Littledwarf333 wrote:

So now it's not letting me in to my Message Chess inbox AGAIN! I lost all the games that I had open due to expired time. My rating droped alot. I am so mad at this game right now! It will let me play a live game with somone else, so its not a connection issue. I took my Gamer profile to friends house to use his faster highspeed. Still no luck accessing my inbox from there. I wish these problems we are all having could be adressed. Chess is a fantastic game and I love to play it.

Maybe you could take up the cause for Alnark with MS and see. I'm surprised MS never got back on this. I personally had a problem with MS Money not accessing my bank downloadable info and they got involved, contacted my bank and the three of us had a phone conference call which resulted in gettting the problem resolved in a few weeks. It's never an instant fix as these things take time - I know because I experience issues such as this in my line of work. However for issues to get resolved, involvement is key or it won't happen. I'm sure there must be more that experience similar issues with Chessmaster besides those that post here - maybe others don't care or every take the time to read post - they just spend all their time playing. If MS doesn't know, it won't get fixed. Yes, it's a $10 game, so unfortunatley won't receive the same focus as Halo 3.

In another post on this forum, someone stated he will withold buying to bring it to MS's attention, however, that doesn't advise MS of the problem. It's like gas - prices are high, but the only way something would be done is if "everyone" didn't purchase gas for a week. I doubt that will happen - so a few withholding buying has no effect. I guess we each have our way of expressing the frustration.

With regard to not being able to log in from a friend's location, were they using the same ISP as you? I have experienced a couple of times I was not able to log into message chess. I simply waited 15-30 minutes later and logged in. If you set the time for 1 day and happen to access close to the end of that 24 period, that can surely happen I guess. Probably better to set the limit for 3 days, it gives you more latitude in time for playing.

 

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Its a good solid chess game and overall I like it and haven't had any problems till yesterday. Now I too am getting the loading screen of death.

Is comcast your ISP?

Nope Rogers as I am in Canada.

Still down for me. Thats 3 days now. I can create a game but not view my inbox. It shows loading for 20min and then says ubi servers are not responding

I have been playing with another friend in Canada and his gave him the loading screen of death as well. He was the 6th ranked player and I was the 31st ranked player (on message chess) when we were locked out of our inboxes. Its been a week and still no message chess for me. I dont know if I want to dedicate any more time, other than what I have expended here on this forum dealing with this issue. Talking with techs on the phone or via email doesn't sound like a fun way to spend the day. Rather be gaming.  

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*Bump* Still down. Ubi-- no plans to fix this problem, huh?

 BurpSanchez wrote:

*Bump* Still down. Ubi-- no plans to fix this problem, huh?

I'm pretty sure Ubi doesn't even read there boards. :)

 Alnark wrote:

 BurpSanchez wrote:

*Bump* Still down. Ubi-- no plans to fix this problem, huh?

I'm pretty sure Ubi doesn't even read there boards. :)

That is 100% correct, UBI doesn't read these boards at all. Back in March there was someone claiming to be from UBI that read and posted some pretty scarcastic remarks to users. Hence it was hard to believe he was from UBI, but he was and proved it. Hard also to believe that UBI would have allowed this person, a representative of UBI to actually say what he said. I would laugh inside - unbelieveable. Towards the end, he compiled a list of problems and said he would bring them forward to management. Then it appears he went into the military service or reserves. You can probably find the posts - they were the one's dealing mostly with cheating. How someone starts a game, then then waits for the other person who never moves and they lose. Some were afflicted by that and were annoyed, so they wanted UBI to fix that. Their answer was there are cheaters in life and if someone wants to play that way because that is their way of life, it is hard to stop. Games are for fun and the minute you lose that concept, you will be upset by what happens. Bottomline is that cheating happens in many games and is hard to completely avoid. In Chessmaster the way around that I think was to be black and let your opponent be white. Then he has to make the first move and if he doesn't, he loses, not you. Not sure if that issue was somehow resolved. In message chess maybe that's not an issue, but in live games it was or still is - not sure. I don't recall reading about problems logging in Message Chess in that post at the time, but maybe there were. The cheating thing with the moving first seems to be the key topic of that post.

With regard to all the issues in accessing the inbox in message chess, I said it once and I'll say it again. If it's important to you, then you have to take the bull by the horn and address the issue with MS directly. If one feels that's too time consuming and it can be, then complaining about it here in this thread will do absolutely nothing. This is one of those issues that I doubt any of us that play the game can suggest a "magic" solution to the problem and it gets fixed. It is far too complicated - internet communications is "extremely" complex. If there in fact is a problem with UBI's server configuration with respect to how it connects to you and the MS servers, only MS can resolve that. If the issue is with the ISP, only MS as the muscle to make the suggestion to Comcast for example or see how from their end, they can address the problem. If MS doesn't know, it will never get fixed. Yes if this game was Halo, that probably would not happen for sure. However it's not - fact of life! That's also because there would be thousands contacting MS to resolve the problem. If no one complained to MS about Halo, the game would live with problems also.

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Kind of glad it isn't working now...just got the RROD (red rings of death) on my system.  Now I'm just plain mad!

