Trying to move my lifetime license to steam.

It wasn't announced because there were no plans to pass the development to another team. Now the game is under a different company and we all got the chance to move for free for a limited time. It's quite normal that they want to earn from the product they brought. The need to move to Steam was written literally everywhere, even in the in-game launcher.

And that's just a pic of a development newa. Actually, ISI stated they were going to focuse more and more on the Steam version since the patch released in May 2016, so people had EIGHT months to move to Steam (which really was a no-brainer, considering that Steam is the reference platform for any game on PC).

As our development focus will shift to the Steam version of rFactor 2 over the next few months, we recommend users convert their copy of rFactor 2 to Steam to fully take advantage of the new features as they become available.

Also, you should also see it in a different way: without S397, the sim would now be dead, as such the result would be exactly the same. With the only difference that now the sim can still go on.
Really, just wait for a Steam sale and you'll be able to buy the sim again for 15€, I don't see it as a tragedy.

 

It's not about 15 bucks or 30, it's about principles. I didn't sign up for this shit in the first place. If the moderators here are too much of a bunch of sleezebags to not even answer a VERY polite Personal Message (Tim replied when I e-mailed him), I call bullshit on this customer-friendly stance and if you regard the amount of flak they are taking from users who weren't made aware, it's really a bit harsh now isn't it. At least format your emails in a way that Gmails spamfilters aren't starting to shit themselves and not let mails like this through. In reality it wasn't 8 free months as I understood, btw.

 

Reading posts supporting the cut off so 397 can make more money from people who already paid is sad.

Allowing all that bought the game pre 397 to transfer would surely earn them more money & respect in the long run.
1/ There would be more playing which attracts new users.
2/ The people who paid and were able to transfer will buy again.
3/ From an onlookers point of view (myself). I'd have more respect for both isi & 397.
Although this doesn't affect me personally it is annoying to read these posts and I feel for each and everyone of you in this situation.

Where is the logic in screwing over your customers?
It makes both companies look bad imo

 

Jep. If you want to know what the effects of bad publicity are, you might want to start taking notice because I'm actually done with it. Thanks for pushing me to key sites to get rFactor 2, at least from my wallet you aren't getting the full amount for trying to force me to buy again. If you at least tried to support me in the meantime, I would have had respected you for at the bare minimum trying to work out a solution but NOT LIKE THIS PLEASE.

An intermediate solution would have been: discounting existing users to support them and not leaving them out in the cold when they paid the full amount for the same game.

 

Yes, i can do.

 

I've sadly read too many cases here and elsewhere about people being locked out. That kind of news should have been plastered inside the game itself with a link to the switch, and the launcher needed a huge section with pop-out letters and colors so it wouldn't blend with the rest, and also be lost in a paragraph.

Never question the possibility of something going very wrong for someone.

It wasn't final and it is not a separate product.

 

Even then there will be some people which hasn't fired up rF2 for 1 year or more, and then ............ SURPRISE!

Sorry to say that, but Livetime license or not ........ if you're too late, then you're too late. It wasn't the fault of studio397. It was well communicated long enough.

 

False. If you're adding elements to your email which makes it get stuck in filters, it's their fault. Lifetime is called lifetime for a reason as well.

 

Got a source for this cut off date?

 

http://www.virtualr.net/rfactor-2-goes-steam-faq

http://www.racedepartment.com/threa...t-chance-for-free-rf2-steam-migration.131179/

https://plus.google.com/+ImageSpaceInc/posts/1BDx9ST15fH

 

Ernie, just try to think of the user demographic which seems most affected by this, then try to understand their dissatisfaction and surprise.

 

That wasn't what I meant, I'm looking for the source that it was the Steam cutoff date, and not ISI/S397's.

 

rF2 non-Steam build 1098 is as good as "final" IMO, a marginal percentage of games ever get updated beyond 4 years after release, and the DX9 build 1098 practically all leagues used last year, so it's stable enough. Regarding separate product, S397 have already stated that they had to go with the "rF2" name mainly because all car/track licenses were tied to it, otherwise they would probably have called it something different. It would have made sense from a marketing perspective as well to call it rF3, with all new UI/VR/DX11 things, it's a much bigger change than for example the one from GSCE to AMS.

 

Not understanding that the game is now being developed by a completely different developer which is not a "no-profit" organization is sad.

Looking at spam folder for false positive is something that everybody should have learned, in 2017. What happened with rF2 is just the standard for "commercial" software: your license ends -> you renew it by purchasing it again or you buy it again at full price.
Yes, with videogames it's different, as usually there is no developer change, but S397 did everything they could to communicate the news. It was literally written everywhere.

