I think if they're gonna give Ahnald his kraken account back, they gotta give Bulldog1205 his account back as well. Tbh, this fiasco they created for themselves is probably delaying the RA.
That's hilarious keep on, keeping on. You're not on the side of right here, and I know you know that.
Not on the right side?
He broke the rules and got punished for it..... that part of it is pretty straightforward.
I think one of the main points/reasons people are upset is that communication has been sparse, veiled, and contradictory in general for the last 6 months (at least) and there is minimal new engage-able content.
They have been communicating over the last 6 months, there are actually quite a few statement from them. They may not be saying what the players want to hear, but that doesnt mean they are not communicating.
I know "no one" wants the new GLs but for me personally they broke me out of the rut I was in with hoarding and do minimums and just coasting along. It's not the level of engagement that many want, but this game has always been very much a "background game" there is so much to do beyond just playing. (Not for everyone I know)
The youtubers are the only ones filling that void of content, and the message conveyed by banning the account (regardless of whether it violated TOS) is that they are being petty. Don't be surprised that this is the response. What did they think would happen? Without clarification from them people are going to assume a lack of good intentions.
I dont think they could have avoided this once he put it there. There are/were too many implications about what was going on.
I dont think anyone is surprised this is the response, which is part of the reason this had to be handled this way, if they did it the other way it would have been much worse.
People assume a lack of good intentions for many reasons. He broke the rules and pushed it in their face, if you think they are the ones with bad intentions at that point, its probably some personal bias you are bringing into the situation. (Not you, just the royal "you")
The GLs were aimed 100% at hardcore whales and were a total cash grab that a very small percentage of game players actually can obtain now or even within the next year or more. My guild has two people with GL Rey and none with GL Kylo. Both spent a crazy amount to get them and just got them within the last few weeks. Myself and most of the rest have no plans to attempt to obtain them. Character wise, the large majority of our guild considers it a failure of epic proportions. You’re likely the only one who broke out of a rut with them. For the majority of players, the rut continues and will do so until there’s legitimate playable content. No one wants things too easy, but people want to be able to try. We want to stay engaged in the game. It’s Star Wars, we love the stories and the characters and locations and ships and vehicles.
I've spent more cash in this game than in all other mobile games I play combined. I will not spend another dime until this Company starts treating its players better. If nothing changes, I'll quit the game. CG seems to hate the community and seems unable to take criticism. Maybe what I do wont matter to them, but I feel that we are in a now or never moment to see change from CG. If there is not a good response about this issue, I'll quit and talk other friends to do the same.
Guys... CG, we're losing guild members over this. People who've been playing together for 4 years or more. Publicly address this, please. As frustrated as I am by your lack of communication, lack of content updates, and multiple in game bugs i still enjoy the game and community. Your inaction is destroying all of that. Why? What are you hoping to gain. Equally enforce your ToS with everyone, address the situation with Ahnald, and open the lines of communication before it is too late. Please.
I thing CG is reacting to past criticsm from Ahnald, very disappointing. He’s your BEST advertising tool! No dispute or discussion. He might sting you every now and then, but he is our voice! You need him more than he needs you. We love this game as a community, he is a huge part of that! You need to reach out to him and fix this now! Whoever made that call should be replaced ASAP! Bad for this game!
I feel like most people stand behind him. I trust him more than CG and will follow suit with that he is doing. I have spent over $2,000 on this game and they will not get another penny from me.
This seems so short sighted by CG. Yes, Ahnald was critical at time (fairly if you ask me). But he also provided free marketing for EVERY new character and ship you released...better than providing you free marketing he actually paid you for the privilege to market EVERY new character and ship to more viewers than anything you did.
I went to look at some of the views "Galactic War Report" gets 77 views on their last video which was a month ago and this is the channel CG uses to promote things and have developers interact with the "community" its laughable.
I'm confused as to how him buying an account from someone and then spending money in the game on said account, is so evil and worse than people actually cheating at the game.
Also, I've read some comments that mentioned "warnings" for account transfers. What does that even mean? You get a warning that says something to the effect of "you broke TOS by obtaining this account and if you obtain this account again we will punish you"? Is that what that means? Do they somehow take the account back from them at that point?
