I too would really have loved to have the mug. Much more useful than the statue. We'll likely never know whether good quality mugs were to be had for the available budget (shipping and packaging is likely also a concern here, as mugs are both heavy and fragile), so it's pointless to speculate.
The statue was also somewhat weighty and probably at least somewhat fragile. It was however packed in a custom-fit styrofoam container, which even said "Divinity: Original Sin II" on the styrofoam, so I'm not sure that the "too fragile" argument makes much sense.
However, just like the thing with the Oujia board, the change should have been communicated a lot earlier. That statue certainly did not manifest itself just days before the CE was revealed.
Absolutely. I certainly hope someone (Swen) can enlighten the people about this process, because to me, a change like this, done a long time ago and without any communication, is a warning sign of a company which is losing touch with its customers AND doesn't seem to think it needs to talk to its customers.
Larian seems happy with the Kickstarter model and is likely to return there just for the feedback, but when people are pledging a hundred dollars or more for the special stuff, they tend to expect that the company intends to follow through on the promise. If they can't follow through, communicating why they can't from an early date is the least they can do.
