Mattel, which owns the Scrabble brand, decided their popular mobile Scrabble-playing app could be even more popular. They got Electronic Arts (EA) to administer and make it so. As Mattel later noted, “We produce the board game but we’re not experts in electronics.”
The many users of the Scrabble app should have been delighted (if they knew about it). Yay, the consultants are here! Things can only get better!
For that is how it usually goes, is it not?
EA changed the app so it can be played in six languages. Players can customize their boards. Oooh, you can pay extra to get a version without ads. So cool.
Playing go because mobile Scrabble not available. (Cornell University Library.)
They also changed the dictionary. It no longer uses the Chambers dictionary, but instead uses the Collins dictionary. The first time you try to use your favorite bit of Welsh dialect and it’s not a word is a shocker.
The game lost the feature of automatically refreshing after a turn. It lost the timer mode. Worst by far, all player histories, contact lists, and statistics were dumped. Helen Hawkins told the BBC that she’d racked up a 71% win rate in 5,000+ games she’d played in the last four years. (We’ll have to take her word for it, since the data’s been tossed.) “It’s hopeless compared with the old version,” said Hawkins.
“See end-of-game results and stats” promises the “SCRABBLE FREE for iPhone” page. Yes, until they think up a more remunerative model and dump the stats.
Playing liubo in the afterlife because mobile Scrabble not available.
John Lewis told the Yorkshire Post about the wiped contact lists. “Over the years people had made friendships all over the world, but without warning those contacts disappeared. In other cases it was a really lovely way for relatives, who live thousands of miles apart, to keep in touch. The changes mean you can’t choose who you play, you just get presented with a random partner. It has destroyed the social side of the game which was incredibly important for a lot of people.”
They’re not the only angry ones. See the Facebook page, “Bring back the Scrabble we love.”
Apparently if you email a complaint, the response is, “Hi [your name], thanks a lot for providing us with your feedback. We’ll be sure to share this request with the development team to help prioritize feature updates in the future.”
Mattel told the BBC it wouldn’t be possible to get the data back. “As part of the transition, we were unable to carry over ongoing games and statistics, the timer mode and the manual match-making function. The new version will have the same robust statistics moving forward.” We trashed your social history, but WE’VE MOVED ON.
“We are sorry we weren’t able to please everybody,” a Mattel spokesperson said. But hey, “The number of people playing has also increased significantly since the update.”
Terrible apology. “Sorry we weren’t able to please everybody”? (Say it in a singsong. “SORry we weren’t AYble to please EVrybody!” End with a dismissive tongue click.) Some people were pleased, and we care about them more than you. They outnumber you, Mr & Ms Small Potatoes. (I’m not actually convinced that’s true, but I don’t have any numbers to back up my suspicions.)
Surprisingly many people whose job is to speak to the public do not comprehend apology. They don’t even know how to pretend to be sorry. They fall back on what they know about apology in their personal life, often next to nothing. They resort to schoolyard defenses. Nobody likes you anyway. You walk funny. Your mother dresses you like a baby. You only play Scrabble in one language.
Playing chess because mobile Scrab – hey, where’s my FOOD?
If we think about it, we know that corporations care more about making money than about their customers. Often, making money and treating customers well go together. Then the human beings who work for the corporate “person” can pretend that the “person” really cares about the customers and would never flash-freeze us and ship us to China to be rendered into pink slime and ship us back to the US to adulterate the fast food they sell our children, if the law permitted such a thing, no matter how great the profit margin.
why can they not simply re-instate the original scrabble and run the two side by side – let’s see which scrabble comes out tops. The only reason the new scrabble is boasting good figures at present (if that is true) is because of all the publicity the old scrabble is getting. People are naturally wanting to see what all the hype is about but not a soul from MATTEL &/OR EA has the common decency to respond. We are not asking for a million bucks – we just want our old game re-instated!!
I am one of those scrabble players who dipped in and out of games as and when time allowed I have played for 3 years with many folk around the world. The new version is worse than junior scrabble WE WANT OUT OLD GAME BACK!!!
Im an avid scrabble player of ORIGINAL scrabble table. I have fond memories of it playing with my broods,kins and my parents. My great grandfather used to play this too. I dont think there is any problem with the original scrabble format…why change it?I have read complaints of all the thousand of players of the old scrabble but No one listen…no one understand what they are fighting for…Its just simple…brng back the original scrabble and thats it…
Good read.. But still no answers!
It takes a lot to get me fired up about something, especially when you’re talking about a game app. Ordinarily, I couldn’t be bothered…I’m busy with work and passionate about a particular off line venture.
In this instance, however, I’ve been gob smacked at the audacity of these giant corporations, Matell/EA, bulldozing in and ‘replacing’ an app…NOT changing or updating.
This was a long standing app that built a massive 3.5+ million fan base. They have greedily ‘taken over’ and hijacked that fan base and destroyed an ‘on-line community’ as well as a version of scrabble that was authentic and classic.
After ‘many years’ of loyalty and invested time using the original app there is a sense of moral ownership by us, the consumers of their advertisers!
The should have built a NEW fan base for their NEW app. They need to give ours back i.e. the Gamehouse Scrabble Worldwide version! If that’s not possible then at least do the right thing by reinstating the original app as a separate issue and we will happily ‘like’ the app again thereby giving them TWO bites of the advertising cherry.
To date, Matell/EA have ignored and/or disregarded our thousands of complaints by responding with inane auto response messages that do not address any of our issues.
Shame on them!
ps: if you feel the same way join Bring Back The Scrabble We Love and make a stand! https://www.facebook.com/groups/492649110806594/?hc_location=stream
I played Scrabble with Sumac until about a month ago when the advertising blitzes and other corporate delays became unbearable. I ditched it then in favor of the similar but NOT identical Lexulous. Basic, good game. (Not sure what dictionary it uses, and some old Scrabble words are disallowed.) I would certainly not play it if I was not allowed to select my opponent. I need to play against Sumac, it keeps me humble…
SMcC
A truly humble person would not have played “FELTING.”
I agree with every comment made above and of course I one extra to make! Even though they advertised that ‘a new look’ was coming, had they said – but it will wipe out all your stats and current contacts – we the players could have done something with that – for example friend them on FB, or said let’s go play this other game (Lexlous) and noted their stats.
So apart from the fact, I hate the new board, I definitely hate the dictionary I am also really pipped off that I lost my stats and the 11 games I was in the middle of; some with people I had played and played and played against for ages – but that I have lost contact with them.
Finally – I love Sumac’s response to S.McC – very funny
I was on Holiday when the changeover took place end of May .I parked my case put on the kettle and switched on to greet my Friend ,I am back fancy a game ? every day we had 2 or 3 games in the afternoon always ,We both met the New version head on !!!! What the Flying Fluck is this ? We were both in a terrible mood as our beloved game was gone .!!!!We got frustrated at the whole gary look and was so incensed ,I said sorry i cant play this its awful game she agreed ,We have not had a game since ,WIPED OUT A GREAT FRIENDSHIP .I will never ever play that game .I deleted the APP and Really have so much Anger for Mattel and EA for what they have done ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,