The Silence is Deafening

[HardCode]

It's the official day of the release of Mount&Blade. It should be a day of revelry, a day of cheers, a day of congradulations. It should be a party on the forums, with everyone toasting to the success of Mount&Blade after so many years of work, development, and fun.

However, all's quiet on the home front. On this official US release date, there is no sign of M&B at any of the major chain stores in the US. There is no word from Armagan - nothing at all - about how he feels today. Is he happy? Is he relieved? Is he opening champegne in the office? There is no official announcement that the game is available retail. There is no word on when the official download will be available. There is no word on anything.

All's quiet on Paradox's home front. There is no announcement on the forums. Threads about where to buy the game are unanswered - you'd think on release day, there would be heavy monitoring of the forums to answer, "Hey, I've got my car keys in hand. Where can I go buy this game?" Silence.

I find it very odd. I would have expected a huge, community celebration with Taleworlds leading the way. I would have expected fireworks and the like ... a forum party like no other, with congradulations all around. I never received my prize for the tagline contest, and the game is officially available for retail. No word for 24 hours from either Armagan or Paradox.

Something strange is going on.

 

[cremo]

I knew it!
it's all frogodorn fault!

 

[Gimpy Son of Loins]

The silence has BEEN deafening.

Taleworlds hasn't exactly been trumpeting from the rooftops the past few days, yet you look at the forums and its the most active its been in a while in anticipation.

It's only more than slightly disappointing that the only thing interesting that came out of today was that a leaked copy of the game got out there when there is this much anticipation built up for today.

 

[sadnhappy]

You're absolutely right. I feel really sad about this whole thing. All the years work and the mood on the forums is like this.  The release of 1.0 really is a fail in the eyes of the fans. Or alteast in the eyes of this certain fan of Mount & Blade.

It's unfair.

All the years playing the game. Testing, killing bugs, playing, killing some bugs..

.. Only to be screwed on the release day. Merely no information, minimal announcements..

And letting all the new people who have never played M&B get the game first.

 

[Deanster]

It does seem a little strange to me also. I'm just hoping the version I ordered from Amazon gets sent to me in due time. I'm actually rather happy about everything though, I mean I can wait a few days. 3 Years ago I doubt the team would predict that it would hit the shops and shores of nations (eventually). It might be a little quiet right now due to the publishers being busy sorting out the final details. Never the less, I think we should party anyway! Let the nation of Calradia be as one, at least for one day.

 

[Janus]

Yeah, it does seem a bit quiet.

All's quiet on Paradox's home front.

Not entirely true; they sent out a newsletter by e-mail to those who signed up to receive news about M&B on the Paradox M&B site.

Here it is:

Groundbreaking Medieval Combat Title in Stores Now 

New York - Sept. 16, 2008 - Paradox Interactive today confirmed that after several years of development, Mount & Blade, the widely-acclaimed action-RPG title for the PC, has successfully mounted North American store shelves. 
Mount & Blade will be available in European stores on Friday, Sep. 19th.

"The launch of Mount & Blade is almost a bittersweet milestone for us," said Armagan Yavuz, Lead Developer, TaleWorlds Entertainment.​

"While we're sad to see our work of passion come to a close, we're thrilled with the end product, and we know that Mount & Blade will redefine the standards of independent game development."​

Mount & Blade is a single-player, third or first-person action/role-playing game set in the medieval war-torn land of Calradia.​

The game features groundbreaking horseback combat, intuitive swordplay, and a free-form environment in which players can roam freely to explore new cities, conquer foreign armies and earn a reputation as the realm’s most courageous warrior. 

​

The retail version of Mount&Blade includes a 60 pages manual and a large doublesided poster with concept art and a map of Calradia created by Ganbat Badamkhand.

For more information, visit www.paradoxplaza.com/Mount&Blade​

Mount & Blade is available for purchase in stores and for digital download at GamersGate, the leading digital distribution platform creating easily accessible gaming experiences for gamers worldwide.​

​

About Paradox Interactive​

Since 1999, Paradox Interactive has been a leading developer and publisher of PC-based strategy games. World-renowned for its strategy stable, the company holds a particularly strong presence in the United States and Europe. Its steadily-growing portfolio includes original titles such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron franchises, as well as the best published titles like Penumbra: Black Plague, Supreme Ruler 2020, and the greatly-anticipated Majesty 2 – The Fantasy Kingdom Sim.
​

EDIT: cleaned up some of the extra tracking info from the links.

 

[Dain Ironfoot]

What with us who want to download it legit, having to wait patiently past the European release date while those with leaked copies dance and prance about the forum, I see no reason to make much noise..

 

[Gerg]

I just hope there is some way for those who bought a beta serial key are able to somehow acquire the map and manual.  I love the concept art.

