User Expanded Support to Travian

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Kpopgurl, Mar 26, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Ronni

    Ronni Avatar

    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    124
    Trophy Points:
    20
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Germany
    That is really disssatisfying. Especially the way as it is done in such short notice. I am not sure if I will agree or buy an stuff from the store in the future. I will monitor how it will run but my happyness towards launch is gone... :-(
     
  2. StrangerDiamond

    StrangerDiamond Avatar

    Messages:
    4,355
    Likes Received:
    4,999
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Does that mean that by agreeing to this new agreement RMT sellers also must charge VAT ? A tax on "virtual goods" means that anyone that sells them is concerned...

    I mean it does look like a takeover of the virtual *gaming* economy. Don't tell me I'm stirring the pot, its already pretty stirred, in fact I would probably break my hand if I tried to seize the stick right now.

    I'm also unable to sleep... this is very stressful I just hope I don't miss launch, also took a day off :(
     
  3. Aurelius Silverson

    Aurelius Silverson Avatar

    Messages:
    687
    Likes Received:
    1,585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    I can only speak for this particular 'part of the community', but the way this has been handled has left me utterly uninterested in logging in to the game on what should have been a fun celebration day reflecting what we had achieved - rather than being excited and involved, I feel distinctly sick at the terrible way we are being treated. But I have little doubt it will all be papered over, threads locked so they can quietly die, and insistence we take our concerns to private conversations where I am expecting they will be effectively ignored, probably by meaningless 'responses' that totally miss the point of the concerns we raise.

    Rather than planning for my future playing the game, I'm wondering is this is the point where I try get rid of my accounts and walk away from a company who seem to regard non-US customers with something that feels very close to contempt. Whatever Portalarium and Travian come up with (and the main responsibility for this situation is absolutely with Portalarium) had better be a damn sight better than they have managed in the past, but given the handling of the Black Sun issues, I have no hope at all of anything positive.
     
  4. Gorthyn

    Gorthyn Avatar

    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1,497
    Trophy Points:
    93
    What a shambles...

    Wasn't aware of this until just now. As a resident of the UK have got a bit of catching up to do with all of this.

    Why does Port and it's associates keep constantly scoring own goals like this ????
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
  5. Helvig Ingvildsdottir

    Helvig Ingvildsdottir Avatar

    Messages:
    609
    Likes Received:
    2,212
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Helboer in Kahli
    It's almost 10am. I work in software development as well, I know there's people who like to start late, and need two or three cups of coffee first. But I also know to start my day by checking if firefighter activities are needed anywhere, and then I prioritize. Seems we are not very high on the priority list... :(
     
  6. Alana Baran

    Alana Baran Avatar

    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    39
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Germany
    While I like the look of the new website I just don't agree with using a .game domain... thats so... goofy. Would be better to use the .com and redirect based on IP location.
    New players will not know which website to visit and most EU ones will probably end up on Portalariums side because of this.

    In the end, release seems to turn out as expected. Everything was way too rushed. Nothing was communicated properly (especially not the ridiculous price increases for EU customers) and the new website isn't even translated yet.

    bravo, bravo. such professionalism. *shakes head*
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
  7. Kara Brae

    Kara Brae Avatar

    Messages:
    3,872
    Likes Received:
    12,189
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Bavaria
    After spending a sleepless night mulling this migration over, the most disturbing possibility for me is the one raised by @Spoon, amounting to a user being blocked from accessing his account both on the Portalarium site and on the Travian site at the same time:

    If a user's account is migrated to Travian and that user returns or travels to the US:
    Will that user be unable to access his Travian account (because of being re-directed to the Portalarium site based on the current location's IP address) AND be unable to log into his account on the Portalarium site because it has been migrated away from Portalarium?

    That sounds absolutely crazy, but the current FAQ does not rule it out.

