Regarding Ending Support for day-one players

[ElliotBro]

To whom may concern,

First off I would like to say that I'm a very passionate player and very much enjoy your game Ark.

 

I have purchased your Game on the Official Xbox LIVE store the first day it was available to play in game preview.

 

I have dedicated myself hundreds of hours play time into your Game, including being a day-one player and supporter.

 

I'm very disappointed in the outcome regarding stopping Support for players that have essentially funded your game initially and that it's now a official released Title.

 

I can't stress this enough that it is very wrong to make a decision before gathering any feedback from your loyal day-one Game supporters to get where the game is currently at.

 

I and other Ark players wish you re-discuss the final outcome and possibly bring support back for all players wether they are new or old.

 

I'm very disappointed, and I hope that you can take this feedback accordingly into your Game publishers capable hands.

 

Kind Regards.

 

[Brockulaa]

Yeah I agree this sucks.

[DarthaNyan]

i have to disagree with your phrasing. You made it look like they abandoned players which is not true at all. They could have just shut ALL legacy servers down yet they chose not to.

As for them not providing same level of support to test environments since the game got "released" is perfectly logical and expected outcome. There is nothing to complain about.

[SadPanda]

Agreed, very cheap move to make in blanket avoiding the issue of dupers and lost cause servers.  There are many servers that were not affected by dupes or transfer issues such as Primitive servers that had uploads disabled since the beginning that should not be included in removal of support.  If you wanted to simply shave costs on supporting rogue servers that's one thing, but terminating full support on legacy servers that couldn't have even been affected by the issues that plagued vanilla servers is just being lazy.

 

Quote

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Studio Wildcard Customer Support. We're sorry that we were unable to get to your ticket in time. We're happy to join everyone on the new servers. While we will still have a section in support for "Legacy Servers", the support we will be providing players on these servers will be very limited. Mainly, we'll be able to answer some basic questions and point you in the right direction for answers. We hope to see/hear from you guys having fun on the new servers and wish you all the best of luck going forward.

Please visit https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/the-great-migration-xbox-uwp-r522/ for more information.

Please note; this ticket will be auto closed.
 

Sincerely,

GM Ortalio
Studio Wildcard
http://www.studiowildcard.com/

 

Receiving a reply a month after opening tickets to the above effect is also rather pathetic customer service.  Rather than cleaning up the existing support queue with fast resolutions you simply delete everything. 

"Thanks for supporting wildcard for 2 years, get out and make way for new players that have new money."

[StormLord]

3 minutes ago, DarthaNyan said:

As for them not providing same level of support to test environments since the game got "released" is perfectly logical and expected outcome. There is nothing to complain about.

So much this. There would still have been bitching, but I think had they taken this approach from the beginning, it would be more tolerated now.

[SadPanda]

1 minute ago, StormLord said:

So much this. There would still have been bitching, but I think had they taken this approach from the beginning, it would be more tolerated now.

 

Truth.  Most of the issues seem to stem from the fact of a year worth of public statements saying there would be no wipes.

Surprise, there will be a wipe to clean up duped servers and be cost effective.

Surprise, we will leave duped servers up and remove inactive ones.

Surprise, we will remove all support for all legacy servers even if it was not affected by dupes.

 

This article summarizes the timelines rather well along with logical business standpoints behind cutting support, but the poor execution and communications behind it with falsely misleading their previously loyal playerbase leaves a sour taste in many mouths.  

 

http://kotaku.com/ark-survival-evolved-studio-reverses-plan-to-wipe-the-1797058373

 

[ElliotBro]

15 minutes ago, DarthaNyan said:

i have to disagree with your phrasing. You made it look like they abandoned players which is not true at all. They could have just shut ALL legacy servers down yet they chose not to.

As for them not providing same level of support to test environments since the game got "released" is perfectly logical and expected outcome. There is nothing to complain about.

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They could have just shut ALL legacy servers down yet they chose not to.

It will 100% get to this point, it's only a matter of time until they completely wipe the remaining servers.

