Recently Chronicles of Elyria, the ambitious sandbox MMORPG from Soulbound Studios, held a period where players could set up their land claims for the upcoming release. However, it didn't completely turn out the way some players wanted, and now some are seeking a solution for their un-usable titles.
During the Domain & Settlement Selection process, Elyria players who backed the game at specific levels to earn titles could begin to select the domains and settlements to make their home in the game. However, during the process some of the players experienced issues where their selections were not being recognized by the game. As such, there is concern within the community that those players, who spent real money on the titles, would be out their money.
This was compounded by a user alleging a support response from the studio when asking how they can clear this up and use the title they paid for. Gallian, a forum user who started a thread commenting on the issue and SBS's alleged response to the concerns of the players affected.
There have been quite a lot of guys contacting for problems with the DSS system, either for bugs, for flaws in the programming or for user mistakes that lead to purchased tittle that cant be used.
Gallian claims to have received a response from Soulbound Studios Support that effectively says they won't be able to do anything since it was user error that caused the problem.
At this point we only have: "it was your mistake, we keep your money" - Thats support answer mail: Hi XXXXXXXXX,
You failed to follow the in game prompts then, so you completed your selection without claiming all of your properties.
Unfortunately, all claims are final. This option is included as some don't want to apply all of their titles.?We apologize for any inconvenience,
Soulbound Studios Support
We've reached out to Soulbound Studios PR to confirm the veracity of the support response. We will update this story if and when we hear back from the studio.
Other players mentioned, however, that this had been their experience as well. Thord, another forum user, claims to have spent $375 on titles that the "system didn't recognize." Another user, Kata, mentioned their guild had run into similar issues and SBS support wasn't giving any solution. One user, Zerick, also mentioned they ran into a similar problem and was disappointed in the support response as well.
Some players streamed the selection process, while other created videos for other players to follow. However, obviously, not everyone saw those and as a result mistakes can still happen. Additionally, some of those affected have stated they followed the prompts during the process only for it to not work for them as well.
After a few hours of discussion, Serpentius gave official word from the studio on the issue:
Over the course of Domain & Settlement Selection we've kept a keen eye on anything and everything that would interfere with a user's ability to make their picks or have the best experience possible. We've tried to be prompt in our responses, thorough in our investigations, and caring in our approach to community feedback. That said, we've had a small number of players report recently that they're discovering they have retained titles in their inventory, instead of utilizing those during their claiming process.
This doesn't appear to be affecting more than a handful of players, and we're continuing to investigate and attempt to reproduce potential technical issues related to these reports, but so far have been unable to identify or reproduce any actual bugs. That doesn't mean bugs don't exist, just that the information we have at the moment hasn't yet allowed us to isolate or reproduce specific issues.
Serpentius goes on to explain that anyone affected by this and was unable to claim their upgrade purchase should contact support immediately to help resolve the issue. Those who were still unable to claim after the Domain & Settlement Selection period can expect to see full store credit once the event has concluded.
Additionally, in no event do we want players that have made these upgrade purchases (and now have them stuck in inventory) to feel as though they've made a mistake supporting the studio and being a part of Chronicles of Elyria. So if you purchased either a Mayor Title or County Upgrade Promo item specifically, and for any reason have not been able to use these items during your claim process, we will provide you with full value store credit for each of these items after the conclusion of Domain & Settlement Selection.
Whether this solution makes those who were affected happy will be up to the individual. It's good to see, however, that those players affected will receive some sort of compensation for their troubles. The Domain & Settlement Selection will run through September 23rd, so hopefully this issue can be resolved before its up and every backer can get the claims and titles they paid for.
We'll update this story should we receive a response from the studio regarding the matter.
H/T Slapshot1188
