Stop misleading descriptions

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05.07.14 02:52
Treno

Stop misleading descriptions

Dear Devs,

I know that the ultimate goal is to make money while doing something you love, but I feel that this can get a bit out of hand. Recently, in your Football World Cup event you have added a "Master Architect" box which "contains one rare, random building for your island." This is misleading because it contains decorations as well.

I can understand if you decide that a decoration is a building (because it does need to be built) but they're not considered rare by your players. Especially when they are a majority - I came across 5 chopping blocks. Rare? Not really. It would be if I also got 5 arctic mines, or improved warehouses but that's not the case. It would seem that you know what a rare random building would be because you suggest 4 of them in the description.

So this isn't really a complaint. That's why it's in the suggestion forum. Because while you won't have meant to mislead, that's not really how the law looks at it - so at least you know for the future that it should at least read "May contain one rare, random building for your island" because "contains" is a guarantee.

Kind Regards,
Treno
05.07.14 07:35
Dorotheus

The keyword is random. This means you may get what you don't want. Also that you find one item desirable does not imply others will. You mentioned Arctic mines, what is not clear from what you say is if you understand exactly what they are and how they should be used. Everyone I know considers them to be a booby prize because you got to keep obtaining iron refills to keep them running, not to mention the fact that you have to keep a eye on them to make sure that they don't expire.

In this game rare does not mean there is not a lot of them, it's means you probably have to put in a lot of work to obtain it but if lucky you may get it sooner. There i s one decoration which is in short supply because not many have done the work to get it yet it's not in this particular box.

The box's which are available do change with each event and what's in them is different. If you want to know what's in each box and the odds of getting it I suggest to check the test forums but you should not assume a particular building can be found in the current box. As far as I'm aware that Imp Store you want is not in the MA box
05.07.14 08:37
PChamps

Treno - I made exactly the same complaint to support the last time these boxes come up. They mislead by not writing the box also contains decorations this is by design to fool as many people into buying them there is no doubt about that.

Regardless of who trys to defend BB it does not change the fact they are trying to deceive people. If I dig out the messages from support they finally said to me they could of put more thought in to it as I quote "it can appear misleading"
10.07.14 05:55
Treno

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorotheus

The keyword is random. This means you may get what you don't want. Also that you find one item desirable does not imply others will.

Kind Regards for your reply mate, but there is definition and there is law.

I am not complaining that I got decorations, rather that the wording used is misleading - this is illegal. I mentioned Arctic Mines because these are buildings that help towards your resources (Gaining / Storing / Producing) and is more of value than a Chopping Block which doesn't help towards your resources.

Stating that

Quote:

...rare does not mean there is not a lot of them

when by Collins Dictionary the definition of rare is either

Quote:

not occuring very often

or

Quote:

not found in large numbers and so of interest or value

and finally

Quote:

unusually good or remarkable

which is what is upholdable in a court of law.

I'm not asking much - it's just a suggestion that in the future the wording says "May contain" instead of "Contains" and honestly, to write so many words when the change would be four characters (If someone official from BB replies), is not a good look. It's a waste of resources (time and money) and all for something that's just a legal right.

It's about being honest and not bait advertising / being misleading in an advertorial. A lot of devs feel that they're immune to the law because they're online - but they're not. Look at MegaUpload for example. boy is that happening!
10.07.14 17:59
Dorotheus

If the developers were English then maybe there might be a case to answer for. However they are a German company and the problems arise due to the game being translated in to English. I'm not aware of any law which makes it punishable to badly translate.
12.07.14 02:08
Treno

In that sense, Dorotheus, you would be right. Except for I'm now telling them that it is misleading. So if they chose to remain ignorant of this post, ignorance is punishable. It is discriminatory to think that developers are limited to one language, however.
12.07.14 15:13
Jimmian

I'm fairly sure even the Germans can say both "contains one rare, random building" and "may contain one rare, random building".

Blue Byte has been owned by Ubisoft since 2001. Ubisoft are a French multinational company. To offer a language barrier German > English as a genuine excuse for misleading (paying) customers... well, where's Gerontius when you need him? Don't try to defend the indefensible. You're the one left looking foolish.

I 100% agree with Treno and PChamps here.

Oh, and while we're discussing misleading/incorrect nomenclature... what's with calling this farce of an event the "World Championship"??? Even the dogs on the street in the favelas in Brazil know it's called the "World Cup". Coupe du Monde, Copa mundial... etc. Where's 'championship' come into it???? Another example of sloppy workmanship imo!
13.07.14 01:15
SmurfAsH

Jimmian, don't forget the "Soccer time!" in the event shop.. :rolleyes:
13.07.14 03:30
Sharpielein

The problem is that they cannot truly say "Has a chance of containing ..." because all of a sudden, they'd have to apply for a gambling license and would have to shut down the game for <18 years, because it would be a game of chance you'd be betting real money (gems) on!

In fact, those boxes are a slippery slope because they are very, very close to what gambling laws prohibit... "Chance to lose everything or gain something worth over €10 when sold and exchanged for other gembought resources"
13.07.14 03:38
DaddyBob

I could not agree more with all this miss leading info on the "Master Architect" box which contains one rare, random building for your island. A statue or chopping block is not a building and they should refund everybody who as had these items when they have opened the box. Some people have used gems for footballs which to buy these boxes and to have useless items is a joke.

