NWGD,
When the last patch went live, you made some deceptive statements. The things you said about seasons have been re-hashed over and over again. No matter how you slice it, the least amount of credits I can spend and know I will get a Star card via the packs is 6,500. Via the AH it is 5,000. For you to suggest that 400 credits (soon to be 1,000) is somehow anywhere near an equivalent exchange for 2 Star cards was one of the most nauseating bit of corporate deceptive speak I had ever seen.
That was until I read what you said about the RttC event. As follows is my explanation of my views on the RttC event, how you handled it ahead of time, and why I feel as if your company (and you specifically) was very deceptive and predatory. I also provide constructive feedback at the end on how to rebuild trust and be less predatory towards your customers. Until I see a sustained period where you are openly honest instead of deceptive, and Cat Daddy stops making predatory decisions like the Hot Streak one described below, I will no longer be paying you any money. As collateral damage, 2K will also not be getting any more of my money.
That may seem meaningless, but my steam account has nearly every game published by 2K, and most of them were purchased at or near full price, a lot of them on release days. I've also spent something like $1,200 on NBA 2K15. Interestingly enough, that game lost additional purchases from me by constantly promoting a Christmas sale on VC, even on the opening screen of the PC version of the game ... but then never actually gave PC players the discount, and has refused to respond to any inquiries about it.
So now ... the RttC experience, the problems with it, and the constructive feedback:
I was doing fine through Malone tier in RttC, and you said that people should be able to get a tier ahead of their decks, so I expected to be able to get Ewing, but I went from winning games by 50-60 points against the Malone team to being unable to even win a +2 10% of the time on Ewing. I would have had to chase more money after bad to get enough game nights to get Ewing via losses at 1 point each.
I believe that you intentionally set the event up so that we would go from super easy wins on +5/+7 to being unable to even win on +2 at the next team. I am convinced that you were intentionally deceptive when describing the game model. I calculated how many game nights I would get for free, subtracted my sleep time, and realized I could get through Ewing at +2 with Hot Streaks and then lose my way through Hakeem, if I set an alarm and played the games quickly every hour.
So, I bought the 1200 credit hot streak pack right as I was finishing the Malone tier. This is exactly what you wanted people to do, since getting double points per game played was cheaper than buying game nights.
Math : 165 hot streaks for 1200 credits would result in 330 extra points on +2 wins. At 5 game nights per 100 credits, the same credits could buy 60 additional games, yielding 120 extra points, while also requiring more play time. The hot streaks were clearly the more efficient choice, especially with you having said that we should be able to get the card one step above our deck.
Once you spend those credits to get the reward, and hit the point where you can't even win the +2 games, then you end up needing to buy game nights or eat the credits you already spent.
I could have spent around 3500 more credits to end up with Ewing and Hakeem, which I realize is a fairly decent cost for a Star and a HoF star, but I didn't feel like rewarding you for the intentionally deceptive tactics.
NWGD, I invite you to look at my post history and see me defending spending money on this app. You can see me quote how much I have spent. You will see me excited about the game all the way up until this most recent patch. Deception and pressure to spend more money so that already spent money doesn't go to waste are both predatory practices, and until you stop with the predatory practices, you won't be getting any more money from me.
Advice on how to stop with the predatory crap:
1.) Don't intentionally mislead your most dedicated players. The people on these forums are your whales, for the most part. Since studies show that your business model depends on the whales, we are the people you should do your absolute best to avoid alienating. Outright lies and deception have cost you any more money from me until I see a sustained stretch of improved behavior out of you. (I was on pace to hand your company $2,500+ per year, assuming I played and spent at the same pace going forward indefinitely).
2.) Hot streaks should never just vanish. Taking away something your customer has purchased is completely unethical and morally bankrupt. The only reason your company did it was because in combination with your deceptive explanation of how far people should expect to progress in RttC made it very likely for people to buy hot streaks as they anticipated dropping down from +7 to +5 or +2 for the next tier. Instead, we hit a brick wall and couldn't even beat the +2, making those hot streaks worthless. Having already spent the money, there is then psychological pressure on the customer to spend more money on buying game nights in order to still get the reward the initial money was spent for. I cannot possibly overstate how ethically and morally bankrupt this combination of tactics is.
Finally, the really sad part about this is that we're talking trivial sums of money to me. After I pay for my housing and bills and life insurance and investing for retirement and charitable giving, I still have a ridiculous amount of discretionary money. I like to reward developers who make things I enjoy. This app is particularly good for my schedule, as I have little bits of time here and there that otherwise aren't long enough in duration to fit something. A few QGs here and there fit in great.
So for me, it's really not about the money. It's about ethics and principles. I am not your only "whale" class customer who is angry about this most recent patch and the things you said which were just outright dishonest and deceptive.
Please give me a reason to keep supporting your product.
