In these days of so much mail in our email inboxes, it can be annoying to receive unwanted mail. (Okay, it's also annoying to receive unwanted snail mail.)

I appreciate it when companies allow me to opt out of receiving newsletters/updates at the time of purchase by asking if I want to receive them, and unless I check a box, I don't ever receive anything.

Was there a way to opt out of receiving the newsletter/updates for Diamonds in the Rough when people purchased the game?

It seems that I still have a lot to learn regarding pleasing people... and here I was thinking that all I had to do was to make a good game.

The email was send to me also and at the end of it it says that if i don't want to receive any more i can send an email to Atropos Studios and they are apologize for the disturbance. That is OK by me

me to I think it is good that they think about the every day player .

I agree with you dragonuk44. I think also that it is a good idea from Alkis to send us e-mails about his site and forthcoming adventures from Atropos Studios. I thank you Alkis!

Count me among those who also received the email and was happy to get it. I like getting any news from Alkis and Atropos Studios. I totally enjoyed all my experiences with Diamonds In The Rough (the game and the help) and am looking forward to the next game whenever it happens.

Hi

I too have had "after sales" emails sent to me by companies from whom I have bought games, some in the form of official newsletters and some not ....

Usually I am pleased to read the information they carry but if not, I just write and tell them to cross me off their list !!

Soon sorted - so not too big a deal ??

Cheers.

Mad

Hi,Mystic Falls

I have not ordered the game yet...But, There is no reason to worry...I get e:mails all the time from business I order from on the Internet..I just opt out to stop the e:mails...

Atropos Studios is a reputable company...Not to worry..

I never purchased the game because of fear of no lock on the security on my browser. Just can't bring myself to order online without seeing that lock for security sake. However I did fill out some info before backing out and that info was kept it appears. This concerns me because if they have that much they can also have my cc info even though I backed out without purchasing. Now I am getting email from the company proving they have my info stored. Strangest thing I ever saw online.

Seriously now, I do not understand the commotion all because of a newsletter. I must get 15 different newsletters from developers and publishers that I either remember signing up for or have no idea why I am on their list. All of them come with opt out instructions and I also know where the delete button is if I am not in mood at the moment. No big deal.

Sherryah, as has been stated here already, the Credit card is separate from the rest. You are on the newsletter list because you filled out part of the process but you cancelled on the CC part.

Please lets not overreact on a harmless act. If anyone got the newsletter that does not want it, please let Atropis Studio know directly.

Ana

Once again, we don't have ANYONE's credit card info. You do not enter your CC details until you're in the Paypal web site, which IS secure. I do not appreciate being accused of collecting private information so that I can charge people's credit cards and transfer the money to a Swiss account.

Can someone kindly explain to me why some people find complaining in a public web site so much more rewarding than simply sending an e-mail to us? All you have to do is ask and you'll never hear from us again.

I'm going to be honest with you all and say that I'm currently seriously discussing the possibility of making DITR my last game with my wife. This is getting too emotionally draining for me to handle. The other day I found a central Europan web site (Google translate helped me there) where people were wondering what my parents did to me when I was a child that I ended up writing these stories. Money is no good if you spend it on therapy. I started AS because I thought it would be fun and right now I'm not enjoying myself at all. You're probably thinking "what do we care?" and you might be right. Anyway... Adventure games existed long before me and they will continue to exist when I'm gone, and I'm sure 2 years from now nobody will remember me and I will get back to enjoying my anonymity.

EDIT: I just read this again and realized I'm not being fair. I don't want to sound ungrateful to those of you who bought the game, or didn't buy it but gave me moral support which is equally valuable to me. I just need to get these things out of my chest because I'm reaching my limit.

Hi Alkis

I am so sorry that you have felt the need to write what you have.

You have been very responsive to peoples' requests regarding security matters and I for one appreciate that very much.
And I'm absolutely sure the majority of people are with you and not against you in this regard.

So please don't let one complaining faction deter you from creating more of your games. Your talents are too precious to us.

Cheers.

Mad

Thanks for explaining Akis in fairness you never charged my cc card and just relieved any trepidations. Also in your defense, you made a good game from what I saw in the demo, and read in reviews. Your active inmagiation made it so. Keep up the great work!

dont let 1 or 2 minor comments depress you Alkis.their even not criticisms of the game
dont give up.we want more from you please please please
you could not get much better review than this with a very most top score

Hey Alkis, I'm getting a slight kick out of these latest posts.

For the curious:

Just about every game you buy from an indie takes you to another secured site that handles the transaction. We are just too small to have our own accounting department and can't afford building and maintaining a massive secure financial network.

Therefore, we let places like RegNow, PayPal, BMT Micro, Plimus and a few others handle that for us. They get a percentage of the sale. That comes out of the developers share, not an additional charge on the customer side - it's built into the price of the game. You might pay us $20 for a game, but we really only see a part of that after the transaction fee is paid.

