AF: The Beginning and AF II: Lite Addressed

[musyne]

+1 !

[magnus31]

I just wanted to write to say good job, Danielle and Jason! I had to use the change_device_identifier page, and it worked perfectly. For a while I was concerned that AF II was replacing Beginning and my old account was no more (or I'd have to befriend myself on my old device!).

But having visited these forums, I see that you do respond to your community, admirably. You're managing the massive multiplayer landscape with responsibility and accountability. Keep up the great work!

[Danielle Cassley]

Thanks! We really do want everyone to be happy. This put smiles on our faces!

Thanks
Danielle

[Im done]

Feb 15, 2009 18:00:16 GMT -5 Danielle Cassley said:

AF We took away the original Beginning because we believed AF II: Lite was a better product, and we needed to pay for the server costs of running an online game.
Jason and Danielle

That was evil. You did it purely to make money but you did it bassackwards. Did you seriously not consider the ramifications of the spyware concerns before you released? Now this?

Anyone working hard on anything for others' enjoyment deserves to be paid for it. This is not how you go about doing it. I "upgraded" thinking there were bugfixes needed only to find that the app would die every time it tried to log into the server (so I've discovered) without so much as a hint to why. I got tired of that so I deleted it off my phone which of course killed my points/data.

I'm done. I'll go find something else to dink with as this is not worth the aggravation.

[Danielle Cassley]

Hello All,

I want to reiterate that AFII: Lite was released because we felt that it was an upgrade from a stability, polish and functionality perspective. Feature wise it is more robust than the original Beginning. When the game was not received with smiles we immediately responded and are working through the problems now.

We are currently running an extensive beta test of the Lite game on Beginning players. We recruited several of the players who were unhappy with the upgrade and are working with them (and some who never got the update) to get a game that adds the stability and polish that our generation II games have while still appealing to the players of the Beginning.

As we have been Jason and I are requesting and responding to feedback and constructive criticism.

Danielle

Danielle

[alexbttf]

I guess this goes here. Eh-hem. I bought "Aurora Feint: The Beginning" awhile ago (last summer) paid $4.99 for it. An update came out for it within the last month & turned my paid version into a "Lite" version. Now, I can't even play the game anymore. I just get stuck at a screen saying that the "Aurora Feint severs are having problems with my Apple device". I've tried deleting the app from my iPod Touch & re-syncing with iTunes & I still get the same problem. I just want to get back to playing Aurora Feint because I was just getting good at it before the update came out.

It's just a bit frustrating to having paid for something you were told would have free updates & then all of a sudden have a paid app converted to a "lite"version seemed like a kick in the nuts honestly. I just want to get back to playing the game. Sorry if this seems like I'm ranting, not sure where else to vent honestly.

I think it would've made more sense to have kept AF: The Beginning how it was & introduced AFII :Lite as a separate app. *Shrugs* Not sure if there's a way to get an Ad-Hoc version of AF:Beginning before the update came out?

Edit: Well, I found an old version of "AF: The Beginning" dated August 9th still on my laptop & surprisingly, it still works pretty well.

[Danielle Cassley]

alexbttf:

I would like to help you get your problem straightened out and get playing again with the new version of the game.

To Set things straight though, AF: The Beginning never cost money. It has always been free and that is why we updated it to the Lite version of the game. Did you at some point possibly buy AF II: The Arena for 4.99? That would explain why you get the screen that you do when you play the new Lite game.

Danielle

[oliver0575]

ok i dont really know if this is related but i never saw any updates for af II lite, so i have had beginning on my ipod up til now, never seen any sign of updates (i check almost every day) i knew AF II had been released seperately, but suddenly a few moments ago an update for AF II has appeared and replaced beginning, i may be wrong but isnt this a bit strange because u had said that it was seperated from beginning, but suddenly this has happened. Im not moaning about it, i just find it strange.

