11th hour event feedback

[Thunder Child]

Just read a half dozen threads and seen the initial reaction to the u-turn Funzio have apparently made on the bonus that was promised (and it was!) for the 9th box. Better than leaving comments all over the place, perhaps we should focus our efforts to properly communicate our dissatisfaction with this situation.
I would suggest that we each take a deep breath before we post, and remember that anything abusive or hysterical is unlikely to achieve anything, whereas reasonable collective opinion just might...

[-->FISH<--]

Trust me, I was on last night when he posted and things have calmed down considerably. Not all frustrations were posted in public.

[Agent Orange]

What I posted to another thread. To cover up the mistake IMHO destroys any credidibility that Funzio had, they MUST make good on their promise OR I would suggest that everyone who feels that they have been treated unfairly post a negative review in the app store.

Hopefully Mark will realize how major a PR screw up this has become and fix it asap.

Below is my reply in the thread in question.


Originally Posted by Crime City Mark
It looks like there is some confusion here. There was no 9 item for this event. Just the standard ones.

Mark this is a major PR catastrophe IMHO. I'm sure it is an honest mistake BUT considering how long this mistake has been out here and debated I really think it is in your best interest to make good on it. Otherwise this will be three events in a row where customers are going to walk away feeling ripped off and heaven forbid the media gets a hold of this. Er wait a second...

May I make a suggestion. Give those who got part 9 something simple like 50 gold. They could buy a container, change their flag, or just save it for 3 free opens in the next event.

But to recind the offer is a very very bad precedence to set and a slap in the face to your loyal supporters.

[Aidan]

Bad things is they will shy away evenmore frm MW thread aftr this. They'll be afraid to post anythhng for fear of it might backfire n haunt them bck. They hv a bad communication among themselves. A good communication is always important in any organisation. Bad one will lead to lots of confusions n wrong informations being pass on. This will hurt the company in the long run.

It's sad bcoz i thought things hv improved since lfizzle tookover with her being involved n communicated with us. Problem is i think is the communication between her n the devs/supports.

[Thunder Child]

Totally agree and I'm sure you're right. Still, their task now is to put things right, and that unquestionably means making good on a promise that WAS made by a representative of their company.

[Big John]

Not sure about this as nothing official on the actual game.
Seems to me there's too much info on the forum and not enough in the actual game, I lost out using energy before I knew the event had started. Maybe they should have better announcements about upcoming events in the game itself.

[-->FISH<--]

Yes, your right but, it also drives people to want to know more about the game and these events which drives them to here. More hits they get on here the more they can market that to advertisers to make more money. And trust me when i say, for them it's only about making money.

[Agent Orange]

What the issue is is that an accredited representative of the company (Funzio) posted a message stating that there would be a bonus prize for finding the 9th aircraft part several days ago. Now on the eve of the event completing another representative of the company posts that there will be no bonus prize.

To make matters worse he also has gone and edited the post stating that there would be a prize which now smacks of cover up.

My guess is that they could not change the event once started but instead of posting something to that effect that folks could understand they went and tried to make it sound like it didn't happen. A huge mistake and given that each of these events has been met with a fair amount of negative feedback from customers who have spent money on the event I would say this is a very serious problem and one that should not be ignored.

Before I go and do something rash which is to contact our media liazon rep at Apple or post negative feedback on the app store which we are all within our legal right to do I would hope that Mark or whoever made the call at Funzio rethinks this mess before it goes viral.

[Big John]

Anybody who used gold to get 9 parts should get some compensation as these events have been a PR disaster.

[bilbo baggins]

The daft thing about all this is that for Funzio to gift a prize to everyone who has got the 9 (I only have 7) would cost them zero. The making of a unit wil be factored into game design salaries and the addition to the database would be insignificant. They should just come out and say sorry, that whoever started the original thread made a genuine mistake and as way of compensation all those at level 9 will receive the "olive branch" a ground unit decked out like a UN inspection suv with stats att 134 and def 303.

They will be concerned I am sure. It just takes a long time to decide on appropriate action when you have thousands of customers rather than a few.

[-->FISH<--]

Not sure if they even think it's a disaster.

Hijack......AO how did you get Kingdom Age? Look at me complaining about one game and asking about another

[Watash]

If Funzio has indeed edited a post to coverup an honest mistake then that throws a whole new perspective on this issue. Throughout the ages, people has discovered that the coverup is always worse than the mistake....problem is that this particular nugget of human wisdom does not endure or is ignored. Honest mistakes and subsequent apologies/explanations are universally accepted. Funzio needs to come clean here....

[possum]

Kind of typical of the events in general here for most of the people that participate. The right thing to do would be to honor that 9 part reward, but I seriously doubt they will do the right thing.

It's almost like the developers have a case of schadenfreude at our expense (at least towards the MW community) but what's ironically funny is that their actions just reinforces "us" (me in particular) to not spend money instead of trying to build some goodwill from the fiasco that was the last event. Lol, I don't get their thinking, unless they're just as bitter towards us as some of us are towards them, haha. Dumb on their part because we get to have the last laugh.

[bilbo baggins]

If Funzio has indeed edited a post to coverup an honest mistake then that throws a whole new perspective on this issue. Throughout the ages, people has discovered that the coverup is always worse than the mistake....problem is that this particular nugget of human wisdom does not endure or is ignored. Honest mistakes and subsequent apologies/explanations are universally accepted. Funzio needs to come clean here....

In all fairness I would hardly call it a cover up when a senior developer posts "I am going to go back now and edit the original post" Monumental F^%k up definitely but no grassy knolls here.

[Thunder Child]

The daft thing about all this is that for Funzio to gift a prize to everyone who has got the 9 (I only have 7) would cost them zero. The making of a unit wil be factored into game design salaries and the addition to the database would be insignificant. They should just come out and say sorry, that whoever started the original thread made a genuine mistake and as way of compensation all those at level 9 will receive the "olive branch" a ground unit decked out like a UN inspection suv with stats att 134 and def 303.

