They did do something right with the company at the start.
But now it's time to get someone to actually run and grow the company. You have to have the awareness to realize when you are hurting/helping.
A local business just hired me to work once a week for 3-5 hours to right the ship in a certain department. Absolutely brilliant decision that already is paying off.
And it's not a slight at anyone at LRG. Strength and weaknesses ect.
Trip world looked great will be buying that. Wife likes the plush. Hopefully the CE will be a quick turnaround time.
I can assure you we know what we are doing and are listening. Some of the things that have needed to be changed took awhile because we researched multiple avenues and hired help to get things moving. Embracer definitely didn’t buy us for just the recognition, it was because we had a solid business plan for the future. We are confident what we are working on and towards will be successful.
I (we) am also committed to making sure we stick to what we promised this year. I have this conversation daily in the office and remind everyone that we have to show people we are serious about changes.
We are going back to basics for a lot of stuff and going after bigger titles that will excite people.
With all due respect, having over 400 items in Production, a broken shipping system, and a nearly nonexistent customer communication plan is not "knowing what you're doing". I'd argue it shows near negligent levels of incompetence. This didn't happen overnight; it's years and years of overcommitting.
It's completely possible you have a plan to make things better, and in your credit things do eventually get produced and sent out. I think Carbon Engine is a wise investment and focal point going forward as it opens the door to enormous catalogs of games your competitors can't get to. Licensing is the biggest hurdle, and your business relationships position you well for that too.
But to-date, the only operational changes I've seen are negative. Rewards were cut (twice), combined shipping was cut, prices were raised, production times have increased, time at the warehouse has increased, cards are cut, and so on. I'm not saying any of these changes in isolation are malicious or don't make business sense, but it's certainly a trend in the wrong direction when we've been hearing "things will get better soon™" for years.
I'm also not saying this because I want to dunk on you or the company. But there's a vast contrast between what we've been hearing from you/PR/etc. and what customers are actually experiencing. You don't get credit for improving things while your site lists hundreds of unfulfilled items and new issues keep popping up. I think it's great that you're having the conversation with your team daily, but I also think you need to take to heart that getting back in the community's (broadly - not just CAG) good graces is a long road. That track record is going to take time to overcome and it's going to be met with a lot of skepticism until there are visible, public-facing improvements.
I can assure you we know what we are doing and are listening. Some of the things that have needed to be changed took awhile because we researched multiple avenues and hired help to get things moving. Embracer definitely didn’t buy us for just the recognition, it was because we had a solid business plan for the future. We are confident what we are working on and towards will be successful.
I (we) am also committed to making sure we stick to what we promised this year. I have this conversation daily in the office and remind everyone that we have to show people we are serious about changes.
We are going back to basics for a lot of stuff and going after bigger titles that will excite people.
I want to believe you so bad. So bad. The announcement of 'Trip World' actually got me interested in a new Game Boy cart. The first time any game has got me interested in an unofficial, physical cartridge.
But I think what LRG really needs, if you haven't already, is a proper customer relations head. Not just someone that posts to social media or answers a few questions. The fact that you're still corresponding with us in this thread is great! But this reach is so small by comparison. Proper and regular press releases to gaming publications would be great! Regular and informational general company updates and production updates to your mailing list would be great! And do that regardless of which individual games someone might have on order.
My guess is your future plans include more games like 'Trip World,' which is great! But was there a proper announcement outside of that video (I think it was a video)? I didn't see anything, and obviously I frequent this thread. If another user hadn't mentioned it, I think a lot of people even here would've missed it.
LRG almost needs a rebrand at this point. Not a full one, more like when a sports team changes their logo, colors, etc. (though I do like the current branding). Something to show the change in/newer direction. But then that needs to be backed up immediately. Otherwise it'll be all for not. So maybe some internal testing (like making sure the new shipping system can send email notifications) or small market testing first. A soft launch, but with communication that it's a soft launch (think early access) with the notion that feedback can lead to improvements. That also gets the community involved, and as a result might get the community excited.
I want to reiterate what I've said many times before: I don't think any of us honesty want LRG to fail. I certainly don't. I think LRG has been an asset to gamers and smaller devs alike. We're critical because we know it can be so much better than it has been.
