Freed Credit Links Ban

[Fyrd Argentus]

Stupid. The only remaining advertising we have out there - our ratings on the lists - is now going down the sewer.

This move is going to contribute to the dwindling of the player base of MD.

I'll only mention the fact that again the newbies are being punished and the gap between "haves" and "have-nots" is being enlarged.

I'll only mention the fact that punishment and label of "abuse" is again the reward for people who play the game as it was coded for them.

[dst]

Just one thing: it has happened before ( i remember having like 9 credits there when the links were suspended - that thought me to transfer credits when it was possible ) and MD lived...

As being a person who uses only free credits...I don't like this more then you do. But...as I already said: I've learned to respect Mur's decisions.

[Kamisha]

I have to agree with fryd on this the dwindling players has always been a worry of mine. The people that join daily maybe only 1 to 3 actually succeed getting to MP5. I was probably one of the few people that voted... unless the links where broken which happened once or twice. The only reason I used those links instead of paying is because of the lack of method. I don't have a checking account or a credit card so my only option is email transfer which I would be fine with if it existed here. The main reason this likely stopped is actually because of the advertising guild being disbanded so there is nobody to contact.

[ERO]

realy bad decision....those credits where may only way to get stuff from MD Shop...

and Fyrd is write...MD lose advertising...and in the edn we all lose...

Edited October 7, 2010 by dst

[Manda]

This is a good desition because if players want to abuse of credits they need at least do it right no just click and close

i vote with my account in 10-15 min and can enter and vote no just click the link (thats why i have too much days )

BTW in some links i dont know how to vote i enter but dont see anything just vote

Some topic with that info? I ask arround an players say " a you can only click the link and enter no need more (vets)"


BTW Get a Job For PHONE CREDITS OR PAY PAL

Edited October 7, 2010 by Manda

[(Zl-eye-f)-nea]

At the end of the day this was inevitable. Making certain locations require 100ap and lowering non alliance players ap to 90 max would mean that more people would use the free credits, but it would also mean more people would literally only use it to boost ap and not vote as was intended. I don't know how it records it but I would click 10 different links, keep the tabs open and only vote after I had entered a location - I'm sure other people just couldnt be bothered to go back and do the voting bit.

Can any of us think of some smart solutions?
Its a bit hard not knowing how it works...but here's one from me anyway - make it so the thing that logs whether people voted or not activates the creds/ap/etc not the clicking of the link. (although if there is no log and it is just recognising number of clicks in game vs number of votes on the website then obviously this isnt going to work lol)

Z

[Jubaris]

really... if you want to take out free credits do it, but give me back my 22$ that were "stolen"!!!
I only need those few bucks more, and I'll finish by christmas getting everything I need.

[Kamisha]

found email transfer.

[Curiose]

[quote]BTW Get a Job For PHONE CREDITS OR PAY PAL[/quote]

@ Manda: Let me tell you something.

Some of us have a job. Some of us get money.

But some of us got screwed over by idiots and have to repair the mistakes those idiots made and are not entitled to such money and have their entire financial situation effed with.

-I- can't get bank account. -I- can't get credits.

On topic:

I only recently started the free credits thing. I always voted, but it confused when it said to "Enter and Vote" when there is no specifics as to what I am voting for, which always made me paranoid as to: Did my vote go through?

One thing that also bothered me about the vote links was that there would be links without any voting opportunity... Is that for other sites to advertise, or is it because they're sponsors?

My two cents is to punish those who abused it, but until that is sorted out, keep free credit voting on lock down. I also like Z's idea.

[Kafuuka]

[quote name='(Zl-eye-f)-nea' timestamp='1286467047' post='69845']
Can any of us think of some smart solutions?
Its a bit hard not knowing how it works...but here's one from me anyway - make it so the thing that logs whether people voted or not activates the creds/ap/etc not the clicking of the link. (although if there is no log and it is just recognizing number of clicks in game vs number of votes on the website then obviously this isnt going to work lol)
[/quote]
Easiest solution: restrict to the links that did not require voting. There were a couple of those. Might even be extended to sites that did require voting but did not use captcha's because it's a lot less work to vote for those.
Also, I don't think it checks the votes for all sites. As long as it's verified for one site and we don't know which, the people who abuse the system can be easily identified. Thus there is no need for the verification to be applied to all sites. I suppose not all sites offer the same methods for verification.


