In-Game EMAIL WARNING to ALL USERS

angrysprite · May 2013

I'm seeing a lot of posts about lost email attachments in game - so posting this as it's own thread to get attention:

There is a bug that causes ONE Email message to display TWICE. Deleting either is actually deleting the ONE. It is always prudent to NOT delete any emails until you've claimed any attachments.

ALWAYS CLAIM ATTACHMENTS *BEFORE* DELETING *ANY* EMAIL - at least for now.

Developers KNOW about this - they are working on it.

forsakenlich1 · May 2013

they should disable the ah till this **** is fixed

lost 200k worth of stuff in the mail and the gms say 'nothing we can do send bug report'

mmorpgs need a consumer lobby. Believe it or not, the f2p model has come around not because people cant pay for games or because it attracts more people - but because it gives the company supreme control with no liability, no 'customers' on paper but a higher income than most buy to play or subscription games. It is a direct result of no regulating authority. It is disgusting to be treated this way

labbb · May 2013

Delete your other game emails , and try to keep your mail box empty . The borked emails will always have a wrong sender .
But yes only delete emails that come with an attachment and after you remove the attachment .
If the attachment is not showing up yet , generally the sender is wrong , it will fix it self later . remove the attachment then and delete then .

archanjo17041985 · May 2013

i got to know that a bit late eheh
i deleted yday 5 mails from auction house and then i noticed i didn't get any diamond.
now i am aware of this. thanks btw

jaddal · May 2013

forsakenlich1 wrote: »

they should disable the ah till this **** is fixed

lost 200k worth of stuff in the mail and the gms say 'nothing we can do send bug report'

mmorpgs need a consumer lobby. Believe it or not, the f2p model has come around not because people cant pay for games or because it attracts more people - but because it gives the company supreme control with no liability, no 'customers' on paper but a higher income than most buy to play or subscription games. It is a direct result of no regulating authority. It is disgusting to be treated this way

You bring up an interesting point. In the past, it has been extremely difficult to sue a gaming company because there usually wasn't an adequate cause of action i.e. you were spending $15 a month for access to a game, and not the things in a game, like your items and characters. I know of only one case where a court (outside the US) found real world value to in game items and rules in favor of the player/plaintiff.

Now we are seeing the model change from sub. to "f2p". In a f2p, the in game items have actual real world value because you actually spend money on those items. Where those items are lost due to the company, I would think liability would follow. Of course, the losses are so small per player that the only course of action would be a class action law suit. For obvious reasons, this would be difficult. So your idea about consumer protections and regulation could very well be the future.

sasheria · May 2013

I am surprise that the email system is actually linked. I play STO and NWN. My mail appear on both side. I personally lost 400k on an auction but not sure what happen. I place a bid, but never got a result

forsakenlich1 · May 2013

jaddal wrote: »

You bring up an interesting point. In the past, it has been extremely difficult to sue a gaming company because there usually wasn't an adequate cause of action i.e. you were spending $15 a month for access to a game, and not the things in a game, like your items and characters. I know of only one case where a court (outside the US) found real world value to in game items and rules in favor of the player/plaintiff.

Now we are seeing the model change from sub. to "f2p". In a f2p, the in game items have actual real world value because you actually spend money on those items. Where those items are lost due to the company, I would think liability would follow. Of course, the losses are so small per player that the only course of action would be a class action law suit. For obvious reasons, this would be difficult. So your idea about consumer protections and regulation could very well be the future.

the thing is, as a subscriber or a purchaser of the game, you have purchased a real life product or service. Purchasing items in a virtual world is not a real world product and is less liable than a subscription or game purchase - especially in a free game because you are purchasing items in a virtual world that belongs exclusively to them.

Technically, a company can open a game, open an item store, sell billions of dollars of items in it, then shut down the next day without giving any of the items to said consumers because the game world belongs to them and they are unliable for anything and nothing will stand up against them in any court of law. Because they have no customers on paper no purchased 'products' and the virtual products are generated by them at will inside a virtual world that is connected monetarily to nothing real and could in fact be considered a charity service and go down more reliably than anything that is brought up against them

you will also notice that HUGE 'free' games like League of Legends have no phone support. This game doesnt either. They are not liable to, and nobody has taken these companies to consumer court yet. It will not stand up any way. got a problem? spent money? Theres no direct way to contact them and they could just choose to ignore you entirely on tickets. There is no quality control liability. I sent 4 gm tickets since I started playing this game a week ago. Not a single response. Not one.

