Hi. Can somebody explain the delay in trades, support, cashout requests, etc.

[mef623]

Hi all,

I know that running the game is not as easy as pushing a few buttons to make everything work, but over the past several weeks, since Eric sold the game, there have been significant delays in getting support requests, cashouts (for credits, not cash), etc. processed.  Requests are sitting unanswered for a week or more and often require several follow-up emails to get done.  We haven't gotten any solid answers about cashout timing or what the game is doing to generate revenue or make future cashouts more feasible (For instance, the cashout rate has not changed since November, 2008, even tremendous MD inflation.).

I don't mean to complain, but I know from logging on every day that things seem to be getting worse, not better, and anyway who hangs out for a few minutes in the chat room can see that morale among players is low.  We all want the game to succeed, but it's hard to keep going when the only status update is, "Trust us and be patient."  I think people who have been waiting almost a year have been more than patient. 

I think it would be great if we could get some more status updates and more frequently.  For instance, one of the admins started a thread in the payout section in 2008 about payout updates.  It has gotten exactly zero updates since it was first started.  We all know that the game is having financial issues and we all understand that you can't get something for nothing.  But we would love to know honestly where things stand, and if the answer is, "There will be massive changes because the game is not feasible in its current form," that's okay, as long as we have some sort of time frame and updates.

One other thing: I have a business background and am happy to give some suggestions about ways to make the game sustainable.  It may involve making some difficult choices that not everyone would like, but that's better than not having a game at all.  I'm only a phone call away, if you like.

Mike

[Anthraxus]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by us (the admins) not giving out any updates as to where payouts and other things stand.  We have mentioned in several places (homepage, chat, and here on the forums) that we should have caught up on first round payouts by late March-early April.  I know I have mentioned at least a couple of times to different people that the Phobos expansion should be rolled out by late January-early February. 

As far as delays in performing trades, you would have to ask Krista for a detailed explanation, but anyone can see from watching the Done Deals forums, that she still performs a sweep of trades at least once per day, if not more often.

The situation with the cashout requests is a little weird, primarily due to the circuitous method that we currently require for a cashout request to be processed.  There are several places and means that we can (and plan to) implement to streamline this process a bit more, but we are still working on outlining the best way to implement them.

I'm sure everyone would be overjoyed if we could set down an iron-clad timeline for everything.  This is impossible.  We are making a concentrated effort to keep the players informed as much as possible, and to stay on top of things but there is only so much that can be done by two people in their off-hours.

[QueenSheba]

.....
As far as delays in performing trades, you would have to ask Krista for a detailed explanation, but anyone can see from watching the Done Deals forums, that she still performs a sweep of trades at least once per day, if not more often.
.....

On the trades subject, I don't know where you see trades being done everyday, the trades waiting to be completed are now nearing a week old, people are getting tired of this, how can you make any kind of a headway, when I'm waiting for my moves trade to be done and I'm sitting here for a week waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting! 

[Anthraxus]

Can you not see the Done Deal child board to the Trading Post?  Whenever Krista finalizes a trade, the thread is moved there.  Looking back through it, trades are being processed each day.  If you have a trade that has been sitting for a week, it was obviously overlooked.  Please post a bump to it to bring it to the top of the list, and I will drop Krista an email and ask her to look for it specifically.

[QueenSheba]

Can you not see the Done Deal child board to the Trading Post?  Whenever Krista finalizes a trade, the thread is moved there.  Looking back through it, trades are being processed each day.  If you have a trade that has been sitting for a week, it was obviously overlooked.  Please post a bump to it to bring it to the top of the list, and I will drop Krista an email and ask her to look for it specifically.

That's fine that all the trades are being confirmed by members on a daily basis, but where is the acknowledgment by Krista that is usually at the end of each trade as in this example http://www.exodus3000.com/forums/index.php/topic,43722.0.html
seems that they were conveniently left off or removed from all the posts after this one, (Dec.13).
Check with all the members that are peed off having to wait 5 to 7 days for a trade to be finalized. The trades are not being done daily, and haven't been done daily for quite awhile.

[AvsAddict]

I have actually thought for a long time that moving a trade to done deals AND having added on to each trade was redudnant.  If a trade is in done deals it has been done.   I'm not sure that not having that added is that big of a deal.  It still looks like trades are being done.  Like Jason said if one was missed, it does happen, but not on purpose.

[QueenSheba]

I have actually thought for a long time that moving a trade to done deals AND having added on to each trade was redudnant.  If a trade is in done deals it has been done.   I'm not sure that not having that added is that big of a deal.  It still looks like trades are being done.  Like Jason said if one was missed, it does happen, but not on purpose.

That little happyface had a very important purpose in its life on the trading post, it was the "Time Stamp" as to when trades were actually completed by Krista.

"RIP" little happyface, though your time here was short, you won't be forgotten.

[mef623]

Let me ask a slightly more difficult question: Is the game generating enough income in its current form to be sustainable?  If not, I have some suggestions.

Mike

[AvsAddict]

yes, if we were caught up the game would be self sustaining.otherwise we would not be catching up in payouts, we would be getting further behind.

[Anthraxus]

But feel free to throw your suggestions out there Mike.

[QueenSheba]

Can you not see the Done Deal child board to the Trading Post?  Whenever Krista finalizes a trade, the thread is moved there.  Looking back through it, trades are being processed each day.  If you have a trade that has been sitting for a week, it was obviously overlooked.  Please post a bump to it to bring it to the top of the list, and I will drop Krista an email and ask her to look for it specifically.

Last trade completed by Krista: Jan. 19th. as per Done Deals.
It is now Jan. 23, doesn't look like trades are being done every day,

If nobody wants to do them every day, I'll gladly offer my services,
I'm here more often that anyone else and I could be completing trades many times a day.

[mef623]

But feel free to throw your suggestions out there Mike.

Revenue suggestion: Check out fatwallet.com.  It's a shopping portal.  They get a commission from the merchant and share it with the purchaser.  E3K could do the same: make a purchase and get X moves per dollar that you spend or X% back in credits.  Of course, you'd need to have a pretty good idea how you value the moves, but the credits could work well.

Cost suggestion: Change the cashout ratio (It's been over a year since it was last done and MD inflation is up.) or make it variable based on how much money is in the game.  There's another site like E3K that gives dynamic payout ratios.  In other words, if there were 1,000 MD outstanding and you guys had $10 in the bank, the payout ratio would be 100 MD=$1.  If you had $100 in the bank, the ratio drops to 10 MD=$1.

Mike