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[News] News from Alive MediasoftANN.lu
Posted on 02-Jun-2000 13:35 GMT by Christian Kemp145 comments
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After recent negative press reports on Alive Mediasoft, both here on the unmoderated section of ANN, as well as on amiga-news.de and Czech Amiga News, I was surprised to receive an email from Steven Flowers saying: Let me give you somthing real to right about Alive will close very soon Earlier on, he already sent an email, trying to explain the situation with Goal 2000, that you can read below. Now, what is your opinion? Is Alive good or bad? What are your experiences with them? Remember, this isn't a witch hunt, so please don't flame, just state the facts. Hello,

First of all I'm pretty pissed off. KDH whom I've never dealt with or heard of have taken it upon themselves to distribute emails concerning the game Goal 2000 and their subsequent decision to cease distributing our games becasue they can't get it to work correctly, and there is a crack on the front.

Firstly, we received this enquiry only yesterday and acted immediately with an explanation and details of how to run the game correctly. However, a two-hour turnround on our response was apparantly not good enough and they've felt the need to go public with this matter with ridiculous accusations of it not being Goal 2000, but in fact just the plain old original Goal.

Obviously this is not the case. The CD does contain Goal 2000 details are below. Anyone having problems can contact us for advice.

What concerns me most is that people involved in the Amiga market seem to have nothing better to do than sit around on the internet stirring up trouble wherever possible when they don't have a clue about the real situation.

This may be a part-time hobby to some people, and quite a few appear to take great pleasure in dragging this market lower than it already is by nit-picking and squabling about everything and anything they can get their hands on.

Well it's about time that people realised this is a serious business with peoples lives and homes on the line. It is not a game.

If anyone has concerns about a product, anyones, they should address it with the company in question first, then if they are still unhappy with the outcome and feel there is an injustice to the public then fair enough go public, but at least wait for an explanation....

So Goal or Goal 2000?

Did Goal have a cup competition? NO
Did Goal have an aggregate knock-out competition? NO
Did Goal have the British Premier League? NO
Did Goal have a practically inpenetrable goalkeeper? YES
Did Goal have 1999-2000 teams? NO

So, how can Goal 2000 possibly be Goal?

I don't know what relevance this is but people seem intrigued... Goal 2000 is not a brand new project. We've never claimed it to be. It is in fact an old game called Goal Championship Cup Edition which never got released. Alive obtained this, updated it to the latest leagues and released it as Goal 2000.

Yes, there is a crack on the front as this was the only version available at the time of release, as is the case nowadays with so many re-releases and the like.

August will see the release of a free update for all Goal 2000 owners providing them with all the new teams for next years league and will also eliminate the crack from the front-end.

Last but not least we have been contacted by our German distributer GTI concerning this. As our products go through many third parties to reach Europe, it took a long time for the news of KDH's dissatisfaction to reach us.

As it turns out we have now had response from GTI stating they are satisfied with the product and there is no question of the origin of the game. Although this matter is now resolved to everyones satisfaction, it would have been alot better if people would contact us directly and wait for a response before jumping on the band waggon to put everything up on newsgroups.

I'm sick of explaining myself to the whole Amiga community about things that don't concern them but some people feel a need to be arrogant so I must address them.

The customer who bought Goal 2000 from us and has had trouble running it has indeed emailed us a few days ago about this. However, he's only bothered to email Jennie who is now on maternity leave and only gets her mail a few times a week. Alive have several emails including a technical support one for these exact type of problems. There's also the phone, yet he's never bothered trying any of these. He's now had a response explaining where's he's going wrong, but yet again news of this "problem" is already circulating around the news groups. There's really no need for this is there?

Bottom line is, this kind of pettiness will stop the public buying Alive's games - result being no more Alive mediasoft....

Now KDH have stopped selling Alive's products, you all know where to come for Elite 3 now don't you? He! He! He!

