A message from the community
October 27, 2019 5:00AM
edited October 2019
First of all, let me start off by someone I'm not anybody special within the community. I'm not a famous or popular youtuber. I'm rarely posting on the forums or on reddit. But I am someone who is passionate about Star Wars.
CG/EA you seem to have forgotten who we are. You have forgotten that we are not just statistics that you have compiled to determine how to make your game. You have forgotten that we are more than just a number. You have forgotten that we come from all different parts of the world. You have forgotten that we all come from different backgrounds, communities, jobs,etc. We are not all doctors, lawyers, business owners, or even successful youtubers. And despite all of these differences, we have all come here for one thing, Star Wars. A story where a nobody farm boy becomes one of the greatest heroes or the story where the slave became one of the most powerful Jedi. A universe so rich in lore that we can imagine any sort of story we want.
But you have forgotten this element. Instead we are treated as statistics to determine how much money to charge for a single spin on a randomly generated chance. We are statistics to determine how difficult to make an event to maximize profit. We are a statistic to determine how often to run an event to maximize profit. We are a statistic to determine every button click in this game. We are no longer fans or gamers. We are just numbers to you. So CG/EA try to remember one thing, we are all here because of Star Wars. Help us feel like it's a Star Wars game and not just some application to maximize your profits.
As for the community, remember that they are people, too. They are not robots. It's easy to attack someone from behind a keyboard or being detached in a video. Try to show a little compassion to the people who are trying to improve the game. Not everyone is evil.
That's all I really have to say about that.
CG/EA you seem to have forgotten who we are. You have forgotten that we are not just statistics that you have compiled to determine how to make your game. You have forgotten that we are more than just a number. You have forgotten that we come from all different parts of the world. You have forgotten that we all come from different backgrounds, communities, jobs,etc. We are not all doctors, lawyers, business owners, or even successful youtubers. And despite all of these differences, we have all come here for one thing, Star Wars. A story where a nobody farm boy becomes one of the greatest heroes or the story where the slave became one of the most powerful Jedi. A universe so rich in lore that we can imagine any sort of story we want.
But you have forgotten this element. Instead we are treated as statistics to determine how much money to charge for a single spin on a randomly generated chance. We are statistics to determine how difficult to make an event to maximize profit. We are a statistic to determine how often to run an event to maximize profit. We are a statistic to determine every button click in this game. We are no longer fans or gamers. We are just numbers to you. So CG/EA try to remember one thing, we are all here because of Star Wars. Help us feel like it's a Star Wars game and not just some application to maximize your profits.
As for the community, remember that they are people, too. They are not robots. It's easy to attack someone from behind a keyboard or being detached in a video. Try to show a little compassion to the people who are trying to improve the game. Not everyone is evil.
That's all I really have to say about that.
Post edited by Kyno on
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Replies
The 2nd part fell on deaf ears for sure ;p
I really hope they will open their eyes, this game has so many potentials. I hate this starvation for money from CG.
I would love to play another Dark Forces game, another Rebellion game, or even another Knights of the Old Republic. But alas, our options are limited. All we have these days are games with forgotten promises that monetize every mouse click or button mash.
Fresh foods and prepared foods often have their price reduced if they are getting near their intended shelf life for sale. Usually up to 50% off.
The supermarket near my house also has a point card system. No matter what I buy in the store, I can obtain points. I buy a weekly Star Wars magazine that I get points on. Those points can then be used to buy food. Or whatever points I obtain from buying food, I can use on the magazines. Which I have done many times.
I don't know what the intention of your post was, but yes, I would say my local supermarket values me as a customer. When I go to the book/magazine part of the store, they often greet me and have a conversation with me.
I've been shopping at this supermarket for the past 5 years and for as long as I continue to live in this area, I'll continue to shop there.
Corporate doesn't care about you.
Everything they do is intended to keep your money coming in. The difference is you can't shop there for free. Well, that and they don't have a forum where everything they do is a slap in the face.
