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My DB concerns...

TheVerge04TheVerge04 ✭✭✭
edited August 2018 in The Bridge
I’ve been debating for a while whether or not to actually post my concerns, but after the latest event, I thought it would be best to post this. If for no other reason, I hope the community can counter my concerns and put my mind at ease.

I am very concerned about the future of Disruptor Beam. In the recent past we have seen a number of issues being raised. Bugs seriously affecting the game have been identified (including the Shuttle bug and the current skirmish bug). Minor bugs are also identified, but we have been told that there is a lack of “bandwidth” to work on all of the identified issues. Instead of addressing a lot of the issues publicly, DB has been silent. In the instances where they do address the issues, they are vague and, in the case of the current skirmish issue, change past statements to attempt to make us all believe that everything is happening according to plan.

This does not give me confidence. The last time I saw the number of costommer complaints coupled with a distinct lack of transparency and communication from the developer was with Marvel Heroes Online, right before it shut the doors without any real notice to consumers.

The lack of “bandwidth” coupled with the user-identified weaknesses in QA are troubling for two reasons:
1) Just last year, DB received $8.5M through series B funding. This should have been enough to ensure the game was funded to run well (as their own press releases stated that Star Trek Timelines was one of the more profitable games, and the intention was to continue building it out). Therefore, there should have been enough funding to ensure that devs had enough “bandwidth” to work out the bugs in ST:T
2). In October 2017, *after* the receipt of the series B funding, DB laid off a lot of staff (according to one report 30-40 people). This included “everyone from QA team members and artists to coders....”. The loss of QA staff is hard for me take considering the growing number of bugs and errors we have been seeing lately. Why would a company lay off positions that were so vital to ensuring a quality product for its customers unless there was some problems of which were are not aware? Also, if there is a noted lack of bandwidth to address documented issues, why cut these positions (especially after receiving an influx of capital)?

I understand (but REALLY don’t like) why there is a lack of communication and transparency: CYA. Nobody wants to start a panic and have people running from the game and stop spending the money to keep it going. But, I want to remind DB that it was the lack of communication that truly brought the end of Marvel Heroes Online. The lack of any type of communication (or obviously false statements that all is going according to plan) created great distrust of the company. Once distrust took hold, it was difficult to maintain old players and coax new players into spending money on the game.

I hope beyond hope that I am wrong, and that everything really *is* going well, and that DB is remedying the lack of bandwidth and the QA issues. But, until I hear from them on a truly honest basis (no rewriting of history to claim that everything is going to plan), I am going to be concerned. I’d also feel better if the community had instances showing that everything is actually going well with DB.

I apologize for the book...as, I’ve said before, brevity is not my forte. And, I hope that my fears are for naught, and that DB is NOT taking a page from MHO.
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Comments

  • WaldoMagWaldoMag ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    Thanks for info. I will keep this in mind if I go seek legal advice.
    That I might be beating a dead horse. Might be better to take what I can get back and end this nightmare.

    Makes me wonder again about Polywatergate iinteresting timing for an error that would be useful for next event.
  • Cpt. CavemanCpt. Caveman ✭✭✭✭
    TheVerge04 wrote: »
    it was the lack of communication that truly brought the end of Marvel Heroes Online. The lack of any type of communication (or obviously false statements that all is going according to plan) created great distrust of the company. Once distrust took hold, it was difficult to maintain old players and coax new players into spending money on the game.

    I was there for not only Marvel Heroes, but Marvel Avengers Alliance doing the same thing. I agree with this statement 100%. I stopped spending anything in Marvel Heroes, mainly because they stopped working on the game, though. They quit putting out new content, so there was nothing to buy with "fresh" money. They promised new raids, new events, but just quit putting any development into the game.

    Last fall right after the "resize" of DB, they launched their Voyages, and ran into a logistics nightmare. They were getting thousands of customer support tickets each day. Because of the high volume of tickets, I don't think we, as customers, got the customer service that was expected. When the dust cleared, and the tickets were caught up, DB lost many paying customers. I can look back at my tickets and see that I had items open for 2 months before they were resolved.

