Post by Jatsu on Sept 23, 2014 17:20:42 GMT 1
There are some website changes that have drawn up a few concerns.
Name change feature will be removed (uncertain if it will apply to US/Friends).
This is a good change, in my opinion. Too many players have abused this feature to the point where some impersonate Kogama staff and well-known players to cause trouble in the community. Additionally, it causes problems with identifying players which can cause problems if support is needed or if players want to get into contact with each other.
My concern with this is that it might seem too strict to a young community of players. Other game companies are flexible with player's usernames. For example, Battle.net lets players change their name once. Some MMOs let players change their names for a small fee. Others still reserve name change abilities when matters of conflict arise - like when duplicates arise or if the name is inappropriate.
Another concern is if players have chosen inappropriate names, how would they be changed? Would it result in an automatic ban without question or would players have the opportunity to change their name then? Would an admin have to forcibly change their name for them? If so, wouldn't that change their login information and make it impossible for them to login again in the future? It is a case that I hope is considered when the update is implemented.
Removal of Terms and Condition from bottom of page.
I'm unsure about this one. Accessibility of Terms and Conditions agreements are important when using a service. The only place where they are accessible now is when registering for a new account, which I think is unacceptable. If a player ever has a question or concern about the rules of the game, the Terms and Conditions are an easy place to go to in order to check. Furthermore, if these are hidden, it makes it more difficult to legitimize administrative action when it is necessary.
Additional button to skip ads.
This is a little confusing for players, I'm sure. My guess is that one skip button is supplied by the ad provider, and the other (the blue one) is implemented by the Kogama website. While both buttons work to hide the ad, having two buttons causes confusion over which button to click in order to skip the ad. Also, for players who like to support the game, which button causes the least loss in revenue (since ad skipping usually means no ad revenue on Youtube)?
Ads now showing on Project loads.
This is perfectly fine. Players have to wait during load time anyway, so it's beneficial to take advantage of this wait and play an ad during it. I'm glad the devs added ads to project load times.
No longer need to register with an email.
While this may make it easier for players to sign up for Kogama, it draws a considerable amount of concerns in respect to account security. For one, requiring emails introduces a piece of identifiable information about the account being created. Having emails on record from the get-go is important to automatically ensure that the accounts can be contacted if any problem arises, like forgetting a password or issues during Gold purchases. Furthermore, if a player were to ever contact Kogama through support@kogama.com, having an email on record to associate with an account would be useful to have just in case the support ticket failed to include identifiable information. These levels of security are important to have for any game, especially one for younger users.
Also given the fact that the game is targeted to younger users, it's also safe to consider that the email provided upon registration is checked by parent or is shared by the parent. While boosting security of having a parent in the process of registration, it also contributes to the credibility of Kogama.
Having identifiable information during registration also acts as a deterrent if a banned player or troll ever tries to regain access to the website. It acts as one additional step they have to account for and inconveniences them when they have to create a different email. While it doesn't stop the very persistent troublemakers, it would cut down on a significant amount.
If anything else, players need to be encouraged to add and verify an email to their account after registration. I understand that the devs might have reasons behind their decisions, so my feedback here won't matter. Regardless, having identifiable information on a account is important, if for anything else to enable the other account features that are still available. So to encourage players to add and verify their email, perhaps they could be informed that if they do so they will receive some kind of reward, like a small gold amount or unlocked feature.
Name change feature will be removed (uncertain if it will apply to US/Friends).
This is a good change, in my opinion. Too many players have abused this feature to the point where some impersonate Kogama staff and well-known players to cause trouble in the community. Additionally, it causes problems with identifying players which can cause problems if support is needed or if players want to get into contact with each other.
My concern with this is that it might seem too strict to a young community of players. Other game companies are flexible with player's usernames. For example, Battle.net lets players change their name once. Some MMOs let players change their names for a small fee. Others still reserve name change abilities when matters of conflict arise - like when duplicates arise or if the name is inappropriate.
Another concern is if players have chosen inappropriate names, how would they be changed? Would it result in an automatic ban without question or would players have the opportunity to change their name then? Would an admin have to forcibly change their name for them? If so, wouldn't that change their login information and make it impossible for them to login again in the future? It is a case that I hope is considered when the update is implemented.
Removal of Terms and Condition from bottom of page.
I'm unsure about this one. Accessibility of Terms and Conditions agreements are important when using a service. The only place where they are accessible now is when registering for a new account, which I think is unacceptable. If a player ever has a question or concern about the rules of the game, the Terms and Conditions are an easy place to go to in order to check. Furthermore, if these are hidden, it makes it more difficult to legitimize administrative action when it is necessary.
Additional button to skip ads.
This is a little confusing for players, I'm sure. My guess is that one skip button is supplied by the ad provider, and the other (the blue one) is implemented by the Kogama website. While both buttons work to hide the ad, having two buttons causes confusion over which button to click in order to skip the ad. Also, for players who like to support the game, which button causes the least loss in revenue (since ad skipping usually means no ad revenue on Youtube)?
Ads now showing on Project loads.
This is perfectly fine. Players have to wait during load time anyway, so it's beneficial to take advantage of this wait and play an ad during it. I'm glad the devs added ads to project load times.
No longer need to register with an email.
While this may make it easier for players to sign up for Kogama, it draws a considerable amount of concerns in respect to account security. For one, requiring emails introduces a piece of identifiable information about the account being created. Having emails on record from the get-go is important to automatically ensure that the accounts can be contacted if any problem arises, like forgetting a password or issues during Gold purchases. Furthermore, if a player were to ever contact Kogama through support@kogama.com, having an email on record to associate with an account would be useful to have just in case the support ticket failed to include identifiable information. These levels of security are important to have for any game, especially one for younger users.
Also given the fact that the game is targeted to younger users, it's also safe to consider that the email provided upon registration is checked by parent or is shared by the parent. While boosting security of having a parent in the process of registration, it also contributes to the credibility of Kogama.
Having identifiable information during registration also acts as a deterrent if a banned player or troll ever tries to regain access to the website. It acts as one additional step they have to account for and inconveniences them when they have to create a different email. While it doesn't stop the very persistent troublemakers, it would cut down on a significant amount.
If anything else, players need to be encouraged to add and verify an email to their account after registration. I understand that the devs might have reasons behind their decisions, so my feedback here won't matter. Regardless, having identifiable information on a account is important, if for anything else to enable the other account features that are still available. So to encourage players to add and verify their email, perhaps they could be informed that if they do so they will receive some kind of reward, like a small gold amount or unlocked feature.
