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Re: The stamps are GONE !

Tue Jul 20, 2004 12:46 pm

claudej wrote:All the stamps are gone in my album. In the user lookup the number is OK. But go to see your album .

You have a total of 0 stamps. :o

I'm sure they will be back . ? . Sure ? . I hope so


I/m sure they will be back, like the items in the shops

Tue Jul 20, 2004 1:47 pm

I trust that they will be back as well. I'm just glad I don't collect stamps, otherwise I'd be peeved.

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:13 pm

Moogum wrote:No, it's not fair that you blame Neopets for glitches. They don't cause the glitches to happen, they fix them. I'm so tired of people blaming the programmers for things that are inevitable on a website.

Sure, you lost items worth lots of time/money, but it's not fair for you to blame Neopets. They are not "stealing" your items just because a glitch happened to you and they aren't returning things that you lost to it. Can you imagine how many people loose items to glitches? And how many would lie and say that they have lost items? For Neopets to go through each case and check out who is being truthful and who is not, it would take them away from, oh I don't know, maybe fixing the glitch? Trying to prevent it from getting more serious.

Seriously... don't blame them for technological errors.


Moogum, I work for a computer that installs a big name computer company's HRMS and Financial software for government agencies and retirement systems--so I know my way around this stuff, OK?

Yes, they are responsible for the glitches and, yes, they cause them to happen.

First, they shouldn't wait for a server to be knocking on death's door before replacing it.

Second, they should take the site down for scheduled maintenance rather than try to do the maintenance while the site is still up and running.

Third, they should have more than enough servers to handle the masses of people playing--not barely enough or only buying more when the system has a major break down, like the November TP problem.

Fourth, they should have more than enough computer specialists instead of barely enough--so these people aren't overworked to the point of being stressed out and making mistakes.

Fifth, the technology is out there to capture and reconcile the errors when glitches do occur. Banks have it. Stock trading companies have it. Heck, even grocery stores have it--and look at the number of items that go through their systems every day. Therefore, they should buy it, install it, and replace losts items as the glitches occur. And, if they can't do that, they should at least hire people to check their error messages against a user's report of a lost item. And, if the user's claim matches the item lost, give it back to them.

And, please don't use the arguments that Neopets isn't a bank, the items aren't real, the site is free--it doesn't matter. Neopets cannot survive without its players. Neopets, in essence, is nothing but a website. The players keep it alive. The time we spend on the site is valuable--not only to us, but also to Neopets, and the head honchos need to realize that.

Neopets gets paid for our time. X number of users are playing Y number of hours a month and therefore, captive audiences for the site's immersive advertising. If X and Y are really big numbers, then Neopets can charge dearly for the advertising time. But, if the site is no longer reliable, people are losing items left and right, and players (including long-time players) start quitting the game, then not only does the X decrease, but the Y really decreases. Because the long-time player devotes a lot more time to Neopets per month than the little kid who just started playing because he got a McDonald's toy. This then leaves Neopets being unable to charge as much for its advertising and sooner or later, Neopets is doomed.

And my guess is that people are leaving. My husband (with the 250+ missing items in his lupe/chia gallery) who played 3 hours a day (more on the weekends) for close to two years has quit. My daughter has lost interest in the game and her massive fortune of BD items is nothing to sneeze at. I just spoke with a player who has played since 2001 and lost his size 440 shop--he's quitting. Many PPTers have written on the forums and have PM'd me telling me that they have quit (look around PPT--are any big names missing?) I am the last holdout in our family, but I probably will quit too--my plushie gallery, which is now one of the biggest on the site, could easily be the next shop to disappear. I have just been lucky so far (if you can call all of the glitches to hit me "lucky").

The number of people who want to play Neopets is not an infinite number and eventually will bottom out--just like the number of kids who actually wanted a Teddy Ruxpin doll. So, they need to figure out a way to keep us from leaving. My suggestion is to reimburse us for our losses. That causes three things to happen: We, as users, feel valued. We can now count on the game to be reliable. We continue to devote many hours to the game.

