Wow. Nice job taking down the complaint posts on FB. What a joke.
If it was them taking them down, wouldn't they remove all the negative posts here too?
Facebook is much more visible than this.
If you're trying to silence dissent, you don't let some speak and censor others.
If you dont think they are looking at this from a risk\loss vantage than you havnt been paying attention. Ive been playing this game for over a year and only because of this situation did I find the forum. Facebook is the natural place for people to find information and to discuss this game. Anyone here has already likely been playing for a fairly long time and will make whatever future choices about the game based on their own experiences, but new players will likely find the FB posts and it might turn them away.
As with any group of individuals, each person will make a choice best for them. No one can logically expect a game wide joining of outrage, when many people probably feel the ban was appropriate. For years there have been glitches that allowed small groups, sometimes for long periods of time, to manipulate the game and get a considerable leg up over other players. SilverRose and others have detailed several in the last few days, and they need not be dredged up again. As a player that has never once been clued in to any of these glitches that netted vast resources, free crew stars, etc, I can understand where a lot of players would have little sympathy for the larger issue of discipline, especially if they were not involved in the action taken.
I was banned. I am VIP 14, maybe not to the 25,000-50,000 dollar range I’ve seen posted over the last few days, but easily in the thousands. My actions in taking advantage of a glitch stemmed from “finally, one I can participate in rather than read about later when once again a few players get more than I do”. We got burned, and it hurt, and the action was a lot more than was necessary considering the precedent set was to almost never respond or acknowledge. The action, however, sets a new precedent that hopefully will discourage abuse of the next glitch some big fleet discovers and runs the table with for weeks. I’m not happy it happened this way. I’m not happy the knee jerk reaction caused so much grief, and I’m not happy good, long term players are leaving the game we’ve all come to love. The true injury stems from the response and language used initially. I feel violated, I feel anxious, and I am slowly coming to terms with those feelings, but I also admit what I did was wrong, and in many ways spiteful for having missed so many other opportunities to get something free. No one was right, and that makes the situation a terrible morass. I think at the end of the day, my response is the same as what many others are suggesting, no cash purchases until I see a clear pattern of improvement on the part of quality control, or a true post with an apology for the initial language used towards players regarding the issue. Let me go first, I am sorry I did something I knew was wrong. It was obviously not intended, and I did it from a place of spite having missed out on other chances to get ahead. I did not do it to steal, or cheat the game, or for any other insidious reasons, I did it because I knew many others would be doing it, and I did not expect it to be punished or acknowledged, but that didn’t make it right. I’m happy to accept an apology post if and when it ever arrives, but much as the players and fleets that capitalized on previous glitches have never apologized to the rest of the community that I’ve seen, I doubt such a post is in the works.
I intend this to be the last I deal with this event, I want to move beyond it in my own way. I’m still managing my fleet, I’m still playing, and I’m not going to press my luck going forward but neither will I be buying anything in game for some time. Everyone makes their own choices, and should respond in their own way, and this is how I’ve chosen to move ahead.
Wow. Nice job taking down the complaint posts on FB. What a joke.
If it was them taking them down, wouldn't they remove all the negative posts here too?
Facebook is much more visible than this.
If you're trying to silence dissent, you don't let some speak and censor others.
If you dont think they are looking at this from a risk\loss vantage than you havnt been paying attention. Ive been playing this game for over a year and only because of this situation did I find the forum. Facebook is the natural place for people to find information and to discuss this game. Anyone here has already likely been playing for a fairly long time and will make whatever future choices about the game based on their own experiences, but new players will likely find the FB posts and it might turn them away.
Immediately dismissing my logic by saying I must not have been paying attention is a weak argument. Yes, Facebook is a place to discuss the game and get information. But it's far from the only one.
Just because you only recently found the forums, doesn't mean other players haven't. Your later arrival here also doesn't mean there are alternatives to FB. There are also many other resources for game information and discussion, such as Reddit, Discord, Twitter, etc.
TP has absolute control over these forums, yet generally don't censor anything, unless it's grievously over the line. If they were going to censor Facebook, it is only logical there'd be a lot more being removed from here.
All you have to do is look at some of the absolutely over the top rantings and ravings of some that ere borderly libelous, let alone in poor taste. Still there.
