Not Earning Opals? – Post your information HERE.

First I have some new information. iWins Game Manager now measures activity. This means, if you’re not actively playing a game, after an undisclosed amount of time you will become ‘inactive’. Once you are inactive you can no longer earn Opals.

Think of it like a screen saver on your computer. If you don’t touch your computer for X amount of time, your screen saver turns on and you can no longer see the screen (unless your screen saver shows the screen. But you get my point.

)

If you are actively playing your games, and are still not receiving the correct amount of Opals, please post below with the following information:

What games are you playing? (Very important) :
Which of these games do you own? :
How long did you play? :
How many Opals did you earn? :

Hi Anne
Thank you for this topic.
I have not been able to accrue the Opalcap since the 2.77 update. I haven't earnt any Opals at all from game play
since update. All games played I own....
Flowery Vale...10 Talismans....Legend of Ali Barba.... Monarch The Butterfly King....The Great Tree...
These are games I play regularly & previously I've had no probs with opalcap accruing. For the 1st three
nights I played games as I normally do... Normally two games one after the other for the required time...
The 1st night I just thought it was a one off glitch... The second night I was concerned as my ticket had already
been answered & it wasn't a glitch at all.

The 3rd night was my last try at playing for 2 or 3 hrs per game as I normally would....The 4th night I only played
2 games for 20 mins each just to see if the Opals would accrue...NO success & last night I didn't even bother to
try until around 8:00pm & again 2 games one after the other for 20 minutes each or so.... No Opals.... I give up???
In desperation I also purchased 2 games to increase my opal amount & to see if a new game & iWin reinstall would
alleviate the situation at all... It made no difference except for my Opal tally....These games were Treasure Island
& Paradise Quest.... I do hope this can be resolved soon.... It's frustrating not understanding what's actually wrong here.

Hi Anne...

Its the same for me...as Mz Coo...I played Three days Zoo Mystery...I played for two hours straight...no breaks...I wanted to reach the end of the game....For over 2 hrs..I got 26 opals..>WHAT!!!....I own the game...I OWN all the games...I purchased ALL the games I play....It has been happening since the New game manager installation...No matter what game I play...it get pretty much nothing back in return...flower Paradise...it seems no matter how long I play the game...I get 2 opals....2!!!!!....So I gave up playing that game....the Unicorn Killer....I usually always play for at least 2 hrs...straight...Im not getting many opals for all my playing...without opals..I cannot decorate my room...Thank goodness I won the Dream Garden contestt...btw..thank YOU anne..and the IWIN staff for picking my rose garden as one of the finalists...totally thrilled....anyway...bought a couple of pets...and Puffffff....my opals are pretty much gone...I cannot seem to accrue any opals...I do have to take a potty break...now and then...get a drink...It seems if I take any LITTLE break...the games stops...my screen saver does NOT come on...and I have it set on 10mins...w/0 any activity to activate!....Obiviously, you need to give US a little longer break...away from the computer...its getting so bad...I feel like my laptop is attached to my hip... I take it where ever I go...I should NOT have to do that...Hubby is NOT UNDERSTANDING MY NEED FOR OPALS..and cannot see WHY Im sooooooooooooo focused on it....needless to day...Poor hubby will be keeping his MOUTH closed from here on in...Please Anne, I do not need a divorce because of opal addiction....LOL>...what is one to do...If it were just me...I would say...Im the one doing something wrong...but it seems to be most everyone I speak 2..or write 2..or message 2...is having the same issue...two friends were so frustrasted they left IWIN and the hotel...for other sites...no opals ...no need to stay...is what they said...I do not want to leave...I love decorating my rooms...but if I do not get some opals here...Ill be forced to travel on, too...to the sites..with the very newest games....world lauches...are their new thing....pretty cool...but Ive been spending my money here...so Im at an impasse as to what to do..??? seems silly, I know...to stress over a game site.Ive got so annoyed over the opal situation, I have NOT even played a game yet today...because I am starting to get really annoyed over this silly need to earn my quota of opals..lol...I dont want to spend lots of money on my rooms..when I can win opals...at least, I use to be able to win opals...so what do I do, Anne...???? please help us....thanks for any and all help....!