    The FAQ talks about forcing migration based upon where a player lives. As far as I know there is no legal way that either Portalarium or Travian can determine where a player lives. They can only redirect users based on the IP address they log on with. The IP address location can change frequently, theoretically on a daily basis. It doesn't seem to me to be an indicator for permanently migrating an individual's account to a different company.

    The only positive thing about this migration is that it doesn't force English-speaking users to a website in a language they can't read.
     
  8. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

    Messages:
    6,331
    Likes Received:
    12,109
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    At the moment i am at the point that i would be happily spend more on the Travian version of the store if this would avert further communication disasters like this one in the future :rolleyes:
    Really, one day before release, somthing like that...i don't get it. Doubt i will ever get over it because it was so needless.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
    MrBlight, Bodhbh Dearg, Acred and 8 others like this.
  9. Spinok

    Spinok Avatar

    Messages:
    665
    Likes Received:
    1,292
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Gender:
    Male
    1) BTW I dont see any troubles with Travian, they are competent, HQ in Munich and good reputation. If all CIS customers were transferred to them, all my guild would be very happy...
    2) I see big troubles with Portalarium. If honestly I didnt saw such disregard to customers for a long time, questions on the forum did not answered, support don't answer, nobody do nothing...
    First I thought that Port was just mistaken then choose BS as agent in CIS - Now my opinion changed, Port find agent in CIS which has level of competency absolutely fit Port have by their own.

    P.S. Anyway lets be glad to release, I want a good release, I have zero question to technical developers of Sota, and want really great release after years of development.
     
    Royou and Snikorts like this.
  10. Helvig Ingvildsdottir

    Helvig Ingvildsdottir Avatar

    Messages:
    609
    Likes Received:
    2,212
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Helboer in Kahli
    Mahlzeit, @Cerus . Going to lunch without clarifying our questions for us first? I'd like to point to @Spoon 's excellent post a few pages back about letting fear and uncertainty fester where clear communication would go a long way to de-escalate things.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
  11. Cock of the North

    Cock of the North Avatar

    Messages:
    184
    Likes Received:
    254
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Its payday today for me.

    All I want to know is when exactly I will be able to log into the Travian store to see what price COTOs are now?
     
  12. Cerus

    Cerus Avatar

    Messages:
    243
    Likes Received:
    2,053
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear all,

    thank you for your questions and your patience so far.
    We fully understand, that a change like this always brings concerns and makes one wonder if the SotA experience will remain the same, especially after being part of it for so many years.

    Please, don't worry. Publishing a game globally always requires some amendments and adaptations to the standards of the local markets and laws. Be assured, that the game as well as the Community experience will remain the same, with the difference that the Community will grow, become multilingual and due to the partners cooperating with Portalarium, there will be a stronger team to further optimize the SotA experience in the future and on a global scope.

    While the rest of the team is working on the concerns that were raised here (and of course on today's launch), I would like to give you a quick update and already answer a few of the questions that were raised here.
    You will find them in the new post in the Official Announcement and FAQ.

    I will come back to you with more information as soon as possible.

    Cerus
     
  13. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

    Messages:
    6,331
    Likes Received:
    12,109
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Post mortems?
    Make the answer a priority please because the next one is just around the corner ;-)
    Beside that: thanks for the update!
     
    Rentier, Ronni and Mykll like this.
  14. Helvig Ingvildsdottir

    Helvig Ingvildsdottir Avatar

    Messages:
    609
    Likes Received:
    2,212
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Helboer in Kahli
    Thank you, @Cerus . It is important to keep us updated, even if it is just a "I will come back to you asap".

    I will try to patiently wait for an anwer to the questions concerning store credit and the ability to gift store credit and other add-on-store items across borders. Also a clarification on the price difference would be nice. I am not a lawyer or tax conultant and I hate concerning myself with texts that contain laws and such, but with my limited understanding of taxation and law the price difference cannot be explained in full.

    Yes and the postmortems! That's really a high priority question.

