Big Business - game discussion

[SummerNight]

I'm not sure this is the case. I had one item in storage and only the one, a sweet waffle cafe, i.e. a 'premium building'. After the update, I was unable to place it on the map as I had insufficient population. I have, since then been increasing my population and have just successfully taken it out of storage.

You misunderstood. If you have a premium building in your storage it is just another industrial building. To place it you have to swap it with something else so you are right about that. But I was talking about something else. Wait until they offer Pharmacy or Tea shop. I suspect we will have two options: build it OR place in inventory, just like we do when buying other premium structures now (not from the shop). I bought 2 roller coasters when they were on sale for 57 credits and two restaurants (they are entertainment buildings). Instead of building them I chose to place them in my inventory first. Then I placed them. And they were already built. I bypassed the construction phase. If you can do that with the promotional industrial buildings too you can bypass construction AND pop requirement. You buy the building and place it in your inventory. Then remove one building from the map (place a farm in storage) and place your new shop. It is already "pre-built" just like those roller coasters. You are not building anything, you are just placing one of your existing structures, swapping it with something else, just like you would do if you wanted to place your waffle shop.

{Summerville, the head honcho - Elloriana, lvl 63, Charleston, SC}

 

[Blankman]

Just got the offer for 150 credits and a bunch of other stuff for $0.99 again. I am NOT taking it. GI will never get even $0.01 from me.

(Player Name: Fred Diggitz / City Name: Stank Biscuit / Level: 37 / From: Raleigh, NC, USA)

Just curious, was it something cool you would've purchased had we not all been screwed, or was it something dumb??

 

[Mandalou]

Sorry, I probably confused that with another message which was about reducing population from 3 to zero. My bad. I myself don't have that achievement and I must add, I don't care. I still log in every 30-40 min to collect stupid confetti and items for the ship and help others but no contests, no land acquisition, no plans to build anything.
I feel really pissed off about wasting so much money on this game which I planned to enjoy for years to come if they would keep adding new content and now it seems the game is broken beyond repair. I just got email from Apple. It was a follow up and the rep said he went to his senior manager and asked if they could give me a refund after all. OF COURSE the big cheese said no way, it is my fault that I chose to buy crappy content. Apple has nothing to do with anything, they are not responsible if the game changed and I am not satisfied with the change. Case closed. $@&€#%~

{Summerville, the head honcho - Elloriana, lvl 63, Charleston, SC}

That was me... Must have been very tired last night :/

Player: MandaLouD City: Mandaville

 

[Foxtrotter]

Hi all, sorry this game has messed you all around so much. Personally not too bothered about the building requirements at the moment as am trying to get my population to 0 via 666 whilst it was still feasible (down to 6k from 20k).

Whilst I do not want to be spoon fed the way to go and there is so much great help on here could someone please tell me how you can tell what are the most appropriate gifts to give out. At the moment I return the same gift if possible or ones of the same genre but would like to be of the most assistance if possible. I do also have a note of what people have said they want on here.

Anyway good luck to all.

City name: foxhall, user name : foxtrotter. Wants: any tools for building Eiffel Tower.

 

[Fred Diggitz]

No clue on the reputation is for...just another useless thing from GI

I think reputation is meant to measure player activity levels. It is not very good since some players could playing often and not visiting friends. I use it when sending gifts... people who have reputation 0 don't get any.

 

[GAB IV]

Very true Scooter. By the way what do you all think the reputation is for? It tops at 5 and seems to have no baring on the game anywhere, why do you think it exists and what purpose does it serve. Only thing it seems to have a baring on is the order of your friends or Port requests... Weird.

Name: Rikmondo (no more spending) City name: Rikville Level. 55. Needs: Drills, please.

I think it is more than just helping friends. I think it's the number of days in a row you help friends. So it's an indicator of of a players activity like you think. I try to help the 5 hearts first and go down. Because I think its those people who are likely the ones who help me the most. People with zero hearts probably have never helped me. So I offer my helps in that order.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[GAB IV]

Finally!!!! I got the 7 million achievement!!

City: MegVille Player: MegFree1013 Level: 42 Need: Trowels From: Chicago, Illinois

Congrats meg ! Now get some WH space. Do some upgrades but wait for a sale on new ones. I did this when I did my 7 mil. All that WH space really helped out on the daily tasks by stocking some of the longer term items commonly asked for. Also makes it easy to stock up for the high qty container items.

