| On May 1, 2006, Zmaster held a 2-hour chat session to discuss MSN Games’ decision to retire CD-ROM matchmaking and several Classic games from the site. Several hundred players participated in this Q&A.
Please note that there will be another chat on May 8, 2006, at 10AM PST!
+Shine@MPlus> Hello Everyone. Our Zone Auditorium is currently full. We will be posting the chat excerpt from this morning's chat online tomorrow morning. For players who are currently unable to join us this morning, please participate in this afternoon's chat at 3:00 PST.
Hey guys--fyi, some of your friends may be having problems trying to get in--please apologize in advance to them... chat logs will be posted later as well.
+ZMaster@Zone> Good morning players! Thank you for participating in this morning's chat. We have received a lot of your feedback about the retirement of our classic card and board games and CD-ROM games. Today's chat, we'll be answering your questions and taking suggestions.
We apologize in advance if we are unable to get to everyone. We will be hosting 3 other chats (one this afternoon), so if we are unable to answer your question today, please come back this afternoon to our chat or submit your questions directly to zmaster@microsoft.com. We will be posting this morning's chat log online tomorrow.
Ok. Let's get started!
+Shine@MPlus> OK, thanks again for being here...
As listed on the agenda for today's meeting, we will be addressing the following issues roughly in the times outlined here: http://zone.msn.com/en/general/article/genretiringchat.htm. To ask our guest a question, click on "Room" in the menu bar at the top of the window. Then, from the choices listed, select "Ask Question" to add yourself to the asking list. PLEASE have your questions typed BEFORE you get moved up to asking. Doing this will save a whole lot of time and allow just as many folks as possible to ask questions.
SOS cute, you're up.
SOS_Cute_One> It seems the only answers provided at the + meeting was that there is outdated software and this is a tech issue. Are you going to provide any more information other than "this is a tech issue", "this is not a money issue", and we don't know when the new programs will be ready and how they will operate? And will the fact that so many are here in to protest make any difference to the decisions already made?
+ZMaster@Zone> Thanks for your question. To answer your first question, we are retiring CD-ROM and Classic Card and Board games due to outdated technology and software. It takes a lot of time in development and technology to keep the services running.
SOS_Cute_One> Why retire this before the new technology is here?
+ZMaster@Zone> We are currently working on the new technology. Our MSN Games staff is working diligently on new services and features for MSN Games. We read all our customer's feedback and suggestions and we take those into consideration as we're designing our new platform. As to why we're retiring "Zone", it's like having a Commodore 64 and plugging it into your new plasma TV: the features and usability doesn't work well together.
SOS_Cute_One> There are 1000 folk in here who are not happy - does that matter?
+ZMaster@Zone> As new technology advances, it's a challenge to ensure that the services stay up to date with the new technology. Thanks SOS.
Next question?
+Shine@MPlus> ty cute_one. fyi, slight change of plans... due to the numbers waiting to ask a question we will work through the queue as quickly as possible rather than following the rough agenda.
+ZMaster@Zone> Sorry... SOS... I just saw your last question. We know that MANY folks are unhappy about the retirement of these games. We read every one of your e-mails. It was definitely a decision that was not made lightly. Everyone within the MSN Games team looked at all the options, and for us to continue to provide new services and games and working towards building a new platform. This was one of those hard decisions.
+Shine@MPlus> Hi mo, welcome. What's on your mind?
MO_CaNaDa2> Why retire this before the new technology is here? We want to keep our games, will today's forum not make any difference or change your mind at all? are you trying to get leagues out? ur pushing a lot out now.
+ZMaster@Zone> Why we're retiring before the new technology is because the software and the servers are old.
MO_CaNaDa2> they still work good enough for us. they software new or old we like it. you have the money keep them both?
+ZMaster@Zone> Because of technology limitations, we are not able to move the software (the Zone code) from our older servers to our new servers.
MO_CaNaDa2> how long will Classic spades be not on the zone? will our opinions matter? you got other games going without closing them, why not ours too? that bites.
+ZMaster@Zone> To answer your other questions, leagues and tournaments and Spades... Leagues and tournaments will be retired. We are building a new Spades that we hope to have online this summer.
Thanks Mo.