Bottom line is there in nothing wrong with account sharing, transferring, selling, buying, gifting, etc. Any money that was ever spent in that account is still in SWGOH's pockets. It isn't like that money disappears somehow. It should not make one bit of difference as to who is in control of the account. It's not like multiple people can play with those purchases at the same time.
The cheating is what the focus should be on, and they should just abolish this account transfer TOS stuff completely. It doesn't make any sense in an equitable fashion.
As much as we players find cheating to be the worst part of a given game, from a business standpoint account/sharing/transfers are viewed much worse (especially in a PTW mobile game).
Here is why. Cheating, as everyone knows, makes games worse. It makes players less engaged with games, and some players may even quit because of it. That said, in general, cheating doesn't seriously impede a games ability to generate revenue. SWGOH has had known cheats since it started, and despite that fact, has been a very monetarily successful game. Additionally, when cheaters cheat in SWGOH, there isn't an obvious direct hit to the bottom line. Sure the cheaters are getting higher spots in raids, arena, & GAC, but the additional crystals they earn there is offset (for the developer) by the fewer crystals some non-cheater is now earning.
Sharing or Selling an account, on the other hand, from a developers perspective is not much different than someone buying 3rd party crystals. Let's say player A has spent $1000 on his account. If player B buys an account from or shares an account with player A, that is lost $ in the eyes of the developer. If player B wants to use an account that had $1000 worth of value, then by golly, the developer wants player B to spend that $1000 with their own account! After all, $2000 > $1000.
Now, developers do know that in-spite of their wishes that everyone has their own account that many accounts are still shared or sold. Monitoring for these types of account movement is not cost effective. So why care at all? Well, that's where another reason for not allowing transfers/selling comes into play. PTW mobile games are essentially gambling. People are paying money for virtual chances at drops. Legislators have been looking at these games as such for quite some time now. The main argument that prevents these types of games from being regulated as gambling is the fact that people are not able earn any real world money off of them. But wait! What happens if in game items or accounts are suddenly able to be sold with a developers blessing? Ooops... that argument about people not being able to earn real world money suddenly doesn't hold water. Hello regulators! Hello extra taxes! Goodbye under age 18 players! Goodbye a certain percentage of profit!
I’m also a little confused as to why someone else is confused in this situation. Lots of reports/rumors that the account he acquired was a Chinese account that had illegitimate crystals. That’s like cheating two-fold to them. To me, this situation is much less about Ahnald, but it’s brought out more anger and disgust regarding CG’s inconsistency and selective enforcement of the rules as well as their lack of producing new content for the majority of the people playing to interact with.
The meglomaniacs at CG need a serious shift in their outlook.
Im gonna try real hard not to encourage their sick behavior anymore.
Throw sunk cost out the window. Ive thrown enough good money after bad.
Because of their lack of concern for the community Im gonna stop spending.
Ive spent $1,1000 in June so far. 4K a month.
So that's what CG is gonna lose from me alone.
Kyno if you belive make a statement every few months,not deliver what they promise before,working on something and canceled,not take on consideration the comunity,milking and milking then hate to breack it to you but you are very wrong about that...look around on other games how they deal with all this...every week few times post what they do,giving good rewards if theyr game is down even for half hour,or if an event dont run properly they give huge rewards,apologys after apologys because they didnt fix it faster actualy care for they customers...
whatthey do is not a business is closing one...a very succesful one
We understand that AnhaldT101 technically violated the TOS, but I agree with him that account sharing happens for many reasons, like mod tracking/analysis/reconfiguration services and software. Those services make the game much more enjoyable because the built-in SWGOH mod services are some of most frustrating, disliked aspects of the game. Especially given how influential modding is to a users success.
If you apply the TOS fairly to all parties, you'll end up having a worse game that people will enjoy less.
I think the best solution is to bring the game changes back, bring the test accounts back, and let the mod service continue violating the TOS....or better yet, officially back some of these mod services that deserve the credit for building better parts of the game than CG staff did.
