Client won't connect [Archive] - Dungeons & Dragons Online Forums

Daarsurra

10-26-2019, 02:47 PM

here's a "conversation" i had with Cordovan:

Dungeons & Dragons Online Forums
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From : Cordovan
To : Daarsurra
Date : 2019-08-16 14:50
Title : Re: i believe you care and you're advocating for us Mac users...
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I don't know the answer per se but I have been told that if it is asking for a file it's due to a corrupted download or installation.

i believe you care and you're advocating for us Mac users...
...i want to believe that.

that said, SSG's handling of these issues is problematic at best:

[*=1]while buried deep within the forum, you posting that SSG is working on fixing issues with the Mac clients is in direct conflict with messages players receive from support that state, "unfortunately, we don't offer support for the Mac clients." SSG and it's customer support need to be on the same page.
[*=1]you posting info regarding Mac client issues and links to new downloads should not be buried within other threads; they should be prominent and given priority by the forum search
[*=1]while i know you're all forced to deal with Turbine's customer base, i'm a relatively new player; i had no idea that playing the game would require a fair amount of money only to learn that i'd be a 2nd class citizen as a Mac player
[*=1]i also understand that you have 3 primary choices of what to do regarding Macs:

[*=1]we represent both a small percentage of players and of your profits, so do you get rid of us altogether?
[*=1]that obviously causes a number of problems in the community; so do you ignore us/drag feet until we give up?
[*=1]or do you all buy actual Macs and hire enough people to properly hammer out a client that works/stays working?

[*=1]if the decision is to devote as little time and resources to the Mac client, not posting a notification to new/returning users DIRECTLY on the app download page feels callous at best.

so, currently neither the new WINE client you recently posted a link to in this thread or the legacy client work on current Mojave for many of us. i found the only solution to the problem to be restoring the app from my Time Machine backup. this is information that should be explained and posted properly (i did it) in the forum.

anyhow, here's hoping your life gets easier and that SSG does the right thing.

sincerely,

m

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From : Daarsurra
To : Cordovan
Date : 10-09-2019, 10:31 PM
Title : Re: i believe you care and you're advocating for us Mac users...
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well, as of today it's clear which of the 3 primary choices i mentioned seems most likely. with this update, not only does my Time Machine backup of the app fail to get past the instructions to download the Wine client, but the Wine client can't even be loaded producing this error:w

https://imgur.com/8XZKiqN

until today, i've been able to restore a previous backup of the launcher app from Time Machine, but this insistance on not providing the ability to use slightly outdated versions of the 13 year old app and failing to produce a solid Wine client is just plainly counting many of us Mac users out completely.

well, it's been fun; guess i probably shouldn't have started playing a 13 yo game in year 13; hard to say which i feel more, regret for having been sucked into the in-app-purchases for a great but deeply flawed old game, or fondness for what came and went.

sincerely,

m

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From : Daarsurra
To : Cordovan
Date : 2019-10-26 14:13
Title : Re: i believe you care and you're advocating for us Mac users...
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so it remains to be seen if i'll succeed in playing again, but i plan to try at some point...

i eventually got the Wine client to load, but after tweaking the graphics settings again, i discovered the same lack of a solution to the keyboard layout translation that robs Mac users of an entire modifier key unresolved. nevertheless, i decided to take on the super-fun project of running Windows on an external drive; unfortunately, this still required tweaking the keyboard layout, and in the process aggravated the impending failure of the W key on my Macbook. so, having researched heavily for an inestimable time, i've decided to gut my laptop, replace the keyboard, battery, and upgrade the logic board. on top of a "secret" Apple replacement policy for certain Macbook screens with anti-glare coating where they literally replace the entire screen assembly, if all goes well, i'll end up with a new, faster Macbook for about $600.

but i'm here awaiting the arrival of everything necessary, and thinking about how ****** i will feel about SSG from here on out. i began thinking, i get that us Mac users aren't particularly important in the scheme of things, but each one of us that abandons the game represents more than just a small amount of ongoing profit that no one will miss; some of us honestly try to give-back to our fellow n00bs amid the daunting task of learning an incredibly complicated/nuanced game whose developers didn't care enough to provide guidance regarding. my last message (no response x) was sent around a week after last playing, which means that every player i recruited into our guild, every friend who'd have me zerg over-level to help them farm, every reason to contribute in the forums or on the Dscrd channel has been without me entirely for almost a month. look, i don't pretend i'm super important to everyone i interact with in DDO, but my point is that there are broader consequences to treating Mac users with little regard.

now, i've only been playing for just under a year, but because of this unusual year, i've spent a great deal of time and money learning this obtuse game. so i can say that one thing the game hasn't failed in getting right is how to hook users into a cycle of investment of hard work and money. in the last month, i might have spent $30, which has to represent half an hour of someone working on making a decent Wine client, but because of being laid-off by SSG, i never had the chance to contribute.

anyhow, hopefully i'll be playing again in a couple weeks, but i encourage you to impress the virtues of not being ****s to Mac users on your fellow Standing Stoners. it's really just not a particularly smart way to be cost-effective. that said, i'll admit that i wish SSG could make me feel like spending $600 to get a new computer unexpectedly was worth ever having played this game. from this point on, i'll be carefully watching for the moment when it becomes undeniably smart to abandon DDO completely.

in closing, i want you to know that i'll be posting this conversation in the forums and on Dscrd; i don't intend to be punitive; i simply think Mac users deserve to know as much as possible about all this.

soberly sad and sadly sober,

m

P.S. it's still a really common-sense/basically decent move to append a notice to new/returning users on the client download page...C'MO