My concerns about BB changing

Hello friends,

As most of you know I am playing this game for a while now. And i got involved with TSO more then i expected.
But I am having a great time. But lately I am seeing a tone change on BB's end.

Both the communications here, ingame and from support are getting les friendly.
Per example:
TSO suffers from lag, we all suffer ffrom it now and then. All of us play adventures, sometimes we play with retreat or blocks. When the game lags blocks, retreats etc tend to fail resulting in losses of troops we worked hard to get.
I was used to BB awknoledging lag as their fault. But lately I am seeing more and more complaints from players that Support tells them "To bad for you, thats what you get for playing a Beta game".BB could atleast tell us they changed to a 'We-dont-care-about-our-customers' policy.

I have 2 problems with these responces:
A: This game is no way in a Beta state. We pay cash for gems. Lag and other bugs are not being fixed, so 'testresults' are not used (thats what the testserver is for) and its to old to be beta. The Beta naming is just a lame excuse to prevent lawsuits and be ... unfriendly to players.
B: BB used to respond in a differnt way. The previouse refunds are presedents for us to expect the same now.

Same go's for these forums etc. To me it seems like BB no longer is intrested in the positive community they tried to create when NFL server started, and that is a waste of all the effort we all have put in here.

I can only wonder about the reasoning behind these changes. But I think it has to do with a new game/community manager (or whatever the manager above aza and ravel is called) (?)

Hi Nukar,

I'm sorry you feel this way.
I have always tried to pass on the positive feedback I get on the forums to BB and we have a very competent reporting system where we tall BB about what's happening in our community (feedback, ideas for new game features, bugs and issues with the game). I will definitely report the increase in lag or at least the fact that lag is a real issue in the game and push the devs to check this out/try and reduce the lag issues.

Moreover, there have been no changes in our policy. Obviously over time there are going to be changes in management and staff (even though this is not the case here), but we will always have the same policy concerning player satisfaction and happiness.

Best,
BB_Azariel

Hi Aza,

Tank you for your reply. I wouldnt call my topic 'positive feedback'tho :). Also please tell Support that your policy has not changed.
At best their responces are less friendly then before.
Replies like

Quote:

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Please bare in mind that this game is on the beta stage and issues like the one you've experienced happen.

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are getting to common now.

Cheers,
Nukar

nt

nt

Not to mention that support failed to answer at all to my emails - repeatedly. (I had an issue getting my email validated, under no circumstance would it work, and I got no repsonse whatsoever from support, even on the email-adress suggested by an in-game BB employee. Twice. The thing that eventually did the trick was to change my email-adress. No clue why that helped).

Also, more generally speaking: when will this game exit the beta stage, roughly speaking? Would be nice to know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hayek

Also, more generally speaking: when will this game exit the beta stage, roughly speaking? Would be nice to know.

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My best guess at this moment will be Never

After our litle clash with BB on the scammer topic I have seen yet an other playerunfriendly act.
BB_Dante locked the topic. Why? Not because i called out a scammer. But because THEY think all that has to be said has been said. I disagree. It's ok with me he dropped the post where i pointed out BB cant hold their promisse (unbanning a scammer contradicts that whole topic). But the discussion is far from closed as far as im concerned.
Putting on a muzzle wont work.

Just now I learned BB or a MOD killed a topic from an other player that has been expressing his concerns on the way how BB act on enforcing their own rules. It just dissapeared within a few minutes...

These one sided actions are ridicule... The more i see the less i believe BB does want a possitive community. It seems that all they want is a large playerbase (most likely to spend cash)
They prefer to keep giving rule violators a second change over and over again.
So now I am starting to wonder, why should I uphold the rules if they themself do not? I dont mind the rules, I helped upholding them more then once. But current events make me wonder why.

Azariel,

1 ) Support is appalling - I have only sent one ticket in and that was answered automatically once and that was it.

2 ) Moderation is a total joke - I have had posts pulled for all the wrong reasons - moderators taking themselves far too seriously - they need to lighten up big time. When moderation is used incorrectly it becomes something totally different. I am more than happy to send you dates and times which I have recorded when I have not only witnessed this but been included in it. Some of your moderators are not the polite keepers of the peace you want them to be - they lack life skills and behave in extremely inflamatory behaviour which just sours the customers perception.

3 ) You should start to listen instead of telling us how you think it is.

And you should address the issues as your customers are telling you they perceive them.

I am more than confident you will not as I genuinely believe the BB business model to be one which simply concentrates on maximum extraction of cash - enjoyment of the game and dealing with complaints such as mine are a drain on resources.

oh well.. what can i say....

not much apparently

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Qualan

oh well.. what can i say....

not much apparently

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Whilst taking part in Global chat this eveing I have witnessed what I would refer to as a prime example of the general level of moderation being used.

[22:18] XXXX : this game isnt free ?????????????????????????????????????
[22:20]MOD XXXX : I think 1 maybe 2 questions marks would have sufficed xxxx, please do not spam like that

In my 12 years of using bulleting boards and chat boards I have never heard of question marks being used like that being referred to as spam.

Incredulous.

Over zealous, non constructive, indeed bordering on bullying (regardless of wether it was intentional or not)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nuttymut

Whilst taking part in Global chat this eveing I have witnessed what I would refer to as a prime example of the general level of moderation being used.

