Cookin’ Pogo Style, Too Much for Time Warp, Baffling Blackout and MORE!

My Mouth is Watering!

Hi Mr. Esteemed Editor,

I looked at the new cookbook and wow!! The recipes are mouthwatering and sound fantabulous. What a fun idea for members to share their tried and true recipes with fellow players. Kudos to Pogo for adding the cookbook. I’m off to try the Pineapple Bars.

Just sign me,

Drooling

Thank you so much for the awesome idea of having a Pogo Cookbook from the Pogo players. I LOVE IT.

I read all of the recipes and I can’t wait to try them out. They all sound so yummy and easy to make. I hope that this will be an ongoing cookbook that is updated every so often with new recipes. Is there a deadline when we can submit some of our favorite recipes?

Move over Rachel Ray, the “Pogo Players Cookbook” will surely be the next new cookbook to have… LOL…

Regards,

Linda

Dear Pogo,

Is it too late to submit a recipe for the book? I have an awesome Mac and Cheese recipe that is pretty easy and everyone has loved it since I was in 7th grade. I’d like to submit it if possible.

Thanks

Editor: So glad to hear that everyone enjoyed the Pogo Cookbook so much! We did receive a lot of really wonderful recipes, and it might be something we do again (no guarantees, but it does seem popular).

That said, since everyone loves M&C and apparently everyone loves yours – if you send me your Mac and Cheese recipe – with a picture – I’ll post it in next week’s Letters to the Editor column!

I’m writing you today because I received a message that the TIME WARP PBA is now 72 gems and I paid 86 gems for it.

I was told to contact you in regard to getting a refund for the extra 14 gems I paid out for it. I have no idea how to get to “Customer Experience” so I am writing this email instead. I truly hope that this is received and that I can get my 14 gems back!

Thank you, in advance, for your help in this matter.

Most Sincerely,

Lori

Editor: Yes, we did incorrectly price th Time Warp Premium Badge Album, and we will refund the 14 Gems. You may not even need to do anything – we’re compiling a list of everyone who bought it for 86 Gems, and we’re hoping to be able to refund those Gems to the folks without having them do anything.

We’ll post something in the Pogo News tomorrow or Friday updating folks on what they either need to do, or not need to do.

Dear Editor,

I just downloaded Pogo on my Android phone and was amazed at the vivid colors and how easy it is to play.

Have only played Word Whomp and Poppit! Kudos to all who worked on these games and all at Pogo land for jobs well done through out the years of Pogo. You all are a VERY talented group of individuals who together keep a world of games new and interesting for us all.

THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!

Connie

Editor: You’re welcome welcome welcome! Thank you for the great feedback!

Hi,

The Chat Rooms tab in Bingo Luau isn’t working properly. For some reason, it won’t list the Blackout rooms (either regular, speedy or super-speedy). The only way I found to access them is by finding out the actual name of a Blackout room and searching for it (thank you Pogo Forums!).

I understand that these embedded games are the future of Pogo. If they are going to make our gaming experience better, I’m all for it. However, it would be nice if you could refrain from changing these games until you’ve worked out all the kinks. I mean, did no one actually test game room accessibility before enabling it for public use?

I don’t mean to be overly critical, but when I signed up for Club Pogo, I didn’t realize that meant I was also going to be a beta tester.

I know you’re better than this, Pogo!

Lost in the Blackout

Editor: Sorry! Yes, you’re correct – the Blackout Rooms in Bingo Luau are currently not Blackout rooms. That’s true in regular, speedy and super speedy. This is something we will get fixed in an upcoming release.

We do regret the oversight, and we definitely should have caught this and corrected it before it went live.

I find it interesting the Weekly Challenge choices that Pogo management make. One example is this weeks badge in Euchre. I was looking at the Badge Poll and noticed at 36% (probably has changed at this point) chose not to pursue the badge.