ALIVE mediasoft
Steven Flowers
The Pulse Editor

News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 6 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Leon r. Tan on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I have also bought this game and I am very disappointed. One of the
flaws of the original game was if you just start a game, run ahead a
few steps and shoot.... the goalie will not catch the ball at all, as
it did with Kickoff2. Alive says on their website that the gameplay
has improved, but now mr. Flowers says they only upgraded the data.
Okay, okay.... so where is the option to install it on my HD? For
crying outloud, it's a non-dos disk! and what about 060 fixed... it's
the original Goal he just said before! They should have told on their
website that it is the original Goal.... I am not going to pay such an
amount of money for a second hand game that I already owned without
the updated data.... the gameplay has NOT improved... We amiga users
are NOT like PC-users who are only satisfied with graphics and
options.... WE WANT BETTER GAMEPLAY! so.... can we get a refund?
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 7 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by me on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Alive are a scandalous company. If the way they have treated their customers wasn't bad enough, they don't even PAY THE DEVELOPERS of the software they sell and take money for.
Good riddance to a bad company run by bad people.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 8 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
It's been a long time coming, but there are still one or two more companies who need exposing for their bad business practices and sheer immaturity.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 9 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Robert Simmonds on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 4 (Sven Harvey):
"Oh lord, yet more back stabbing. This is getting rediculous. "
I couldnt agree more. Anyone ever read or seen the play "The Crucible"?
Enough said I think.
Robert Simmonds, Editor of Amiga Showcase
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 10 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Robert Simmonds on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Anonymous):
"It's been a long time coming, but there are still one or two more companies who need exposing for their bad business practices and sheer immaturity."
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 2 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Mike on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
All I have to say about the statement of Alive is, that they have a really
bad behaviour. Sorry, folks, but this isn´t the way how to deal with customers.
Now, they blame others for themself. But I think, Alive is the one to blame.
Bye, Bye, Bye, Bye, Alive......
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 3 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David Connolly on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
It will be a relief and good news for the Amiga community if Steven and Jennie Flowers leave the Amiga scene and it's just a shame as somebody who reported their trading practises to the relevant authorities that nothing more was done to stop them earlier. There is no semblence of a Witch Hunt about it - it's democracy in action. I have been trying to do something about this at risk of my own reputation for some time now. People don't receive their software from Alive and make their feelings known, then enough people have the same experience to make it certain Alive are rip-off merchants. I have no sympathy for this company because it's not even a matter of hard times in the marketplace: it's their attitude that's unforgivable. I have heard enough from customers complaining and warning *me* about Alive when they call or e-mail. Personally I was told to 'f*** off you w***er' the only time I spoke to Steven Flowers and he was just as obnoxious by e-mail, threatening to take me to court for making comments about Alive and swearing. While all this was going on with the customers and countless developers failed to receive their royalty cheques, Alive claimed to be 'the biggest Amiga games company in the world' and other such hyperbole. Steven Flowers is a dishonest, unpleasant, untrustworthy, unprofessional individual and I only sincerely hope it is the end of Alive Mediasoft Ltd.
Please note this is my personal opinion only.
David
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 5 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Andrew on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
To be honest i'm sure the many people who have complained and i have heard about is a significant problem, its not like the market is big ok so 2 dozen complaints out of 1 million customers is one thing but 2 dozen in a market of 10,000. Ok so thats just the tip of the ice berg. Un proffesionalism towards customers has been reported there is no reason for this, they aren';t the only ones in the Amiga market, i've had problems with power and rude emails from AF. This is a message to all those companys who take anyone for a ride we won't take any shit no matter how small you think its is. This isn't some place you can make a cheap buck out of stupid people. with this and the current crack down on the use of Amigas trademark its looking like a smaller but safer market and its about time.
As for Alive anyone who releases a game with a crack on the front end is acting pretty unprofesional, its called cutting corners and is the kind of thing comapnys who cut corners to make a quick buck and take advantage of customers.
Of course these are my own views, they haven't been swayed by being a customer of Alive, friends of them or friends of people who have complained, just a comment based on my own ideas.
If this is the kind of publicity Alive have got whether They say its warrented or not, its quite clear that the people have spoken.
Andrew
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 4 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Sven Harvey on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Oh lord, yet more back stabbing. This is getting rediculous. Fact: several Amiga re-releases in recent times, all of them fully legal have had "cracked" versions on them simply because those were the only versions still available. Fact: any company will have a very small hardcore of former disgruntled customers regardless of what the company has done to try and make things right. fact: I have never had any trouble with Alove Mediasoft... I hope that balances things out a little...
