Be sure to check out the “formal explanation from BFG” in the Big Sea Games community’s Chit-Chat section. In it, Picman — who is Paul Thelen, the owner of Big Fish Games — explains the state of the site and some of the upcoming plans. It’s not good news by any stretch of the imagination, but it at least puts an explanation behind the lack of new games, updates, and fixes to current problems that we’d all expected.
Here are some highlights:
We have struggled to balance the elements of what makes Big Sea Games special with the need for revenue to fund this project for the long term. As such we have redeployed most of the Big Sea Games engineering staff to another project while we evaluate our options.
That pretty much means there won’t be any new games (and probably not the promised redesigns that are still left), but he goes on to list what their priorities are and are not:
Prior to being able to communicate a formal plan, here is what you should expect:
- A good community of people to play games and interact with
- Great customer service
- A stable site to play the games your currently love
- Some fun upcoming events and promotions (watch for news from Draddog about this in the coming days)
- Opening up the registration process to users on the wait list (coming soon)Here is what is unlikely until we have more concrete plans:
- New games or new features. These require significant engineering, testing, and technical support.
So, we’re left waiting again, and this isn’t really news to any of us who have been paying close attention, but at least we’ve got the hope that they’ll focus their efforts on stabilizing the site and bringing in new people to enjoy what we’ve had since August.
I’m not feeling positive about this news, but I don’t want to be negative either. The truth is that I’ll be sticking it out and waiting for whatever comes, whether or not it was what we all had expected. Something important to keep in mind (and this is just my interjection here): the site’s been in beta for almost six months. To some people, like those of us who have been patiently waiting for new games and fixes, a six-month beta period is a long time but I suppose in the industry and in the whole scheme of things, it’s not that long. Perhaps we should take a look back at what they have accomplished instead of focusing on the promises they’ve failed to keep? Don’t get me wrong, I’m frustrated right along with the rest of you, but it’s probably more of a problem with their communication than implementation and Picman’s post is one step in the right direction in my view.
I am, however, really excited at the prospect of new users coming in off the wait list. I think it’ll reinvigorate the site at least for a few months (though I fear new players will — just as we did — grow bored with the current content if there are no new games or updates for a long period of time) and I look forward to meeting new people making new friends.
How do you feel about this announcement? Is it going to change anything for you? I’d love to hear all of your thoughts.
Filed under: Big Sea Games
{ 30 comments }
Hi Lura, no it isn’t good news, but I still think it is a great site and it fills in when Pogo has nothing else new. Granted there aren’t as many games as I would like but if you work through awards and ranks the site can keep you occupied for quite awhile. I think there Customer Service is outstanding and everyone there is very helpful. I wish Big Seas the best in their efforts to get new games and updates. Possibly instead of adding new games they will offer things like m/ms or challenges. Thank you Lura.
One thing I’m surprised you didn’t mention Lure – Picman is Paul Thelen the owner of Big Fish Games so what we have got here is from the horse’s mouth and much more reliable than what has been flying around previously.
My personal response – is in three parts
Firstly I am grateful that we finally have heard what is happening with the site – even if it is nothing!
Secondly I am angry that it took so long for any official response from them – indeed it took a number of quite hostile postings from various people (and I will readily admit that I am one of them). The posts that went into forum last weekend and early this week were quite surprising in their consistent condemnation of the site especially rejecting the mantra we were being fed about how hard they were working with various matters having “high priority”.
Thirdly I am very angry that the site is basically being left in a very poor unfinished state – they are not proposing to do much (if anything) in the near future to correct all the faults or bring back the promised games. They knew what state the site was in when they switched it from Big Fish community and made us all beta testers (most of us without being asked!). They knew it was unstable and needed a lot of work doing on it. So why oh why did they go ahead and switch everyone and close down a popular working workable site. The idea of this new site is good but if they were not going to put the resources in they should have waited until it was “fit for human consumption”.
Unfortunately a lot of people are voting with their feet – the total number playing is often well less than 2,000 only just above what we used to find in riddle and nowadays is seldom over 5,000 – in the early days over 7,000 was not unknown in the hours I play. LOBE, the game I spend most time in used to have over 1,000 players in the Big Fish Community – now often under 100!
