Okay - I'm going to do my best trying to answer some of the questions here from what I have.
In a nutshell - the meeting was prompted by some of the misconceptions that the general public - myself included - had concerning a number of issues that have risen lately, and to answer questions that I - and forum members have that deal with MGS and its operations.
The Grand Prive affiliate fiasco was a big subject, but I'd like to deal with this in a separate thread if you don't mind since that item seems to garner a lot of attention, and I'm going to try and address the majority of the questions here.
To begin with, I need to stress that I am conveying this information as objectively as possible. There are quite a few people who can't differentiate facts (or statements from others) from opinions. I'm being as objective as possible, so bear with.
Some misconceptions about the software provider (MGS)
MGS bails out failed casinos
MGS holds players funds or has access to player data
MGS changes their RTP
MGS has slacked up on due diligence
MGS doesn't care about their players
MGS can yank licenses at a whim
MGS doesn't care what GP does
Some of these misconceptions are the result of how this industry has changed over the past decade. This industry has grown incredibly.
In the beginning, most casinos ran with one software provider and that was it. Nowadays we have corporate giants like Ladbrokes,
Unibet, etc., who may use MGS for their casino games, but utilize a number of others - Ladbrokes has 11, Unibet 9 - if Ladbrokes were to go belly up tomorrow, would MGS be expected to bail out the players? If so, how would it be possible to figure out which software provider is responsible for which players.
If the Wynn Casino goes belly up, would we expect IGT to cover the players' losses? That would be like having a conversation with a houseplant. No one would be listening.
MGS is not allowed to deal directly with players. Not because they don't want to, but because they can't by law. The regulations on the Isle of man state that if you don't have a gaming license - you don't deal with players - simple as that. It's the operators and licensing jurisdictions that are accountable for these sort of things.
Of course, if there are problems of players not getting paid etc., MGS needs to hear about it. They care about players - always have. But over the past few years, players' perceptions have changed, and that's one thing that needs to be addressed.
Operators are solely responsible for their marketing. MGS has nothing to do with this. It's considered "b2b" and if/when there are problems in this realm - it's the operators who need to answer. To go further on this, gaming jurisdictions generally won't touch it either since they consider this b2b as well. Marketing has nothing to do with player issues. Caveat Emptor when it comes to affiliate and media buyers. Affiliates are responsible for their own business decisions - same goes for the casinos.
RTP - once a game is developed, the RTP is set in stone and that's it. It's never changed.
Due diligence - the casino must be licensed by a jurisdiction that offers gaming licenses. Casino offices are visited and probity checks are made on the owners. They only accept gaming licenses from around six jurisdictions or so.
It's not MGS or any other software provider that puts a casino in business - it's the investors. The software is the gaming platform.
US players. There is too much commercial uncertainty in the US market; the laws are still unclear, and in the long run - it's just not worth it.
Yanking licenses. MGS does not have the power to yank an operator's gaming license.
GP? I'll discuss that in another thread.
Would be interesting to know if they have they taken any steps recently to prevent casinos disappearing into the big black hole.
I think Microgaming should have give a new casino the choice of either being licensed by a reputable licnese such as the UK licensing or Kahnawake (who seem to be pulling their act together of the late) and Alderney, failing that, they ought to have a "reserve" with Microgaming, the funds wont be used for arbitration, but only in the event they go belly up.
Again - MGS holds no player funds and cannot deal with player issues. I think Kahnawake is the only non-white-listed jurisdiction that is accepted by MGS.
My observation is that casinos generally don't fall into black holes. Normally when a business fails, its bought up by other operators.
Where it gets problematic is with poker. Many poker rooms aren't fully licensed because some jurisdictions consider this peer-to-peer or skill games - thus no need to license.
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The biggest problem I have with MG are the softwarechanges that made the older games almost unplayable when beeing on anything less than a quadcore with a dedicaded 512MB or more videocard...
The software issues are important to nail down. Some are known issues, some may be computer specific. Their suggestion for everyone that is having a specific problem is to
contact the casino rep here in the forum and have them contact MGS. If you have difficulties doing this, please let me know.
What I am stressing here is that operators must be made to perform. Put them to task to solve these problems.
...Plus any comments why they directed skins (at least RedNines) to TUSK/MPP when "everyone" should have seen that it was slowly being drained out of money. How much rake did they get from the TUSK poker players over the years?
And why they had no problems allowing Linx Group opening a casino (Linx casino) when the whole group was close to bust. How much rake did they get from the Eurolinx poker players over the years? (BetOnBet was "too fresh" in the Linx stable)
Apparently they do zero due diligence on tho whom they license their software. Is that going to change? E: so that we dont see any new multimillion fiasco in the future.
One thing about rake - they don't get nearly the amount of rake that a lot of players are assuming. The cap on rake is 3 per game for poker and MGS receives a very small percentage of this. So it's stretching it a bit when you're referring to a multi-million dollar fiasco.
As for the Linx group - they did check Jo Remme out. They knew about the article that appeared in some newspaper tying him in with a pyramid scheme but with further investigation there was no arrest records or court dates. It was only a newspaper article.