BUT... I personally think that no good can come of overly negative statements from anybody, be it on a website, or anti-PC monologues on the back of magazines/catalogues. It does no-one any good, and only serves to make things worse.
Things are pretty bad for most Amiga based companies right now and this in-fighting cannot help. At least Alive are releasing stuff, if you have a problem with them send them a civil email, and I'm sure they'll do thier best to help.
Lets hope things get better soon, guys, huh?
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 1 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by MIkey C on 01-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Well Sadly, if they do close down, Alive have only got themselves to blame.
They started out with good intentions, but somewhere along the line but
choices were made that would inevitably lead to this sort of public backlash.
At one time Alive was a good company to deal with (shortly after they stopped
Being direct software.) I can't pin point exactly when things went wrong, but
they did and eventually there was going to be only one outcome.
At the recent Kickstart Show, most people were boycotting them because of their
attitude and bad business ethics.
As I see it, they have no choice but to close down, they have disgruntled too
many users for me to see a way back for them.
Sorry guys, you bought this on yourself.
Sadly.
Regards
Mikey C
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 36 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Bob2 on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Bob):
- Alive have released many games over the past couple of years - If they weren't
- around some new games and many re-releases would not see the light of day...
It is no use releasing games if they then don't bother to supply them to people that have paid
for the said items. The games may as well not exist if Alive do not send them out to anyone.
Also no more developers will create games if they do not get paid by rip off
distributors like Alive.
Bob2.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 37 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Mikey C on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 35 (Chris Green):
Chris.
My sincerest apologies, I'm sorry if I said people weren't boycotting
Alive mediaSoft. I should have really said that most people were
buying from Fore-Matt Home Computing and that at times he was four
people deep. In the meanwhile there was hardly a soul on the Alive
Stand.
May I suggest that you take a peep at the DMZ on Amiga.org? you will
find some interesting posts from some people with regards to the
situation.
As I have stated before, I know a lot more than I can say. I will not
reveal what I know because it is confidential. However, for the
record, I have heard many stories, most of them the same and from many
different sources for me not to believe them.
May I also add, that I have a couple of members on my usergroup whom
after six months plus, are still waiting for thier software to be
delivered.
I do not want this to be a witch hunt, but if Alive want to stay in
the Amiga market they are going to have to move mountains to regain
the trust of the community.
Or would people just rather no one say anything and encourage this
sort of practice to continue throughout the Amiga industry?
Regards
Mikey c
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 33 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Kay Are Ulvestad on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 29 (David):
A reply to comment 31:
I think you got me wrong. I didn't say you shouldn't voice your
concerns. Nor did I say that an Amiga company can't be bad. If you
have a valid point, then by all means, make it (comment 27 is a good
example)! My comment wasn't intended as an attack on either sides. It
was simply meant to point out that things were getting out of hand.
Claiming that Steven Flowers are making comments using false
identities, for example, is an example of a completely unfounded
claim, and one that shouldn't have been made. Calling people "lying
bas***ds" is also poor argumentation. Oh, and my scepticism isn't
denial, as you seem to suggest. It is simply scepticism. People are
entitled to that. Many of the comments made seems to have been written
in a higly emotional state, and that's why I am questioning their
credibility. You tell me what's wrong with that.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 34 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Kay Are Ulvestad on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 33 (Kay Are Ulvestad):
Oops!
My previous comment was intended as a reply to comment 29, not 31.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 31 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Lucy on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 30 (Lucy):
little PS - the original order was made in Feb (as it was implied I was being untruthful)- the one you mention was an alternative choice to it.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 32 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by James on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 19 (Even):
Phase5 were slaughtered by the Amiga community? From what I saw Phase5 only
went under because they were trying to run a company without actually
manufacturing the products they needed to sell to stay afloat.
People were absolutely dying to buy their products when none were available
how did they expect to make any money if their main products were not on sale?
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 35 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Chris Green on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (MIkey C):
Just to clarify one thing Michael, people were not avoiding Alive en masse at the Kickstart Show as you claim. If you are going to comment about a Kickstart event, please try and get your facts straight or leave it to a Kickstart member who is in the know to state such facts.
I do not deny that many people have had genuine problems with Alive - including several Kickstart members who have received abusive emails in recent months in response to queries about undelivered goods - though as I am not a regular mail-order customer of Alive's myself I am not in a position to comment about Alive directly.