Chances are, if it's anything like most Facebook discourse, things were removed by FB themselves. Not everything is a conspiracy.
Believe what you want. But sometimes, especially in heated situations like this, the Vulcans were right to go with logic over emotion.
Wow. Nice job taking down the complaint posts on FB. What a joke.
If it was them taking them down, wouldn't they remove all the negative posts here too?
Facebook is much more visible than this.
If you're trying to silence dissent, you don't let some speak and censor others.
If you dont think they are looking at this from a risk\loss vantage than you havnt been paying attention. Ive been playing this game for over a year and only because of this situation did I find the forum. Facebook is the natural place for people to find information and to discuss this game. Anyone here has already likely been playing for a fairly long time and will make whatever future choices about the game based on their own experiences, but new players will likely find the FB posts and it might turn them away.
Immediately dismissing my logic by saying I must not have been paying attention is a weak argument. Yes, Facebook is a place to discuss the game and get information. But it's far from the only one.
Just because you only recently found the forums, doesn't mean other players haven't. Your later arrival here also doesn't mean there are alternatives to FB. There are also many other resources for game information and discussion, such as Reddit, Discord, Twitter, etc.
TP has absolute control over these forums, yet generally don't censor anything, unless it's grievously over the line. If they were going to censor Facebook, it is only logical there'd be a lot more being removed from here.
All you have to do is look at some of the absolutely over the top rantings and ravings of some that ere borderly libelous, let alone in poor taste. Still there.
Chances are, if it's anything like most Facebook discourse, things were removed by FB themselves. Not everything is a conspiracy.
Believe what you want. But sometimes, especially in heated situations like this, the Vulcans were right to go with logic over emotion.
The moderator literally said "We are removing these posts because there are a lot of them". Not some of them. All of them. Why remove all of them unless you are trying to change the narrative? Other groups\organizations ive been a part of might try and keep the conversation to a single thread, but thats not what they are trying to do here.
With all the cancel culture going on, it wouldn't surprise me if Facebook had something to do with removing a large swath of negative posts. As for TP, most of their in game messages invite you to discuss your thoughts on their forums. I would tend to believe this is the area they're focusing their attention. Not saying they don't check out those other areas, but this seems to be their go to for discussions.
Wow. Nice job taking down the complaint posts on FB. What a joke.
If it was them taking them down, wouldn't they remove all the negative posts here too?
Facebook is much more visible than this.
If you're trying to silence dissent, you don't let some speak and censor others.
i think your analysis on this was way to simple...
the forums is seen by a few thousands ppl only (keep in mind that the view counters in this forum counts an single user multiple times) and doesnt generate any new customers... (i.e. because the forum pages have low rankings on google for ppl never visited the forums before)...
facebook is an marketing instrument (ads on facebook leading to the games facebook-page and the comments, as well to the install button for the gane), attracts new customers and is a selling platform the same time...
as said, they dont have same control about google play and apple store, because of the nature those two not being an social network the same time...
obviously they decided to sit this out in the forums and with existing customers (because removal of posts in forums would only lead into quadrupling the moderation efforts neccessary) and doing damage control on facebook...
not a good sign for how existing customers will be treated from this times on...
i think they gonna change their goal to "revolving door whales" (new customers that spend massive for a short time, getting annoyed/bored and then being replaced by new such customers quickly) instead of an loyal long-term customer/playerbase that has its demands and expectations...
With all the cancel culture going on, it wouldn't surprise me if Facebook had something to do with removing a large swath of negative posts. As for TP, most of their in game messages invite you to discuss your thoughts on their forums. I would tend to believe this is the area they're focusing their attention. Not saying they don't check out those other areas, but this seems to be their go to for discussions.
I'm not sure what any of this has to do with cancel culture, and I really doubt some people complaining about being temporarily banned from a video game on its FB page would garner any attention from Facebook.
I'm really tired of seeing people blame cancel culture when an organization faces consequences for its actions ... that's literally the free market at work, and isn't that what capitalism is all about?
Imagine your e-banking site has a glitch and lets you cash in a check or some rewards multiple times, you report it, and then they suspend access to your accounts for days and empty your checking account. If there is one line that cannot be crossed, is that of touching a player's rightful inventory and crew. If that's not sacred, nothing is, and throwing money at this game is worse than simply buying pixels.
