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As someone who works within the game company (unrelated to ATA entirely), I know how it is on the other side. People have been upset at changes, and yes changes are inevitable, however I have to agree with many that your approach on responses have been quite tactless. As a community manager you do not put in personal feelings into your responses and I see that your frustration came out quite clear Marcie.
There are probably a lot of things you are unable to share with us because that's how a business run - however I very much doubt there is any data showing that people are interested in purchasing $60 avis that isn't even in a bundle. This feels like a A/B testing going wrong or someone high up in the company making changes without knowing how the game and its community works. I seen it happen within my company as well as others. This game is 100% online and community base - as in - this game will go under without a player base that is 1. Active 2. Engaged and 3. Happy. You will not be able to please everyone at any time, however you have to acknowledge the majority of the players are not happy with this changes. The players who can't afford or don't want to spend cash has no incentive to do so now, the players who used to spend aren't willing to buy expensive avis - then who exactly are you targeting with this changes?

In my opinion I would personally recognize if I overstepped and called players childish Marcie, because fighting with fire will not lead to any good. I know it's a hard position you are in but 90% of the responses here are without attacks or foul language. Don't just scoff off those responses for the bad ones.

Thank you.
 
RoseMilkTea said:
Instead of getting defensive why don't you calmly explain what questions you feel have been unanswered?

Clearly they want to keep all the feedback and comments in one place, don't take that personally
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I was never defensive if you ever read any of my comments or thread. I even suggested solutions to gain more revenue for ATA. Anyway I will keep supporting the movement but I’m utterly shocked by the response given by a member of the company.
 
IridescentRose said:
Marceline you are posting on a company account. This means that you are speaking for said company, A Thinking Ape. So are you saying that these are the views of the company? That us users who are upset at the recent decisions of the company are childish and bitter? That we are allowed to be belittled by employees of their company when said employee feels like it?

Are these things that you're saying supported by A Thinking Ape?

Because it's not our job to be nice to you, that's the backbone of customer service. It might not get us as far, but we're allowed to be upset, whatever action that entails.

And while I'm not saying you aren't allowed to be upset, you should not be allowed to say these things you're saying on a company account, because it puts a stain on the company and its supposed values.

Make an alt if you want to be condescending to your userbase.

But not only did you make condescending remarks to users you deem are not important enough to have an opinion, because they said things in a way you didn't like, you defended this action and your words. Not only with "you shouldn't dish spice if you can't handle it" but also with a later post admitting you were being condescending.

Does the company, A Thinking Ape, also support you defending them in such a way? Did they want you to post about how you're allowed to say what you want in response to "bullies" or was this what YOU wanted?

Here's some constructive feedback Marceline, maybe the next time this kind of outrage happens, and we all know it will, you try not to take your anger out on your playerbase who are just upset. Or make and alt to do it. Or just have someone else who can be professional to make a response.

But maybe you won't deem me worthy of your time because I refuse to roll over and agree with you
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[ATA]Marceline said:
... is a fantastic example of what we're not going to respond to.

I'm just Marcie the Messenger here folks; my job is to pass on the most helpful feedback to the designers who make the calls on what to do next. This sort of language comes off as bullying and nobody likes to give in to a bully's demands and is completely filtered by me.

You're not wrong in that I was being condescending but I was doing so to the group of people making and hiding behind alts and then demanding things from us. Happy to engage with people when it's civil and constructive and when the pitchforks are nicely put away.
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Lol as if calling us "bitter" and "childish" isn't bullying at all 😂
 
Nikkiemarie said:
Thank you for locking my thread, apparently there’s no freedom of speech on this game. From what I can tell, you’re only responding to irrelevant comments that only support you but ignoring the questions asked by the community. Why won’t you listen to us as a community, respond to us as your clients? Do not treat us like children when in actuality we are the reason this game is popular.
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Obviously she's only replying those that back her up. She has a whole fanbase of anyone willing to say anything to get her attention. Incase you've not realised, There's quite a handful of players who fetishize the attention of admins & mods.
 
