Question for mod. 64 bit ARM requirement by Apple / gree ports or no more MW?

[Gileas]

Apple released a statement that software updated through the AppStore must comply with their 64 bit code requirement as of June 1, 2015. Is GREE updating Modern War to 64 bit? If it is not, are there any plans to continue supporting this game, or will it be shut down? I've been wondering why things have been apparently falling apart in this game, the 5.0 issues, the list of bugs not fixed, releases with errors and an apparent disregard for the game stability and player concerns, as well as the way gold is more and more required to even complete a ltq not to mention now, to buy bonus buildings. Is this because the game isn't being ported to 64 bit, and won't be here after June 1?
This seems a fair question to ask.
Gileas

[GSF Wingman GRI]

Interesting...

[Napgar]

Good point, Gileas !!
And yes, we need a response from GREE soonest !!

[Gileas]

So apparently the question appears to be 'is GREE just milking every last bit of gold before shutting down the game without notice on 6/1/2015?' If it is, does that explain to you, in some way, why things in the game seem like the people who are in charge don't appear to care about quality control, bugs, code errors, player base shrinkage, complaints, glitches? Why more events are being forced into less time? Why raid boss gets more powerful each time that event comes out, and why the time to complete killing it keeps getting shorter? Why LTQ and FLTQ now require gold to complete? Why bonus buildings now cost gold? Why the new LTB takes 20 levels to complete, requiring gold? If GREE planned to dump modern war by not updating it to 64 bit in 3 months, wouldn't it explain this behavior?
If they are busy preparing for the change (which would stabilize a lot of problems) wouldn't it make sense to announce the fact, saying that the results of moving to to this standard will solve the problems with glitches that have been making everyone so upset? A sticky post saying "we are aware of the increase in complaints about code issues and the underlying problems will be solved as part of our commitment to comply with the 64 bit code requirement Apple instituted effective June 1. We apologize for any inconvenience to our loyal players." Why are there so many problems and so much emphasis on gold, and so little concern about players leaving the game? More than usual, I mean. I can't explain these things as a long term business model. I can as a short term one. I don't expect an answer saying "yes we are taking all we can from you and laying off staff in preparation for shutting down modern war because it's too much trouble to port to 64 bit and we have burned too many bridges already" to be forthcoming. But if it's a 32 bit ARM problem and a 64 bit version is being prepared why not spend 1/4 the effort they did with the equipment announcements to let everyone know? 5.0 was pushed well before it came out. If they have a 32 bit problem and a 64 bit solution around the corner, why wouldn't they be announcing that?
If there is an official response, what it says and how it is said could be very important. Especially the words they use. Assuming it's not "we have no plans to abandon modern war in the near future, and continue to work to resolve all player concerns and provide an entertaining game, which doesn't require any money to play, and which has a large community of players and volunteer staff." That sort of post is what to watch out for, I think. As well as no answer at all.
Gil

[illumin8u]

Well said Gileas ive been playing for over 3years never had a forum account but after reading your post i had to sign up and thank you for raising what alot of us are thinking. Gree has never really had our best interests in mind but it does seem to be getting progressively worse to the point of seeming to be almost a deliberate attempt to force the long standing players out of the game. I am just as interested in what if any response is given.

[crazeejay]

Gree knows that the addicts will continue spending gold regardless because they don't want to "fall behind". Gree lives off the addicts period.

[kmg108]

This is a very interesting subject. I really hope to see a response from Gree.

After doing some searching, I found an article that helps explain this in layman terms.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/apple-beginning-february-2015-app-store-submissions-need-to-be-64-bit/

[Gileas]

Thank you kmg! I forgot to link.
I find this quote from appleinsider.com in December 2014 to be of slightly more concern, "Apple on Wednesday alerted members of its development community that existing applications on the App Store will need to include 64-bit support for any updates submitted after June 1 of next year."

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/17/apple-alerts-developers-that-existing-app-updates-will-need-to-be-64-bit-by-june-1-2015

I don't know what's happening or claim to know. I just think it is a question worth asking, and this could explain the many problems with modern war that seem to be going far beyond the standard of incompetence to which we have all become familiar.

