Hello and Goodbye Ubisoft/BlueByte

Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...cy-Maintenance

Sunday October 6, 2012 BB_Katealyst - Ubisoft Player Experience Manager

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BB_Katealyst

The game is up! I want to take this time to thank the developers for all their hard work over the weekend. We were able to successfully rollback the server and get them up and running. I am still waiting on an exact time frame for the rollback and will let you know as soon as I get it.

We understand that having progression reversed is not ideal, and will be looking into helping our players recoup from this. It may take some time for us to do a proper investigation, but rest assured that we do plan on doing our best to rectify these issues and make it right by our players.

We will have more information on how we plan to help players recoup on Monday. In the meantime I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

If you are still unable to access your game, click here.

Last edited by BB_Katealyst; 10.06.12 at 09:21 pm.

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Then in the same thread, was the next post:

Thursday October 8, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans

Good afternoon, all! We wanted to drop by real quick and let everyone know that we are actively working on detailing how we're going to help you all recoup some of your losses on Zeus. We definitely want everything to be concrete before sharing, and more information will be posted as soon as we have it.

Thanks again for all your patience and support; it's truly appreciated.

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So, what happened to having more information on how Ubi/BB planed to help players recoup on Monday October 8, 2012?

Seven posts that in summary say: They know there are log-in problems. They know there will be/was a rollback. They know it is frustrating players. They know players want compensation.

For things to have become 'concrete' before sharing information, the server will have been fixed, tested for some time, as well as compensation awarded and verified. In other words, no information will be provided and players will have to wait to see the results.


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Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...munity-Manager!

Tuesday October 9, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans

:cool: Introducing our new Community Manager!

Hello, everyone! It’s great to finally introduce myself. I’ll be known around these parts as BB_meesherbeans! I’m the new Community Manager for The Settlers Online, and I’m really excited to get to know all of you. To give a little bit of info about myself, I’ve been in the gaming industry for a few years now. I got my start helping work on Star Wars: The Old Republic before moving to an unnamed children’s browser MMO. Now I’m here to help old and new players alike settle into an online home in The Settlers Online (see what I did there?)!

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SNIP! Cut for length.

Why award a promotion when the community is in shambles? Why spend the time creating a lengthy post and trying to appear clever with words during a server crisis? Would it not have been more beneficial to work on informing players, what was going on and how they would be compensated, then trying to be clever?


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Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...ystem-Feedback

Thursday October 11, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans

Hi, everyone. As you all know, we announced that the new Trade System will be implemented during the regularly scheduled maintenance tonight. We would like everyone to please take some time over the next few days to gather their thoughts and give us their feedback.

All feedback is valued and wanted, as long as it's constructive. Any posts consisting of only silly pictures or other spam will be removed. Please take this time to really give us your opinion on the system itself.

Thanks! :)

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Why would a regular maintenance change the trade system?

Regular means: A constant pattern, with the same space between individual instances. Maintenance means: Action(s) taken to keep in a specified state. Thus, regular maintenance means: Action(s) taken to keep in a specified state with the same space between individual instances.

Simply stated, playing with words in an attempt to be clever can cause the misuse of terminology, which in turn causes confusion. This was not 'regular maintenance', it was an update/upgrade applied to a system that is already experiencing difficulties.

Why would this change even be made on an unstable platform that still has connection issues (as seen at http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...ter-Rollback)?


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While it may be fun to play with words, I would point out that Ubisoft/BlueByte is a business and like most businesses, it depends on customers. Customers do not want or need to see 'Thanks' being given to paid employees, and they do not want or need to see paid employees trying to be clever playing word games with them when there is work to be done.

It has been argued elsewhere on these forums, that aside from gems which cost money, all that players have lost is a little time. Perhaps it is due to my age that I realize that the amount of time I have to live is small enough to begin with, that every moment is precious, and that a rollback is not going to change that. In my humble opinion anyone who fails to value their own time, above the value of virtual items, is a fool who will likely allow their limited time in this world to be wasted.

As I said at http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...d-You.../page8

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arnoir

Personally, I do not find it entertaining to repeatedly visit a site on the random chance that an 'update' devoid of usefull information will have been posted. Perhaps I will find more entertainment elsewhere.