Just a suggestion about introducing the players with new features and changes. A poll is actually a great thing to do first to know whether the community like it or not (most of the players). Because as far as I see, players think that some of the features didn't need to get changed.
 
iMidnight_His_Moon said:
As someone who works within the game company (unrelated to ATA entirely), I know how it is on the other side. People have been upset at changes, and yes changes are inevitable, however I have to agree with many that your approach on responses have been quite tactless. As a community manager you do not put in personal feelings into your responses and I see that your frustration came out quite clear Marcie.
There are probably a lot of things you are unable to share with us because that's how a business run - however I very much doubt there is any data showing that people are interested in purchasing $60 avis that isn't even in a bundle. This feels like a A/B testing going wrong or someone high up in the company making changes without knowing how the game and its community works. I seen it happen within my company as well as others. This game is 100% online and community base - as in - this game will go under without a player base that is 1. Active 2. Engaged and 3. Happy. You will not be able to please everyone at any time, however you have to acknowledge the majority of the players are not happy with this changes. The players who can't afford or don't want to spend cash has no incentive to do so now, the players who used to spend aren't willing to buy expensive avis - then who exactly are you targeting with this changes?

In my opinion I would personally recognize if I overstepped and called players childish Marcie, because fighting with fire will not lead to any good. I know it's a hard position you are in but 90% of the responses here are without attacks or foul language. Don't just scoff off those responses for the bad ones.

Thank you.
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*game industry.

I didn't have coffee when I wrote that. Just so it's clear that I am not working for any company affiliated to Thinking Ape.
 
Yes, change is needed. It always will be changing and evolving as you describe to match the players' experience and the economy as well.

BUT ... and this is a big but.
It doesnt seem to realistically make sense to charge $60 for an avatar. How exactly is that helping the ATA game economy when majority of players can't even fathom spending that on an avatar? This is a waste of resources and is only going to make people mad. I can tell you that making a sweet bundle deal at reasonable prices would reach wayyyy more of your players who are willing to spend here and there. Even the big spenders arent going to buy something worthless-- wouldnt they buy something over and over that had more reward to it?

Your players have every right to be upset. This game is literally the only game i play and have played for 5 years. You get my time and money, both equally valuable to making this game succeed. I really hope "change" will be reconsidered on the wants and needs of the players.
 
IridescentRose said:
But maybe you won't deem me worthy of your time because I refuse to roll over and agree with you
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Say it louder and say it again.
Look how many people did that, bruh get some self respect y'all.

IridescentRose said:
Or just have someone else who can be professional to make a response.
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Please.

IridescentRose said:
But not only did you make condescending remarks to users you deem are not important enough to have an opinion, because they said things in a way you didn't like, you defended this action and your words. Not only with "you shouldn't dish spice if you can't handle it" but also with a later post admitting you were being condescending.
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Tbh your post is gold and everyone here should read it like 5 times.
 
I’m so proud of the community rn. Giving great feedback and awesome ideas only to be ignored and called childish. Keep up the great work and maybe someone else will actually notice that what we’re saying is important and worth looking into
 
Ok here’s my constructive 0.02, ATA🤭

Changes that have been made past month or so won’t be that bad if you could just tweak them a little bit.


1 16k for avis is definitely way too much for regular players and lets be honest here 110k is too much for last story rewards even if you are in cat club, BUT if hunts last 3 weeks that would not be a problem anymore. It will also give ATA more time to come up w better hunts. I’m sure most ppl would prefer quality over quantity.

2 Avis being Molly Corner will also be ok if you add dns and ecs to the deal. Change bundle avis every 2-3 months so ppl will keep buying.
You don’t even need to come up w new designs there. I know a lot of ppl who would be happy to get some of older avis. I don’t think it would be fare to include avis that were box/lb rewards, but doing old main story/side story avis would be fair imo. Maybe do some recolor/stat change.
You can even do polls on forum to see what avis ppl would like to be included in next bundle 🤭

3 Put back avis to montly boxes. Maybe reduce the quantity ? 4 avis instead of 6 would still be fine.

4 Stat brackets for spotlight xc is definitely a good idea, so more ppl have a chance
also pls add that pet lvling xc #foreverwaiting


Side note, i’m sure it was pointed out before but you definitely should not call your customers childish and bitter. It is extremely unprofessional. I would be fired on the spot if ive told customer that irl. Even if customer was rude to me.
 
This really has come the hi-light the significance of the word Ape in ATA.... unfortunately it wasn't an emphasis on the Thinking.

Maybe if ATA stopped buying hundreds of dollars of wasteful luxuries by the week for their employees, then perhaps you wouldn't need to force these half-baked, and rather illogical attempts at trying to rake in more money.

