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

Me too

 

Greetings lovely Farmers

I am glad to hear you are happy with the solution offered through Support - hopefully all of you will reach the desired resolution.

Thank you all for your continuous feedback, including the negative one and criticism - we will sure all learn from our mistakes, and hopefully this will not happen again - nobody liked unhappy communities. Thank you as well for the repeated lovely thoughts, I cannot say this enough!

Also, I am confident the stars will be back very very very soon.

I hope you will all continue farming happily .
​

Best regards,
teddy.bear

 

EDIT #2: I submitted another contact form and this time, while I did get a standard "this is a known problem, response will be posted..." message, it was followed up immediately by another that did offer reasonable compensation.. not what I said below, but reasonable.

I realized that in my above complaint, I did not really offer any solution. I am adding the specifics and a couple of things I have been thinking about even before the "todo".

What would I have wanted to see?
#1. As I did say, an IMMEDIATE offer of a refund for the cloud row. I don't think contacting those who bought them is outside of reason, but if done right away, even running a newsfeed item (i.e.: important announcement about valentines cloud row.. see newsletter in forum for details) and then telling people they can get a refund if they contact support would be reasonable.

#2.If not done, then more than a simple refund needs to be offered. This was your goof. You effectively reneged on your promises and even though this is "just a game", the amounts of money were small, the responsibility is yours to make sure its fixed. What would have been reasonable? The bonus code was OK for the general population. It did nothing to address the real money spent on the valentines row, which was the real issue for most of us talking about integrity. We wanted real compensation. Something additional, something tangible, was needed. Opening up Baha to powerfeed production would have helped or you could have offered a tree that gave powerfeed. If you don't already have the codes for that I am positive you could make one in very short order. One powerfeed every 2-3 days would go a long way toward addressing why we bought that cloud row in the first place and would not require a huge technical fix. (and certainly it would not be a trade item.. anymore than a cloud row itself is, though the givers can be -- again, this can be a different code/design item if another one exists that is trade-able in the G & T events) Ideally, after the delay in response, you should have done both.. offered people the choice of a refund or keeping their cloud row as an EP giver AND offering the tree. That would have put things right back where they were and restored people's faith quickly. In other words, even though the amounts involved are tiny, you had not just a moral obligation, but a legal obligation to correct this in many jurisdictions, even if its nor practical for folks to pursue that avenue. In fact, even the double compensation I mentioned above (offering both a refund and restitution comparable to the initial offering) is set in US law in many circumstances, so its not just an idle idea. In some cases, the restitution required is 3 times the initial amount. Also, announcement of this option should have been made to all who bought the item. While a quick newsflash would suffice if done immediately, once the issue festers, you needed to make much more of an effort. Again, it was YOUR error, not ours, an error that in the business world would generally be considered "fraud".

Generally:
#3. I still feel a lot of these changes go back to your erroneous research polls. Instead of multiple choice questions with preset answers that are obviously just general "gaming" or even general "website issue" questions, look at the specifics of why folks come to farmerama. ASK people. That takes more time, but you will get real answers. You began a good thing with your questions.. keep it up, but offer a thread (maybe in suggestions) that specifically asks people why they came to farmerama and why they are staying, also are they spending money (though this might be more accurate is you collate it yourself since some people won't want to admit their expenditures publically) If you like, then you can formulate those into a farmerama specific poll. That said, any such poll is almost inevitably going to be wrong. The real data is what happens at the website. Do people spend more money or not.. are more people playing, etc. However, you can glean information from polls if you construct them carefully enough. Remember, this is a sampling problem. The data you think to collect and how you collect it are each more important than the rough data. For example, I will use myself as a "guinea pig". I have said many times that I don't want to spend a lot of money here, am OK with small amounts here and there. I know you need to make money, and small amounts I can do without/don't terribly miss. That said, I have found myself spending quite a bit of money, even in fairly large chunks, because I have liked the game. So, basically, my responses have not matched my actions, which is common. If, however, you delve a little deeper, you can glean why. I have spent money to complete specific, larger events -- particularly the special packs. I have also spent money for harvester functions and for powerfeed packs, which allowed me to meet breeding goals and allowed me to give powerfeed to my neighbors. So, I have spent money, but at a cost to how I view the game. There is a definite trade-off. We start small, then get enticed to spend more. OK. That's marketing. We are supposed to be adults (or have adult oversight) to play. Still, when it goes from "I can get a nice bang from this $5.00" to then "I need to spend $20 to get a big bang" to... "hey, now they want MORE???". Well, from a marketing perspective you made me stop and think about my purchase, made me question therefore the expenditure much more. Also, when I feel forced, its no longer a pleasure. I come here for relaxation, not to be pressured. Pressure turns pleasure into work. Also, the pressure here is more long term, not like, say, the excitement/pressure/thrill of a battle or real thinking challenge. Again, there are other games that do that and do it well. Farmerama.. just is not that type of game, and that is its advantage, not its downfall! We get thrills here by gradually and progressively getting more crops, etc. This is why the call for more land, etc. We have all these nice animals, but cannot use them. On the other side, I do know that offering more will mean market price drops, which will reduce the thrill of getting these other items, but the bottom line is that as long as we are continually building and growing, folks will be generally happy.. at least those folks who are going to stick around. Those who don't... well, farmerama is not a game for everyone.

