moni
Squirrel
[TI0] [TI0]
Posts: 1,061
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Post by moni on Jul 19, 2022 5:57:12 GMT
Here is what I think: the point system will suck for members, too.
Punch card: Let's say I filled up a punch card by buying 3 SE on BOGO - I've spent roughly $21, and I got 3 free games plus a free SE game, totaling roughly $28.
Now the point system for a member: I buy the same 6 games (hopefully on BOGO again), and I get 15% cash back in points: 315 points, which is not even enough for a SE on sale! So I will get 3 free games, and some points toward buying a SE on sale!.. How is it better than the punch card? And why should customers be excited about this fantastic change? .
I think, I've read it somewhere, that the "cashback" for non-members is only 2%! Do they really want to loose even more customers?
Wait a minute! Is the 30% off for members will stay the same?
I will sit it out - BFG is still the best gaming site for TM games.
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Post by SynthpopAddict on Jul 19, 2022 13:55:36 GMT
It's NOT better than the punch card system no matter how you look at it. And yes, the points return for non-members is just 3% if I remember it correctly. BF never ceases to shoot itself in the foot these days.
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 19, 2022 15:21:07 GMT
I think it's only 1% for non-members.
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,654
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Post by pennmom on Jul 19, 2022 15:21:15 GMT
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Jo
Skunk
Forest Ranger
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Jo on Jul 19, 2022 15:51:25 GMT
Finally they're being honest with us instead of all that pussyfooting around. See, Big Fish, that's wasn't so hard, was it? Just rip that band aid off your decades long loyal members. It won't hurt much because most of us have already figured out what your shenanigans mean.But you're counting on us remaining loyal because most of us are old ladies and you think we are easily fooled.
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Post by lurkercat on Jul 19, 2022 23:31:11 GMT
As a former 37-year professional programmer, I'm just absolutely fascinated at what could possibly be so complex about implementing this change that they have had to delay it so many times. This is not a difficult programming chore and it amazes me they cannot seem to accomplish it, nor adequately project when they will be able to fix and retest it. Ah, and please note my assessment that it is "not a difficult chore" is not meant to imply I think this change will be smooth even when they do finally release it, because I note they have not changed, nor addressed, any of the obvious "flaws" in their system (as the text in the help pages they point to have clearly not changed to address any of "obvious" problems), such as: - If you have a problem with a game that you bought with points, you are just screwed, since they indicate they will return cash you actually pay, but will NOT give you back any of the points you used to get said piece of garbage. This is just downright theft, I think and I dont know how they can justify this position.
- It will likely still be pure chaos about how our existing "never expire" coupons are credited, since all the answers any of us have gotten from Customer Service so far is that they'll handle those on a onesie-twosie, on-request sort of basis
- Even they dont really have a clue how their system works, since if you look at one of the help pages, it (still!) clearly tells you if you spend $19.99, you'll get 300 points (15%) if you are a game club member and 20 points (1%) if you are not. Ummm, no you won't - they've told us elsewhere that they round down, so you'll get 299 and 19 points respectively. Not a big difference, of course, but sheesh, read your own rules!
- They are still doing nothing to "correct" the fact that, in the old days, you got a points benefit (really a PCC-benefit) for using your membership fee to buy a game, and under the new system, you'll get no benefit at all (you should get 802 points, not 699 for your membership fee to account for the loss of a PCC-pseudo-equivalent 15% once you use it)
- If you order multiple items, using cash and points, and return one, you will not get enough money back to buy another game, since they'll assign a proportion of the points to each game, so no single game counts as "fully" paid for...and they wont give you the points back for the bad game, as noted in (1) above
Since all the text in their help pages has stayed the same throughout all the delays, clearly none of these things are what they are fixing in the delay, so they'll all still be there in the final system. Should be "fun" (umm, not) to watch the outcries after the system is finally ready and "delivered".
That pessimism aside though, t will be nice to be able to use points on games on sale....if they dont manage to lose all my "never expire" coupons as part of the changeover (something I have little confidence in their doing correctly). And I will definitely miss the ability to join as a member, buy 3 games in a BOGO (so get 3 more games free), plus a PCC for a 7th game, and then quit again till the next time I've got another bunch of 7 games I want. Wondering, though, if they'll suddenly see a big drop in ongoing membership, both since unused points are at risk of expiration (so potentially a loss of real cash if you dont buy at least 12 games a year) and since the 15% is so relatively stingy against the old PCC system since it does not apply to the membership fee or BOGO games, and is discounted for sale games. (Note, the latter 2 things are sad, but probably good business decisions - giving full credit for such purchases always did strike me as "too" generous on their part, though I was more than happy to exploit the circumstances while they existed).
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 19, 2022 23:51:56 GMT
So there still will be BOGOs?
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Post by Valkara on Jul 20, 2022 0:45:08 GMT
Since I have absolutely no faith whatsoever in their not screwing up the punch codes, I use mine ASAP. I have no current credits, no codes, and used my non-expiring codes ages ago. I just don't believe their promises anymore.