As for deleting all the negative Facebook posts, there's nothing to say beyond the obvious. The shady and sh1tty company is exactly that. It's just another confirmation for those who've been paying attention.
As I said in my original post, they didn't ban me, but they may as well have. I remain demoralized. The constellation pack bug was yet another example of a familiar rollercoaster theme. I haven't been around for all of them, but in the 2+ years I've been playing I've seen several.
It starts with a WRG mistake like the last minute Adira art change. Then WRG doubles down and tells us either it's our fault, or there's not a problem at all. With Adira we were told they're still a good card, so we should just be happy with that. With the pack bug WRG blamed the players and banned them. Only after the community got its pitchforks out did WRG apologize and offer a proper fix for Adira. They still haven't apologized for the pack bug bans.
Parsing the communication in question, they're telling us that A ) they don't think there's anything wrong with banning players for WRG's mistakes (rather, the issue was that the ban's duration was "excessive"), and B ) the bans were a _favor_ to the banned.
> "All things considered we’ve determined that a 72 hours ban was excessive and we are in the process of lifting it."
> "The pack pulls yesterday put some concerning strain on some of our newer features, tools, and processes. As a result many players who were banned would have come back to find their accounts in states that seemed broken, especially in relation to the Crew Retrieval system. To that end we have taken the last day to stabilize these accounts..."
> "We hear your concerns and remain committed to eliminate/minimize the occurrence of issues and improve our processes/technology."
Nothing in that communication remotely resembles an apology. I'm finished paying to have a premium rollercoaster ride. WRG has shown who they are enough times that I'm finally listening to their actions rather than their words. My wallet is closed.
As I said in my original post, they didn't ban me, but they may as well have. I remain demoralized. The constellation pack bug was yet another example of a familiar rollercoaster theme. I haven't been around for all of them, but in the 2+ years I've been playing I've seen several.
It starts with a WRG mistake like the last minute Adira art change. Then WRG doubles down and tells us either it's our fault, or there's not a problem at all. With Adira we were told they're still a good card, so we should just be happy with that. With the pack bug WRG blamed the players and banned them. Only after the community got its pitchforks out did WRG apologize and offer a proper fix for Adira. They still haven't apologized for the pack bug bans.
Parsing the communication in question, they're telling us that A ) they don't think there's anything wrong with banning players for WRG's mistakes (rather, the issue was that the ban's duration was "excessive"), and B ) the bans were a _favor_ to the banned.
> "All things considered we’ve determined that a 72 hours ban was excessive and we are in the process of lifting it."
> "The pack pulls yesterday put some concerning strain on some of our newer features, tools, and processes. As a result many players who were banned would have come back to find their accounts in states that seemed broken, especially in relation to the Crew Retrieval system. To that end we have taken the last day to stabilize these accounts..."
> "We hear your concerns and remain committed to eliminate/minimize the occurrence of issues and improve our processes/technology."
Nothing in that communication remotely resembles an apology. I'm finished paying to have a premium rollercoaster ride. WRG has shown who they are enough times that I'm finally listening to their actions rather than their words. My wallet is closed.
They couldn't make it a week, before the next mess up.
🥌🦞
"The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
I wasn't banned (thankfully I was at work while the glitch was active so I couldn't click on the button). However, I could very easily see myself getting wrapped up in this whole mess if I had been online at the time. I likely would've clicked the button then seen that I had the option to click again for another pack and done it - and it wouldn't have been me saying "LOL, I'm going to take advantage of this glitch" but thinking that WRG had messed up on the 1x day announcement. I would just assume if the game presented me the option to redeem for more packs, that was what was intended.
The banning seems heavy handed to me. This was not a mistake on the players' part, so why ban them in the middle of a mega event? Sure, if they had used some 3rd party tool to gain an advantage (throwback to the IAP controversy) or some convoluted steps to glitch the game then I could understand banning. But people clicked a button that was presented to them? Hardly ban-worthy, IMHO.
It probably would've been more appropriate just to clear out their constellation/polestar inventory (ie. basically what WRG ended up doing) and avoid this whole mess in the first place.
