Help - Game will not load

[orson32]

Well I just got back in after 2 weeks of lockout. I had stored all my decorations a while back and that didn’t help. I am now in the process of selling off my decorations to see if that helps. I also stored several hundred dragons in the stable and that didn’t help. I have been struggling with lockouts since November with no end in sight. Can we have an update please? Maybe I’m naive but why does it take so long? I just feel the answers we get are sporadic and very vague.

Well every time I send in a ticket for any issue, all I get is, its sent to deveolpment team and have auto update on..no compensation for anything thats lost..

[mymonta]

Well I just got back in after 2 weeks of lockout. I had stored all my decorations a while back and that didn?t help. I am now in the process of selling off my decorations to see if that helps. I also stored several hundred dragons in the stable and that didn?t help. I have been struggling with lockouts since November with no end in sight. Can we have an update please? Maybe I?m naive but why does it take so long? I just feel the answers we get are sporadic and very vague.

Hi Puffy,

Elsa gave us an update a week ago, which I have quoted below (or which you can see a few posts above). I don't think we will get anymore updates very soon based on what she said about needing an update to the game client which would also entail other improvements. (I'm not sure what she means about "body of work" as that refers to the writings of an author or more generally to the works of an artist. In context I take it that she means that it will be a lot of work.) So it sounds like when they get this update done, it could be very good for players as it would include a number of improvements. She also said that it would involve more waiting, which is another reason not to expect an answer right away.

However, this part of what she said is possibly the most relevant but also perplexing: "We're currently experiencing challenges with resources and are working to resolve those as soon as we can." I don't understand if the resources mentioned are human resources, aka workers, because I was assured previously that they are not understaffed, or if it means financial resources, which seems unlikely considering the millions of dollars that S8 makes through their various games (financial information as well as current job openings at the company are publicly available information and not "speculation" on my part, although revenue per game could be estimates). However, Dragon Story is not one of their top grossing games anymore, so it is possible that they are, indeed, "experiencing challenges with resources" if each game needs to be self-funding (I have no idea if that is how it works or not).

At any rate, it sounds like players just need to keep plugging away and doing what we can to keep playing, and hopefully they find the necessary resources to upgrade the game client before we are all locked out permanently.

Our team would like to resolve this as soon as possible. While we're not absolutely sure, we think you're timing out due to the amount of information that's trying to load when you log into the game. A common denominator was extremely difficult to pinpoint since every player has unique islands. This will very likely require an update to the game client, which will be a significant body of work because other improvements will need to be included. Unfortunately, this means more waiting.

We appreciate your love for our game and understand that you've been waiting for good news. We're currently experiencing challenges with resources and are working to resolve those as soon as we can. Unfortunately, at this time I can't offer a date but I'll be sure to share more information as soon as it's available. Thank you for your continued patience and for all of the troubleshooting that you've completed to help us research this.

As for compensation, we'll evaluate this at a later time when the issue is resolved. Thank you again for your grace and patience.

If storing items does help you, we appreciate you doing this while you wait.

[[S8] Elsa]

We are grateful for your enduring spirit for the game and continued patience while we navigate this issue and work to resolve it. When we've fully resolved this, we'll review compensation. Thank you for waiting.

Hi Puffy,

Elsa gave us an update a week ago, which I have quoted below (or which you can see a few posts above). I don't think we will get anymore updates very soon based on what she said about needing an update to the game client which would also entail other improvements. (I'm not sure what she means about "body of work" as that refers to the writings of an author or more generally to the works of an artist. In context I take it that she means that it will be a lot of work.) So it sounds like when they get this update done, it could be very good for players as it would include a number of improvements. She also said that it would involve more waiting, which is another reason not to expect an answer right away.

However, this part of what she said is possibly the most relevant but also perplexing: "We're currently experiencing challenges with resources and are working to resolve those as soon as we can." I don't understand if the resources mentioned are human resources, aka workers, because I was assured previously that they are not understaffed, or if it means financial resources, which seems unlikely considering the millions of dollars that S8 makes through their various games (financial information as well as current job openings at the company are publicly available information and not "speculation" on my part, although revenue per game could be estimates). However, Dragon Story is not one of their top grossing games anymore, so it is possible that they are, indeed, "experiencing challenges with resources" if each game needs to be self-funding (I have no idea if that is how it works or not).

At any rate, it sounds like players just need to keep plugging away and doing what we can to keep playing, and hopefully they find the necessary resources to upgrade the game client before we are all locked out permanently.

To add clarity, the resource challenge right now is staffing. Staff projects can't be shifted right now. We're working to resolve this as soon as possible. Staff resource is always fluid, so while we may have shared previously that we have resources for certain things, this can change over time.