Also, per money --when I went from feeling a tad guilty over spending, say, $20 on a video game to feeling actually cheated... my attitude changes. In this, I don't just mean the cloud row issue (though yes, it was a definite "I feel cheated" issue), I also mean the way you seem to keep changing the demands, making it harder and harder to get various items like powerfeed, starts, etc. I am not saying don't offer larger items (larger batches of consumables, etc), but they should be true occasional bonuses, not regular requirements just to keep up on the game. I definitely DO like that you have "give your neighbors a gift" as a bonus for the bigger packs. That type of bonus helps build good feelings in the game. (hey, I am not just helping myself, I get to make my neighbors feel good, too -- balances the "gee, if I spend money here, it will take away from other things..." to a point)

#4. Time.. time is tied in with money in this game. I don't per se have an issue with people spending money to reduce the time they play and yes, that, absolutely, is a good strategy for you to make money. The issue is when it goes from an "enticement" to a "requirement". This is the big reason why I have objected to so many events. While it has been, so far, just possible to complete events without spending money, it requires pretty much spending "fulltime" at farmerama for the duration. Not just to finish sooner, but to finish at all. Recent home changes and bad weather have kept me at home a lot recently, but that is now changing. I won't have the time. If I wind up missing out on too many events and other offerings, it just won't be fun any more. (yes, there is a big difference between simply not having events and having them, but not being able to participate). I will leaver rather than being drawn into basically having to spend larger and larger amounts of money or do without in the game. Along those same lines, I dislike calling many of those events "difficult". Difficult implies strategy. Here, its just that you have to be willing to spend that much time on your computer or spend money. Once in a while, particularly for a really fantastic reward..OK, but over and over and over.. its just wearing. That "excitement" you seem to imply you are trying to build in the game.. it fades with repetition. Then we are back to the real origins, the reason most people play.. we want to see steady and continual progress. Occasional events are fun(one a month, say-- not counting moonlight madness or other mini events). All but a few events should be offered with enough time that people who can only "check in" twice, even once a day should be able to complete them. I can see offering bonuses or something to those who finish early, but the basic awards should be there for the gradual, casual player, with occasional exceptions (every 6 months or so, say). (and I would foresee a huge spike in your revenue during those times).



Well, this post is already long enough and has taken me more time than I like to admit to write. I fully realize that I am just one voice amongst many here, one player in a relatively small section of the game. However, it is how I feel and well, my opinion is not more important than anyone else's, but it is just as important. And.. I do know that I speak for others who either are not willing or able to post their own personal conclusions.


Again, Teddy thank you for all your work. The biggest thing still keeping me here is the interactions with people, including you. (oops.. did I just leave a big opening... lol)

 

You totally speak for me. Thank you for typing such an accurate description of the situation.

 

Looking forward to the update from the Team about the way the time is calculated on the mill subscription as referenced here. It definitely will affect strategic decision about how large a batch can be produced.

 

YES YES YES !!!! Thank you so much woody this was great!!! These are the parts I liked the best .

 

Do you think they (whoever they are) understand the mathematics involved?
I'm convinced they do not.
And even if they do, do you think they will own up and say, 'We were wrong'?
Whilst I am not asking for any form of compensation (having got the 50% reduction free in the first place) it really affected my next decision, which was to buy Mill Subscription. I'm afraid I'd be robbed again as happened here with no real compensation.
But since the issue is under review, I will refrain from commenting further...