 

You are confusing some stuff here: nobody forced anyone to buy anything at any price. The person who bought it for the highest possible price at day 1 made a decision he is responsible for himself - aka to buy an evolving product in beta ( allways noted as that you buy the product as-is) where the developer had the chance to change the terms of conditions at any time. ISI supported it for allmost five years, so basicly longer than what is usual in the gaming industry. Next to the fact, that the liftetime license is non existent anymore, I consider it a bit naive to understand the term "lifetime" literal. What makes you honestly think, that they will support the game for more than ten years?

I bought it in a Steam sale for less than 30 bucks (lifetime) and the only thing I can tell you is that it was a concious desicion to do it that way, because I wanted to have the comfort of Steam, get Lifetime and get it cheap in a more optimized and refined state. Am I to blame that I didn't buy it when it was expensive and that I didn't take full risk? What I know for sure though is, that I don't buy games at day 1 for the maximum price, because whatever happens, I won't be dissapointed. If you buy early, there is allways a higher risk. There are no garantues for eternal support, as much as it sounds like a cool thing to have and if you miss a deadline in the life span of an evolving product it's bad luck, simple as that. People need to think more about their own responsibility when and if they buy a product and it has nothing to do with selfishness or not. If I miss a deadline in RL that I am not aware of, I can't blame someone else and call them selfish. Can I understand the frustration? Sure, but this doesn't change anything at all. Play it clever and buy the game in the next sale, maybe with some DLCs if that ever gets a thing. And make your mind up if it's worth it for you - there is even a demo to try. Most importantly, get informed.

 

lol

 

Maybe try contacting Steam, explain your situation and see if they will make the switch for you (cannot hurt to ask).

 

Oh so my license was SUPPOSED to end? That's ridiculous. It's lifetime for a reason, I bought it for fullprice because I wanted to invest in it for the longterm, only to be screwed over. Ever figured that someone uses different email addresses for different purposes? I'm one of them. It's easy for something to slip through the net, especially last year. So make sure it doesn't end up there and you're golden. That is communicating directly with your customers.

Look at the lifespan of rFactor 1, it's still being used by Formula 1 teams afaik. rFactor 1 stems from 2005, so to think the same for such a quality product is not unreasonable. ISI supported it from the start which was pre-alpha to be honest and as the video above shows it's still not final. Studio 397 are evolving the existing product and adding to it. Good on them but don't pretend it's a completely new design. To blame customers to join into a project for full or full-ish price is stupid, you're working with confidence here and we decided to trust ISI with our money from 2013 onwards and that was before it was playable. It works both ways, we're in it for the longhaul and you can at least show some respect for your fanbase and throw in a discount for existing users.

 

When you know, that stuff easily slips through the net - especialy spam filters, then why haven't you read more news and forum posts regarding this issue, if it means so much to you to be a loyal customer and rF2 supporter, an early investor of an evolving product that you bought five years ago? That you invested early is your own responsibility and noone is ever to blame for it. From most posts I read, it has been people who stepped back for a longer period of time from the game, wich is understandable for one reason or another. Wich E-Mail adress is connected to your game license is your own responsibility aswell btw and it is your job to use it if rF2 is of interest for you. Nobody has an influence on if you stop using that mail-adress or not.

I can understand your frustration, but this is a situation where it was to be expected that there would we a few people to miss something in opposition to a big majority (mostly active users) benefiting from this and especialy people who lost interest in the product anyway lost the most in that process. The interesting thing is, that those people allways scream the loudest. It was the case with the switch to Steam and with the Lifetime-For-All switch aswell. Now ask yourself if you still would like everyone else to deal with bugs and delays caused by parallel development of Steam and non-Steam builds when one of the biggest complaints has been slow and inefficient development? In addition to that, you don't know how often I read comments from people who thought that they had lost something with the lifetime switch, when at the end everybody gained something by it. Would you like to see the MP being a ghost town and two class society for ever just to enjoy your valuable lifetime license? I've bought lifetime aswell and I couldn't care less if other people bought the product for better conditions - it's not my loss. If rF2 went F2P relying on micro transactions for tracks and skins, I would have to deal with it aswell. That's life.

 

Really? So because the spam filter on Gmail apparently (yes, I said that before, apparently, it's not even proven it was the spam filter, it could have also not been sent to me at all) overreacts, it is ME who has got to keep up-to-date about what a certain company is doing outside the development? I stopped reading after that. You're not going to guilt-trip me, linking what has happened in my private life last year to the sale of a gaming company and not reading something in my spam filter, if that was the actual issue.

Don't also try to make it about me wanting to hamper development, I am all for a move to Steam. That is a far better future than a standalone client. What I believe is, what you are saying here, you not caring about others because your own product is safe, that is the problem with the attitude here. You don't know how much I had to scrape from the bottle of the barrel to get this, and then it's suddenly gone while others can play on happily ever after? No, heck no. Live in the present man, it's not about what they decide, everybody has to live with that, but it is how they convey it to the public.

PS: It's not a 'few'. Read the forums. This is turning into a dead horse beating contest, cheers.