    I expect a long delay with my ticket on Polywater Yar. But, I doubt it will take 2 months to have someone contact me. However, I do expect everyone that is wanting to escalate their tickets for compensation will be waiting in a long, long line. If a thousand tickets get kicked up to the top, and they spend 1 hour per ticket, that's 41 days worth of work. I'm guessing the first Yar tickets started around ticket 450000. So, you can subtract that from your ticket number to see just how many people are ahead of you, and imagine how long you can wait.

    My ticket last year resulted in my not being able to log into the game for 38 days. In the end, they had to transfer my account info onto another account. That resulted in me losing about 20% of my crew. They did very little to make up for the days or content lost. But, I have to admit that they did a lot of work getting me 80% of my account. I was expecting closer to 50%.

    This Spring I had another ticket, and I had a return well over what I expected. In fact it made up for the horrible experience I had in the Fall.

    So, I have faith in the company. But, this "bait and switch nerf" will always be in my mind the next time I want to make a purchase larger than $4. I have faith, but not much respect atm. We'll see how this week goes when they get back from their weekends' off.



  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    The funding possibly came with investor involvement and hence the layoffs. I think DB is no longer a decent growth opportunity for investors, but represents a cash flow opportunity. At our expense.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    The more I think about it, the more this makes sense. They have expanded to every reasonable platform and have therefore reached as much of their audience as possible. Now it's just the slow churn of that audience until the game dies. Anyone seen any advertisements for STT recently?
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yep, there is a board member from Converge Venture Partners Inc. Don't know when they were appointed, but I am guessing that the layoffs are not unrelated.

    DB has given up on being the next billion dollar company, so now it's just a cash business. Which is fine, lots of good businesses can exist doing that. The question becomes, are they doing enough to keep the game interesting that it can keep its existing customers for longer and extract more revenue from them.
  • Anyone who has ever seen a FTP game go down will recognise the signs. My guess would be, once the pipeline of pre-produced art dries up, events will turn into re-runs or stop completely. That will lead to people spending significantly less money and eventually DB pulling the plug. Shortly before that, we will see an increase in the release of stat-creep monsters to take advantage of the dedicated users' FOMO. This might still be a few months off, depending on the art reserves and airing schedule of Discovery (for which they might even invest in new art), but personally I won't spend money on this product anymore.
  • SSR BarkleySSR Barkley ✭✭✭✭✭
    if you browse social media for hash tags, you'll find their whole QA team is pretty much in the Philippines now
    /SSR/ Barkley - semi retired
    Second Star to the Right - Join Today!
  • Althea BiermontAlthea Biermont ✭✭✭✭✭
    The layoffs were rumored / largely accepted to be motivated by March to War's total bomb. DB sank a lot of investor funding and resources into that game launch, and it didn't turn out to be the hit that was expected. The company had to make cutback across the board. They seemingly recognize that STT is the best performing game in their portfolio, which is why there has been continued support and new content. Plus, with Game of Thrones winding down, STT is going to be their game supported by new network content for the foreseeable future in the form of Discovery and now Picard Pt. 2 (I'm discounting Walking Dead in that statement because the game never really gained a foothold anyway). I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    Those are the reasons I don't see STT going anywhere. When STT shuts down, DB shuts down. GoTA is on it's last legs and it's doubtful DB will renew the license for Walking Dead after the first years because of the lackluster performance since it's not a cheap license. That leaves STT as their only real source of revenue.
  • I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    I think Timelines biggest risk was highlighted by Black Pebble many months back - namely the code isn't very solid, which is the root of many of the bugs and QA issues.

    This impacts the ability to extend the game without a major refactoring of the code to give it a more solid base, and companies who act like DB do tend to have a management who will defer and dodge any investment right up until the point the whole thing becomes untenable.

    We're probably a way off from that happening yet.
  • WaldoMagWaldoMag ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    When people go to Apple get their money refunded. When people go to google and get their money refunded. Where does that leave STT at the moment.

    They are not similar at all to Enron. But I think they assume that purchases made in game are actually theirs. But when it comes to getting the actual money they will have a deficit.

