Freemium Games - Scam?

Icekool

Hi,

I wasn't sure where to put this, but Consumer Rights seemed the most logical.

Here is the short version:

• I bought Time in a game.
• The problem is on-going for nr 18months.
• It's an iOS/Android Freemium Game.
• I used 'gems' which can be bought in various real-life money bundles.
• They are not keeping to the times stated...it is lagging (i.e. slower than it should be) for everything that benefits them.
• The vendors are saying that it 'is being treated as a bug', but one that is 'not in our short-term plans to fix'.
• I have suggested several remedies, such as compensation, hot-fixes...or low and behold, they actually fix the bug.

Long version:

I have an issue with a certain Freemium Game. The basic concept is that you can use 'gems' to speed things up. You can of course purchase these gems, which is the genius behind freemium games.

However, there is a long-standing bug in the game, whereby the time is slower than stated...for everything...apart from Shields (which is on time). Having this last longer would not benefit the developers, but everything else would. This is then causing the millions of players a debate...whether they use gems to speed (or reduce to normal time) things up, or not. Of course, only a small percentage of players is aware of this.
The bug has been in existence for the whole duration of the game, and I have contacted them multiple times on this subject, but am continuously told, that it 'is being treated as a bug', but one that is 'not in our short-term plans to fix'. As the game is nearly 18months old, it isn't in their long-terms plans either. They block my attempts to spread knowledge of this bug (if everyone complains / stop paying, then surely they would fix it). I ask other questions and get ignored, and having campaigned about this to them for over 1yr, I am looking at other methods. What they are doing is certainly unethical (at least imo), but I was wondering if there was a legal aspect to this?

gb12345

You don't mention what the game is, but are you saying that for example something that should take 1 second in fact takes 2 seconds and do they specifically state that it should take 1 second?

The problem that I see you having is that the gems appear to be doing what you pay for (i.e. speeding up the game) and it is the operation of what is a free game that you are actually complaining about and you have therefore made no loss, because you chose to purchase the gems.

Also, you're talking legal action - where are the develpers based? If is it abroad then it would likely be very costly and probably not worth the effort (unless you are spending a serious amount of money on the gems).

Icekool

Yeah, I wasn't (and am still un)sure if I should mention the game.

But yes. They are stating upgrades / training / research etc, as taking a set time...for example 24hours. Due to the 'bug' this lags and it won't be complete for another 15-20mins (average, can be less, can be more) after that. I queried it with their support, and they have stated it is a bug, and that those times should be accurate.

You can use the gems to finish production, outright...you are then correct in that there is no lag when it is instant. You are not being charged for the extra time that would be added had you done so when waiting.
However, if you don't 'gem' things straight away, it will lag, so if you want it to finish at the time it should have finished, you will have to pay some gems to do this.
Also, you can choose to 'boost' production, so that e.g. instead of training taking 2minutes, it will go 4x's as fast, and take 30 seconds. However, this too lags, so you won't get what you are paying for, and instead of it taking 30seconds, it will take 35 or something. So these are 'paid for' errors.

I'd hope that Apple or Google would take issue with this unethical process, but at the end of the day, they too are profiting from it.

p.s. They are not based in the UK, so I don't think I would indeed be capable of doing anything from a legal point of view, unless I can be told otherwise.

gb12345

I'm still unsure about the extra 15 - 20 minutes out of 24 hours on what is a free game and as I said, you have chosen to pay the extra money for the instant finish, rather than wait the 24 hours and put up with the extra bit of time.

The paid for delay is different as they appear to not be supplying what they have agreed to, although is it possible they could argue that the extra 5 seconds is due to network lag in updating the app on your phone?

But it all comes down to whether it is worth you doing anything about it as you would be chasing them through foreign courts and having to rely on foreign lawyers (and possibly language differences if they're not in an English speaking country).

