My Assistant
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Thomart
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Jan 10 2010, 02:29 PM
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#1
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Group: Furres |
With all due respect,
Upon looking at my Paypal I realized over the last 11 months I have given Furcadia $250. Any other company to which I would give this amount of money, would listen to my concerns/opinions as a paying consumer. However when dealing with Furcadia I often feel there is a certain status-quo of "we'll take your money, but we won't listen to you". A good business strategy for any company is to have your ear to the train-tracks, keeping in tune with the vibrations and reverberations of the community. Why doesn't Furcadia want to adopt this universally successful business approach? I am not asking for Furcadia to adopt or conform to every whim of the players, but merely for the Public Relations Department to act more concerned, flexible, versatile - like any good PR Department. As some of you may, or may not know, last night a discussion thread was posted in regards to the new portrait rating system, some good points were made, some bad points were made - but either way, they were made, by paying customers. These opinions were in no way welcome, and in some regards were treated as the hostile attacks of "5 out of 60,000" - in fact it seemed more like 90% of people who were voicing an opinion did not agree. Why such a dismissive attitude to the people who put food on your table? I also want to respectfully say deleting posts from the thread, so it would appear there were less opinions of dissent was quite juvenile, and deceiving. I hope we can agree, DEP does not have to agree with everything their consumers say, their consumers do not have to agree with everything they do - but friendly, inviting, open communication between both parties is an essential element of running a successful business. Neither party should feel guilty for voicing their opinions in an honest and respectful manner. Unfortunately I'm unable to continue to support Furcadia through monetary contributions in any capacity, which would have amounted to thousands of dollars in the future. I did not want to do this, because I honestly enjoy supporting the game and the few staff members I have come to know. However as I often am made to feel like an evil person whenever I voice my concerns/opinions, which would never happen with any other company I do business with - withholding my money is the only leverage I have in this situation. When asked through ads e.t.c to buy digos I will say "No is a legitimate answer to any request". Hopefully my opinions will not be treated in a hostile manner in the future, and if I see an attempt at improvement I will happily consider withdrawing my personal boycott. Thank-you, -Thomart |
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Shinichi Kudo
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Jan 10 2010, 03:12 PM
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#2
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Group: Furres |
Furcadia introduced the human avatar - the most controversial avatar we had. The avatar DEP never planned to introduce, but finally did because the players wanted it. Any questions?
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Victor
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Jan 10 2010, 03:14 PM
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#3
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Group: Furres |
as someone who rarely, if ever, posts on these forums, i feel i absolutely must post here and now. i am not hiding on any anonymous name like so many feel they HAVE to in order to suggest a thing to DEP- this is my main. if you are going to attack me back for genuine concern for the game, then i would sooner you do it to my face than behind my back, but know that i will not be quiet about it any more than i am being quiet about how i feel now.
like Thomart, i spend money on this game. not just money, but a sizable amount. i also wanted to say that i was not awake during the time of the 'cigarettes in ports' thread, but I have at least a few ports with people smoking in them and i smoke IRL... so assuming there is only a small number of those who dissent is completely wrong- most of us just aren't awake at 3am to voice our opinions before the opportunity is gone (ie, thread locking). on that note, it is equally foolish to assume that just because you do not hear our voices that we do not exist. there are many MANY more of us than 'five' who disapprove of your rules and regulations that you seem so intent on never changing and instead forcing down our throats (but i'll spare you the reasons on exactly why i feel your new rules will be, at best, a wasted effort). you only make it SEEM like there are fewer people who disagree or have real and legitimate reasons to disapprove because opposing points get deleted and people get banned from the forums and even the GAME for dissenting opinions posted even in the privacy of their-party sites. as someone who HAS been playing this game for many MANY years now, i know i have spent more than my fair share on supporting this game- even recently buying from the digo market as opposed to off-site places specifically to support it because of what it means to me (but again, i will spare you the details of why- we all have our own personal reasons). not any more. not until you show us the level of adult respect we deserve, to listen to our opinions without either publicly belittling us, deleting our posts or banishing us. we are paying your salaries, and we would not be doing this if we honestly didn't LOVE the game and fear for its future because of many bad PR and other decisions being made here and now. you're right, 'no IS a legitimate answer to any request' and i hope you plan on hearing it even more now, because you have made a mistake in thinking that the community is a docile beast not willing to react to such insults. i can honestly say i am through buying anything from here on out until things change, and i know Thomart and I are not the only ones. when things change, so will my monetary spending towards this game. -Victor |
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Panda Bear
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Jan 10 2010, 03:15 PM
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#4
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Group: Furres |
i am also a concerned customer; i have spent well over $400 dollars on this game, but i will no longer continue purchasing from the digomarket due to the dep's lack of respect toward their own community. i'm well aware this is your game and you can do as you please with it, but why can't you seriously consider our feedback instead of basing your knowledge of what we want on your sales and polls that are sometimes over a year old?
