January 2015: TSTO reaches all-time low on iOS Top-Grossing charts

I truly hope that the game can climb it's way back up the chart some and ea continue to support the game as I'm sure that many others as well as myself would miss the game, I know at some point it will reach an end but believe that there is still plenty of life left in the game, I will miss certain people from the forum as they had some great advice and humour but accept their reasons for leaving the game as some of the issues could I'm sure have been avoided and certain dialogue was a bit close to the bone as they say, I've also play a face***k game that was based around farming by a company named Z***a that was actually worse than tapped out for reliability and that's still going, hopefully ea can solve some of the main Issue and try in future to reduce them, I accept that some problems will arise and can't be forseen and avoided the best thing I think would be for some company rep to keep the players informed that they know of the problem and actively working to fix it, something as simple as Information could have avoided lots of the complaints and frustration that people had, sorry for the wall of text is wasn't going to be this long of a post when I started typing.

It's ranked 17 on the top grossing apps in my list?

ACE19711 wrote:
It's ranked 17 on the top grossing apps in my list?

Doesn't every territory have another chart?

Great post Mo! I for one really hope the game last a good long time. I've been playing almost a year now and feel the game has its ups and downs but on a whole is great entertainment.

One thing that I think is a huge problem is the lack of consistent communication from EA. They obviously know the issues and frustrations that a lot of players have but some simple communication from them would make most players feel much much better about it all. I've heard many things lately about this new support center in Austin, TX but I really don't have any actual proof that it exists. I've only heard second or third hand through people on the forum. If EA really is putting all this effort into customer service by installing a new center why wouldn't they announce this publicly? The Facebook post yesterday acknowledging the server was down was huge. It let so many people know that they were on it. But that was the first time I can remember EA letting us know what's going on during an issue. The game is great but all technology will have its issues. Simple communication would make these bumps so much more tolerable.

drumnman wrote:

00-marco_rosas wrote:

cjryder625 wrote:
the only problem I can see here is that if the game goes to far down the popularity board they might just close it down!

Yeah, I can definitely see the end coming. 3 years is a good run for a mobile game. *shrug*

FGQFS definitely has lots more capital and puts more effort into the mobile game,

I don't think it's quite this dire. The nosedive in the top-grossing charts is a reflection on the game's near unplayability over the last few weeks. It's not that people are choosing not pay, it's that they physically haven't been able to.

Did you happen to notice how high it got during the Black Friday sales? It cracked the top 5! That was just one month ago, so I wouldn't start measuring for th coffin just yet.

Gotta agree with this. The game definitely has its ups and downs. I hope it's only like many of you said that people can't sign in. Because this huge jumps can't be good. I would hate if this game went under because of some stupid things that could've been avoided in the first place.

barszap785 wrote:
Great post Mo! I for one really hope the game last a good long time. I've been playing almost a year now and feel the game has its ups and downs but on a whole is great entertainment.

One thing that I think is a huge problem is the lack of consistent communication from EA. They obviously know the issues and frustrations that a lot of players have but some simple communication from them would make most players feel much much better about it all. I've heard many things lately about this new support center in Austin, TX but I really don't have any actual proof that it exists. I've only heard second or third hand through people on the forum. If EA really is putting all this effort into customer service by installing a new center why wouldn't they announce this publicly? The Facebook post yesterday acknowledging the server was down was huge. It let so many people know that they were on it. But that was the first time I can remember EA letting us know what's going on during an issue. The game is great but all technology will have its issues. Simple communication would make these bumps so much more tolerable.

You make a very valid point- communication goes a long way.

Some people here have expressed concern over the game ending. I don't think the game is going to end anytime soon. Like many have said above, it's not that dire. I play another game that is similar to this in some respects. They have lasted just over 4 years now and are still going strong. When things started to look bad with that game, the devs made several changes to keep the game alive. Yes, there are still issues, but things have turned around in that game.

Another game I played last year just shut down one day. After about 6 months. We got one months warning and no explanation. Still to this day, nothing has been explained as to why. But it was clear that game was dying. No effort was being made to fix any issues. Customer support was always less than helpful. what's going on with TSTO is very different and IMHO does not indicate that the game is coming to an end in anyway.

I think that EA does hear our concerns, and tries to figure out ways they can improve the game. They listened about the wheel. They have changed up the styles of the events, they have done a revamp of customer support - it may not be perfect yet, but it is definitely a huge improvement. And this time round they announced they were having issues with the servers on FB, which may indicate that they have heard people when they have said they would like to know what is going on. These are all positive things. Yes, there are still many issues. And we have all had frustrations over the last few days for various reasons (and I believe many of those frustrations to be valid). But changes have been made in the recent past. Hopefully this indicates improvement for the future. I really do believe EA is trying.

suetopia wrote:


I think that EA does hear our concerns, and tries to figure out ways they can improve the game. They listened about the wheel. They have changed up the styles of the events, they have done a revamp of customer support - it may not be perfect yet, but it is definitely a huge improvement. And this time round they announced they were having issues with the servers on FB, which may indicate that they have heard people when they have said they would like to know what is going on. These are all positive things. Yes, there are still many issues. And we have all had frustrations over the last few days for various reasons (and I believe many of those frustrations to be valid). But changes have been made in the recent past. Hopefully this indicates improvement for the future. I really do believe EA is trying.

I agree that it seems that EA hears us and is trying to make things better. But unless they let us know what they are doing (some things take time) then the silence comes off as them not caring.

barszap785 wrote:

suetopia wrote:


I think that EA does hear our concerns, and tries to figure out ways they can improve the game. They listened about the wheel. They have changed up the styles of the events, they have done a revamp of customer support - it may not be perfect yet, but it is definitely a huge improvement. And this time round they announced they were having issues with the servers on FB, which may indicate that they have heard people when they have said they would like to know what is going on. These are all positive things. Yes, there are still many issues. And we have all had frustrations over the last few days for various reasons (and I believe many of those frustrations to be valid). But changes have been made in the recent past. Hopefully this indicates improvement for the future. I really do believe EA is trying.

I agree that it seems that EA hears us and is trying to make things better. But unless they let us know what they are doing (some things take time) then the silence comes off as them not caring.

Yes. I definitely agree - communication is key.

I live in Austin and I can confirm that the center exists, because a friend of mine works there. He's a super cool dude. I'm going to have to pick his brain about a few things.

Spot on, Mo... Spot on!

EA is a huge company, and huge companies seem to forget IT fundamentals. EA needs to remember the old IT adage: "The more time you spend in Implementation, the less time you spend in Operations." Since Time is Money, spending the time (and money) up front to properly develop and test before rolling out to customers saves time (and Money) supporting the product after its rolled out to customers. EA is spending a large sum on their new center in Texas - a cost which if applied up front would result in higher quality, less support costs, and ultimately better customer perception and PR. EA wouldn't need this call center (and large associated costs) if you created a better product.

EA, take this from someone who has been in customer-facing IT Operations for 26 years: refocus on your development and testing phases and you'll have a better, more reliable, product and happier customers happily willing to buy boatloads of donuts.

Edit: words