Pogo's Negative Patterns & Refusal to Listen
Today, I saw the notice that three games are being retired: A Way with Words, Anagrams, and Quinn's Aquarium. This genuinely came as a shock to me because Pogo just sunsetted a bunch of games semi-recently and because Quinn's was notoriously one of the most popular games. The elimination of games after Java obviously made sense, but with the cries of players everywhere yearning for the traditional game files to be revitalized...Pogo and EA have been extremely passive when it comes to their fanbase. Worse still and yet, perhaps most notably, the newest games are going to be similar to Solitaire Home Story, Viola's Diner, etc. which again, players have been VERY vocal in saying that these types of games are not desired. The stylization is more juvenile, the gameplay tends to be more similar to what one could get on thousands of other sites, and they are all driven by a similar building structure. Rather than getting to play at your own leisure, there are energy requirements and the focus shifts to buying in-game items. Essentially, it seems to be a desperate appeal toward younger generations and gaining more money from in-site purchases. Part of their message included the following quote: "Retiring older titles allows us to focus our efforts on building exciting new experiences and continuing to strengthen the Pogo platform for the future." However, in reading the message, the vast majority of people are constantly noting their plans to cancel memberships (if they have not already). The forums are bursting with pleas wishing for how the site and games used to be. The newer games could just as easily be retired to focus their efforts elsewhere, but they choose older games for some bizarre reason. Even then...Quinn's still had some components of a building-based game, albeit with unlimited energy and a much preferred interface for the majority of us. I cannot fathom why Pogo has to sunset it; they could even just leave it there to play infinitely instead of washing it from the site. There is no resolution to this that I myself can provide, nor anyone else on this platform, I am sure. I more so needed a place to lay out my thoughts, which I know many of you share based on some other posts. The website now holds barely 60 games, many of which are subpar & that players dislike (or may be neutral toward at best). With one game being sunsetted after another - and with such poor, glitchy, juvenile, basic games replacing them - Pogo is shifting to a site that I may no longer yearn to frequent.Still many issues with Jungle Gin
In Jungle Gin, when did it stop giving you points when your opponent quits the game and leaves? I have been within 10 points of winning quite a few games lately and the opponents leave! You are constantly losing your connection...and it is NOT my internet. Games won't load, etc. These issues have been ongoing to months."Cheating Crisis in the Canasta Community – EA Sports Needs to Step Up"
I’ve been a loyal player of EA Sports Canasta for years, and it's seriously disappointing to watch how rampant cheating has become in the community. At this point, it's not even about "a few bad apples" anymore. It’s an epidemic, and it's seriously starting to erode the integrity of the entire game. If EA continues to ignore this issue, it’s not just going to damage the competitive spirit — it will start to taint the company’s reputation. Here’s why: The Rise of Cheating: It’s no longer rare to encounter cheaters in almost every high-stakes game. Whether it’s bots, card-counting exploits, or players using external tools to manipulate results, it’s becoming unbearable. The company’s response? Silence. The worst part is, the community has been reporting it for months with little to no action from EA. Why This Hurts the Game: Cheating ruins the core of what Canasta is supposed to be about — fair competition and strategy. When the best players aren’t rewarded for skill, the entire leaderboard system becomes irrelevant. Even more casual players are being driven away, and EA’s reputation for producing quality, competitive games is being questioned. Is this the new normal for EA Sports? The Impact on the Community: We’ve got a toxic, under-reported problem here. Players who refuse to cheat are getting frustrated, while cheaters laugh their way to the top, unaffected by the broken system. It’s leading to a huge drop in engagement and genuine passion from the community. It’s time EA stepped up and did more than just turn a blind eye. The company needs to start enforcing stronger anti-cheat measures. How is it possible that such a huge gaming giant can allow this to continue without any significant consequences? I want to hear what others think about this, but if you’re also seeing this same problem, let’s call it what it is: EA’s failure to protect the integrity of their own game. Is EA Sports seriously willing to let their brand reputation be defined by a game full of cheaters?
Merge Academy - The scoring doesn't make sense
The scoring of this game is so backwards. If you calculate the return on investment for the customer orders, you make fewer purple gems the larger the order. The most efficient way to progress through the levels is to just convert some of the items you produce directly to gems. For example, I have an order for a "Phone of Magic" and a "Table of Spells" that yields 161 purple gems. The cost for those items is 3072 energies. That's a little over 19 energies per purple gem. On the other hand, a "Magic Folder" costs 4 energies and can be directly converted to 1 purple gem. So, if I ignore the order and just convert "Magic Folder" to purple gems, I can get 161 purple gems for 644 energies. That's about 1/5th the cost. In effect, the scoring penalizes you for playing the game. The game was fun but now that I've seen this it just seems ridiculous.