New Release -- December 22nd, 2009 - UPDATE

[bradwill]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Guy

A job well done, the new update is great. If the developers let themselves be pushed around by a few unhappy players then that's just to bad. It seems everyone who is complaining is complaining about the speed. I've had more compliments about my speed tonight than ever before. The speed has not changed at all and now you have to make every click of your mouse count. You have improved the game for the masses and that's who the game is for right?

It will be a mistake if you go back to the way it was before 12.22.2009. With this update you have leveled the playing field and made the game more challenging and interesting. Do you want FT to be fair and challenging, the same for everyone or is the game for the few who wine the loudest.

IN your first post, you stated you knew you were in the minority that liked the 12/22 update. You seem to have forgotten that all of a sudden. It's not just a "few whiners," it's an overwhelming majority that HATE the update. Not just "dislike" it and wished it hadn't happen, but despise FT and will quit. You do understand that less players=less money for Slashkey and they are in the business of making money, not catering to the whims of the terminally s-l-o-w who are obsessed that someone might not be clicking in an orderly fashion or play the game somehow differently than what they think they should. The "few people" are the ones who liked the update and whine about all the rest of the people that hated it.

The playing field wasn't leveled with the update; it was slowed down to a crawl to address the issue of lost XP/coins that may or may not happen frequently. Some seem to not understand the purpose of the update had nothing to do with the few Nazis on FT who want everyone to do exactly what they do and won't tolerate anything else but instead to address the XP/coin issue. The resulting slowness made a few happy and all the rest extremely PO'd.

Anyone who thinks that yesterday's harvesting/plowing was somehow "faster" than the days before is really doing something terribly wrong.

[~Farmer Tom~]

Originally Posted by bradwill

IN your first post, you stated you knew you were in the minority that liked the 12/22 update. You seem to have forgotten that all of a sudden. It's not just a "few whiners," it's an overwhelming majority that HATE the update. Not just "dislike" it and wished it hadn't happen, but despise FT and will quit. You do understand that less players=less money for Slashkey and they are in the business of making money, not catering to the whims of the terminally s-l-o-w who are obsessed that someone might not be clicking in an orderly fashion or play the game somehow differently than what they think they should. The "few people" are the ones who liked the update and whine about all the rest of the people that hated it.

The playing field wasn't leveled with the update; it was slowed down to a crawl to address the issue of lost XP/coins that may or may not happen frequently. Some seem to not understand the purpose of the update had nothing to do with the few Nazis on FT who want everyone to do exactly what they do and won't tolerate anything else but instead to address the XP/coin issue. The resulting slowness made a few happy and all the rest extremely PO'd.

Anyone who thinks that yesterday's harvesting/plowing was somehow "faster" than the days before is really doing something terribly wrong.

Bye bye, have a good one......

[Wild]

Originally Posted by bradwill

The playing field wasn't leveled with the update; it was slowed down to a crawl to address the issue of lost XP/coins that may or may not happen frequently. Some seem to not understand the purpose of the update had nothing to do with the few Nazis on FT who want everyone to do exactly what they do and won't tolerate anything else but instead to address the XP/coin issue. The resulting slowness made a few happy and all the rest extremely PO'd.

Anyone who thinks that yesterday's harvesting/plowing was somehow "faster" than the days before is really doing something terribly wrong.

You are absolutely right that the update was not put into place to "level the playing field", but to address the XP/coin issue and that many seem to be missing that point (or they just don't care because they weren't losing XP/coins).

However, I do not believe that you are correct in saying that the majority of people did not like the update or that the update should be rolled back because of the "outcry".

As a player since the first month that the game was released, and as one of the first mods added when they added mods to the forum, my experience tells me several things:

1) Those with complaints about changes/upgrades/ etc are MUCH more vocal about telling the developers about their displeasure than those who like the updates/changes and happily go off farming and enjoying the game.

