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PETITION to GLU for a SET PROCEEDURE supporting ACCOUNT MIGRATION
try_again
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Arising as an example of an existing well respected player that was migrated to a new account on Contract Killer: Sniper, and that account has been accidently deleted:
We are implementing a Petition for Account Migration.
As most of you remember, this subject was part of a Boycott carried out recently of which the above subject was the main request for undertaking. The only point that seems addressed was in improving connectivity before the Clan Wars update was added. The 11/12/15 thread can be seen here;
http://ggnbb.glu.com/showthread.php?196117-11-12-Amazon-Leagues-BOYCOTT-Gold
Please read the demands in the link below, and if you agree with them, "sign" one or both actions of implementation.
The following shortened link may not work for phones, so please try on PC or laptop. All participation will help to continue the safe continuation of being able to save your hard work in getting to the game state you've acquired with both time and money. Also note, the part after the last slash IS case sensitive.
https://goo.gl/9ORiqd
We are implementing a Petition for Account Migration.
As most of you remember, this subject was part of a Boycott carried out recently of which the above subject was the main request for undertaking. The only point that seems addressed was in improving connectivity before the Clan Wars update was added. The 11/12/15 thread can be seen here;
http://ggnbb.glu.com/showthread.php?196117-11-12-Amazon-Leagues-BOYCOTT-Gold
Please read the demands in the link below, and if you agree with them, "sign" one or both actions of implementation.
The following shortened link may not work for phones, so please try on PC or laptop. All participation will help to continue the safe continuation of being able to save your hard work in getting to the game state you've acquired with both time and money. Also note, the part after the last slash IS case sensitive.
https://goo.gl/9ORiqd
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Correction, the scroll bar "arrows" aren't working but I can scroll using the touchpad on my laptop.
I will sign it shortly, and I hope it helps because the game is teetering on the absurd.
DONE ...
The example in the petition (2nd page picture in the document), Jaz has consistently been in the top 10 list but with crashes bought a new Kindle (8 HDX I believe), and requested GLU to transfer her stats to the new device. They were successful in doing that and she was Jazrox with the original stats. However, when prompted to delete the original banned player Jaz, (banning being the method Glu was using to migrate accounts) the Jazrox account was zeroed out to Tier 1, x 1.0 primary weapons, no diamonds/gold, VP, ... etc.
She has repeated CC requests regularly to be returned without success.
We have a several guys in my 2 clans that are on life support and doing drastic measures. Clearing cache very often, constantly deleting game data, turning off their devices, and touching the screen preventing the diamond cut scene. it's like many, many different ways that sometimes work, but crashes are inevitable.
A set procedure to migrate is paramount for these players to continue.
Jaz, forgive me if I've mischaracterized any of this. I can correct it if contacted.
But this is GLU we're talking about and the only way to achieve your objectives and voice your displeasure in a way that will get GLU's attention, is to convince repeat paying loyal customers to withhold spending on the game to a level that will have an effect on GLU's bottom line. A single boycott of a meaningless Global Event at or near the end of the event cycle will not get you the results you're seeking.
Less than two (2) percent of all registered players spend any meaningful cash on a regular basis; most of these players are on the IOS and Google Play platforms. Players such as myself and Brad gladly offer our support, but there are at least 2,000-5,000 other such customers who are not only absent from the petition, but most likely do not know that a petition to boycott even exists.
In my opinion, you're targeting the wrong player base. While I can appreciate their willingness to support your initiative, GLU however, could care less. Go after the leaderboards, perennial global/league event competitors and those that actually spend cash on a regular basis. Of course how you accomplish that is problematic and whatever help I can offer to meet those ends, is at your disposal.
Just my .02 sense
There seems some restraint at any commitment to not spend gold and ignore the problem. The age old "I don't have a problem and it won't happen to me" sentiment.
I will be glad to share any constructive re-wording, methods of dissemination, or alternative actions that you'd deem more effective. As usual, I'm a motivated pawn here, and would love to see some method to secure my playing future in the game. iOS seems to be quite secure now between the cloud and iTunes; Google Play by your example seems fairly stable as well in account migration, too. Maybe I'm incorrect here?
But even with the ability of Game Circle to back up Amazon data, it doesn't seem to have the capability to switch that to another device on Amazon that I'm aware of.
Great News ... I'll take that as being a successful boycott. Good Job Gents !!!
I'd rate this a partial success. The basic tenant of the boycott was that migrations, or accounts being ported from a poorly running device to a newer one, be done in a timely manner with a procedure set in place.
Communication by GLU now only seems to be revealed in the Customer Care interaction, so only with users reporting their success with this problem will we know the full success of the boycott.
I'd like to extend my thanks to all who participated and signed in this petition. Your community service is very much appreciated!
Not to assume anything, but I suspect that you're playing on Amazon. There is an undocumented procedure that seems to work. If you're playing on Google Play, it's a snap. Just install, login, wait for the downloads to complete and you're set. If on IOS, I believe you'll need a backup to restore from.
Sorry to hear about the break in ... I hope they didn't do too much damage.