We never even see anyone's Credit Card numbers - that is handled by whichever company it is we chose to handle the financial transactions (like PayPal). The only thing we see is the item you purchased, the number of copies purchased, along with your name and address. If we didn't see that, then how could we ship you your game?

Likewise we keep that information on hand in the event that someone is inquiring about not receiving their shipment (or in the case of downloads their harddrive crashed and they need a new copy). If we didn't, then ANYONE could con us saying they never received their game and we would have no way of knowing whether they are really a customer or some scammer.

For an interesting twist, around Halloween when we released 3 new games, I emailed our previous customers to give them free copies of two of the new games. Since Rune Rescue could now be purchased as part of a bundle for a nice savings, I didn't think it was fair for my previous customers to not be able to take advantage of that. So I tried to give them the sweetest deal of all by giving them two of the new games for free as a way of saying thanks for supporting us when we were starting out. An interesting thing happened. A full 70% of the emails came back as undeliverable because those customers had used temporary email addresses when they ordered. Email addresses which no longer existed - and the orders were less than a year old!

I understand people don't want to be bothered. I hate spam and junk mail too. We talk about making purchases from reputable sources. These forums are great in letting people know who is who out there. Many people can let you know who you can trust.

@Alkis - It's a fact of life and something you have to accept. Unless you are a big fish (pun intended) or have been boxed and sitting on a store shelf, there are always going to be people who will view you with suspicion and/or not buy your game until someone with a more familiar name is selling it. Unfortunately in those cases you will only see a slight sliver of money from the sale while those while those with the familiar name will pocket the biggest chunk - that's just the way it is. You have to crawl through the mud until you establish a reputation. One or two games is not going to give you that reputation. Forum regulars might know who you are, but most people don't. That's not their fault - it's just something you have to accept and it comes with the territory. No one is right or wrong. It's just the way it is. Never assume that because you posted something on the forum that everyone has read it.

As far as the other stuff goes with reading that Central European site, I'd be laughing. If you meant to disturb in your game to the point where people are questioning the mind that came up with it, then you achieved your goal! Heck, I'm still laughing over reading through 9 straight pages of negative comments over my trailer from action gamers saying how 'boring' it looked. Ummm, errrr...ehhhh...Of course that wasn't my goal, but it was still pretty funny.

Alkis i'm sure you are not the only one hearing bad comments about your work. There is good comments and bad comments. It happens to anyone who decides to release his work. You might not used to this kind of critisism but this is part of the game. The more your work is known the more comments you will hear. Don't let this comment affect your work. You create something really wonderful and we all anticipate for your next work. Don't give up. Do this for the ones they love you and let the others face their own problems. I'm sure i'm not the only one in this site who shares these thoughts...

Hi alkis, I'm so sorry to read that you are considering not making anymore games! That would be a complete waste of your talent & a great loss to the AG community!

You've made a very good & thoughtful game which reflects an artistic, caring & sensitive mind. Unfortunately this mind does make you prone to see things out of perspective & take too much to heart!

I don't know you personally, but I do care if all the 'negative'
comments are affecting you emotionally.

Sometimes people come across as criticising when they are just trying to tell you their feelings perhaps in a way that comes across negatively e.g the unsecure site for handing over some details. This is not personal towards you - they are genuinely concerned about unwanted 3rd parties intercepting this info & would feel the same way about any unsecured site asking for the same even if doesn't include credit card details.

As for the newsletter you sent, I agree that there really is no need to complain publicly & I think that most other people who posted here probably agree.

As for people questioning your upbringing, it must be infuriating to read these ignorant attitudes but you've got to see them as just that - they don't know you!

If you read Ivinia's post, hope that his comments help & maybe you need a holiday! Please don't give up!

Alkis, I totally understand how you feel, and I'm glad you were able to get some of it off your chest. It's an unfortunate fact of life that, as a whole, whether a game developer or an employee working for a company, one tends to hear more frequently about what you have done wrong rather than what you have done right. Why this seems to be an intrinsic part of the human mind, I leave it up to wiser minds than my own to determine.

I came across a wonderful book a few years ago called, "The Experts Speak," which was full of things that had been said to people who were following their dreams. One was said to Marilyn Monroe, who was told that she would never make it in films and should consider being a secretary; one was a casting agent who told Clint Eastwood that he would never get hired because his Adam's Apple was too large, and yet another told The Beatles that they ought to forget getting a recording contract because a bunch of guys with guitars was on its way out.

So, follow your dreams, and don't let the naysayers get you down. I am enjoying Diamonds in the Rough very much.

Whilst I was playing DitR for my review (I was about half way through), I made the following comment to a certain Medieval Moderator (who's also my editor):



... and I hadn't even reached the twists & turns at the end of the story yet!

Don't worry, Alkis, there will always be people who don't 'get' your work. Please remember that there are many others who do!

Gremlin
(former game developer/designer)