Compensation for Bugs as the Norm
DukeZman
Member Posts: 679 ★★★
Dear Kabam,
I'd like to strongly suggest that you make fair compensation for bugs the standard practice for you company. And here's why:
Summoners have a reasonable expectation of bug-free releases. I'm not saying nothing ever slips past to be caught by the community, but the fact that this has become the norm every month, every release, with every piece of content (monthly quest releases, special quest releases, dungeon release, champ releases) to the point that the Summoners actual expect there to be bugs ought to be of greater concern to you as the company than it is to the players. Now I'm going to assume that it is in fact of great concern to you, but I hope you can see how some would question that premise, when it continues to happen again and again. Apology with without noticeable future improvement, makes the continual apologizing seem insincere - and that's true whether talking about a game or any relationship (and yes it's fair to say that each Summon has entered into a relationship with Kabam).
So this is where compensation for bugs as standard practice enters in: the Summoners have sadly come to expect bugs. But even sadder is the fact that Summoners have not equally come to expect fair compensation. There have been many cases where a bug caused lost time and resources to the Summoner and where compensation was not given at all or was not given comparable to what the Summoners lost out on - a recent example was the Developer Crystal sent out a week or so ago (not sure if that was it's actual name). Because it came on the heels of the 2 days of broken 11-hour Assassin Assignments (and consequently missed Merc Bounties), and because of no communication as to why it was sent out (or promise of compensation), Summoners were left to assume that this single 2-4* crystal was indeed meant to be compensation for what they missed on over the 2 days of bugged Assassin Assignments (and the missed Merc Missions). If that single crystal was meant as compensation, then it missed the mark because had the Assignments been working, and had Summoners fully completed them, then Summoners could have earned 4* and 5* shards, as well as 2 X-Force Crystals each with a chance to get a 2-4* hero. And so you see how 1 compensation crystal is incomparable to the missed rewards. Maybe that crystal sent out in the mail wasn't compensation, but that goes back to the original issue of compensation NOT being the norm and Summoners not knowing what to expect from Kabam when bugs cause lost resources.
And so that brings me to my original proposal. It would instantly easy community tension and go a long way to repairing the Summoner/Kabam relationship if compensation for bugs was standard practice for your company. Each bug (once confirmed to be a legitimate bug meaning the Kabam, not the Summoner is at fault) that causes missed resources should bring 3 timely responses from Kabam:
1. A timely acknowledgement of the bug and an apology for the inconvenience and failure to meet your own high standard of excellence. (I'd like to acknowledge that for the most part Kabam does this pretty well).
But here's where I believe Kabam often falls short and needs to make immediate improvement:
2. Along with the acknowledgement and apology should also follow the promise of compensation - every time, i.e.
"We acknowledged that our failure to meet our standard of excellence to provide a smooth playing experience caused detrimental impacts and loss of resources to the Summoner. As this was not the Summoner's fault but ours, we commit to making this right by adequately compensating Summoners for our error. Please have peace of mind that you will miss out on no rewards for our mistake and please enjoy the rest of the game while we work hard to make this right."
3. Award the promised compensation as early as possible. Many summoners entered specific content for the rewards found there because they needed shards, units, catalysts, etc. for specific and often time-sensitive purposes, i.e. to open a crystal for Summoner Advancement score, to level up a champ for Level Up Event or for War/AQ/SA. Kabam needs to recognize that missed rewards have ripple effects beyond the rewards themselves. Yet far too often, rewards are seriously delayed ("we need to make sure the issue is corrected before sending out rewards" kind of responses), and then delayed rewards don't compensate for the ripple effects of lost participate in Level-Up Events, etc.
So I know this is a longer post, but I feel it needed to be said. There is a pervasive feeling of distrust between Kabam and its player base because communication is often late-coming, unnecessarily vague, and Summoners are left wondering if Kabam really cares and if Kabam will do what ought to be done to make things right when they suffer as a result of things outside their control (bugs, emergency maintenance).
Kabam could go a long way in repairing community relationships if apologies were swift and sincere, adequate compensation was promised every time, and said compensation was rewarded as quickly and as often as necessary. That doesn't address Kabam's culture of bugs, but it does address the appropriate response when they occur. Of course ideally, Summoners simply would like a bug-free game or at least one where bugs would be extremely rare so then the need for compensation was removed entirely or also extremely rare. But until that glorious bug-free dream is realized, please consider this advice for the future.
Thanks for you time and consideration and I sincerely hope these thoughts are taken into consideration.