[ju100]

Do you have any idea how hard it is to switch from 32bit compilation to 64bit compilation?
Simple answer : it's not (link (https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/CocoaTouch64BitGuide/ConvertingYourAppto64-Bit/ConvertingYourAppto64-Bit.html)). But hey, it's Gree...
"iOS developers have had 13 months to get on the 64-bit train", but hey, it's Gree...

[crazeejay]

Gree is gonna milk this sucker dry!

[GSF Wingman GRI]

Bump........

[Rob TRK]

To state my background - IT programme director and programme Manager so experience in this area.

In IT sales terms Modern war is known as a "Cash Cow" a stable (And I appreciate that is a very subjective word) system requiring little support investment, a strong client base (top 40 game in Apple grossing charts today) and a roadmap that maintains that position. Modern War has done that for the company. Three plus years later lots of us are still here and still pay despite the issues which we hit.

So moving to 64 bit may require two things
1. New hardware to run at 64 bit operating system. That's readily available and current defacto standard. If GREE purchase their compute power from a provider the platform may well already be there
2. Amend and revise the app to 64 bit. This has been done by many developers out there. It's not hard, but does require testing

The issue here may well be that this upgrade means support for older client operating systems (Your phone or tablet) is not available.

So if I were GREE I would be doing the upgrade. There is plenty of WD left to go and a significant client base to retain who are prepared to fund it. Lots of mobile apps live and die in a short lifespan this one continues to have potential. I'd do limited development between now and June (Fixing the bugs that crash the system, not the nice to haves) and plan this change with some features that fix the main complaints.

We shall see...

[DEWIN NUTTIN]

Apple released a statement that software updated through the AppStore must comply with their 64 bit code requirement as of June 1, 2015. Is GREE updating Modern War to 64 bit? If it is not, are there any plans to continue supporting this game, or will it be shut down? I've been wondering why things have been apparently falling apart in this game, the 5.0 issues, the list of bugs not fixed, releases with errors and an apparent disregard for the game stability and player concerns, as well as the way gold is more and more required to even complete a ltq not to mention now, to buy bonus buildings. Is this because the game isn't being ported to 64 bit, and won't be here after June 1?
This seems a fair question to ask.
Gileas

I commend you for discovering this anomaly.
You also pose an honest question.
Then I began thinking about any answer that might be given.
If the authorities plan to let the beast die, they'd certainly never say.
If they claimed they were endeavoring to overcome this obstacle, based on history, I wouldn't believe them.
Bottom line for me, I'm gazing down that long, dark tunnel, and I suddenly see light at the other end.

[Stubby1113]

I could be wrong but I believe they already did this for iOS devices. That is probably why there is so many issues with integers on droids now

[Greasy]

I'm not support Gree here, but if they're really planning to fold the game in 3 months, why bother releasing all the new materials ? New level cap, new units, new missions ? These all require programming time, why not just use the time to code a new game instead ? Fact that they're still spending considerable time in fixing bugs and introducing new content tells me MW is to stay.

[NexusImperium]

I could be wrong but I believe they already did this for iOS devices. That is probably why there is so many issues with integers on droids now

This is a very good point. I've believed for some time now that principal development on this game is done on iOS, which is where the developers do most of their test and validation. This is why so many glitches and exploits have cropped up on Android. That would explain why Android is hitting so many of these stupid glitches like this.

As an aside, as a Software Engineer, porting a program from 32-64 bit is for the most part not really a difficult task, especially if you're using higher-level programming languages. It's a little more tricky in C/C++.

This game is making way too much $ to shut it down. If I were to peg an event to signal the game's impending doom, I'd put it as SUP dropping out of the top 5-10. Or, the top 15 teams earning less than 50% of their current average in WD or FL.

An uptick in gold requirements is not necessarily a sign of the end, it's merely a sign that Gree has discovered what players are willing to spend gold on. I wish they'd just limit the gold requirements to FL and WD, and allow the active players to be rewarded on their participation in the other events.