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While others may not keep to their word, such as providing information about compensation on Monday October 8, 2012, I do. I have found entertainment elsewhere.

The real question has become, will Ubisoft/BlueByte make good on their word before others follow my example, or will they continue to amuse, congratulate, and generally entertain themselves instead of their customers? I may pop back from time to time to see how things progress, and possibly find some entertainment value in those visits.

Arnoir

P.S. Once again, I apologise for the length of this post, but not its content.
P.P.S. I really hope Odesius enjoyed the spam.

Personally, aside from the time lost (and yes, I do value my time), I lost several in-game items, also: Gems are the first and foremost, and also the most frustrating items I have lost. However, I have also lost various amounts of raw materials, several quests, and a large number (to me) of gold coins. I am not happy about it. I am still playing; I also hope that things will be fixed, and we will receive compensation for the game items lost (there is no way to compensate for the time).

:mad: What I want to know is WHY they can't/won't tell us EXACTLY how far back they rolled the game. There is a need for this information for people who buy gems. In order to know exactly what was lost on my account, I need to know exactly when it was rolled back to. AND NO ONE WILL SAY! I will say though that I am not spending another dime on this game until I have some answers. I will probably continue to play, as I enjoy the time spent with the people I have met here, but no more real cash is going into this game.

BB meesher beans introducing himself was in September maybe check dates closer, link even shows when it was 09.19.12 04:39 pm 19th September.
Its a game that is provided for free people CAN choose to buy gems.

Bellyaching and mixing dates to try to win an argument is as silly as the drama queen slap heads of i shall leave this game for ever garbage.

I think that the message of my post has escaped you Mystica. My post is not a plea for replacement of virtual items, and there is no "aside from the time lost". Let me put it another way:

There was no need for seven posts to tell players that no information was being given. It was a waste of time.
There was no need thanking and congratulating paid employees in public, because they should have been too busy to see it. It was a waste of time.
There was no need to 'sneak' an upgrade onto an unstable platform and further complicate troubleshooting. It was a waste of time.

A person can live without work, money, or entertainment... but when they run out of time, it's GAME OVER. Period. Oddly enough, when a company runs out of time, it's GAME OVER as well.

The main point of my post was time, its value, and illustrating how both have been wasted.

In contrast to your post of "there is no way to compensate for the time", I would point out that time is compensated for in a variety of ways every day. The first one to enter most peoples mind may be money, but there are other ways of compensating for peoples time. The problem that should become obvious is, if time is being wasted figuring out what compensation is 'fair' for for time that has been wasted... then more time goes by and more time gets wasted figuring out what compensation is 'fair' for the additional time that has been wasted... and so on.

This brings us to the secondary point of my post.

Like yourself, I also hope that things will be fixed, but unlike yourself I will not continue playing in the hope of receiving compensation for lost game items. Virtual items are a trivial collection of ones and zeros. I hope that things will be fixed, not for myself, but for others. I place a high value my time, and that value increases as the amount I have remaining decreases. I have wasted more than enough time waiting for information and compensation that does not materialise.

Unlike the organisations noted in the title of this thread, I have clearly stated what I am doing and why. I will not be playing this game on a regular basis, but I will occasionally visit if I think it would be entertaining to do so, and I am doing so because they have wasted too much time.

Arnoir

P.S. Feel free to hurry up and wait. :p
P.P.S. I found that Carmen WhatsHerName... she was with Waldo! ;)

Milliecent, I have indeed made an error in the date as you have indicated, and admit it. My error likely occurred when cutting and pasting in an attempt to reduce the length of my post, hence the "SNIP! Cut for length." portion. I apologise to BB_meesherbeans for the error in the date and any additional ill will it may have generated in the community. I will not change the post as it serves both as original proof of my error, and as an example of the 'word-play' in official posts. Now, as I have shown how easy it is to admit making an error, and take responsibility for it... perhaps you can give it a try Milliecent.

Error number one: As the original poster I had nobody to argue with and thus there was no argument, to win or lose.
Error number two: In my original post I said "I may pop back from time to time to see how things progress", thus there was no "drama queen slap heads of i shall leave this game for ever garbage".