It is a pirate industry and this is a pirate company with a pirate game. I love it and have nothing better to do so i am playing it but that is what it is.

labbb · May 2013

You understand this happened because people were complaining they didn't get their AD from auctions. When beta started the AD just went to your inventory and item just appeared . You got a quick pop up near your backpack when it happened. But too many thread about " no AD when I sold something " so they brought over the lame system from STO . They will get it working , but this is something they hadn't planned on . this was a fix they didn't need , but the original system was just too confusing evidently .

jaddal · May 2013

forsakenlich1 wrote: »

the thing is, as a subscriber or a purchaser of the game, you have purchased a real life product or service. Purchasing items in a virtual world is not a real world product and is less liable than a subscription or game purchase - especially in a free game because you are purchasing items in a virtual world that belongs exclusively to them.

This is generally a layperson's understanding. However, there are plenty of things you pay for right now that are not tangible. The fact that something exists in a virtual world doesn't, in and of itself, mean there could never be a cause of action related to that virtual item. MMO companies have always used this argument as a defense; $15 is for access not in game items. It is an excellent defense. But that defense is weakened when you create a virtual store where in fact you spend actual money on in game items. The company has given the items actual real world value. This is a point that requires consideration. You are free to argue the opposite but I think if you were being intellectually honest, you would have to admit the original defense is less relevant now.

Technically, a company can open a game, open an item store, sell billions of dollars of items in it, then shut down the next day without giving any of the items to said consumers because the game world belongs to them and they are unliable for anything and nothing will stand up against them in any court of law. Because they have no customers on paper no purchased 'products' and the virtual products are generated by them at will inside a virtual world that is connected monetarily to nothing real and could in fact be considered a charity service and go down more reliably than anything that is brought up against them

Your example is beyond what I was talking about. If a company goes HAMSTER up then I would agree their liability would end. I did not make that argument.

My argument is that if a company sells in game items and then for whatever reason those items are not received by the customer, then yes there exists liability. This should be obvious to anyone.

hipolipolopigus · May 2013

My own thread on missing mail was actually a mild misunderstanding :P It turns out that even though sending mail to yourself is meant to be available to all of your characters - as it says when you're typing your handle - it's only available on the same shard. Same with the Astral Diamond exchange balance.

jaddal · May 2013

forsakenlich1 wrote: »

you will also notice that HUGE 'free' games like League of Legends have no phone support. This game doesnt either. They are not liable to, and nobody has taken these companies to consumer court yet. It will not stand up any way. got a problem? spent money? Theres no direct way to contact them and they could just choose to ignore you entirely on tickets. There is no quality control liability. I sent 4 gm tickets since I started playing this game a week ago. Not a single response. Not one.

It is a pirate industry and this is a pirate company with a pirate game. I love it and have nothing better to do so i am playing it but that is what it is.

Added after your edit: How do you know it won't "stand up"? I think you are confusing two issues. 1) You are unable to contact ANYONE concerning the game. I agree this is a problem. I too have gm tickets and have tried to call with negative results. But admitting to "1" does not mean, 2) There is no cause of action. You have paid for a thing, which you have not received. That is a cause of action. Is it worth your time and money to pursue? Likely not. That is why I talked about a class action or consumer protections as being the likely course of action.

Don't confuse the fact that because something isn't worth pursuing legally means there is no legal recourse.

dakxer · May 2013

I lost a few diamonds, maybe 20? because of this bug. I was deleting blank emails to get rid of the mess so I could get to the attachment emails. Whoops. It is sad to hear it wasn't a 1-time thing. I figured it was something I was doing, but the "dual listing" is exactly what I saw. A good warning to those that are quick to delete! Neatness is evil, leave your email cluttered, bwahahaha:mad:!

And to labbb, I like keeping the game emails, but you have a valid point about deleting all emails when done, especially over all characters sharing one email account!

lucidp2k · May 2013

...you mean people should retrieve attached items before deleting any mails... or else the attachments will be deleted as well? This needs to be on CNN.. stat!

sindofin · May 2013

This is crazy. If deleteing an email means there is a chance this also deletes other emails with items attached, then players should be getting these items restored, and the attachment or even the whole email system needs to be disabled until this is resolved. After all, only a minorty reads the forum to be informed about such issues.

How can this bug run rampant in the game for several days? Should this not be a complete showstopper of the highest priority? I think this bug might even exist since day one headstart, as I remember deleting some starter gifts unintentionally, by deleting emails with no visible attachments.

elessym · May 2013

There's also a bug where deleting an email causes another email to appear as if it has no attachments.

In-Game EMAIL WARNING to ALL USERS

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