Box Edition

[Hell Patrol]

I used to deal with NWS in the past but it stopped with my last experience. First Forge Of Freedom: it took two months to get my copy, which i had cancelled anyway, and all the while he said it would ship "any day". Then Battlefront, same thing...it took weeks to get it and when i spoke to him on more than one occassion he said it was "coming in today". On top of that i mailed him back my 3rd copy of FOF which he sent me by accident and he NEVER credited me back my shipping expenses although he promised he would. 3 strikes yer out and frankly i don't like being strung along to put it nicely .

[Wardyr]

I used to have really good luck with NWS but with FOF it went downhill and downhill fast. It took almost two months to get the game and it seemed like we were just being strung along until finally I got it, even then being told they had not gotten any copies of the game in yet. Now a big part of FOF was the fact they were waiting for the manuals that were going to be shipped with the boxed edition but there was no service during that time. Just dissapointed after that.

[Marcus the leper]

I cannot speak for Chris and NWS, but I feel that I should at the very least share my experiences with him. Regarding Forge of Freedom, might the problem have been with Matrix and their allotment of games to other vendors? Chris and NWS have always been beyond fair and way beyond responsive when answering questions or helping expediate deliveries in every instance that I have dealt with him. His trade value far exceeds anything I could ever get anywhere (when trading in old games for credit) and he has taken the time to call me personally whenever there has been any question of "when will it ship"? Again, I am not trying to start an argument, but for every case of a disgruntled customer, I am sure there are hundred who will attest to his professionalism and attentiveness to keeping his customers happy. His reputation far exceeds anything good that I can say about him. Just my two cents.

[Hell Patrol]

You gotta be straight with your customers...not this "check is in the mail business" . When you tell somebody "it's coming in today" you should be sure of your facts. Sure, i know the manuals were(are) the problem but not being truthful doesn't earn a loyal customer base. Yes, Chris is a great guy, we've had long talks about games etc. That's why i ordered Battlefront from him, i already had a copy but i like to support the developers, and i thought it would be a good chance to redeem my "coupon" he said i had for returning the FOF mistake out of my own pocket. Same thing happened and no "credit". Oh well, time to move on .

[Warship NWS]

Isn't NWS just a retailer? Why would AGEOD partner with them? I would think they need to partner with a publisher/distributer (like Matrix) who can promote the game and who in turn sells to the NWS's of the world.

We are not just a "retailer" as we offer a wide range of extremely negotiable supportive services to help out independent game designers and publishers.

Thanks.

[Warship NWS]

I used to deal with NWS in the past but it stopped with my last experience. First Forge Of Freedom: it took two months to get my copy, which i had cancelled anyway, and all the while he said it would ship "any day". Then Battlefront, same thing...it took weeks to get it and when i spoke to him on more than one occassion he said it was "coming in today". On top of that i mailed him back my 3rd copy of FOF which he sent me by accident and he NEVER credited me back my shipping expenses although he promised he would. 3 strikes yer out and frankly i don't like being strung along to put it nicely .

Ok.. lets put all the cards on the table here,

a) FoF getting out the door was a mess.. not due to us, not due to Matrix, but due to Digital River picking a manual printing company that could not get their act together at the start and that botched the entire first run of the manuals. Being a game publisher of board games ourselves I know first hand that can be hell. That is what caused the 2 month delay, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was also only going based on what I was being told. After that situation I totally changed our preorder system, also, the print company had the problems got its act together and now games with manuals are coming out of Matrix and to our location on schedule as has been proven with the last several releases. Bottom line, as it goes with any new business arrangements.. sometimes it takes some time and effort to work out the kinks in the system.

b) If I missed something.. say so to me directly and I will rectify the problem. I work 60-80 hour weeks and run the store nearly entirely myself as we operate a small operation with a limited budget and crew. I will be the first to admit I am not perfect but I will fix a problem if reminded, and to be honest I cannot remember what your real name is otherwise I would take care of the problem right now if there is something I missed or that slipped my mind. I may very well have given you store credit towards your next purchase, but I do not remember what your email address or name is to verify that.

Our relations within the last several months with Matrix Games has been extremely overhauled and is now radicaly more efficient and this was very much in part to a progressive and cooperative process. I posted this on our forums along with other updates to our services;
http://forums.navalwarfare.org/showthread.php?t=1667

Tell you what Hell Patrol, you tell me what would make you happy and I will see what I can work out for you.