+Shine@MPlus> bgfan, you're up...
bgfan2> Why is msn shutting down the most popular game they have(spades) when the new improved version of hearts makes watching paint dry compelling! You will lose thousands of players and the advertising revenue that is derived from them. When you changed hearts the number of players plummeted. If over a thousand turn up to 1st meeting to protest I think you have a problem!! How can the hackers rewrite code faster than your programmers?? why cant you use an emulator to run the old zone software on new servers....... Why are you closing the lobbies. All of the teams I know of are off to yahoo, iplay and dolphins cove if this goes through.
new improved hearts stinks I stopped playing hearts 3 hours after u put it up!! Do we get to look forward to same on spades??? I realize you have to fix problems with hackers/cheats etc but this extreme!!! I've recd 42 zm in last 2 mins I guess a few others agree
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Bfan 2. We will be taking town the classic Spades on June 19th and are currently creating a new Spades games due out this summer. We know that our players enjoy the lobbies. MSN Games is always looking into developing and creating new services for players to play games online, play with others, and engage in new ways.
The same developers that brought you Spades are working on the new Spades. So they are looking at taking the older Spades and making it better. While getting into the game will be different (i.e. lobbies), the game play will be much improved. And I'm personally looking forward to playing the new Spades.
bgfan2> will there be fees on new improved spades?
+ZMaster@Zone> Spades is still free. Thanks BGFan!
+Shine@MPlus> Thanks bgfan -- appreciate the questions and comments.
FYI -- in the interests of time, please ask only one question of our guests today -- thanks!
johnchaser, welcome
JohnChaser> Good Afternoon folks! Hello ZMaster... :) It's nice to see you again. I would like to ask a few questions. Are there any chances to have Zone back in the future when Windows Live is out? Like with new Multiplayer (retail) games, new ZoneFriends and so on.. so it can go for another 10 years? And what about us Member Pluses? And what about the new Spades that you are mentioning? Will it have lobbies?
+ZMaster@Zone> To answer your first question... Many of the community features, such as ZoneFriends will be gone and replaced with new community features. And the lobbies will be replaced with our new matchmaking service.
JohnChaser> MSN is a great way to communicate... that's true. We could use that along with lobbies. To communicate with other newbies and players.
When is the new software to be out? I heard rumors that it's not gonna happen in the next two years. Not any less than two years actually. Is this true?
+ZMaster@Zone> Currently our Marketing team has our future plans under "wraps". We will be at E3 next week and will be making some very COOL announcements about our plans for the future.
JohnChaser> And what about the upcoming retail games? Can you tell anything about it?
+ZMaster@Zone> As for retail games, Microsoft as a whole will be making announcements at E3 on new games that are coming out. E3 is a consumer convention where all game developers post new games and new announcements. We'll add the links to E3 in the chat log post article afterwards. Thanks John!
+Shine@MPlus> TY john. welcome ca5tr0. what's on your mind?
_FiI7eL_CA5TR0_> greetings. Since Microsoft cite the burden of maintaining ageing software and hardware, would Microsoft/MSN Gaming Zone be prepared to release any source code to allow third parties to make their own lobby software?
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello FiI7el_CA5tro. Unfortunately, no. Microsoft will not be releasing any source code. The technology is patented. Did you have a second question?
+Shine@MPlus> ok then, thanks ca5tr0
Hiya bull, what's up?
bulliest_bull> why ? since there are so many spades players why you wait til end to make spades site? and why retire it before new site is up and running?
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Bulliest. The timing of taking down classic Spades before a new Spades is online is not ideal. I agree with you. And I have communicated this to our development team. Our developers know that many customers are waiting on a new Spades.
bulliest_bull> will new MSN spades have lobby and lobby at table? Lobbies are important for having more fun and meeting people. I traveled and met many admin and players because we could talk and get to know each other. MSN use to be about friendly spades and making new friends! and finally Is MSN doing this to force Pay to Play? or be like POGO?
+ZMaster@Zone> Lobbies will be replaced with our new multiplayer service. So Spades will have the new multiplayer experience. MSN Games is still free. Players can still play Hearts, Spades, etc. for free. Spades will be free.
+Shine@MPlus> thanks bull :-) Hiya phree, what's on your mind?