So lets have some fare play and sort out this problem. A reply as to why we are having this issue would be nice.
13.07.14 13:01
Astraldimension

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaddyBob

So lets have some fare play and sort out this problem. A reply as to why we are having this issue would be nice.

+1
13.07.14 13:27
Gerontius

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmian

Blue Byte has been owned by Ubisoft since 2001. Ubisoft are a French multinational company. To offer a language barrier German > English as a genuine excuse for misleading (paying) customers... well, where's Gerontius when you need him? Don't try to defend the indefensible. You're the one left looking foolish.

Are my ears burning?

I'd say it's one of many "undocumented features" of the game and that's what the forums are here for - filling in the gaps that BB leave. Never buy anything without checking the forums!

I'm not saying the description is good or fair, I'm saying that (a) things like this will never be fixed and (b) every player should remember caveat emptor on anything bought from the shop.
14.07.14 23:11
Jimmian

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmurfAsH

Jimmian, don't forget the "Soccer time!" in the event shop.. :rolleyes:

+1 My bad - couldn't get past the championship to pick up the others :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharpielein

The problem is that they cannot truly say "Has a chance of containing ..." because all of a sudden, they'd have to apply for a gambling license and would have to shut down the game for <18 years, because it would be a game of chance you'd be betting real money (gems) on!

In fact, those boxes are a slippery slope because they are very, very close to what gambling laws prohibit... "Chance to lose everything or gain something worth over €10 when sold and exchanged for other gembought resources"

Well, I don't know enough about gambling laws to confirm or deny but the whole thing could then easily be solved by changing the text to "contains one rare building or decoration"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerontius

Are my ears burning?

Only so far as I was quoting your wise words from another thread :)
15.07.14 01:03
ddakka

I got burned very early on in this game. I took the descriptions literally and found they were either wrong, or purposely misleading. That was on my first day in TSO. Since then I mistrust any description, and when something sounds too good to be true, I assume it is. I also don't pay for gems anymore due to some of the shenanigans they pull in trying to dupe us out of real money.

While I do appreciate the hard work that has gone into the game, I have now become jaded and cynical towards any "propaganda" statements distributed by them. I've heard the whole language barrier argument, and if you have played more than one game of non English original, you should notice they almost always have a fluent English person to translate the text that actually plays the game. Some smart games actually hire an existing player and give him cool benefits just to perform that singular task.

I used to defend BB early on, but after a year of reading these forums, it has become abundantly clear that they really don't care what their customers think at all.I could probably count on 1 hand where an actual BB employee has responded to a post with absolute certainly about something suggested.

While i agree wholeheartedly with the Original Posters request and arguments, I seriously doubt BB will take note, care or even look at this post. I am not sure if it was different over a year ago, but from my experience BB do not care to listen to their customers, or partake in this forum. I have given up making suggestions since i have hardly seen any come to fruition. Perhaps maybe a handful, and I now assume those were just coincidences.
15.07.14 11:58
Jimmian

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddakka

I mistrust any description, and when something sounds too good to be true, I assume it is. I also don't pay for gems anymore due to some of the shenanigans they pull in trying to dupe us out of real money.

This is why I have never paid a penny for TSO, and have no plans to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddakka

you should notice they almost always have a fluent English person to translate the text that actually plays the game. Some smart games actually hire an existing player and give him cool benefits just to perform that singular task.

That would be too much like common sense, however, every CM I've seen on this game, including the current Ravel, has had a strong enough command of English to converse with players on these boards and in-game. If BB were stuck for fluent English speakers in the dev team, surely they could have looked further afield within their employees or, as you say, to the players. Amazes me how they can come up with 'damascene weaponsmith' and 'Artesian well' but they can't say 'may contain' or 'or decoration'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddakka

it has become abundantly clear that they really don't care what their customers think at all.I could probably count on 1 hand where an actual BB employee has responded to a post with absolute certainly about something suggested.

...I seriously doubt BB will take note, care or even look at this post. I am not sure if it was different over a year ago, but from my experience BB do not care to listen to their customers, or partake in this forum.

In fairness, Ravel does seem to be making a lot of effort in this area, I think the problems are beyond the CM though. So many people have suggested that the devs actively communicate with the player base but they don't even seem to communicate with Ravel, as a lot of the posts are "as far as I know" or "I believe" or "this may be subject to change" or "no date has been set yet" etc. Ravel is in an impossible position as far as I can see - trying to put a positive (or at least less ridiculous) spin on anything coming from BB side, while trying to keep the (often irate, and reasonably so) players happy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddakka

I have given up making suggestions since i have hardly seen any come to fruition. Perhaps maybe a handful, and I now assume those were just coincidences.

Well, I haven't reached that point - I still suggest things (or, more often, build on the suggestions of others that I think have merit) but I have given up almost all hope that any suggestion will ever be listened to on this forum, in the spirit it was intended. I've seen things appear that were suggested on the forum, but the implementation was so unnecessarily complex or the costs so prohibitive, it wasn't actually anything like it was intended to be, nor was it useful.