Nothing worse than knowing what you need in a limited amount of time, only to find out you can't store it.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[GAB IV]

Sorry, I probably confused that with another message which was about reducing population from 3 to zero. My bad. I myself don't have that achievement and I must add, I don't care. I still log in every 30-40 min to collect stupid confetti and items for the ship and help others but no contests, no land acquisition, no plans to build anything.
I feel really pissed off about wasting so much money on this game which I planned to enjoy for years to come if they would keep adding new content and now it seems the game is broken beyond repair. I just got email from Apple. It was a follow up and the rep said he went to his senior manager and asked if they could give me a refund after all. OF COURSE the big cheese said no way, it is my fault that I chose to buy crappy content. Apple has nothing to do with anything, they are not responsible if the game changed and I am not satisfied with the change. Case closed. $@&€#%~

{Summerville, the head honcho - Elloriana, lvl 63, Charleston, SC}

That's wrong. I would reply back that other players have posted that apple has refunded them. Furthermore, I should point out you did not buy crappy stuff, but stuff to advance your status and enjoyment of the game. Now that the game has changed, your status and enjoyment has been harmed. Also point out that you paid through apple and expect them to rectify on your behalf. In closing with apple, indicate if they are not willing to work with you, and that GI was not helpfully, your last recourse it to take up the matter with your credit card company. When you mention bait and switch with your CC company they will look into it and may even give you an instant credit.

Also point out apple has lost your loyalty, you are switching your iPhone for a Samsung and your tablet for Microsoft surface.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[GAB IV]

Woo hoo! At last, have been waiting for days for the suitcases with flags and bells in to turn up. I've splashed out with my credit card and bought so many of them that I now have 27 White Houses in my town.

Meanwhile, in the real world ... yes, of course, I was being somewhat sarcastic. I have absolutely no hope of actually achieving a White House, and you know what - I don't even want to any more. As someone who hasn't even built a port yet, I can say that so far I've loved this game simply for the sheer challenge of building an aesthetically pleasing village (I'm particularly proud of my Eiffel Square green, which is a ridiculously luxurious waste of space that could accommodate several houses or entertainment facilities, but is instead just grass...and will probably never see a completed Eiffel Tower due to the silver medal stipulation!). I've enjoyed ticking off the challenges one by one - the incremental ones as you progress through factory upgrades, and the daily long, short and urgent challenges. I've enjoyed sometimes participating in events (but never competitions, as I simply don't have the factory capacity or game time to be able to compete!), although I have to say that this 4th July one just takes the *** biscuit! And I guess that'll have to be the way it stays, until I get either bored or so thoroughly jaded with GI that I simply give up and move on.

You guys are right. This is an incredible case study of a gaming company that has so little regard for its players (many of whom have been fairly loyal, and paid cash to progress) and has simply resorted to sheer greed and bloody mindedness. Someone should write a thesis on this.

I'll continue to be around. I'll help fill your containers, I'll send you chisels, hammers, drills and billboards. Come and enjoy my city from time to time if you please. Just don't expect to find any White Houses in it, or several hundred farms and ranches. I'm going o try to resist spending any more real money on this game. If "city credits" were hard drugs, then GI definitely set out to make junkies of us all, so for now I'm going to try cold turkey, and get myself off this addiction before it does irreprable harm to my bank account!

Steve
Player: SteveGPI
City: Hanham
Collecting: Coins from factories, gifts from friends, but no more sodding confetti!

Hi Steve, there are case studies on company blunders with the loyal customers. Coke was probably the first poster child when they changed the formula of coke which was the outcome of the resolution to the customers, coke classic.

In recent times it was Netflix who changed the pricing model of their membership, that caused many cancelled memberships. That was then corrected. Then there was AOL in the middle who got bogged down by taking on so many customers without improving infrastructure. There ware many others. The usual end result is the company wise up or fails. Believe me the competitors are watching and they will learn from it. Pepsi took off after coke. Cable and phone DSL took off after AOL. Redbox and cable on demand took off after Netflix.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[GAB IV]

Just got the offer for 150 credits and a bunch of other stuff for $0.99 again. I am NOT taking it. GI will never get even $0.01 from me.

(Player Name: Fred Diggitz / City Name: Stank Biscuit / Level: 37 / From: Raleigh, NC, USA)

Oh don't let that stop you ! Think of it as such a good deal GI is actually losing on that deal and it is a very good deal. I'm jealous, I would take it despite the bad GI.

Think of it, take your feelings out of it, 99 cents! That's nothing. It like a teaser, get you into the action of buying stuff. Just tell yourself, you are not buying anything else after that. Like those 0% teaser CC deals. Notice they don't do those so often now. I use to borrow 10k on those and then pay it off and close the card when the deal expired usually a year or so. One time I took 5k and put into a good stock. I sold my stock for an 8k gain at the end of the year.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[Fred Diggitz]

Oh don't let that stop you ! Think of it as such a good deal GI is actually losing on that deal and it is a very good deal. I'm jealous, I would take it despite the bad GI.