Phree_Aza_Byrd1> hi and ty for meeting
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Phree. Greetings from a cold Seattle!
Phree_Aza_Byrd1> Do the zone management realize that it is the lobbies that makes the zone such a gr8 place to play. It is the friendships we establish with our fellow zoners that make us want to stay there longer when we are online and to come back and play again the next time we get online. I have tried the new style hearts and it is far too impersonal. I have no problem adding players to my zone friend list, however I am far more picky who I choose to add to my messenger contacts and I suspect I am not the only person who feels this way. No lobbies and no zone friends means that the zone is going to be a far less social place to be and for most of us the social side is very much an aspect that we enjoy The loss of the lobbies also means that is going to be impossible for leagues, ladders and tourneys to operate and that means for many of us we will have to find new sites to play.
Does the zone have any plans to re-instate lobbies in the future and if so when and is this a definite commitment ? Can u answer question asked earlier about using emulators plz Are u aware few like matchmaking…and prefer to pick own pards and opps Please explain what u mean by multiplayer experience cuz to me that is just meaningless jargon right now. sorry about 4 questions there but I wanted to get them all in
+ZMaster@Zone> Wow... that's a lot of questions Phree. And I'll do my best to answer them all. As a Zone player myself, and I'm a LONG time Zone player, I understand that you and many players enjoy many of the social experiences like Zonefriends and lobbies. And when we created our new multi-matchmaking services, we incorporated similar features that players liked, but we realize the lobbies provide players the opportunity to choose other players, that Zonefriends allows you to talk with your friends privately…
Phree_Aza_Byrd1> it does more than that. it allows me to stay in touch with new peeps in a way that I can dump them easily if they prove to be "undesirable". only folks I have known for a while are permitted on my messenger list
+ZMaster@Zone> …and when we're creating and designing our new features/services, we are taking those features into consideration. We understand that customers like lobbies. I like them too... and we are working towards providing similar services that meet those needs. Your last question about emulators. We currently have no plans for emulators. Thanks Phree.
+Shine@MPlus> hi all, we're nearing the 1 hr mark... please have you're ?s pre-typed -- ty :-)
Hiya mss
MsStyque__> Hi ZMaster and all. It appears that I will not be able to live with the changes you are preparing to implement, even though I lived thru many changes, since the ZONE was the Village. For example - I started to play your All-In Hold'em Challenge game that has, as a prize, a trip to WSOP. However, even though I won many games, every time I sign in anew, it says I have no rating. GRRR. Is this the way all your games are going to be- screwed up?? And I HATE the so-called matchmaking experience. I only rarely play Hearts and then only play Classic, but I understand your new Hearts games are just as bad and don't work correctly either. Also, with no Hosts or Sysops present, the LANGUAGE used by some players is just terrible. It is very hard for me to understand how, with all the smart, talented people at Microsoft, you are not able to upgrade the Zone so we can keep it the way we like it. We have many loyal tournament players and we enjoy Tournament Play and the camaraderie that we find in the lobbies. It enables us to chat and meet other players. Please do not take our tournaments and lobbies away. If the problem truly is with the software, I know that with the "brains" at Microsoft, you will be able to find some way to keep them. I have just been asked to ask if we MUST endure your proposed changes, will different formats be available? But we beg you, please retain our tournaments and lobbies and keep the Zone a FAMILY SITE! Or, does it just boil down to MONEY???? Because if it is, you will be losing a BUNDLE in advertising. Every tournament player I know is moving on when this happens.
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello MsStyque. Thank you for your questions. It's not about the bottom line... the money. It's about moving forward with new technology and building new services. Our code and software are old and outdated. Imagine having a 64 Dodge, where the car is old, outdated, and no auto dealer has parts to fix it. And the 64 Dodge doesn't even pass emissions tests.
MsStyque__> Well, you just said that MONEY was the bottom line. I had a '64 Dodge and I upgraded and as I said, I cannot believe that with all the geniuses at Microsoft, they cannot upgrade this to the way the players want it! It is currently the best spades on the net, and what you are doing is fixing something that does not need to be fixed.
