Defiance Has Not Launched Worldwide!

[Xessive]

I live in the UAE and I was pretty psyched for the release. I grabbed the game on Steam while a couple of my friends bought it from a major retailer here. The game is being sold here at all major retailers and on Steam without any for of region-based restraint.

April 2nd 2013 rolls around, the official press release goes out stating "DEFIANCE™ LAUNCHES WORLDWIDE TODAY" everyone is excited and ready to log on. We kept getting "The Defiance service is not available. Please try again later." Of course, day 1 issues and connectivity problems are expected so we waited patiently. I submitted a support ticket just in case. Two days later I got the generic response with answers like "check the forums" and "read our blog" which I was doing diligently anyway. Unfortunately there seemed to be no solution to the problem.

Coincidentally, once evening when I was logged in to my office's VPN when I noticed the game finally worked! My friends tried and they were unable to log in. I suspected it could have something to do with the VPN, so I logged out and tried again, it failed to get into the game, same error. We all tried different VPN services and noted that we could only connect via VPN, which also means insane lag making the game unplayable.

I reached out to Trion Worlds support again, and again I got a very generic response, again telling me to check the forums etc. Frustrated as I was, I replied with a complaint that the game is not working for anyone here in the UAE, not just myself. They finally responded to me today, stating "We have not launched in the Middle East. If you can try using a proxy, but we can't guarantee connectivity. I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you."

Very well, if that's the case then exactly in what sense did Defiance have a "worldwide launch" on April 2nd, 2013? I jumped back through all the FAQs, ran searches through the forums, and checked the official website, and there is no mention whatsoever that the game would not launch in the Middle East or that it would not work from certain regions at all. They're selling the game here in the Middle East and no one can connect.

At this moment Trion Worlds have not indicated any intention to solve this problem or to even entertain their worldwide customers; only the North American and European crowds. I just bought a product that was falsely advertised as a worldwide release. Naturally, I have asked for a refund. Let's hope I get it but in case I don't the least I can do is make sure no one else falls for it.

Honestly, what I'm really hoping for is that Trion Worlds will fix it and let people living in the Middle East get in on the fun. Why exclude anyone, especially a paying customer?

[Calysto]

That sucks mate, that's a pretty bad business practice for them to do that. Reminds me of a certain other gaming company who is currently the "Most Hated Company in America", and I hope that Trion Worlds doesn't want to end up being that terrible. Hope they fix it for you quick.

[Roflmaowtf]

I hope they sort it out soon buddy, if they want this game to last a while they should at least let as many people as they can get on the game.

[LunaticWoda]

Im pretty shocked to hear this and I hope they fix this soon for you. Trion did such a fantastic job with the Rift launch (granted end game was a little weak but not horrible) It seems like they took a few steps back with this game compared to previous titles which is ashame. But again i hope they resolve this soon as its lawsuit bait like crazy.

[ironhands]

This has nothing to do with Trion really. Many aren't able to connect from the UAE, it is likely the internet censoring/filtering the government forces. I'm sure Trion doesn't restrict access based on IP location.

[iMogwai]

I'm sorry to hear that, but I can't see any logical reason for them to do that so I assume that was accidental rather than intentional. Hopefully that means they're working on fixing it.

[Jestunhi]

This has nothing to do with Trion really. Many aren't able to connect from the UAE, it is likely the internet censoring/filtering the government forces. I'm sure Trion doesn't restrict access based on IP location.

The could do.

Lots of low ping players (due to a lack of a local server) can certainly have a negative effect on an online shooter. It wouldn't be the first time an MMOFPS has done that.

[ironhands]

could be, but lebanon works fine

[GrayGhost79]

The PC version of Defiance isn't region locked, the only ones that seem to have this issue are from UAE and seems to be due to their internet filtering policies. Not Trions fault, but they are aware of it and it looks like they are looking into it.

Whats likely to happen is that you may end up getting a refund because this isn't something Trion did, its on the UAE end.

http://forums.defiance.com/showthrea...sement-!/page2 <-- relating to this thread.

[2DoPE]

I guess that answers it, i also live in the UAE ...there goes my ultimate edition...