it depresses me that when i first joined this game 3 or 4 years ago, it prided itself in being close with its community. now it appears that only the posts coated with sugar are even taken into consideration and the posts from that certain small percentage are ignored or taken lightly or even deleted. every single member of this community should be able to visit these forums and voice themselves without fear of having their post deleted or the entire thread locked or banishment from the forums (unless they're personally attacking you, obviously) just because the dep does not agree with their opinion. i think emerald flame put it perfectly when she said "You didn't like that answer, but that is life.". |
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Victor
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Jan 10 2010, 03:20 PM
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#5
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Group: Furres |
Shinichi Kudo, if you think this is about digos, then you are sorely mistaken.
this is not about what they give us in terms of items any longer (and to me, it never was). this isn't about what they 'stack on their shelves'. this is about spitting on those who pay their salaries, about biting the hands that feed them. this is even LESS appropriate than some real-world shop having poor Public Relations, because at most real stores i NEED the items they provide. i do NOT need the pixels on this game. i support it because i WANT to, and as of late, and because i and many other have not been treated like rational human beings, i no longer want to. they need to realize that these things work both ways. |
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Thomart
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Jan 10 2010, 03:37 PM
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#6
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Group: Furres |
Also something I meant to cover in my original post. If you are going to post your opinion here, please keep it as respectful as possible.
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Matter
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Jan 10 2010, 03:40 PM
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#7
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Group: Furres |
I am just about done selling off the 300 dollars worth of digos I've obtained over the past year, and I don't intend to buy any more until Furcadia's PR department begins to conduct itself with some professionalism and treat the community with a modicum of respect. Responding to the complaints of paying customers with rudeness and outright hostility is unacceptable and I will not support a company that employs these practices.
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Black Rain
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Jan 10 2010, 03:47 PM
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#8
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Group: Furres |
Nevermind..
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Sync
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Jan 10 2010, 03:53 PM
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#9
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Group: Furres |
i don't post on the forums that much, but i'm going to say i agree. i've spent a lot on furcadia (in the 300s and such, not all on the same paypal), and now the only thing i see myself buying are the occasional second-hand portspace.
since i'm bad at stringing words together, i'm just going to say i agree with matter. why should i support a company that outright says i'm a minority they will not care to address? i know DEP needs money, and i don't care that new digos are being put out as opposed to larger graphics/gameplay updates to get there. i dislike how disgustingly the user base is treated and hope that one day DEP can see that that is one of their bigger problems. |
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Heavens cat
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Jan 10 2010, 04:05 PM
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#10
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Group: Furres |
I don't agree with the concerns voiced in this topic, but it's clear that there's a good chunk of you who feel you've been disrespected by DEP - many more than was acknowledged last night. I think your plea deserves respect and you're dignified in requesting an honest response. I wish all of you good luck in repairing your relations with DEP!