Quote

As for them not providing same level of support to test environments since the game got "released" is perfectly logical and expected outcome. There is nothing to complain about.

No, it's not simply perfectly 'logical'.

We as 'Test Environment' players should still receive the same support as any new player would. 

As stated before in the OP, the game wouldn't be released as a Official Title without the support and funding from the players from the very beginning who made the game what it is today.

[DarthaNyan]

8 minutes ago, ElliotBro said:

As stated before in the OP, the game wouldn't be released as a Official Title without the support and funding from the players from the very beginning who made the game what it is today.

So you got the game for a fraction of its price, enjoyed countless hours in the game before official release and now you are feeling entitled for more. You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

[donnythedealr]

8 minutes ago, DarthaNyan said:

You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

"spoiled, greedy and unreasonable" we payed 30 dollars less for the game, the amount of bullpoop bugs, glitches, all the poop we had to put up with, then full release comes out and we all get thrown in the bin? like old mate said before, its because they've got all they can get from us pre release players, we have no more money to put into their bullpoop company, so why help us when they can just help the new kids who still give them money, they are being "spoiled, greedy and unreasonable"

 

[ElliotBro]

4 minutes ago, DarthaNyan said:

So you got the game for a fraction of its price, enjoyed countless hours in the game before official release and now you are feeling entitled for more. You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

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enjoyed countless hours in the game before official release and now you are feeling entitled for more

How am I feeling more entitled? I'm simply stating the true facts that it's a wrong, rushed, and inconsiderate decision.

Quote

You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

I love that statement, I really do. Especially when you think I'm being Spoiled, Greedy, and Unreasonable.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but in all honesty your posts are invalid.

 

 

 

[electricblooz]

2 hours ago, DarthaNyan said:

So you got the game for a fraction of its price, enjoyed countless hours in the game before official release and now you are feeling entitled for more. You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

Wrong, we provided unpaid beta testing services.  Trying going on to BLS.gov and researching the salaries of paid beta testers because the whole "early access thing" was merely a way for WC to obtain broad-scale alpha and beta testing services (along with stress-testing) while simultaneously engaging in a stealth crowd-funding campaign.  The fact that WC chose to squander most of that by spending the time jamming in useless content instead of paying attention to the actual problems the beta testing revealed is completely irrelevant to the discussion.

Furthermore, the biggest issue is that WC obfuscated the truth throughout the entire process.  Ignoring flip-flops on whether they would wipe or not (because, honestly, they were never clear enough in their communications to be charged with actually going back on their word about the wipe), they withheld the information regarding the withdrawal of customer support until the last possible moment. That is simply not how you treat your customers.  No reputable company operates in that manner and stays in business, but white-knight, game fanbois have allowed the game industry, and especially certain trend-setting companies, to get away with operating in that manner.  Because of that, the rest of the consumer base has to put with such nonsense.

[Awakatanka]

3 hours ago, DarthaNyan said:

So you got the game for a fraction of its price, enjoyed countless hours in the game before official release and now you are feeling entitled for more. You are just being spoiled, greedy and unreasonable.

he and also allot of others just wan the same treatment as new players get on there new servers. it is still a product they offer to us and we.paid for. 

on a paid product you have the right of support.

[powerstuck]

4 hours ago, DarthaNyan said:

i have to disagree with your phrasing. You made it look like they abandoned players which is not true at all. They could have just shut ALL legacy servers down yet they chose not to.

As for them not providing same level of support to test environments since the game got "released" is perfectly logical and expected outcome. There is nothing to complain about.

While I can agree with your 2nd phrase...you and I both know your first phrase is full of false hopes. 

They will definitely shut all Legacy servers. Its just that they didn't wanted a HUGE negative publicity during launch, so they raptored about 33% of players and will raptor another 33% before end of September. Mark my word.

[Gfdthird]

THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL FOR LEGACY SERVERS...DONT MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT..THEY WILL PHASE THEM OUT.PERIOD !!!  UNLESS there is an immediately policy change real soon with customer support and removing future low populated legacy servers. It's clear folks...

