Gamer Headlines writes: “Do not be surprised if you have never heard of Pier Solar before. Originally released in 2010 on the Sega Genesis, Pier Solar and the Great Architects (also currently known as Pier Solar HD) has been redesigned for a modern release on newer systems thanks to indie developer WaterMelon’s successful KickStarter campaign. As a turn-based RPG that relies heavily on the classic tropes established by games likes Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, Pier Solar is a great example of a game that holds up due to the nostalgia factor with its 16-bit visuals, sense of discovery, and challenging gameplay.”
Fans of struggling retro developer WaterMelon Games push for Paypal to release money allegedly seized following the launch of Paprium.
His customers should make a petition calling on him to give his kickstarter customers what they paid for.
Or are we going to gloss the fact that the reason the funds were froze in the first place was because customers kept sending paypal disputes about not getting what they paid for?
My thoughts exactly. Fonzie is conveniently not saying the reasoning PayPal gave for seizing those funds. However, anyone who has followed the development of the game and the developer's history should be well aware of their tendency not to deliver the items folks pay for.
I do think it's worth clarifying that the game was never on Kickstarter. It was funded through Watermelon's Magical Game Factory using gems, an investor currency that allowed fans for purchase games and influence the way WM's titles were developed, ie adding RPG style features to Paprium, including blood, etc.
In 2017, WM stopped using the gems system and instead allowed players to pre-order the game outside of MGF's unconventional framework.
Fonzie basically said, "Here. Paprium is finally done. Be happy you're even getting it. If you don't want to wait ages or pay triple (of what was the original price conceived) for the next game, then you'd better start opening those wallets now."
He practically tried extorting his customers with nothing to show.
Retro-focused developer blames bots, political correctness, and "digital fart ownership" for the company's financial woes.
Replies(1)
"political correctness" - The excuse regularly given when someone doesn't want explain what actually went wrong.
Usually theres a positive market response when devs ignore the woke cult. Ghost of Tsushima being the most recent example.
This has nothing to do with "woke" anything. But if you want to go that route, being woke didn't hurt TLOU 2 sales.
Back on topic though, it would be nice of them to explain what political correct issue he's having. Because all I'm seeing is an angry con man that tried to use the blanket statement of "political correctness" to cover up the fact that his poor business practices got his funds locked and seized
"it would be nice of them to explain what political correct issue he's having"
That was my point. If the issue was simply "political correctness", there should be no issue. Being politically incorrect should have been a benefit to his games. It sounds like hes making excuses.
@NapalmSanctuary
I misread your comment. I initially though you were defending what Fonzie did. But then i went back and researched when you bought up Ghost of Tsushima.
So now I'm going to do something that MAJORITY of people on this site seem to have difficulty doing when they're wrong. And that's say I'm sorry, my bad.
For anyone seeing this, see how easy it is to admit when you make a mistake and/or are wrong rather than double down and argue knowing you're in the wrong.
Political correctness is the bane of the modern world. Having to watch every single thing you say in case you hurt someone's feelings. Hell, in the UK they're trying to make it an actual offence to have offended someone.
Seriously, when did the world become so...snowflake?
Political correctness has no bearing on the fact that Fonzie didn't send out products to his backers after they paid.
Political correctness has no bearing on his lack of communication to his customers
Political correctness has no bearing on the fact that he started taking money from backers on a new project while leaving his previous projects backers orders unresolved.
So again, instead of hiding behind the political correctness blanket statement, he should tell people the reason(s) for this poor business practices.
He literally did the same thing that Kenji Inafune did with Mighty NO 9. Which is why his company ended up being bought by Level 5.
These guys threw out the hot-potato "political correctness" scare phrase, with the hope that some hyper-political snowflake would run with it and help them distract from the true narrative ... that they're a bunch of conmen.
Predictably their tactic worked.
Seems like he used the term political correctness, because he knows that all it takes to get some people on his side, and jump to defend him.
Well, ya win some ya lose some, I guess. That's the cost of doing business. I pre-ordered a copy, it got cancelled, went on sale again and I couldnt even send them a payment. The game ended up launching without me even knowing or getting notified as they promised, so everyone got a copy, I didnt so I had to order another and twice the cost, that was supposed to ship in April and now theyre shut down again, I lose money and have to wait and wash rinse repeat. If they arent able to ship my item, then I lose my money and have to deal with scalpers now identifying rarity and trying to take even more money from me, thats just my luck. I put money in to Kickstart the really expensive Elysian Shadows over seven years ago and nothing has been done with that either, I just have that kind of luck. Kickstarters for video games are just bad investments, and honestly, its gonna ruin it for everyone else, its too bad.... Just buy from reputable dealers is the best you can do, dont trust people with giving them your money til the jobs done, thats how dishonest people have become and been.
Fonzie has always been a horrible businessmen. Blaming everyone but himself for his own lack of communication and transparency. PayPal's issuing refunds because consumers have gone ages without receiving their items and WMs communication is terrible to say the least.
The fact that Fonzie started taking preorders for WMs next project, when most people still hadn't received their copies of Paprium (even jacking up the price for new consumers on the WM site) speaks volumes of the company's philosophy and integrity.
A fool and his money are easily parted.
No offense, but stop being so trusting.
I learnt the hard way
The Xbox One might not be known for its reputation as a JRPG machine, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft doesn’t have a few hits of its own.
