The Twin Galaxies new pricing policy, and how it relates to me, and Kong

[homerwannabee]

First off, may I say I am not angry.  No I am not angry.  More somber than anything else.

OK, it looks as though according to one source the new pricing policy is as follows.

$25 for under two hours of recording time
$60 for over two hours of recording time


OK, and now for my story that I have kept secret until now.   In late September right before Twin Galaxies was sold I achieved a score of 1,230,000 on Donkey Kong Junior.  I submitted it under the old rules where it was completely free.   I waited then for them to verify this score.  I waited, and waited, but nothing came of it.  A couple of months later I ask the referee what the status was on the score because I heard nothing of it being verified.  I was told it was still in his mail that he did not yet get to, and to be patient.  I said OK.

So as time goes by I message again in February or March, and it still has not been verified, and I get a new type of message.  This time I am told it would cost me $15 because the company has been bought out, and there are new rules now.  I am like OK, I could argue that in fact I should be grandfathered in, and in fact if I was petty enough to take something this stupid to court I would win the case because I submitted under the old rules, and you just can't change them on the fly to the person who already submitted under the old rules.

But at this time I was like, OK, whatever I got $500 for breaking two Donkey Kong 3 records, and what is $15?  In the end I still come out ahead, and I'll cut them some slack.  So I message back that sure I will pay the $15, and do you want me to money order it to you?  He then responds to hold off on the payment because that $15 is not final.  So I think sure whatever, maybe it will go up to $20 or maybe even $30, and I'll be OK, whatever.

Then the site comes back up after being off line for about 5 months.  I notice everyone's record score is up there except mine.  George Leutz is up there, and Rudy's is up there, and of course all the other Donkey Kong scores at the Kong Off were there.   I let off a little bit of steam because I was excluded in this whole thing, and when someone gets their score verified who never played the arcade game before showing up to the place it sort of hurts, especially when the player who is put ahead of you is not well liked.  It made me think if this guy who people tend to dislike gets put ahead of me on a game of equal significance, and maybe even lessor significance, what does that say about me?

A person messaged back on Facebook that they would put my score up in the day.  Well a month later, and my Donkey Kong 3 score is still not put up.   Now I have to wonder.  Am I supposed to pay for my Donkey Kong 3 records as well now?  If so, that amounts to a lot of money.

$25 for my DK3 5 man
$60 for my DK3 Marathon score
$60 for my Donkey Kong Junior score

That now equals a total of $145 I may have to pay.  At this point in my life my financial situation is not that good, and I may have to make some tough choices.  If I am expected to pay for all of this I may very well say screw it, and only submit my 5 man DK3 score.  I can afford that.

Again, I am not angry if this is what is happening to me.  In fact I would not even post this if I was middle class.  I would say screw it, and even pay for the record scores I achieved at the Kong Off II.  But this is just to let you know why you may not see a couple of scores up at Twin Galaxies of mine, and maybe you'll even see a couple of these scores at another site.  It's not that I am angry at Twin Galaxies.  It's just I can't afford to pay the bill. 

[LMDAVE]

Q: What does it cost to submit a score to Twin Galaxies?

A: Players may purchase Twin Galaxies score submissions based on three tiers:
     - $25.00 – One (1) score submission or up to Two (2) hours of recording
     - $60.00 – Three (3) score submission or up to Six (6) hours of recording
     - $75.00 – Five (5) score submission or up to Twelve (12) hours of recording

I didn't see this post before when I brought some of this up on another thread.

There does need to be a little clarification of the three pricing ranges.

Your DK JR score should be $25 because it's (1) score submission.

But, if it's saying that one score submission of 2.5-3 hours falls into the $60 category because it's over the 2 hour limit, that's crazy. $60 for one DK game?

EDIT: If thats the case I would like to see some inbetween pricing ranges between $25 and $60.

[mikegmi2]

I'd simply make it a 'per hour' fee, maybe scale the per-hour cost down as the number of hours went up, and call it a day.

Going from $25 for a 2hr submission to $60 for a 2hr 5min submission seems kinda odd.

[marinomitch13]

This should maybe be moved to the main discussion sub forum.

I agree, Dave, the wording seems to be able to be interpreted into two ways .TG should give some examples to clarify what they mean.

[Simpsons99]

I argee   I've been posting about this on my FB.

Just my Dark Tower score and my DKJR Score   Thats 120.00

I just need to update my score on Dark Tower   it allready lists me as the World Record Holder.

You can not Kill screen a classic Arcade with a great score in Under 3 Hours.

I would like to know how much Geroge L was charged for his Q-Bert game.   His game is for 2 Records.

[hooch66]

First, I can understand why they are charging for submissions. They need to pay referees, somehow.

That said, I don't see how you can have a true scoreboard in which you have to pay to be on, for the very reason you state below. Some of the best players will have to make choices about when/if they are going to submit a score. This means, the best scores won't always be represented.