I mean, this even happened before. Somehow WRG reset the Captain Level Up achievement and people were able to claim the honour again for those achievements already having claimed it once. That time, WRG just laughed and said "Oh, we messed up - enjoy the extra honour!" Why was this situation any different? (Reference)
I feel bad for the people that were caught up in this latest snafu and hope that WRG learned from it. Being a day 1 player, I am hopeful that this isn't signaling a more rapid decline in the game and its amusement value. When things like this happen, it's hard to find the fun in the game when everyone has the pitchforks and torches out.
The moderator literally said "We are removing these posts because there are a lot of them". Not some of them. All of them. Why remove all of them unless you are trying to change the narrative? Other groups\organizations ive been a part of might try and keep the conversation to a single thread, but thats not what they are trying to do here.
You do realize that was the fan hosted page, not the official page, right?
The Guardians of Tomorrow Protecting the Galaxy's Future from itself
The moderator literally said "We are removing these posts because there are a lot of them". Not some of them. All of them. Why remove all of them unless you are trying to change the narrative? Other groups\organizations ive been a part of might try and keep the conversation to a single thread, but thats not what they are trying to do here.
You do realize that was the fan hosted page, not the official page, right?
Are you serious? So whoever guest123 is, they went off on TP, for something that wasn't even TP??
I would like to take the time to thank TP and Company. With the rude messages that were sent, Google just about reimbursed and gave Google credit for just about all the money I put in to this game. With the money that I received Google Credit, I purchased all the Star Trek movies and the entire 007 collection. I was going to stop playing altogether and still may. However after being called a cheater by some certain members of the staff, no more $$ for you. But thanks for all the free play and goodies I did get to keep!
I would like to take the time to thank TP and Company. With the rude messages that were sent, Google just about reimbursed and gave Google credit for just about all the money I put in to this game. With the money that I received Google Credit, I purchased all the Star Trek movies and the entire 007 collection. I was going to stop playing altogether and still may. However after being called a cheater by some certain members of the staff, no more $$ for you. But thanks for all the free play and goodies I did get to keep!
I would say maybe not keep posting about that. Especially not in any threads about this specific subject......
🥌🦞
"The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
I would like to take the time to thank TP and Company. With the rude messages that were sent, Google just about reimbursed and gave Google credit for just about all the money I put in to this game. With the money that I received Google Credit, I purchased all the Star Trek movies and the entire 007 collection. I was going to stop playing altogether and still may. However after being called a cheater by some certain members of the staff, no more $$ for you. But thanks for all the free play and goodies I did get to keep!
I would say maybe not keep posting about that. Especially not in any threads about this specific subject......
🥌🦞
They post things like that, and then will complain when this happens... 🙄
You cant host a group that large and involved with the community without the blessing of TP.
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
You cant host a group that large and involved with the community without the blessing of TP.
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
You are way, way down that conspiracy rabbit hole sir. Try climbing your way back out, there's light at the top.
You cant host a group that large and involved with the community without the blessing of TP.
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
You are way, way down that conspiracy rabbit hole sir. Try climbing your way back out, there's light at the top.
I never did get a response from WRG/TP if these masks were licensed and royalties being collected.
There are probably a dozen Babylon 5 groups on Facebook. Do we think JMS controls everything posted on them?
{Cool side story. The B5 group I belong to, someone asked a few weeks ago "Were any actors on both B5 and Star Trek?" One of the very first responses was "I was." The respondent? Patricia Tallman! She's in our group!}
🥌🦞
"The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
You cant host a group that large and involved with the community without the blessing of TP.
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
Yeah, that's not how that works. At all. There are tons of unofficial groups/pages on all social media, that don't have the official blessing of their respective IP holders.
Since you're claiming they are directed linked to TP, please show me some proof of this. Otherwise, you're posting speculation and conjecture with no evidence.
You cant host a group that large and involved with the community without the blessing of TP.
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
You are way, way down that conspiracy rabbit hole sir. Try climbing your way back out, there's light at the top.
Agreed. I feel like this is applicable to this situation.
They are 'linked' to TP/WRG/DB as in more than one employee belongs to said group, and the former division head did a big reveal/AMA thing a year ago or something, admitting that they lurk in all the communities and look for people to report bugs and exploits so they can quickly fix them. They may not be the admins of the group proper, but they are there and watching.