On another note... How is ARES? :rolleyes:

Arnoir

P.S. Are we having fun yet?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mystica

Personally, aside from the time lost (and yes, I do value my time)

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And yet you play this game, so ... that's somewhat contradictory. Try again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arnoir

Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...cy-Maintenance

Sunday October 6, 2012 BB_Katealyst - Ubisoft Player Experience Manager

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Wrong (Sunday was October 7th... if this was posted on the 6th it was a saturday.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arnoir

Thursday October 8, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Wrong again... October 8th was a Monday



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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arnoir

Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...munity-Manager!

Tuesday October 9, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Right this time... did you even read what you typed before you posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arnoir

Taken from http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...ystem-Feedback

Thursday October 11, 2012 BB_meesherbeans - Ubisoft Community Manager

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Right this time again...


So tell me, why would you change the day of the week on the first two and not the second two?

Was it intentional?

It's hard to take you seriously when you can't even get the day of the week right when it matters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AvilaHarrington

:mad: What I want to know is WHY they can't/won't tell us EXACTLY how far back they rolled the game. There is a need for this information for people who buy gems. In order to know exactly what was lost on my account, I need to know exactly when it was rolled back to. AND NO ONE WILL SAY! I will say though that I am not spending another dime on this game until I have some answers. I will probably continue to play, as I enjoy the time spent with the people I have met here, but no more real cash is going into this game.

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From what could be gleaned from the mail that reappeared in my inbox, it appears that the game was rolled back to some time near midday on Saturday, 29 September, in the US.

Anax_Basileus, I have indeed made errors in the dates as you have indicated and once again I admit it openly. October 6, 2012 was a Saturday and October 8, 2012 was a Monday as you have pointed out.

As I pointed out in my response to Milliecent, I had done cutting and pasting in an attempt to reduce the length of my post. This is most likely the source of my date related errors. With your eye for detail, I wonder how you could have missed it.

Was it intentional? (My apologies for handing that line right back to you, but it does fit your post just as well as it fits my own.)

Perhaps some people may find it difficult to take me seriously when I make an error in adding the correct the day of the week to a date. Perhaps some people may find it just as difficult to take you seriously when you quote the reference sources that I had provided in you first correction, and then fail to check the date of the post in question.

In case you missed it, I just answered your question about my errors being intentional or not. If I had intended to mislead people, I would hide the truth as best as I could, or eliminate any trace of it if possible. If I intended to mislead people I certainly would not have provided any data, direct or linked, which might be used to call any part of my post into question. Although I have made some errors with dates, I have admitted to making those mistakes, and explained how they most likely happened. I have also provided the means, via links, so that others may freely check and verify information provided by others.

Now let me help you out with your details for Arnoir bashing.

If you click on the little arrow to the right of "Originally Posted by BB_Katealyst" in my first quote, you will not be sent to the Zeus Server Emergency Maintenance page. There is a copy/paste error which sends you to the Still Having Issues After Rollback page.

If you click on the little arrow to the right of "Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans" in my second quote, you will not be sent to the Zeus Server Emergency Maintenance page. There is a copy/paste error which sends you to the New Trade System Feedback page.

If you click on the little arrow to the right of "Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans" in my third quote, you will not be sent to the Introducing our new Community Manager page. There is a copy/paste error which sends you to the New Trade System Feedback page.

If you click on the little arrow to the right of "Originally Posted by BB_meesherbeans" in my forth quote, you will be sent to the correct New Trade System Feedback page.

If you click on the little arrow to the right of "Originally Posted by Arnoir " in my fifth quote, you will be sent to the correct I Might Leave This Game...And So Should You... page.

Furthermore

If you check the first link you will find the thread is closed, with no option to reply with a quote. This is part of the reason copy/paste was necessary.

If you check the second link you will find the thread is also closed, with no option to reply with a quote. This is another part of the reason copy/paste was necessary.

Perhaps some people may find it difficult to take me seriously when I say the errors occurred during my copy/paste operations. However it may be a point of interest to those paying attention to detail, that all of the errors noted thus far, occur in relation to the first two linked threads which are locked and could not be directly quoted in my original post.

Arnoir

P.S. I'm secretly waiting for the spelling and grammar checks. :p