American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Hello,
I don't know about you, but I am very unhappy with WDS.

If you are willing to put your name and email in the WDS Support section?

https://wargameds.com/pages/support-wds
You will need to go to the bottom of the page.

If enough of us do something - they will have to listen.

This is what I wrote to them, feel free to use it or write your own version.

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I would like to recommend you revert back to your last STABLE versions JTS 3.0 on your website.

Unfortunately, I can no longer support WDS 4.0 and have stopped playing these games. I will no longer recommend WDS 4.0 products to anyone. You are committing business suicide and if you want to go out of business – keep doing what you are doing.

I have invested well over a thousand dollars into these games over the years and would like to see you succeed.

People can forgive mistakes, if you are willing to do what is right.

With Respect,
Your name here.

--------------------------------

Respectfully,
BG Earle Cook, Union Army

Hi,

Sorry about your frustration with WDS, but these John Tiller games have been an important part of my life for over thirty years.

The free support over those years has been superior to any other computer games I've ever owned.

I think Forgotten Battles is the last of the ACW titles anyway.

Not about to abandon them now. If necessary, I and my opponent will find workarounds, or go back to 3.0.

_________________
MG Mike Mihalik
Forrest's Cavalry Corps
AoWest/CSA

I agree. Havent played them for 30 years, but instead Im rather new to them. I like what I see and think whatever issues you are having will be resolved in future Free updates.

_________________
Lt. Colonel JJ Jansen
3rd Calvary Brigade, 4th Calvary Division
Army of Tennessee
CSA

Surely WDS is aware of the discontent with v4. They have people with access to our forums and, in any case, the MDT is open to anyone to view.

I have to keep WDS v4 as I need them in order to participate in the tournaments. I only have two JTS titles accessible on my computer (due to ongoing games at the time of changeover) and I'm unsure how, or if, I can get the others back. One regular opponent and I recently went back to JTS. From those I speak to there are many people who are dissatisfied with v4 and do not want to use it but do not speak out publicly about it.

WDS should issue a statement that acknowledges the errors and indicates when they will be fixed. The FoW and Fatigue issues need to be given priority and fixed in a separate update immediately and issued no later than this month. Other problems that exist in WDS v4 do not affect gameplay to the same extent and, although annoying, can probably wait for the usual update so a concerted effort can be put towards fixing FoW and Fatigue.

_________________
Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Hot posting for someone from Alaska.
Of course these two major bugs are more then annoying, but that can happen when improving a game. Better that way that the usual standard of games turning abandonware after a short time.
Does anyone know other company that supports its games so long?
Matrix Games in a few case, that is all that comes to my mind.

@Major-General Swanson
What other problems do we talk about?

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."

Other issues identified by me and others thus far (not critical ones like FoW and Fatigue in my view):
Trenches;
No 2D hex outlines in Chancellorsville (unsure about others);
Many strongly dislike the graphics so some are importing JTS graphics (for someone like me who is partially colour-blind the new graphics are problematic);
No visible hexes for supply yet they can still 'spot' enemy units;
"LOS bug in the game with turn-based defensive fire is more significant than the current LOS bug"; and
"It appears in at least some of the Forgotten Battles scenarios the PDTs are markedly different to what I have been used to. More likelihood that you can fire at an adjacent unit and not hit anything."

_________________
Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Thanks.
To the graphics I can only say that we finally have a set were you can see anything without guessing what it is. Overall you can say the new set is a bit "overdone".
OK, who got along with 3.0 graphics do not really need it, but that doesn't count for everyone. Back then there were also complains of things too hard to spot.

And if the later isn't wanted by design has first to be seen before designating it a problem.

Anyhow, overall nothing that would keep me awake. The point is that you would have to worry with games from other companies, with WDS it is no question of if but when these get fixed.
In the mean time we should open threads that make more sense then this one:
https://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/view ... 20&t=22827

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."

Agreed, it is FoW and Fatigue that are the big issues. They need to be fixed, and fast.

_________________
Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

I said it before, say it again, don't buy their stuff until they fix these problems. The bottom line is what hurts them.

The "Fix" is super easy. Just post the download for the previous version and allow people to download it. Issues solved! Not sure what the hold up is here except maybe the previous version didn't have their name plastered at the top of it. In which case they aren't doing what is right, they are doing what serves their own interests as a company.

_________________
LtC Thomas "Tex" McSwain
Kansas Raiders

Sure hurt the company you expect to help you...

Btw, no company rolls back to old stuff even if it would fix a new problem. The new whatever will fix it and that is what companies work on.

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."

You really don't seem to get how boycotts and public pressure work, do you Christian?

WDS has a set clientele who purchase from them. Their consumer relations are extremely important as this base group is a set number that is unlikely to grow beyond word of mouth and Facebook promotion. While I expect few will "boycott" WDS because of these issues, I know that the word of mouth will grow increasingly negative as time passes. Just look at how we went from YAY WDS WE LOVE YOU a few months back to, SCREW YOU WDS in just a short time. If they have any business sense they would have already publicly addressed these issues with a formal statement of some type. This would buy them some goodwill and some time to begin to fix the issues. It will also put them on the clock to deliver on whatever their promises are within a certain window. Private admissions of "whoops" sent in response to private emails or tech support claims does not qualify as a public acknowledgment of the fault.

Right now we have no formal comments from them. As a company they do not recognize the issue exists. As consumers we need to demand that they take ownership of their mess and commit to remedying it.

Talk to me about what a great bunch of guys they are after they do whats right. Not before.

_________________
LtC Thomas "Tex" McSwain
Kansas Raiders

Sorry - bit late to the party here. I am aware that LOS/FOW has been clumsily rendered dysfunctional in 4.0, but what's the issue with fatigue ? And what graphics are being complained about ? To me the graphic improvements are the best thing. I suppose I do find it odd that after all these years each iteration of these games throws up new bugs, as if the programmers are just not familiar enough with the coding to project consequences. Generally though, these games are a delight and it's probably good just to be thankful for their existence.

_________________
COL. Dave Spencer
5th Brigade, 4th Division, II Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

See here (https://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22818) for an analysis of Fatigue. There's also some discussion on Fatigue in this thread (https://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22796).

You're lucky you don't have problems with the new graphics, a number of people have trouble distinguishing things in them. Although it is funny to see the Yankees in their new pale and sickly blue uniforms in 2D mode, which I what I almost exclusively use.

_________________
Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

I wonder what that could be, the graphics a more clear then ever.

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."

If you thing these "sparks" here on the board can start more then a lousy brushfire, the you don't seem to understand.

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."