Cheers,
Gerg

 

[HardCode]

Janus, the problem with that Paradox press release (and the site) says it's in stored on Sept. 16, but fails to state which stores

 

[RayvenQ]

it's all a con! Armagan is on Bahamas by now, with our MONEYZ!!!! they stealz it! There won't be any online download of the 1.0 version!'!!!

SHAAAAMEEEE!!!

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

srsly. Paranoia much?

You were saying? (Taking HardCore's post into account)  Not even retail has been sighted.

 

[Janus]

Janus, the problem with that Paradox press release (and the site) says it's in stored on Sept. 16, but fails to state which stores

Yeah, I'm actually getting the feeling that it indeed might not be in any regular physical stores yet for whatever reason, even though the official U.S. release date is today. I could be wrong, but...

I also would have expected Amazon to have it available on the 16th for people in the U.S. as well, but they're listing the 19th as the release date.


EDIT:

it's all a con! Armagan is on Bahamas by now, with our MONEYZ!!!! they stealz it! There won't be any online download of the 1.0 version!'!!!

SHAAAAMEEEE!!!

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

srsly. Paranoia much?

You were saying? (Taking HardCore's post into account)  Not even retail has been sighted.

So..... what exactly would be the gain in that again for him? 1.0 is obviously done and available on Gamersgate (not even considering the press copy), so I fail to see how screwing everyone over at this point would make even the slightest hint of sense.

 

[Vlad_Tepes]

I just hope there is some way for those who bought a beta serial key are able to somehow acquire the map and manual.  I love the concept art.

Cheers,
Gerg

This. I don't have the extra 20+ dollars to spend on a game I've already purchased.

 

[bravesirknight]

It should be out everywhere within the next 4-5 days. If it's not then you might get worried. I think they don't have accurate dates because of the many different things they're dealing with: different retail in different countries, a new online retailer, etc... It's no surprise really.

 

[Nordmann]

It all started going down hill when Paradox joined the show, now they pretty much pull all the strings, and TaleWorlds has to dance to their merry little money grabbing tune. It's always the same with Publishers. Armagan should have stayed with digital distribution and kept the game in-house as it were. Publishers are always trouble in my experience.

 

[Gerg]

I just hope there is some way for those who bought a beta serial key are able to somehow acquire the map and manual.  I love the concept art.

Cheers,
Gerg

This. I don't have the extra 20+ dollars to spend on a game I've already purchased.

I'd even be willing to pay the 10 USD difference from .960 and 1.0 to get them.

Cheers,
Gerg

 

[Darmoth]

I paids my moneys... I wants me download! Arr!

 

[Nordmann]

Yeah, but they want people buying the box, they couldn't care less about those of us that already own a key. I can only imagine what some of the long standing testers feel like, having tested the game across the years and effectively been slapped in the face. I really do suspect this is Paradox's doing though.

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

It's the official day of the release of Mount&Blade. It should be a day of revelry, a day of cheers, a day of congradulations. It should be a party on the forums, with everyone toasting to the success of Mount&Blade after so many years of work, development, and fun.

However, all's quiet on the home front. On this official US release date, there is no sign of M&B at any of the major chain stores in the US. There is no word from Armagan - nothing at all - about how he feels today. Is he happy? Is he relieved? Is he opening champegne in the office? There is no official announcement that the game is available retail. There is no word on when the official download will be available. There is no word on anything.

All's quiet on Paradox's home front. There is no announcement on the forums. Threads about where to buy the game are unanswered - you'd think on release day, there would be heavy monitoring of the forums to answer, "Hey, I've got my car keys in hand. Where can I go buy this game?" Silence.

I find it very odd. I would have expected a huge, community celebration with Taleworlds leading the way. I would have expected fireworks and the like ... a forum party like no other, with congradulations all around. I never received my prize for the tagline contest, and the game is officially available for retail. No word for 24 hours from either Armagan or Paradox.

Something strange is going on.

If I was Armagan I'd be pissed as a mongoose and passed out in a ditch somewhere.

Or maybe not. Perhaps he's taking a rare day off to celebrate?

 

[Tall Paul]

Yeah, but they want people buying the box, they couldn't care less about those of us that already own a key.

If they care so much about boxed version sales, then why can no-one find a single boxed copy anywhere?

 

[ArakDemonBlade]

Yeah, but they want people buying the box, they couldn't care less about those of us that already own a key. I can only imagine what some of the long standing testers feel like, having tested the game across the years and effectively been slapped in the face. I really do suspect this is Paradox's doing though.

Game industry in a nutshell. The bad thing is this sort of thing ends up reflecting badly on the developer, not the publisher. Translation: Publisher makes a killing and runs off while the developer is left to die.

Case in Point: Flagship Studios. Granted there were other factors but the starting blow was EA.