[Warship NWS]

You gotta be straight with your customers...not this "check is in the mail business" . When you tell somebody "it's coming in today" you should be sure of your facts. Sure, i know the manuals were(are) the problem but not being truthful doesn't earn a loyal customer base. Yes, Chris is a great guy, we've had long talks about games etc. That's why i ordered Battlefront from him, i already had a copy but i like to support the developers, and i thought it would be a good chance to redeem my "coupon" he said i had for returning the FOF mistake out of my own pocket. Same thing happened and no "credit". Oh well, time to move on .

Tell you what.. drop me an email right now at nws-online@nws-online.net and I will double the credit I stated. If I could remember your name or email address I would do it this instant.. sorry if it slipped my mind. I talk to hundreds of customers a month so I know I am not perfect in remembering everything.

Thanks.

[Warship NWS]

I used to have really good luck with NWS but with FOF it went downhill and downhill fast. It took almost two months to get the game and it seemed like we were just being strung along until finally I got it, even then being told they had not gotten any copies of the game in yet. Now a big part of FOF was the fact they were waiting for the manuals that were going to be shipped with the boxed edition but there was no service during that time. Just dissapointed after that.

Drop me an email at nws-online@nws-online.net and let me know what would make you happy. I dont want to see our support of Matrix Games causing a negative effect on our operations and I can tell you that a lot has been accomplished recently with streamlining and improving our relations with Matrix.

Thanks.

[Warship NWS]

Just for the record, yes we will be getting in boxed editions of AGEODs Civil War. We have had ongoing discussions with them long before the game was released and they will hold a front page spot on our online store when they are ready for shipping. I have just added the listing to our store for email notification when the game is ready to ship.

Thanks.

[pasternakski]

Just for the record, Christopher, I know that you, Matrix, AGEod, and everybody else are trying to deal with mass distribution in an Internet-driven, multinational market for electronic products.

It is seldom true that the developers and their marketing "partners" (gawd, how I hate this misapplication of what used to be a legal term of art, but c'est la vie) are much to blame other than for the occasional minor oversight or omission.

I know of no instances where NWS is guilty of anything other than trying to do respectable business.

Thank you for seeking out complaints here and attempting to reconcile them in good faith. It speaks well for you and your company.

By the way, I know people will want to pull out a knife and shoot me for saying this, but I wish printed manuals would just go away.

They take up space, are cumbersome to use, and offer none of the advantages of an electronic document (search, personal editing, insertion of new material, and so on).

Just a thought, folks.

[Hell Patrol]

Tell you what.. drop me an email right now at nws-online@nws-online.net and I will double the credit I stated. If I could remember your name or email address I would do it this instant.. sorry if it slipped my mind. I talk to hundreds of customers a month so I know I am not perfect in remembering everything.

Thanks.

Thanks Chris but it's over now...life's too short

[jimkehn]

For the record....my experience with NWS has been nothing but positive.

[Warship NWS]

We really appreciate the support guys. Over the past several months I have put into effect upgraded, improved on, and revised portions of our operations based on lessons learned. We also fully believe in the concept of customer feedback and constructive communications and I will personaly always strive to do my best to improve our operations whenever possible.

If anyone ever has any questions or suggestions please never hesitate to contact me directly at nws-online@nws-online.net or 1-407-925-7782 24/7.. no outsourcing, no drones, and no automated services. That is my direct business line.

Take care friends.

Thanks.

[tc237]

...but I wish printed manuals would just go away...
...They take up space, are cumbersome to use, and offer none of the advantages of an electronic document (search, personal editing, insertion of new material)...

I'm starting to have the same opinion as the wargame hobby develops.
It was nice to have a big printed manual when game companies were larger and they almost never issued patches or changed the game after release.
Now the games are improved and changed frequently, it would be a waste of money and resources for them to print a manual that will be obsolete in a few months.

Heck, even AACW's manual has changed in only 2 weeks.

[FlyingElvis]

I'm starting to have the same opinion as the wargame hobby develops.
It was nice to have a big printed manual when game companies were larger and they almost never issued patches or changed the game after release.
Now the games are improved and changed frequently, it would be a waste of money and resources for them to print a manual that will be obsolete in a few months.

Heck, even AACW's manual has changed in only 2 weeks.