You have to ask yourself this question: if you just started playing Neopets a week ago and a lost-item or lost-shop glitch hit you and took away the paint brush you just got enough nps to buy, would you keep playing? Especially when you write Neopets about it and they just shrug their shoulders and say "Bah, humbug, no compensation. PERIOD."

Ah, that's how you lose players.

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:17 pm

I'm so sorry about all of these glitches, but anyone who can say that this isn't neo's fault in any way obviously hasn't lost 400+ items or millions of np due to a glitch. One day neo decided to wipe my shop and restore it back to what it had been. I had been moving things from my SDB to my shop for a sale. Well, they restored my shop, but not my SDB, so I ended up losing over 400 items, including an Ace Zafara Plushie that I had earned from the BTY and about 200k in np. I have since quit neo. I totally understand what you've been through, morningstar. I feel for you, your family, and your friend. I hope you all get your stuff back and soon, I also have a friend who lost a huge shop. I also hope you get your stamps back, claude and Mark, but eventually something's going to have to be done. Neo obviously totally disregards all complaints made, and they absolutely refuse to reimburse for items lost to THEIR glitches, many of which would have been completely preventable if they'd only mentioned in the news what was going on. All we want is respect for our intelligence and the time we spend on that site, and if they continue to ignore the players that keep the site running eventually their oligarchy is going to come crashing down around them.

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:20 pm

Well said, amarise.

I remember your plight all too well--because I went through that rollback glitch, too--as did approximately 1/6th of all players (anyone on the "a" shop wiz line).

I could handle a glitch every now and then, but not a major one every week. Neopets can't just keep expecting us to "suck it up" and keep playing. Sooner or later, there is nothing left to suck up.

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:40 pm

I'm not sure if this is a glitch or not, but I recently bought an Omelette Stamp (a good bargain at 99,999NP :P), and when I tried to put it into my album, I got this message:

Invalid Stamp!!!! Abandon Ship!!! o_O

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:56 pm

souleq wrote:I'm not sure if this is a glitch or not, but I recently bought an Omelette Stamp (a good bargain at 99,999NP :P), and when I tried to put it into my album, I got this message:

Invalid Stamp!!!! Abandon Ship!!! o_O


Do you still have the stamp? Or did it disappear because it was invalid?

EDIT: And untouchable dragon, just to let you know, the items haven't come back in all of the shops. My husband's lupe/chia gallery is bare, my friend's size 400 shop is still bare, several big map/negg dealers' shops are still bare, even featheralley's shop has nothing in it.

Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:01 pm

Yes, I still have the stamp. Oddly enough (and frustratingly) I can't put it into my stamp album! o_O

Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:03 pm

:) better stick it in your sdb for now :) and congrats on getting it! :)

Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:06 pm

Okay, this sucks. I refreshed my overview page (it was okay before), and it says:

You have a total of 0 stamps.

Horrid glitch >_<

Edit: Oh, thanks =) Yeah, I'll put it into my SDB till the glitches are over =P

Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:21 pm

i back morningstar and amarise thoroughly. obviously if TNT claims this to be the best they can do, then they really need to look into new avenues to boost player confidence. the alarm level among rich players has almost reach a paranoidal level to the point where it's affecting the way players play their game. in fact, it's changing the overall texture of the game and i am not just referring to the improving artistic aspect of neopets. it's becoming a vicious cycle with more glitch victim stressing the support staff who got distracted or overworked, leading to more complaints. i seriously hope all of you get your stuff back in the end because i can really put myself in your shoe, which is a dreadful situation to be in.

Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:42 pm

:D theyre fixed!

Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:57 pm

I don'T think you should be worried, because the shops did the same thing... Im sure you'll get your stamp back!

Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:12 pm

Valé wrote:I don'T think you should be worried, because the shops did the same thing... Im sure you'll get your stamp back!


Unfortunately, not all shops are back yet--check out the mega-sized shops of xmas_in_july, bacardi42, married2mike, and even the infamous featheralley. No items in any of them.

And, one friend only got 4 of her items back in her gallery--the other 80 are still "disappeared."

Hopefully, it is only a matter of time.

Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:12 am

as said before, it would probably be better to fix glitches when the site is REALLY taken down, not that pteri which usually goes away after a refresh or two.
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