They will be concerned I am sure. It just takes a long time to decide on appropriate action when you have thousands of customers rather than a few.
Love the UN idea! Bit optimistic on the stats though - would beat the prize for 10 boxes!

[bilbo baggins]

@TC on the basis that i believe it will never happen I chose stats with "go big or go home" as an inspiration.

[Big John]

Maybe the prize was a grunt.

[Thunder Child]

@ BB love your attitude, but I'll hate you forever if you get it!

[bilbo baggins]

@ BB love your attitude, but I'll hate you forever if you get it!

I am on 7 so unless I get lucky in the last few hours I too shall miss out on the promised non existent special bonus unit.

[Plugger]

Maybe the prize was a grunt.
Lol it is "indestructible" for sure

[Procyon]

I agree that it's truly unfair for those of you that have achieved getting the 9th part, but also for everyone who has been spending time, money, losing sleep, running through levels, making enemies by constantly attacking for boxes and having allies thrusted upon us that skewed our strategy.

After the last 2 events I was pretty certain I wouldn't get the 10th part so was only working for that bonus at 9. Had planned spending this last day with my iPad at my side and buying/spending more gold. Maybe I should consider myself somewhat lucky to get this info now.

Mistakes happen, but they really should do something tangible for those of you who reached 9 parts and at least a little something for the rest of us who have also been impacted. An apology to all is a good start. And yes, sending my feedback straight to Funzio and Apple.

[Thunder Child]

I am on 7 so unless I get lucky in the last few hours I too shall miss out on the promised non existent special bonus unit.
Ha! Me too! Man, now I want us both to get 9 and then the reinstated and upgraded temporarily abandoned originally promised but currently non existent special event bonus unit!

[bilbo baggins]

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/18623974.jpg

[marebear]

Not sure if they even think it's a disaster. Hijack......AO how did you get Kingdom Age? Look at me complaining about one game and asking about anotherYou can get it from the canadian iTunes or lfizzle announced on the page to look for it next week on iTunes ( not putting much stock in announcements anymore) They took a great concept and screwed it up. Before the events I was not buying gold units. Then when I got some free per event I bought gold to get more. Now I'm sour because honestly it will cost them more to ignore our complaints (ie no one buys gold) than to just dish out on their original promise ( a 9th prize)

[Agent Orange]

In all fairness I would hardly call it a cover up when a senior developer posts "I am going to go back now and edit the original post" Monumental F^%k up definitely but no grassy knolls here.

I pondered using the term when I wrote that post but technically he edited a previous post from an acknowledged Funzio representative so unless you read his later post he has technically 'covered up' the original post.

The problem is the way it was handled, a short sentence just stating sorry folks no bonus really doesn't cut it for me after all this time. If this is a problem with internal communications well just say so. Heck I'm a senior staff member of the largest newspaper in Canada and I know first hand even in a company that specializes in communications that things go haywire but the right thing to do is to admit that there was a mistake or problem and not just summarily state sorry folks and hope everyone forgets and it blows away.

Bilbo is 120% correct, all Funzio needs to do for customer good will is to give something to those who have missed out. Now the other problem coming into play is that folks who were considering buying gold to try for part #9 may be so disillusioned that they stopped which means that this is an even bigger screw up.

At this point I think everyone should wind up with some consolation and no not a grunt! Like I said in the thread in question I think the decent thing to do is after the event ends give EVERYONE 50 gold so they can do what they please, buy a container, change their countries flag (I think important for those who realized they screwed up), get 3 free opens which again cost nothing to the devs or just save them for a rainy day. But bottom line is it won't cost the company anything since it's virtual and it would go a long long way to mending yet more bad emotions between the players and company.

If they wind up doing nothing I suspect that further online action is required whether in the form of negative feedback on the app store, contacting the BBB or your credit card company who tend btw to side on the part of the customer and not the vendor.

[Warfiend]

At this point I think everyone should wind up with some consolation and no not a grunt!

Agreed, a grunt wouldn't cut it. A few dozen grunts should suffice... :D




If they wind up doing nothing I suspect that further online action is required whether in the form of negative feedback on the app store, contacting the BBB or your credit card company who tend btw to side on the part of the customer and not the vendor.

It would be best to give it a day or two before taking any drastic action like that. Funzio's not even open for normal business hours and it may well be that not everyone in the decision making chain at Funzio has been involved in the discussion. No one is going to lose their right to take any action by waiting a couple days to give internal dialogue of the organization during normal business hours a chance to occur.

[Agent Orange]

Agreed, a grunt wouldn't cut it. A few dozen grunts should suffice... :D


Yes then people would not be as disGRUNTled....

[Poopenshire]

What about those who stopped playing when the 9th prize was not awarded. Had people been reciecing the award as advertised, yes it was officially announced I read ityself, myself and many others would still be playing this event. To award it post is a disservice to those who were pushed away from the failed award to begin with.

[Procyon]

@AgentOrange

Yeh, you're right about how things happen at work. I tell the people I manage if you're not making a mistake a day you're not working hard enough, but it's about the level of mistake and how you handle it after you made it. Errors happen, but owning up to it and doing what you can to make it right goes a long way.

[Maverick50727]

I pondered using the term when I wrote that post but technically he edited a previous post from an acknowledged Funzio representative so unless you read his later post he has technically 'covered up' the original post.

The problem is the way it was handled, a short sentence just stating sorry folks no bonus really doesn't cut it for me after all this time. If this is a problem with internal communications well just say so. Heck I'm a senior staff member of the largest newspaper in Canada and I know first hand even in a company that specializes in communications that things go haywire but the right thing to do is to admit that there was a mistake or problem and not just summarily state sorry folks and hope everyone forgets and it blows away.