[Danielle Cassley]

Hi There,

We made a bunch of changes and ran a beta test with around 100 players of the original game and came to the conclusion that people generally found AFII an improvement on the original game. AFII is also much more stable and doesn't suffer from many of the problems that the original game had. The new version hit the store today.

Danielle

[oliver0575]

ah i see, its just that i read at the beginning of this thread you had separated AF II lite and the original AF beginning, sorry about that

[arwen]

I have AF II: Arena Deamons but I would lik to try AF Lite with another character but the same device.. It's this possible?

[anomalous]

Very unhappy kamper here
I have no use for the online aspects of this game, I resented it checking the server in the original game as a waste of time.
After being bamboozled into "upgrading" I can't get it to complete the initial process to even use the game at all I don't have internet where I want to play (itouch) so your oversight of omitting a "on online" choice has barred me from playing. I don't want to screw around entering info, I just want to play...Why do you think you have any right to my personal info to play a game I paid for, anyway? What, are you gonna start spamming me ? sell my email?
I paid for the Beginning and the Tower and am now locked out and feel RIPPED OFF
It was a simple game that was easy to jump in and out of during breaks a work, now it's a waste of memory

[Danielle Cassley]

arwen --- As we allow upgrading from one to the other we only allow one AF account per device. This means one account across Daemons, Lite, Beginning. Lite is the same as Daemons but with A LOT of features removed (Both Social and Multiplayer).

anomalous --- We had a lot of complaints about people losing their accounts when syncing with their computer. Taking personal information to mark the accounts for retrieval makes it easy for us to fix this problem. The only time you are required to be online is with account setup. I have sent you an email so that I can help you through the login problems that it sounds like you are having.

[anomalous]

Hi in an attempt to avoid coming off like a troll I will modify some of my claims and ask what's up with the "Tower" update before I run it.

I thought I had paid .99 for the "Beginning", that's wrong - it was free, I would have been happy to pay before the "update".
I've enjoyed playing the game because it's mildly engaging and I can play it with one finger while having a snack during break at work. No Wi-Fi access at work.

Since the "update" I am required to complete login info and and then cycle at least one authentication session online.
This is an iTouch not the iPhone so Wi-Fi only and I don't use this device to communicate due to it's (to me) painfully lame data entry. In fact I'm sort of an old guy and don't care to IM or Twitter and so haven't really tried to get over it. However I've been a computer and electronic tech for more than 15 yrs so, while a bit of a curmudgeon, no nube to 802.11 or networking.

While I applaud Danielle (WooHoo!) for contacting me through email with an offer to assist, I think this kind of help should be in the public forum so that those of us that are so inclined could search and find our own solutions.

So after enabling Wi-Fi and verifying connectivity I start the game and enter the required info (Select user type, Username, email, and password twice) using the next button rather than manually moving the cursor from space to space. At the end I've tried several times either taping submit or next/finish - at which time I'm informed that the next time I start the game it'll authenticate. So I press the square-ish button to get back to the "desktop" and restart the game (after verifying connectivity which sometimes has been lost while entering the info?!?). After the game restarts, some times I'll get the 'restart to establish authentication process' message again and sometimes I'll get prompted to enter the info AGAIN. Now I'm getting annoyed for wasting time and all this typing has made me late for work pffft!

Suggestions?

I suggest just making an update that has a button at the start that says "I don't care if you mangle my Hi Score - JUST PLAY THE GAME"

So now I'm being pestered to update the "Tower" game (which I DID pay for) what is going to happen then?!?!

If I uninstall the "Beginning" game will I be able to play the "Tower" game?

Thanks for developing a simple fun game that looks nice, I'd be likely to pay .99 for it if would just let me play it.

Oh and; online-shmonline, other than adding chat (yawn) what is the online aspect of this game?

[anomalous]

May 10, 2009 23:36:03 GMT -5 anomalous said:

While I applaud Danielle (WooHoo!) for contacting me through email with an offer to assist,

Apparently that minimal contact was just lipservice, because there's zero followup. You'll do well in the corporate world, did it hurt much when you gave up your soul?