I found this a frustrating badge, the game is difficult to understand (once you understand it, it is still difficult, but you understand it). The only time I ever play this game is when it is a badge. It is not a fun game and playing against the computer is next to impossible, and not many people play it so their is little option to play other “real competitors”.

My biggest question is that why does Pogo pick games that very few people play? I look at the number of people playing games and some of these Challenges are games rarely played by the majority of the population.

I understand that you are encouraging members to chose other games, but frankly they are usually not very stimulating and to some frustrating (and result in lots of complaint e-mail). To make the majority of your customer base happy, look at what they are playing, listen to them, and develop challenges that are stimulating and realistic!

Editor: Sometimes a Challenge is loved by everyone. Well, that’s not quite true – some Challenges are more popular than others. But most people recognize that there will be, on occasion, a Challenge in a game that they don’t like and they either decide to bite the bullet and do it, or skip it.

I’ve said it before (insert many rolled eyes and sighs here), but Challenges are optional, and we do like to mix up the games so that those folks who LOVE Euchre (yes, they exist!) get some love from time to time.

Good Afternoon Mr. Ed.

It’s almost time for my subscription to renew, and it has me thinking about the future of Club Pogo. Last year was the start of the embedded non-chat games and the integration with Facebook. When my renewal was up, I realized it has been almost a year since a new regular Pogo game with all the bells and whistles was released, and a year and a half since the last Club Pogo exclusive was released. It sounded like there were big plans for Club Pogo in the future, and I decided to give Club Pogo another year.

Well, now here it is 11 months later, and I’m really reconsidering my Club Pogo Subscription. We haven’t had a new Club Pogo game since Flower Daze in February 2010 and the last regular Pogo game was Balloon Bounce in July 2010. Needless to say, I joined Club Pogo for the extra games and features. Lately, the games have been sub-par with no chat or jackpots – two features that make Pogo unique. There have also been more site outages and glitches.

I play Pogo because I love to earn badges and play against friends, and these new games lack that social connection that has made Pogo popular since 1999. There was talk of “upgrading” these games several months ago, but no additional details have been released yet. I would like to see more focus on releasing high quality Pogo games (Quality over quantity!) and less focus on cookbooks and Mini Shows.

Please, give us an update that will convince me (and others) that Pogo really is working at giving players a better experience and giving us back the Pogo/Club Pogo that we all know and love.

Thank You for your time,

A Club Pogo Member Since 2005

Editor: Thanks for your letter – you echo a lot of the sentiment of what we’re hearing, and we are listening to it.

I have compared Pogo and Club Pogo to a big boat. A ship, really – a big one. With lots and lots of decks and banquet halls, and things to do, and some wonderful – some perhaps a bit crazy – passengers and staff. We’ve truly been blessed with many years of fairly smooth sailing, but in order to make it around the next horn, we need to make some changes.

Unfortunately, maintaining a site like Pogo requires a lot of work. Making changes to a site like this requires even more. Technology progresses quickly, and in order to move into the future, we have to progress with it.

We’ve been faced with a number of unexpected challenges recently, and those have caused a lot of people a lot of grief. We are doing our best to fix the bugs and address the issues, but alas, these things do take time.

As for the games – we have added new games, but most have not been Pogo exclusives (although let’s not forget about Claire Hart!). We felt that we needed to broaden our offerings with popular games that are available elsewhere, and give them a Pogo twist. Instead of offering Club Pogo exclusive games, we are now offering Club Pogo exclusives within the games that we launch. For example, if you’ve played Slingo Ricochet, you may have noticed that Club members get Slingo Vision and extra Super Jokers. And – chat is coming to these new games!

Club Pogo is the only place where you can earn Badges, get exclusive Mini items and has no ad-interruptions.

As for the Embedded Game Pages – we see the feedback, and we are looking at ways to move this ship forward, while still giving our long time players the experience they want. There are definitely a few bugs we need to work out with the new game pages, and we’re doing so (with the help of a lot of Club Players, I might add).