The point is that people expect a large company like EA to give them everything they want for free, which is crazy.
Also free hugs.
Yes, they exist to make money from me, absolutely. But, if I go to my local grocery store and they constantly screw up (overcharge me, run out of stock, mislabel items, mistakenly advertise the wrong products, etc) - they might get away with it a few times, as I’ll chalk it up to “mistakes happen”.
But if the same store makes the same errors over and over again for years, it tells me that they don’t really care to fix it - Their bottom line is all that matters, and they don’t have the foresight to understand that providing a positive shopping experience does impact their bottom line.
And that being the case, after them constantly screwing up and not caring to fix it, I’ll go down the street to another grocery store. That store wants to make money from me too, but they provide good service and their shelves are always full, so I’m happier giving them my grocery business.
Guess which store will be more successful in the long run?
Which errors over and over again for years has SWGOH made?
Gates don't count by the way.
Regardless, the comparison was made because of people that think that EA is supposed to care about them. Companies, with some exceptions, don't care about people. Burger King doesn't care about you either by the way. They also just want your money. People don't complain about that. Why not?
What do you mean by “gates” and why do you get to decide what counts and what doesn’t?
I’m defining “mistakes” as “decisions that **** off a significant portion of players”.
Some of that include decisions they made (like the GAS debacle), some are significant bugs we have been living with for a long time (disappearing buttons and battle freezes), some are failures to address their mistakes properly or with due consideration (Malak shards).
I hesitate to use the term “every”, so I’ll say MOST game modes have been released with significant bugs in them over the life of this game. A company who actually cared about providing a positive long term play experience would learn from the first few and realize that they need to do more testing before release. A company focussed only on today’s bottom line would not.
I know Burger King doesn’t care about me, nor does my grocery store. But if BK or that grocery goes out of their way to provide good service, to take time to fix their mistakes when they are made (Rather than endlessly repeat them) and to generally provide a pleasant experience, I’d prefer to spend my money there than at the location down the street who consistently screws up my order and then gives me attitude when I ask them to fix it.
And in general, the first will be more successful.
Both locations want to take my money, but I’ll choose the one who strives to make that experience as pleasant as possible every time. It’s not that hard of a concept to understand.
The "GAS debacle" is also a gate. You can not like how they did it, but that's subjective. It's not an error like a mispriced bag of carrots.
If you really think you (or I or anyone outside of CG) truly knows what decisions made a significant portion of players mad, then there's no point in continuing with this. In general forum outrage does not come from bad decisions, it comes from crazy expectations.
I'm gonna let you in on a secret. No you're not. A number is exactly what you are.
What lots of people don't seem to understand is that this is how free-to-play works. Here, I'll lay it out for you:
Step 1: Make game. It's pretty neat, has a decent number of features, and paying gives you an advantage but it's totally possible to compete as a free player. This lasts a year or so.
Step 2: Collate data. Figure out what price points people are comfortable with, and what sorts of offers will convert casual players to regular spenders.
Step 3: Release first big-ticket item i.e. legendary. Most people will be unable to get it without spending. Collect data on who is spurred to spend and who just throws up their hands and quits.
Step 4: Using data from steps 2 and 3, begin turning the screws to extract funds from your "whale" players. Some will complain, but you're 2-3 years into the game's lifecycle at this point, so while you'll lose a few, most are too addicted to quit.
Once you reach Step 4 (and we've been there a while), the screw-turning can never stop. The game is effectively inaccessible to new players at this point, and you still need money because there's no ads and no subscription fee. Your whales are how you pay salaries, keep the lights on, and in this case, pay for your pricey Star Wars licensing rights.
I'm sure the devs like Star Wars too, but given the choice between "doing a really cool Star Wars thing that everyone loves" and "being broke," I know which one I'd pick.
You don't have to like it, but if you're going to keep playing, you'll have to learn to make peace with it.
Not to mention the game isn't owned by the devs, it's owned by EA.