As for the Kickstart Show, as one of the organisers I am able to comment accurately and I can say that Alive, along with every other standholder, did a very healthy trade, including making a good few quid out of me for a number of software titles that I am very happy with.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 30 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Lucy on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 25 (Jennie Flowers - Alive mediasoft Ltd.):
Yes, that's me. I used both email and post to order an alternative item (Worms CD AGA)three weeks ago - I returned the form you sent me. I am telling the truth here and have no desire to stir anything. Do remove me from the Alive list by all means. I am very sad to see all this unpleasantness around the Amiga but it does seem that I am not alone in my experience here. I sincerely hope things improve for you Jennie - you personally have been polite to my many requests for information on orders etc.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 29 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Seems to be two sides for sure. One side in the know about Alive's practises and the other who don't want to think that an Amiga company can be so bad. To those people WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. If you don't have experience of Alive and don't want to see them slagged off, well who are you to tell us that we shouldn't voice our concerns? I totally agree with the person who thought Alive were selling freeware under their label - how could they afford the rights otherwise since they don't pay their own independent developers and I'm told the directors are bankrupt. They also don't send out a hell of a lot of retail software and are generally obnoxious in all communication. I think I've reached my conclusion, Amiga users must insist they go if the UK trading standards aren't interested.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 28 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Kay Are Ulvestad on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 26 (Scrotus):
I don't know all the facts of this case. Unfortunately, I think this
also goes for many of the other people who have made comments. What we
have here is basically two sides claiming the other to be lying, and
both attaking eachother personally. Nothing good will come out of
this. A good general rule is never to comment on something you don't
know a lot about, and please, don't make claims which can't be backed
up by facts. I don't know who's right, so I'll stick with what I know
for facts, and leave speculation to people with more time on their
hands. So should many other people.
Oh, and I'm not a fake personality set up by Mr. Flowers. Really. I
exist. I have three email addresses (kayulves@yahoo.com, @c2i.net and
@netlinkmail.com) and a homepage (http://home.c2i.net/kayulves) for
crying out loud. If further proof is needed, I should also be
registred with the university in Trondheim, Norway. So there.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 27 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Kurgan on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Bob):
Nice try Steven. Why do you call yourself Bob or is it one of your friends? Why
should Mr. Connolly buy software from Alive, when he's running his own company?
To all others:
Let me tell you an example, that Alive re-releases games, for which they
don't have bought a license and which they're selling illegaly.
Have a look at issue 12 of The Pulse. Jennie announces the release of the
english version of the rpg game AMBERMOON there. Ambermoon was made by a company
called Thalion and was ONLY released in Germany. Thalion finished the work on
the english version of this game, but unfortunately this great company went
bankrupt so the english version was never released.
In 1999 someone started to open a website, dedicated to Thalion and all their
games. It's just a FAN SITE, but it's the only site where you were and are able
to download this never released english version, because a Thalion ex-worker
sent this version to the maintainer. You can still download this game from this
site, called THE THALION WEBSHRINE. The address is http://thalion.amiga.tm
But don't use any of these games for commercial purposes!!!
Now Alive will sell the english version for £14.99. Please explain me how they
can do that? From whom have they bought the license, when the company Thalion
is dead? Someone must still own the rights for this game and this person is now
working for a famous german software company. It's cheap and easy to earn money
with software, for which you don't pay and which you sell without a license!
About games, which Alive re-released in the last months:
Steven, be careful. Don't rip off famous PC companies and don't sell versions
for which you don't have bought a license. You might meet them at court sooner
as you think!
To Steven, because he never answer emails which he don't like: You use the word
"dick-head" very often in issue 12 of The Pulse. Very strange, for a so called
professional editor.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 26 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Scrotus on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 24 (Dave):
Looks like Mr Flowers taking part in this discussion under a highly convincing alternative identity.
Sounds like him too, but without the swearing.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 24 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I can confirm that most of what I have read is just some very sad Amiga individuals who have got nothing better to do with their very sad lives.
We are a developing company for mainly PC companies but have done work for Alive.
We have always been paid on time. I have met Steven Flowers a few times and I have never met anyone whith a passion for the Amiga or any other format in my life.
If this is the way you treat fellow Amiga followers, then it probably explains why your a dying breed.
So carry on and put a few more nails in your own coffin.
You could evan start a sad,o league and score points for who gives the most stupid comment.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 25 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Jennie Flowers - Alive mediasoft Ltd. on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
To wake up on a Saturday morning to THIS is disgusting. My first
reaction to what I've seen here was tears... but after reading through
the mails again and looking at who they're from I'm just plain
old-fashioned fumming.
My gut instinct tells me to leave you all to your own pathetic
behaviour and simply not go on these sites. However, my better
judgement and professionalism says that we should acknowledge this
(although it sticks in my throat to do so). I also feel a need to