Bilbo is 120% correct, all Funzio needs to do for customer good will is to give something to those who have missed out. Now the other problem coming into play is that folks who were considering buying gold to try for part #9 may be so disillusioned that they stopped which means that this is an even bigger screw up.

At this point I think everyone should wind up with some consolation and no not a grunt! Like I said in the thread in question I think the decent thing to do is after the event ends give EVERYONE 50 gold so they can do what they please, buy a container, change their countries flag (I think important for those who realized they screwed up), get 3 free opens which again cost nothing to the devs or just save them for a rainy day. But bottom line is it won't cost the company anything since it's virtual and it would go a long long way to mending yet more bad emotions between the players and company.

If they wind up doing nothing I suspect that further online action is required whether in the form of negative feedback on the app store, contacting the BBB or your credit card company who tend btw to side on the part of the customer and not the vendor.
I'll stay out of this mess. I thought it was simple mistake from the beginning the way I read it. People who got the 10th item stated several days ago it took them 10. I don't remember though if that was in the threads or posting to their walls where I saw it. Doesn't change the fact that then in-game screen has always shown 10 parts from the start. It is only people who read the misprint in the forum that it affects.

I myself am a free play but "accidiently" spent free tapjoy gold twice to reset the timer and never meant to. I was just going through things so fast, half asleep and on a small phone screen. Purely my fault and expecially the 2nd time. Just the delays and tapping on the screen at the wrong place and time. I wish they had a "confirm" button also as a side note.

I wouldn't mind 50 gold credit even though I'm only at 8 parts now just to replace the 30 I spent by accident becuase there was no confirm. Yes this is chump change so I'm not going to cry over spilled milk I never meant to drink.

[Sugarymama]

I know I'm pretty late to this party, but when and where exactly was it communicated that there would be a prize for 9 parts? I never saw it anywhere and I have been into this event since the beginning..

Btw, I just got my 10th plane part 5 minutes ago. Finally...

[Pace]

I know I'm pretty late to this party, but when and where exactly was it communicated that there would be a prize for 9 parts? I never saw it anywhere and I have been into this event since the beginning..

Btw, I just got my 10th plane part 5 minutes ago. Finally...

It was actually in the post LFizzle made announcing the event. They devs have since went back and edited the post to remove it. You can search for posts by Crime City Mark - he explains it, sorta.

[JohnnyR]

I know I'm pretty late to this party, but when and where exactly was it communicated that there would be a prize for 9 parts? I never saw it anywhere and I have been into this event since the beginning..

Btw, I just got my 10th plane part 5 minutes ago. Finally...

L Fizzle's first post regarding the current event, since changed by CC Mark...

[Sugarymama]

Ahh, I see. That's why I missed it..

[negotiator]

It boils down to very simple math. I am sure funzio/ccm discussed that the only people even aware of this mistake are the ones reading this forum. Not that I have any idea what it would cost to make it right very little I will assume. Let us not forget it was mentioned more then once and lfizzle informed the forum readers to contact funzio when it kept being brought up. I see this as more then one mistake. I would like to know how and why it took them so long to comment on it, we all have our own ideas on why.

I was not very upset about a simple error or lack of communication inside funzio we all know this happens. I am very upset about the delay in catching their error and the way ccm/funzio responded with in my opinion is a lack of concern for those that post and or read the forums.

I am holding out hope that funzio will sit down Monday morning and come back with a much better response and solution for this problem.

Only my two cents

[Tctiger]

I don't know the facts but as a fairly new player and an addicted one alough only a free player , my view is that if not such comment was made by anyone who works for funzio then there is not a conversation to have, if someone who works for funzio said if you get 9 there will be something then you should get something, even if the person working for funzio shouldn't have said it they did so any reputable companies would homer it.i for one would be disappointed if they did break a promise and the game would lose my trust , but then charging silly amounts of money in gold is not fair either and in my opinion the game would not reach its full potential or may even die out , I am unsure how long I will be able to play as a free player as not sure would enjoy staying at level 67 for 3 years to try to build an army to go up against industry table army's to get wiped out. I think it's a great game but just wish it was even for everyone , and you would get respect for playing well not being rich! Just my opinion I know people will say about gold is good and I should be great full for playing for free but I can play other games for free just a shame the one I like has the gold thing as I have a family and am not rich I can't afford £35 for an imaginary ship and wouldn't pay it if I could! Just my feedback to funzio. Peace out.

[-->FISH<--]

Well marebear posted about contacting the bbb and then it threaded to the credit card companies and they finally the dev's removed the whole thing. My question is did something happen to her acct. because she has been quiet since then. I hope to see her on here soon.

[overkill 280]

I got my 9th part this morning, Should I be sending in a ticket saying I didn't receive anything? or should I just wait and see what transpires? Or if i don't send a ticket, will they not no about me, and I will lose the prize if they do decide to give something?

[War Priest]

I got my 9th part this morning, Should I be sending in a ticket saying I didn't receive anything? or should I just wait and see what transpires? Or if i don't send a ticket, will they not no about me, and I will lose the prize if they do decide to give something?

Don't bother. There aren't giving away anything at 9.

[JohnnyR]

Send it. The more they hear about it, the more they'll know how many people actually care. Your voice counts for those not speaking up too.

If you all send something, you all will be heard. No loss in trying. Especially if you spent gold.

[War Priest]

I wish they would just stop these events. There would be so much less problems if they did.

[overkill 280]

I know I'm pretty late to this party, but when and where exactly was it communicated that there would be a prize for 9 parts? I never saw it anywhere and I have been into this event since the beginning..

Btw, I just got my 10th plane part 5 minutes ago. Finally... Me too :) Me too :)

[overkill 280]

Don't bother. There aren't giving away anything at 9. Ok thanks WP.

[JohnnyR]

I'd send one in for the hell of it, they should be catching hell for this and the more they catch shows WE care and are paying attention. I don't see why anyone who poured gold in wouldn't.

