether it's a building extension or a computer game.

*which could be anything for this story - I don't have any inside info on JA2 publishers.

kalniel, did you read what was written on Steam forum?

Lemme quote it:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/215930…1657752011729/

The developers of the mod sent a offer to the publisher of jagged alliance who accepted their offer but then just abused the mod makers and never payed them their cut for making this stand alone expansion. To such extent that the mod makers became so mad they refused to make patches for still critical bugs in this game. Because they didnt get payed for their work. So basicly the community and the mod makers where screwed in this. I dont even think the big crash bugs they did fix made it into a patch, it was all hotfixes they hosted on their own site, a site that no longer exists.

One side of the story it really is I agree.
But then again the publisher is silent on this three days already. Usually, when something like this happens, the publisher replies with some statement instantly.

You may notice that german publisher did pay devs and patches are available for german version. For english version however… No.

Originally Posted by joxer
kalniel, did you read what was written on Steam forum?

So apparently they weren't paid for the development of the product (an expansion)? Why is that? Did it fail to hit milestones or a certain quality or something?

If the developers say they met their contractual obligations then they can take the publishers to court. There's no need to air it in public unless they don't think they can win a court case.

edit: just found more details (again, only from the developers side) here, just reading through it now: http://www.ideal-games.com/news/20041108.aspx

Who cares if it failed to hit or not - it's a part of the Steam catalogue.
In other words, the publisher is using Steam to sell something that is a result of a fraud! If you contracted something, didn't pay for it, and now you're selling it, that's nothing but piracy itself.
At least if the story is true that devs get nothing for the english version. And I tend to believe it's true since german version was payed for by a different publisher and it's not in the alpha or nearalpha state but is polished.

I guess I'll have to start learning german.

Originally Posted by joxer
In other words, the publisher is using Steam to sell something that is a result of a fraud! If you contracted something, didn't pay for it, and now you're selling it, that's nothing but piracy itself.

Depends on what was in the contract. Although those devs do claim that their publisher was in breach of said contract. Which warrants the question: why don't they sue them—lack of legal funds?

Originally Posted by joxer
I guess I'll have to start learning german.

What I can say about that is, that the German Voices of Jagged Alliance 2 are as awesome if not better than the English ones (well, except of Grunty maybe, his soundclips sound a bit broken).

Just uploaded two files to demonstate Larrys voice.
http://ndnw.net/no-hp-stuff/047_040.wav
http://ndnw.net/no-hp-stuff/047_072.wav

Well, whoever was at fault, it's a pretty clear DO NOT BUY title.

Originally Posted by joxer
In other words, the publisher is using Steam to sell something that is a result of a fraud! If you contracted something, didn't pay for it, and now you're selling it, that's nothing but piracy itself.

It is most likely that every single line of code, of text, piece of artwork that the developping team produces is the property of the publisher, be the team paid or not.

The publisher sells his own property, the contractual payment of the wages is a different department.

Really? That's how it works?
And I thought slavery is illegal. Silly me.

Originally Posted by joxer
Really? That's how it works?
And I thought slavery is illegal. Silly me.

What's slavery got to do with it? If they signed an agreement saying the publisher contractually owns the code the publisher can usually do what they like with it. And again, arguments over contracts are sorted out in the courts. By not challenging a publishers actions in the courts they may even be admitting the action is valid.

Or are you suggesting they were coerced into signing against their wills? That's a very grave accusation.

Slavery is the system where ppl produce something for you, you own it legally but you don't pay to the ppl that made he product which is also legal in that system.

And you need a court to realize that? For god's sakes…

Originally Posted by joxer
Slavery is the system where ppl produce something for you, you own it legally but you don't pay to the ppl that made he product which is also legal in that system.

And you need a court to realize that? For god's sakes…

So in fact every academic and educational organisation I've studied in are slavers? Listen to what you're saying. Creative IP often rests with the funding/initiating organisation regardless of what state it is in at the end of the contract. And it's not hidden - it's there in front of you and you decide whether you want to still carry out the study or whatever in that place. If you don't, you don't go there/sign that contract.

Unless they were coerced into signing an unfavourable contract then it's not got anything to do with slavery, and you do a great insult to the history of many people by even attempting to link this situation with slavery. As far as I know, the publisher and the developers signed contracts as consenting adults. If either party is breaking their contractual obligations then there should be cause for compensation via the courts. That is not slavery.