Icekool

but the millions of players don't even know anything about this bug. They are keeping it very hush-hush on the forums...they don't announce it in-game. I've been campaigning to them about it for over a year now, and still they do nothing, but try and silence me.
I choose not to pay, because I know about this bug. Why would I want to pay for a broken product? I used gems when I first started, but again, won't be compensated for that.

The causes of the lag are possibly due to 'network' lag, but it's in every transition...logging off and on, viewing replays, or other players villages. Also, their support has stated it is to do with other players visiting you. That can happen when you are off-line, and they have stated it shouldn't be happening.

For it to be going on for 16days..maybe 16 weeks, I could understand...but 16months!!? for them not to hotfix it, compensate, or actually fix it baffles me. Let alone the fact they aren't telling the player base about it all.

Icekool

Further to the above.

The game has it's own ToS, which states, they don't have to fix bugs if they don't want to (words to that effect).

However, that is clearly negated as it violates the App Store policies of both Google and Apple...but yet, they require a number of complaints before they will do anything about it.:mad:

It's all about the money. It is clearly making all 3 parties plenty (Google, Apple & this gaming company), and so they have no reason to upset/change things.

forgotmyname

Setup your own complaints website then make sure everyone complaint at the same time.

If they state 1 gem turns 1 hour into 1 minute and you dont get that then get everyone to claim a refund from their payment provider.

If they start losing money they make think about sorting it.

Or just cheat like everyone else. Sisters kids were playing a game on their android phones.
You had to use your free tokens to purchase certain items. But it takes 3 - 6 days to earn a token or sometimes 2. So when something costs 300 - 700 its going to be a frustrating game where you either spend real cash and a LOT of it. I think the 300 tokens comes in around £9. I counted at least 40 items which had to be bought by tokens.
Tokens can also be used to speed up the game.

The issue with this game was that you cannot complete tasks without having those items. So do you play a game for a year or 2 to earn enough tokens to complete a couple of tasks?

Nope you let me login on my rooted device and use game guardian. shhh secret.

Icekool

forgotmyname wrote: »

Setup your own complaints website then make sure everyone complaint at the same time.

If they state 1 gem turns 1 hour into 1 minute and you dont get that then get everyone to claim a refund from their payment provider.

If they start losing money they make think about sorting it.

Or just cheat like everyone else. Sisters kids were playing a game on their android phones.
You had to use your free tokens to purchase certain items. But it takes 3 - 6 days to earn a token or sometimes 2. So when something costs 300 - 700 its going to be a frustrating game where you either spend real cash and a LOT of it. I think the 300 tokens comes in around £9. I counted at least 40 items which had to be bought by tokens.
Tokens can also be used to speed up the game.

The issue with this game was that you cannot complete tasks without having those items. So do you play a game for a year or 2 to earn enough tokens to complete a couple of tasks?

Nope you let me login on my rooted device and use game guardian. shhh secret.

Yeah, it's a somewhat lengthy / tricky task to organise others. There's something like 15Mil players, and I'd guess that 0.1% frequent the games forum...which I am currently banned from (without breaking any stated rules I might add). Not that organising such a task on their actual forum would work anyway. So, I'm somewhat restricted in the complaints I can group together.
Plus I don't know what magic number of complaints Apple/Google require to actually take action... I mean, the fact it does violate their policies should be enough to take action, not that x amount of ppl have to complain about it breaking their own policies.

Tis a messed up world we live in sometimes.

p.s. the game times come from their servers...so I can't exactly cheat on the time there.

aldredd

forgotmyname wrote: »

Or just cheat like everyone else.

You had to use your free tokens to purchase certain items. But it takes 3 - 6 days to earn a token or sometimes 2. So when something costs 300 - 700 its going to be a frustrating game where you either spend real cash and a LOT of it. I think the 300 tokens comes in around £9. I counted at least 40 items which had to be bought by tokens.

Nope you let me login on my rooted device and use game guardian. shhh secret.

Sorry if i've mis-read, but sounds like you're advocating theft to me