    Lastly, I do not know if it is too late already, but I think we all wish you would consider letting people choose where to get their news. I see no benefit in getting news pasted to a different website where I will read them in the same language as I would on the original website, just a little later, eventhough I totally trust you to keep the delay very short. Still, it feels like second-hand info to me - not the same as getting the information directly from Portalarium.
     
  15. Solazur

    Solazur Avatar

    Messages:
    1,429
    Likes Received:
    3,477
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Pacific NW
    Sota Math FTW ;p
     
    Bodhbh Dearg, Ronni and Rada Torment like this.
  16. Mykll

    Mykll Avatar

    Messages:
    671
    Likes Received:
    1,223
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Davidian Bunker
    @Cerus thanks for adding to the FAQ in the other thread. That is what should have been done early and often with all of our questions starting with the Black Sun... mess. Not locked threads and told to message privately (PMs or support e-mails to whichever partner). Hopefully this kind of communication can continue, so thank you for that. It already looks better with this migration in that regard.
     
  17. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

    Messages:
    6,331
    Likes Received:
    12,109
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Well, the point is that Texas has a sales tax of lol6,75%lol (something the average EU citizen would die to have).
    Germany has 19%. A lot of EU countrys actually have even more.
     
    Bodhbh Dearg likes this.
  18. Animosh

    Animosh Avatar

    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    278
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Theres nothing wrong with the math Chris checked, twice.

    So to get around the tax issue have an American buy stuff for you then trade.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
  19. Aurelius Silverson

    Aurelius Silverson Avatar

    Messages:
    687
    Likes Received:
    1,585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    OK, a fair enough start - but still extremely annoyed we are trying to catch up with this on release day, it surely could have been explained clearly and properly before now rather than just dropping it on us and trying to contain the fallout - it all appears either careless and amateur, or more ominously looks like an attempt to hustle us into something you and Portalarium knew would be extremely contentious, without giving us time to understand what is going on.

    Several immediate questions though, and doubtless I will have many more once I had read through everything and perhaps am less annoyed and offended by this than I am at the moment.

    To quote the page you link to,

    "Q: What about countries that are not EU but still belong to Europe?
    A:
    For more clarity, please see a full list of the European countries that belong to the Travian Games territories:
    Albania, Andora, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,, Island, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City."


    That fails to answer one of the major concerns being raised. Berek earlier mentioned "Yes, any perceived price difference at this time is due to the virtual goods tax in Europe. There may be other slight adjustments given the rules in Europe, we're checking on that." He seems not to understand how Europe, and the related territories, are structured. There is not 'a' law covering all of Europe, and no standard taxation levels - apart from it being a very real price increase, not just a 'perceived' one, what exactly is the status for folks who are in European but non-EU countries, including in my case a country soon to leave the EU? Differential pricing, or not? Just giving a list of countries you cover is not helpful.


    I also mentioned earlier in this thread the 'Terms and conditions' given on the Travian SotA site, which frankly seem completely unrelated to SotA. What do those mean in terms of this game, as much of the terminology is simply not relevant at all to SotA.

    How will we be treated with regards to the telethon/livestreams/postmortems/whatever title they have now? Will any offers that come up during those be on the Travian version of the store, or not? And does this mean the 'stretch goals' are dead, as if there are significant differences or delays in what is on sale through the streaming, a sensible 'total raised' is going to be almost impossible to calculate - or will those just use 'funds raised on the US site'?.

    What payment methods are accepted on the Travian site? I can't see any up-front listing of what methods you will be accepting.

    There is already an ongoing concern about US citizens working or serving abroad in relation to the way Black Sun are going to have ip identified traffic driven to their site - the very significant numbers of US folks in western Europe magnifies this issue massively, and I am not at all convinced anyone has thought this through at all.

    Doubtless I'll be asking more as things occur to me :(
     
  20. Aurelius Silverson

    Aurelius Silverson Avatar

    Messages:
    687
    Likes Received:
    1,585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Except, of course, that was what we already had before this 'migration' hit us - so I find it very hard to think 'it could have been worse' is a positive.
     
    Leostemplar and Kara Brae like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.