For the game update: the game will also need to be updated to align with new app store requirements which includes removing the ugly bars on the sides for iPhones and optimizing back-end things for performance. There's always unplanned obstacles that might happen ranging from simple to complex like updating art that might get stretched or adjusting a tap zone or any number of things for polish etc. As far as I know the current plan is to try resolving this in the next update and this will be primarily an optimization and fix update.

It will require waiting for all of this with a goal of "as soon as possible".

[mymonta]

We are grateful for your enduring spirit for the game and continued patience while we navigate this issue and work to resolve it. When we've fully resolved this, we'll review compensation. Thank you for waiting.



To add clarity, the resource challenge right now is staffing. Staff projects can't be shifted right now. We're working to resolve this as soon as possible. Staff resource is always fluid, so while we may have shared previously that we have resources for certain things, this can change over time.

For the game update: the game will also need to be updated to align with new app store requirements which includes removing the ugly bars on the sides for iPhones and optimizing back-end things for performance. There's always unplanned obstacles that might happen ranging from simple to complex like updating art that might get stretched or adjusting a tap zone or any number of things for polish etc. As far as I know the current plan is to try resolving this in the next update and this will be primarily an optimization and fix update.

It will require waiting for all of this with a goal of "as soon as possible".

Thank you for the update, Elsa! Staffing seems to be an issue everywhere right now, and even when places are fully staffed (like the place where I work), workloads can be so heavy that not everything can be done in an ideal timeframe, so I totally get it.

[greywagtail]

I’ve deleted decorations but what about the surplus material left from previous events, such as Iridescent Leaves for example. I have over a 100 different types of this material but cannot remove it.

My issues seemed to start as I expanded the Islands. Now I have reached the limit and it seems a bit better.

I often get kicked out several minutes after starting the game. I keep trying to get in, sometimes I have had over 40 attempts before getting in.

Apologies if this has been posted before.

[Jnny2good]

Our team would like to resolve this as soon as possible. While we're not absolutely sure, we think you're timing out due to the amount of information that's trying to load when you log into the game. A common denominator was extremely difficult to pinpoint since every player has unique islands. This will very likely require an update to the game client, which will be a significant body of work because other improvements will need to be included. Unfortunately, this means more waiting.

We appreciate your love for our game and understand that you've been waiting for good news. We're currently experiencing challenges with resources and are working to resolve those as soon as we can. Unfortunately, at this time I can't offer a date but I'll be sure to share more information as soon as it's available. Thank you for your continued patience and for all of the troubleshooting that you've completed to help us research this.

As for compensation, we'll evaluate this at a later time when the issue is resolved. Thank you again for your grace and patience.

If storing items does help you, we appreciate you doing this while you wait.

If storing and deleting items genuinely makes a game performance difference, please, please, please, make it easier to do so. The current method is painful and feels like work.

[orson32]

And right on cue, afternoon reset, I was visiting a neighbour, game was dropped and now can’t get in..so so annoying, the Tuesday and Friday afternoon resets are the worst..Was hoping if I was actively playing during reset , itmight be ok, but not the case today anyway.
Finally got it back now after about a dozen tries..

[orson32]

OMG...here we go again..Tales was started , put Firapples on, got them and finished chapter one, closed game and of course now I can't get back in , have been trying for hours,I really really am ticked off with this game, really don't know why I stay on it..its more unreliable than ever..
Went on phone and of course it comes up right away on android phone , so I pay gold to skip to chapter two, get all the way to Breeding for the one act, but three times now I have done the act and its not registering on game..I give up..so fed up doing things, paying gold only for things not to work or get reset or not registered.I have sent in this issue before to S8 and nothing gets done to compensate or improve.

Post note..I had to use gold to skip that act, so I could move on, doubt if I sent in a ticket that I would get compensated for all the gold I wasted in the ' Breeding' act required.

[mymonta]

OMG...here we go again..Tales was started , put Firapples on, got them and finished chapter one, closed game and of course now I can't get back in , have been trying for hours,I really really am ticked off with this game, really don't know why I stay on it..its more unreliable than ever..
Went on phone and of course it comes up right away on android phone , so I pay gold to skip to chapter two, get all the way to Breeding for the one act, but three times now I have done the act and its not registering on game..I give up..so fed up doing things, paying gold only for things not to work or get reset or not registered.I have sent in this issue before to S8 and nothing gets done to compensate or improve.

I also did not get credit for breeding. I am thinking this is a new bug that needs to be reported.

Some Castle Story players are now also beginning to have trouble connecting to their games, so it seems the problem is growing. But I'm not an expert in how that all works, so maybe there is no connection between the Castle Story log in issues and the Dragon Story log in issues.

[Paul__]

I also did not get credit for breeding. I am thinking this is a new bug that needs to be reported.

Some Castle Story players are now also beginning to have trouble connecting to their games, so it seems the problem is growing. But I'm not an expert in how that all works, so maybe there is no connection between the Castle Story log in issues and the Dragon Story log in issues.

I’m reporting this issue over with the breeding.