When playing Burger Shop, Wordscape and DinerDash I was unable to collect the maximum amount of opals. I mainly played family Feud which I own for about 5-6hours at a time (hard to believe but I am an addict) for 3 days...day 1 - 32 opals, day 2 - 11 opals, day 3 - 24 or more? opals. I DID receive the bonus 25 opals for per day for leaving msgs though. I have submittd a ticket but they came back with the usual suggestions which I've done. Still waiting...patiently

Hmmmmmm......I have not had the problem of earning opals. My sympathy goes out to those who do. I have in fact played a game for "a bit" and been surprised at the opals I have earned. Thats when it is time to go do chores or something rather than focus on the computer. I read the post about extending the time due for the "custom expression" contest. Why not let it go on and then start a new contest. The prizes seem to be getting better and better. Why not make it a really gigantic prize so that those who haven't gotten any opal this week have something to look forward to. I really don't think it is fair to stop the game because a few haven't been able to earn opals. Lets move on.

I seem to be not earning Opals for playing JewelQuestII or JewelQuestIII - have to admit that I'm a bit of an addict and bought the bundle - but each time I play I get the message - "play longer to earn Opals". Ummm - a few hours straight should be long enough shouldn't it - and I am actively playing the game - I've only noticed this since last weekend btw.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at Tue, 2 Jun 2009 04:48

Do we get to know how long we have before the games goes poof?

Hi. Two days ago I played family feud (which I've purchased) on two occassions for 2 hours and received 4 opals.

Hello Anne, what do you think about this: play game - get points - for this game points you get opals ( for example 100 point = 1 opal )
opal limit - daily 1000 - think, if it is possible, a good way to play and to have fun with iwin games and our rooms ? !

mystery stories i play and be playingit for 1 hour and i own it an it said 2 point or play longer ty

I get the point about screensavers.
I had one (10 minutes) and I put it off while playing games
because it irritates.
Reading and watching a movie only halfway, there it is the stupid thing.
looking for an object, using dictonairy to understand what item to find or understand the stories, there it is again.
and now we get one here? How long do we have?.And do we need to shut down and start up again?

I like playing adventure games, roll playing games, hide and seek games with a nice story.
But when I have a lack of concentration I play games like solitaire and cradle of Rome.

Then I found Iwin and the hotel. Playing with rooms and talking with people.
Needing opals do do that. I got hooked on the challenge to design rooms.
I don't play free adventuregames on other sites anymore.
I don't play my own games anymore I did not finish. (like Baldursgate and Morrowind)
I got some old adventuregames (Rama, Tex Murphy, nine and faust) from a friend
( they are not even installed yet).
I am sorry to say, I even came to a point that the only reason to play was earning opals

Because I won't buy opals, It takes a lot of time to earn opals, playing free games.
I think I only once or twice had the maxium on opals we could earn.
Last Saterday i played different games (starting in the manager) to buy some sale items.
Untill the forummessage I had nothing but "you have to play longer" except 25 from the messages.
I sometimes take a little pause to take off my shoes, getting something to drink, read the messages, make a toiletstop,
pick up the phone and so on, pausing the game without closing it.
If pause means stop earning opals, even if you go on gaming after the pause.
Than it explains a little why the opals don't come anymore like they came.
Playing for 20 minutes pause to toilet playing again 30 minutes, pause getting something to drink, playing 30 minutes.
Earning only the the 20 opals before the first pause. Another example. Open a game, Phone. Then Start playing for one hour.
Earning only 2 opals for opening the game. If that is how the screensaver works
Than it is no fun and not healthy too. O and Nina not every game has points to earn,

.

I so agree with Jam........I too have been so frustratred by this. Been getting crap, same games I always play. And you are going to get up and do something when playing because it takes too long to exit and wait and reopen games, it does work slower then most sites. I've been getting 2,and all kinds of weird amounts and if you play ALOT you stop to do things ( thats why there's a pause button) duh. It makes you disgusted not knowing if you're going to get anything when your done playing. I hate the canned response from cust svc, the games on the list not giving opals, uninstalling reinstalling, update this & that. Lazy answer, already done that & know what games don't count which limits the games I play to get the opals. 1 time the credited back but since update of mgr all is gone haywire. I even picked up someone elses picture frames including 1 pic in my kitchen, 2 chairs disappeared and it was ready to switch my avatar. This was just when I added a friend that all her stuff was in my kitchen. Luckily I got out of there when it was still trying to load the other pic and closed iwin and when I came back everything went back in place. So I know I'm not doing anything different there are some problems not fine tooth combed yet and it is at our expense. I always knew when I played usually 4 hours and 2 hours later I'd get my 480 and 240 and after 2:30 -3:00AM it changed to the next day. Now I have no idea when it changes. I sent about 8 messeages and added info to 1 everytime telling approx time played & what I got. haven't seen any of them added back in since. Only the one time. Please fix the problem and if there's more "RULES" we need to know tell us

You never lose Opals for inactivity. If there is no activity from the player after a few minutes the game stops awarding Opals. When the activity restarts the Opal faucet reopens.

