Feedback Mill Changes (Part II), Producer Newsletter and Compensation

Greetings lovely Farmers

Thank you all once again for the feedback provided, another round has been forwarded to the Game Team. We have no update but the 4 long days have included a weekend, so today is the second day only - and also, I can assure you that this is a very hard situation for the Game Team as well, and decisions are not easy to take in these circumstances, most certainly.

Also, thank you very much for being so kind and wonderful I have mentioned this in the feedback forwarded as well. We are lucky to have such an understanding community, and keeping everything civilised during these tough times. You rock!
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Best regards,
teddy.bear

 

-edit-

To those who read my feedback in this post: It was based on wrong information, please disregard it

 

teddy.bear as always, you are the best! Thank you for that

 

Although producers admitted that removing stars was an "unfortunate and poor decision", we are now running yet another event with no stars attached.

Could you please instead of removing the rewards think of the ways we can spend them. So far my tree of wisdom has absorbed over 5.5k of stars, and although the sky around the tree was getting lighter the sunrise never came! There are more than enough suggestions and room to expand the tree.

 

Question: Can we expect any sort of response to our feedback?

Feedback: I am getting very impatient

 

As teddy said, these issues take a long time to resolve. It could be a few days before a solution is reached and communicated to the players. It is a very frustrating situation but nevertheless we must patiently give the amount of time needed to the team to sort this out properly. If that take two weeks, I'd rather wait two weeks for a proper solution. They are human after all.

 

You are assuming another solution is being sought and/or that something will be communicated. So far there has been no indication of that, so I am wondering if that is the case or if they are just waiting for us to calm down, forgive and forget.

 

thats what i would like to know .... If the issue of the powerfeed now taking longer to mill is even a thought .... or is that just how its going to stay ..... NOTHING as yet has been explained with any certainty

 

As they say 'silence is golden' so by the lack of communication they are trying our patience. As with all money making companies if it was on the other foot we would soon know. They have had enough time

 

Greetings everyone,

The long waited statement is here.
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Best regards,
teddy.bear

 

Nice to see that stars will be coming back to events but would have been nicer to know exactly when that will happen. At this point, the proof is in the pudding.

 

That's funny deciding to bring back stars after 2 events have elapsed since producers newsletter saying got it wrong regarding stars. I gather we won't get reimbursed for stars for this event, I will answer myself NO. So we take it from statement mill staying the same blaming 'technical' issues Hmmmm

 

Well, I don't know about everyone else but I am fed up of empty apologies and poor explanations. Funny how the buffs for PF have really not been problematic for the past 3+ years I've been playing.

 

"Unfortunately, the change was needed also in-order to make sure that the buff is valid irrespective of user being online or not."

I don't understand this part?? Could someone please explain what he means.

 

I understand that as "the change was needed in order to have the buff (pf time reducing cloud row effect?) be working, the user being online or not"....

but that's me...and i'm not a native english speaker and it might be translated from German TO english, so...uhm... not sure.



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It was needed for the economy of the game.... yes yes. You mean for the wallet of Bp.

Xept WE are feeling like plucked chickens by now when it comes to money.
Especially when changing an already bought effect. I will never trust a newly bought effect to stay the same again!
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Nice of you to bring the stars back, but my gaming strategy has permanently changed. The only thing I spend, is what I earn INSIDE the game. That way, bp may become more generous with providing VIRTUAL money in this VIRTUAL game, for all the virtual goods. SO, once i realized its all virtual.... i'm sitting on my REAL money. And it's sitting rather nicely actually.

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Especially for you Teddy:

 

Hi!

In regards to the new announcement (linked by teddy.bear above), BP says that they are BRINGING BACK THE STARS to event quests!

Having an explanation for the mill changes goes a little way toward soothing my mill-related annoyance, though I'm still not happy about how BP is handling the whole CR issue. BUT, BP could have told us this weeks ago. Why did it take so long?

However, the two following points still make it more annoying to use than it needs to be:
1) It defaults to the last category of animals used, not the "all" tab. Every time I open the mill, I have to change tabs.

