[Ubi Official] Technical Problems - UPDATED

[Pteris]

Hello,



News Flash:



[ http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/27/ubisoft-f2p-ideas-in-all-games/]



Ubisoft: Free-to-play will affect all of our games

September 27, 2012 10:16 AM

Jeffrey Grubb


During an investor conference call today, Ubisoft’s chief financial officer Alain Martinez claimed that the free-to-play model will influence all of its future games.



The French publisher detailed the benefits of giving away the razor only to charge for the blades.



“Free-to-play is a very flexible business model,” said Stéphanie Perotti, Ubisoft’s worldwide director of online. “The player has the capability to spend more than in a traditional model.”



[snip]

“The Settlers Online is set to make more money in four years than the Settlers brand did on PC over nine years,” Perotti said.



[snip]

Ubisoft expects to earn €50 to €60 million just from its free-to-play and casual games in fiscal 2013. That’s up from €20 million in 2012. That kind of money is going to turn heads in the company, and Ubisoft has obviously implemented a standing order for all of its teams to implement some of the lessons its learned from free-to-play.





So the latest Ubisoft news is all about the corporate profits and zip about providing adequate support to their customers like those Players buying their Gems in The Settlers Online…



Or should it currently be called: “The Settlers Offline?”



Because numerous dedicated Players of Ubisoft’s game have been unable to login or play the game since this last Sunday’s Server Crash and some have been experiencing similar problems long before that.



My own personal experience involves The Black Knights adventure with the loss of: two Veteran Generals; six Battle Hardened Generals; two normal Generals; and approximately 2,100 troops consisting of Elite Soldiers, Crossbowman, Cavalry, Militia, and Recruits and also where a visit to the adventure’s Zone or an invite for a Friend to it gets you completely disconnected from the game!



So two Contact Forms and four days on and I have received one generic response from 'The Settlers Online' Support Team which included:



“We are currently aware of this issue and do apologize for the delay in responding. We are still investigating the matter and will post updates on the forum as necessary. We apologize for any inconvenience this matter has caused you. Also please refrain from sending in multiple tickets about the same issue as we are working hard to assist everyone as soon as we can.”



Let's just say that protection of their customer’s accounts, timely technical support, and courteous communications apparently isn’t Ubisoft’s strong suit…



I wonder if they actually examine how much gem buying (paying) customers that directly contribute to that €50 to €60 million profit are worth keeping happy or do they just expect us to keep paying no matter how inadequate their customer support becomes or until they can come up with the next big game to make people keen on separating themselves from hard earned cash?



How much of that €50 to €60 million in Ubisoft profits would it take to provide top of the line 24/7 support that could be contacted when problems occur and immediately restore the integrity of their game?



I have been playing computer games for over 35 years and I have never seen such poor conduct of business practices from such a profitable company as is currently involved with The Settlers “Online.” Even the Blizzard franchise after suffering under rampant cost cutting greed by Firaxis Games which earned Ds and Fs for their customer support in ratings from the Better Business Bureau didn’t take days or weeks to resolve their Players’ technical issues.



So for me it’s “The Settlers Offline” and I am currently boycotting any more financial contributions such as buying Gems or purchasing other Ubisoft associated merchandise until they get their priorities straight on who provides them prosperity.



After investing so much time and real money I hate to just walk away but depending on the outcome I may just do that and be better for it in the long run…



Respectfully;



Pteris

[Tinori]

looks like server is back up and i still can not login.

This is like the 5th day now? been too long can't remember now..

Its nice to have a free to play business model. You don't need to have good customer service or be responsible for server problems.

[king-zombie]

i all so cant log on still just get server zone crashed

[Origami_ninja]

i still cant get in either, now im stuck in loading page

[Origami_ninja]

halfway to nowhere??? middle earth!! godzone!!! the best place on earth

[marioiram]

It is 6:30 am and it is still not working.

[king-zombie]

It time to issue refunds iv put money into a game i cant play

[Z0rr0]

cant log on still just get server zone crashed

[Cenn47]

Same thing here, server's supposedly up and getting the same error since Sunday....Might be time to find another game to play!

[Ludgeroe]

5:15am PST here and still cant log into the game... Come on