No need to log in or out.

We aren't doing this to penalize anyone. It is to be fair to the players who don't leave the game open on their computer all day to earn Opals.

Nathan

Oh, Mr Lahey...if only that were true! I am constantly being told of people who can 'tweak' the system (even now) by leaving games on.... and then going to work for the day.... returning to their computer to find 700+ opals awaiting them. There are of course many ways of doing this ......... I have tried!!! But my computer plays fair I'm sorry to say. Too fair! Wordscape (3 hours) - just 11 opals; that daft plane landing game (2 hours) - 2 opals; and Luxor 3 (3 hours) - 12 opals.
It's taken me the best part of TWO WEEKS to reach the heady heights of just 400 opals (including my max. on sending messages every day!
WHAT'S THE POINT when some stuff costs 2,500 opals. At this rate it'll take me a couple of years hard graft to decorate ONE room unless I stuff it with pink flamingos and pot plants (without the pots)!
My suggestions:
1. Make things a lot cheaper if you're going to get become much stricter on opal earning
2. Scrap opals entirely. Only a select few seem to be able to earn hatfuls of them
3. Introduce a few new ideas re. opal earning - like more competitions or NO LIMITS on messaging opal earning (what's the point in limiting us to 5 a day? I thought you wanted us to keep busy on the site!
3. Introduce a GIFT system (e.g if I see one of my friends has a birthjday.... it would be nice to send them a present or some opals).
Whatever.... hope you can sort it out because it's such a nice site with some really nice people on it!

I've spent more time on this gamesite today than I usually ever do and have the least opals ever. I always get the quota in now since update impossible. I don't feel you should be penalized if the computer is not glued to the palm of your hand constantly. You already have the cap off @ day, the limit on games which do not give opals, those that screw up. You spend time downloading, opening, closing, problems with games etc. I had to delete 2 games today that had problems, I could not even close out I had to restart my computer by unplugging it . Read the forums and others who have problems, looking for answers, wrote a total of 8 at least tickets when I have problems. Upgraded mgr. uninstalled, re-installed, updated activeX blah blah blah, and where are my opals for all this wasted time???? Now you want to monitor if I'm actually playing the entire time. Sometimes I have the computer on 2X longer between all of this stop for this or that come back to it. I'm not gonna exit out each time and reload. too much time wasted. I have 320 for the day yet spent most of the day doing something or other on here. I can't even get todays quota. I have to stop and do things, I can't sit that long at a time and by the way its not good on the eyes, you have to get up and move around or get interrupted by a child or a phone call or nature calls or get something to eat. By the way the elevator isn't working properly, got stuck in it severlal times trying to look at other members rooms. I'm not even playing the games I like alot because they have problems wiith or don't give opals. I t all works out, it is fair because the cap equals out what is allowed to earn daily, shouldn't monitor how much you get on and off. I had my power go out early this AM and I got no opals even though I played several hours, so you do loose opals, also updates took place on more than 2 occassions which I got no opals after that interruption. Things happen.... please don't put so many rules on game time to get opals to decorate. We all are enjoying it and it doesn't cost you anymore to give someone the opals. They are only a means to design,not dollars you're handing out and need heavy monitoring...please let the fun continue and don't be so worried about setting rules. It all comes out in the wash so to speak.

Hello all readers,
My concern is like the rest. It's hard enough to purchase items for the rooms because theirs only x amt of time in the day to play and earn opals, and now it's even harder. Before, I used to play 3 to 5 hrs straight(sometimes even longer esp. during the weekend) and I own the games (Be a King or Farm Frenzy 2 or Youda camp). After playing the games it only gives me the phrase "play longer to win opals". I even played tons of hrs on Wordscape and it won't give me opals as well! What do I have to do?