2) While the forum is here to collect data from the players and the developers have ALWAYS been VERY responsive to the feedback and suggestions that they get, there are those who scream, "I'm quitting" at the drop of a hat rather than offering constructive feedback. Ironically, most do not. They either get used to the "new way" and decide that they actually like it more once they give it a chance, or they take a "leave of absence", go try out some of the other games out there and eventually return because Farm Town offers a level of social interaction that other games do not and because the developers here are always making more and more changes and making the game better.

3) The XP/coin problem HAS to be addressed and this was/is a viable solution to the problem with very little downside.

4) Limiting the number of people who can be hired is NOT a viable solution and WILL cost the developers droves of loyal, long time players who play the game for the social interaction (which is what separates us from "the competition") because they have - since the very beginning - liked being able to hire GROUPS of friends to do "harvest parties" and such. THOSE players are the ones who will stick around - as long as that part of the game is not taken away from them. Those who are only concerned with "getting it done fast", earning points and coins and leveling up will be the ones who will leave ANYWAY because there will never be unlimited levels and enough new stuff to buy to keep them engaged. They will "finish" and then move on to something else.

5) ALL of the people out there using cheat programs (bots) to do their farming WILL hate this new, latest release because it will prevent them from using those programs (which are in violation of the game's TOS anyway).

[bradwill]

Originally Posted by Wild

5) ALL of the people out there using cheat programs (bots) to do their farming WILL hate this new, latest release because it will prevent them from using those programs (which are in violation of the game's TOS anyway).

People who are to "cheat" will always found a way to cheat, regardless of any updates or upgrades. No different than new variants of computer viruses that are developed to get around existing anti-virus software.....it's a mentality that I find very self-defeating and asinine, but that's the reality. People spend inordinate amounts of time trying to find ways to cheat instead of just enjoying what they are doing.

As far as the general outcry of disgust, there may be a "silent majority" that feels differently, but I sure don't see it. In the marketplace and on farms all I see is the same complaints that were posted last night for 70+ pages or so when I last looked, especially from farmers on the higher levels that have full-sized farms or two farms. It's painfully too slow. The original way of harvesting was actually quicker than the 12/22 update because you could at least get in front of a row if you moved your avatar right and not have to move square-to-square. I guess some probably felt that was "unfair" also.

[Kelsey]

Originally Posted by Wild

You are absolutely right that the update was not put into place to "level the playing field", but to address the XP/coin issue and that many seem to be missing that point (or they just don't care because they weren't losing XP/coins).

However, I do not believe that you are correct in saying that the majority of people did not like the update or that the update should be rolled back because of the "outcry".

As a player since the first month that the game was released, and as one of the first mods added when they added mods to the forum, my experience tells me several things:

1) Those with complaints about changes/upgrades/ etc are MUCH more vocal about telling the developers about their displeasure than those who like the updates/changes and happily go off farming and enjoying the game.

2) While the forum is here to collect data from the players and the developers have ALWAYS been VERY responsive to the feedback and suggestions that they get, there are those who scream, "I'm quitting" at the drop of a hat rather than offering constructive feedback. Ironically, most do not. They either get used to the "new way" and decide that they actually like it more once they give it a chance, or they take a "leave of absence", go try out some of the other games out there and eventually return because Farm Town offers a level of social interaction that other games do not and because the developers here are always making more and more changes and making the game better.

3) The XP/coin problem HAS to be addressed and this was/is a viable solution to the problem with very little downside.

4) Limiting the number of people who can be hired is NOT a viable solution and WILL cost the developers droves of loyal, long time players who play the game for the social interaction (which is what separates us from "the competition") because they have - since the very beginning - liked being able to hire GROUPS of friends to do "harvest parties" and such. THOSE players are the ones who will stick around - as long as that part of the game is not taken away from them. Those who are only concerned with "getting it done fast", earning points and coins and leveling up will be the ones who will leave ANYWAY because there will never be unlimited levels and enough new stuff to buy to keep them engaged. They will "finish" and then move on to something else.

5) ALL of the people out there using cheat programs (bots) to do their farming WILL hate this new, latest release because it will prevent them from using those programs (which are in violation of the game's TOS anyway).

Hear Hear!!