My one point here is just a simple ask: how about a public tweet/FB post/site blog noting orders have shipped without notifications? Let your customers know so they dont get blindsided.
How about posting you actively manipulated the sales figures first, Doug?
See, if you have a history of being both dishonest and untrustworthy (i.e., saying the same thing year in year out), while doing bat crap insane pet projects (physical retail, even pre-pandemic, is not the best idea), and really bad to non-existent public messaging, there's absolutely no reason anyone should believe you.
This isn't a some dagger at Doug specifically, more an assessment of years of their business acumen.
Right now it's a big pile of "prove it."
Hire a real relations person, publish release schedules that accurately update (for better or for worse) with real reasons, and actually stop signing bloat deals of games you can get for $1 or less on Fanatical or Groupees.
The biggest net change your company could make, to show extreme good faith and your new financial backing, is only charing for product when it ships going forward. Put your money where your mouth is if you're to be believed.
As a diehard skeptic I am just as much on the side of caution as anyone. That said, I'm willing to give the benefit of doubt to Doug. He doesn't have to come here and say a word let alone address anything. But, I have no pending orders and can afford to sit on the sidelines, eat my popcorn, and wait and see what the results are. Shipping Slips are added now and they broke things in shipping by implementing new stuff. The more complex CE's of various sizes are being reduced and we already see that with some titles starting to implement the standardized plastic boxes (which while I don't buy CE's, but the standard boxes feel like an improvement).
Signing too many games is an issue we won't likely see any movement on in the short term since they sign things so far in advance of them showing up in this thread. Maybe Doug will chime in on around when this change should start to show. Like do they have six more months of serious load before it starts to taper back, three months... a year... that would be nice to know even if it's just a number like 50 more titles before things are dial back.
Side Note:
As for Trip World, I'm now leaning towards passing on it only because of the game not LRG's growing pains.
My thoughts on Trip World:
I played the eu gb version of it last night. The graphics, sound, and physics are all really excellent (totally living up to the hype), but the overall game is damned short and quite linear with only the occasional side path. I finished the 5 levels and got the ending after about an hour and a half. If this were 1992 on the GB, I'd be pretty impressed by the technical aspects alone, but in 2023 it seems a little lacking in stuff to do. Especially comparing to similar platformers with character transformations like Kirby (which I find quite basic but more complex than Trip World), Shantae (which blows them all out of the water, though is end of GBC days and early GBA days), Wonder Boy (which also uses the transformations in creative ways to explore), and of course Wario Land which is probably the top tier of using transformations in a platformer for puzzle solving. My hope here is that interest in this will be great because overall it is a gem and a hell of a proof of concept. They could easily sell me on a much bigger sequel using the same assets they are using for Trip World DX... but with more open areas, more creative platforming, and better level design.
Also totally normal behavior for Mr. COO to like that post first instead of addressing literally anything
Wanna know where most traffic to my old LRG articles keeps coming from? (And likely why trolls like that goku weirdo are mad about it still) SEO and google search queries: mainly, people looking up status updates of X item or X routine: I saw a big spurt around the time ZAMN shipped out, as one instance. If LRG wants to put words into action, maybe they should do something to help people wondering where their shit is know the detailed step of what components are needed and what step of the process is what, and email them more than a monthly digest that covers only popular items. But i also said that 10000x times as have people in their discord back when i was there, the reddits and here so that’s pretty much another “I’ll believe it when I see it”
Also totally normal behavior for Mr. COO to like that post first instead of addressing literally anything
Wanna know where most traffic to my old LRG articles keeps coming from? (And likely why trolls like that goku weirdo are mad about it still) SEO and google search queries: mainly, people looking up status updates of X item or X routine: I saw a big spurt around the time ZAMN shipped out, as one instance. If LRG wants to put words into action, maybe they should do something to help people wondering where their shit is know the detailed step of what components are needed and what step of the process is what, and email them more than a monthly digest that covers only popular items. But i also said that 10000x times as have people in their discord back when i was there, the reddits and here so that’s pretty much another “I’ll believe it when I see it”
Sure, but in fairness, a business can't just do everything that its customers want it to do. I mean you've got one guy arguing that they should only charge when product is shipping and still obsessed with the number of copies pressed so he can continue his crusade to save other collectors from themselves. Someone else is complaining about reward programs and cards. I assume the loose disc crew and the guy demanding that everything be available at retail in unlimited quantities for years will show up at some point again. Honestly, successful businesses are not run by committee and I think the basic problems have been raised with Douglas and LRG repeatedly. It's not like those problems are a secret. They say they have a plan and I'm willing to wait and see if they can implement it or not. Lots of people have already stopped buying from LRG and that's their choice and I respect that. At the same time, I'm not sure why they spend so much time providing feedback to a company they claim to no longer buy products from. I guess that's their choice as well, but it seems like that time could be put to other more important uses.