[Michael0218]

I do not post too often, but I, like most of you are addicted too and love to play this game. Even with all of is flaws, and we know what they are, we still choose to play.

We can play for free or spend our own money, Funzio has given us that option.

Therefore, I do not expect anything from Funzio nor do they owe me anything as I am not forced to play this game. However, funzio needs to be aware that they should not expect anything from me either. I choose to play or not to play based on the product they put out. I choose to spend my money or not to spend my money based on the product they put out.

To fully confess, yes, I have spent money on this game, not a lot but some. I have not spent any money since their last event when the reward was a 20% reduction in upgrade time.

So, I will continue to play this game, because I love it. However, I will not spend money on it, because of the product they continue to put out.

I am now off the soapbox and feel the need to go raid somebody.

[Crime City Mark]

Well marebear posted about contacting the bbb and then it threaded to the credit card companies and they finally the dev's removed the whole thing. My question is did something happen to her acct. because she has been quiet since then. I hope to see her on here soon.

While we don't normally discuss bans I'll just say that nothing happened to anyone who posted in that thread. We just don't allow threads like that on the forums. You're free to offer criticism (see a lot of the threads today), but encouraging people to do chargebacks or pursue spurious legal action is not tolerated.

[War Priest]

While we don't normally discuss bans I'll just say that nothing happened to anyone who posted in that thread. We just don't allow threads like that on the forums. You're free to offer criticism (see a lot of the threads today), but encouraging people to do chargebacks or pursue spurious legal action is not tolerated.

Can you cheer some of us up by telling when we will have our gold sale?

[JohnnyR]

Should come by more often CC Mark, maybe we wouldn't get into the antics we do. ;-P

[Jp lfs]

Again, I am so late to the party, that I'm just saying "I agree." However, as a small business owner, I have been taken to task pretty hard by customers for making promises and not being able to keep them. And every time you make it right, it pays serious long-term dividends, because those customers feel that you listen to and respect them. And they become even more loyal (SPEND MORE MONEY!!) My request for the 9th part is the 10 doc prize from the last event. I am still pretty steamed about how that one worked out, and I could definitely use that prize way more than the current one. I'll even buy it if I have to. Thanks.

[Thunder Child]

Marebear's probably just sleeping. The person who has gone quiet is L Fizzle. Hope she hasn't been canned or moved on...

[-->FISH<--]

Marebear's probably just sleeping. The person who has gone quiet is L Fizzle. Hope she hasn't been canned or moved on...

my thoughts exactly

[War Priest]

Should come by more often CC Mark, maybe we wouldn't get into the antics we do. ;-P

They favor CC more... =(

[marebear]

my thoughts exactlyThanks for thinking of me guys :) I was at the red sox game today and then me and the hubby took our motorcycles out for a ride.

[Agent Orange]

While we don't normally discuss bans I'll just say that nothing happened to anyone who posted in that thread. We just don't allow threads like that on the forums. You're free to offer criticism (see a lot of the threads today), but encouraging people to do chargebacks or pursue spurious legal action is not tolerated.

While I can see that insighting this kind of thing isn't good I also wonder why you folks aren't really making an attempt at making good on a promise? For one thing L Fizzle posted that this event would be 'better' and that some of our concerns about the last one were being addressed.

From what I can see the mechanics seem pretty much the same, the only way to have a chance at opening these things is by using gold or playing 24/7 in which case what changed and what got 'better'.

The sticking point with pretty much everyone is that a promise was made and a promise was broken and just saying sorry in this case IMHO is just not acceptable. You know I try really really hard to be positive about the game and the devs but this kind of thing really sours me on the whole thing. In other words you are basically telling us as customers you don't care otherwise you would make some form of attempt at fixing the problem.

And it's not like a fix is going to cost you anything so quite frankly how short sighted can you guys be? Though I am a free player, I did buy some gold for my LLP last event but I sure as heck will never buy any gold for any of your games after this.

As War Priest stated earlier we should stop these things I for one would not miss them and considering each one has had a fair bit of negative feedback in the forums it seems to me this is an on going failure which appears to have no solution in sight and that is a real pity.

[marebear]

spurious... What a great adjective for the 9th prize...

[Jp lfs]

I agree with every single word AO has posted, and I'm not kissing his tailfeathers. He just summed up exactly what I was thinking in an intelligent and non-aggressive way. I would like to add that this is a game of strategy, and these events interfere with all of our individual strategies. So I would love to see them happen less often, or not at all. However, they clearly make the company a ton of loot (especially off of addictive/compulsive types like myself.) And they force all of the campers to be more active if they want to participate, so I am sure we will see more of them. I just hope it is less often, because I had no plan to be at level 87 this fast. Maybe 3 or 4 months from now, but now my long term strategy is blown, and for a few extra units? My fault completely I admit, but still...

[Jp lfs]

On a positive note, there is a gold sale in CC right now, and we usually get one right after they do. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that!

[Poopenshire]

The innocent don't hide the truth by altering and changing items from the past. Trying to squash rebellion only cements it further. The best to move forward is to admitt things went wrong and actually work to fix it. If people want change voice your opinions and ask for it. BTW, everyone knows getting #10 is total random chance. Except that.

[Crime City Mark]

The innocent don't hide the truth by altering and changing items from the past. Trying to squash rebellion only cements it further. The best to move forward is to admitt things went wrong and actually work to fix it. If people want change voice your opinions and ask for it. BTW, everyone knows getting #10 is total random chance. Except that.

What are you talking about? No one is hiding anything.

As for the 10th item being random; they all have a chance. Every single one of them has a drop percentage. The first item is just as random as the 10th, just with a better drop chance. So I'm not seeing the point you're trying to make.

I mean, if you're going to call us out, that's your choice. I just wish you'd call us out for something we did (make a mistake, which we admitted to.) rather than making things up.

