DoD PDF

Day of Dragons Public Response

I am sure that this will incense the folks who are convinced that we are criminals and scum.  I am sure that folks will accuse me of “lawyering up” and “acting like a child.”  But sincerely, I just want to be clear of this constant disruption to my business so that I can get back to developing my game in peace.

We welcome reviews, criticism, suggestions of how to improve, and even statements that you just do not like the game and think it is terrible.  However, as a business, we cannot sit by and listen to outright lies about us, our game, and our efforts, which appear to be geared toward damaging us.  That is where we draw the line.  Everyone gets to have an opinion and express it freely, and we encourage everyone to do so.  On the other hand, making things up or at best inaccurately assuming things, claiming them as facts, and doing so with the intent of damaging our business or trying to cause us to stop developing, is just unacceptable.

So,  just  to  be  clear,  we  100%  support  the  freedom  of  speech.    We  do  not,  however,  support  defamation.  Defamation is a false statement of fact about a person, submitted to the masses by another, that causes material harm to us through negligence or malice on the part of the creator of the statement.  At this point, we have heard so many inaccuracies about us, the game, our motives, and our efforts, that we can only conclude that the intent behind these statements is to drive people away from our game and cause us to fail.

IcyCaress and IGP have made numerous assertions through Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, and various other social media platforms disparaging Day of Dragons and asserting false statements as facts.  Below we will walk through each and every one of IcyCaress’ assertions and respond to them.

Day of Dragons, Beawesome Games, and our development team are not currently and have not previously violated any Steam Terms and Conditions.

IcyCaress and IGP have made numerous false factual statements that the manner in which Day of Dragons  is  operated  and  the  business  practices  of  Beawesome  Games  violates  Steam’s  Early  Access Rules and Steam’s VAC Terms and Conditions.

It is correct that we have decided to ban IcyCaress and IGP from playing Day of Dragons.  In their attacks  on  our  game,  IcyCaress  and  IGP  reverse  engineered  the  code  of  our  game  in  effort  to  perpetuate the narrative that Day of Dragon’s was an “asset flip” and had zero custom elements, which is proven false below.  We have taken the stance that this reverse engineering is a hack of Day  of  Dragons  and  is  a  bannable  offense.    As  such,  we  have  banned  IcyCaress  and  IGP  from  playing our game.

With  regard  to  the  VAC  Terms  and  Conditions  (located  here)  that  IcyCaress  referenced  in  his  video, these terms and conditions apply to games that utilize the Steam Valve Anti-Cheat (“VAC”) System.  Pursuant to these terms and conditions, a game developer is prohibited from banning a player in a way that prevents the user from launching and playing the game offline.  However, it is important to note that, as stated in the very same terms and conditions, “[T]his only applies to games  that  have  been  approved  for  this  feature  by  Valve,  and  a  game  ban  only  applies  to  that  specific game.”  Day of Dragons is not currently employing the VAC system as a manner in which to ban players from playing the game.  Instead, myself and my development team have decided to
utilize our own methods of banning players, which includes utilizing the game code to ban specific Steam IDs.  Because we do not currently use the VAC system, we are not required to comply with the  VAC  Terms  and  Conditions  that  IcyCaress  referenced  and  as  such,  are  not  violating  those  Steam Terms and Conditions.  You can find evidence to support that we are not employing the VAC system here and clicking the list of games that are VAC enabled.  Day of Dragons is not one of those games.  Further, even if Day of Dragons was VAC enabled, because Day of Dragons does not  have  an  offline  component  in  the  game,  the  manner  in  which  we  have  banned  IGP  and  IcyCaress  would  not  go  against  these  VAC  Terms  and  Conditions.    Currently,  Day  of  Dragons  cannot be launched in an offline setting, as it is, in the current state of development, a multiplayer only game.  Thus, we cannot prevent IGP and IcyCaress from playing the game offline because offline does not exist with regard to Day of Dragons.  We are not preventing IGP and IcyCaress from  using  Steam.    It  is  clear  that  the  banning  of  IcyCaress  and  IGP  by  utilizing  game  code  is  permitted by Steam’s Terms and Conditions and IcyCaress’ and IGP’s allegations to the contrary are false and misleading.

Turning now to the Steam Early Access Rules, in his video, IcyCaress falsely states as fact that Day of Dragons is violating several of these Rules.  These rules can be found here.  IcyCaress’ allegation is categorically untrue.  Myself and my development team are committed to developing and distributing Day of Dragons in a way that clearly satisfies all relevant terms and conditions, including the Steam Early Access Rules.  As a matter of fact, Steam conducted a very in-depth review of our Steam page and the game itself prior to launch, and approved them.  Thus, if we are violating Steam’s Rules, then Steam itself seems to have missed that in its review.  However, as explained below, we are not violating Steam’s Early Access Rules.