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 20, 2022 1:04:33 GMT
I have faith in Bigfish if they mess up mine they will fix it. I don't see the problem people have with Bigfish. I have gotten a lot from Bigfish. Gamehouse too and they are the places I get most of my games from.
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Post by Valkara on Jul 20, 2022 5:00:37 GMT
Let's see... How does thee annoy the hell out of me? Let me count the ways. 1. Forum mismanagement. They let the forums become infested with spammers. There were no notifications of replies or new posts or PMs. I'd sometimes return after a couple of weeks to find a snotty note from a moderator complaining about one of my posts and telling me, "Remove it immediately or I will." Well, how was I to know she wanted it gone? I don't live on that site! I never did get a satisfactory resolution when someone snarked at me about my "atheist lifestyle." Apparently trolling people for being atheist was just fine there. But nothing was done when I reported it. 2. Games that don't work and never get fixed. Sure, give me a FREEGAME code instead of passing a message along to the devs to fix their damn game. Which brings me to the next one: 3. FREEGAME codes that expired BEFORE their stated expiry date. This one's a doozy. That specified date is like a contract between them and the customer that they WILL honor it up to 11:59 pm on the date specified. Letting them expire a week or two early is NOT acceptable. It's taking my money for a game that doesn't work and issuing me a code for a replacement game and then refusing to honor it. I can't afford to donate to BFG. Either fix the faulty game or give me a different one. Don't out on what you owe the customer, which is either an SE or CE game that was already paid for and never usable. These are my top issues with BFG. There are more.
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 20, 2022 5:18:11 GMT
They haven't given the Freegame codes out for a while. Now they just give you a 1 time use code.
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Post by Valkara on Jul 20, 2022 6:44:50 GMT
I've had a couple of FREEGAME codes within the past 6 months. You'd better believe I used them immediately.
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 20, 2022 9:33:24 GMT
I haven't and I do e-mail support a lot. They just give me a one time code.
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Post by Valkara on Jul 20, 2022 9:42:02 GMT
I guess I got lucky, then.
But on the other hand, I was just sent one of those codes you're talking about. They didn't bother telling me the expiry date, so how do I know when it expires? I should not have to write in AGAIN, but why should they ever do anything sensible?
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 20, 2022 10:47:41 GMT
Some tell you, some don't I remember one time a person didn't tell me and I emailed them back and they quickly told me and they said he/she said sorry.
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Post by good2bqueen on Jul 20, 2022 15:23:31 GMT
Okay I think I'll give my fairy tale reason for the delay this time: BFG is carefully reviewing all our survey suggestions so they can implement each one. They're interviewing more applicants for customer service to better serve their loyal customers. They're also hiring helpful new monitors to oversee the awesome new game forums. They're adding adventure games everyone will love. Lastly they are building a game manager that works. Then we lived happily ever after. The End
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Post by metmichallica on Jul 20, 2022 15:44:30 GMT
Is the bug in games manager still there if you go over 1000 games? Like what happened to pennmom, Thank you. Michelle
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sisinka
Hummingbird
[TI20]
Posts: 231
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Post by sisinka on Jul 20, 2022 18:18:44 GMT
I'm not experiencing this BFG change all that much. I have around 30-40 games there, always bought them "bundled" and "on sale"(GameClub 1 month, then cancelled).
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Post by Valkara on Jul 20, 2022 20:04:48 GMT
Some tell you, some don't I remember one time a person didn't tell me and I emailed them back and they quickly told me and they said he/she said sorry. I got a reply to say it's a never-expiring code. I still plan to use it ASAP, as I absolutely do not trust them to treat Canadians fairly. Fortunately there are several games I want and have planned for. This will allow me to save up for Park Ranger 14, which will be a CE. The agent specified it was for an SE (I'd complained about Pixel Art 22), but I wonder what they do about CE games. I haven't written in about the CE that I'm having problems with.
Is the bug in games manager still there if you go over 1000 games? Like what happened to pennmom , Thank you. Michelle Apparently if you install the latest Games Manager, that problem is solved. At least it was for me, since I did run into it. But I still can't install games from my purchase history if they were purchased at the same time as another game. So now if I'm buying in a BOGO deal, I make sure to buy before the demo has expired. That way I can use the "reactivate this game" link and it will activate them separately without having to bother with my purchase history.
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,654
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Post by pennmom on Jul 20, 2022 21:39:06 GMT
Gamehouse used to give you coins for just logging on daily, I got a ton of free games that way...then they did away with it because everyone was just waiting to collect coins to get free games I switched to BF which rewarded my membership fee with a free game monthly, (2 credits in 2 months got me a free CE & could be used in a BOGO) and they also had Bonus Punch Mondays. Everyone was waiting for Mondays to be able to get a punch so we all learned how to manipulate the system to get the most free games...then they did away with BPM Now they want to convert to points versus punches The bottom line is that they don't want us to get as many free games because most of us just used punches to get free games...CLEARLY this is the ONLY reason BF is changing, for their benefit, not ours! I can't say I don't blame a company for trying to make more money but this isn't and will never be more beneficial for us members, it will clearly only benefit BF. I would be okay with this IF it was something designed to give the developer more money in their pocket or would somehow attract new developers but I have my doubts?
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