Best Regards,
When the last patch went live, you made some deceptive statements. The things you said about seasons have been re-hashed over and over again. No matter how you slice it, the least amount of credits I can spend and know I will get a Star card via the packs is 6,500. Via the AH it is 5,000. For you to suggest that 400 credits (soon to be 1,000) is somehow anywhere near an equivalent exchange for 2 Star cards was one of the most nauseating bit of corporate deceptive speak I had ever seen.
That was until I read what you said about the RttC event. As follows is my explanation of my views on the RttC event, how you handled it ahead of time, and why I feel as if your company (and you specifically) was very deceptive and predatory. I also provide constructive feedback at the end on how to rebuild trust and be less predatory towards your customers. Until I see a sustained period where you are openly honest instead of deceptive, and Cat Daddy stops making predatory decisions like the Hot Streak one described below, I will no longer be paying you any money. As collateral damage, 2K will also not be getting any more of my money.
That may seem meaningless, but my steam account has nearly every game published by 2K, and most of them were purchased at or near full price, a lot of them on release days. I've also spent something like $1,200 on NBA 2K15. Interestingly enough, that game lost additional purchases from me by constantly promoting a Christmas sale on VC, even on the opening screen of the PC version of the game ... but then never actually gave PC players the discount, and has refused to respond to any inquiries about it.
So now ... the RttC experience, the problems with it, and the constructive feedback:
I was doing fine through Malone tier in RttC, and you said that people should be able to get a tier ahead of their decks, so I expected to be able to get Ewing, but I went from winning games by 50-60 points against the Malone team to being unable to even win a +2 10% of the time on Ewing. I would have had to chase more money after bad to get enough game nights to get Ewing via losses at 1 point each.
I believe that you intentionally set the event up so that we would go from super easy wins on +5/+7 to being unable to even win on +2 at the next team. I am convinced that you were intentionally deceptive when describing the game model. I calculated how many game nights I would get for free, subtracted my sleep time, and realized I could get through Ewing at +2 with Hot Streaks and then lose my way through Hakeem, if I set an alarm and played the games quickly every hour.
So, I bought the 1200 credit hot streak pack right as I was finishing the Malone tier. This is exactly what you wanted people to do, since getting double points per game played was cheaper than buying game nights.
Math : 165 hot streaks for 1200 credits would result in 330 extra points on +2 wins. At 5 game nights per 100 credits, the same credits could buy 60 additional games, yielding 120 extra points, while also requiring more play time. The hot streaks were clearly the more efficient choice, especially with you having said that we should be able to get the card one step above our deck.
Once you spend those credits to get the reward, and hit the point where you can't even win the +2 games, then you end up needing to buy game nights or eat the credits you already spent.
I could have spent around 3500 more credits to end up with Ewing and Hakeem, which I realize is a fairly decent cost for a Star and a HoF star, but I didn't feel like rewarding you for the intentionally deceptive tactics.
NWGD, I invite you to look at my post history and see me defending spending money on this app. You can see me quote how much I have spent. You will see me excited about the game all the way up until this most recent patch. Deception and pressure to spend more money so that already spent money doesn't go to waste are both predatory practices, and until you stop with the predatory practices, you won't be getting any more money from me.
Advice on how to stop with the predatory crap:
1.) Don't intentionally mislead your most dedicated players. The people on these forums are your whales, for the most part. Since studies show that your business model depends on the whales, we are the people you should do your absolute best to avoid alienating. Outright lies and deception have cost you any more money from me until I see a sustained stretch of improved behavior out of you. (I was on pace to hand your company $2,500+ per year, assuming I played and spent at the same pace going forward indefinitely).
2.) Hot streaks should never just vanish. Taking away something your customer has purchased is completely unethical and morally bankrupt. The only reason your company did it was because in combination with your deceptive explanation of how far people should expect to progress in RttC made it very likely for people to buy hot streaks as they anticipated dropping down from +7 to +5 or +2 for the next tier. Instead, we hit a brick wall and couldn't even beat the +2, making those hot streaks worthless. Having already spent the money, there is then psychological pressure on the customer to spend more money on buying game nights in order to still get the reward the initial money was spent for. I cannot possibly overstate how ethically and morally bankrupt this combination of tactics is.
Finally, the really sad part about this is that we're talking trivial sums of money to me. After I pay for my housing and bills and life insurance and investing for retirement and charitable giving, I still have a ridiculous amount of discretionary money. I like to reward developers who make things I enjoy. This app is particularly good for my schedule, as I have little bits of time here and there that otherwise aren't long enough in duration to fit something. A few QGs here and there fit in great.
So for me, it's really not about the money. It's about ethics and principles. I am not your only "whale" class customer who is angry about this most recent patch and the things you said which were just outright dishonest and deceptive.
Please give me a reason to keep supporting your product.
Best Regards,
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