With this amount of 'quote mining' and misrepresentation of facts you would have a great career as an American Televangelist YEC.
So let us actually deal with the facts rather than the mis-statements reported here.
2. The Mercenary pack, consisted of an Eagle, plus mercenary paint job. This was an add on you could purchase in store. It was granted free to Bete and earlier backers as an additional reward, and is "In Game" some had problems locating it, and a few encountered a bug where it was located in another system, but it is, and was there. And had been from Gamma 1.
2. The Beginner's guide was released before Christmas in version 1. It is a guide, not a comprehensive instruction manual, and there may have been a decision taken to release it to all, rather than just a few backers. So What, you have it, others have it. As it is digital, that would be the inevitable consequence anyway, within a short time.
3. DRM Free, oh this has been a ripe one. Many complained that as you needed to create an account, and authenticate as a player, each time you wanted to play, this meant that the physical copy was not DRM Free. However, the mis-representation of the situation by the complainers was clear. In The Kick-starter documentation the description of the disk was that you would receive exactly the same files as could be downloaded from the site. There would be no copy protection on the disk, but you would HAVE to log on to play.
4. Off-Line, this mode was always an afterthought as is apparent in the design documents. The off-line mode would allow play, but would need to connect to the servers for authentication, and for regular updates. Anyone who believed differently was deluding themselves, if they believed that Frontier would effectively 'give away' free copies of the game to anyone who was happy to play off-line piracy be-damned.
4. Permits. Beta backers and earlier received two free permits. The founders world and SOL. Both are in the game.
5. Additional ships, and another wopping deception by the disgruntled. As most reasonable and rational people are aware, this statement referred to the Kick-starter awards. Those who pledged sufficient were given access to additional starter ships, alongside the Sidewinder and additional Credits. They were an alternative to the sidewinder not an additional ship like the Eagle. These were and are in game, although again, there were some who had problems accessing them initially.
6. 25 ships vs 15. I like many was disappointed that there were only 15 ships at launch, however, that has not meant that I have gone out screaming and foot-stamping like some spoilt little brat who demands that they get everything at once. I accept that Frontier will add the 10 missing ships as the game progresses over the next few months along with the Extra 5 that have been promised to be added, making 30 in game playable ships. As can be seen,with the Adder and Python, adding ships is not simply a matter of throwing a 3D model in. The ships have to be modelled internally and externally. Their capabilities have to be balanced, to prevent one overpowering ship tilting the table.
7. Insurance, discounts have been and are applied, at present to replacement ships AND upgrades, again in Gamma a change was made to apply the discount to hulls only, however this was amended. The discount was meant to be for Beta backers and earlier, and Kick-starter backers received a further discount on top of this. So for a purchaser of the game, today, Insurance costs, I understand, 5% of ship cost (This might be 10%, being a beta myself I am not sure) and for a Beta backer 3%. It is however there.
8. The other bits. Commander names, NPC and planetary names. et al, these were Kick-Starter rewards. A limited number of Jamesons, the right to name planets, stars and NPCs, with moderation for obvious reasons, are in game.
Digital artwork is in progress, and will be released when complete, paraphrased from David Braben, I assume because of the additional ships and quality control that they want to apply. But this isn't stopping me from playing the game.
There were no blankets thrown, there was an apology and explanation for off-line and slaved FSD given, that some, with ill-grace, refused to accept.
As for solicitors and Trading standards, a solicitor will happily take your money, THEN explain to you that you have no case. Trading standards are obliged to investigate, but, this will probably be after they have stopped wetting themselves with laughter.
TL
R, well, that's your problem, not mine.