+ZMaster@Zone> No. Money is not the bottom line. It's not about the money. It's about trying to fix something that no longer can be fixed, upgraded, or improved. It's also about making sure that you, the players, the community have the best games and services. I am a ZONE player. I LOVE everything about the ZONE, and as a player myself, I would like to play the best there is online.
MsStyque__> I believe like us Classic Players, you are getting rid of the Classic Games and catering to the young. Well, you will be getting rid of us too.
+ZMaster@Zone> Our games appeal to everyone. I know that the games I like might be different from someone else's. And it is our goal that everyone will enjoy the new games and services that are being created. I continuously provide customer feedback and suggestions to the game developers, testers, and business decision makers in our group. They know what our customers like and do not like. It is my job to give voice to your feedback and suggestions and ensure that what we're building on MSN Games will be enjoyed by everyone... all types of gamers, all types of players, all types of online community.
+Shine@MPlus> thanks for the follow-up, zmaster.
fyi -- if you have multiple questions, in the interests of time we will address the first question to best get through all those in the queue. Please join us in our other chats or email zsuggest@microsoft.com if we do not get to your question during this chat.
ok., bagzy, you're up
_bagzy_> Do you realize the financial impact on your company, when u retire classic board games? Few will play, and advertisers will go to other sites where ladders and tourneys can be played and there are LOBBIES. I bet at bet at least 50% of the zoners are ladders and tourney players. Did you consider this? And as far as the zone goes, the only lobbies that are policed correctly and where one doesn’t meet with rudeness and disrespect are those associated with LADDER or TOURNEY play. Take this 50% away and all you will get is rudeness in game chats and nice folks shying away from NEW ZONE. Soon, there will be no players in the Zone!!!! There are other sites that do have lobbies and I cant quite believe the Zone cant do this!!! And by the way, we don’t want the zone fixed!! And you need to fire the developers!!!
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Bagzy, it's nice to hear from you. We realize that many of our Classic customers and players are not happy with this announcement. We value every single one of our customers and it was an extremely difficult decision; one that was not made lightly. To go back to the Dodge 64, to keep the services running it would be just a matter of time til the Dodge 64 will not run. Hence we are giving our customers an early notification so you can play.
_bagzy_> this is NOT cars! this is PEOPLE here and we are hurt. if a Dodge can be restored, why not our beloved Zone?
+ZMaster@Zone> Yes. I completely understand and empathize. The car is meant to represent the technology. Not our users. As a Hearts player myself, I love and enjoy the old experience. However, I also enjoy the new Hearts experience. and understand why old technology needs to be retired.
+Shine@MPlus> thanks for the clarification there zmaster.
lovespeace, b4 we get to your ?, I want to get to one that was emailed in from a concerned bridge player. barb s writes:
barb s> Would you be able to open a NEW BRIDGE SITE and charge us $2.00 a month or something in that range so we could continue. I think everyone would be open to that possibility. You can see, by monitoring your Bridge Zone website that there is MUCH discussion as to where to go and yet NO ONE wants to change to the other sites as they are NOT AS GOOD AS ZONE.
+ZMaster@Zone> Barb... thank you for the compliment. We love to know that our players enjoy our features and services. As for a new Bridge site, currently, there are no plans for a new bridge site. As for paying to play, thank you for your offer, but at this time we are not looking at a pay to play model for our card and board games.
+Shine@MPlus> Thanks zmaster. lovespeace, what's up?