@Fyrd: what do you mean 'only remaining advertising'? Mur has mentioned often that paid advertising is one of the larger costs of running MD. He has mentioned this before the advertisers' guild was established even. Whether or not they ever contributed much does not change that Mur managed to take care of advertising himself before and most likely still does.

[pipster]

ok here is my two cents on this. this happened before, the links were removed for same reason. it was a bad idea then and is a bad idea now. i quit this game once before and now come back and see this? come on if no on was voting how was the game in such high standings on those lists? for those who say get a job or buy credits that isn't quite the point. this game is advertised to have ways that those who can't pay can get what those who can pay, so just how is this holding true now?

i used to be a subscriber to this game but then quit like i said above and this now defiantly makes me wonder whats the point of playing this game again? less people will hear about it, less chances to get things, less chances of everything. can i get to angens now? no! can i use links to build up my vp and buy things? no! can i recharge my ve? no! hell this will become a giant list of no no no if i keep on going. so a nice way to put the game on a downwards spiral!

[Fyrd Argentus]

@Kafuuka - I had heard somewhere that revenues were so poor that they were no longer able to pay for advertising. Perhaps I read too much into a comment dropped. Hard to know what is true from day to day. Anybody who knows care to comment?

[pipster]

i doubt the game brings in enough revenue to have much paid advertising. i play a lot of online games and have never seen it anywhere other then the free voting links. it isn't hard to see how many players are paying then figure out this isn't a huge amount of money your talking about.

[Luke27]

Only my opinion.

I think the most punished here is the newbies(like me). The only way for me to get back lost VE is through Free credits. You can say there's other ways of regenerating VE, well to tell you honestly most newbies don't know it. Newbies can't get exact info on things because some information may contain spoilers. So my point is please don't get the newbies involved in this things. If it can not be helped maybe some of the players would just quit.

P.S.
The free credits removed...
Don't really care at the moment...

[Manda]

This is temporal untill the staff catch credit alts

and players need to learn how to vote right

with this all can see JUST CLICK IS WRONG

we play and love MD so if we can help with those links why not
(the job was a joke )
the players that do bad things will get punished maybe not now but they will

lets promote the right use of the free credits Links

much palyers will say is not fair or something like that
we only need to wait, the good changes takes time
and remember this game give to us a great lesson " The patience is a virtue"

[pipster]

[quote name='Manda' timestamp='1286499444' post='69891']
This is temporal untill the staff catch credit alts

and players need to learn how to vote right

with this all can see JUST CLICK IS WRONG

[/quote]

you know i always wondered if you can make a alt then transfer the credits to your main? is that what your saying here? if that was the case as to why it was suspended i don't see how they can't catch that. or even easier make alts not have the ability to vote? that be a simple code change.

[apophys]

Transfer of credits between players was removed a LONG time ago, specifically to stop alt abuse.

@Z - I did similarly; when I voted, I opened the free creds link in a new window, started by voting for the one with the timer, then went on to click all the other links (each into a new tab), and then voted for all of those. I did this so I didn't have to wait for pages to load. The entire process took about 7 minutes, after which I closed the window, which had accumulated 24 tabs.
I didn't vote often... they really weren't worth my time to get less than a quarter of value (the side effects are pretty useless to me at this point). I don't really miss them, but I do miss the $2.70 I had saved up there. I had actually intended to reach $3 and never use the links again.


I've sent a PM to pipster telling him that free creds can be substituted in effects, without spoiling. He's an mp5; he should know better.