2) The text size is small and difficult to read.

-cpeterson

Edit: changed "test" to "text"

 

I am not a tech savvy person so I don't really understand all that was said in the newsletter. That leaves me feeling still frustrated and as confused as ever.

The only thing I understood was stars are returning. I think there needs to be a script/sync (whatever it is officially called) to apply stars to the previous events and book them to our accounts.


"We see that you are upset about the poor communication especially with the mill redesign. I assure you that we are listening to you and your wishes. Many of you have complained and asked for the old mill back. We realize the mistakes we’ve made. We’ve also a seen a lot of technical issues and we strived to react as soon as possible to fix them. It has been frustrating but we assure you that these changes were important for the long run. Unfortunately, we failed to communicate this effectively to you.

The behaviour changes were introduced for technical reasons. Especially removing the partial finishing of all feed in the mill. The behaviour of the buffs was also unfortunately necessary for the game’s economy. Unfortunately, the change was needed also in-order to make sure that the buff is valid irrespective of user being online or not. We are humbly sorry for disappointing you."

It seems to still be poor communication that has failed to be communicated effectively for the mill. Let's not compound the problem by continuing to have poor communication.

Better communication would have included why the changes were important for the long run. What is happening in the future that dictates such a radical change in the mill that would necessitate the removal of partial completion of feed? Depending on how long the long run is would mean that the partial completion could still be an in game feature. A few weeks? Months? Next year? The behavior of buffs ...for the game's economy only says to me that PF sales are negatively affected with better PF milling. It is evident that BP thinks there is still too much PF stockpiled on our farms since none is included as a prize in the current event. The effects of the cloud row in combination of the mill subscription were easily identified by players and should have been as easily found by BP in the testing phase long before it was actually placed on sale and implemented in the game. The 'corrective' action should never had to happen but mistakes do happen but then it should have been better communicated before any changes were made with the restitution plan in place (refund of BB). There is still no mention of any compensation for the cloud row in regards to BB. Or does BP think the extension of the buff and the shorter cooldown are adequate? I think that players should have the option of purchase...if the cloud row were to be on sale now as it currently stands for the same price, would you buy it? If yes, players should keep the row. If not, players should be allowed a refund.

Like hatzeva, I don't understand the final comment about the buff being valid irrespective of users being online or not. Once a buff is activated, it does not need the player to remain online for it to continue to work.

So while we have all been waiting for some resolution about the problems with the mill, it now appears there are none as BP is just stating that the changes were necessary and we're sorry we did tell you sooner. Not sure why it took so long to draft that kind of statement when we were trying to patient for an actual fix to the problem. Pffft.

 

Thank you Freebird for trying to explain

Still not sure I understand what it means...
Have we ever had Buffs that are dependent on whether we are on-line or not? I can't recall one single thing that stopped "working" once we logged off.

What a mess this whole issue is, and at least to me, it feels like BP is digging a very deep grave for themselves

And it's so unnecessary. I just want to tend to my Farm and enjoy my time whilst doing it. Politics, poor management, greed and aggression I get enough of in RL. Shape up BP! (I know I'm speaking to deaf ears but feels good to get it off my chest..)

 

I think puppiesnponies has said it better than I ever could. I agree this letter is just confusing.
I will believe the stars will return when I see it, that is how much trust has been lost. As for the cloud row, even though you extended the time of the buff with less cool down time you also extended the time required to make all food and no access to it until finished. Not a good compensation!! The offer of a return of BB's should be made.
BP, you have a great game here and I have willingly spent my money out of enjoyment of the game. But when I start to fell cheated or you start acting greedy then my wallet shuts. Do not drive off your loyal customers. Be open, honest and communicate Clearly, It will take you much farther.

 

Announcement is vague and gives impression more as attempt to "calm down the spirits", rather then clearly state anything.
A lot of excuses and double-talking explanations.

Ok, yes, stars will be back, but we heard that 2w ago.

And for Valentine Row buyers, looks to me that message is "it's like that, and that's the way it is".

All in all, disappointing (again).