[Gileas]

As I've said its just a question that I am curious about, and which seems to explain what I have noticed to be, even by the disheartening standards i have come to expect, bizzare behaviour that disregards issues like customer satisfaction, quality control and reputation, ignoring fixing code errors which are basically beta tested and reported by the players, the list goes on.
Many good posts off this topic, though none by GREE mods I note. And while it may not be a nightmare to update, as has been expressed that fact doesn't seem to have prevented the fixing of other problems that have been occurring for a long, long time. I was poking around in response to some of these posts, and noticed the following on a webpage about working at GREE:
"Cons:
Equity grants (phantom shares, since company trades in Tokyo) are paltry and rapidly dwindling in value. Stock price has fallen by about 75% from its peak in late 2012.

Gaming is a hit driven business, and GREE has done little (both in the US and Japan) to best position itself to innovate and create a top-10 title on its own. The company acquired 3 top-10 titles via the Funzio acquisition, but recent development efforts have centered around re-skinning existing titles and copying other successful games out in the market.

Highly political organization. The people who present the best ideas and produce the best work are often not the ones who are recognized/rewarded/promoted.

Major talent exodus. It feels like the smartest, most respected and most accomplished employees are leaving the company in droves."

The most common complaint, however, seems to be "lack of communication between teams and between mid/upper management and employees," which sounds like the model we experience here in MW.

One jaded employee is easily dismissed. But that got said in one way or another by employees post 2013 reviews constantly. As of today stock is down 37% for the year, showing that people other than this forum have doubts about the comapny as well.

I do tend to see patterns and to attribute manipulation or intent where there is really just incompetence and greed when I examine issues where people are just blowing their responsibilities, so perhaps this is what I am doing here. But I'm thinking as the "glass half full," side of this scenario we have: incompetence, greed and no apparent desire to make a quality product. That's a pretty nasty glass. The half empty side almost seems better now that I write. That would be the "rob and run" part. It's not the whole company, mind you, just this MW game. Perhaps it's less a cash cow and more an albatross? Dropping the losing part of your sinking ship is an old concept. Toss the junk over the side first when things get bad. Like I've said, what is really going on I've no idea, it's why I ask.

[ju100]

The issue here may well be that this upgrade means support for older client operating systems (Your phone or tablet) is not available.


Was afraid of that too, but : "If you've got an older iPhone or iPad (anything with an Apple A5 or A6 chip in it) this announcement means nothing to you. Like their OS X counterparts, 64-bit iOS apps can be distributed as universal binaries that support both 32- and 64-bit processors." (link (http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/apple-beginning-february-2015-app-store-submissions-need-to-be-64-bit/))

[NexusImperium]

The most common complaint, however, seems to be "lack of communication between teams and between mid/upper management and employees," which sounds like the model we experience here in MW.

As I've mentioned numerous times before, the problems with this game stem from project management.

To non software engineers it won't be readily apparent but being in the industry I can spot classic symptoms of management problems.

[generalpain]

As I've mentioned numerous times before, the problems with this game stem from project management.

To non software engineers it won't be readily apparent but being in the industry I can spot classic symptoms of management problems.


To anyone who is familiar with business or engineering this sticks out like a sore thumb. It's easy to spot management and executive issues that likely hamper proper software developement. IE, they don't keep round the clock engineers to fix bugs that are pushed on war weekends. Or they bring things into play that are all geared towards revenue and hurt gameplay. IE, the equipment fiasco. Funzio had a great platform that gamers loved, and had a great client base and market, which is why Gree purchased mw. Now they have a very typical investor/developer/client relationship, wherein the investors want short term returns at whatever expense that is. They push developers to create an atmoshphere that will have higher profit margins even if that hurts the long term potentiol for the client. Investors who go in a business like gaming want big returns fast, and look to pull out as soon as they see something better. This is not your dad's retirement plan, it's your buddies next get rich quick idea. It's upntonthe company executives to protect the game from investors destroying the client base to earn an easy dollar. The sooner Gree realizes this the better player experience will improve.

Sorry from detracting from the op topic, but this is the money side of the equation, which will always trump tech issues.

[Dirty Mind]

Getting a chuckle imagining the looks on Gree faces Monday morning when they see this thread. "Wait, what?" or "What is a 64-bit?" I don't know either, but its not my job to know.

