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About today's disciplinary actions - 2021-02-11

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  • "Let's not turn our backs on these good people. If we do, we-re only punishing ourselves. Just because we're from different worlds, doesn't mean we can't care for each other." © Michael Sullivan. Star Trek Voyager s6e17
  • Great well written post and sums things up nicely.
    Long time lurker and first (and last) time poster. Hello, my name is Asimov and I am a so- called exploiter.

    I have decided to add my voice to this. I am sure it will be lost in the storm of protest, but I felt the need to write this before I exit the game for good. Suffice to say I completely disagree with TP/WRG’s disproportionate response to this issue. I also take issue with the language used in the posts from TP/ WRG in addressing this problem.

    I have waited for the furore to die down a little before I decided not to play any more in case I would regret it down the road as a knee- jerk reaction. The truth is though, even if they lifted the ban early (which given their current position, would be very surprising), the trust and relationship I had with the game has eroded away to nothing and I would not change my mind about quitting.

    I am a big Sci Fi fan but, prior to this game, not particularly a Star Trek fan. Seen a couple of seasons of TNG before playing, but the game really gave me the enthusiasm for the franchise as a whole and I have loved delving into the various series alongside playing the game.

    I am level 90 and VIP13 so invested quite a bit into playing the game. I have pretty much played everyday for the last 3 years or so. This last year, in particular, the game has provided me with much needed escapism from the world struggling around me. Even though I play a lot, I would still describe myself as a laid back player, in a laid back fleet. I enjoy looking on the forums but I rarely interact with the community as life and work commitments don’t give me the time to do so.

    Now to the evening in question… I was busy feeding my one year old daughter and we were both thoroughly engrossed in an episode of JoJo and Gran Gran (I live in the UK), as I logged in. Using my Dad skills of having my phone hidden on one side of me whilst feeding my daughter, I somewhat absent mindedly began clicking the usual things in the game and jumped into the portal to see if there were anything to pick up. Great, a free pack. Got it and exited. Noticed it was still there. Strange I thought, but the day before there was two packs so maybe I missed the second one. Went in and claimed. And then saw the ‘Buy Again’ button. Odd, I thought. Again, still not really paying attention, I continued to click it. I stopped after a couple of minutes, mainly out of boredom and, to be honest, the episode of JoJo and Gran Gran was heating up to a crescendo by now. Afterwards I thought, oh well, at least FINALLY there was a bug that has gone in my favour after hearing for years on the forums of other players gaining advantages through bugs and loopholes from DB/ TP/ WRG mistakes. Did I feel guilty for taking advantage of the bug, which clearly was a result of TP/ WRG’s ineptitude? Absolutely not. Not for a second. I had a little chuckle to myself and thought, oh well they are going to have to sort this mess they created out. You win some, you lose some.

    An appropriate response would have been to take back the additional items the players in question gained. Fine, it’s a fair cop guv. But to ban those players from the game, during an event, during a campaign and during a new feature where the fleet I am part of are counting on me for the shared rewards is just ludicrous. Don't even get me started on the subsequent fix of allowing players to obtain 19 packs - most players, in my view, would have either with eyes wide open, or not, taken advantage of this bug, so why is everyone else now being rewarded for not having logged in during those 5 minutes the bug existed!?

    But the thing I take most umbridge with is TP/ WRG questioning my moral compass. HOW DARE THEY! The game is literally designed to click buttons to gain rewards. I spend hours and hours every weekend mindlessly clicking the screen to try and rank in the events and get some good rewards. I have got to stage where I am clicking without paying attention, which I did during this debacle. That doesn’t make me a cheater or morally bankrupt. Would I have stopped and logged a ticket if I had realised what was going on? Probably. Would I have been banned? Probably not. Would I still have been as angry about this situation if I had not been unlucky enough to log in for those 5 minutes and therefore not banned? Absolutely I would.

    I was really looking forward to the upcoming honour sale in March and had diligently saved 750k. It’s a shame I can’t donate my honour to my fleet mates to make up for getting banned. I was also looking forward to delving into the new feature as it seemed like a good way to target crew as advertised. I was brimming with little ideas they could use to develop the feature, like faction tokens to turn into faction polestars as there is a lot of players who have long since maxed out the faction shuttles numbers.

    Alas, life goes on.

    TP will have to learn the hard way that alienating a section of the fan base and community by questioning their integrity is not going to be taken lightly. I really hope I am wrong, but the game is not going to survive in the long term with a gulf between TP and the player base that this issue has formed. Ben has mentioned a few times that WRG do read the forums and take in feedback, so I hope they do take onboard the negative feedback that has resulted in them handling an issue, that was their own creation, so poorly. They have a lot of goodwill with players to repair in the short term.

    I’d also like to give a shout out to Timelines Talks, a show which I thoroughly enjoy and will miss a lot. I loved my Thursday routine of sticking the stream on from the night before whilst working and listening to the comical ramblings and astute analysis of Auto, Idol and Stars along with their litany of guest hosts. Hopefully the game will survive this period and you can continue to make great content for the community. I salute you guys. Thank you. Good luck with the house move Idol.

    Just as a quick aside- I call BS on anyone calling for individual firings on here. I know people are angry but don’t lash out on individuals who are the face of the game for the community like Shan and Ben please.

    I remember recently reading on the forum, sorry I forget who posted it, about matching what you spend in the game with a charity donation. So in that vein I will calculate what I would have likely spent in game for the rest of the year and donate it to a local charity.

    Sorry if this has turned into a ramble, but just wanted to get my two cents in. Thanks for anyone taking time out of their day to read this. Hope everyone is safe and well. Best wishes to all.

    So long STT, thanks for all the memories.

    LLAP,
    Asimov

  • Mirror Bev!
  • [SSR] Bri wrote: »
    You know what might mitigate this debacle? An honour sale. Just saying.

    Pshh. Just give a bunch of pixels away. Curry some good will for once.
  • A. Clinton wrote: »
    Shran, I am completely shocked and dismayed at your actions. I am still not even clear what these new items are and if you want to ban me for 72 hours then do so. This is not players fault but the people that programmed the game and the people delivering the messages. Feel free to look at how much I have spent playing this game since I started in March 2016. If you want to ban me for 72 hours consider it permanent Shran because my days playing will be done. Again, this is your fault and not players fault.

    Did you get a personal email from him? This is a guy that needs new employment. Very rude indeed.
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