I would like to see the site succeed, it has the potential to be a great site but I fear the worst – no input= stagnation and decline = eventual demise
Oh for the old days of Ion Thunder!
Sorry this is a bit of an essay but you did ask for comments!
Charlie: quick response until I can further digest your full comment (and others) — I’ll update my post to include Picman’s identity. I’ll admit I was more concerned with getting the tone of my post right than with the details. :)
Drad came into lobe today and said something new was going to happen Monday. Don’t know if it was about lobe or what.
Karen: probably just an announcement about the upcoming events. From the same thread I linked to above:
I’m not holding my breath for anything *too* exciting.
Reading further in the responses I see someone saying the devs have been moved to Faunasphere where they are making money — this could be true or not, but it doesn’t really matter. I am of the mindset that using money as an excuse is a cop-out — could it be that this site’s near-failure at this point is because they didn’t have the foresight to realize a free site with no advertising or other revenue stream would put them into the red? I don’t know how that’s possible. (That reminds me, I need to make sure my paid subscription doesn’t get renewed in March!)
Already I’m seeing conflicting messages. In Picman’s post I clearly left with the impression they’d stabilize the site and then invite new visitors off the waiting list. Maybe I read too much between the lines. Later, Draddog clarified:
I guess this means they think the site is stable now? I don’t know, I’m more distracted and concerned by the very nebulous “once we know what the future holds”.
Draddog has spent a long time in LOBE today – further comment re Monday -
“Its not going to be anything so earth shattering it weill change your opinion. It will be fun”
so you are right not to hiold your breath Lure
one good thing that has come out of the last week or so – Draddog is actually sitting in a room talking openly with us – something Ive not seen before
charlie: yay, step(s) in the right direction!
This is not the best news, but at least its working for the most part and its part of my daily routine to come to this site and play some of the usual games that Ive enjoyed since finding this website. However, I do wish that they could have finished what they started in getting the rest of the games up and running in beta as I do miss some of them that I got used to playing. I will be sticking it out with Big Fish.
Now the mention of devs being moved to Faunasphere has been censored by the moderators with a note of “[Inaccurate information edited out by a moderator] “. This is part of the problem that people have with the moderators which is a small part of people’s discontent with the BSG site — why not quote the incorrect information in the very next comment and explain it’s not true? Doing that involves a lot less walking on thin ice, IMO.
Im a bit saddened, but its legitimate for BFG to focus on making money. Possibly, as suggested above, they might have been able to foresee problems with the model the beta follows, but Ive had a lot of fun while they tried it.
I don’t like the idea that I was being used as a Tester for a site that it appears they are not going to upgrade at all.
I don’t know about others but it appears to me that this was only a test bed for something else. And we were used.
I guess I will return to Pogo and forget this site.
I expected better..Im sure everyone did..when it was bigfish Im sure there were problems but I guess we thought they were insignificant, until they came up with the new site. Still bigfish worked well enough for me, especially in the game choice. Seems we had to give a lot to get a little, meaning the games we lost. However since the site is free to users I really cant see us complaining and getting any where with our complaints. Still like the old site a lot better.
My intitial feelings on this are not good. Most people on this site have been waiting patiently for their there favorite games to be added. Clearly that is not going to happen anytime soon if ever. If there was a gaming website that was as good as Big Sea most of us would have been long gone. Unfortunately that is not the case. Looks like we will be stuck playing the same old games until Picman decides to spend the time and money to bring the most wanted games online for the people that keep Big Sea Games alive. :(
While I was very happy with most of the new graphics and the speed of play when this site first went online, I find that most of the games have fallen back into the routine of the old site…..being slow and boring. Due to that fact, I withdrew my paid subscription for now. However, if they were to get the games amped up again and keep their play interesting, I would be happy to once again become a paid member.
Riddle was great when it first came back online but now it is back to being so boring I hardly play it at all anymore.
Unwell Mel is okay still as is a couple of the other games.