 Alnark wrote:

Kind of glad it isn't working now...just got the RROD (red rings of death) on my system.  Now I'm just plain mad!

Yes that is upsetting, but the good side is that now your Xbox will be refurbished. A friend of mine got the red rings of death and it went away only to return again permanently. So he sent his Xbox in about two weeks ago and already has received confirmation that is fixed and being returned, so it didn't take too long. The inconvenience is well worth it! Let us know how it goes and good luck!

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Skier– there are plenty of other games (even lowly XBox Live Arcade games) that are out there that have had connection issues (Catan is one that I've played, for instance) where the developer has recognized the problem, released a patch and fixed the game. No matter what you say about this being an issue for Microsoft or our ISPs, the problem will not get resolved unless UBI takes steps to resolve an issue isolated to THIER game and I can gaurantee you that they are aware, at this point, that it is happening, they've taken into account the low sales numbers for this game, potential for future sales, and the low price tag relative to their other software and have decided to do nothing about it.

That is a concious decision on the part of UBI-soft to no longer support this game... and has nothing to do with the consumer "taking the bull by the horns."  The issue is clearly not an isolated one, due to some random set-up by a few select users, therefore the responsibility falls on the developer to fix the problem, but UBI-soft is proving that it doesn't care about it's customers beyond their profit margins.

I've worked in tech support before, and if you simply tell your customers that the problem is not on your end, so you are not going to do anything to fix it – you lose those customers. Ubi doesn't care because in this case they've already sold the game, and apparently the sales numbers don't justify a fix in order to retain potential future customers.

It is what it is... not sure why you are trying to turn it into something it's not.

 BurpSanchez wrote:

Skier– there are plenty of other games (even lowly XBox Live Arcade games) that are out there that have had connection issues (Catan is one that I've played, for instance) where the developer has recognized the problem, released a patch and fixed the game. No matter what you say about this being an issue for Microsoft or our ISPs, the problem will not get resolved unless UBI takes steps to resolve an issue isolated to THIER game and I can gaurantee you that they are aware, at this point, that it is happening, they've taken into account the low sales numbers for this game, potential for future sales, and the low price tag relative to their other software and have decided to do nothing about it.

That is a concious decision on the part of UBI-soft to no longer support this game... and has nothing to do with the consumer "taking the bull by the horns."  The issue is clearly not an isolated one, due to some random set-up by a few select users, therefore the responsibility falls on the developer to fix the problem, but UBI-soft is proving that it doesn't care about it's customers beyond their profit margins.

I've worked in tech support before, and if you simply tell your customers that the problem is not on your end, so you are not going to do anything to fix it – you lose those customers. Ubi doesn't care because in this case they've already sold the game, and apparently the sales numbers don't justify a fix in order to retain potential future customers.

It is what it is... not sure why you are trying to turn it into something it's not.

BurpSanchez, I agree with you in respect to the business decision that UBI has probably taken at this time to not support the game the way it should. Also in most cases you are correct the issue is not isolated to set up procedures by the users. At this point the issue lies with either the ISP or/and equipment they provide to their end-user, UBI or Microsoft.

I can see how easy it can be that what one writes can be translucent or easily misunderstood-rest assured I'm not trying to turn this into something it's not. Based upon what I've read on this forum I have not seen any concrete technical information provided by those that posted that clearly isolates the problem. There are those that complain about it, unfortunately the answer does not lie here because of the technical nature of this issue. Although I don't have Comcast I took the liberty to go on their site to see if there were any issues with Xbox 360 connectivity and they clearly say that they have nothing to do with it, even though they might in some way and that one needs to contact Microsoft directly on these issues. With regard to UBI although they might be aware of the some of these issues apparently they are not doing anything about it. However I can assure you that UBI is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, just like my company is so when Microsoft contacts you about an issue, since you do not want to lose that accreditation or jeopardize it in any way, you will respond. Furthermore Microsoft has provided UBI with the software blueprint necessary that they need to incorporate in their games in order it for them to interface properly with the Microsoft servers and the Xbox 360. Microsoft is very involved in this because if you're not connected to Live you can't connect to UBI online. So in many ways Microsoft is in the center of this.

All the complaints of the world posted on this forum will do absolutely nothing in technically resolving this issue. So for those that this issue is important enough all I'm saying is that yes you need to grab the bull by the horns and contact Microsoft and put it the necessary time to bring a resolution to this issue that one is having. Internet communications is extremely complex and the consumer can tear hair out trying to resolve situations such as this. By the same token if the consumer does not take the necessary steps, it is very likely that the problem will not be resolved. So I'm not trying to turn anything into “something that it's not”, all I have stated is that the issue is very complex and at this point it is best to deal with Microsoft directly on this issue, that is if one wants to find a resolution to the issue, because yes UBI of their own volition and for business reasons as you stated will not expend any additional effort or time in resolving and diagnosing what is the cause of these problems.

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I do not think that this has anything to do with the ISP.  You have people in the US, Canada, and me in the Middle East all with similiar problem but yet all with different ISPs.  In my opinion it is with Ubi-Soft and their servers.  Mine started after I left my 360 off for a few days, too many to be truthfull and I guess I lost message chess games, but I can't verify if I did loose because I can't get into my message chess inbox. 