[Captian Awesome]

I'll stay out of this mess. I thought it was simple mistake from the beginning the way I read it. People who got the 10th item stated several days ago it took them 10. I don't remember though if that was in the threads or posting to their walls where I saw it. Doesn't change the fact that then in-game screen has always shown 10 parts from the start. It is only people who read the misprint in the forum that it affects.

I myself am a free play but "accidiently" spent free tapjoy gold twice to reset the timer and never meant to. I was just going through things so fast, half asleep and on a small phone screen. Purely my fault and expecially the 2nd time. Just the delays and tapping on the screen at the wrong place and time. I wish they had a "confirm" button also as a side note.

I wouldn't mind 50 gold credit even though I'm only at 8 parts now just to replace the 30 I spent by accident becuase there was no confirm. Yes this is chump change so I'm not going to cry over spilled milk I never meant to drink.

I hit the wrong button to and it cost me 300 gold! I was extremely upset, there should be a confirm button for spending gold!

[JohnnyR]

Send a ticket to support. The more they here from guys like you, the more likely they will fix the issue.

[Mcdoc]

Mark,

Several of us have offered up some great feedback on ways to make the events even MORE enticing for people to want to spend gold and feel GOOD about it. Isn't the point of a Gold sale to bring in more money? Isn't the point of an event to bring in more money? I'm sure the red-headed step kids in the forum are not the highest on your priority, but we represent real people who spend real dollars. I would say there are about 55 of us who regularly post on the forums and vote on our own self started polls - and probably a couple hundred others who read the posts but don't participate as much. If 55 people suddenly banded together and posted negative reviews on I-tunes and took other action, I'm sure you would notice. As an alternative, we are here to give you free feedback - free from any real public lash-back - a sounding board to help you keep your pulse on the players. All we ask is that you place as much value in our opinion as you place in our wallets.

That being said, just remember, if people who play for free give in and buy $19.99 worth of gold for an event - say 300 people ($6,000.00) - and of those people, 20 of them post how happy they were for money well spent here on the forums, how hard would it be to imagine that the next event, not only would those people spend money again, but perhaps another 300 ($12,000.00) people would see the value of spending REAL money on an imaginary game. My guess is that those numbers are way low - but still, if an extra $10,000, $30,000 of even $50,000 is the outcome of happy customers versus negative feedback and angry posts - then why not go for the better outcome?

Seriously, HERE is the root of our anger with these events:
You have the Crates up 24/7 - which is a slight chance of what you may get for your Gold, but you are guaranteed to get SOMETHING that you would feel good about spending money on.

Edited for clarity:
AS for the events: Many many many people have posted that they are upset of "worthless" prizes given out for gold:
1) Free Ally (which I can go get 2 every 8 hours via the VIP list or post in the ADD me thread and get 30 in 2 days for free already)

2) 300 valor (which I get over 700 now just by normal PvP and accidentally completing background missions

3) Mediocre units that have casualty rates that make them disappear in battle before the event is even over. A simple adjustment to the prizes to have "very low" or a special category for event loot that is "super low" - will make people really want to participate in the events more and more.

4) Drop rate: Why is the drop rate so freaking hard for the last 3 items? Come on, if MORE people actually got the glorious prize, how does that hurt the game? I will tell you if MORE people got it - then MORE people would try and be more willing to invest real money into it. You should see these events as a way to get people off the fence about using Gold - trust me - when they feel good about having more Uber units, they will want more of them and be even more willing to open their wallets.

It just doesn't make good marketing sense to those of us who do run successful businesses and truly value feedback from our customers. Granted, the "free players" aren't as angry and just succumb to the idea that they really won't get the 10th prize from the get go - but the GOLD players, you know, they guys who keep you in business - we are the ones who feel more burned by the events rather than glad we participated. I personally spent $250 of my real money on this event (because I can) and I would have been tooting your horn very loudly if I had actually gotten my 10th item within 14 hours of my 9th verses over 80 hours later. I got 6 parts in the 1st 4 hours, so you can see how this seems SO rigged to us. Don't you not see that others will get encouraged to run out and spent $20 for a better chance, verses hearing from the gold spenders "don't waste your money" and not even trying?

Some sort of well thought out response to a post like this would really be way more appreciated than just the responses to posts that call you out.

Last thing - We were told by L-Fizzle there was a prize for the 9th part. Do the honorable thing and honor it. any action less than that is pure Cowardly. It's simple - if you don't want to invest in creating a new unit, then re-release an older retired Limited Edition unit with better stats than the 7th prize, but not quite as awesome as the 9th prize. Otherwise, create a special PR item called the "9th Squadron Bomber". Since the 10th item was an amazing plane, and we were collecting plane parts, I would request some sort of Airplane prize that has more than 180 attack and more than 120 defense - or vice versa. There is plenty of space between that and the 259/181 stats on the 10th prize.

Even if you just fixed this problem for the 60 or so people here in the forums, how small of a price is that to pay for keeping people happy?

We are counting on you guys getting together tomorrow morning around coffee and donuts , before the 1st massage is given, and coming to the reasonable conclusion to do the right thing.

[Crime City Mark]

Mcdoc,

I'm going to skip your questions and comments about crates, since they're off-topic.

As for the event item confusion, a conclusion has already been reached. We've been having conversations all the way up and down the ladder, including the Executive Producer. We are going to be making a concerted effort going forward to make sure information mixups like this do not happen in the future.

[BrodawgCanada]

Cc mark keep up the good work I'm sure it's not easy!!!!