[JamesAllenBailey]

I'm on board if we gotta move to the cluster on (if it happens) wipe day haha.

[LouSpowells]

11 hours ago, ElliotBro said:

We as 'Test Environment' players should still receive the same support as any new player would. 

...except that when you purchased the Early Access game there was a very clear disclaimer which stated in no uncertain terms that you would not be receiving that support.

Now that the game has been officially released, you officially get the exact same support as a new player would. Congratulations! 

[Gribish]

I think the bottom line is the players on legacy servers have supported this game and Wildcard (depending on what platform) for months or years through bad lag lost characters dupers and all kinds of bull poop to help them make a great game. They should support us until the legacy servers die and they will die probably sooner than later by looming at the population that left. That's my opinion take it or leave it

[LouSpowells]

8 minutes ago, Gribish said:

I think the bottom line is the players on legacy servers have supported this game and Wildcard (depending on what platform) for months or years through bad lag lost characters dupers and all kinds of bull poop to help them make a great game. They should support us until the legacy servers die and they will die probably sooner than later by looming at the population that left. That's my opinion take it or leave it

Therein lies the problem. You've gotten everything owed to you and more. Too many people who participated in the Early Access process have come up with some wildly unrealistic expectations of what they are entitled to as an Early Access tester. In reality, the only thing Steam EA players are "entitled" to is a copy of the retail game if the game ever reaches retail release.
 

 

 

[Cyrsania]

The question now is:

Will have new expansion pack servers in legacy cluster?

We knew it tomorrow.

[powerstuck]

The keywords should not be ''we tested the game''.

The keywords should be ''we financially supported this company'' so it got this far. 

I know it sounds like the 40$ I spent on ARK+SE, I am expecting much out of it...but lets all take a wider picture. If players who were playing ARK at the time didn't buy SE, who knows how Wildcard would have handled the lawsuit, I definitely don't think the ending would have been the same (a 40 millions settlement). 

We are just asking for a bit of transparency and clarity so we can keep supporting the company in the future as well, because as it stands now I am about 90% on the side of quitting the game all together and 110% on the side of not buying the next DLC...which honestly is a shame because ARK is a great game and I've spend a great amount of hours in it. 

And now you will tell me that for 40$, 2000 played hours, I've got my bang for the buck. Yes, but it's not as simple as that. 

If you keep buying Toyotas for 20 years and suddenly you get an issue and Toyota says well, get rekt we ain't helping...will you still be buying Toyotas or will you maybe go buy another brand. 

[Gribish]

1 minute ago, LouSpowells said:

You've gotten everything that EA entitles you to and more....and that's where the problem lies. The problem is that too many people who participated in the Early Access process have come up with some wildly unrealistic expectations of what they are entitled to as an Early Access tester. In reality, the only thing Steam EA players are "entitled" to is a copy of the retail game if the game ever reaches retail release.
 

All I was saying is we supported them as an company they should support us. If they don't as a gaming community why should we support them again. Most games in EA never leave and without the time and money we put in wildcard wouldn't have gotten this far.  And I'm on ps4 not steam

[Arkasaurio]

I think cutting off support entirely is the clearest message that they plan to do away with legacy servers. While it's not entirely true, I think that "unsupported" tag is going to stick further dragging down legacy reputation.

I also understand why WC felt like they could no longer support legacy with the huge backlog. What I think they should have done in this case is wiped the legacy ticket queue clean and started from scratch, and given an auto response to anyone who then tried to submit a ticket relating to an issue previous to launch that it would no longer be covered (because yes, everyone and their mother who still cares would just resubmit a ticket). People would have still felt out in the cold, but at least the approach would have followed their reasoning. Instead, shutting off all support, to me at least sends a pretty clear message that they don't much care what happens to legacy now or in the future.