They are 'linked' to TP/WRG/DB as in more than one employee belongs to said group, and the former division head did a big reveal/AMA thing a year ago or something, admitting that they lurk in all the communities and look for people to report bugs and exploits so they can quickly fix them. They may not be the admins of the group proper, but they are there and watching.
Watching and controlling would be two different things, though. WRG/TP/DB is not Diznee, shutting down daycares because someone painted a Mickey on the wall.....
⛔🛑👨🕦
"The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
They are 'linked' to TP/WRG/DB as in more than one employee belongs to said group, and the former division head did a big reveal/AMA thing a year ago or something, admitting that they lurk in all the communities and look for people to report bugs and exploits so they can quickly fix them. They may not be the admins of the group proper, but they are there and watching.
Those are not the same thing. Being a member of something is a far different thing than controlling it. You're reaching.
What is the harm from them being a member, and getting honest feedback from players? Let them "watch".
Lastly, I said directly linked. This forum is directly linked. A Facebook group, or Reddit sub, or anything like it, is not.
As expected tp is refusing to acknowledge they inappropriately banned players for their own programming errors. They are moving forward with other announcements and changes.
They have yet to apologize or accept fault. That is the crux of my issue with them.
I can appreciate that some people dislike that there are still some of us who are spreading negativity. I will just remind you all that ben himself said that the forums were the official place for feedback and last i checked, the positivity police were due for some layoffs.
As expected tp is refusing to acknowledge they inappropriately banned players for their own programming errors. They are moving forward with other announcements and changes.
They have yet to apologize or accept fault. That is the crux of my issue with them.
I can appreciate that some people dislike that there are still some of us who are spreading negativity. I will just remind you all that ben himself said that the forums were the official place for feedback and last i checked, the positivity police were due for some layoffs.
Possibly much to your surprise, I don't disagree with you. They should apologise. They were out of line. They should own their mistake and their role in the entire disaster.
None of this is new. I've said this multiple times now.
Hold their feet to the fire. Quit the game if you're that aggrieved. Stop all spending if you think that is the best way to send a message. Give all the constructive criticism in the world. I'm all for that.
But the stupid comments that serve no purpose, or the outright lies people have been posting lately... yeah, no. There isn't a need for that. Enough beating a dead horse on the "they'll ban you for that" joke alone.
I get it. People are still mad about the bans. They should be. I wasn't banned and I'm mad about it too. However, if anyone thinks they'll do that again for anything other than the absolute worst offenses after the nuclear reaction that just happened... well, you're out of you bloody mind.
They won't touch that red button again unless there's literally no other choice. It would probably literally end the game. They've made mistakes, but they're not insane. I'd put down a large amount of money on that.
So yeah, give feedback all you guys want. I encourage it, and it's the only way things improve. But let's try to keep it more towards legitimate feedback, and less about trolling with no benefits to anyone.
feed·back
/ˈfēdˌbak/
noun
1.
information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement.
"throughout this process we have obtained valuable feedback"
As expected tp is refusing to acknowledge they inappropriately banned players for their own programming errors. They are moving forward with other announcements and changes.
They have yet to apologize or accept fault. That is the crux of my issue with them.
I can appreciate that some people dislike that there are still some of us who are spreading negativity. I will just remind you all that ben himself said that the forums were the official place for feedback and last i checked, the positivity police were due for some layoffs.
Possibly much to your surprise, I don't disagree with you. They should apologise. They were out of line. They should own their mistake and their role in the entire disaster.
None of this is new. I've said this multiple times now.
Hold their feet to the fire. Quit the game if you're that aggrieved. Stop all spending if you think that is the best way to send a message. Give all the constructive criticism in the world. I'm all for that.
But the stupid comments that serve no purpose, or the outright lies people have been posting lately... yeah, no. There isn't a need for that. Enough beating a dead horse on the "they'll ban you for that" joke alone.
I get it. People are still mad about the bans. They should be. I wasn't banned and I'm mad about it too. However, if anyone thinks they'll do that again for anything other than the absolute worst offenses after the nuclear reaction that just happened... well, you're out of you bloody mind.
