Lose the "great content" videos

[sammer48]

Rovio, please stop serving the “Great Content” videos, they crash 90 percent of the time. The prior 25 sec, and now the 10 sec, videos crash the app. Worse during competitions. Anyone else have this?

Topic

[SnTrooper]

I have a lot of problems with ads before the level locking up. So during the competitions I only play two nodes then restart the game so that it never gets a chance to run any ad.

[sammer48]

@sntrooper I only have the crash problem with the “great content” videos, the ones that would run 25 sec were bad, but the ones that started today for 10 sec almost always crash. No trouble with any other ads, I am on IOS.

[SnTrooper]

I don’t know which ones crash for me. It just locks up without the ad even starting. I’m on Android.

[Cynical Bird]

I’d love a .99 option to remove ads!

[Francis Crawford]

Yeah. A 25-second pre-roll before a node would be horrific even if it started promptly. When it doesn’t, that’s even worse.

I play the game a lot less when those are around.

[Mad Alice]

@sammer48 @sntrooper

Hey guys! I’m so sorry to hear that the ads are causing trouble! I work in Rovio Support and would like to hear more about the crashing ad(s). You can reply to me directly in here or submit a support request to our system through http://support.rovio.com if you haven’t already done so. In order to look into this, we’d need to know at least:

1) your device model and OS version
2) from which app store you downloaded the game
3) Which ads are crashing (are there some others besides the “great content”?)
4) In which situation does the ad come up (interstitial/boosting your buddy etc)

5) I would also need to know in which country and city you are located because many times the ads are location specific, so maybe you’d like this information to be handled in confidentiality instead of posting it into a public forum? Please let me know here or through a support ticket and we’ll take care of this asap :) Sorry again!

[SnTrooper]

@madalice

1) RCA Voyager 7 / Android 4.4.2
2) Google Play
3) No idea. It happens before the ad starts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “great content” ad so it could be that. It is not the ones for Rovio games or other games (Unity, AdColony).
4) Only before a node starts. I don’t have any problems with ones that I initiate to get something.
5) New Ipswich NH USA

[sammer48]

@madalice

1) I pad mini/ iOS 8.4.1
2) Apple
3) Almost exclusively the “great content” ads both .25 and .10 versions. Never the Rovio, nor most other ads.
4) Ads come up after nodes (including Challenge) to double, also boosting a buddy, often they will crash after completion regardless of whether or not I hit the green “finish” button
5) Hawaii, USA

[SnTrooper]

@sammer48 Interesting. Other than both being in the US we couldn’t be more different with this. I’ll be shocked if we have the same bug.

[Francis Crawford]

I’ve had some crashes from them. Mainly I’ve been offended that there’s a 25-second pre-roll and/or they’re slow to start.

I’m on an iPad 3 with not necessarily the latest iOS in the metro Boston area.

[Mad Alice]

@sammer48 @sntrooper @franciscrawford

Thanks a lot for the info! I have already passed it to the developers. Would it be possible to get a few screenshots of this advertisement as well? We have been trying to track down the advert but as there are so many, we haven’t been able to locate the correct one just yet. Would you guys be able to help us out a bit more? With the screenshot, we should be able to find the correct misbehaving ad right away.

We really appreciate your help and hopefully you’ll have a relaxing weekend!

[sammer48]

Thanks @madalice, appreciate your reporting it, and actually have not encountered them in last two days and thought your team pulled them, but have limited my play time. I will attempt to screenshot should they return. The format is obvious as we get a screen with a counter up top, “thank you for enjoying great content” comes at the end (if you get that far). Realize ads are often served by third parties, so will try to capture next instance. Thanks

[MillForce2k]

@sammer48 @sntrooper @franciscrawford @madalice

Hey all. I don’t know if I’ve seen that ad, but is it the kind of ad where after the required time you get an arrow in the upper right corner that takes you to a static ad screen that has the “X” up in the corner? I’ve had this kind of ad crash a couple times. It was the skin cream ad. When I got the arrow, I would tap it and then quickly tap where the “X” would be before the static ad came up and it would crash. If I let the static ad screen fully come up before I hit the “X,” it wouldn’t crash.

