Pledge Reward Spreadsheet

Thanks Koldar and Ice Queen for the links and info. Its much appreciated.

 

Just to update: I pledged to Knight yesterday and got all the rewards as @Ice Queen said (2 village knight houses and the waterfront upgrade).

Thanks again!

 

Sorry if I'm asking something that was already answered, but I need some clarification on "expired" items for my situation if anyone can answer please...

My Pledge History (all pledges are benefactor level as I discovered this game too late )
7/24/15 - Adventurer
8/8/15 - Upgrade to Ancestor
1/2/16 - Upgrade to Citizen

What I'm trying to determine is whether I should be getting certain items from the expired Navigator & Developer tiers (specifically: Novia Map Atlas, Phonograph, Wireless Device, and Tinkerer's Certificate decoration).

According to the SOTA Update #133 on 7/10/15 it states:

"The Patron, Navigator, and Developer pledge tiers will no longer be available after August 31, 2015. Any current pledge less than Patron that upgrades after August 31, 2015 will not receive any of the unique pledge rewards included in those tiers (regardless of Era: Royal Founders, Founders, and Benefactors). " *NOTE* I was at Ancestor prior to this cutoff date, so the "will not receive" part should not apply to me.​

Then, after that Update lists all the expiring pledge levels and the rewards expiring in each one, they state this:

"All pledges at or above Patron level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all of the expired rewards at or below their pledge level as they upgrade."​

So it was my understanding that as long as you were at Patron or above before 8/31/15, those expired items would still be available if I upgraded to Citizen later on. Since I had upgraded to Ancestor on 8/8/15, I felt confident that I met that requirement.

When I upgraded to Citizen on 1/2/16, I was expecting to get the aforementioned items from the Navigator and Developer tiers, along with all the stacking houses... but I didn't. Now, I did receive all the stacking houses and basements, but I didn't receive those other items I mentioned.

What do you all think? Should I contact Port to see why these items are missing, or am I misunderstanding something and am not supposed to get those items? Maybe I will see them all after the next wipe?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Hmm, nobody responded, but it seems pretty clear to me that I should have gotten these items when I upgraded. I sent an email to support@portalarium.com about it. Hopefully I'll get a resolution soon.

 

Your assumption that upgrading to Ancestor PRIOR to the August 31st cutoff entitles you to Patron, Navigator and Developer rewards is a correct one according to the way it was presented to us.

If you check the pledge page and look at the list of pledges it should say "got it!" across the Patron, Navigator & Developer pledges as well as "expired."

It is altogether possible that a wipe will fix the issue, but yes - contacting support@portalarium.com was exactly the right thing to do.

 

Indeed, it does say "Got it" on both of those on my pledges page.

Thank you @Lord Andernut. I sent an email to support about. I'm sure it will get cleared up by next release.

 

Well, Portalarium replied back to me via email stating that I didn't receive those expired rewards from Navigator and Developer "by design" Here is the entire email:

To be fair, although it sounded like he was telling me I'm not supposed to get that stuff, he did say he was going to notify the developer who handles website (perhaps that is Tassilo Phillipp?) to elaborate further on this topic. So, not sure if that meant someone else will reply back to me on it and I may still get the items... or if that meant someone else will edit or otherwise clarify the wording of the Update #133 so it doesn't sound like Patron before August 31st is good enough.

In either case, I replied back stating that I respectfully disagree that I'm not supposed to still get those items (with a detailed explanation) and still believe these items are owed to me. I'll update if/when they reply back.

I'm reporting this here only to help others in this situation find answers. I'm not trying to complain nor make Portalarium look bad or anything like that. So far, I've had nothing but good service from them since I started supporting SOTA.

 

That's ridiculous because that is not the way it has been interpretted and listed in the forums and was given in IRC chat room (and I will have to check if I have an email record from support on the topic) but the gist was - reach Patron and you qualify for Navigator & Developer tiers still, they never said you get those tiers but don't get those rewards (which makes no sense to me).

If they have internally been doing something different than what the expirations said - that is no reason to deny your (and other's) rewards. I've recently had my own issues with support being very inflexible (though competent and polite).

 

Hopefully, this is just a mixup of sorts and gets sorted out. That could effect a lot of people that upgraded last year.