#Shillgate
I get that it’s different.
But if my local grocery store manager decides to allow his employees to curse at customers, that’s still an “error” in the sense that it will cost them business.
The OP and others are simply making a statement, which I have repeated above:
Yes, this business (like any other) exist to make money from us. But they are choosing to do it in a way that makes many of their customers feel unappreciated, and like we are simply dollar signs walking into the store. We know the nature of any business relationship is that the business is there to make money from the customers, but good businesses who care can make it feel like a pleasant experience.
There is a reason people tend to dislike used car salesmen - it’s because the experience leaves us feeling like we just walked through a crowd of pickpockets and that every moment of the experience was explicitly designed to separate you from your money.
There is a huge difference in the way that the business relationship is handled and how the customer feels at the end of it.
It’s the difference between walking in and being greeted with “Good morning! Welcome to Burger King” vs. walking in and being scowled at for inconveniencing them as you feel a hand slip into your back pocket to steal your wallet.
Yes
Don't like the items in the shop? Go ahead and pay 50 crystals to refresh it. Want to battle your opponents again in arena but ran out of tries? Don't worry! You can pay for more tries. Want to try more random generated chances to get what you need? You can pay for that, too. And the more you try, the MORE EXPENSIVE it becomes. Not cheaper. The more you want to play, the more you have to pay! Isn't usually the other way around?
I have never been in a grocery store that charged me 50 cents to refresh the inventory! If they run out of an item, they can order for me and call me when it has arrived. Hell they might even allow me to order an item they don't carry at all. And going forward they might keep it in stock because there is now a demand for it.
There has been a demand for so many items in this game, but they are locked behind so many pay walls that it's nearly impossible to get them in a timely fashion.
And as far as the Burger King point, my local Bk in my hometown absolutely cared about its customers. They are/were a sponsor for the local youth baseball teams. In fact, I was on that team when I was a kid. My picture was hung up on the wall for the 2 or 3 seasons that I played for that team. And it was cool to walk into BK and see my picture hanging up on the wall.
What has EA/CG done to show customer appreciation? 1 complete zeta once a year? We don't even get the joke Chewbacca shards anymore.
I have never been in a grocery store that will let me have anything in the store for free if I just go there enough times.
As I said before, my local supermarket, actually probably almost every supermarket in Osaka, Japan has a point card system. The more I shop there, the more I am rewarded. Customer service / loyalty done better. Not perfect, but better.
What restock fee does this game charge?
This analogy has gone way past what I was saying, which is that large corporations don't care about you, and EA is no different, but for some reason people expect more here.
Expect? Yes, I fully expect them to care. When they are charging absurd prices for digital items, they should value their customers.
Also this goes back to my first post, this is a Star Wars game. A series that is enjoyed by people from all backgrounds and ages. And this is something they have forgotten.
EA has shown time and time again that they simply do not care about Star Wars fans. I will be surprised if their contract to make games is renewed when it is finished.
Many stores restock once a week.
There is so much basic psychology applied in supermarkets. So even if you think that a major retailer doesn't care about you on an individual level, they have made and designed their supermarket to try to make your shopping experience as effective as possible.
Again, I understand that this is a game and that the companies do need to make their money. But why should we have to use a "premium" currency in order to refresh the limited store every day? EA/CG are the ones who had determined what is a common item and what is a more rare item. They also have determined how often said items appear in the shop. We have reports of players having specific items not showing up in the store for numerous days at a time. If said player is not getting the items that are "necessary" for progression, they are more inclined to try to refresh the store by paying a premium currency in order to get these "necessary" items.
These are tactics that should not be defended. As I said in my original post, they are designing an application to maximize their profits. They are not designing a game to be enjoyed by countless Star Wars fans around the world. To misquote the movie Field of Dreams "if you build it, they will come." If EA took time to actually allow companies to build a game that encompasses a Star Wars feel to it, more players will come and thus making their game more successful.