- Duke
I'd like to strongly suggest that you make fair compensation for bugs the standard practice for you company. And here's why:
Summoners have a reasonable expectation of bug-free releases. I'm not saying nothing ever slips past to be caught by the community, but the fact that this has become the norm every month, every release, with every piece of content (monthly quest releases, special quest releases, dungeon release, champ releases) to the point that the Summoners actual expect there to be bugs ought to be of greater concern to you as the company than it is to the players. Now I'm going to assume that it is in fact of great concern to you, but I hope you can see how some would question that premise, when it continues to happen again and again. Apology with without noticeable future improvement, makes the continual apologizing seem insincere - and that's true whether talking about a game or any relationship (and yes it's fair to say that each Summon has entered into a relationship with Kabam).
So this is where compensation for bugs as standard practice enters in: the Summoners have sadly come to expect bugs. But even sadder is the fact that Summoners have not equally come to expect fair compensation. There have been many cases where a bug caused lost time and resources to the Summoner and where compensation was not given at all or was not given comparable to what the Summoners lost out on - a recent example was the Developer Crystal sent out a week or so ago (not sure if that was it's actual name). Because it came on the heels of the 2 days of broken 11-hour Assassin Assignments (and consequently missed Merc Bounties), and because of no communication as to why it was sent out (or promise of compensation), Summoners were left to assume that this single 2-4* crystal was indeed meant to be compensation for what they missed on over the 2 days of bugged Assassin Assignments (and the missed Merc Missions). If that single crystal was meant as compensation, then it missed the mark because had the Assignments been working, and had Summoners fully completed them, then Summoners could have earned 4* and 5* shards, as well as 2 X-Force Crystals each with a chance to get a 2-4* hero. And so you see how 1 compensation crystal is incomparable to the missed rewards. Maybe that crystal sent out in the mail wasn't compensation, but that goes back to the original issue of compensation NOT being the norm and Summoners not knowing what to expect from Kabam when bugs cause lost resources.
And so that brings me to my original proposal. It would instantly easy community tension and go a long way to repairing the Summoner/Kabam relationship if compensation for bugs was standard practice for your company. Each bug (once confirmed to be a legitimate bug meaning the Kabam, not the Summoner is at fault) that causes missed resources should bring 3 timely responses from Kabam:
1. A timely acknowledgement of the bug and an apology for the inconvenience and failure to meet your own high standard of excellence. (I'd like to acknowledge that for the most part Kabam does this pretty well).
But here's where I believe Kabam often falls short and needs to make immediate improvement:
2. Along with the acknowledgement and apology should also follow the promise of compensation - every time, i.e.
"We acknowledged that our failure to meet our standard of excellence to provide a smooth playing experience caused detrimental impacts and loss of resources to the Summoner. As this was not the Summoner's fault but ours, we commit to making this right by adequately compensating Summoners for our error. Please have peace of mind that you will miss out on no rewards for our mistake and please enjoy the rest of the game while we work hard to make this right."
3. Award the promised compensation as early as possible. Many summoners entered specific content for the rewards found there because they needed shards, units, catalysts, etc. for specific and often time-sensitive purposes, i.e. to open a crystal for Summoner Advancement score, to level up a champ for Level Up Event or for War/AQ/SA. Kabam needs to recognize that missed rewards have ripple effects beyond the rewards themselves. Yet far too often, rewards are seriously delayed ("we need to make sure the issue is corrected before sending out rewards" kind of responses), and then delayed rewards don't compensate for the ripple effects of lost participate in Level-Up Events, etc.
So I know this is a longer post, but I feel it needed to be said. There is a pervasive feeling of distrust between Kabam and its player base because communication is often late-coming, unnecessarily vague, and Summoners are left wondering if Kabam really cares and if Kabam will do what ought to be done to make things right when they suffer as a result of things outside their control (bugs, emergency maintenance).
Kabam could go a long way in repairing community relationships if apologies were swift and sincere, adequate compensation was promised every time, and said compensation was rewarded as quickly and as often as necessary. That doesn't address Kabam's culture of bugs, but it does address the appropriate response when they occur. Of course ideally, Summoners simply would like a bug-free game or at least one where bugs would be extremely rare so then the need for compensation was removed entirely or also extremely rare. But until that glorious bug-free dream is realized, please consider this advice for the future.
Thanks for you time and consideration and I sincerely hope these thoughts are taken into consideration.
- Duke
8
Comments
Since update 12, that rarely happens when their game is down, or when bugs persist for months on end, or anything that used to garner a compensation to the player for sticking around through thin and thinner.
The compensation packages this time are ridiculously low-end, and don't reflect many of the things that people lost out on, nor, is it timely in being sent out.