thank the countless people who have emailed us personally and put
comments up here pledging their support to us. The tiny minority of
people out to damage Alive mediasoft are far outweighed by the dozens
of phone calls, letters and emails we receive each and every day
thanking us for bringing out the games that we do, and providing the
services we provide.
So to all the people who have kept Alive going over the years and made
all the bullshit bearable, we salute you!
Now, turning back to the witch-hunters out there, I'll try to address
your "comments" as well as I can...
Comment 1: Michael Corrillo. You are not a customer of ours, so what
is your point?
Who are Direct Software? We have always been Alive mediasoft so whats
this about exactly?
We thoroughly enjoyed the Kickstart show last weekend thanks, as did
the hundred or so customers who bought games from us (thanks guys!)
The only person boycotting Alive's stand was you. Grow up.
Comment 2: Mike (Corrillo again?)
Comment 3: David Connolly. We all know about you David and your
continuing stupid attempts at bad-mouthing Amiga companies. Haven't
enough of us told you to stop this silly behaviour? Even
your parents have had to apologise for you and your childish
behavious: you're not being fair on them. If you really want to make
a difference in this market, then why don't you bring out some games
or leave it to the grownups...
Comment 4: Sven Harvey. A true Amiga user. Thanks mate!
Comment 5: Andrew. Don't know you sir, but you've clearly never been
faced with running a company and releasing games in this market.
"The people have spoken"
- Hardly! Out of three years trading, dozens of game releases and
thousands of orders, I think that half a dozen nutters can be excused,
and hardly constitutes as "The People" now does it?
Comment 6: Leon. Fed up with explaining about this. It's not the
original Goal, it's completely different. See elsewhere on the net
for yesterdays mail about this...
Comment 7: Annonymous. "Bad people"? Does that include me? I don't
know anyone by the name of "annoymous" so I've probably not shown you
our company accounts showing several thousand pounds paid out in
royalties, so get your facts straight and go away.
Comment 8: Annonymous again. Make yourself known sir so I know who
I'm dealing with and can respond properly.
Comment 9, 10 & 11: Robert Simmonds. Good play! Cheers mate.
Comment 12: Richard. "My mate says your mate says this about you..."
Playground mentality I'm afriad. We all know what happened with
Blade, the guy did get paid for years, he stopped getting paid when he
illegally gave the game away for free.
Comment 13: Kugan. Don't know you sir, so can't comment.
Comment 14: Hamish. Who?
Comment 15: Lucy Burnett I presume? According to my records you
ordered a mouse and a joypad on the 28th April (invoice 1632). You
received your mouse with a letter explaining the joypads are no longer
available and advising you to choose something else, which you've not
yet done. Stop stirring the sticky stuff - you don't have a problem
with us, we've been right by you and you know it. Choose something to
spend your £15 credit on or ask for a refund so I can save myself
some money and take you off the mailing list as you obviously don't
like The Pulse.
Comment 16: Anonymous again... Yawn!
We're being critisised for being "abusive" and "rude" yet it's okay
for you to call us "STEALING BAS***DS" I don't even know you yet you
slander myself and husband in this manner. One rule for us and
another for you I guess.
Comment 17: Mr Eaves. You ordered some software including D.Opus.
You got everthing bar Opus as we can't get it which you were told in a
letter with your games. You were told to choose something else way
back in December. 6 months later you wrote and asked for Wipeout
instead. Fair enough, We don't keep this game in stock so when we
get more in you'll get one. If you don't wish to wait then please
contact us and request something else or your money back, it's that
simple.
"...treated like the criminals they are" and "...drag them through the
courts"
Please! Over one copy of Wipeout? which you've never even phoned to
see if we have in. It's another example of someone with nothing
better to do with their time than sit on the damned internet trying to
cause trouble.
Comment 19: David Connelly... again.. how boring you are becoming.
Phew, so that's that lot sorted.
The internet is a good useful tool if used correctly. However,there
are a handful of people (some of them jealous competitors, most of
them just plain old nuttas) who take advantage of the current legal
loopholes making it almost impossible for companies to stop slander.
No, we're not perfect, and we can't fulfil every order immediately,
but we are honest, dedicated people who have put everypenny and every
drop of blood sweat and tears into making a go of this market, so
thanks for your "support".
Well, this market may appear to be on a downhill slope to nothingness
but at least we're not getting boring too.
It's good to know that no matter how bad things get, we can still find
the time to type some malicious hatemail and make sure that each and
every Amiga company goes out with a bang!
There's not many games coming out any more, so it's good to know that
I'll always have you lot to turn to when it gets boring.
Now can I please get back to my weekend?
Jennie Flowers
Director
Alive mediasoft Ltd.
Final comment from Steven Flowers:
"Look beyond what you read"
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 22 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Simon on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I take it that everybody on this list are not actually human and have never made any
mistakes in there life or upset anyone? I am not going to say that Alive or any
other Amiga business are perfect but there is no need for this sort of cat-calling
which not only hurts Alive but will only serve to bring down all the companies
left in the market.
Minor human failings aside, Alive and all the other Amiga companies put alot of
hard work into keeping the market alive for us. Without them we would all be
using PC's now. Is that what you want??
If you have personal grievance with Alive, talk to them about it! Also, if I
was them, I would be seeking legal advice on the slanderous remarks being made
about individual persons in the company. Are you personally responsible for the
failings of the company you work for? I think not!
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 23 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 22 (Simon):