[Francis Crawford]

@MillForce2k — there are multiple kinds of adds with problems.

The ones that have a 7-second countdown before you can close them by hitting at the upper left punish you if you hit too soon — the link for closing doesn’t actually work when it’s ready if you just tapped it. Sometimes I hit 5 or 6 times before I can make the ad go away.

What you’re describing sounds familiar.

Some of the ones that particularly annoy me have a countdown clock that starts at 0:25, which I think is WAY too much for a pre-roll.

[sammer48]

@madalice I just got a new ad, in the same “style”, that is even worse as it crashes everything before it fully loads, so have not been able to get you a screenshot. This one begins with a movie style slate “stay tuned whir your video is loading”, then a 0:30 sec timer up top, the words Reuters appeared as if it was going to load a landing page, then crashes everything. This came up even when there was no doubling, no upgrading, simply when I was trying to do a contest run. Please help this is killing the game for me, it is not the same as my companions @millforce2k @franciscrawford described

[Francis Crawford]

@MadAlice,

Here’s a specific bad ad experience. It was bad just because it was a 30-second pre-roll. It looked like something from Reuters video, according to the text, but it seemed to actually be an ad for FedEx, given the number of FedEx logos on the screen.

[Mad Alice]

Hey everyone! @sammer48 @franciscrawford @millforce2k @sntrooper

Our team has taken a look at these ads. Are you still suffering from ad-related issues since updating to the newest game version? If so, please do let me know!

[sheepybach]

@madalice
The crashes happen mainly during Comp’s but during normazl play the ad crashes are 3rd party 1’s. TBH I’ve never had 1 of yours crash.

YT2 10.1 Android 5.1.1
Google Play
Any ad apart from yours
The time increase for your butty and double up score
llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Wales
UK

[MillForce2k]

@madalice

During the comp, I would start the game clean, run two nodes, exit, clear it from running apps, and start again. Android version 1.14.3.0 still crashes after the second or third ad, or anytime the skin cream or car ads play. Now that the comp is over, I’m going to do some testing to see if I notice a trend. I have noticed, though, that when an ad plays, the node will sometimes stutter a bit if it doesn’t crash. If I play offline, I can play as long as I want without issues.

[Francis Crawford]

@madalice,

I didn’t accept the update until very recently (in particular, after the competition was over). A previously non-troublesome video ended with an all-white screen, which I couldn’t get rid of without entirely restarting my iPad. (That said, I don’t know how to force-close a specific app on the iPad without restarting the whole device …)

It was for the game Chef Town. It played after a medium mission.

[sammer48]

@madalice I have not updated to 1.14.3, however problem with ads subsided when this type ad stopped and just yesterday they returned and rate terrible. They are yet again the “view great content” ads. it has a screen that says “earn points while viewing great content”, then goes to a “browser screen with the Daily dot”. These crash in both ABT and AB2. I have had to stop viewing videos during competition. I will upgrade shortly but since it happens in two games………thanks

[Nightcrawler]

Ads don’t crash for me

[MillForce2k]

@madalice

Has there been a server side change to the ads or a soft update that didn’t roll a version number? I haven’t had any issues (knock on wood) for the past few days. I’ve even been starting the game with whatever is still running. Even the cat ad that plays like the skin cream or car ad that would always crash or freeze on a black screen haven’t caused a crash, even after playing before three nodes in a row.

[Francis Crawford]

@madalice,

I still don’t have show-stopping bugs from the “Great content” videos. I still have the same annoyances:

1. Taking a long time to start up before the 25- or 30-second countdown starts.

2. Running for a couple of minutes unless I figure out how to stop them.

3. Insulting my intelligence by saying that an ad is “great content”. :)

4. Occasionally showing up at full length where a 7-second pre-roll should be instead.