Early Access Rule 1: “You must include Steam Early Access branding and information about the current state of your game on any third-party sites where you are distributing Steam keys for your Early Access game.”  We clearly satisfy this rule.  On our website homepage, which can be viewed here, it is clear that the game is in early access by stating that “Day of Dragons released on Steam Early Access December 4th...This Steam Early Access game is currently not a finished game and may or may not change significantly over the course of development.”  Further, on our homepage, we link to Steam’s Early Access FAQ so potential players can find more information on what early access  is  and  to  obtain  answers  to  specific  questions  they  may  have.    Additionally,  when  an  individual wishes to purchase a game key from the website store, it clearly states in the description of the game, which can be found here, that the game is in Steam Early Access and displays the required Steam Early Access branding.  Finally, on the homepage, we clearly provide information on the current state of the game.  Through these combined efforts, we clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 1.

Early Access Rule 2: “Do not make specific promises about future events.”  We have never made specific promises as to the development of our game beyond the promises made to our Kickstarter backers  in  terms  of  pledge  rewards.    In  communications  with  our  community  and  through  our  website and Steam Store page, we have made it abundantly clear that the game is early access and through the development of the game, the nature of Day of Dragons may change.  We have made it clear what components of the game are in the game currently.  We have never made specific promises  as  to  when  the  game  will  be  completed.    The  description  of  the  game  on  our  website  specifically states aspects of the game that are currently in the game.  IcyCaress alleges that the description of Day of Dragons on our website is only future promises.  This is categorically false
and a simple review of our website shows that the description of the game mechanics presented on the website reflect the current mechanics of the game.  Further, the Steam Store page for our game, which  we  customized,  has  been  thoroughly  reviewed  and  approved  by  Steam.    The  statements  contained on the Steam Store are in line with Steam’s Terms and Conditions, as they would not approve the website if it violated Steam’s Terms and Conditions.  During the early access review process,  Steam  required  changes  to  the  Steam  Store  page  (including  clarification  as  to  future  features) before Steam would permit it to be displayed.  We cooperated fully with this review and made the necessary changes.  In all communications and advertisements for Day of Dragons, we have made it clear that the game is in early access and it may change, as development is ongoing.  We clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 2.

Early Access Rule 3: “Steam Early Access titles need to be available to customers through Steam.”  Customers  are  able  to  purchase  game  activation  keys  through  both  our  website  and  through Steam’s website on our Steam Store page.  We clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 3.

Early  Access  Rule  4:  “Don’t  overcharge  Steam  customers.”    Customers  who  purchase  Day  of  Dragons on Steam pay the same price they would pay if the purchase the game on any other third party site.  We clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 4.

Early Access Rule 5: “Make sure you set expectations properly everywhere you talk about your game.”  We have been extremely transparent with the development of our game.  On our Discord server, we readily provide information to players and potential players on the development of Day of Dragons, what is currently in the works, and information regarding patches as they are being uploaded into the game.  If there are bugs that we know about in game, we provide all information we know about the bugs on either our Discord Server or the public Bug Tracker Discord server so that players understand how the bug will affect their current playing session.  In addition to our Discord servers, our Steam Store page contains a continuously updated community hub where we post information on the development of the game and clearly align player expectations with that of an early access game.  The community hub provides additional information to players so that they  have  multiple  avenues  to  stay  informed  on  Day  of  Dragons.    As  we  implement  more  mechanics  into  the  game,  we  provide  all  information  on  those  mechanics  and  work  with  our  community  to  help  discover  any  unknown  bugs  that  are  in  the  game.    Through  these  combined  efforts, we clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 5.

Early Access Rule 6: “Don’t launch in Early Access without a playable game.”  IcyCaress and IGP continuously  falsely  mislead  players  into  believing  that  the  game  is  no  more  than  a  tech  demo  made of assets that were purchased from the marketplace.  They state as fact that there is nothing custom  in  the  game.    This  is  categorically  untrue.    My  team  and  I  have  developed  several  substantial elements for the game that are currently in the game as of today; we are continuously developing more custom, unique, and original elements to implement as development is ongoing.  These  custom  elements  that  are  not  assets  that  were  purchased  from  the  marketplace  include  at  least the following:

1.The eating/drinking mechanic;
2.The survival elements of the game;
3.The hatching and dynamic growth mechanic;
4.The flying mechanic (as an adult dragon);
5.The ability to carry babies;
6.The exploration elements of the game;
7.The chat system including the chat commands;
8.The group system;
9.The group damage immunity mechanic;
10.The online multiplayer system;
11.The player vs. player combat system;
12.The biting combat mechanic;
13.The air combat system;
14.The fire combat mechanic;
15.The HUD;
16.The dragon & environmental sounds;
17.The music;
18.Dragon class system;
19.Spawning system; and
20.Logout system.