Think of it, take your feelings out of it, 99 cents! That's nothing. It like a teaser, get you into the action of buying stuff. Just tell yourself, you are not buying anything else after that. Like those 0% teaser CC deals. Notice they don't do those so often now. I use to borrow 10k on those and then pay it off and close the card when the deal expired usually a year or so. One time I took 5k and put into a good stock. I sold my stock for an 8k gain at the end of the year.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

Think about it this way... 99 cents is also a very good deal for a needle full of heroin.

(Player Name: Fred Diggitz / City Name: Stank Biscuit / Level: 37 / From: Raleigh, NC, USA)

 

[GAB IV]

Think about it this way... 99 cents is also a very good deal for a needle full of heroin.

(Player Name: Fred Diggitz / City Name: Stank Biscuit / Level: 37 / From: Raleigh, NC, USA)

Well that is a bit more dramatic, but also yes a very good deal for a needle. But even I would do that deal, bc I could do that deal and toss out the drug so someone else does not get that one. The needle is the offer in hopes you get hooked and buy more by being hooked. But you are smarter than that. You won't use it and fall into their trap. You accept that it harms them to provide so cheap, but you don't fall for it. Do you understand now what I'm saying? Take the deal !

GI is like a drug dealer. Lol

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[Blankman]

It's amazing how cyclical GI has been.
When i first started, the halloween and christmas events were next to impossible, people started complaining, then the next few were doable, maybe not getting the new building upgraded, but atleast getting it placed. Then, the events requiring you to make things, those were near impossible, now they got toned down.
Now, they make it next to impossible to buy a new factory, and now this 4th of july event is next to impossible to finish.
I have a feeling this will be the norm, and only people who spend lots of money will be able to do anything in this game, and us casual players are screwed.

Also, i tried contacting apple, and they told me i had to contact GI. I replied that GI wouldn't issue and refund, and there have been other people who have received refunds from them regarding the City Credits, but apple has yet to respond, and I have a feeling they won't....

 

[GAB IV]

It's amazing how cyclical GI has been.
When i first started, the halloween and christmas events were next to impossible, people started complaining, then the next few were doable, maybe not getting the new building upgraded, but atleast getting it placed. Then, the events requiring you to make things, those were near impossible, now they got toned down.
Now, they make it next to impossible to buy a new factory, and now this 4th of july event is next to impossible to finish.
I have a feeling this will be the norm, and only people who spend lots of money will be able to do anything in this game, and us casual players are screwed.

Also, i tried contacting apple, and they told me i had to contact GI. I replied that GI wouldn't issue and refund, and there have been other people who have received refunds from them regarding the City Credits, but apple has yet to respond, and I have a feeling they won't....

I'm sure apple is discussing this. They have set a president refunding people. But those have probably added up to some big bucks. They are likely in discussion with GI to figure it out. So now apple is stalling for time to get GI to come to an agreement. Apple isn't losing money. They take it back from GI. And GI is likely complaining now that apple has done that. I bet this is a much bigger mess and we think it is. Like a was explaining to summer, credit card is your ultimate fall back. When you complain to them and they refund you, they usually take it back from the merchant. Apple is like the CC between the app makers and you the app users.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

 

[SummerNight]

That's wrong. I would reply back that other players have posted that apple has refunded them. Furthermore, I should point out you did not buy crappy stuff, but stuff to advance your status and enjoyment of the game. Now that the game has changed, your status and enjoyment has been harmed. Also point out that you paid through apple and expect them to rectify on your behalf. In closing with apple, indicate if they are not willing to work with you, and that GI was not helpfully, your last recourse it to take up the matter with your credit card company. When you mention bait and switch with your CC company they will look into it and may even give you an instant credit.

Also point out apple has lost your loyalty, you are switching your iPhone for a Samsung and your tablet for Microsoft surface.

[ city name: Sprawlville level 62 player: GAB IV from western mass USA need hammers ]

Gab, I did my best explaining all that, including bait and switch. That is why he consulted his Senior Manager.

When that rep emailed me with his follow up, he said that the issue was considered resolved, case closed and additional requests of this nature would be closed without a reply. I am not going to waste my time composing lengthy emails which no one would read. I am not sure about calling Bank of America. Do they really refund purchases like that? How would they look into it?

{Summerville, the head honcho - Elloriana, lvl 63, Charleston, SC}