LovesPeace> The announcement made by Microsoft in regards to the Card-Board and CD-Rom games was a slap in the face to all those that have been so supportive of the Zone since 1995 and earlier. You close down areas that to many have become a home and haven, a place where friends are made. A place, to many who are not capable of getting out in the world due to health and other issue, have been able to socialize with people. You are closing an area with No Date Determined as to when and if you will be implementing a new area. If it looks anything like the ZPA I have seen, thanks but no thanks. The ability to find players you have long known will be non existent. The thought of giving to others your passport to which we have been long told is secure is not pleasing. Microsoft should be ashamed. I have long enjoyed playing Cubis, Cubis2 and Bejeweled. Of late, I had been playing Degree's All-In. Since the announcement, I have played none and will not support a site that does not support its players. In your holier than thou, 'they will take whatever we dish' attitude, you have scorned so many. Senior citizens, handicapped and others housebound, have relied on the zone as a way to interact with others. Please think of this. WE ARE THE ONES that have supported you through the years and brought others to your site. Our numbers in here may look small, but our voices can be heard by many. Would it not be more 'economical' to build the technology and allow the old system to remain until such time, rather than alienating 1000s of ZONERS who have been your backbone since the Zone was purchased in 1995? They will not 'wait' They are already actively looking for new lobbies to call home. By retiring leagues and tournaments, you are sending 1000s to other sites. They are readying themselves with the games that these dedicated supported are being kicked from. You say the same developers of Spades. Does that mean you hired The Village? I am from Cribbage who has always been treated as a step-child. For those interested in cribbage, email me at LovesPeace@peggingpals.com thanks you may move me down now
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello LovesPeace. Thanks for your comments. To address your economics question, it's not economical for MSN Games to build the new technology and allow the old system to remain. The servers are old. Old technology needs to be retired. We are unable to support our old technology. We are taking the time to work and develop new resources and better than what you currently have today. It's a choice that we had to make. It was definitely a difficult choice, and one we didn't want to make. However, we want to provide the best for our customers.
+Shine@MPlus> ty for the clarification...
godiva, welcome.
_Godiva> Once upon a time, Two Men built a small village, starting with a only one house of hearts. Soon new houses sprung up with spade shaped windows and castles for chess; A glorious bridge spanned a winding river in the foreground. This Village grew and grew because of the vision and heart of Craig Poley (Bear@Zone), Wayne Holtz (Holtz@Zone), Ron Pitman (Ron@Zone), Kevin Hansen (?Hansen@zTech), Dan Sommers (?Glazed@zTech), Dale Beaudette (?Cyberdad@zTech). We have stayed when Microsoft bulldozed our village to blaze a path for Passport. We have withstood the CPU spikes of Bobblehead ads and tried this new, forced matchmaking system called ZPA. We've listened to you, but now we must speak... You can keep your vistas and new technology MSN Games. We won't be here for more destruction and we've re-assembled those talented people who originally laid the digital keystones here.
+ZMaster@Zone> Did you have a question, Godiva?
_Godiva> We can, and will, rebuild our village without you, only this time it will be a World! For development news email newsgroups@zonetechs.com.
+Shine@MPlus> ty godiva, hope that we can all forge new memories in the future.
hi there brattastic.
Brattastic> Are there any plans to restore ladder rooms to spades play? Or are you eliminating leagues and tourneys all together and not bringing them back? and can you at least just tell us to stop moaning about it and move on to another site, have your advertisers been made aware of the “players” complaints? Would it make a difference if we emailed them in stead? I declare we all leave this chat and start emailing the advertisers to get action, this is not working !! campfire spaders will live on, at another site and prevail as always, hiya cfers that are reading
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Brattastic. Leagues and ladders can still happen. New Card and board games will be hosted on MSN Games and you can still use the league and ladder system. You just have to be a bit more creative.
Brattastic> creative how? how can we get games with no lobby or zf? how can we ensure new players to our leagues, there is no way to have communication without an open airway, we can add new players without knowing their msn addy in advance
+ZMaster@Zone> You, the players, can choose who you want in your leagues. It's up to you on how you want to organize it.
+Shine@MPlus> hiya piggin.
__pigginsaucy2> You said you are taking into consideration suggestions while developing the new technology. How come then the new format isn't what us the customer wants .Sorry zmaster you have got it very very wrong . I have one question will the changes be implemented in June irrespective of what is said today
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Piggin. We recognize what our players like to do online -- chat, multiplayer matchmaking, playing with computer, choice, privacy, in-game chat, etc. While the new features do not match the current features players still have the option to do "similar" game features. In short, it's making sure you can do what you want in the new multiplayer service.
__pigginsaucy2> sorry you have taken away choice and give us a dictatorship just tell me the date you propose to make changes thks you for your time
+ZMaster@Zone> June 19th is till the date. Thanks Piggin.
+Shine@MPlus> hi jenneth, welcome.
