WTF Up with permissions

[Marc Timmons]

Lol yes, those adds were quite annoying..

They didn't push me over the edge like some players, but I suppose I'm mostly passive by nature.

Yeah I'm the same way which is why I let the others rage about it and I just waited patiently for it to get fixed.. I'm new to this whole forum and game, but I had faith that the dev's would think of customers before their, how can I put this, ad providers.

[Wakko]

I just wanted to also register my displeasure with the notification bar ads.

Crapware like Airpush are a cancer. I'm happy that it's been removed, but I'm also concerned about the decision-making process that got it added in the first place.

Successful CCGs require a *lot* of community building. Things like this destroy trust in ways that take weeks or months to recover. This was a short blip, so I doubt the issue and its fallout will be very severe. I personally only saw a couple ads today before I pulled down the update that removed them. I'm very happy with the game, and very happy with the quick response to this issue.

I think the business model around purchasing additional cards is great. I'm even happy to cope with the occasional in-game ad while I'm playing against the AI.

However, there is a point where the attempts to monetize the app become too aggressive. My suggestion: focus on building a robust platform that allows you to quickly add new cards with various combinations of abilities. The faster you can get into a regular cycle of expansions, the easier it'll be to ditch ads altogether. If you can incorporate organized play features directly into the app, so much the better. I'd love to see a mechanism built into the game for official tournaments, especially blind drafts. If I can pay a couple bucks to play in a draft tournament and walk away with whatever new cards I pull out of the draft, that would be awesome.

[Hatts]

I had seen this thread pop up a bunch of times in my unread post list, but I kept ignoring it... I updated a whole bunch of applications recently, started getting the notification ads, it was really ticking me off. Like others, some googling brought me to an app that told me what the offender was, I never considered Shadow Era as the culprit. Before I had figured out it was SE, I thought to myself 'I'll just uninstall whatever crummy app that is doing this.' When I saw that it was SE, there went that idea :P

Glad to see it's been resolved already. Like others have said I think Wulven has a pretty good revenue model, bugging people with intrusive ads is not needed and is probably detrimental.

[Xen00b]

To the above 2 posts:

I agree with both of you, but they are a business after all...if money can be made, then they're going to do it. However, in this case they realized it was unacceptable to their consumers, and changed it promptly...which I think they should be applauded for. Most companies who have a solid fan-base would have continued to do it anyway because they know they have people hooked. One could argue they shouldn't have done it on the first place, but of you owned a business and saw a profit capability in something...wouldn't you take it? Especially since it is so easy to undo if it backfires?

TL;DR: You can't blame them for trying :P

[Wakko]

TL;DR: You can't blame them for trying :P

Actually, you can. Business isn't an "all's fair until the customers stop showing up" sort of deal (despite many people on Wall Street and beyond behaving as if that were the case). Ethics has a place in business that is, in my opinion, under-valued by many business owners.

It's like W. Edwards Deming said, “Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.”

Repeat customers come about because there is trust that the mutually beneficial relationship that exists today will continue to exist tomorrow. If I can't trust the Wulven folks to not screw me over at the first opportunity for a potential short-term bump in their profit margins, then I will take my business elsewhere. I'm not about to allow them or anyone else to turn my cell phone into a device that constantly harasses me about "the latest deal", especially when the behaviour change is silent and not something I opted into.

There's overwhelming evidence that businesses who solely focus on short-term gains do not last, in large part because of two factors: the inability to build a quality product and the inability to maintain customer goodwill.

So... yes. I can blame them for trying. It shows me what sort of people are running this business.

It really comes down to one of three possibilities:

1. They didn't bother to consider the ramifications of their decision. In which case, they're a terrible business owner because they make decisions without really thinking them through.
2. They knew exactly what they were attempting to do. In which case, they lack any sort of moral character; they are just trying to make a quick buck and don't really care how they do it.
3. This was a configuration error. This is 100% forgiveable. Mistakes happen. Though, if they try some sort of silent change to their ads a second time, I'll be less inclined to see it as a mistake.

Personally, if it was a mistake, they should simply say so. The fact that they said it was removed, but didn't acknowledge that it was a simple software or configuration error tells me that it's more likely to have been a conscious decision to include Airpush's notification bar spam into their build.

[AnAdolt]

Some days I wish I wasn't Community Manager. Simply so I can comment as a regular person rather than have my comments be subject to my position of being an employee of the company—whereby, certain protocol must be maintained.

To the matter at hand, the Airpush notifications was not a configuration error. That would be quite an "error" to have happened. However, it is an error for us in the sense that we did not comprehensively evaluate the impact they may have on players of the game. Game development is not always "fun and games" as you would expect and there are many things we have to be on top of and maintain. As such, we were focused on other areas of development and did not give enough attention to assess these ads. When you're a programmer, it can be easy to be absorbed in the code and sometimes have oversights with how the user using your software might regard certain aspects of your software.

We did keep a close eye on release and moved swiftly to remove the ads since we heard a resounding response from our players that they do not want the ads in Shadow Era. If we were here to make a quick buck, we wouldn't have decidedly removed the ads posthaste. We listened to the feedback people were giving us and we took action to correct the problem. Players can rest assured that there will not be a repeat of this and the Airpush notifications are gone for good.

[CodeDomination]

Alt account?

[Xen00b]

Actually, you can. Business isn't an "all's fair until the customers stop showing up" sort of deal (despite many people on Wall Street and beyond behaving as if that were the case). Ethics has a place in business that is, in my opinion, under-valued by many business owners.

It's like W. Edwards Deming said, “Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.”

Repeat customers come about because there is trust that the mutually beneficial relationship that exists today will continue to exist tomorrow. If I can't trust the Wulven folks to not screw me over at the first opportunity for a potential short-term bump in their profit margins, then I will take my business elsewhere. I'm not about to allow them or anyone else to turn my cell phone into a device that constantly harasses me about "the latest deal", especially when the behaviour change is silent and not something I opted into.

There's overwhelming evidence that businesses who solely focus on short-term gains do not last, in large part because of two factors: the inability to build a quality product and the inability to maintain customer goodwill.

So... yes. I can blame them for trying. It shows me what sort of people are running this business.

It really comes down to one of three possibilities:

1. They didn't bother to consider the ramifications of their decision. In which case, they're a terrible business owner because they make decisions without really thinking them through.
2. They knew exactly what they were attempting to do. In which case, they lack any sort of moral character; they are just trying to make a quick buck and don't really care how they do it.
3. This was a configuration error. This is 100% forgiveable. Mistakes happen. Though, if they try some sort of silent change to their ads a second time, I'll be less inclined to see it as a mistake.

Personally, if it was a mistake, they should simply say so. The fact that they said it was removed, but didn't acknowledge that it was a simple software or configuration error tells me that it's more likely to have been a conscious decision to include Airpush's notification bar spam into their build.

Here how about this then since you're so adamant on being a little bitch about spilled milk:

They did it, they saw the negative comments about it, they fixed it within 24 hours of releasing it, get the fuck over it.

Seriously, you act that tiny green star on your notification bar raped your mother or something.

[Xen00b]

I apologize in advance for that post AnAdolt, but I don't do well with tools who get butthurt over stupid shit and throw tantrums over it.

If you need to warn me or whatever, I'll take it. It was worth it.

[Wakko]

However, it is an error for us in the sense that we did not comprehensively evaluate the impact they may have on players of the game.

I think this proves my point.

I've been involved in a fair share of software projects myself. I know how the development cycle goes. There's a lot of trade-offs that happen.

Thanks for the comment. :-)