    I expect there will be trouble in the near future. And I am talking about three months time.
  • I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    Based on your and other’s posts, I’m inclined to agree. As a rabid member of the niche audience who plays STT to its fullest, I also agree with some of the issues that they are facing with customer retention. As a whale (yes, I’ll admit it outright), I have provided a lot of funding to STT not solely to speed up completion of personal goals, but also to help support DB (I’ve watched too many really good games and concepts go away because the funding model wasn’t supported). I have no problem with continuing to support DB. It’s just difficult when a perfect storm of identifiable bugs/issues, poor communication, a decline in customer service combine to create a wall of doubt.

    There have been some very good thoughts around this topic. I think my concerns about the stability/liquidy of the company have been somewhat abated. But, I am still concerned about customer retention with the latest maelstrom of issues and the......lackluster.......handling of and communicating about these issues.

    As always, I’m hopeful. I’m hoping that this is a simple bump in the road that has brought a fresh set of eyes looking at DB’s processes. Perhaps the current outcry from its customers has urged a greater urgency in ensuring the product is QA’ed more in-depth, that communications must be honest and open, and any game-play decision mistakes are admitted and remediate rather than tried to be down-played. If these things have occurred, my (and I’m presuming a lot more cusomters’) continued support of STT is ensured.
  • Captain_WhoCaptain_Who ✭✭✭✭✭
    Unfortunately, the problems pointed out in the original post are also original to the game. DB lacks certain management quality and respect for their players, and really nothing has changed from launch.

    I'm not sure how far off they are from crashing and burning, but I suspect they've got a little ways left.
    But I do know the way the game is managed I've no desire to invest any more money into it. I might even let the monthly card expire again, I've got enough dil stockpiled for a crew slot sale. And with the ROI, I'm never tempted to buy packs, specials, or dil for dollars any more, the last round of DBacles only strengthening that.

    I wish I could go give the game a 1* rating, but that happened long ago with a previous round of disrespect shown for the players.

    Here's to hoping VCs demand another change in management, 'cos nothing's changing without that.
  • Banjo1012Banjo1012 ✭✭✭✭✭
    TheVerge04 wrote: »
    I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    Based on your and other’s posts, I’m inclined to agree. As a rabid member of the niche audience who plays STT to its fullest, I also agree with some of the issues that they are facing with customer retention. As a whale (yes, I’ll admit it outright), I have provided a lot of funding to STT not solely to speed up completion of personal goals, but also to help support DB (I’ve watched too many really good games and concepts go away because the funding model wasn’t supported). I have no problem with continuing to support DB. It’s just difficult when a perfect storm of identifiable bugs/issues, poor communication, a decline in customer service combine to create a wall of doubt.

    There have been some very good thoughts around this topic. I think my concerns about the stability/liquidy of the company have been somewhat abated. But, I am still concerned about customer retention with the latest maelstrom of issues and the......lackluster.......handling of and communicating about these issues.

    As always, I’m hopeful. I’m hoping that this is a simple bump in the road that has brought a fresh set of eyes looking at DB’s processes. Perhaps the current outcry from its customers has urged a greater urgency in ensuring the product is QA’ed more in-depth, that communications must be honest and open, and any game-play decision mistakes are admitted and remediate rather than tried to be down-played. If these things have occurred, my (and I’m presuming a lot more cusomters’) continued support of STT is ensured.

    I am one. I love the game, play it ALL DAY LONG. It’s true I have everyone in the game I want immortalized and that I don’t buy the offers any longer, but I too will continue to support the game. I was all over getting this Phlox, so I bought the $100 offer which gave me three, then the DYC when I finished 105 and got one. No offer buying but this weekend I still put $125 into it. I want to continue to play the game ALL DAY LONG and so I will throw some money in there to help ensure that.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

  • Banjo1012Banjo1012 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thurthorad wrote: »
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

    The worlds most community centric. Isn’t that AARP?