[JohnnyR]

Last thing - We were told by L-Fizzle there was a prize for the 9th part. Do the honorable thing and honor it. any action less than that is pure Cowardly. It's simple - if you don't want to invest in creating a new unit, then re-release an older retired Limited Edition unit with better stats than the 7th prize, but not quite as awesome as the 9th prize. Otherwise, create a special PR item called the "9th Squadron Bomber". Since the 10th item was an amazing plane, and we were collecting plane parts, I would request some sort of Airplane prize that has more than 150 attack and more than 95 defense - or vice versa. There is plenty of space between that and the 259/181 stats on the 10th prize.



Love this idea.

It's a small thing to do, but the impact would be felt far and wide. Gonna be hard to track down everyone who was promised the 9th part? Give it to all 9 part earners, not just the forum-ites, put it on a flash screen like the crate announcements. What will be the explanation? "We made good on a promise to our forum members"-how impressive would that be? I think multitudes would flock to the forums. I think the goodwill would bring more players in, into the deeper understanding of the game-and hence spend more. How many are gonna quit anyway when the shark territory is reached and they get pounded relentlessly? Bring 'em here and they'll get the strategies to keep on going. Give people a reason to keep playing.

[StuN]

@CCM

If I was you, I would consulting my legal team Mark, you've actually broken the law. If the post had been corrected prior to the event, before any financial transactions had taken place, you would have been fine. Ask any UK bank about mis selling. Funzio is definitely in the wrong on this one, from a moral & more importantly, legal standpoint

[Mcdoc]

Mark, thanks for the quick response. I must tell you that there is an underlying discussion here all up and down our ladders as to what we will be doing in response to this "mix-up" as to how we will move forward. So far, the decision you have presented to us is not going forward with making us happy - it is actually going backwards. I truly hope there will be a better conclusion to this mistake. The back-lash so far has been limited to this forum, which you guys have the very fortunate advantage of doing some damage control quickly without any further outcry or publicized criticism beyond this media.

I truly hope you haven't concluded that this situation is over for us and understand that we are patiently withholding further public outcry out of respect for you guys and love for the game - and the fact that it is the weekend and we are patiently hoping for a more reasonable outcome when people talk about this face to face on a normal business day.

I assure you that there were real life decisions to spend real life dollars made on the statements made about the 9th prize. Even when I started a thread asking if anyone else had gotten it since I was sitting on my 9th and was TOTALLY ready to photograph the prize and post it here to motivate everyone else to strive for it, no one believed me and thought for sure I just didn't see it - and then we were told again by L-0Fizzle to submit an in-game ticket - so a second time telling us there would be a prize.

Lastly, perhaps you missed my point in my thread. I only mentioned the crates to say we already have a way to experience a slight chance with our gold for items that we might have spent gold on already. I switched gears to talk about why these events were so disappointing and perhaps you missed my transition and thought I was "off-topic". I assure you I was still on topic about the frustrations of these events :)

Thanks again for the quick response, we all truly appreciate your attention to this matter as we also hope for a better resolution than simply writing us off with a promise to not make mistakes in the future.

[Agent Orange]

Mcdoc,

I'm going to skip your questions and comments about crates, since they're off-topic.

As for the event item confusion, a conclusion has already been reached. We've been having conversations all the way up and down the ladder, including the Executive Producer. We are going to be making a concerted effort going forward to make sure information mixups like this do not happen in the future.

You guys really don't care about your customers do you, based on the answer you just posted. You really need to consider what Mcdoc posted as there are some extremely valuable comments.

May I suggest you guys consider hiring some who has some public relations experience and media relations skills soon.

[War Priest]

You guys really don't care about your customers do you, based on the answer you just posted. You really need to consider what Mcdoc posted as there are some extremely valuable comments.

May I suggest you guys consider hiring some who has some public relations experience and media relations skills soon.

Exactly...

[Hello Kitty]

You guys really don't care about your customers do you, based on the answer you just posted. You really need to consider what Mcdoc posted as there are some extremely valuable comments.

May I suggest you guys consider hiring some who has some public relations experience and media relations skills soon.Agree AO. Similar example on the CC thread, they too are not happy with Funzio:

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?24713-More-serious-than-the-MA-s-CCMark-Le-Fizzle-Pls-Respond

In the second post; it's just not a good relationship tactic and very disappointing that a designated representative of Funzio would start with a retort correcting the name first rather chalking it up to a possible mistake and focusing on the player's issue instead. There was no value added to start a response that way. These folks too feel that feedback and suggestion regarding their game experience are going unheard and certainly are not being validated.

Edit: I do want to acknowledge that Funzio at least did get 1 of 3: timing, delivery, and content, correct from a messaging perspective. There was a timely and public response which seems few and far between in the past several months I've either lurked or participated in the forum. Much appreciated. The delivery (tact and acknowledging/knowing the audience) and the content (more details and next steps) have room for improvement.

[Poopenshire]

Edit: I do want to acknowledge that Funzio at least did get 1 of 3: timing, delivery, and content, correct from a messaging perspective. There was a timely and public response which seems few and far between in the past several months I've either lurked or participated in the forum. Much appreciated. The delivery (tact and acknowledging/knowing the audience) and the content (more details and next steps) have room for improvement.

I want to agree with Kitty on something too, the content is great, the units are fun, and the interactions between players is fun too. There are reasons some of us play this game compared to the others out there. There are good things that could be great.

[Jp lfs]

McDoc, Really, really, really well put. And the response from CC Mark (all due respect) simply is not good enough. Saying that we promise we will work harder to not make a mistake in the future DOES NOT ADDRESS the mistake you made this time. "Ignore it and it will go away" is not gonna work here, as hard as you are trying.

[g8rlawyer]

I doubt I'll spend any gold in the next event. I spent for this one, and watched screen after screen of winning Valor points or cash or useless loot items. I collected over 80 boxes, and had 8 plane parts on the second day. I opened over 40 boxes after getting the 9th part, to no avail. That's a bunch of gold spent for nothing. Not likely I'll make that mistake again!

[Procyon]

Very, very well thought out and articluated, McDoc.