If you haven’t seen it yet, Pogo_Bret made a nice video showing folks a super easy way to Make the Game Pop Out (the video is the same for all browser types)

Also – not every problem on Pogo has actually been our fault. Sometimes a service, a browser, or piece of software that we depend upon makes changes and breaks something on Pogo. While we scramble to get the issue addressed, we also take the heat for it.

We don’t do a great job of letting people know when we’ve fixed something. Beginning next week we will begin publishing our “Release Notes”, which is a summary of what changes we’ve made to Pogo, and will include new features and bug fixes so players will know what bugs and issues have been addressed. Check the Pogo News on Tuesday for the first installment.

And another thing – you have to recognize that we’re a company made up of many different departments. While I understand you want things fixed (we all do!), not everyone has the right skills for fixing the issues. For instance, you can’t expect me, personally, to fix anything technical on Pogo. I wouldn’t know where to start and ultimately Pogo would only host printable puzzle games with hand-drawn Badges you’d have to color yourself. Also, not everyone is dissatisfied or having issues. So, we will continue to do the fun things like the Pogo Cook Book and the Mini events.

Finally, there’s just nothing out there quite like Pogo. We’re having a rough patch right now, and we appreciate your loyalty now more than ever. We will continue to work with our community to satisfy your game playing experience, but it may take some time before you see the improvements. Our goal is to become better.

Pogo’s General Manager recently said above all he wants Pogo customers to be delighted. As a company, we are all committed to that vision and making that happen. It will take some time.

Dear Editor, I have been silent for way too long!! I have been with Pogo since 2003 and not once have I written the editor, but now is the time!

I am so sick and tired of hearing players whine and complain about the changes to Pogo. People get over it! I, in fact, like the changes! Listen whiners and complainers, nobody puts a gun to your head and forces you to pay for a membership to Pogo!! You elect to do it! Nobody forces you to do challenges. You choose to do them!

Pogo is a heck of a lot better than it was years ago!! So, when my Pogo membership comes up for renewal this Fall I will definitely be renewing it!

Kudos to Pogo! Keep Up The Good Work!

Editor: Thanks for your feedback! It is nice to hear some positive thoughts on some of our changes.

That said, I do appreciate all of our players. Most of the complaints we get are not from chronic whiners or complainers, but from players who love Pogo and are upset by the recent changes. We appreciate their voices, and frankly – we depend on those voices to help us make Pogo better for everyone. Keep the feedback coming. :)

I saw the notice on the “Island Dream Badge” in Vaults of Atlantis the day it came out which was April 4, 2012. No news since then. How long does it take to tell us what is happening on this? I am disappointed that there has been no follow up.

I have been sitting on 2/3 for weeks and playing but still cannot get the 3rd one. I only have 2 days left to get the last one and guess I will lose that progress. Please give us hard working players an update on what is happening with this badge.

Thank you,

Plafulangel

Editor: Sorry about that… the good news is that we will be adjusting the odds in that game in an upcoming release, so it will be easier to get that Badge.

Those who have earned that Badge already (there are a handful or so) deserve HUGE kudos for their commitment, but the Badge required an unreasonable amount of time to earn, and we felt we needed to make it more achievable.

Dear Editor,

I am a firm believer that credit should be given where credit is due. That being said, I would like to single out a Live Chat agent for “Exceptional” service.

We need more people at Live Chat like Rajat M. Every time I have dealt with him, no matter what the issue, he has always been courteous, knowledgeable and very helpful. It is indeed a pleasure dealing with him.

I would be so appreciative if Rajat could be recognized in some way, and/or made aware of this letter. Thank you so much.

(Always a Pogo Fan)

Editor: If Rajat is truly the exceptional person that you make him out to be, then he is also a regular reader of the Letters to the Editor and will see your letter right here! ;)

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s much appreciated.

Have something to say to the Editor? E-mail editor@pogo.com. Please note – if you are having any customer support or technical support related questions, please contact our Customer Experience Team