You are correct, according to GLU, on IOS, our info is stored locally on our iPads. But, as is par for the course, GLU has not told us the whole story.
Due the all of the issues that this latest Server Maintenance has caused, I can confirm the following on IOS.
If you delete your game, whether it is CKS or MIRN, you WILL lose all of your progress if you do not have a backup. However, GLU does have our current game progress load on their servers, somewhere.
The reason that I say this, is because I happen to have both CKS and MIRN loaded on 2 different iPads at the same time. If I play either game on iPad #1 for 2 weeks straight, all of my current game progress will load, when I launch the game on iPad #2. Therefore, it is not just stored locally on my iPad.
So what the true story is, I don't know. All I do know, is if I want to move my game to a new device, then I better have a backup.
In fact, tomorrow, I am going to check out the following. Due to all of the screw up we have been experiencing lately, I happen to have 2 backups from CKS one from today and one from last week. I am going to load last week's back on an old iPad2. When I launch the 1 week old restored backup, that will tell me if the game is storing our current information on the game server, and not just locally as we have been told.
But this is not what I found out. When I launched the game, I had all of my current stats, Clan War stats, silver league stats, gold and funny money totals, etc.
So as usual, GLU is not telling us the whole story here. Our current game information is stored on the game servers. The only thing that i can surmise is there must be some kind of pointers, that are saved locally on our iPad.
Since our current progress is store on the servers, where realistically it would have to be, there has to be a way for GLU to retrieve it. The short answer is not that they can't, but that they won't.
I'm not 100% sure how this works on iOS, but on Google Android, the game data always comes from GLU. It has made it simple to play on 2 or more devices as well as wipe the device and reinstall CKS and recover your progress.
I also think part of the success has been that I use only Google Nexus devices running Google's own version of Android. Since Google created Android and has consistently provided anyone who would ask, the complete API, I can only surmise that the GLUTONS could not get this wrong even if they wanted to. It is noteworthy that the entire Nexus line of devices were designed for Android developers (that's why I own them) to promote development for the platform.
Whilst a closed system like iOS is somewhat understandable from a compatibility POV, I cannot understand why Amazon suffers from account migration issues, aside from the customizations that Amazon dictated.
It should also be noted (not taken lightly) that since all game progress is being maintained and stored on GLU's servers, it creates a single point of failure. Without an adequate backup and recovery mechanism in place, all types of disasters are possible, even probable, as many players have discovered.
I definitely agree with you. Game progress is stored on the game servers. Like you say, how else can you play on 2 different devices.
But, according to GLU on their forums, they state that progress is stored only locally on our devices. It is stated so, twice, once at the top and once at the bottom. But, as we both know, this can not be true. Because of league and global play, all of this has to be stored on the server and has to be retrieved from the server.
http://ggnbb.glu.com/showthread.php?594-What-is-the-best-path-for-quot-changing-devices-quot
What is certain, unlike other apps that I have deleted and reinstalled where your game data remained, if I delete one of my GLU games and then reinstall, I WILL lose all of my progress and I will be starting over.
All of my old information is still on the server, because I have started a new game, and then when it came time to name my character, if I try to use my old name, I will get a message telling me that the nickname is in use.
So like we have said many times, this is GLU that we are talking about, so who knows.
Bottom line for IOS players, always, always, make sure that you have backups.
Gee, after 20+ years in the IT World, where have I heard that before, LOL.
Absolutely agree about backups. I have been beating that drum and encouraging everyone to perform routine backups; some take it to heart, others don't. When that hard drive fails, which it's sure to do some day, I always ask "Do you have a backup?"
Very rarely, someone will answer "YES" and I smile because they just made my recovery effort that much easier.
I have read the article you referred to. I found that explanation unacceptable then and have discovered it is totally misleading. While there are elements that are stored locally on your device, there is absolutely NOTHING on your device that will not be downloaded from GLU if CKS determines data to be missing or outdated.
It might have been true in the past, but certainly not today.
You will also notice in the article regarding Android, that it explains (correctly I might add) what to do regarding the Google Play Services account. If you enter the same account that you used before, CKS won't even ask you to create a character name; it simply uses that Google Play account and that is what "bridges" your new game to you old progress data.
Google Play Services was a brilliant innovation by Google. No other vendor offers it to users, even though Google will supply it to everyone who wants it absolutely free. Of course, you must follow Google's "rules" if you want to join the game LMAO ...
... That being said, an individual device owner can install the Google Play Services app provided that the device is compatible and running an "unmodified" version of Android (the "rules" that most other vendors refuse to follow, most notably Samsung).
But it seems that doing the same thing on another device, like Senior did with Junior, where both have the same name SBDMAN, junior ended up with a new game, and hence my current situation, now with almost duplicate weapons and stats, but still entirely different characters.
It could have been Senior did not stay offline long enough for Glu to register he was offline, and Junior was flagged as a new player? But there seems to be so many on Amazon version that have had to request transfer of their account that this problem and the title of the thread are unique to Amazon.