I disagree on the printed manual. I much prefer them. But this is why I like what Matrix is doing, providing both alternatives and allowing us gamers to choose.

[Jagger]

I definitely like printed manuals. I can read a manual in many places where hauling a computer and monitor might be a bit awkward.

Although I don't like manuals which can't be read without a magnifying glass.

[jimkehn]

Guys....I print the manuals that come with the program. Not that hard to do. I use a color printer, and I print them two sided. I have nothing fancy, just a cheapo Lexmark. I print the cover sheet on manila cardstock and take the whole works into Staples and have it bound with a clear protective sheet on front and back. This is a better looking manual than I've ever seen any company provide. The whole printing process took me about an hour (excluding the trip to Staples), and I did it in the background while doing other stuff. A 66 page manual is not that difficult to do. Now, FoF at 250 something pages was a little more work. Sad thing is....I don't even play that game anymore!!!

[Winfield S. Hancock]

I have never had a bad experience with NWS. I have purchased several games from them, all have shipped promptly and every transaction has been entirely satisfactory. Additionally, I have spoken with their owner on the phone more than one time, for an extended period of time, and found him to be very well-informed and accomodating, and he has given me insights into their upcoming projects.

I like what NWS does for the hobby, and will continue to support them.

Sorry to hear that someone else had a different experience. I am sure that it is quite rare indeed.

[Warship NWS]

Both printed and PDF manuals have their good and bad points, personaly, I like having both, but PDF manuals are just fine to me. The manuals being printed for Matrix right now are some of the best I have seen recently in terms of print quality production.. far better then you will get out of a desktop laser printer IMHO.

[Warship NWS]

To Wardyr,

I just wanted to say thanks for the chance to talk on the phone.

To the forum members,

I called Wardyr after recieving an email from him. Very nice customer to talk to and it gave me the chance to talk person to person over various topics.

Take care.

[pasternakski]

At the risk of being redundant on the printed manual question, I only say again that electronic manuals are far better than printed ones.

Here's what I do. I rearrange, make changes, add information from the forums and secondary sources, insert links, delete what seems superfluous, and generally customize it for my own purposes.

Then, I can print what I want to take with me (although I don't anymore, I just load a copy of my enhanced creation onto my PDA. You could even wi-fi your way to the file on your computer, if you wanted to...).

I never buy hard copy games anymore if a download alternative is available. The same material is always in the download version, and it is cheaper. Burn the executable to a CD for a backup, and you're good to go.

I guess I just don't see much value in hard copy anymore (including manufactured game CDs), which may sound bizarre coming from someone who is an avid collector of rare and antique books...

[Jayavarman]

Unlike other developers, AGEOD revises and updates its manuals, so for them, I prefer PDF, though I did get a boxed version.

Oh, and NWS gave me excellent service in purchasing BoA.

[GoldSpear]

More, faster, better. Poor AGEod...
On that note, I think I remember reading a post about possibly putting both ACW and BoA into one edition in the future?
plus du cafe' monsieur (et Mme. Sandra)?

[Wardyr]

To Wardyr,

I just wanted to say thanks for the chance to talk on the phone.

To the forum members,

I called Wardyr after recieving an email from him. Very nice customer to talk to and it gave me the chance to talk person to person over various topics.

Take care.

My Conversation with Chris at NWS was a really good conversation and one that I really enjoyed. It helped me see a lot of what they are truly about and I appreciate him taking the time to personally respond to my e-mail with a phone call. Keep up the good work.

[LAVA]

The boxes have been ordered, and production will take place mid-May. We hope to have them by early June.

Kewl!

I have the download and will buy the boxed edition as well.



Ray (aka LAVA)

[ulysses]

The boxes have been ordered, and production will take place mid-May. We hope to have them by early June.

Prefering to buy a boxed version of the game: Are there any news?

[sval06]

For the record....my experience with NWS has been nothing but positive.

+1

Despite the fact I live in France, I never had problems with NWS.

I had to send a mail once to know what happened to my shipment, the answer was clear, rapid and the issue was solved .

[Jagger]

1 June is next week and my credit card is getting rusty.

So who do we order the box from and when can we expect to have it in our hands?

[Lasse]

Still no news? thought it would have been released before the weekend?

[PhilThib]

Boxes left the factory today. We are now waiting for the truck