[Mcdoc]

The sad thing is, there is such an easy solution sitting right in front of you guys - we have told you subtlety and straight forward that our next move is hinging on your next move. It's tax day and I've got a full plate today, and like I said before, because I love the game SO much, I've been willing to wait through the weekend to give you Guys a chance to get together today and realize that this issue is simply not going to go away by brushing us off.

I've already seen people post links to the BBB page, we have already talked about a flood of negative reviews on I-Tunes, and each of us has a personal choice to deal with our banks who want to make us happy. Those are just 3 options at our fingertips to get justice on our side if you can't see fit to take honorable action on your side. I've seen people post unhappy blogs that get re-peated over and over and go viral, the gaming magazines pay attention to customers who post reviews on their websites and write letters to the editor.

It's not just Modern War as a game that is at stake here, it is Funzio and all of it's products that will be subject to public outcry. It's amazing how viral something can go when there is a big pile of kindling sitting there ready to ignite. You can choose to douse the situation with water (a real solution) or douse it with gasoline (ignoring the obvious honorable thing to do). A bunch of angry customers with matches can't do much damage to a pile of water soaked wood but one customer with a flint rock can ignite a pile of wood soaked in gasoline.

There is a saying in marketing: "When you're on fire, people love to watch you burn." The trick is to be on fire because you're doing something right and blazing a trail and not because you have made a mistake that caused yo to crash & burn. I'm on stand-by until tomorrow simply because I do not have the time today to give this situation my undivided attention and concentrated efforts. Also, my respect for the devs and love for the game is what has given me hope for something more than "we promise to do better next time".

In the meantime, this situation keeps getting uglier as now to add insult to injury, there is a huge PR failure following the original communication error. We were actually very pleased that you guys gave us Lauren as a dedicated advocate & we welcomed her with great enthusiasm. Just when we thought someone was making a difference & that our voices & opinions were being heard & Most importantly - valued - we got let down in a major way that has left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. I personally Haven't seen a post from L-Fizzle in the last 72 hours Yet I've seen people ask if she is still around (we're concerned that she may have been let go in response to this matter). I'm curious if she has advocated on our behalf this morning given that she was welcomed as part of the club.

One of my favorite movies is "V for Vengsnce" because I like how one person was able to stand his ground and inspire a nation of people to take action. Just because there are only a few people responding publicly, don't think there aren't many others sending me private messages and personal emails to my gmail account saying they are watching this issue closely. Some are balking to taken much more drastic measures than the simple ones we've already discussed. Trust me when I say I am one of the calm voices in the crowd.

I truly hate the negative energy around this issue as this forum is usually so much more upbeat. This is my last plea for a reasonable and respectful solution under your control before I seek my own solutions beyond your willingness to make good on this situation. And for the record, I got the 10th part and the Blue Bomber prize, so I am not just some bitter player who is mad because I didn't win the lottery - I am truly an unhappy customer over a promise made to us all and I really don't like seeing a company that i support with hundreds of my dollars ignore unhappy customers.

[overkill 280]

@Mcdoc very well said.

[Big John]

@Mcdoc, L Fizzle has posted.

[War Priest]

@Mcdoc, L Fizzle has posted.

Yeah, she is here. I don't put any of the blame on her though. She is always here for us and asks for our feedback. Her and CJ are my favorite staff members. Seems like they are the only ones that care for us.

[Jp lfs]

McDoc, please keep me posted on what you decide to do. I am in complete agreement, and also actually completed this event. But there is an epic fail here in many ways. I am behind you 100% wherever you decide to take this. Thank you again for calmly voicing the extreme level of discontent.

[Mcdoc]

@Mcdoc, L Fizzle has posted.


Yeah, I was just reading her post in another thread. Actually glad she's still on board, like Marebear said, we were worried :)



Yeah, she is here. I don't put any of the blame on her though. She is always here for us and asks for our feedback. Her and CJ are my favorite staff members. Seems like they are the only ones that care for us.

I do appreciate that CC Mark has been posting today as well. We get that you're reading our posts - just wondering how much listening is going on. And to be fair, I know there are a lot of posts to keep up with, especially with several posts so closely related to the dissatisfaction with the events - I'm sure it is very time consuming to hop around and feel like you're saying the same thing over and over again (welcome to our world).

[possum]

I'll be honest, I haven't read through this entire thread, so I apologize if my thoughts and suggestions were already made and these comments are more towards the events in general.

First of all, I like the events. I they're a great way to get more people actively engaged and a good opportunity to free players. In fact, the "chance" element is perfect for free players.

Now, where I think they went terribly wrong, is that in their quest to increase revenue, they have introduced a mechanic that can (and has) create dissent and consternation from the same people they're hoping to sell to. No business should EVER do this. Now I can fully understand their desire to maximize as much gold from us as possible, no mechanism should EVER exist where a gold spender would feel regret, and that's exactly what they're doing. It's just bad business in the long run.

1. Make gold spenders find crates like everyone else.
2. Change the mechanism for opening, but maintain the hour interval
3. All options open cases
4. The first option has a low chance at a part (very low)
5. The second option increases the chance (better, but still low)
6. The gold option guarantees the part (increase the price?)
7. The events can occur over shorter periods

Everyone's happy and I would fathom to guess that you would get as much, maybe more money from us as a whole, but most importantly, you won't create a pool of people that felt like they got ripped off from spending real money with nothing to show for it because that's whats exactly happening right now.

[Mcdoc]

McDoc, please keep me posted on what you decide to do. I am in complete agreement, and also actually completed this event. But there is an epic fail here in many ways. I am behind you 100% wherever you decide to take this. Thank you again for calmly voicing the extreme level of discontent.

JP - thanks for validating that others are calmly waiting in the wings as well.

I am a co-founder of a Local Tea-Party here in San Diego and today is our 6th annual Tax Day Rally and I'm one of the organizers. I'm out for a few hours as I have to go setup and get ready for this event. The last few years we have had 7,000 to 10,000 people show up for our rally.

