Reasons are given in the new thread on BFG forum as to why GM was updated, and improvements down the road was one of the reasons. Hopefully other improvements prove more improving.

The "improvements" they seem to be interested in making have nothing to do with the speed of downloading games and everything to do with "tailored" advertising. Because a few people complained of seeing "recommended games" that they already have, the Game Manager will become more intrusive into what you have installed on your computer so it can suggest games based on what it finds.

The current thread (the third one on the subject of the Game Manager) is ***here***

Ana, thank you very much for that link. It was very helpful!!

"Hopefully other improvements prove more improving.

Ha. Whatcha wanta bet they do, Homer6?

The biggest improvement I see is in the amount of money left in my wallet since I kissed the GM good-bye.

Gil.

No, Gil, from what I just read on the additional pages of the new GM thread, new and improved isn't going to be near improved enough to keep people coming back to BFG.

As you read those pages you see some who have already given BFG the heave ho, and others who are on the verge of doing so.

The biggest complaint is the ads being shoved down the throats of those with the latest GM, and those additional pages are full of people who are not in the mood to have an ad cluttered PC. The other things sticking in the craw of users is their browsers opening after playing a game, something that never occurred before the new and improved GM. Seems this is the decision of some developers. Why? I'd open my browser myself to go to their site if their game is good. Screw around with my browser and I'll never visit their site.

BFG sent me a post card with a coupon code for any game of my choice for only $2.99. After reading those additional pages I believe that post card is going to be thrown away. A real shame.

Seems someone at BFG doesn't understand that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

What gets me, Homer6, is that the GM appears to be 'bigger' (megabytes) than my browser and according to some folks on the forum, makes their CPU usage jump wildly at times. Someone jokingly remarked (I think they were joking) that BFG seemed to be building their own browser. If so, they're doing a poor job of it.

Shoot, unlike the GM with its multiple, irritating ads, my browser sneaks in only a few things that I don't want - such as a tiny little link to Ebay - and allows me to remove them without a fuss. Oh, and it pesters me once in a while to upgrade to the latest version but it doesn't insist on it. My browser is also a d**n sight better looking with its custom skin and can be resized to almost the size of a postage stamp, unlike this BFG clunker that occupies most of the screen and will not give it up unless you minimize it to nothing.

I got rid of the game manager and my account, not because I had any problems, but because I just don't like the way BFG is ignoring people's legitimate complaints and not giving them the GM that worked while they're trying to work the Multiple bugs out of this new one that's being stuffed down their throats.

I really do not know what they're thinking.

Gil.

What they're thinking is that they are going to do what they want regardless of how it affects the user or the users' computer.

Maybe they are trying to write their own browser, or something that they believe resembles a browser. Regardless of their intentions, as one no longer a BGF customer put it, BFG has shot themselves in the foot and they're continuing to do so.

At the rate they're going, they'll be lucky if they have any customers in the next few weeks. Garbage doesn't play well with users who demand spit and polish.

I've experienced frustrating technical issues with BFG in the recent past - not related to the GM. BFG did all they could to resolve the problem. A company that didn't care about their customers wouldn't bother to provide a forum for discussion and provide the sort of customer support that BFG does. Given the number of downloads the site processes on a daily basis, and the number of different game platforms and PC configurations they have to deal with, it's really quite remarkable that the site doesn't crash on a regular basis. BFG is a top-rate site. The number of problems with the new GM is likely a small percentage in the grand scheme of things. I understand the frustration of those for whom the new GM has affected their ability to download or play the games. However, I feel that the complaints regarding the overall "look" and functions can be disregarded when considering how "big" the problem is. Not that those opinions shouldn't be shared. Just that they don't really represent a failure on the part of BFG, IMO. Give BFG some credit for working with everyone concerned. For a number of reasons, change is usually problematic in any human endeavor. And maybe it's well to remember that BFG is indeed a HUMAN endeavor. To those who decide to jump ship, I understand that you feel this is what you need to do to express your displeasure. A valid response. In the end, it's up to the customer to decide where they wish to spend their dollars.

Very true Sparkle, I remember the complaints when Gameboomers changed to a new forum program and even though there were new features added that people had been begging for, there were complaints. Now no one even notices the difference anymore. Change is hard thing to accept.

I am an anti-ad person though especially if I am customer and buy the games. Save the ads for sites that are all pay for free games.

The ads don't bother me. Since I get plenty of pop-ups on my Yahoo Home Page from places I shop online (in spite of AdBlock Plus), I've pretty much learned to ignore them. Just clean out my cookies every now and then.

At least now everyone has some idea what a game portal looks like when run by a former managing director at Goldman Sachs.

Jeremy has been in charge there for 4 years so I'm not sure he is to blame.

Oh-oh - I just this minute got yet another GM update installed onto my laptop!! Version 3.0.1.60

Boobie, I hope that the updated GM continues to work well for you.

BET, I used the opt-out link and elected to opt out of all those cookie buggers.

I also bookmarked the page to check again at another time, just to keep on top of it

Thanks for the info!

I have used it for quite awhile and posted it here after noticing it worked. I have however noticed that despite the fact they say it stays away for years, I have had a few come back and I have needed to opt-out again. I believe that happens when you inadvertantly agree on another website you visit to accept that particular cookie. No big deal to opt-out again though.