If only Glu could spend a few moments clarifying this, or putting a couple hours into the code by a competent programmer, all of this COULD BE SOLVED. And all of this contacting Customer Care could be history.
I understand why you took the step of copying to your PC. Unfortunately on Amazon that will not work; I believe a unique device identifier prevents this from functioning properly. My guess is that this may have been part of the agreement between GLU and Amazon since Amazon has a line of proprietary devices.
To their credit, GLU has a procedure for accomplishing what you want to do ... unfortunately, nowhere is it documented. That was the primary reason for this petition.
TRY_AGAIN plays the Amazon version of the game on a Nexus 7 ... I believe he may be able to help you in this regard.
I believe your first step should be contacting Customer Care about this.
What say you TRY_AGAIN?
That is what I will be on most likely Amazon version of the game on a Nexus 7 .My youngest daughter has one she don't want as she has 2 iPads so we thought why not save a buck or two and use it.I wrote a ticket and sent it into GLU a few days ago but no word back yet.I like the game and would like to keep my stats and level so if something goes wrong and they cant fix it then I don't see me starting all over.I will just play something else.I cant blame then for my problem but if by god I get my hands on the person/s that took my stuff they wont see the light of day again.I play another game with my grandson and if you need to move it to a new device or share it with another device there is a button that sets it all up easy.Well till then I will be hopeful and get everything setup on my end.
Glu is starting to accept requests for transferring your account to a different Amazon device (like another Kindle or Android). I have heard various stories, one person said you have to have paid $5 for Gold purchase at some point. Another said that once Customer Care responds with your request to do so, it takes 3 days, you then have to come up with a new handle, leave the clan you are on, they then update data to the new device. The latter part hasn't happened to one guy in my clan yet, but did to another, so details are sketchy.
Edit: sure enough, the guy in our clan on the 3rd day after requesting transfer, is up and running on a new device. His stats are fairly well copied, Level, weapons, and Tier, but his VP was set to 0, not a deal breaker, considering the older device crashed about every other PVP.
So, it appears there is a new pathway for Amazon players to upgrade their device - great news!
As for Marshmallow, all I can do is say that's not good. Not sure about Scorpion, but on the 2012 Nexus 7, that was a very bad version for me. Made the tablet almost unusable, especially games. I actually wiped mine of that version and went back to Jellybean 4.4.1, much more peppy! The problem with going back a version, is it takes some tweaking, unlocking, rooting, and putting the old version back on. When complete, you loose ALL your old game data for all apps. Not the thing you want to hear, I'm sure!
Agree with everything you stated. My Nexus 7 (2013) is running Android 4.4.4 for the very reasons you stated. Version 5.x on the Nexus 7 is problematic but if you're going to rollback the OS version, now is the time to do it SCARECROW before CC finally grants your request.
Version 6.x is much better (it's running on my Nexus 5) but I'm not even sure 6.x is available for the Nexus 7 2012 or 2013; both devices are getting pretty long in the tooth.
Rooting is relatively easy on Nexus devices. SCARECROW are you familiar with rooting Android?
(1) You'll need the Android operating system image for your particular device. The first stop is from the Google Developers Download site here: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images ... if you can't find the appropriate image there, then do a Google search for Nexus 7 2012 Android images. I would start here at Android Central: http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-2012/396281-nexus-7-2012-android-4-4-3-factory-image.html
(2) The procedure you find at the Google Developers Download site has the detailed procedure you'll need to follow, as well as any additional tools you'll need to get where you want to go.
The steps (procedure) are essentially the following and are quite easy to follow. I'm assuming that there is no need to backup or recover any data on the device. If that's not the case, be sure to perform a full system backup.
(3) ROOT and UNLOCK the BOOTLOADER: this will enable you to install a custom or factory image from RECOVERY.
(4) Reboot the device into RECOVERY MODE.
(5) Install (flash) the appropriate Android operating system for your device.
(6) Reboot into SYSTEM MODE.
(7) Install CKS and any other apps you want.
I recommend installing the Nexus BOOTUNLOCKR app and TWRP MANAGER app ... more on that later.
There are also other methods that might not be as technical as described on the Google Developer Site, such as PC applications that can automate much of the process such as WUGFRESH Nexus Root Toolkit: http://www.wugfresh.com/ This particular tool was highly successful for devices manufactured around 2012/2013.
Good Luck and I'll be here to answer any questions you might have.
You don't want to be in a position somewhere down the road asking yourself, "Why didn't I root when I had the chance?"
Good Luck !!!
There has been one of my clan that was down to crashing roughly 50% of the time, and had quite a few 3+ in a row crashes. He fell of the All Time leaderboard top 20 list, yet kept playing along with the clan in full support of him. Finally he let a system update do it's thing (he said it was 5.1, but don't know his phone make). Now he's back to almost never crashing.
I agree with both of you and did feel ( If it aint broke don't fix it ... but I would definitely root the device going forward.) I think I will root it so that part is done for now.Its strange how google installed from a backup and everyone is so different then being on the amazon version.I think I will do the rooting today when time permits and send in another ticket and see what goes for now.I Thank You both for all the input and info on this.