I believe some of their DVD releases come with DRM.
I don't know for sure, as I still have those unopened, but I seem to recall that at least first two seasons of Sam&Max had both DRM and DRM-free DVDs.

I think those discs which said "Season 1" or "Season 2" on the cover had some sort of DRM, but those which said "Save the World" or "Beyond Space And Time" were DRM-free. Or vice versa.

Again, I don't say this is actually how it is, but this is my recollection of it.
Somebody who knows for sure can confirm this, or tell that I've been eating wrong mushrooms again and nothing like this ever happened...

The reality of DVD pressing is that you can't just print a couple off for a fan who never got around to ordering it. They would have to order a whole new batch which they probably wouldn't sell.

It sucks but I don't think they're being evil here.

I very much doubt they timed the sudden removal of all physical items from their store to coincide with them running out of stock of BttF.
Seriously, it's not like they removed things as an when they ran out of stock. It all just vanished over night with a site update. If I'd bought the game the day before the DVDs were all removed I'd be just as out of luck (and even more pissed off).

This is about the fact that they didn't give any warning. Evil? No. Shitty? Yes.

My issue with Telltale is not that they're "evil" but that their customer service is not very good. They could have given a "last chance to order" notice, at least for those who had already bought the privilege to "buy" the collector's Edition for "free". And when they promoted the bonus of getting "free" access to the discs, they could have added "only while stocks last" or "only during the course of the next year" or something. They're not forced to do something like that, but they'd be better advised to pay attention to such things if they really care about an image of being customer friendly and loyal to their fanbase.

Yes, I didn't recall a time or stock limit placed on the discs at least when I ordered. I had a bit of a look around their site as it was back then using the internet archive's wayback machine and couldn't see any obvious restrictions on the disc thing. Listing it as free doesn't excuse them from having to honour it (unless there was a disclaimer to that effect that I missed).

It was listed as part of the package I paid for and I have to say I wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't been for the disc. I hate Telltale's online activation on principle, but I was prepared to put up with the DRM on the downloads in the short term because what I was really paying for was the disc (I don't mean in legal terms, just in what I felt I was paying for).

There might not be any legal grounds for them having to honour it, but as you say it's pretty awful customer service, especially to a very long standing customer (I bought the first part of Bone in 2006).

It IS shitty to just remove the possibility to get discs, without warning. This thread got me into some manner of action though - I ordered the DVD for the third season off Amazon.co.uk (4 GBP, which, even with shipping within UK, would likely be cheaper than just the shipping from the US), and two copies of the comic book re-release off Amazon.com (expensive, but worth it for me - would be even more expensive from UK).

I think all DVD versions of their games coming directly from their website are DRM-free except Wallace & Gromit. However, some disc versions of their game were sold through retailers and those might have added DRM.

Correct on all counts. Strangely though, the US retail release of W&G was DRM-free where the TTG one wasn't.

Just heard back from them and yup, they're trying to claim that it was a limited time promotion! Which is complete bollocks! Anyone who has known Telltale for a long time is aware of how important a part of their business model the DVDs were. There was never any hint that it was a limited time promotion, it was just the way Telltale did things. They were still giving Sam & Max season 1 discs 4 years on so there was no reason to think they'd pull BttF after 2 years.

Now I understand times change, but if they wanted to get rid of the DVDs they could have warned people...


Also in the email I got back from them, instead of restoring SoMI:SE to my account, they emailed me a link to the installer on their CDN and gave me a CD key. I hope they only consider this a short term solution while they add the game back to my account, because otherwise that's pretty unprofessional.

It would have been a limited time promotion in the sense that, a Court will imply a term into the agreement that you would exercise your right to take up the option for the discs within a reasonable time.

The question then becomes, "What is a reasonable time?". I think most judicial officers would say that two years is not a reasonable time.

But my point is that it wasn't advertised as a promotion, but simply as something part of my purchase. I'm not interested in the legality because I'm quite clearly not going to take this to court yet.

What I am interested in is Telltale doing what's right. The DVD was in the list of features of the thing I bought, I paid for that DVD.

Is this a list of features you can post? I would love to see the wording.

"doing what's right" is subjective. Some might argue its not the right thing to do to expect a company to hold on to a dvd for 2 years waiting for you to do something. Some might say its perfectly reasonable, after 2 years with no indication from you that you would be requesting the DVD to no longer stock them. Personally, I think it's a little unreasonable to expect them to honour it after such a long time, but I accept others may disagree.

https://web.archive.org/web/20101203060431/http://www.telltalegames.com/store/backtothefuture Except they won't let me get it now. I can't find anything saying "while stocks last" or implying any kind of time limit either. The fact that it was listed as free makes no difference, without any kind of disclaimer it's still something I'm entitled to.

There might be a disclaimer, but I didn't see one when looking.
The page said I was entitled to the DVD, no time limit. 5 years might be unreasonable but 2 years isn't, especially when at the time the DVDs were available on the store indefinitely. The Sam & Max Season 1 DVD had been available for longer than 2 years at that point.

Besides, the DVDs disappeared over night. People who bought the game in August and waited 2 months are in the same situation as me. It's not about what is a reasonable length of time to wait, it's about the fact that they didn't specify a time (or stock) limit and then removed the DVDs without warning.

You shouldn't have waited so long, you obviously didn't want them very much if you were willing to wait 2+ years to actually ask for them.

All I'm seeing is yet another example of someone trying to blame everyone but themselves for their problems. You'll get no sympathy from me.