I know many will say good riddance, but I’m done. I don’t know the ins and outs of CG, but it seems to me as though since Carrie left the people running cg have treated us all like crap. The make a huge terms of service List that is unlike anything anywhere else, and it gives them an excuse to have their police officers ban whoever for whatever reason. I love the game, and I’m sad, but I’m not supporting these people anymore.
I love watching ahnaldt, and if they are going to ruin my experience I’m done spending time and resources. They have done nothing to show us that things are going to get better.
I just wish they cared.
I’m tired of viewing these posts and seeing kyno warn people for the dumbest reasons on the planet. It’s insane the way they dictate this game and try to control what is said and done.
#bringbackcarrie
You should not have banned Ahnalds account. I rarely dared to spend $ on this game to start with, would only have done it if someone testing things out like Ahnald showed the value. You should fix this mistake
Anyone else notice the constant “error connection” message that’s been constant lately.
If they even cared then this would be addressed also.
Something’s sinking fast unless they get their thumbs from out bums
I'm confused as to how him buying an account from someone and then spending money in the game on said account, is so evil and worse than people actually cheating at the game.
Also, I've read some comments that mentioned "warnings" for account transfers. What does that even mean? You get a warning that says something to the effect of "you broke TOS by obtaining this account and if you obtain this account again we will punish you"? Is that what that means? Do they somehow take the account back from them at that point?
Bottom line is there in nothing wrong with account sharing, transferring, selling, buying, gifting, etc. Any money that was ever spent in that account is still in SWGOH's pockets. It isn't like that money disappears somehow. It should not make one bit of difference as to who is in control of the account. It's not like multiple people can play with those purchases at the same time.
The cheating is what the focus should be on, and they should just abolish this account transfer TOS stuff completely. It doesn't make any sense in an equitable fashion.
As much as we players find cheating to be the worst part of a given game, from a business standpoint account/sharing/transfers are viewed much worse (especially in a PTW mobile game).
Here is why. Cheating, as everyone knows, makes games worse. It makes players less engaged with games, and some players may even quit because of it. That said, in general, cheating doesn't seriously impede a games ability to generate revenue. SWGOH has had known cheats since it started, and despite that fact, has been a very monetarily successful game. Additionally, when cheaters cheat in SWGOH, there isn't an obvious direct hit to the bottom line. Sure the cheaters are getting higher spots in raids, arena, & GAC, but the additional crystals they earn there is offset (for the developer) by the fewer crystals some non-cheater is now earning.
Sharing or Selling an account, on the other hand, from a developers perspective is not much different than someone buying 3rd party crystals. Let's say player A has spent $1000 on his account. If player B buys an account from or shares an account with player A, that is lost $ in the eyes of the developer. If player B wants to use an account that had $1000 worth of value, then by golly, the developer wants player B to spend that $1000 with their own account! After all, $2000 > $1000.
Now, developers do know that in-spite of their wishes that everyone has their own account that many accounts are still shared or sold. Monitoring for these types of account movement is not cost effective. So why care at all? Well, that's where another reason for not allowing transfers/selling comes into play. PTW mobile games are essentially gambling. People are paying money for virtual chances at drops. Legislators have been looking at these games as such for quite some time now. The main argument that prevents these types of games from being regulated as gambling is the fact that people are not able earn any real world money off of them. But wait! What happens if in game items or accounts are suddenly able to be sold with a developers blessing? Ooops... that argument about people not being able to earn real world money suddenly doesn't hold water. Hello regulators! Hello extra taxes! Goodbye under age 18 players! Goodbye a certain percentage of profit!
I think it's more than that. It's about how the ToS is applied unevenly even after a clear zero tolerance policy was set. They can't apply it to some and not others. A zero tolerance policy means you DO NOT negotiate. In what was brought to light, CG negotiates with cheaters even though there is a zero tolerance policy against cheating. That's the beef.
If CG is targeting players, that's a whole other issue that could end in a lawsuit.
Still waiting on that edit forum profile setting so I can change my name...
This seems so short sighted by CG. Yes, Ahnald was critical at time (fairly if you ask me). But he also provided free marketing for EVERY new character and ship you released...better than providing you free marketing he actually paid you for the privilege to market EVERY new character and ship to more viewers than anything you did.