Did any of you experience this after leaving your 360 off for an extended period of time?  Possibly forfeiting/losing games?  I'm trying to determine a common cause to how my issue started and possibly to how all of our problems started.

Another peculiar fact to  my scenario is that I can play a ranked classic chess games on-line over Live and this obviously goes to the Ubi-Soft servers.  It would be nice to know how many servers Ubi-Soft has servicing Chessmaster Live and if it is more then one, do they each handle differnet types of games variants, i.e one for message chess, and another for regular ranked games...etc. 

I would like to contact Ubi-Soft myself and ask more specific quetions.  Can you please provide me with the contact numbers and/or email you have since you were in touch with them.

I work for a comms company as a systems control officer in the largest network operations center in the middle east and have 18 years of experince troubleshooting comms issues.  It would also help if everyone who is in this thread put their focus on Ubi-Soft and call them to report this issue.  The more voices there are the better our chances of being heard.

I also don't think that this would be a MS problem.  I doubt that MS would somehow have only one variant of a game not work on their Live network.  It would be more likely that if this were a MS issue that the entire game would not be working on Live not only a certain portion of the game.

Look forward to hearing you.  As soon as I the contact details for Ubi-Soft from you I contact them and post any and all answers that I might get.

My message chess is working again.  I don't know how or why, it just started to work again.  Needless to say I lost several games while it was not accessible.  I just hopw it doesn't happen again.  Oh well time to make up all those lost rating points

When you say lost, do you mean they disappeared after the time that elapsed or that you "lost" as in competition? I had been playing message chess with one of my friends for several weeks and I was not able to get back in time to make the next move, so I lost by default. The game I lost to him had disappeared. Last Thursday he started another game and when I accepted it, his old game that I had lost to, appeared again. All the moves are there, I can undo moves, etc.

Did you find a similar experience? I've also asked him has he ever had any problems in getting into message chess and he never has.

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Several have posted that they have encountered problems, but I have a feeling that there are many who don't. Since you have communications experience, than you know how complicated communications is. If you check the threads on this board, you will see several threads of issues with Chessmaster, not all related to communications. Appears that some have tried to contact Ubi, but have not received much success. So I don't know if you will have any luck, but it's always worth a try.

There was a Ubi employee that was looking at these threads a while back and he posted pretty often for a while. Outside of him, I don't think any Ubi staff was really reading these threads.

Whether tt's an MS problem or not, since your logic about a game variant not working is plausible, the bottom line is that MS & Ubi are partners. In order to connect to Ubi, you must pass through XBL. However most important is that Ubi is at the very least a Gold Certified Partner of MS. Because of that, Ubi would be more likely to respond from MS than from consumers that try to contact them about an issue which is not a rock solid failure, since some don't have a problem & others do.

 

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Dude. Clearly you are not a gamer. It's pretty apparent that you are an employee of Ubi (your gamer score coupled with your unusual interest in this issue make this apparent)... and are attempting to gauge the damage your company will take if it CHOOSES to ignore this issue, while simultaneously saying that you will not respond unless Microsoft forces you to.

It's fairly apparent that costumer service at Ubi only matters if it is in volumes that will effect sales.

F&@k ubi. Never buying another game.

I really wish message chess allowed you to play against friends instead of a randomly selected opponent.  I really don't feel like keeping an extended game going with someone I don't know.  I have a friend that enjoys chess as much as me, but we rarely find the time to play against each other for a whole match.  We both have Xbox Live and this seemed like an easy way for us to play against each other.  Ubisoft should have allowed players to invite friends to a message chess game. 

 CodeMonkey76 wrote:

I really wish message chess allowed you to play against friends instead of a randomly selected opponent.  I really don't feel like keeping an extended game going with someone I don't know.  I have a friend that enjoys chess as much as me, but we rarely find the time to play against each other for a whole match.  We both have Xbox Live and this seemed like an easy way for us to play against each other.  Ubisoft should have allowed players to invite friends to a message chess game. 

I agree. Hopefully a new chess game will come out with all the features that this one left out. (features that WORK properly)  Alas, my message chess is still broken.

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 CodeMonkey76 wrote:

I really wish message chess allowed you to play against friends instead of a randomly selected opponent.  I really don't feel like keeping an extended game going with someone I don't know.  I have a friend that enjoys chess as much as me, but we rarely find the time to play against each other for a whole match.  We both have Xbox Live and this seemed like an easy way for us to play against each other.  Ubisoft should have allowed players to invite friends to a message chess game. 

Hi CodeMonkey76,
You should be able to do it, I have a friend in FL that we set up custom message chess with each other all the time. Both of you need to be on line, prior to going on message chess, find out what your ELO is for message chess. Create a custom match, then give your friend your message chess ELO via private chat and send him an invite from the Xbox Guide. He will get the invite, go to his message chess box and he might see several or maybe just one player. However he will pick the one with the ELO that you gave him - that will be you, he accepts then you start playing.

See how that works out for you guys!

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