Jenneth> Please give a yes/no answer on whether or not there will be group chat lobbies in the new software, and if yes, some kind of vague timeline for when they will appear. Member pluses inquired this a year ago from the @mplus staff, so you've had a year to come up with an answer. This is also why "We're still thinking about it and taking your love for lobbies into consideration" is not an acceptable answer. You've been thinking about it and taking it into consideration for a year already. Please let me know if you cannot give a yes/no answer to that, and I'll rephrase it into smaller pieces.
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello Jenneth. To answer your question... as of June 19th, there will be no lobbies.
Jenneth> just a yes/no or can't answer will do - if you can't answer, I'll rephrase
+ZMaster@Zone> No.
Jenneth> And btw... try hitting a new ford with a 64 dodge and see which comes off best.
+ZMaster@Zone> We are designing and making plans for our community. If you have any suggestions, please send them to zmaster@microsoft.com, subject line "Community features feedback". Thanks Jenneth.
+Shine@MPlus> thanks for the clarification zmaster
sirp, what's up?
SirPenguin> You say it is about offering new games with new features, but the new games you've released (backgammon, hearts for example) ,,, Have LESS features than the games you are replacing, such as the simple ability to choose number of pts for a BG match or choose opps ... The bugs in the current lobby games have existed for literally YEARS without being fixed, can we expect the same from the "improved" games? You're retiring the '64 Dodge with all the add-ons and features and power everything, that still runs and replacing it with a Shiny New 2007 Kia that's has no radio or A/C, hand crank windows and isn't even ready for delivery yet and will require constant trips to the shop for repair ... in short, a lemon! Also what's the point of mailing our questions to zsuggest if those mails are NEVER replied to, and only one which was sent in for this meeting has been answered?
+ZMaster@Zone> For your car analogy... if you think about it in terms of cars, cars are improved over time. New models of cars, are constantly added with new features that customers send in.
SirPenguin> but your new car doesn't run, the old one has hiccups but does, your new car has no features, not even the ones the old cars had
+ZMaster@Zone> However the REALLY OLD CARS, where parts are no longer found, are the ones that get retired. As for mailing zmaster or zsuggest...
SirPenguin> not zmaster, zsuggest, where we were told to send questions which would be answered HERE, none of which have
+ZMaster@Zone> We are compiling every one of the e-mails that get sent to zsuggest into a document that gets sent to our game developers and testers. We even post the letters to zsuggest in our hallway bulletin board, and a lot of people stop by the hallway to read them. I've even had people swing by my office, telling me that customers are providing great ideas and that we hope to implement some of them. So we are listening, and we take all customer suggestions seriously.
SirPenguin> you've had a year already with new backgammon and we still cant choose number of pts for a match, that not even a feature, its a requirement
+ZMaster@Zone> let me follow-up directly with our game developer, and I'll try to post the response to your question directly into this chat log about the pts of match.
Stay "cool"
[REPLY FROM DEVELOPERS, INSERTED FOR CHAT LOG]> The pre-defined match point setting is not an oversight, but a design feature. We understand that some players enjoy setting the match points themselves; however, over time we discovered that many players did not seem to like having another player define the game settings. Hence the decision to pre-define the points. Thanks!
+Shine@MPlus> welcome scandalousone.
_Scandalous_ONE> Hi! I am mplus but I am more than that, I am a Zoner and I AM A EUCHRE player! I love this site for euchre...and it's gone... why even have these meetings, Mplus program is gone classics are gone and end of story.... I want someone to have enough "tenacity" to say it. You want to hear our ideas and such well hear this please, no one really cares about your multiplayer matchmaking. We like it the way it is nothing is going to change it: Say it's over please, don't dance around the issue! z5 , Scott, Moxie??? One of Ya'll wanna try and muster up the energy to say it's over? I just want a simple Scannie it's over. Can you muster that? Just tell me it's over simply put don't flower it up. I can handle that better....no more meetings please it's almost disrespectful to us!
+ZMaster@Zone> A Euchre player... I am one too!
However, we currently do not have plans to create a new Euchre game. To answer your question, or statement, MemberPlus program and games with lobbies are being retired on June 19th. But community is about the relationships you form with each other. And while the technology is changing, we are working to provide you, the community, better ways and options of engagement.
+Shine@MPlus> Thanks Scandalous. welcome, lilkitty.