 

The expirations:

1) Aug31: Reach a house tier (Ancestor) and you get the house stacking as you upgrade.
2) Aug31: Reach a second lot tier (Lord) and you get two lots as you upgrade.
3) Aug31: Reach a water house tier (Citizen) and you get the water homes as you upgrade.
4) Aug31: All pledges at or above Patron level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all of the expired rewards at or below their pledge level, as they upgrade.

The above line was edited yesterday to read: All pledges at or above Patron level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all of the expired rewards at or below their pledge level (UPDATED 01.11.2016) as of August 31, 2015, as they upgrade.

Source

Though on the same page it still says this:
Aug31: The Patron, Navigator, and Developer pledge tiers will no longer be available after August 31, 2015. Any current pledge less than Patron that upgrades after August 31, 2015 will not receive any of the unique pledge rewards included in those tiers (regardless of Era: Royal Founders, Founders, and Benefactors).

 

Well, I got a much faster reply this time and unfortunately did not get confirmation that I'll be receiving the items...

They gave me a $25 store credit for the confusion and frustration, but I really wanted some of those items that I believed I was purchasing. The credit doesn't allow me to buy any of them since they are no longer available in the add-on store. @Lord Andernut if you can find any email support records that could help my cause, I would greatly appreciate it.

Yea, those were the details that I laid out to Michael in my reply email. They clearly stated that anyone Patron or above by August 31st, 2015 will continue to receive the expired pledge rewards at or below their pledge level as they upgrade. Any lawyer would say I have an iron clad case with that statement alone!

Also, that same general wording was used several times in that advertisement for expired "unique" items, signed physical goods, and stackable houses/basements (although the last one required at least Ancestor instead of Patron, but I had that anyway.) I also explained to Michael that I did receive the stackable houses in-game when I upgraded to Citizen and the expiration description for those was stated the same exact way... so why didn't I get the REST too?

I even mentioned that my pledge page says "Got it!" on the "Expired" pledges, so that should further indicate I get those items.

I don't know what else I can do at this point without evidence that someone else in this situation DID end up getting the missing stuff...

So if they don't correct this I will be missing out on:
Items - Novia Map Atlas, Phonograph, Tinkerer Certificate decoration, Aether Vibration Amplifier
Teachable Emotes - Headstand (from Patron that I never got either), Tai Chi, Shadow Boxing
Titles - Navigator, Tinkerer
Physical Goods - LB Signed Cloth Map (I would still get unsigned version from Explorer), Tinkerer Certificate Signed by LB
Other/Unknown Stuff From Developer (?) - PDF version of Dev Design Docs, Name displayed in in-game credits, Help create and name a character in the game. (Not sure if I will get any of these, how can I tell?)

Needless to say, I'm not at all happy with a $25 store credit in lieu of all of that.

One last argument for my case:


If you look at the Autographed Cloth Map description, that also clearly states "This reward only available to pledges that were at Patron or above by August 31, 2015." Yet again another thing that says I'm eligible for this item at least. (None of the other missing expired items had a similar note on the pledge pages)

I mean, everything I read about these expirations seem to indicate that I'm supposed to get them. Nothing even hints that I am not supposed to get them or can argue that I'm not.

 

Thanks for the screenshot. There seems to be a divide at Portarlarium over what the expirations mean, I would be very unimpressed if they chose not to give these rewards to people who had earned them because they programmed things differently than they explained them to us.

Unfortunately it seems it was IRC that this part I confirmed... my documented support response has to do with the way house stacking worked from the Aug31 expiration

 

Aye, it also says:

Please know that these expirations DO NOT affect any backers that already have these rewards. If you already got ’em, then you get to keep ’em! These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified pledge tiers before the expiration date.

 

Hmm, well I would be unimpressed if I don't get these items too. The credit was a nice gesture, but not enough to buy the things I'm missing.

I have no idea how they have been handling things "internally" either, but I know I made my pledge upgrade to Ancestor before 8/31/15 because their advertisement said Patron or above will still get the expired rewards as they upgrade... and went all the way to Ancestor since that same ad said we still get house stacking too if at Ancestor or above by 8/31/15. Basically, I understood that to be a push to get everyone to at least Patron for option to still get the unique rewards, and to at least Ancestor to get the stacking houses and basements.