These  custom  elements  of  the  game  go  beyond  that  of  a  mere  tech  demo.    Our  team  has  put  a  substantial amount of time into the development of this game and any allegations that this game is merely an “asset flip” is categorically false and disrespectful to the amount of work that has been devoted  to  Day  of  Dragons.    We  have  a  playable  game  that  goes  beyond  an  “asset  flip.”    We  understand  that  with  new  mechanics  comes  new  bugs  and  issues  with  the  game  and  we  are  committed to resolving any issues that the implementation of new, custom mechanics cause.  But, that is the beauty of Steam’s Early Access program.  It allows our community to take an active role in the development of Day of Dragons and to provide support as we development the game.  Today, you can go into the game, hatch a dragon, and fight to survive.  You can eat, drink, fly, bite, and breathe fire.  You can fight each other or work together to survive the harsh environment.  The  choice  is  yours.    Day  of  Dragons  is  playable  and  is  continuously  improving  and  changing.    There is gameplay that we have worked hard to develop.  We clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 6.

Early Access Rule 7: “Don’t launch in Early Access if you are finished with development.”  As stated above, we are not finished with development.  There are numerous things that we plan to add to the game.  We clearly satisfy Steam Early Access Rule 7.

As  detailed  above,  we  comply  with  all  of  the  Steam  Early  Access  Rules.    IcyCaress  and  IGP’s  allegations  that  we  are  violating  these  terms  and  conditions  are  false  and  unfounded,  and  any  research into our development and business practices would show as much.  We take seriously our commitment  to  Steam’s  terms  and  conditions,  understand our  obligations,  and  are  dedicated  to  ensuring that we adhere to them.

Day  of  Dragons,  Beawesome  Games,  and  our  development  team  are  fully  committed  to  complying   with   any   applicable   laws   and   regulations,   including   the   appropriate   EU   regulations and directives.

We understand that by commercializing Day of Dragons, we have various obligations with regard to  complying  with  various  U.S.-based  and  ex-U.S.  laws  and  regulations.    Because  of  these  compliance obligations, we have engaged with a legal team to assist with our compliance efforts.  In his video, IcyCaress states as a fact that our current refund policy (not permitting an individual to request a refund from Beawesome Games) is in violation of the EU right to withdrawal.

It is important to note that we do not process any payments.  Instead, on our website, we partner with PayPal  as  a  payment  processor  to  which  customers  make  a  payment  in  exchange  for  the  game  activation  keys  we  sell  on  the  website.    PayPal  provides  all  customers,  subject  to  various  conditions, a 30-day return policy for all payments made to PayPal; this includes payments made for Day of Dragons.  Even though our policy is not to issue any refunds, we have not experienced any instances in which PayPal refused a refund when a refund was requested in compliance with their  refund  policy.    If  a  customer  instead  purchases  Day  of  Dragons  through  our  Steam  Store,  Steam  will  generally  issue  a  refund  with  14  days  of  purchase,  subject  to  Steam’s  various  conditions.  Again, even though our policy is to not issue refunds, Steam will issue a refund when a refund is requested in compliance with their refund policy.  We have not experienced any issues with refunds from the Steam Store.  So, in sum, while we have a policy not to issue refunds (further explained  below),  that  policy  is  essentially  void  considering  that  PayPal  and  Steam  process  payments  and  refunds  for  our  game,  and  utilize  their  own  refund  policies.    As  such,  we  categorically deny that we have violated the EU right to withdrawal.  Because of the nature of game activation keys and digital content as a whole, we instituted a no refund policy since the beginning of the sales of Day of Dragon keys as it is practically impossible to  “return”  a  digital  game  activation  key.    However,  because  we  do  not  process  the  payment,  refunds have always been available through PayPal (when a key is purchased through our website) if a refund is in compliance with PayPal’s refund policy, and through Steam (when Day of Dragons is purchased through our Steam Store) if a  refund is in compliance with Steam’s refund policy.  Thus, following review of this situation by our legal team, we realize that our no refund policy is actually  irrelevant,  as  we  cannot  control  what  PayPal  and  Steam  do  with  respect  to  refunds.    Additionally, we realize that our no refund policy conflicts with the policies of PayPal and Steam, and so defer to PayPal and Steam to use whatever refund policies they prefer.  As such, as of the date of this response, we have removed the no refund statement from our website.  If you wish to obtain a refund for the game, please review the appropriate refund policy and contact either PayPal or Steam.  Again, we deny IcyCaress’ allegations that we have violated the EU right to withdrawal.  We  have  not  denied  any  refunds  through  PayPal  or  through  the  Steam  Store  when  they  were  requested in compliance with the applicable refund policy.