As a diehard skeptic I am just as much on the side of caution as anyone. That said, I'm willing to give the benefit of doubt to Doug. He doesn't have to come here and say a word let alone address anything. But, I have no pending orders and can afford to sit on the sidelines, eat my popcorn, and wait and see what the results are. Shipping Slips are added now and they broke things in shipping by implementing new stuff. The more complex CE's of various sizes are being reduced and we already see that with some titles starting to implement the standardized plastic boxes (which while I don't buy CE's, but the standard boxes feel like an improvement).
Signing too many games is an issue we won't likely see any movement on in the short term since they sign things so far in advance of them showing up in this thread. Maybe Doug will chime in on around when this change should start to show. Like do they have six more months of serious load before it starts to taper back, three months... a year... that would be nice to know even if it's just a number like 50 more titles before things are dial back.
Side Note:
As for Trip World, I'm now leaning towards passing on it only because of the game not LRG's growing pains.
My thoughts on Trip World:
I played the eu gb version of it last night. The graphics, sound, and physics are all really excellent (totally living up to the hype), but the overall game is damned short and quite linear with only the occasional side path. I finished the 5 levels and got the ending after about an hour and a half. If this were 1992 on the GB, I'd be pretty impressed by the technical aspects alone, but in 2023 it seems a little lacking in stuff to do. Especially comparing to similar platformers with character transformations like Kirby (which I find quite basic but more complex than Trip World), Shantae (which blows them all out of the water, though is end of GBC days and early GBA days), Wonder Boy (which also uses the transformations in creative ways to explore), and of course Wario Land which is probably the top tier of using transformations in a platformer for puzzle solving. My hope here is that interest in this will be great because overall it is a gem and a hell of a proof of concept. They could easily sell me on a much bigger sequel using the same assets they are using for Trip World DX... but with more open areas, more creative platforming, and better level design.
It definitely won't show volume wise until about Fall I think? We are pivoting to bigger titles and more Carbon games.
Like we said before the CE volume will start to be smaller going forward except larger titles. A lot of things will now go in a standardized box format for fans who want a little extra.
Maybe I'm wrong, but preordering anything via PayPal results in getting charged at order placement, at least when I've done that through Play-Asia (most recently for the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster).
Maybe I'm wrong, but preordering anything via PayPal results in getting charged at order placement, at least when I've done that through Play-Asia (most recently for the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster).
That's correct. Target might as well be paid on order as it does hold charges 6 times a week. Ubisoft store charges on order. Most big stores don't, but there are plenty that do.
Pre-order for most stores is minimal upfront or zero cost.
I would consider an import company being an exception,whereas most games are nothing down and paid at shipping.
With LRG backed by one of the largest game corporations now, there's little reason they cannot instill good faith by having low cost pre orders on numbered releases and zero cost on distribution titles.
I would say if you're pre paying for anything outside of boutique items, you're doing it wrong. LRG is no longer boutique if your corporate owner is valued at roughly $5B USD; selling should warrant a capital increase and making the move, at least for standard editions, should be an easy, low risk show of good faith.
Didn't think this would be a contentious idea, but posting on one site is considered a "crusade" by some.
If LRG wants to gain credibility back to a larger audience, they need positive actions beyond trying to simply repair what's broken today. This is not new, standard business practices.
That's correct. Target might as well be paid on order as it does hold charges 6 times a week. Ubisoft store charges on order. Most big stores don't, but there are plenty that do.
Maybe I'm wrong, but preordering anything via PayPal results in getting charged at order placement, at least when I've done that through Play-Asia (most recently for the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster).