Edited October 8, 2010 by apophys

[Tipu]

holy cow now how do we play MD hehehe

Any way no need credits, plz put the link back. We were having green arrows that means Growing game by removing the link we will drop all the way to the bottom. It is not the number of votes that count it is the green or red arrow which indicates the Good game. Iam sure many will vote even if there is no reward.
Don't worry newbies i will fight for u players. I will start with the Mood panel. Don't give up

[phantasm]

being an older player, who has put HUNDREDS of dollars of my own money into the game over the years, I have found that credits don't boost your playing ability as much as your social standing and bargaining capabilities. I was a subscriber for years and stopped not too all long ago, as I felt the way the game was turning, I no longer wished to support it.

@Fryd- It may be true that much income doesn't come to MD like it used to, but I can assure you until this year many of us soaked ALOT of money into it. I can't state exactly how much I have put in, but I can garuntee its around/over 400 dollars. if 5 people did that in a 2 year span thats 1,000 dollars a year. There were also at one time, many more then 5 people who put in more then that. I think the overall seeing of people paying for the game decreasing a sight of the overall game play changing.

Free credits to me, are pretty much a way to save up enough credits to be able to change my avitar for RP purposes (which I need to change but have no credits:D) I'm not sure who is abusing the credits on average (vets, noobs, mp5s, etc) but I'm sure there is an average of a specific people abusing it more then others.

The only idea i can really come up with is make 2 classes of voting. One that will just give the ap,ve, regen boosts. As Kafuuka said make a list that is no-vote or click vote. Then make another more restricted voting that does give the ap,ve, regen boots along with the credit. Perhaps even raise the price from .1 cent to .4 cents or soemthing and make only a few of them a day on that page.

[Fyrd Argentus]

I became a supporter ($100+) when, during the 5th birthday celebration, Mur mentioned that he didn't have funds in the coffers to pay a $35 server bill.

And advertising is EXPENSIVE.

[Kamisha]

poured in $100 just yesterday I cant do the server support thing I only got email transfer.

[Espartano]

I just whant give my opinion about this:
every vote have a small description about, just click, other need a simple click, others need to enter a word, and others need rate...why some persons just click them all???

There is no way to ban the vote page just for those that abuse it, and dont whant help MD at all??

Another thing, once I play the game MU Online and has a option with E-Prepag to pay in bank, for those without international credit card(this was a long time ago, so I dont know if still have such bank payment option), is so hard to have a option like that?
I really whant help my favorite game but, we need have some options to do it

[Allyce]

No way... this is sad....and i wonder for how long will stay that way?

and what can I do if i have some credits and i haven't tranfered it yet?

[Yrthilian]

This has happened before because of abuse the links used to give a lot more back then too
I fully understand the reasion behind this and why it needs to be done.

For one it has a few memebers comming forth complaining but this also shows
how little support the MD comunity give in regards to voting. It only takes 5 to 10 min to
do the votes can people give so little of their time to support MD in thoes links?


I will admit i didnt do them every day. I more forgot to or it was because my day was really busy
but when i did remember to do it i did them all properly.

So since the ban has happened i would like to see people making a proposed solution
more so people to research the solution.

I have heard that some site send confirmation of a players vote but thoes site normaly take a day to report the
information so in turm would be useles for the gainf the AP and VE as you would only get them once the system
confirmsa the vote.

So any other suggestions i will admit this is not my area and i dont have any other suggestions
but someone out there must have an idea or knowledge about this sort of thing.

[Kafuuka]

[quote name='Fyrd Argentus' timestamp='1286550425' post='69922']
I became a supporter ($100+) when, during the 5th birthday celebration, Mur mentioned that he didn't have funds in the coffers to pay a $35 server bill.

And advertising is EXPENSIVE.
[/quote]
I vaguely remember it being mentioned that the server bills were the cheapest ones. On the other hand, Mur is creative and managed before.


I'm not an expert in payment matters, but in Belgium it is possible to wire money to Paypal by bank transfer (they call it 'top up') and thus use Paypal without needing a credit card. Might seem weird to people who rely on credit cards often, but money order is the norm here and it's also a free service, which worked for everything pre internet.