Happy Tax Day everybody! Or actually, today officially carries the name Patriot's Day - So Happy Patriot's Day!

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day

I (http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day)ronic coincidence: The National Tea Party organization is called "Tea Party Patriots"
In the Movie "V for Vendetta" - V calls for a Revolution on Patriot's Day :)

[War Priest]

JP - thanks for validating that others are calmly waiting in the wings as well.

I am a co-founder of a Local Tea-Party here in San Diego and today is our 6th annual Tax Day Rally and I'm one of the organizers. I'm out for a few hours as I have to go setup and get ready for this event. The last few years we have had 7,000 to 10,000 people show up for our rally.

Happy Tax Day everybody! Or actually, today officially carries the name Patriot's Day - So Happy Patriot's Day!

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day

I (http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day)ronic coincidence: The National Tea Party organization is called "Tea Party Patriots"
In the Movie "V for Vendetta" - V calls for a Revolution on Patriot's Day :)

Today is also National Stress Awareness Day in the USA. And the way the last few days have been, it wouldn't hurt for a speech!

[negotiator]

Anyone remember the Netflix blunder? That was a business decision made "up and down the ladder" Here is a little reminder copy and pasted compliments of Wiki.

On September 18, 2011, Netflix announced its intentions to rebrand and structure its DVD home media rental service as an independent subsidiary company called Qwikster, totally separating DVD rentals and streaming.[23][24][25] Andy Rendich, a 12-year veteran of Netflix, would have been the CEO of Qwikster. The new service would carry video games whereas Netflix did not.[26] Then, in October 2011, Netflix announced that it would retain its DVD service under the name Netflix and would not, in fact, create Qwikster for that purpose.[27]
On October 24, 2011, Netflix announced it lost 800,000 US subscribers in the third quarter of 2011 and more subscriber losses were expected in the fourth quarter of 2011. Despite the losses, earnings for Netflix jumped 63 percent for the third quarter of 2011.[28][29]

Now when they made that decision they thought it was a good business move and didn't have any customer input until they lost nearly a million customers.

People have thrown out fraud and similar terms and I don't claim to have the legal background to comment on that with any level of intelligence.

I am truly becoming more upset with each post made by ccm, I am glad he is reading and making comments however I do not feel he is helping the cause for Funzio. I have played this game for several months and do enjoy playing and I also enjoy the events and feel it adds to the game. When I started playing I was never going to spend money on a stupid game. Well when these events started I became a willing victim to buying the gold just like Funzio wanted. Of course after you buy the first gold the second purchase is a little easier.

Now I can assure you that unless this issue is resolved in some way different then a simple post saying we are sorry and we will do better, I will not be buying anymore gold and I also will be talking with the 10 people (who don't read this forum) that I got playing this game. I also know that several of those 10 people have got others to start playing.

CCM to you get the point? I would run this issue up the ladder again. You can change posts and delete threads all you want the issue it not going away.

Thanks

[Jp lfs]

Nice Netflix reference! And the CEO's "apology" lost them even more customers because it was so condescendingly worded. I am one of the former Netflix subscribers who left due to the "apology" email, not the billing change.

[Mcdoc]

I wanted to *** Bump *** this thread back to the top to make a public and personal "Thank You" to the Devs for coming through for us on this matter. I hope that it was our calm and consistent pleas for a reasonable solution that finally got through to you guys that we love the game and really wanted this matter to be over quickly.

I also want to thank the general "reserved" comments made by everyone else. I was glad that we didn't get anyone going "postal" on the forum and invoke inflammatory language and shut down the conversation. This whole situation was a prime example of how calm & logical discussions keep the doors of communication open and provide a better chance of successful negotiations. This whole thread was an exchange of ideas, us (the players) asking for resolution and the Devs watching the conversation evolve, making comments here and there, and ultimately deciding that they value or opinions.

Thank you again Devs. Your action on this matter goes a very long way to restore faith in how true capitalism works when customers and retailers engage in the free market. Like I said in an invisible post on the Announcement thread where L-Fizzle and CC Mark delivered the great news - You BOTH grew to 10 feet tall in my eyes today and I have an immense respect for your actions today.

I truly hope every person who participated and or watched the process play out takes a quick moment to show gratitude for the outcome so you can truly appreciate the positive impact of your decision to make this situation right. :) :) :)

[Jp lfs]

As usual, McDoc, well stated, and I completely agree.

[RonaldPVincent]

The daft thing about all this is that for Funzio to gift a prize to everyone who has got the 9 (I only have 7) would cost them zero. The making of a unit wil be factored into game design salaries and the addition to the database would be insignificant. They should just come out and say sorry, that whoever started the original thread made a genuine mistake and as way of compensation all those at level 9 will receive the "olive branch" a ground unit decked out like a UN inspection suv with stats att 134 and def 303.

They will be concerned I am sure. It just takes a long time to decide on appropriate action when you have thousands of customers rather than a few.

lol...an UN vehicle with an attack of 134...lololololololol....and defense of 303.....thats some fantastic imagination.

More like 1/3.

How about a UN ambulance being utilized by Hamas operatives?

[RonaldPVincent]

I doubt I'll spend any gold in the next event. I spent for this one, and watched screen after screen of winning Valor points or cash or useless loot items. I collected over 80 boxes, and had 8 plane parts on the second day. I opened over 40 boxes after getting the 9th part, to no avail. That's a bunch of gold spent for nothing. Not likely I'll make that mistake again!

I did not buy any gold but had plenty of cash to open boxes. I like you could not miss at the outset of the events but as the final days wound down I could not find the last elusive part.Had 9 withing 2 days. It seemed weird to me to have such "luck" and then have it mysteriously evaporate instantly at 9 found items.

[Agent Orange]

Well said Mcdoc!