12 replies to this topic

[Infowars.com]

It is obvious to most and everyone I have talked to agrees that the developers have designed the 'energy bar' refill system to be on the same button as the 'recover energy' system knowing that by habit players will forget to refresh the page and thus use the energy bars accidentally when they may have rather not have, thereby ensuring that the players will use up more energy bars which will in turn result in possibly purchasing more energy bars and thus increase revenue for the eRepublic developers. 

 

In reading various posts here, it is amusing to note that eRepublik is quick to punish players for dishonesty by taking their gold away if they are caught in dishonest acts etc. as if they were the hallmark of what it is to be honest, allow me to continue:-

 

I had once upgraded a factory by accidentally pressing the button, in a panic I down-grounded in an attempt to reverse my mistake, as a result I lost a significant amount of gold. I couldn't believe there was not a safeguard warning me: 'Are you sure you want to upgrade?'. After writing in detail to the developers, they made it clear that it was my fault and that it was quote "too bad." I at least asked if they could put a simple safe-guard warning message in there to protect other players in the future from making the same mistake in the future, but they didn't seem to care. After days of arguing and them telling me how I was wrong and refusing to compensate the gold I lost because their excuse was that if they compensate me they will have to compensate everyone else (that's their response to everything when they are in the wrong). When you are in the wrong however, they will confiscate all your gold, strip you of all your assets and take all your cash.

 

Getting back to the energy bar scam. Correct me if I am wrong but I noticed that if you only have say 60 energy to recover but you consume an energy bar there is no longer a warning telling you that 'you are consuming more than you need continue anyway?' Wasn't there a warning before? Now they have taken it away? Because today as usual I accidentally pressed my 2 x energy bar when I only had a little bit of energy needed to recover, there was no warning and the whole bar was consumed. This may sound trivial to some, but I made this mistake several times, and it adds up.

 

Am I the only one who is noticing this scam?

[Gucio]

I'm sorry, but I don't see any scam here, rather a person that cannot control their clicking.

 

To upgrade a factory you really need to click on 3 buttons in order for the factory to get actually upgraded, so I really don't see a problem. I mean taking your time and actually thinking what you're doing rather than just clicking everywhere would solve the problem I guess or would at least prevent from such happening.

 

As of consuming energy bars, I guess if you are using multiple eRep tabs and somehow manage to consume more energy than you want then again it's not really game's fault, but your fault for using more than one tabs. With clicking I guess I could say the same thing, if you click once and wait patiently until the energy gets recovered I can't see the problem. If you keep on clicking or click few times then obviously it's not the game's fault.

[Infowars.com]

You should talk to more people about the energy bar thing. Putting the energy bar tab on the same bar as the recover energy tab is inevitably going to lead to people subconsciously clicking on it when forgetting to refresh the page. I have talked to dozens of people about it and they do the same thing. How easy would it be to make separate tabs for the two? Everyone I know has told me that have wasted tons of energy bars over the years because of this, I mean everyone. To me it seems obvious... Because the player habitually is clicking on the refill bar, so subconsciously it is inevitable that they are going to click it. Sometimes if you don't refresh the page, it appears as a blue energy recovery, when in reality there is an energy bar there because there may be no food left. Unless you refresh the screen you won't know and you will use an energy bar. How you can't see the problem is unbelievable to me... It is also very simple to fix... All they have to do is make two separate bars underneath, one red for the energy one blue for the recover energy.

 

The second point I want to make is that when there maybe only 60 energy to recover, if you have say a 200 refill bar, you will use that whole bar, the whole thing will be wasted.. It's unfair and there should be a message warning you, because players habitually do it all the time. 

 

Ask anyone, what I have said about the energy bars, everyone will agree with me, and I am right... It's obvious that the developers would know that this would cause more players to consume more bars and thereby possibly force players to purchase more... That is so obvious...

 

In regards to the factory upgrade no warning message. Let me explain something to you. When you do a transaction involving a purchase digitally there is always one safeguard message before the purchase, always... Now you may say it's a game, but that gold is actually bought with money, for that reason there should be one simple message asking if you are sure before a major upgrade, that is so easy to put in place... You say it takes at least three clicks to arrive at that point, and that may be true, but you aren't agreeing to spend any gold until you click at that point, therefore you should provide players with a warning. I was looking at the prices and I went to move my mouse away and clicked it, could happen to anyone... 