[22:18] XXXX : this game isnt free ?????????????????????????????????????
[22:20]MOD XXXX : I think 1 maybe 2 questions marks would have sufficed xxxx, please do not spam like that

In my 12 years of using bulleting boards and chat boards I have never heard of question marks being used like that being referred to as spam.

Incredulous.

Over zealous, non constructive, indeed bordering on bullying (regardless of wether it was intentional or not)

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I consider overuse of questionmarks spam, and am glad the mod told him so.

just wan't to ad that i never got a respond from customer support when i mail them; think if you send a mail to there it is automatic deleted or ignored; dno wy! So i stopped. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dilbe

I consider overuse of questionmarks spam, and am glad the mod told him so.

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I consider the mod didn't do a good job at all. I stand by what I have said. Thank you :-)

FYI: I've played online games for many years, and worked in every job/field I know of, so I am familiar with MODding and multiplayer environments.

I fully understand the workload and the storm of negativity a MOD has to deal with, that is the nature of the job. (If you don't like it, or can't handle it, then don't do it). It comes with the territory, and increases as a game ages beyond a few months. Scammers proliferate if not properly dealt with, especially when devs have other important focuses other than tracking problem/abusive players (and rightly so, focus on the game development). And I also fully understand MODs are human too, and more often than not, players like everyone else, and would like to enjoy their game.

However, IMO, some of the actions of some MODs is pretty bad, and over zealous when less drastic alternatives are available. I'm naturally inclined to aid/advise players and devs wherever I can to enhance the game for myself and everyone. However, over the last few months, my experiences have soured my willingness to go out of my way. I'm now much less helpful/talkative in chats, and generally see it as a waste of my time wading through the scammers and Spam that MODs fail to control; to help players, or keep chats clear/productive.

I did apply for the MOD job and did not hear anything back. So can't say you have a lack of offers to help.

I have also seen positive effective MODding, so it's not all bad.

Cheers
Scruffy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonDa

just wan't to ad that i never got a respond from customer support when i mail them; think if you send a mail to there it is automatic deleted or ignored; dno wy! So i stopped. :)

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I've sent many emails to Support, and always got an answer back. Even the Negative ones. Though they've gotten progressively less helpful. I'm guessing I have a huge red flag against my name so supports natural reaction is 'F off'. And even if some responses were generic to widespread issues.

Hi Emperor,

May I take a moment out just to apologise to the opening poster about this thread within a thread. I considered opening a new thread, but genuinely felt of the two options available I should reply here. The third option, not to reply was not the route I preferred.

I am not suggesting that moderators are a separate class of citizen in any game. However, I do feel that having unpaid moderators isn't the best route available to BB.

Let me try and analyse the problem

• There are numerous chat channels available for different languages and trading
• Accessing these channels for a new player is difficult to understand
• There is no drop down option to ignore players - the existing method is difficult to remember
• After weekly maintenance all players are defaulted back th global 1
• Which means other language players have to reset to their channel again
• Moderation varies greatly - probably due to cultural differences and younger moderators attempting to use enthusiasm where experience is needed

I'm going to diversify a little if I may. Can I ask you to follow my "poor" analogy please. Most of us know the story of the Titanic. And yes it sank. After the event there were many people who stepped forward to analyse why the ship sank. Strangely enough they were not to be seen before it sank - saying don't sail this ship will sink, it's not water tight.

And so it always seems that after the event the world is crammed full of managers. Those same managers were nowhere to be seen when it was time to make the original decisions.

I have, therefore, to remind myself that I am currently doing no more than attempting to manage after the event. And that's not a good position to take. It will certainly not improve perceptions and attitudes towards me. I am not alluding to this as a popularity contest either.

If I can refer back to my "poor" analogy again. Many would suggest, nay even argue, that the loss of 1,500 lives needs to be analysed. And I would have to agree. And that analysis has gone on for a hundred years now. In truth most of us "perceive" the huge loss of life to be nothing short of poor decisions by greedy and inept management. However, the reality could not be further from the perception.

In reality the simple truth is that many more lives should have been lost. The Titanic story is not simple. It sank due to a series of events. Yet despite that the fact that 700 people survived is the most amazing part of the story.

You may think my analogy is a little extreme when discussing moderation on a chat board. It's an analogy ;-)

There's a final twist in my analogy. We could all argue that ship builders, owners and government bodies learned great lessons after the Titanic. Yet the record shows the reverse. We only need to look at the Costa Concordia recently. The real truth is far from the perception we all have.

And that's where we are with moderation issues on BB. There's reality and there's perceptions. And currently the void between the two is particulary vast. This could be improved by BB in my opinion.

Thoughts/suggestions

• Add an ignore player button to the hover over drop down on players names
• Add a hover over channel selector over the channel tab
• Assign like cultured moderators on Forum and chat channels

Some simple measures that should be easy to code up.

I've tried not to allow myself to drift into a postion of using this post to complain about

• My own perceptions
• My own treatment from moderators

I do, however, reserve all rights to challenge decisions which, in my opinion, could have been handled more effectively.

Best
Nuttymut

^^

Spammer... :P

I dont mind much. Since BB doesnt seem to care on this subject neither do I anymore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nukar

^^

Spammer... :P

I dont mind much. Since BB doesnt seem to care on this subject neither do I anymore.

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Yes I can spam for England :-) lol

"Trite comment of the day"

• If you don't get up you can never fail again
• And of course we all know success comes from never getting back up don't we