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Panda Bear
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Jan 10 2010, 04:27 PM
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#11
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Group: Furres |
QUOTE Why does this community have such a hard time understanding that rules are rules? They are not open for debate. They are not going to change because you don't want to follow them. You don't argue with the rules at the local mall. You don't tell the police you won't follow their rules. These are the DEP rules. They've been well thought out and discussed among the people who own Furcadia. Legalities, experiences, and personal preferences were taken in to account. And again, most of these rules have been in place for many years. (this response is not directly specifically at emerald flame.) the reason the community is having such a hard time understanding the rules you put in play for us is because we don't WANT the DEP to look like another police force, we dont want to be restricted to certain maps because of our ports or be under the shadow of ridiculous rules inside a game that values imagination, freedom and creativity. i don't mean to offend, but can you really not see how hypocritical your leadership is? |
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Panda Bear
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Jan 10 2010, 04:29 PM
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#12
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Group: Furres |
(My response if you wouldn't mind posting it for me Daikie. <3) ((daikie has asked me to post it for them, i hope you dont mind))
My name is Katie, but I am better known as Electric Guitar. Someone is kindly posting this for me as I have been banned from the game and from the forums. I would like to add my support to Thomart’s boycott. I will openly admit it right now that I have not spent money on this game. I’ve been playing Furcadia for quite some time, but under my parent’s household, I was not allowed to spend money in that way. Recently however, (2009-2010), I have since graduated from high school, received a good paying job, my own place, and started college . I had plans of buying from the digomarket. I realized at one point I wanted to help you DEP. I love the creativity this community brings through art and writing. I didn’t want to see it go under. I joined the beekin program and although my hours probably don’t show it, I did donate some time in the short span I was a beekin. My job and college prevented me from contributing a lot. I had plans to donate patchwork to Furcadian Flight’s guild event to promote furcadia before the event was cancelle.d But as time went by and the more things I learned I realized that your practices were unsatisfactory and I reverted to criticizing you. I never directly attacked you on your forums or in game. I contributed my thoughts, rants, and opinions to a topic in a third party website that is used frequently by players as a means of discussing our feelings without worrying about your censorship or harassment. But because of what I posted, you used as a means of banning me and other players for their contributions. To your players, you basically said we banish you if you criticize us regardless of where you do it. I receive no email, no note, no nothing informing of your reasons why. No courtesy at all. With recent events I no longer wish to contribute or even continue this game. I found in the time I have spent being banned that I don’t actually miss it. I spent some time explaining this because I felt that you would probably write me off because I have never contributed to you. It’s important to treat every player as a potential customer. It’s common business knowledge. Regardless, we should be treated like human beings, not cash cows. I guarantee that one act kindness toward a player will be remembered later and make that player want to contribute to you later on or even refer their friends to this game. I wanted to contribute to you DEP. I wanted to help you too. But in end, I found no good reasons to want to except for pity in regard to your current financial situation. You as writers, artists, and gamers should know that everything has room for improvement. Yet every time a legitimate complaint or criticism is brought to your attention, you turn it away in a very condescending manner, react very angrily, or ignore it entirely. I hardly ever seen compromise. Thus you have players who do not feel valued and do not feel heard. You only get a small taste of it from the people who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. In reality, a large majority of the player base is frustrated, but so many are afraid to say anything because of the ban hammer over their heads. We understand it’s your game and we’re not the one in charge, but as players we like to feel we make some impact on the game or that we’re of some value to you. I can tell you right now that the things I have seen posted would not be tolerated in any other company. Public relations is the practice of managing communication between an organization and It’s public. What is DEP saying to it’s players when the communication is hostile and condescending? I had some fun while played. I miss the art. I will miss the roleplay. I will miss my furcadia friends. However, I will move on and spend my time elsewhere so long as you continue to employ these poor business practices. |
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Black Rain
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Jan 10 2010, 04:33 PM
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#13
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Group: Furres |
Anyways..
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Thomart
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Jan 10 2010, 04:34 PM
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#14
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Group: Furres |
I don't agree with the concerns voiced in this topic, but it's clear that there's a good chunk of you who feel you've been disrespected by DEP - many more than was acknowledged last night. I think your plea deserves respect and you're dignified in requesting an honest response. I wish all of you good luck in repairing your relations with DEP! I appreciate your recognizance that as customers we deserve respect and dignity. I also appreciate you sending luck our way, so I (and some others) can become paying customers once again. |
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ArtSpace
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Jan 10 2010, 04:49 PM
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#15
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Group: Furres |
To your players, you basically said we banish you if you criticize us regardless of where you do it.. I can recall many hours of ranting at Gar and Rei about things I didn't find okay about the game. I've even had discussions with Emmie about the same thing. Funny, I was never banned for my criticism. Are you sure there isn't more to this story? What led you to believe DEP would ban someone for expressing their opinion? And if they would do that, then why does the Suggestions forum exist? |
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Panda Bear
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Jan 10 2010, 04:50 PM
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#16
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Group: Furres |
artspace, you quoted my name accidently.
edit: (i dont want to make another post) @ artspace: OH! i see, now. i forgot i had posted that. sorry |
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ArtSpace
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Jan 10 2010, 04:52 PM
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#17
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Group: Furres |
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Sanne
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Jan 10 2010, 04:53 PM
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#18
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Group: Furres |
There is a difference between having a complaint heard and stomping DEP into the ground endlessly because they won't conform to your individualized standards.