 

To me these are simple software fixes that should be put into place, the reason why they are not in place baffles me.. The only thing I can think of why they are not in place is so you and your team can get more revenue, especially with the energy bar thing, that is a shocker and should be fixed...

[tommot]

 

 

The second point I want to make is that when there maybe only 60 energy to recover, if you have say a 200 refill bar, you will use that whole bar, the whole thing will be wasted.. It's unfair and there should be a message warning you, because players habitually do it all the time. 

If you are about to use an energy bar for an amount less then 100, then you will get a pop-up telling you what you are about to do.

Don't blame the admins and/or developers for you inability to look where you click. Don't just click for the sake of it. If you do that you are missing the point of online gaming.

 

The rest of your complaint follows the same pattern.

The system has enough safeguards in place to prevent your mistakes.

 

 

Sometimes if you don't refresh the page, it appears as a blue energy recovery, when in reality there is an energy bar there because there may be no food left. Unless you refresh the screen you won't know and you will use an energy bar

Why would you have a problem with that.

It is not up to the game to refresh your browser.

If your info is not up to date with an action you preformed in a different window/tab, then it is you who has to adjust.

Don't act lazy.

 

It is not surprising that you have so many problems because what i read here is a person(and persons who agree with you) that has zero patience.

 

 

I was looking at the prices and I went to move my mouse away and clicked it, could happen to anyone... 

You are blaming others for the fact that you didn't look where you click!!!

Why are you playing this game if you can't even look at it.

 

When i click something/somewhere i look where my pointer is standing on before i push the button.

[Infowars.com]

Yeah the administrators aren't responsible for anything..  They aren't responsible for providing a good service to their players. Yes I understand your point, not saying that I am not responsible to an extent. But if for the customer's benefit these safeguards were in place, it wouldn't happen. It's like if I go to a bank machine, and it doesn't ask me if I am sure before the transaction, anyone can click on something accidentally especially in the heat of a moment during battle, anyone can make a mistake. 

 

With the energy bar thing. I am right... It's like an accident waiting to happen... Every single person I have talked to agrees with me on this issue. The only people that don't are the administrators here. Another thing I have noticed is that they don't seem to care less about the  player's opinions or input for game improvement. They always go on the offensive, rather than stopping to think if the customer has a point and asking themselves 'what can we do to improve it for our players?'

 

Now I want you, to do an exercise or survey. Ask 20 random players how many times have they accidentally consumed energy bars when they didn't want to... Ask them.... Ask them if they think that the red energy bar and the blue recovery bar should be separated...

 

To me it's obvious.. It's set up so players accidentally will consume their energy bars without always wanting to. How convenient  that it leads to players purchasing more bars to replace the ones they accidentally consume and therefore more revenue for the developers.. It's set up that way on purpose, it's obvious. Same with consuming a whole bar when you only have a little energy needed, that's inevitably going to happen. 

 

If something is set up to cause players, (and it happens to many very often I assure you) to use the bars when they don't want to, it becomes an obligation to correct it for the customer's benefit.

[St0L3n1]

Seems like you want to sit and eat popcorn's and make mistakes and tell others "Oh look there is a bug" 

 

Honestly speaking if you are just pressing the button continuously without paying attention to your stats, believe me that even creating another button  for energy bars wont help because next time the complain would be like "Oh my god i consume 2 energy bars because there is only one energy bar consumption tab with no warning message" So i mean seriously that is a very lame reason to actually blame something like that to developers.

 

About factory upgrade if you cant figure out that you are actually spending gold in b/w three different clicks  then it's your mistake. The first thing you need to do here is to read wiki actually.

 

Regards

St0L3n1

Edited by St0L3n1, 20 October 2013 - 04:27 PM.

[Infowars.com]

Like I stated above, it's only those things which I am complaining about. You don't seem to know anything about customer service, or system analysis in software protocol. In software development you are always taught to put in safeguards to protect the customer, always. Yes I get it that the player is responsible for his/her action, I get it.. But if you design a system which causes players to easily do an input/output that is not desired, and it happens often, and it causes inconvenience to them, then it is the developer's duty to correct it for the benefit of their customers. How you don't get that into your head? I don't get it.. It's obvious that the blue energy refill/ red bars should be separated.. Designing a system that consumes a hole 200 bar when you only had 20 energy to refill is not correct... It's a design flaw...

