http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=44701 1. This thread is full of shilling. If you notice, most of the posters are junior members who post only in Across Age thread. 2. The dev keeps bumping the thread either from those accounts in many staged ways. It's especially obvious in the last several posts. The users are so fake and some never posted in any other thread even after being a member for several months. They posted once or twice in Across Age thread to bump it then disappeared. I remember Touch Arcade was quite anti-shilling and bumping, you guys even banned a dev for shilling, so can you please warn the developer because it's getting annoying? Thanks!
Everytime Crimson Gem Saga or Chaos Rings thread gets to first page because genuine users post something, like a tips or updates, the Across Age thread always gets bumped by fake posters. I mean, seriously, look at their last few pages. All of the posters there are new with less than 5 posts. All of them only ever posted on Across Age thread even after joining TA for several months, that's just so obvious! Worse, the accounts are no longer used once they post a few questions. Talk about wasting accounts! It's pathetic. And why do TA admins don't care that the devs are breaking 2 rules at the same time? (bumping thread for the sake of bumping thread and fake / shill accounts).
Somebody had already pointed this out before(don't remember who) and it seems the mods sided with the developer. Of course I'm not saying I have any concrete proof that the dev. is shilling, just pointing out what happened before. I'd hate to think that he is, since Across Age is my favorite RPG for the iPod at the moment and also I don't see why he would bump his own thread. I mean does it really help sales in any way?
Yes, because visibility can turn into sales. It's a cheap way to get noticed without resorting to sale or updates. Maybe the devs are using certain method so their IP address always appears different in the many accounts they use, thus looking like those are different users, but anyone with a pair of eyes AND brain could see that clearly. You can ask 10 people and 9 will know the thread is full of fake accounts (or fake questions at the very least). And probably all 9 of them don't care about the game, so.. The devs become as annoying as a kid who desperately wants attention yelling 'Hey, look at me!! Look at mee!!!'
Moderators are retarded monkeys by definition. If we ignored rule breaking and stopped backseat moderating, they would be completely lost
So you're saying it's fine if all devs start bumping their threads everyday with shill accounts and fake questions? Or are you saying it's fine for everyone to ignore the rules altogether?
I appreciate your illiteracy. If you had actually read the posts in this thread, you'd understand why this is a problem. Thanks for adding nothing of value.
I would hate for this to be true because I love the dev of Across Age and would think they have better things to do with their time then create fake accounts and come up with questions and conundrums. Can I offer an alternate explanation? If you do a search for Across Age Help or Walkthrough on the internet the first couple of results you get are for that thread. Even GameFaqs does not have a walkthrough on their site. So if you are playing the game, are stuck and need help, you go to the internet for help. If this is what you get - chances are if you are desperate enough you will make an account to ask your question. So before we jump to the negative conclusion (which I believe the mods and admins rightly have not done) shouldn't we think of some other plausible explanation? Add: I also was just thinking that the last few pages are full of new accounts because most people on TA have finished the game and if this is the only resource for Across Age players and they have not been to TA before of course they will be the ones posting. I think its thinking too hard about something that doesn't need to be thought about. I understand your fear and if it was for anything but a deep RPG that you CAN run into a lot of places to get stuck then I would agree with you but given the nature of the game, I think that is a consequence.
Fake accounts or not, it's obvious people are having trouble in that game being trapped in dungeon 1 ect. ect. supposedly for days, it needs a gamefaq walkthrough and be done with it. This and the Zelda connection need to die already, it's been beaten to death.
I want to also add that all those threads by first time posters labeled "Across Age Help Needed!!!!!" (or some variant) that are posted in the wrong sections and everyone gets all pissy about get merged into the main Across Age thread so that also makes it looks like the thread gets bumped. It is the nature of the beast.
I actually agree. There are few games in the app store that regularly stump players as much as Across Age. You need to become a member of the forum to ask a question, so it's not surprising that the thread attracts a lot of first-time posters (who, once their question is answered, have no reason to come back to the site.) I'm far more bothered by devs who host silly contests in their upcoming threads -- I am looking at you Gamevil and Com2Us -- that keep their games at the top of the section without providing one iota of new information.
Lol, the worst I've seen so far was some 48hr perfect score contest for an iTunes giftcard, but apparently the perfect score was near impossible.
What I'm saying is there is no concrete proof, you don't have any. You could be right of course, but I'm sure the admins want better proof. For all you know you could be wrong, yes wrong. I do agree with what NEG said, when I tried looking up for help the very thread you are talking about came up.
Just went through almost every "fishy" post from new members and none shared any IP address aside from a few coming from the AT&T network but all that means is they posted via their iPhone. NEG's theory seems correct.
You would think there would be more bumps of The Quest, you can get lost so easily in that game. I got to a point where I decided it is now a glorified card game and have been camped at an inn since. It reminds me of Triple Triad from FF8, which I also never finished because . . . these card games need their own title, seriously. Also Sword & Poker should have GameCenter WiFi multiplayer already . . . and retina . . .
Yeah, of course it's very normal for all new members to just post in a single thread without ever bothering to post in another thread at all, though of course from our experience, 99% of us who sign in a forum will post in one or two other threads that caught our eyes. But hey it's Across Age, what could be more interesting than that? And of course it also makes sense that every now and then there's a 'looking for Zelda like game' topic which bumps the Across Age thread. And the interval at which the the thread is bumped surely makes sense too. Like, whenever Chaos Rings or Crimson Gem Saga thread gets bumped, someone just suddenly gets the urge to ask about Across Age. Yes, there's no problem at all and I'm sorry for thinking otherwise. Everything makes sense now. Curiously, Lunar Story and Fruit Farm Tycoon suffered from similar problems with 'honest questions every now and then' but as soon as I reported them 'people don't get too interested in the game and ask questions anymore'. It's all coincidence, of course. Everyone can see that.
Well, New England Gamer has offered a fairly plausible explanation to why this could make sense. If you're desperate to solve a problem in the game and Google for an answer you're brought to this site. If finding a solution to advance in the game you might not have any particular interest in Touch Arcade as a whole. (Yes it is shocking!) If anything should be clear by now, not everyone agree with you. Another point to consider would be just how much money do you actually think a developer makes by being visible in the forums? Hodapp already informed us that there are no shared IP's and the majority of posts are made from iPhone. This sounds like a fairly expensive and elaborate shilling-operation to me, one that I doubt would actually make sense financially...
Just found this thread and I'm shocked to see this. Thanks Eli to check the posts and clarify. Seriously: All this is pure customer service, I have millions of other things to do instead of posting shill messages and inventing fake questions. TA is the only forum I'm actively using so any help from the dev is found here only (OR under our support email). This is the reason why lots of new players land here when they look for Across Age help. I also noticed lots of new users in our thread, but isn't it good to bring new people to the site? Also please do me a favor don_k and look how often I asked to contact us directly instead of posting because our AA team and level designers are a better help.