I also don't understand, especially now, why they can't hire a bigger support staff. So many of the tickets that people put in probably just need triage, and so many that are real issues are probably fairly procedural to resolve. It's not as though they need cream of the crop player support to do a lot better than they are now and I think people would rather support with some issues rather than no support at all. Maybe that's on the to-do list, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[LouSpowells]

34 minutes ago, Gribish said:

All I was saying is we supported them as an company they should support us. If they don't as a gaming community why should we support them again. Most games in EA never leave and without the time and money we put in wildcard wouldn't have gotten this far.  And I'm on ps4 not steam

I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm just saying they are supporting us, and went above and beyond what they were required to do during the EA process. I'm not saying they're perfect, because clearly they're not. Wildcard has dropped the ball their fair share of times and I'm glad to agree with anyone who makes that assertion.

I'm totally understanding of someone saying that they really don't like how the release played out. I even understand someone saying they wish they got more from the Devs for being an early access tester...I just can't get behind the idea of, "But we deserve __________ for being part of the Early Access process." Ultimately, it's the people who (not saying you) start flinging personal insults at the developers and lying about what they were "promised" that really grind my gears, if only because I was "promised" the exact same thing they were.

[LouSpowells]

26 minutes ago, Arkasaurio said:

I also don't understand, especially now, why they can't hire a bigger support staff.

Jat actually addressed that point with a reasonable explanation. (Explanation, not excuse) It's easy to simply say, "Just hire more people," but it's a LOT harder to do something like that. I've spent most of my career as a project manager and analyst working with lord knows how many different project teams, and one of the most difficult parts about completing a project with a time crunch is bringing new people into the fold. It's a real double-edged sword type of scenario. 

On one hand, you work with what you have and stick it out through the hardest work. On the other hand, you spend an inordinate amount of time interviewing new people with various skillsets and backgrounds, hoping to hell that the next interview you do is with an employee you can hire so you can stop wasting precious development time interviewing candidates. In situations like this, there really isn't a right way to do things...but in creative projects the people-portion of that process is instrumental in not just filling the position, but in the overall goal of having a cohesive team with a shared vision. 

I've never developed a game, I don't know how to program, and while I've dealt with software rollouts and releases, I've never worked in the video game industry. What I do know is that the Wildcard dev team is going through many of the same exact barriers all companies who make the transition from small to medium encounter...except in this case they went from being small to being recognized industry-wide in a matter of like 6 months. Again...this doesn't excuse anything...but hopefully it helps explain the complexities of providing an answer to the question "why can't they hire a bigger staff."

[HalfSlabBacon]

13 hours ago, ElliotBro said:

To whom may concern,

First off I would like to say that I'm a very passionate player and very much enjoy your game Ark.

 

I have purchased your Game on the Official Xbox LIVE store the first day it was available to play in game preview.

 

I have dedicated myself hundreds of hours play time into your Game, including being a day-one player and supporter.

 

I'm very disappointed in the outcome regarding stopping Support for players that have essentially funded your game initially and that it's now a official released Title.

 

I can't stress this enough that it is very wrong to make a decision before gathering any feedback from your loyal day-one Game supporters to get where the game is currently at.

 

I and other Ark players wish you re-discuss the final outcome and possibly bring support back for all players wether they are new or old.

 

I'm very disappointed, and I hope that you can take this feedback accordingly into your Game publishers capable hands.

 

Kind Regards.

 

Thanks for setting an example to others of how to constructively express your concerns and feelings! Good on ya! ?

8 hours ago, Awakatanka said:

he and also allot of others just wan the same treatment as new players get on there new servers. it is still a product they offer to us and we.paid for. 

on a paid product you have the right of support.

Here's the thing, you bought the game, not the servers. You're entitled to the copy of the game you have and that's it. Everything else is a bonus.

1 hour ago, LouSpowells said:

Therein lies the problem. You've gotten everything owed to you and more. Too many people who participated in the Early Access process have come up with some wildly unrealistic expectations of what they are entitled to as an Early Access tester. In reality, the only thing Steam EA players are "entitled" to is a copy of the retail game if the game ever reaches retail release.
 

 

 

Yup, what Lou said right here!