  • Odo MarmarosaOdo Marmarosa ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thurthorad wrote: »
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

    ROFL. How do they even measure that?
  • Dirk GundersonDirk Gunderson ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thurthorad wrote: »
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

    g7cay0ef1650.jpeg

    There are other photos in the same folder on my phone that may more accurately reflect my mood but I made a mental promise to Shan when she left on her vacation to not be naughty on the forum.
  • [SSR] GTMET[SSR] GTMET ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thurthorad wrote: »
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

    IMG_0904.gifunbez5aoz8n7.gif
  • Thurthorad wrote: »
    If you want a laugh follow this link and find Disruptor Beam in their holdings. Then read it's motto...

    https://converge.vc/investment/media/

    I saw the one above STT:
    Technology that makes prisons safer, cheaper and more effective.

    To some (*cough* the whale) this game is a prison
  • The layoffs were rumored / largely accepted to be motivated by March to War's total bomb. DB sank a lot of investor funding and resources into that game launch, and it didn't turn out to be the hit that was expected. The company had to make cutback across the board. They seemingly recognize that STT is the best performing game in their portfolio, which is why there has been continued support and new content. Plus, with Game of Thrones winding down, STT is going to be their game supported by new network content for the foreseeable future in the form of Discovery and now Picard Pt. 2 (I'm discounting Walking Dead in that statement because the game never really gained a foothold anyway). I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    Those are the reasons I don't see STT going anywhere. When STT shuts down, DB shuts down. GoTA is on it's last legs and it's doubtful DB will renew the license for Walking Dead after the first years because of the lackluster performance since it's not a cheap license. That leaves STT as their only real source of revenue.

    At some point the game will be shutdown. The question is WHEN.

    We all have to be prepared virtually losing all of our virtual cards. Until then, enjoy!
  • WaldoMagWaldoMag ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    The layoffs were rumored / largely accepted to be motivated by March to War's total bomb. DB sank a lot of investor funding and resources into that game launch, and it didn't turn out to be the hit that was expected. The company had to make cutback across the board. They seemingly recognize that STT is the best performing game in their portfolio, which is why there has been continued support and new content. Plus, with Game of Thrones winding down, STT is going to be their game supported by new network content for the foreseeable future in the form of Discovery and now Picard Pt. 2 (I'm discounting Walking Dead in that statement because the game never really gained a foothold anyway). I don't think we're seeing the death knell because of the factors listed -- but Star Trek is a niche audience, and DB isn't doing themselves any favors in terms of customer retention at the moment.

    Those are the reasons I don't see STT going anywhere. When STT shuts down, DB shuts down. GoTA is on it's last legs and it's doubtful DB will renew the license for Walking Dead after the first years because of the lackluster performance since it's not a cheap license. That leaves STT as their only real source of revenue.

    At some point the game will be shutdown. The question is WHEN.

    We all have to be prepared virtually losing all of our virtual cards. Until then, enjoy!

    So true. Happened to me.
    Month before they stopped excepting ingame purchases. Let everyone no Yahoo games was ending.
    Not surprised money is in the mobile games.
    That was online with computer.
  • *Nomad* {PoF}*Nomad* {PoF} ✭✭✭✭✭
    3vnu1klxe1uv.png
    Founding ADM - PoF family of fleets (POF, POF2 & POF3) - Dear TP: Non sequitur. Your facts are uncoordinated.
  • WaldoMagWaldoMag ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    You know I really wonder about the accounting practices.
    You have a game where payments for in game purchases are delayed 90 days.
    Do they then report their earnings based on what was purchased in game or by the actual money that comes in.
    My guess they are using in game purchases.

    Now you get the actual money. If monthly, every month you lost money over what you thought you actually made due to refunds.
    What do you do to counter this. You give players more opportunities to make ingame purchases. But next month there will also be more people getting refunds.

    It so reminds me of Enron.

    I just hope if they use ingame purchases that they also include from the beginning an estimate of what percent will want refunds.
    If they do that they should be fine. Each month you adjust that estimate by actual numbers.