[Ajk]

This game has always had "glitches, cheats, mistakes, hacks, gifts from gree", the latter being my favorite excuse, that players have had the chance to partake in. Some have taken advantage of them, some have not. But anyhow, will Gree update this to 64 bit? You bet your sweet a$$ they will. Lack of programmers and customer support means they have no overhead expenses. We have all been a victim of terrible customer support for how long now? No matter how screwed up this game gets, there will always be people to spend, and spend big, thinking that the next cycle will give them the advantage over that one player that keeps raiding them. Everyone has that one player they want to get revenge on. No?

[crazeejay]

This game has always had "glitches, cheats, mistakes, hacks, gifts from gree", the latter being my favorite excuse, that players have had the chance to partake in. Some have taken advantage of them, some have not. But anyhow, will Gree update this to 64 bit? You bet your sweet a$$ they will. Lack of programmers and customer support means they have no overhead expenses. We have all been a victim of terrible customer support for how long now? No matter how screwed up this game gets, there will always be people to spend, and spend big, thinking that the next cycle will give them the advantage over that one player that keeps raiding them. Everyone has that one player they want to get revenge on. No?

LMAO you're Gree's standard customer. They love you

[Ajk]

LMAO you're Gree's standard customer. They love you

Haha! It'll be two years this July since I've been a "customer". I prefer to Dew Nuttin my own way.

If you're DEWIN NUTTIN wif SUMWON, you ain't DEWIN NUTTIN no more.

I'm sure PJ would agree.

[Doomkitten]

Gree is gonna milk this sucker dry!

This is what happened with Monster Quest.
The quest became repetitive, and it was a less complicated game so that seemed inconsequential. It took 6 months but it be became clear that the hat was the plan.
I guess many games have a shelf life. One of the reasons I spend money knowing it is a moment of pleasure expenditure. Like a movie. If you can say you won't have regrets in a week, month, year when the game is closed down...you won.

[illumin8u]

All i know is i am an android player and we as players have always had the short straw when it came to the game play experience yet recently it seems droid development/programming has become way better then in the past. Is this because they employed decent people, started to realize there are many more android players, or are gearing up for android to be the only ones playing i have no idea. I dont claim to know anything about how to run this game or anything about programming, but i am a business owner and i know if my customers aren't happy i dont make money. I understand to us this is a game we play for enjoyment, also that alot of us have and do spend alot of money on and to gree this is a business/money maker the fact that there has been no response at all to this post is even more alarming. I will say this take ios users ot of the picture the game will not be the same so it may aswell be shut down, surely if the question that gileas has put forward is just an over reaction to the situation why hasnt anything been said. Appears to me that legal teams are being consulted to best give an answer that answers nothing but implicates them in nothing also (I'm sure we have all received responses to tickets that have done exactly this). If you have nothing to hide gree post something that answers the questions and do something to keep us players happy instead of hoping it will blow over.

[Eliminator~U.T.E]

Interesting...

It does spark interest. Thinking about all the things going on. R.b
Event with insane stats. New boost buildings all cost gold. New money buildings all costing gold. New expansion platoon costing gold. The race to 350 will definitely cost gold. A 7 day war for what reason, to collect more gold. Why not milk us for all its worth. Business only care about one thing when it is a cash cow. MAKE MORE MONEY FOR THEMSELVES. I for one was really intrigued by this thread, and based off of the current game trend I feel that is has a lot of truth behind it. So I will become a free player, and wait for the day when I try to log on and get an error message saying can't connect to servers please try again later.

[Mikelord]

Very informal posts here, would like to see what a paid mod would do

[Jg48]

The mods are just a go between person. Need a response from a gree.

[Jg48]

If you look under events the community managers must not talk to each other. The same post days apart so why would they answer any questions here.

[kenesis711]

They got their first quarterly losses in 2 years n vows to make up that money. The gunners being dropped down almost 2k, new buildings costing gold. They gonna get their money. Thats all that is. They start developing these changes months b4 they roll them out. They rush things to get our money n dont care about the bugs. All the big spenders r leaving so they need more money from us. Pandering to the big spenders makes us hate them. Even if gree gave a .... the base is so wide spread from top 10000 to 1000. 500 to 100. Even top 25 to 5 is a big difference. When u have guys with 800mil stats n others with 3 trillion stats there's no way to make us all happy. This game is doomed. 1 good thing i still love frontline

[SunWuKong]

hopefully this can be easily fix by the developers