They won't touch that red button again unless there's literally no other choice. It would probably literally end the game. They've made mistakes, but they're not insane. I'd put down a large amount of money on that.
So yeah, give feedback all you guys want. I encourage it, and it's the only way things improve. But let's try to keep it more towards legitimate feedback, and less about trolling with no benefits to anyone.
feed·back
/ˈfēdˌbak/
noun
1.
information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement.
"throughout this process we have obtained valuable feedback"
What odds are you putting out there on TP doing something insane that kills Timelines? I might want in on this for a few bucks.
Also, trolling and beating a dead horse are the second and third most popular things to do on the internet.
Until TP says that bans are only in situations where someone is actively exploiting the game (e.g., macros), this is going to come up. People are saying that the underlying issue hasn’t been addressed, and they’re right. TP is going to hear about this until they address it or Timelines goes under. That’s the price they’ve seemingly chosen to pay.
Comments
If you dont think they are looking at this from a risk\loss vantage than you havnt been paying attention. Ive been playing this game for over a year and only because of this situation did I find the forum. Facebook is the natural place for people to find information and to discuss this game. Anyone here has already likely been playing for a fairly long time and will make whatever future choices about the game based on their own experiences, but new players will likely find the FB posts and it might turn them away.
I was banned. I am VIP 14, maybe not to the 25,000-50,000 dollar range I’ve seen posted over the last few days, but easily in the thousands. My actions in taking advantage of a glitch stemmed from “finally, one I can participate in rather than read about later when once again a few players get more than I do”. We got burned, and it hurt, and the action was a lot more than was necessary considering the precedent set was to almost never respond or acknowledge. The action, however, sets a new precedent that hopefully will discourage abuse of the next glitch some big fleet discovers and runs the table with for weeks. I’m not happy it happened this way. I’m not happy the knee jerk reaction caused so much grief, and I’m not happy good, long term players are leaving the game we’ve all come to love. The true injury stems from the response and language used initially. I feel violated, I feel anxious, and I am slowly coming to terms with those feelings, but I also admit what I did was wrong, and in many ways spiteful for having missed so many other opportunities to get something free. No one was right, and that makes the situation a terrible morass. I think at the end of the day, my response is the same as what many others are suggesting, no cash purchases until I see a clear pattern of improvement on the part of quality control, or a true post with an apology for the initial language used towards players regarding the issue. Let me go first, I am sorry I did something I knew was wrong. It was obviously not intended, and I did it from a place of spite having missed out on other chances to get ahead. I did not do it to steal, or cheat the game, or for any other insidious reasons, I did it because I knew many others would be doing it, and I did not expect it to be punished or acknowledged, but that didn’t make it right. I’m happy to accept an apology post if and when it ever arrives, but much as the players and fleets that capitalized on previous glitches have never apologized to the rest of the community that I’ve seen, I doubt such a post is in the works.
I intend this to be the last I deal with this event, I want to move beyond it in my own way. I’m still managing my fleet, I’m still playing, and I’m not going to press my luck going forward but neither will I be buying anything in game for some time. Everyone makes their own choices, and should respond in their own way, and this is how I’ve chosen to move ahead.
Immediately dismissing my logic by saying I must not have been paying attention is a weak argument. Yes, Facebook is a place to discuss the game and get information. But it's far from the only one.
Just because you only recently found the forums, doesn't mean other players haven't. Your later arrival here also doesn't mean there are alternatives to FB. There are also many other resources for game information and discussion, such as Reddit, Discord, Twitter, etc.
TP has absolute control over these forums, yet generally don't censor anything, unless it's grievously over the line. If they were going to censor Facebook, it is only logical there'd be a lot more being removed from here.
All you have to do is look at some of the absolutely over the top rantings and ravings of some that ere borderly libelous, let alone in poor taste. Still there.
Chances are, if it's anything like most Facebook discourse, things were removed by FB themselves. Not everything is a conspiracy.
Believe what you want. But sometimes, especially in heated situations like this, the Vulcans were right to go with logic over emotion.