    But more chances to buy things have been happening.
    .
    3vnu1klxe1uv.png

    Also in reading the terms of service.
    They mention turning ingame currency to real money if you cancel.
    Does this mean they cannot Touch money that corresponds to the amount of dil. all us players have? Do not think so because then they would not compensate with dil.

    c63jloep1blh.png

    I could not have been more wrong. My memory must have been about cancellation of a subscription. Have no idea. Do not see anything like what I had thought I read.

    But in US this cannot take away are consumer rights. So this actually may not be valid for money spent for virtual currency.
  • WaldoMag wrote: »
    My guess they are using in game purchases.

    You mean normal accounting.
    WaldoMag wrote: »
    It so reminds me of Enron.

    The two are nothing alike.
  • WaldoMagWaldoMag ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    Baragash wrote: »
    WaldoMag wrote: »
    My guess they are using in game purchases.

    You mean normal accounting.
    WaldoMag wrote: »
    It so reminds me of Enron.

    The two are nothing alike.

    That's Enron accounting using in game purchases.
    The actual amount you made for a month could be zero if everyone asked for a refund. And you may not know that until three months later.
    Because you do not get the money until 3 months later.
  • Banjo1012Banjo1012 ✭✭✭✭✭
    (Since Shan has been gone) AAAAHHHH!!!! You’re off topic! Closing this thread
  • PallidynePallidyne ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2018
    TheVerge04 wrote: »
    it was the lack of communication that truly brought the end of Marvel Heroes Online. The lack of any type of communication (or obviously false statements that all is going according to plan) created great distrust of the company. Once distrust took hold, it was difficult to maintain old players and coax new players into spending money on the game.

    I was there for not only Marvel Heroes, but Marvel Avengers Alliance doing the same thing. I agree with this statement 100%. I stopped spending anything in Marvel Heroes, mainly because they stopped working on the game, though. They quit putting out new content, so there was nothing to buy with "fresh" money. They promised new raids, new events, but just quit putting any development into the game.

    Last fall right after the "resize" of DB, they launched their Voyages, and ran into a logistics nightmare. They were getting thousands of customer support tickets each day. Because of the high volume of tickets, I don't think we, as customers, got the customer service that was expected. When the dust cleared, and the tickets were caught up, DB lost many paying customers. I can look back at my tickets and see that I had items open for 2 months before they were resolved.

    I expect a long delay with my ticket on Polywater Yar. But, I doubt it will take 2 months to have someone contact me. However, I do expect everyone that is wanting to escalate their tickets for compensation will be waiting in a long, long line. If a thousand tickets get kicked up to the top, and they spend 1 hour per ticket, that's 41 days worth of work. I'm guessing the first Yar tickets started around ticket 450000. So, you can subtract that from your ticket number to see just how many people are ahead of you, and imagine how long you can wait.

    My ticket last year resulted in my not being able to log into the game for 38 days. In the end, they had to transfer my account info onto another account. That resulted in me losing about 20% of my crew. They did very little to make up for the days or content lost. But, I have to admit that they did a lot of work getting me 80% of my account. I was expecting closer to 50%.

    This Spring I had another ticket, and I had a return well over what I expected. In fact it made up for the horrible experience I had in the Fall.

    So, I have faith in the company. But, this "bait and switch nerf" will always be in my mind the next time I want to make a purchase larger than $4. I have faith, but not much respect atm. We'll see how this week goes when they get back from their weekends' off.



    Avengers Alliance was completely different.
    1) The communicated more frequently. And in more detail.
    2) They did do some of the same nerf/buff items but when they nerfed the S/O weapon Brute, etc it was not right after a sale of the item.

    Most importantly.

    3) They did not close down their doors due to profitability. Disney decided to shut down ALL game development (MAA was a small potato compared to Infinity which was also shut down.) and only license properties to other houses to develop. MAA/PD had a years worth of content planned and the funds to keep going before Disney pulled the plug on ALL its games under Disney Interactive.

    This is why folks spending on games like Marvel Strike Force or anything under any of the Fox umbrellas should be concerned that those games might go bye bye as part of the merger. (Unless the FTC stops it, but I highly doubt that would happen.)
This discussion has been closed.