Further, I really hope they are ready for the increased expectations of those who are now paying somebody to look at their score. It dang well better happen in a timely fashion because they are no longer verifying scores out of the goodness of their hearts.

Money is involved and expectations will be greater, as they should.

Paul

That now equals a total of $145 I may have to pay.  At this point in my life my financial situation is not that good, and I may have to make some tough choices.  If I am expected to pay for all of this I may very well say screw it, and only submit my 5 man DK3 score.  I can afford that.

Again, I am not angry if this is what is happening to me.  In fact I would not even post this if I was middle class.  I would say screw it, and even pay for the record scores I achieved at the Kong Off II.  But this is just to let you know why you may not see a couple of scores up at Twin Galaxies of mine, and maybe you'll even see a couple of these scores at another site.  It's not that I am angry at Twin Galaxies.  It's just I can't afford to pay the bill.

[xelnia]

I don't see how you can have a true scoreboard in which you have to pay to be on, for the very reason you state below. Some of the best players will have to make choices about when/if they are going to submit a score. This means, the best scores won't always be represented.

This, for sure.

I'm certainly no business expert, but it seems like a better and more fair model would be having a "Twin Galaxies Membership." Somebody could pay $x a month or year and can make as many submissions as they want for the duration of their membership. Non-members could submit a score under a slightly more expensive pricing scheme.

Under the current pricing scheme I doubt I'll ever submit a score, even for games in which I know I would be towards the very top.

[f_symbols]

I think it would be more reasonable if they only charged fees for scores outside the top 10 in that given game/settings.  This would allow for the top scores to be the actual top scores, regardless of social-class or willingness to pay or personal moral dilema, etc.

[ChrisP]

You definitely got jacked on the DK3 score, George. That's messed up.

Looks like they added everything from the Kong Off except your score.

Two things:

First, as I understand it, it's $25 for 1 score (of whatever length) -OR- 2 hours of footage (which could entail many different scores on several titles). So put me in the camp that believes your DK Jr. score would cost $25. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that this is how it works.

Second, there is no charge to submit scores that were performed live. Richie said so in the past. They only charge you if they have to watch a submission. So your DK 3 score should be $0 (and should indeed be on the site already). George Leutz' Q-bert score was $0, etc.

[LMDAVE]

First, as I understand it, it's $25 for 1 score (of whatever length) -OR- 2 hours of footage (which could entail many different scores on several titles). So put me in the camp that believes your DK Jr. score would cost $25. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that this is how it works.

That would be nice if that's how it works, but what if the "1" score is Victor's MC Marathon? Thats when time takes over.

It's like warranties stating 3-year or 36,000 miles "Which ever comes first", they put that stipulation in it, "whichever comes first".

But, some simple clarification is needed because the gap from $25 to $60 knowing a lot of games are going to be in the 2-3 hour range is kind of excessive.

We knew charging was coming, but seeing this calls for the phrase "Sh*t just got real."

[homerwannabee]

You definitely got jacked on the DK3 score, George. That's messed up.

Looks like they added everything from the Kong Off except your score.

Two things:

First, as I understand it, it's $25 for 1 score (of whatever length) -OR- 2 hours of footage (which could entail many different scores on several titles). So put me in the camp that believes your DK Jr. score would cost $25. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that this is how it works.

Second, there is no charge to submit scores that were performed live. Richie said so in the past. They only charge you if they have to watch a submission. So your DK 3 score should be $0 (and should indeed be on the site already). George Leutz' Q-bert score was $0, etc.

Chris I am not taking anything for granted anymore with them.  I thought my Donkey Kong Junior score was going to be for free.  They even said ALL scores submitted before they bought the company would be verified by the time the company came into existence.  That did not happen.

So based on that I can't take anything for granted anymore.  Maybe your interpretation is correct, but I have a feeling it's the other way around. 

[JNugent]

TG has to charge money now, I get it.  I only play on MAME anyway, so I'll just submit to MARP.  However, George, I concur with ChrisP... you're getting screwed.

To reiterate what someone else already mentioned on this thread, memberships are really the way to go.  Monthly, yearly, etc. 

[d3scride]

George,

I'm going to put it bluntly: You got screwed over big time. There's no excuse that those scores aren't in there.

[Fast Eddie]

you should send em another message about the DK3 score, you really shouldnt have to...but surely its an ommition not a deliberate snub?

 

[homerwannabee]

you should send em another message about the DK3 score, you really shouldnt have to...but surely its an ommition not a deliberate snub?

 

OK, I messaged them again basically asking them if I had to pay for my Donkey Kong 3 scores since they have not been put up on the Twin Galaxies base.  Oh, it was a month and a half ago I brought it to their attention, and nothing came of it.   At this point I really feel that the only way it gets put up anytime soon is if someone they respect rattles their cage.  I guess I could make a Youtube/Justintv video, and rant, and rave, and then make Facebook posts continuing the ranting, and raving.  From what I have seen that seems to work better with the new Twin Galaxies, than my method. LOL!