IcyCaress further alleges that we would be unable to satisfy EU’s right to access rules.  As a game developer  that  may  collect  personal  information  from  EU  residents  through  the  sale  of  Day  of  Dragons, we understand our obligations under the EU General Data Protect Regulation (“GDPR”), which includes the EU right to access that IcyCaress alleges that we cannot satisfy.  Under this right, an EU resident has the right to request that we provide them with all personal information that we have collected about them.  We are fully committed to satisfying this obligation and all
obligations  under  EU  regulation  and  directive  that  are  applicable  to our  business  operations.    Furthermore,  in  line  with  this  commitment,  we  engaged  data  security  and  privacy  experts  well  before  the  launch  of  the  game  to  assist  us  with  our  compliance  obligations.    IcyCaress’  false  statements  are  disparaging  and  misleading  and  we  categorically  refute  these  allegations.    We  understand our obligations and are fully committed to operating legally in the video game industry.

IcyCaress and IGP have made categorically false and potentially-defamatory statements in various  videos,  tweets,  and  social  media  posts  that  have  had  a  substantial  impact  on  our  personal and business lives.  From our perspective, they have made these statements with an intent that goes beyond reviewing Day of Dragons.  We believe their intent is to see Day ofDragons fail by any means necessary.

We welcome any critique, good or bad, of Day of Dragons.  The purpose of early access is for us to  release  the  game  before  development  has  finished  in  an  effort  to  solicit  feedback  from  our  community and the video game industry in an effort to create a dragon survival game that everyone wants to play.  Day of Dragons is our livelihood and our passion.  We are not only making the game for players, but we are making the game for ourselves as we have waited so long for a dragon survival  game  that  we  can  enjoy.    We  appreciate  reviews  of  the  game,  even  negative  reviews,  because they provide an avenue to improve our passion.  However, IcyCaress and IGP have gone beyond reviewing and critiquing the game, by making completely false and unfounded statements.  They  are  bashing  Day  of  Dragons  for  what  seems  like  the  sake  of  damaging  the  game  beyond  repair.  They continually post false and misleading information, under the guise of “reviewing” the game, in an effort to drive people away from the game.  I can only speculate as to their true intent behind their false statements but I can no longer allow this false, misleading, and disparaging information to continue.  My team and I are subject to never ending harassment.  My moderators on  our  Discord  servers  continuously  receive  threatening  messages  (in  fact,  we  temporarily  shut  down  Discord  because  our  moderators  were  being  overwhelmed  with  the  amount  of  negative  activity there).  Our Steam Store page is continuously receiving negative “reviews” from players with less than one hour of playtime.  IcyCaress’ and IGP’s continual spread of false statements as facts has hurt our business operations, but more importantly, it has negatively affected our lives and I cannot let it stand.

IcyCaress  and  IGP,  by  falsely  stating  as  fact  that  Day  of  Dragons  violates  Steam’s  Terms  and  Conditions and EU law and regulation, have interfered with our business operations.  In countless videos and social media posts, IcyCaress and IGP have gone significantly beyond reviewing and critiquing Day of Dragons, they have spread false information as “facts.”  As detailed above, these categorically false statements are easily shown to be false, and if they had conducted any research, they would have seen as such.  Instead, they are more fixated on destroying Day of Dragons than they are upholding the integrity of gaming reviews.  Thus, in connection with this public statement, we are sending cease and desist letters to both IcyCaress and IGP requesting that they remove the categorically  false  information  they  have  circulated  through  YouTube  and  social  media  and  to  acknowledge the falsity of the information that they have perpetuated.  If this continues, we will have no choice but to consider further action.

To  the  current  players  and  supporters  of  Day  of  Dragons,  I  appreciate  your  commitment  to  our  game, sincerely thank you for your continued support, and I am sorry if you have experienced any harassment in connection with what has been going on.  Please do not engage in personal attacks
on IcyCaress, IGP, or those supporting them.  To those who have followed in IcyCaress’ and IGP’s footsteps in damaging our game without doing your own research and attacking my team and Day of  Dragon  supporters,  I  implore  you  to  look  into  the  matter  yourself  and  see  the  falsity  of  the  narrative IcyCaress and IGP have presented and hope that you will stop with the personal attacks.  To IcyCaress and IGP, I hope you will read this statement and see the error in your ways.  Day of Dragons is not a scam.  We are not violating Steam’s Early Access Rules.  We are fully committed to  satisfying  our  legal  obligations.    Day  of  Dragons  is  our  passion  and  our  livelihood.    We  are  dedicated to developing a dragon survival game that all will want to play.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and I wish you a Happy New Year.
Jao