I think the only paypal/shopify combo to ever let me wait until launch to pay was NISA’s site, which did a temp charge, and a real charge upon shipping of my R-Type Vinyl. Generally being charged on order is normal outside of big sites like amazon. I do not blame people for being concerned or wanting better with limprint sites like LRG though considering how Dispatch Games went down. (LRG would never pull a dispatch though even with all my issues because they aren’t fully staffed by a singular individual like Dispatch is)
It definitely won't show volume wise until about Fall I think? We are pivoting to bigger titles and more Carbon games.
Like we said before the CE volume will start to be smaller going forward except larger titles. A lot of things will now go in a standardized box format for fans who want a little extra.
I'm not sure why they spend so much time providing feedback to a company they claim to no longer buy products from. I guess that's their choice as well, but it seems like that time could be put to other more important uses.
I think deep down most folks here actually want to see LRG's changes turn things around and the experience of shopping with them be a simple decision over the videogame and not the willingness to put up with the process/hurdles to get the videogame. Once the process is no longer a big concern, people will likely be more open to them.
I'll repeat something I've said through the years and it's still very true today. There is no better singular place on the entire internet that I've found to keep track of LRG stuff than this single thread here on CAG.
What's the longest people have seen an order in Ready production status but Unfulfilled state? I have a Feb 25, 2022 order stuck in that state for a while now. It's just two regular versions of Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX 2 (PS4 and Switch). Two younger orders have already shipped to me.
What's the longest people have seen an order in Ready production status but Unfulfilled state? I have a Feb 25, 2022 order stuck in that state for a while now. It's just two regular versions of Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX 2 (PS4 and Switch). Two younger orders have already shipped to me.
I have an order of three standard Ps4 games from Feb 18th 2022 that has been ready to ship since early January this year. I've had other orders delivered since then ,but not that one. I'm hoping once LRG gets their new shipping sorted out I will get them .
Please show me the statute that prevents a company, publicly traded or not, from disguising the amount of stock they are making available of a particular SKU on a store website by altering the stock numbers. There is literally no such law. As you undoubtedly are aware, LRG is not publicly traded and as you also likely know, publicly traded companies in the video game space are not required to report sales on a SKU by SKU basis in their quarterly or annual reporting. They can and do often lump lesser title sales together or group multiple-platform sales of one title together.
Most collectibles companies require consumers to purchase in advance and then can take months or in some cases years to ship the pre-ordered item. That applies to all sorts of collectibles companies from poster prints to statues to anime goods to vinyl and all of the niche physical game publishers. Heck, it even applies to retailers like Videogames New York and Videogamesplus. It prevents consumers or bad actors (including scalpers/flippers) from running up pre-orders and then not following through on them if the market changes. It's the same reason that Gamestop takes deposits in store on pre-orders. In an ideal world, would these companies not charge until something ships? Sure, but we live in a reality where the margins are tight and some of these games are only barely making MOQs for Nintendo and Sony.
Man, just get off riding me. You never cared about the nuance of the situation and wanted to say I was wrong just now when Doug says they are testing the market for non-pay pre-orders.
If a company would invest energy in lying to their customers for something so insignificant, then they're likely lying about more. It's called integrity, and not having it is assuredly common, but it makes LRG nothing special. Rather, their words are fluff without substance.
As someone who's worked single projects that dwarfed LRGs supposed annual revenue, folks who lie to their customers tend to lie about other things. Little piece of practical experience, from me to you.
Man, just get off riding me. You never cared about the nuance of the situation and wanted to say I was wrong just now when Doug says they are testing the market for non-pay pre-orders.
If a company would invest energy in lying to their customers for something so insignificant, then they're likely lying about more. It's called integrity, and not having it is assuredly common, but it makes LRG nothing special. Rather, their words are fluff without substance.
As someone who's worked single projects that dwarfed LRGs supposed annual revenue, folks who lie to their customers tend to lie about other things. Little piece of practical experience, from me to you.
I'm not "riding" you whatever that means, I am simply responding to your rather inflammatory claims. I stated the facts about how most collectibles companies work. If LRG decides to change their business model, that's certainly something they can do, but the risks are significant as I have already explained and I doubt there is much upside.