The moderator literally said "We are removing these posts because there are a lot of them". Not some of them. All of them. Why remove all of them unless you are trying to change the narrative? Other groups\organizations ive been a part of might try and keep the conversation to a single thread, but thats not what they are trying to do here.
i think your analysis on this was way to simple...
the forums is seen by a few thousands ppl only (keep in mind that the view counters in this forum counts an single user multiple times) and doesnt generate any new customers... (i.e. because the forum pages have low rankings on google for ppl never visited the forums before)...
facebook is an marketing instrument (ads on facebook leading to the games facebook-page and the comments, as well to the install button for the gane), attracts new customers and is a selling platform the same time...
as said, they dont have same control about google play and apple store, because of the nature those two not being an social network the same time...
obviously they decided to sit this out in the forums and with existing customers (because removal of posts in forums would only lead into quadrupling the moderation efforts neccessary) and doing damage control on facebook...
not a good sign for how existing customers will be treated from this times on...
i think they gonna change their goal to "revolving door whales" (new customers that spend massive for a short time, getting annoyed/bored and then being replaced by new such customers quickly) instead of an loyal long-term customer/playerbase that has its demands and expectations...
I'm not sure what any of this has to do with cancel culture, and I really doubt some people complaining about being temporarily banned from a video game on its FB page would garner any attention from Facebook.
I'm really tired of seeing people blame cancel culture when an organization faces consequences for its actions ... that's literally the free market at work, and isn't that what capitalism is all about?
As for deleting all the negative Facebook posts, there's nothing to say beyond the obvious. The shady and sh1tty company is exactly that. It's just another confirmation for those who've been paying attention.
It starts with a WRG mistake like the last minute Adira art change. Then WRG doubles down and tells us either it's our fault, or there's not a problem at all. With Adira we were told they're still a good card, so we should just be happy with that. With the pack bug WRG blamed the players and banned them. Only after the community got its pitchforks out did WRG apologize and offer a proper fix for Adira. They still haven't apologized for the pack bug bans.
Parsing the communication in question, they're telling us that A ) they don't think there's anything wrong with banning players for WRG's mistakes (rather, the issue was that the ban's duration was "excessive"), and B ) the bans were a _favor_ to the banned.
> "All things considered we’ve determined that a 72 hours ban was excessive and we are in the process of lifting it."
> "The pack pulls yesterday put some concerning strain on some of our newer features, tools, and processes. As a result many players who were banned would have come back to find their accounts in states that seemed broken, especially in relation to the Crew Retrieval system. To that end we have taken the last day to stabilize these accounts..."
> "We hear your concerns and remain committed to eliminate/minimize the occurrence of issues and improve our processes/technology."
Nothing in that communication remotely resembles an apology. I'm finished paying to have a premium rollercoaster ride. WRG has shown who they are enough times that I'm finally listening to their actions rather than their words. My wallet is closed.
They couldn't make it a week, before the next mess up.
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I wasn't banned (thankfully I was at work while the glitch was active so I couldn't click on the button). However, I could very easily see myself getting wrapped up in this whole mess if I had been online at the time. I likely would've clicked the button then seen that I had the option to click again for another pack and done it - and it wouldn't have been me saying "LOL, I'm going to take advantage of this glitch" but thinking that WRG had messed up on the 1x day announcement. I would just assume if the game presented me the option to redeem for more packs, that was what was intended.
The banning seems heavy handed to me. This was not a mistake on the players' part, so why ban them in the middle of a mega event? Sure, if they had used some 3rd party tool to gain an advantage (throwback to the IAP controversy) or some convoluted steps to glitch the game then I could understand banning. But people clicked a button that was presented to them? Hardly ban-worthy, IMHO.
It probably would've been more appropriate just to clear out their constellation/polestar inventory (ie. basically what WRG ended up doing) and avoid this whole mess in the first place.
I mean, this even happened before. Somehow WRG reset the Captain Level Up achievement and people were able to claim the honour again for those achievements already having claimed it once. That time, WRG just laughed and said "Oh, we messed up - enjoy the extra honour!" Why was this situation any different? (Reference)
I feel bad for the people that were caught up in this latest snafu and hope that WRG learned from it. Being a day 1 player, I am hopeful that this isn't signaling a more rapid decline in the game and its amusement value. When things like this happen, it's hard to find the fun in the game when everyone has the pitchforks and torches out.
You do realize that was the fan hosted page, not the official page, right?