Sorry to hear that this is not going well for the company.
I’m sure the staff was not only sent to help Fauna but also a game that I received an invite to betatest. I quickly deleted it because I’m a little frustrated and annoyed. I don’t mind beta testing which I have been doing for almost a year now in BigSeas, but I think the project should have been finished before they moved everyone out.
BTW is everyone receiving their free coupons. Another point that annoys me because you can only use them for certain games; games that I have already purchased :(
I am a die-hard fan of Big Sea and have been since I first found the site, gradually tho, I find myself drifting away. I was so crazy about this site but as in life everything does change and not always for the better. I can be found more and more on FB. I enjoy both places but I really want my Big Sea back the way it was when I so loved it, I will hang in there patiently as long as I can.
I updated my subscription to big fish sea games and NOW I am sorry for that. As Paul said,” Will not be any new games or updates.” I have read tons of comments about using points to buy things for our avatars etc.. I guess that will never happen. I guess I will go to Pogo and make sure that my membership is definetely updated for I feel that you get alot more for your money than BFG.
Enjoy your bankroll Paul, cause you will have one less this coming months from me.
Thank you- Roxanne
OOPS sorry forgot to add this; I also never receive my coupons either. But then again I barely get a reply on any question that pertains to error downloads. But they sure take my money…………
Sincerely,
Really tired of the bull
I have been with Ionthunder, Big Fish now Big Sea since it began. Many changes, some good ,some not so good.
Yes there are games I’d like to have returned to play actually only one game . Team Bingo Straight Line only. Why? Be cause I’m busy and often have time to just pop in for a game or two of straight line , but not the long boring (to me) games that we presently have.
Do I feel the site has improved? Yes the graphics are so much nicer , seems to play smoother and the players are still the nice folks one likes to spend time with.
So I’ll be here Big Sea…I’ll wait it out with you as I’m sure many dedicated players will.
Wishing BS good luck and to all the players GL !
p.s. What coupons? ,mentioned in post above.
Hi Shameless-
A few times when you bought a game to download you would get a cioupopn code for the next time you buy a game. Like a percentage off; but unfortunatley it has been a long time that
i have received any. Read previous comments and others have mentioned it also.
Thanks Roxanne
Shame-
Qizara comment also stated it. Also you will sometimes get a coupon and it does’nt even work. I also have been a member since ION. I also love the new graphics but really wish we could use our points for avatar dressing.
Good Luck Big Fish gamers and company.
Unfortunately Roxanne’s not correct about the coupon codes. Old BFG Community Subscribers got coupon codes once a month (and are still getting them as of January) when the community became Big Sea Games beta. They had to give us something for our money…
The coupon codes worked for a select number of games from Big Fish Games, not their entire library. This upset a lot of subscribers since many Community subscribers were already folks who bought a lot of Big Fish Games.
Anyway, more info is available in this old post:
http://www.bigseafans.com/2009/08/31/attention-game-community-subscribers/
I, too, have not received my coupons as I was a paying member.
Dear Pam and everyone else who didn’t receive coupons they thought they deserved,
Contact tech support.
Sincerely,
Your broken record.
Can we play in Big Sea GAmes.. I have tried and tried they keep telling me that i need an invitation. Please advise.
Judy
Judy: if you have created an account, you were placed on a waiting list. They should start sending out invitations to the people on the waiting list soon.
I just visited POGO. There are more players in one game (checked many of them) than on the BSG site altogether. A sad day for everyone. Will keep checking back hoping for improvements but will not hold breath waiting. Now, once again off I go. POGO here I come, ready or not.
CharlesRambler: don’t forget the #1 Pogo fan site, BadgeHungry! :)
What in the crap is going on at bigsea games? I haven’t been able to sign in for a week. I can get to certain pages with a certain link, but can’t sign in. Cannot play any games. I wrote once, but got no answer. I am not on a wait list. I have been playing all along, and then nothing. So this is how they are treating their players now? I certainly would like some kind of an answer.
This happened to me on bigfish. I now use mozilla firefox to access these sites.
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