Ana

Okay, having read all the comments listed, I'm not afraid to add my own two cents again. (I tried discussing this before, but was swept away in the anti-complaint-it-must-be-your-computer-tide.;) )

I can understand both sides of this issue, and, in a really bad economy, I'm sure BFG is feeling the pinch as well, and desperately trying anything for marketing. However, what they're doing with the GM and all its revisions is going to hurt not help. IMHO, they need to stop holding on to a losing proposition, and at least make choices available for customers.

My beloved Felix is safe with me. I'm certainly not planning on torturing or dismembering him, which some folks on the main forums are doing, but I hate to see BFG steadfastly do themselves damage. No, I haven't cancelled my membership, but I also haven't made my usual amount of purchases. I suspect there are a lot of customers like me out there, and overall, their revenues are not going to look good at the end of the month.

Guess I'm slow on the uptake, Cynder; Felix? Seems I'm having slow days very often these days.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Cynder, in that the customer no longer seems to have a choice how the GM is displayed, or what is displayed, on their computer. And if the new and improved GM is as much of a system hog as has been said, that as well.

Sure, BFG and all game sites need to protect themselves, making sure the software used for their sites are as fool proof as possible. But when changes upset as many customer as this one has I'm not sure it's worth the possible losses in the end.

I am one of those customers you spoke of, Cynder, who would love to buy more games from BFG. But after all I've read I'm not about to subject my system with software that seems to have moved backward instead of forward. I'll keep my eye open, hoping things will be resolved to my satisfaction.

Really? That's terrible!
I'd never do that, even if I quit Big Fish.


Same here, though I did buy the new Hidden Expedition game.


When you're a member at Big Fish for a year, they send you a plush Felix the fish. (Felix is the Big Fish mascot)

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/364/picture1juh.png

The issues with the Game Manager have caused more than a few folks to wake up from their BFG trance and consider if there might be other places to buy games.

The fact that BFG management has decided to insist that the GM 3.0 is OK with just a few annoying problems says a lot about what they think of their loyal customers. Basically, take it or leave it.

In three plus weeks, the folks in charge have done a lot of damage to a reputation that took more than a few weekend sales to build and will take more than a few weekend sales to restore.

Maybe BFG will come back. Maybe, if GM 3.0 ever works for most customers, it will be forgiven and forgotten. Maybe.

What's clear is that the opinion of BFG's customers apparently doesn't matter to BFG. And the good will of those customers, including myself, is no longer something BFG can take for granted.

Jenny, the minute I read your post I remembered who Felix was. I did say my slow days are more frequent.

MrLipid, there is no doubt in the world BFG's reputation has been dragged under a bus because of the updated GM. And as was said, they'll see the results when they check the books at the end of the month.

There is a yes/no about the customers' opinion, though, because many of the posts on BFG's forum show they want to help customers solve the problems they are facing.

On the other hand, when comes to the GM they do want to fix what doesn't work so they can release something that does. Regardless of how the customer likes what they'll have to use to buy games from BFG.

Personally, I don't see the "take it or leave it" as a good business approach in keeping loyal customers, especially computer users. We seem to be a bunch who like to see the KISS principle used as often as it can, because we don't have all day to spend waiting for something to load, run, burp, hiccup, or whatever else it may have to do.

Any updated program, from anybody, which is in anyway worse than the original is, in my books, a huge step backwards. The surest way to loose customers who have been loyal for years is to take that huge step backwards and anger those customers.

My personal opinion is that the testing BFG did on this updated GM wasn't enough to ferret out all the problems they have seen users encounter. It also doesn't seem as though they had someone who knew how to provide tight programming, hence the huge size of the updated GM--just my opinion, not gospel.

In short, this thing should not have been released yet. It should have been tested with select BFG members to get their reactions and opinions, and corrections made so that what they're wading through right now might not of happened.

But without knowing the purpose behind the update, the type and amount of testing done, and what was used to write the program, all we have is just speculation. And all BFG has are angry customers, and those waiting and watching, not buying any games.

A happy customers tells, perhaps, five other people. An angry customer tells ten times that many.

Just to up-date those who might be interested,
BF still have not solved my problem, nearly 3 weeks, they have suggested lots of things but nothing works, so am going to give them one more week, then I will cancel my subscription.

I just don't understand the (commercially) blind stubbornness that BFG is exhibiting over this issue.
Without having an ounce of technical knowledge, I know it must be possible for them to restore the old Game Manager.
When this began I felt sorry for the company (as well as for its clients) but it's obvious from their forums that the problem is of epic proportions and not improving with subsequent new versions of this monster.
I've seen companies commit commercial suicide before and the cause is often a refusal to listen to their customers and fully address a problem.
Let's hope this doesn't prove to be the case here.
Incidentally, what are the alternative companies one could use for those people who are unable, or don't want, to use BFG any more?

I find Spin Top very reliable, but more expensive. Also there is Awem and Alawar. All three use codes to activate your game so you don't need to go home to them to replay your game. You own it and can use it however you want.
Amazon is also a good place for downloading games, using their downloader.

Yahoo also uses codes, but they call home when you finish the game so I don't use them anymore.

I have always felt Big Fish loaded too much junk with their games, this new game manager is just the most visible.

I agree with everything you said so astutely, homer6. Two days ago, I cancelled my connection to Big Fish after many years and don't intend to return until the basic introduction and therefore the first impression of Big Fish, is fixed. I'm almost personally ashamed of this amateurish front-line pretence at IT in a No.1 firm.