And perhaps cutting budget corners by hiring the artist who made BF, circus and Trinidad hunts, which not only are just terribly awful and inconsistent avis that look like bargain bin content next to the better done ones, but it's just not even great art in general. You probably wouldn't have so many people who refuse to spend a dime if the ART we PAY for, wasn't a novice sketch with some colour thrown on it.

I literally spent thousands on this game in my run, because in 2018, the hunts were on fiiiiire.

I haven't given a large effort to any of these hunts this past year and a half because it's all so... not even mediocore, let's be real.

But fr, if ATA's messanger is gonna be coming out here with anti-customer service stances, then yikes, this is gonna be A YEAR. 😂😂😂😂
 
[ATA]Marceline is really out here trying to call people childish for being genuinely angry & having a voice.. Like these people aren't spending hundreds, thousands even, on this damn game. 😅

GIRLLLLL 🙈 The animosity in your reply says enough! You are supposed to be a professional. Remember, you represent ATA.. Since you know, you work for them & all.
You are one of the many faces of this company. Please remember that before you try to belittle & insult basically everyone who has a voice on this app.

Eeeek, I read her reply & just cringe. 🥴

I mean, thanks for replying, I guess. None of the other developers have the balls too. But, let's be real.. You should have probably just kept your mouth shut. You thought you were coming "with spice"? Child, you came with nothing but animosity. Either way, "spice" is not appropriate when people are genuinely upset.

You played yourself *DJ Khaled VC

How childish am I, now? 😜
 
It feels like a lot of people in this thread just want to feel like part of a revolution. Think about what you are choosing as your cause. An avatar. It’s so easy to just not buy the avatar. I think Marcie was pretty patient, and did it in a humorous manner. She showed that they are listening, but you really can’t expect her to support your anti ATA stance.
 
Zelda said:
You act like they keep 100% of the money. Go yell at the Amazon guy

running a business in itself has costs.
Each employee
utility bills
Renting office(s)
MONTHLY charges to keep app in AppStore/google play/wherever else

most companies barely make enough to be considered profitable. ATA was pretty stagnant for a while, so all these changes must mean something. They’ve hired quite a few new team memebers, and that’s just who we know of. Some staff don’t play PIMD. I get that your whole thing is “justice for the player” but like, trial and error. Obviously they’re to take all this backlash in, summarize it, and implement updates. That’s how a professional business works. Every business goes through it or they get left behind. I can’t say what the future holds, but it wouldn’t be the firs time ATA reversed a decision. I’m not saying they’re going to fix it tomorrow, but hopefully next month there is progress. Being RUDE will get you nowhere but probably banned (again)
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V_Witchy_101 said:
It feels like a lot of people in this thread just want to feel like part of a revolution. Think about what you are choosing as your cause. An avatar. It’s so easy to just not buy the avatar. I think Marcie was pretty patient, and did it in a humorous manner. She showed that they are listening, but you really can’t expect her to support your anti ATA stance.
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Um no lol
 
Honestly, while I adore the monthly avatars, as a professional artist I agree the majority of players here in saying that they aren't worth $60 USD ($90 AUD) in a mass produced state. They're brilliant works, but for nearly $100 AUD I would expect to receive a personalised avatar commission of that quality in place of a mass produce item - an artist even as big as sakimichan or yuumeiart would be dismissed if they tried charging those prices for the equivalent of a digital copy of their work, let alone a physical item like a print.

I don't disagree the avatars are, uniquely and singularly, worth the high price on them, but when you look at the fact you're expecting hundreds - even thousands of players to purchase them you're essentially saying these digital fullbody artworks are worth hundreds and thousands of dollars each. That's the price of a brand new motorcycle, a used car, several months rent, a new computer. They're brilliant works, but they're not original paintings or even physical copies for that matter. I'd be a very broke freelancer if I ever tried anything like that and I double your artists are receiving the lions share of that boon regardless.

I'm not a game designer or anything like that, but I do love playing and supporting this game and if things become too expensive for even a smaller pay to play player like myself to afford then I'm going to be leaving too. I can't afford $100+ aud a week to cover avatars and cats and boxes, I just can't. Many other players are in similar positions.

All we ask is that you make things feel fair again for everyone playing. If that means introducing a completely new exclusive tier of paid avatars to cover this idea, then go ahead. Just please don't punish the lower pay to play and free to play players in the process. Most of the scorn you're receiving is just marking mass betrayal and that's why we're all hurt.

Please listen to us. We don't want to quit, but we have real lives too. We need to eat and sleep and work and pay rent and bills, just like you. We just want to feel like you care, that's all.
 
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