Protecting the Galaxy's Future from itself
Are you serious? So whoever guest123 is, they went off on TP, for something that wasn't even TP??
Then doubled down with their response to me?
Ugh 🙄🤦♂️
"Just the facts, ma'am." ~ Joe Friday
I don't disagree they've done more than their fair share they should be criticised for. So why do people feel the need to invent stuff then?
I would say maybe not keep posting about that. Especially not in any threads about this specific subject......
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They post things like that, and then will complain when this happens... 🙄
If you think the FB group doesnt have some sort of communication line to TP ive got an ocean view timeshare you might be interested in also. TP owns the IP for Timelines and I absolutely guarantee you that they at least communicate with the admins of that group if they are not themselves employees of the company.
This is pretty far down the conspiracy rabbit hole, but the fact is that TP could have that group shuttered in 15 minutes if they wanted to and they funnel their customers to it. So its not crazy to think that they have some control of what happens there.
You are way, way down that conspiracy rabbit hole sir. Try climbing your way back out, there's light at the top.
I never did get a response from WRG/TP if these masks were licensed and royalties being collected.
There are probably a dozen Babylon 5 groups on Facebook. Do we think JMS controls everything posted on them?
{Cool side story. The B5 group I belong to, someone asked a few weeks ago "Were any actors on both B5 and Star Trek?" One of the very first responses was "I was." The respondent? Patricia Tallman! She's in our group!}
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Yeah, that's not how that works. At all. There are tons of unofficial groups/pages on all social media, that don't have the official blessing of their respective IP holders.
Since you're claiming they are directed linked to TP, please show me some proof of this. Otherwise, you're posting speculation and conjecture with no evidence.
Agreed. I feel like this is applicable to this situation.
Classic Simpsons, FTW 😄
Watching and controlling would be two different things, though. WRG/TP/DB is not Diznee, shutting down daycares because someone painted a Mickey on the wall.....
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Those are not the same thing. Being a member of something is a far different thing than controlling it. You're reaching.
What is the harm from them being a member, and getting honest feedback from players? Let them "watch".
Lastly, I said directly linked. This forum is directly linked. A Facebook group, or Reddit sub, or anything like it, is not.
As expected tp is refusing to acknowledge they inappropriately banned players for their own programming errors. They are moving forward with other announcements and changes.
They have yet to apologize or accept fault. That is the crux of my issue with them.
I can appreciate that some people dislike that there are still some of us who are spreading negativity. I will just remind you all that ben himself said that the forums were the official place for feedback and last i checked, the positivity police were due for some layoffs.
Possibly much to your surprise, I don't disagree with you. They should apologise. They were out of line. They should own their mistake and their role in the entire disaster.
None of this is new. I've said this multiple times now.
Hold their feet to the fire. Quit the game if you're that aggrieved. Stop all spending if you think that is the best way to send a message. Give all the constructive criticism in the world. I'm all for that.
But the stupid comments that serve no purpose, or the outright lies people have been posting lately... yeah, no. There isn't a need for that. Enough beating a dead horse on the "they'll ban you for that" joke alone.
I get it. People are still mad about the bans. They should be. I wasn't banned and I'm mad about it too. However, if anyone thinks they'll do that again for anything other than the absolute worst offenses after the nuclear reaction that just happened... well, you're out of you bloody mind.
They won't touch that red button again unless there's literally no other choice. It would probably literally end the game. They've made mistakes, but they're not insane. I'd put down a large amount of money on that.
So yeah, give feedback all you guys want. I encourage it, and it's the only way things improve. But let's try to keep it more towards legitimate feedback, and less about trolling with no benefits to anyone.
feed·back
/ˈfēdˌbak/
noun
1.
information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement.
"throughout this process we have obtained valuable feedback"
What odds are you putting out there on TP doing something insane that kills Timelines? I might want in on this for a few bucks.
Also, trolling and beating a dead horse are the second and third most popular things to do on the internet.
Until TP says that bans are only in situations where someone is actively exploiting the game (e.g., macros), this is going to come up. People are saying that the underlying issue hasn’t been addressed, and they’re right. TP is going to hear about this until they address it or Timelines goes under. That’s the price they’ve seemingly chosen to pay.