What if anything they are going to do about the Amercan players. How is it still possible to play in a MCG casino but be denied excess to new games and progressives? It doesn't make any sense..what if an American player hit a big sum on one of the slots?... they would find a way to pay him so either deny all American players or let us have everything.
Like I mentioned, US players are going to have to get used to playing elsewhere.
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Paytables at slots, the paytables sometimes say things that is not true if you read the more detailed one. One example is Alaskan Fishing where the paytable clearly says: ALL wins are doubled during free spins when bonus game wins are not doubled.
They are looking into this.
Casino tournaments: Many players find it odd that you can play same tournament several times just because you can log in to a different casino and play again. Players compare this with two users at a poker table.
Ah, I thought the same until it was explained to me (even though I could have figured this out on my own. There is a difference here. Poker is arguably a game of skill. If a guy has more than one account at the same poker table, or is privy to another's hand, that's collusion and thus cheating. If a person has more than one entry into a slot tourney (a game of chance) he's not affecting the outcome of the game. He is upping the pot by signing up numerous times. Compare this to a lottery. You can purchase as many tickets as you want and this ups the pot as well. It's basically the same thing. They will still be looking into this, but that's their take on it.
My question should be an obvious one:
Why does Microgaming continue to allow people to use multiple accounts/skins to register for the SAME TOURNAMENTS, thus cheating the legitimate players out of a fair shot at winning?
See the above answer.
Pretty much been said here. Hate the querky, jerky slow crawling spins. Hate the long load and refresh between every game, I can go make lunch waiting on some games to load. Hate hearing the fan in my computer kicking on everytime I play.
Again, this is something they will be investigating. Contact the casino rep (most MGS casinos have one here) and tell them to forward your issue to MGS.
Ask them if they would be prepared to put something in place that gave the casinos the option to display the theoretical returns on slot games.
Also, see if you can find out if they can vary them from casino to casino and if so, how the process for changing the RTP is dealt with
Listing their RTP per game makes them a little squeamish since this is something their competitors would love to have. I don't see that happening. They might start listing the RTP per type of slot (9 line, etc.) at the moment I think eCOGRA publishes RTPs, but it's slots across the board.
Like I stated earlier, the RTP is set during development and once it's launched it's set in stone. These aren't differentiated from casino to casino.
I would like to know their opinion about implemeting Randomness Control on MG games (at least for Slots).
No comprende mi amigo.
Didn't quite get what you mean there.
I am far less happy with the MG casinos that have implemented the new lobby. The fruities which include skill stops do not always stop. It would be nice if they offered us unsatisfied players a roll-back version. I would sacrifice the new games in order to have my favourites back playing well.
They can't do roll back versions because of the support issue. It was just too much to deal with.
re. Grand Prive: I have located a record of my actual stats on an old computer but haven't had a chance yet to hook it up long enough to pull all the data. It will show without a doubt that the figures given to eCOGRA were selective and legacy players were excluded.
Grand Prive owes me at least 10 times what they propose to pay.
I also have located the previous aff managers who should be able to give information about the missing data.
Sorry I don't have all this ready yet, too much has been going on (such as ddos attacks and the resulting introduction of additional security).
Again, I'll start another thread to deal with the GP stuff.
incredible from a software provider that makes so much money, to not want to invest proper, or maybe they put everything on protection of code/antihax etc, with the price we in the end pay as players, of deadly slow software with high resource demand..
also possible...
I wouldn't rest a lot of weight on the assumption that a company makes bucket loads of money. For some people it works fine, others it doesn't. They test the new games on every imaginable type of computer from the clunkers running Windows ME, to the newest thing you can get at Costco.
But this is a major issue that they are trying to address. Perhaps when players sign up, they'll get a package of the newest games plus a few more. And receive the rest (all 400) on disc in the mail.
I don't know, but operators need to be put to task on this if this is a computer specific issue.
Perhaps MGS could have a rep here, to get feedback from players about the issues with the software, and answer software based questions. I do NOT envisage any MGS rep being expected to respond to OPERATOR issues, but ONLY software ones. The problem is that operators are generally pretty hopeless when it comes to PROPER help with software issues, and there is simply NO path of contact with someone who CAN provide help. Even when operators say they have referred a problem back to MGS, this is the last ever heard of it, there is almost NEVER a return answer, and the player NEVER receives the help needed...
One thing that I've suggested it to have a comprehensive FAQ on the MGS site - or even here in fact - that addresses all of these types of issues. One of the grand failures of this industry is good sensible communication.
Another thing is to have an updated "known issues" concerning the software. Certain games are blurry, etc. Most of the tech issues have reasons behind them and they are being dealt with. It would be good to see evidence like this to illustrate that these issues are known and being dealt with. An RSS feed to the casinos would be ideal.
I like the idea about having a MG rep here at Casinomeister. Since there are many online casinos under WG software, a lot of issues are raised by players, and not all issues could be solved with CS only.
Yeah me too, but this is strictly up to them. Nevertheless, we've had the chance to regroup and get back in touch. It was a very constructive meeting that (I hope) has answered a number of pressing issues.
Edited to add: there is more. I just wanted to get this out so that you have this to rip apart for now
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