WhatIfSports.com and Gridiron Dynasty
Aug 26, 2006 | 10:15PM |
I started playing on the WhatIfSports ("WIS") website a month ago and play Gridiron Dynasty ("GD"). For those who might consider WIS and GD - do not do it. The customer service is the worst I have encountered in all my year's of online gaming.
The GD game itself is a good concept with average production values. However, there are a number of issues within the game. There are numerous minor bugs within the simulation engine itself, but they are easy to get past. The GD game consists of eight different worlds. Each of the eight worlds are staggered in regards to when the season begins so if you want continous play multiple worlds makes that possible. This is where the problem begins. WIS uses the same recruits in all their worlds rotating them from one world to the next. In my second season in World 1, I was recruiting the same players who were college juniors on my team in World 2. To make the problem worse the player's characteristics are identical and they progress through their careers the same every time (with slight variations related to how you focus their practice time).
I sent in a "help" ticket to WIS and this is the response I received,
"Recruits are randomly generated each season and when players graduate they are deleted from the game. There is no recycling and any similarities you see between recruiting classes is purely coincidental. As anyone with any programming knowledge can attest, there are no truly random sequences and sometimes overlaps occur. Thanks for your kind feedback."
I gathered some additional evidence and sent them examples of the problem and WIS said,
"I’m sorry that you do not accept the explanation given on how the system works. Thanks."
I pulled another WIS customer's comments regarding WIS and its customer service and development team,
"JCONTE and the crew at GD have programmed another half-baked piece of functionality and then use a delightful combination of laziness and arrogance to jam it up our behinds. These guys don't care what the feedback is from the paying public. If they did, they'd have to tweak their programming. Look at the comparative volumes of releases in HD (Hoops Dynasty) versus GD. The HD feedback loop is responsive and improvements are made on the basis of its input. GD on the other hand is run by a bunch of twats who couldn't give a s**t."
Final word on WhatIfSports.com and Gridiron Dynasty - Don't do it - you will be disappointed and frustrated.