 

In regards to the upgrades. It's not about figuring it out. You might just want to have a look to see the cost of the upgrades, now clicking the mouse once on a huge purchase with no simple message asking 'are you sure?' Should be corrected. Again that is a design flaw. These measures are standard in purchase and are put into place by default in any digital monetary system software architecture. This is standard practice and I have a right as a consumer to point it out. 

[tommot]

 

 

Designing a system that consumes a hole 200 bar when you only had 20 energy to refill is not correct... It's a design flaw...

If you have less then that amount of energy, then you just have to wait with spending anything until you can recover with food(an hour/max 2 hours).

If you really have a problem with the minimum of 100 energy(or as you keep persisting 200) then suggest with a ticket to admins the creation of a 50 energy bar.

 

Maybe that could be more constructive then just saying "it is a scam" or "fix this problem".

 

I also point out that you can check whether or not your energy is high or low enough for the usage of an energy bar.

If you hover your pointer over the right button you will see a info-balloon telling you what you need to know.

 

 

 

You might just want to have a look to see the cost of the upgrades, now clicking the mouse once on a huge purchase with no simple message asking 'are you sure?

Again, i keep on repeating myself.

LOOK what your doing. You are handling Real Money.

It is not there responsibility of how you handle your money.

There is a lot of info... READ ALL OF IT!

Don't just ignore it because it takes time. It is on your screen for good reason so don't ignore it.

 

 

Now I want you, to do an exercise or survey. Ask 20 random players how many times have they accidentally consumed energy bars when they didn't want to... Ask them.... Ask them if they think that the red energy bar and the blue recovery bar should be separated...

Then why did you not make that suggestion in your original post?

Your first post is nothing but complaints.

[Infowars.com]

I think you are misunderstanding some points let me make it clearer for you:-

 

 

If you have less then that amount of energy, then you just have to wait with spending anything until you can recover with food(an hour/max 2 hours).

If you really have a problem with the minimum of 100 energy(or as you keep persisting 200) then suggest with a ticket to admins the creation of a 50 energy bar.

 

You have misunderstood what I was saying here. If I only need to recover say 20 energy, if I click on a 200 energy bar, you will waste the 180 energy won't you? Why would a developer design it so that the whole bar is consumed? To me it is strange... Then you say it's the player's fault??? Instead of saying maybe he is right, we need to improve it.

 

If you are about to use an energy bar for an amount less then 100, then you will get a pop-up telling you what you are about to do.  

 

There was no popup, that's how I lost several energy bars in battle yesterday. Could you check that please? Because there was no pop-up... There should be a pop-up. So let's just say a new player comes along. He spends a lot of money of energy bars. He is in battle and only needs 20 energy to fill up, but clicks the 200 energy bar, he loses 180 each time, but doesn't understand what is happening. But if a warning screen said ''you only need to recover 20, but you will consume 200, you want to proceed?' He wouldn't lose his money because the developers did the right thing to protect that player/customer.

 

 

I also point out that you can check whether or not your energy is high or low enough for the usage of an energy bar.

If you hover your pointer over the right button you will see a info-balloon telling you what you need to know.

 

So if I am in the heat of a battle because the clock is ticking and I launch an assault it isn't possible that during the heat of the battle players won't accidentally waste consumption of energy bars where I might have wanted to go to the market and buy some food instead? If the system separated the bars from the energy recovery, that wouldn't happen. Now I get the part how you think everything is the players fault, but my point it is set up so a player can easily make a mistake.

 

Again, i keep on repeating myself.

LOOK what your doing. You are handling Real Money.

It is not there responsibility of how you handle your money.

There is a lot of info... READ ALL OF IT!

Don't just ignore it because it takes time. It is on your screen for good reason so don't ignore it.

 

I think you are the one ignoring here. You say there are a enough safeguards, why won't you put a simple pop-up asking 'are you sure?'' Before spending a large amount of Gold? Why is that such a crime for me to request that??  It is standard in transaction and digital monetary systems so why am I the one in the wrong here???... I could understand if it was a game where people aren't spending money from their own pockets, then that safeguard being absent might be okay.. But people are spending real money from their pockets, therefore simple pop-ups should be in place when spending large amounts of Gold.  Why am I the bad guy for pointing that out? 