If you think stealing money from developers, and selling bad orders to customers is just "a minor human failing", I think you're a bit wrong.
And, talking to Alive? They refuse to reply any email concerning their products.
Going public about bad companies makes the Amiga market stronger. Good ones can survive without these assholes.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 20 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Bob on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
What is this, pick on Alive week. Come on guys there are more important things
to discuss...
The Amiga market is small enough - do you want to make it smaller..?
Alive have released many games over the past couple of years - If they weren't
around some new games and many re-releases would not see the light of day...
Every company gets complains - And I bet if you were all honest you probably
have never purchased Amiga software from Alive or any other Amiga software
distributor... Have you David.
Why anyone should "think twice" before buying anything from an Amiga dealer is beyond me.
All Amiga companies i have delt with are good mannered and very helpful.
We seem to be getting to the stage were we could scare away the few remaining
sources of amiga products...
Get a life -
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 21 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Paolo "Mod3m" D'Urso on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Bob):
Yes, Alive released many games during these years.. and they NEVER payed the developers. Do you think this is a good thing, to keep the Amiga market alive?
Normally I'm used to receive my money for the work I do.. don't you too?
Alive Mediasoft ltd. ripped money to many current and former Amiga developers, this's the reality. And many of their releases are without licences.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 18 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Can I stick up for the third aread here which is (I hope) reputable businesses from the software side of things out there as well. Robert Iveson and the talented and dedicated Chris Spicer, amongst others, have been working on Amiga Survivor and built up a good readership through hard work and providing a good service. Alive come along *claiming* 5,000 readers of some rag called The Pulse and they get the advertisers over AS and the wonderful Amiga Active??!!
Ripping off developers is a massively important area for which I will always hate Alive since I can count a good couple of developers who will not develop games for the Amiga after not receiving their royalty cheque. They know they're not going to get rich writing Amiga games, they do it because they want to, and their reward? No pay at all - unbelievable.
Also I get criticised for 'back stabbing' or trying to make profit from badmouthing another company. What total cobblers! My company should have every interest in keeping Alive around since they make us look good. Since there's no trade organisation to look out for the Amiga businesses what else should I do about it?
Definitely take Alive to court if they've ripped you off. They've been there before and can't have any argument if they've cashed money and not provided a product advertised as in-stock.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 19 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Even on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I have never ordered anything from Alive, basicly because I normally buy from the Amiga dealers in my country, but the impression I have got from short e-mail conversations with Mr. Flowers was a good one... Is there ANY Amiga company which has not been object to this type of critizism? Even Phase 5, which despite its' shortcomings should be remembered as the company that gave us the first (and still only) Amiga PPC upgrade, got slaughtered by the community...
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 14 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Hamish on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Just thought I'd put up my hand as another recipient of Alive Mediasoft rude and abusive responses to civil emails.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 15 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Lucy on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Wow! I have to say - it will be good for Amiga to no longer have Steven Flowers spouting his seemingly bitter and twisted PC-owner hate stuff. I bought an Amiga in spite of Alive. I placed an order with them in February that has been partially fulfilled. I have sent numerous emails and letters to get the items that have been sent. I'm pretty sure I can kiss goodbye to the CD I'm waiting for. There's certainly no mention of closure in the latest edition of the Pulse mag/cataloge they produce, though Steven Flowers has had to tone down his rudeness due to the requests of advertisers.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 16 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I'd like to stick up for developers here as well. Consumers matter,
so to the developers. Imagine you work for three years in your spare
time perfecting a application or game - get it published a dream has
come true. Only to find that the greed of a few has stolen your work,
sapped your motivation to continue and you have wasted all of your
time.
It's no wonder why developers leave the Amiga because some greedy
bas****s are STEALING your hard earned cash. So think when you buy
from an Amiga company - are the developers of this product getting
paid?.......
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 17 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by William Eaves on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
The big problem with Alive is that they do not supply goods ordered and PAID FOR.
They do not answer emails querying missing orders but are very quick to answer ones BEFORE
they have taken your money. After they have your money they have no further interest in
providing a service nor supplying items purchased.
If you do get a response, you have to mention the word laywer in your letter to get even this,
Alive respond arrogantly and rudely.
The Amiga market is much better without them. Alive should be treated like the criminals they
are and dragged through the courts, an action I intend to embark on very soon unless they refund
the money they owe me.
Thank you for providing this forum where we can inform other Amiga users just exactly
what Alive are like, to save others being ripped off. Avoid them like the plague.
Bill.