You've held yourself out as an expert in business in multiple posts, although you seem to have plenty of free time to post here at all hours, so I imagine you have retired and are independently wealthy, so maybe not in the best position to speak on matters related to going business concerns in the contemporary context. I happen to know quite a bit about businesses myself, including work with a number of start-ups and certainly I am intimately familiar with the regulatory structures and statutes that apply to publicly traded companies. So, if you're gonna make a claim that LRG is doing something illegal, I'd love to know what law they have allegedly violated because perhaps it is something I have not come across in my own work, although I somehow doubt it.
Man, just get off riding me. You never cared about the nuance of the situation and wanted to say I was wrong just now when Doug says they are testing the market for non-pay pre-orders.
That's correct. Target might as well be paid on order as it does hold charges 6 times a week. Ubisoft store charges on order. Most big stores don't, but there are plenty that do.
Saw they're about to take pre-orders on the Psikyo Shooting LIbraries 1 & 2 for PS4. Of course I literally imported those last month. Strongly recommend. Gunbird 2 & Dragon Blaze alone are worth $30 each, but getting all 3 original Strikers plus Sengoku Aces III is a bargain. Especially compared to what M2 charges for Toaplan games. Stoked to finally experience Gunbird 2, even though it is absolutely kicking my ass.
Fwiw they do keep pinging it constantly, and if there is any hint of it not going through without issue, they will cancel your order. My wife ordered some games and books on the previous B2G1 sale (because lol of course the latest one was massively trimmed down). We lost 2 book orders and 1 game order because "problem with your payment method", aka the debit red card (there was no problem and never was or is). It got to the point where we bought a gift card and used that to pay for future Target orders so we don't lose more preorders.
Fwiw they do keep pinging it constantly, and if there is any hint of it not going through without issue, they will cancel your order. My wife ordered some games and books on the previous B2G1 sale (because lol of course the latest one was massively trimmed down). We lost 2 book orders and 1 game order because "problem with your payment method", aka the debit red card (there was no problem and never was or is). It got to the point where we bought a gift card and used that to pay for future Target orders so we don't lose more preorders.
Yep and if you use the cancel trick on their B1 G50% of whatever it is, they ping for the full amount of the order even if you’ve canceled part of it. I have an old order that has Anonymous Code on it. That game is the last thing on that order that has yet to ship. They ping my card weekly for full amount of that order ($260).
My guess here is some folks are using cards that just don't report/notify for authorization charges. Like the one I have from my credit union only tells me when a charge has processed where as another I have from a larger financial institution will tell me within a couple seconds of a charge being made when the authorization first hits. I've stood there at walmart having checked out and before I get my receipt I have a charge notification text from the one card (and it's a big reason why I lean towards it as anything fraudulent I would know about as it happens rather than the next day).
Saw they're about to take pre-orders on the Psikyo Shooting LIbraries 1 & 2 for PS4. Of course I literally imported those last month. Strongly recommend. Gunbird 2 & Dragon Blaze alone are worth $30 each, but getting all 3 original Strikers plus Sengoku Aces III is a bargain. Especially compared to what M2 charges for Toaplan games. Stoked to finally experience Gunbird 2, even though it is absolutely kicking my ass.
My guess here is some folks are using cards that just don't report/notify for authorization charges. Like the one I have from my credit union only tells me when a charge has processed where as another I have from a larger financial institution will tell me within a couple seconds of a charge being made when the authorization first hits. I've stood there at walmart having checked out and before I get my receipt I have a charge notification text from the one card (and it's a big reason why I lean towards it as anything fraudulent I would know about as it happens rather than the next day).
Re: the Red Card, just turn on your alerts so you're pinged whenever there is a charge. It shouldn't matter whether you have a debit or credit card - it's good security to have those on.
Frankly, even more so for debit cards since that's coming straight out of your bank accounts.
I always have those on and in fact have had to replace my Target card twice over the last several years. Because the alert comes right in, you know immediately if a transaction is not yours.
Senran Banka is a decent VN. The eroge in it is not amazing, so this release is alright. It's pretty average on all fronts other than art. I don't remember the story leaving a big impression on me other than the green haired girl. Still worth it if you like visual novels.