_LilKitty_> I would just like to say that this is indeed a matter of $$ and Politics. Not for those of us you all see here today! What this boils down to is this: The guys in the suits at Microsoft are the ones behind what is happening today. You see for them it boils down to one thing...Keeping THEIR job! In order to ensure their Employment with Microsoft, they had to come up with a new idea, create for themselves MORE work so their employment is not Terminated. Simply creating a new image for zone by changing carpets is nothing short of a few keystrokes for them. In a nut shell they had to make drastic changes OVERALL on The Zone to ensure they will receive a paycheck each week as an employer of Microsoft. Anything said here yesterday, today or tomorrow will make no difference to the future of the zone. It's change IS carved in stone (and yes not fully complete) because if it were, then once again their Term will come.
+ZMaster@Zone> This is NOT the case. And I'd like to make this very clear with the community and all the folks who are online, that WE... all the people who work and play on MSN Games... did not make this decision to retire classic games lightly. The MSN Games team, and I mean everyone, looked into ALL the options.
_LilKitty_> HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Each and EVERY one of YOU! My sympathy goes out to all you @zone and @mplus who in the end of all this will also be losing their jobs. I have only 1 Question to ask... ZMaster will you be... or should I say a formal INVITE to you ZMASTER to attend the ZO Live tournament in Seattle this summer :) More info on that can be found at www.zogames.info For players wanting to keep their tours and lobbies, please see www.zogames.info/forum to find out where we and many other hosting teams are moving operations to, in ALL games ...
( btw feel free to flirt with me any time ) ;) ty for listening to me today I do appreciate it.
+ZMaster@Zone> Thank you for the invite LillKitty.
+Shine@MPlus> hi vgaming.
vGamingB0t> zmaster, please stop using the truck and commadore analogy. Even though the truck might be outdated, the features and the core components can be upgraded. A pimped out truck owns a new car any day. Also, are these changes set in stone? And how will these changes be making zone.com any better? It seems to me like all the gamers don't like the changes. So why not give the gamers what they want?
+ZMaster@Zone> Hello vGaming. Yes. Changes are set in stone; they will be made on June 19th. We are meeting the needs of the customer; but it's not necessarily the exact means that you currently know and are used to today. We're constantly looking at new ways for chats, services, features. The timing is not ideal, but it's impossible for us to avoid. Bottom line is that the technology and software is outdated. The time we spend fixing and updating such old technology could be spent working on delivering you, our customers, the best and newest in online games.
I sincerely hope that everyone on the chat today knows how much we value and appreciate each and every one of you. We take each of your suggestions and complaints, and read them, and give voice to them. We use your feedback when we're thinking about new features and services. We post your comments on our bulletin boards. I send out a weekly e-mail to our entire MSN Games team about what the community is reporting. And being a true Zone player, I too am saddened about some of these changes... but I am also excited.
I'm excited about learning and seeing what Microsoft and MSN Games are developing, and I will work actively with our game developers to make sure that what they're building is what our customers want. While what MSN games delivers is not exactly the "same" (i.e. I may never "sit in a table" again), I will be able to matchmake and play multiplayer games with my friends. I will be able to chat online. And hopefully, in the future, I will be able to play with more community features. MSN Games is the best place to play online...
vGamingB0t> Well it was. So MSN makes all the calls on what zone.com does? you talk about how you read every e-mail... but why not give the gamers what they want? Yet they don't build for what the community wants?
+ZMaster@Zone> ...because it's the community, and it's the game developers here who work so very hard and compassionately to build the very best for our customers. Building what the community wants takes time. It definitely won't happen overnight. However, just as the Zone was built, players can still anticipate seeing and playing with new features and services...
vGamingB0t> "But you flat out rejected it, it wont happen"
+ZMaster@Zone> ...a few at a time.
So in closing, I just wanted to tell everyone "Thank you" for coming to the chat today. Thanks to everyone who participated. In case we didn't get to your questions today, please come back this afternoon at 3:00 PM Pacific Time, and we'll be back online to answer your questions/comments.
Again, thanks to everyone. And thanks to Shine for moderating today
+Shine@MPlus> thanks again for your time, patience, and passion, everyone! | |