Another unhappy Alive customer.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 12 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by richard on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Hi
I heard you ripped off the author of the rpg game, Blade, so I guess you got what you deserved.
And well it isnt a game you know, some ppl actually might need the money.
/Richard
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 13 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Kurgan on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
Here's a story:
You're a programmer and get the chance to make a commercial game for the Amiga
and sign up a contract with an Amiga company. A dream comes true for you. You
work hard for this game, it takes many months until it's finished and you're
so proud about your little baby. Then the game is released, it sells well and
the company who published it makes a lot of money with it. Unfortunately the
company don't pay you... You ask for your money and all what you receive are
stupid answers. Many months later you still haven't received any money
and you're disappointed... You swear to yourself not to do the same mistake
again and you leave the Amiga market because all your dreams were destroyed by
this company.
Thanks to everyone who made this public. Good companies know how to motivate
their developers, how to offer their customers a good support and how to keep
the Amiga community alive and happy. Unfortunately it seems AM didn't know that.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 11 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Robert Simmonds on 02-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Anonymous):
^Sorry, Ignore my one above^
"It's been a long time coming, but there are still one or two more companies who need exposing for their bad business practices and sheer immaturity."
Yes, LETS BURN THEM ALL!!!!!!
Yours tiring-of-witch-hunts,
Robert Simmonds, Editor of Amiga Showcase
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 52 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David Connolly on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 51 (Mikey C):
Take a look at the new Alive Mediasoft/Steven Flowers webgroup at
http://www.egroups.com/messages/stevenflowers.
Just so you can have your democratic say about Alive Mediasoft.
David Connolly
7 Glyme Close
Woodstock
Oxon
OX20 1LB
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 53 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Robert Simmonds on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 51 (Mikey C):
"Yes only in the Amiga market will you find people defending companies
dealing in Sharp Business practices and bad customer relations. "
I think you are getting me wrong. I am not defending them at all. If Alive are as bad as they are made out to be, then there should be something done. However, I would find it very hard, nigh on impossible, to condone and accept the way people are making comments on here personal, and insulting. If you have a grevience with Alive, then I would take it up with them, or failing that, Citizens advice, small claims court etc. etc.
ANN is not a place to publically destroy a company, nor should any place be.
Once the facts are sorted from the fiction, and general hatred, that seems to rear its ugly head every all too often in the amiga community, (anyone remember the AFB hate campaign against Gaz Murfin?) is disposed of, then you can make clear and justified comments on the company.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 54 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by paul on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 52 (David Connolly):
Sorry, I wasn't able to find it.. can you please tell if the address is correct? Thanks.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 50 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Bill Eaves on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 45 (Robert Simmonds):
'Oh come on, The guys business has been dragged through the gutter, personal insults have been made about him and his wife, and you say that HE is unpleasant??'
_
If the guy ran a business that sent out items when ordered then they would not have any problem.
All I want is a refund so I can then re-order the same items from an honest dealer that is likely to
supply them the same year ! Alive by holding onto peoples money are taking business
away from dealers that actually deserve our support. There are many good Amiga dealers, I just
wish I had never sent an order to Alive. All other dealers have managed to send items
almost immediately and if there is a problem at least have the courtesy to inform the customer.
_
If Alive are that concerned about customer support why do they never reply to emails when your
software fails to arrive.
_
Alive, please send me a refund, you have records of how much and where to send it, please do so
and it would be nice to have an apology for the six months plus that you have held onto my cash.
_
_
Bill.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 51 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Mikey C on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 50 (Bill Eaves):
LADIES & GENTLEMEN!!!
Yes only in the Amiga market will you find people defending companies
dealing in Sharp Business practices and bad customer relations.
To all of you who have posted stuff here defending Mr Flowers and his
company I say this..
SHAME!
If you were to purchase a washing machine from a company and they
never delivered it, well you would be outraged and demanding your
money back wouldn't you?
Likewise if you built the washing machines and could see your products
being sold and no one giving you a dime for the fruits of your
labours, you'd be outraged and would be demanding your money wouldn't
you?
But only in the Amiga market does it seem perfectly acceptable for
companies to treat their customers and their developers in exacctly
the same way.
Carry on by all means, continue encouraging such behaviour. All that
this will do is encouurage all the other remaining Amiga companies to
say "heck if Alive can get away with it, why don't we do the same?"
- I suspect some people here haven't thought through the consequences
of endorsing companies that indulge in malpractices.
There are some bloody good Amiga Companies out there who try 99.9% of
the time to make you, the customer, happy. What you are saying is that
really they shouldn't bother.
I await to see your replies.
Regards
Mikey C
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 49 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Mick Walters on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