What else can I do at this point? Reply back that I'm still not happy with the credit offering and demand to get ALL the items? Is there anyone else I can contact to get this resolved or is Michael my only option? I have a feeling that he is not going to make me happy and I might need to go higher up the ladder.

 

I would reply back, from the info you have given. You upgraded to Ancestor before the cutoff expiration date and from what it says regarding the expiration date you should be getting the items. Perhaps even message Firelotus or Dallas.

 

Yea, well I have to leave work now. I'll mull it over for a while before I reply back and/or notify anyone else of the issue.

Thanks for all the advice and support by the way gang. Much appreciated!

 

Keep us posted on how this goes. If they are advertising things one way and doing something completely different that is a very genuine concern. I don't think it will go that route (really hope it doesn't) but it sets a VERY bad precedent.

 

I know they have a lawyer on payroll, so I would have thought the wording for these things would have been more clear. Perhaps they should post these in Dev+ so we can help ensure what they're trying to say is how it's read before they do it..

 

I apologize, I had forgotten about the Navigator/Developer pledges that completely expired on Aug. 31st 2015.

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=51857

The Patron, Navigator, and Developer pledge tiers will no longer be available after August 31, 2015. Any current pledge less than Patron that upgrades after August 31, 2015 will not receive any of the unique pledge rewards included in those tiers (regardless of Era: Royal Founders, Founders, and Benefactors). This includes:

• Patron Pledge Rewards:
  • Autographed “The Story of Mondain in the World of Sosaria”
  • Autographed Akallabeth D&D Campaign
  • Honorific title of “Patron” or “Royal Patron”
  • Teachable Emote – Head Stand
  • Your name permanently listed in the in-game Domesday Book
  • All Three Non-Combat Clockwork Pets
  • One (1) non-combat pet (out of 3 to choose from)
  • Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding
  • Magical Printing Press
• Navigator Pledge Rewards:
  • Honorific title of “Navigator” or “Royal Navigator“
  • Teachable Emote – Tai Chi
  • Novia Map Atlas
  • 3-Story Row House
  • 1-Story Row Basement
  • Phonograph
  • Cloth map hand signed by Richard “Lord British” Garriott
• Developer Pledge Rewards:
  • Honorific title of “Tinkerer” or “Royal Tinkerer”
  • Your name proudly displayed in the in-game credits
  • Printed “Tinkerer” Certificate, hand signed by Richard “Lord British” Garriott
  • Help create and name a character in the game
  • Teachable Emote – Shadow Boxing
  • 4-Story Row House
  • 2-Story Row Basement
  • PDF version of Developer Design documents
  • Unity Asset Packs
  • A digital, framed “Tinkerer” Certificate as an in-game decoration
  • Aether Vibration Amplifier (i.e. wireless device to listen to Avatar’s Radio)
  • (Dev+ access to private Developers Forums will remain available to all pledges above the Developer pledge tier)

 

Thank you for your input Ice Queen, but I don't agree with you on this.

The key words of that advertisement that make me STILL eligible are those I changed to yellow text. What that said was that anyone who wasn't at least Patron by August 31st, 2015 will not receive the expired rewards. It does not say any pledge less than Navigator or Developer by August 31st does not receive the expired rewards... only those who were not at least Patron! I was at Ancestor and therefore above Patron.

My understanding, as well as many others I'm sure, was that if you pledged to at least Patron by that date, then you would be eligible to receive rewards from those 3 expired pledges IF/WHEN you ever upgrade higher than them later. Basically, anyone Patron and above was "grandfathered" into being able to get those rewards if they ever upgraded past them. In fact, the original version of the page you linked (before being modified on 1/11/16 due to my inquiry)... as well as the Update #133 - Dated 7/10/2015 (which still has not been modified) specifically state exactly what I'm saying:

That was the paragraph right below where you stopped your cut/paste of your link. In your link, it was reworded on 1/11/16, but originally (at the time I upgraded to Ancestor) it was worded exactly as I just copy/pasted from the Update #133.

My main issue here is that I only partially jumped up to Ancestor at that time because the advertisement said that was the minimum I needed to retain rights to the rewards and houses/basements if I should ever upgrade beyond them. If it was worded to state I specifically had to be above the Navigator and/or Developer pledges before the cutoff date or I could never get them again... I would have done so at that time.