 

I, too, will refrain from an opinion until an announcement is made but I can imagine it would be another forum/player outbreak if it indeed remains the same. I don't buy the mill subscription but it did confirm that that was a wise choice (for me).

As far as the math goes, I was able to follow and understand (not agree) both positions but I do have an opinion about which one should be the correct one (but will not publish now).

 

Greetings lovely Farmers,

Thank you very much for the continuous feedback.

woody, thank you very much for the kind words. ​

I am sorry you are disappointed, but I would like to ask you kindly to be respectful towards the Game Team. In case you have missed all the latest statements, please be so kind and check them - all the mistakes have been acknowledged, and they have been apologised for - so these kind of statements are really uncalled for. ​

Please stick to making constructive criticism / suggestions. You have been all amazingly supportive until now, so please don't let it escalate when the storm is over. ​

Best regards,
teddy.bear

Update:
Greetings lovely Farmers,

We have received clarifications on the subscriptions end matter, as explained here. We will add an example and warning to our FAQ as well.
​

Best regards,
teddy.bear

 

Thank you for the bugfix Everything seems to be running smoothly now

 

it takes too damn long to make even 1 pf so why do u make us use 2 pf on every breeding pen whats wrong with just 1 ? oh my bad if u did that u would lose money ahhh but u might lose players n there goes money

 

EDIT: I did make one more stab at contacting support, and much to my surprise and delight, they responded!

Apologies for my prior ire.

 

If the Mill only reduces the time for the length of the buff and then resets to the original milling time again within one batch, does it automatically readjust the times again when the buff is activated while a batch is already running?
Because while milling a bigger batch of PF, the CR would probably be activated several times.
Cloud row on and cloud row off...
The off function seems to work too well. So that towards the end of a Milling subscription a player is now forced to set up smaller batches and time the mill accordingly with the end of the subscription or just loose a lot of milling time.

So what about the on function?
If I were to buy a Milling Subscription while my batch of 17 PF is running for another maybe 110 hours, do I get the time reduction straight away? Or do I have to time the start of batches according to my buffs as well?
Considering that Mini Events like the sale of the milling subscription are usually not announced well in advance, why should I buy it if I were possibly to loose the first 110 hours on the subscription already by letting it run with the old times or loose the 40 hours that I have been milling on that batch already because of starting all over again?

That is what happened to me with the bonus code. I had a really long batch of camel food running and the bonus code for the faster mill did not affect the running batch. What to do? Loose the 200 hours already milled or keep going another 200 hours without the the bonus of the subscription taking effect?

Of course now without partial rewards one can not just switch of the mill that easily anymore and restart again the moment for example the subscription were to be bought (before one could only loose the time it would take to make one PF at the most).

 

While I like the ability to set up my animal feed one after another. The fact that you no longer get them as they are ready is not nice. As for the new rune times and well BP taketh away

 

I like the new mill, but what I don't like is that I can't check the amount of feed or PF like before. Even is not a big deal, sometime in events, that is important for make decisions on the way of finishing events. For example baby boom. I can't check how much PF I have left so I can decide what combination I have to make for obtaining the baby I want.

 

Hi bygo you can check your PF at the water tower

 

Oh! How I missed that? Thank you -Mir85- for letting me know

 

As noted above, I did submit another ticket to support and, much to my surprise I did get a response. Actually, I got one "we know of this problem and will post when a solution is available" message, but it was followed up by another offering me reasonable compensation.

I urge anyone who bought a valentine's row and/or mill subscription and who is unhappy to contact support.

I am not erasing my above comments, just posting edited updates that I did get resolution, because at the time, it was what I felt. Also, among other issues, I don't think I am the only one who either did not get a response from support initially or who did not understand the process to do so. I am happy with the resolution.

Further the other issues I addressed... too many events, constant increasing demands (OK strong encouragement), and the general feeling of being pushed still remain. If I buy anything additional, it will probably be a while, but lack of integrity by farmerama is no longer a reason... and I am no longer saying I absolutely won't buy anything.

Thank you for the attention, thank you again to Teddy for translating/forwarding all of these messages.

 

I hope we get a new newsletter soon I am still interested to hear about this:

From the February newsletter.

 

I too, would like to know the philosophy and long term vision. Please put out the overdue newsletter soon and clear the fog from our eyes.