 

Maybe that could be more constructive then just saying "it is a scam" or "fix this problem".

 

Let me tell you why I said it's a scam.  You don't seem to care less about consumer feedback. You stated that my post is just full of complaints, but these are legitimate complaints. When I wrote to the developers asking them to put a safeguard pop-up message in when up-grading a factory etc, all they did was attack me, and didn't care that I lost 25 gold because of this problem. I wasn't asking to be compensated, I just wanted to protect other players would could possibly make the same mistake in the future. I don't understand what the big deal is, how hard is it to put a simple pop-up warning up saying 'are you sure?' Yes No?

 

Secondly. It appears that the bar system is designed so players will use up the bars accidentally so they will be forced to purchase more bars. Everything it set up in the developer's favor.  I just can't understand how I developer can't foresee that players will be accidentally clicking on it. To me it's strange that they don't separate the bar refills from the food recovery. It's seems like it's designed so players will consume extra bars so they can buy more. Because this again is a simple safeguard to put in place.

 

I want to address one thing the other administrator said at the beginning of this post:

 

As of consuming energy bars, I guess if you are using multiple eRep tabs and somehow manage to consume more energy than you want then again it's not really game's fault, but your fault for using more than one tabs. With clicking I guess I could say the same thing, if you click once and wait patiently until the energy gets recovered I can't see the problem. If you keep on clicking or click few times then obviously it's not the game's fault.

 

So if a player is comfortable having multiple tabs open, he is the bad guy for clicking the blue subconsciously then consuming an energy bar when he didn't want to? So the player is the bad guy when if the two red and blue bars were separated in the first place, it wouldn't happen to that player... But to you the player is the only one responsible if the developers don't put in obvious safeguards?? 

[invaluable]

He's right and thus, I support his statements. Seems like you people have been playing this game without paying attention to things that can really screw you up sometimes. What he's trying to say, obviously, is that when you have used all your ENERGY and you got none left - 0, then you wait, for instance, 5 minutes and 50 seconds, you haven't done anything like clicking anywhere in game (you're considered as AFK) and then the 10 energy becomes available, you press the blue button and instead of getting that 10 energy, you get a hundred energy (or even worse - 200), which means you've used ONE energy bar instead of x1 Q5 food whatsoever.

Edited by invaluable, 21 October 2013 - 07:56 AM.

[St0L3n1]

First fortunately i know the basic protocols of software development because i own a software house from last 6 years. Your complains are not making any sense because the proper guide and rules are already provided to all paid/no-paid user on this web & not to forget it's a free online game where you buy good on your own will which is absolutely not compulsory in any rules or regulation.

 

Now i also like to point your nick there which is clearly a spam as your nick is a URL & its surly not ethical in any manner.

 

Regards

St0L3n1

[Infowars.com]

My friend it makes perfect sense... Do a survey and you will find that at least 90% of players use energy bars accidentally often where they didn't choose to.  As the other gentleman above stated, that's another thing, sometimes people's internet connection lag, and you think the timer is over when it is not, or because of internet lag the blue hasn't changed to red, or you press the refill but due to internet lag it doesn't work, then you press it again then the lag corrects itself and you find you used an energy bar when you didn't want to. Also some people like to have more than two tabs open to quickly access the market or build a rocket, and may forget they refilled the energy in the other tab, many things... You click the blue thinking and you use up an energy bar when you didn't desire it.

 

Could you show me where it states in the rules where just say you only have 20 energy needed to recover and you click the energy bar, 180 is wasted in the trash. Where does it warn you??? Where do you warn people that they will consume an entire energy bar if they press it say when they only need to restore say 20 or 40 energy? These energy bars are very expensive... Why have you designed it so it's so easy for players to use them accidentally???

 

So if a new player comes along and only needs to refill 20 energy or 30 or 70 or 90 he could be pressing the red and wasting bars all night and not even know, because no safeguards or warnings have been put in to protect him. To me it's strange that the system has been made to let you press the button, it let's you consume a whole bar when you may only need to consume a far lesser amount... It's like theft if you ask me.