You demand respect from DEP, but I've seen DEP disrespected and taking the crap they're given much more than anyone has ever had to endure on their own. It's a give and take situation - just because you spend money, doesn't mean you conduct yourself with proper behavior towards DEP. Paying for digos does not give you anymore rights. You're not a customer. You are, at ALL DARNED TIMES a freaking GUEST in DEP's virtual world. A GUEST with the PRIVILEGE to play. You agreed to that when you installed the client and created your character. But when push comes to shove, a lot of you are incredibly selfish people don't give a legit 'critique'. "I think this sucks, fix it for me" is not a critique. It's not even a genuine complaints. It's nitpicking, ######ing and drawing the blood from under DEP's nails. Every time they take players up on suggestions (ADD HUMANS, PLEASE WE WANT HUMANS) it's suddenly a feature nobody ever wanted. Every time DEP makes a major change with the idea in mind that it's for the best for the majority of players, a few people with the loudest shouting voices raise their hackles and scream bloody murder. If I was DEP, I would have suckerpunched a whole lot of you guys in the face already and shut the game down. The ungrateful attitude that DEP has to endure every time they bring forth change that people have BEGGED for for years grates on many people, not just DEP. It's never good enough for most of you people. When DEP gives you a finger, you take the entire arm and then have the guts to whine and complain. WE HAVE MUCH MORE IMPACT ON THIS GAME THAN ANYONE LIKES TO ADMIT HERE FOR THE SAKE OF PUTTING DEP DOWN AS THE BAD GUYS. I mean, come on. The HYOOMAN AVATAR is the very essence of proof that DEP will listen to their players. They're altering the very canon of the game and contradicting their original statements to please and appease to their players who, for years, with POLL RESULTS to back this up asked for them... but you still come in here and claim they don't listen? People have ######ed about the uncertain standards for portraits for years. WHY WAS MY PORT DELETED WITH BLOOD WHEN THIS PORT IS WORSE? DEP came with a solution: rated portraits. It's the ultimate solution to allow even sex in portraits and restrict it to the proper maps. But lo and behold! More ######ing ensues because it's STILL not good enough. Quite frankly, it's your choice whether you want to support DEP or not. But you have no right whatsoever to complain as if you're a customer, because you're NOT. You donate to the game in exchange for perks, you don't buy rights. And the fact people come in and openly state they refuse to support because DEP doesn't treat them as a valuable customer is REALLY that puzzling? Come on people. Admit it: most of you just like to whine and complain and conveniently ignore everything that makes you wrong, just so you can point fingers at DEP. I'm not saying I always, 100% agree with what DEP does, but ###### me sideways, they're just people who, day after day, take all the ###### you dump on them. This is their living. Heck, you're not even putting bread on their tables. Instead of buying bread they pay to enhance the game, conform to your requests, and topics like these is their thanks. Is it really so surprising they get tired of all the bull######? Really? DEP can't step away and say "I'm doing something else". We can turn off the computer and never come back to Furcadia and it won't impact our lives. But DEP is stuck with our crap every single day, without escape, because they've worked on this game for over a decade and it's really important to them. They put more hard work and effort into this than all of you combined did. They treated you like customers even when you weren't. They went out of their way to fix ###### in regards to alt trading when they didn't have to. It's easy to list all the 'bad' things they did. It's convenient to forget all the times they stayed up until 4am in the morning to fix the bugs so updates can come out early, or that they go out of their way to fix stuff they don't have to fix at all. I'm not tired of Furcadia. I'm not tired of DEP. I'm tired of the ungrateful pigs who judge and insult without a second thought, starting completely selfish and self-centered arguments to kick people in the gut who worked so very hard to even only give you the OPPORTUNITY to ###### here. DEP listens to reasonable criticism when they think they need it. They read every single suggestion topic and decide whether it would enhance the game or not. It's really no wonder that they tell you to go ###### yourselves when you're being unreasonable ######s like this. |
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Ronnie
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Jan 10 2010, 04:57 PM
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#19
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Group: Furres |
christ almighty, look at all of those ad-hominems!
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Matter
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Jan 10 2010, 05:11 PM
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#20
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Group: Furres |
There's no reason to be so hostile. It's fine if you disagree, but swearing and insulting the posters in this thread is unnecessary.
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| Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 8th December 2014 - 08:57 AM |