I went to look at some of the views "Galactic War Report" gets 77 views on their last video which was a month ago and this is the channel CG uses to promote things and have developers interact with the "community" its laughable.
To be fair galactic war report is a podcast. I have listened to them for a long time and I had no idea they even do a video version of their show.
Bulldog's commentary makes me wonder if he's in line to be the "anointed" Youtuber for CG.
Guess you havent seen Bulldog's videos. Bulldog has also bashed CG for their hypocrisy before this Ahnald situation. They also permabanned this guy just like Ahnald. I doubt they will anoint him as their youtuber and i don't think he would want that position. Probably ask Kyno to start a youtube channel instead lol.
Replies
The GLs were aimed 100% at hardcore whales and were a total cash grab that a very small percentage of game players actually can obtain now or even within the next year or more. My guild has two people with GL Rey and none with GL Kylo. Both spent a crazy amount to get them and just got them within the last few weeks. Myself and most of the rest have no plans to attempt to obtain them. Character wise, the large majority of our guild considers it a failure of epic proportions. You’re likely the only one who broke out of a rut with them. For the majority of players, the rut continues and will do so until there’s legitimate playable content. No one wants things too easy, but people want to be able to try. We want to stay engaged in the game. It’s Star Wars, we love the stories and the characters and locations and ships and vehicles.
It all makes sense now.
I feel like most people stand behind him. I trust him more than CG and will follow suit with that he is doing. I have spent over $2,000 on this game and they will not get another penny from me.
I went to look at some of the views "Galactic War Report" gets 77 views on their last video which was a month ago and this is the channel CG uses to promote things and have developers interact with the "community" its laughable.
I’m also a little confused as to why someone else is confused in this situation. Lots of reports/rumors that the account he acquired was a Chinese account that had illegitimate crystals. That’s like cheating two-fold to them. To me, this situation is much less about Ahnald, but it’s brought out more anger and disgust regarding CG’s inconsistency and selective enforcement of the rules as well as their lack of producing new content for the majority of the people playing to interact with.
Im gonna try real hard not to encourage their sick behavior anymore.
Throw sunk cost out the window. Ive thrown enough good money after bad.
Because of their lack of concern for the community Im gonna stop spending.
Ive spent $1,1000 in June so far. 4K a month.
So that's what CG is gonna lose from me alone.
Free Ahnalt!!!!!!!!!
whatthey do is not a business is closing one...a very succesful one
If you apply the TOS fairly to all parties, you'll end up having a worse game that people will enjoy less.
I think the best solution is to bring the game changes back, bring the test accounts back, and let the mod service continue violating the TOS....or better yet, officially back some of these mod services that deserve the credit for building better parts of the game than CG staff did.
I love watching ahnaldt, and if they are going to ruin my experience I’m done spending time and resources. They have done nothing to show us that things are going to get better.
I just wish they cared.
I’m tired of viewing these posts and seeing kyno warn people for the dumbest reasons on the planet. It’s insane the way they dictate this game and try to control what is said and done.
#bringbackcarrie
If they even cared then this would be addressed also.
Something’s sinking fast unless they get their thumbs from out bums
Galaxy of Fanboys
I think it's more than that. It's about how the ToS is applied unevenly even after a clear zero tolerance policy was set. They can't apply it to some and not others. A zero tolerance policy means you DO NOT negotiate. In what was brought to light, CG negotiates with cheaters even though there is a zero tolerance policy against cheating. That's the beef.
If CG is targeting players, that's a whole other issue that could end in a lawsuit.
Did you guys hear that one?
I think it’s been too long, if you guys wanna walk it back now your prolly gonna have to fire someone and blame them.
This is why we don’t declare war on our players CG, please take notes this time.
To be fair galactic war report is a podcast. I have listened to them for a long time and I had no idea they even do a video version of their show.
Guess you havent seen Bulldog's videos. Bulldog has also bashed CG for their hypocrisy before this Ahnald situation. They also permabanned this guy just like Ahnald. I doubt they will anoint him as their youtuber and i don't think he would want that position. Probably ask Kyno to start a youtube channel instead lol.