I have read the comments above, For what it is worth, I have used alive for several orders and have recieved my software within a few days. I have had no problems with them. I do usually ring up and confirm that the software I want is in stock. I think that that is reasonable when mail ordering anything, unless current stock levels are actually shown online.
Mick Walters
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 43 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Bob):
"The Amiga market is small enough - do you want to make it smaller..?"
Isn't it maybe the companies who doesn't pay developers, who indeed do this?
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 44 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by S.Flowers on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 41 (S.Flowers):
Sorry I did not just mean this site I mean e-mail to.
If you have a real problem call us
01623 467579
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 45 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Robert Simmonds on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 42 (William Eaves):
"PS. I have just seen Mr. Flowers rather unpleasant Comment 40. This is typical of the way Alive behave to customers."
Oh come on, The guys business has been dragged through the gutter, personal insults have been made about him and his wife, and you say that HE is unpleasant??
I think this is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a LONG time. Call yoursleves a community?
If you have a grievence with a company, you take it to them first, and then to office of fair trading / small claims court. Publically humiliating and destroying a company, and ENJOYING IT, (which some of you seem to) is, in my book, bordering on the perverse.
I really hope you people can sleep at night, knowing that you may well have destroyed 2 peoples lives.
Yours Sincerely,
Robert Simmonds
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 46 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 45 (Robert Simmonds):
'I really hope you people can sleep at night, knowing that you may well have destroyed 2 peoples lives.'
Life is quite tough my friend. If a builder does shoddy work on houses should we have sympathy if he is found out? In the UK there are TOO MANY jobs going round to fill and there is also the social security should a suitable job not be found. I'm sure Mr Flowers, coming from a background of the 'biggest Amiga games company in the world' should have no problems in any case.
I think this is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a LONG time. Call yoursleves a community?
No one of the most disgusting things to be seen is Alive selling freeware for profit, ripping off Amiga developers, customers and giving a BAD NAME TO OUR COMMUNITY. Why should the community put up with it, all companies are in it to make profits and the majority of people are quite happy with that system as long as they are fair with people.
If you have a grievence with a company, you take it to them first, and then to office of fair trading / small claims court. Publically humiliating and destroying a company, and ENJOYING IT, (which some of you seem to) is, in my book, bordering on the perverse.
Most people with a problem HAVE taken it to Alive and get insults back. A lot of people have taken it to the trading standards in the UK who don't do anything about it. This IS THE VERY REASON WHY people are reacting in the way that they are. You just seem uneducated about the facts and for your information I share, along with perhaps a few others with a vague connection with Alive, some information about Alive's status. Individuals with records like Steven and Jennie should, I belive, not be running a limited company.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 47 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by David on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 45 (Robert Simmonds):
'I really hope you people can sleep at night, knowing that you may well have destroyed 2 peoples lives.'
Life is quite tough my friend. If a builder does shoddy work on houses should we have sympathy if he is found out? In the UK there are TOO MANY jobs going round to fill and there is also the social security should a suitable job not be found. I'm sure Mr Flowers, coming from a background of the 'biggest Amiga games company in the world' should have no problems in any case.
I think this is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a LONG time. Call yoursleves a community?
No one of the most disgusting things to be seen is Alive selling freeware for profit, ripping off Amiga developers, customers and giving a BAD NAME TO OUR COMMUNITY. Why should the community put up with it, all companies are in it to make profits and the majority of people are quite happy with that system as long as they are fair with people.
If you have a grievence with a company, you take it to them first, and then to office of fair trading / small claims court. Publically humiliating and destroying a company, and ENJOYING IT, (which some of you seem to) is, in my book, bordering on the perverse.
Most people with a problem HAVE taken it to Alive and get insults back. A lot of people have taken it to the trading standards in the UK who don't do anything about it. This IS THE VERY REASON WHY people are reacting in the way that they are. You just seem uneducated about the facts and for your information I share, along with perhaps a few others with a vague connection with Alive, some information about Alive's status. Individuals with records like Steven and Jennie should, I belive, not be running a limited company.
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 48 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by Am I who I say I am? on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 45 (Robert Simmonds):
I am actually, but it's hard to say if any other people are.
In comment 42, Bill Eaves wrote:
} "PS. I have just seen Mr. Flowers rather unpleasant Comment 40. This is typical of
} the way Alive behave to customers."
Do we really know that Mr. Flowers wrote this comment? I think not. There are a lot of people around who are baying for blood and I wouldn't put it past them to forge a message like that.
Regards,
Roger Light
News from Alive Mediasoft : Comment 40 of 145ANN.lu
Posted by CAS on 03-Jun-2000 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 25 (Jennie Flowers - Alive mediasoft Ltd.):
GO AWAY, you two have done more damage to the Amiga than anybody. How the hell people can stick up for you two I will never know. CAS
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