 

You say the rules and regulations aren't compulsory. So in other words, you are saying you have no obligation to do the right thing to your customers and protect them? 

 

Here's another example:-

 

When you purchase say a 150 energy center, after the 30 days are up, if I have full 650 energy, you will just steal the 150 energy when the time is up... Where does it warn the player that the 150 energy will be taken away after the 30 days? I mean the recovered energy... I assumed that it would let me use the 150 energy after the 30 days still seeing it was my food that I paid for. Instead you just steal it... With the rockets it's different because you say it will expire that's fair enough, regarding the energy center yes you say the energy center will no longer exist, but where does it warn the player that you will take his 150 energy if he has it filled? How is that fair to the player, it's stealing from the player, why? Because you never warned that you would take it. Show me where you say you will take the 150 recovered energy after the 30 days???

 

Addressing your other statement. You say my user name is spam? Why did you allow a 'dot' then in the nicknames? I wanted to change it but you charge 5 Gold to change the name. If I didn't lose the 25 gold that you stole when I accidentally upgraded and panicked and downgraded (the story I told above) because you didn't provide a safeguard pop-up to warn me before I accidentally upgraded maybe I would have used that gold to change my name, now I can't afford it. I hope that you're not trying to use my nickname as a pretext to censor me because you know that I speak the truth are you? I have documented everything here and I have also corresponded directly with some of the developers and have saved those transcripts also. I am thinking of doing a more detailed analysis and publishing it in some of the news feeds to bring it to fellow player's attention of the scam...

 

Another thing is, you're trying to say my nickname is spam, I am sensing that I have hit a nerve in you... My friend the truth hurts, I know.... You are 'FOR' the developers, you don't seem to care much about the players, I am 'FOR' the players, I think what's going on with the energy bars has gone on for long enough, the party is over dude... You are quick to punish players if they do something dishonest and take their gold, but when you do it you say 'no rules are compulsory'. My friend what's good enough for the goose is good enough for the gander.

[elbandido]

It is obvious to most and everyone I have talked to agrees that the developers have designed the 'energy bar' refill system to be on the same button as the 'recover energy' system knowing that by habit players will forget to refresh the page and thus use the energy bars accidentally when they may have rather not have, thereby ensuring that the players will use up more energy bars which will in turn result in possibly purchasing more energy bars and thus increase revenue for the eRepublic developers. 

 

In reading various posts here, it is amusing to note that eRepublik is quick to punish players for dishonesty by taking their gold away if they are caught in dishonest acts etc. as if they were the hallmark of what it is to be honest, allow me to continue:-

 

I had once upgraded a factory by accidentally pressing the button, in a panic I down-grounded in an attempt to reverse my mistake, as a result I lost a significant amount of gold. I couldn't believe there was not a safeguard warning me: 'Are you sure you want to upgrade?'. After writing in detail to the developers, they made it clear that it was my fault and that it was quote "too bad." I at least asked if they could put a simple safe-guard warning message in there to protect other players in the future from making the same mistake in the future, but they didn't seem to care. After days of arguing and them telling me how I was wrong and refusing to compensate the gold I lost because their excuse was that if they compensate me they will have to compensate everyone else (that's their response to everything when they are in the wrong). When you are in the wrong however, they will confiscate all your gold, strip you of all your assets and take all your cash.

 

Getting back to the energy bar scam. Correct me if I am wrong but I noticed that if you only have say 60 energy to recover but you consume an energy bar there is no longer a warning telling you that 'you are consuming more than you need continue anyway?' Wasn't there a warning before? Now they have taken it away? Because today as usual I accidentally pressed my 2 x energy bar when I only had a little bit of energy needed to recover, there was no warning and the whole bar was consumed. This may sound trivial to some, but I made this mistake several times, and it adds up.

 

Am I the only one who is noticing this scam?

 

 

Dear Infowars.com,

 

Thanks for the suggestions made. We note that should be implemented asap:

 

- 'Are you sure you want to upgrade?' ...when you click upgrade icon for a company, a warning should appear;

 

- 'You are consuming more than you need continue anyway?' ...when you recover energy with an energy bar and you only have less then 99 (or 199 for double eb) energy to recover, , a warning should appear;

 

Regards.