Please reply.
Thanks,
Frustrated klongx2

Hi Anne.

Since the latest update of the Games Manager, I have been having problems being awarded the correct number of Opals I have rightfully earned according to my documented gameplay sessions. And I do NOT take significant breaks from a game and let the game continue to run while I go take a half-hour bath or something like that. So I'm not sure how the new "No Opals Will Be Awarded During Game Inactivity" rule works. Exactly how are you guys defining and tracking inactivity during a gameplay session? Is it based on mouse clicks? It can't be based on mere movement of the cursor because I can minimize the game itself and move my cursor all over the screen in other applications. But I also can't be clicking away in a hidden object game, for example, where the game penalizes me for mis-clicks. So what gives with this new rule that is even more burdensome than the ones that are already in place? Really, Anne, playing an iWin game is such a chore now and is so not fun anymore.

Anyway, on to answering your question in your original post in this thread about missing Opals....
On 5/31/2009, I played several of my games that I OWN and have PURCHASED and earned only a random smattering of Opals that do NOT match up with my documented gameplay duration (I document my start time and end time for each gameplay session) and are nowhere near being DOUBLE the Opals they should be because I OWN the games I'm playing. On top of that, I cannot for the life of me figure out how the Family Feud Online Party game awards Opals. I've been awarded a completely random number of Opals when I play that game ever since I very recently purchased the 5-month subscription to it. I was told by David that the user is awarded Opals by the gameplay minute, but that has turned out to simply NOT be true according to my own gameplay documentation. So, as per your request, I have listed in this post my gameplay during which I have NOT been awarded the correct number of Opals since the latest Games Mgr update. However, I have not included my Family Feud Online Party gameplay session from 5/31 because I have no idea how to count it in with the games I OWN versus a game I SUBSCRIBE to. Not sure if that makes sense.

Also, I have not played any iWin games since the gameplay sessions listed below because I do not want to play a game and NOT be awarded the correct number of Opals I have rightfully earned. So I will have to wait until this problem with awarding/earning Opals gets fixed or the new Opal rule about "idle" gameplay is specifically clarified so that I can continue to track my own gameplay to ensure I am awarded what I am rightfully due. Otherwise, I give up and go elsewhere because this is becoming just too much work. Too many nonsensical, undocumented, miscommunicated rules that seem designed to push the customer closer and closer to the credit card to use REAL money to buy PRETEND money in order to play "house," and that just seems so very wrong to me.

So here is my list of gameplay sessions from 5/31/2009:

....................................................................................................Actual..............Actual.........................Should Have
Date..................Game Title....................................................Gameplay........Opals Awarded.......Earned x Opals
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5/31/2009..........House of Wonders: Kitty Kat Wedding.......126 mins.........136 Opals.................252 (126 x 2 Opals/min)
5/31/2009..........House of Wonders: Kitty Kat Wedding.........34 mins...........36 Opals...................68 (34 x 2 Opals/min)
5/31/2009..........The Hidden Object Show 2..........................27 mins............36 Opals...................54 (27 x 2 Opals/min)
5/31/2009..........Paradise Quest............................................31 mins............56 Opals...................62 (31 x 2 Opals/min)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Actual Gameplay: 218 mins
Actual Opals Awarded: 264 Opals
Opals SHOULD Have Been Awarded: 436 Opals (218 mins x 2 Opals per min)
Opal Differential: 172 Opals (what iWin rightfully owes me) = (116 + 32 + 18 + 6)

Granted, 172 Opals are not that many Opals at the end of the day. But it IS the principle behind the matter along with the fact that a few Opals missing here and a few Opals not awarded there DO indeed add up over time. AND....now yet another inexplicable rule has been thrust upon us thereby making it nearly impossible for me to track my own gameplay and the earning and awarding of Opals. I understand you guys not wanting anyone to take advantage of earning boatloads of Opals in some nefarious way. But, my goodness, you're making it impossible to earn ANYTHING at this point. You want us to be accountable to YOU. Well, YOU have to be accountable to ME as well. I have a Word file that is 100 pages and counting that contains every single transaction, conversation, trouble ticket, phone call, gameplay session, and Hotel activity I've had with iWin that I keep in order to keep track of my own gameplay and how many Opals I've earned and am/should be awarded. So far, everything has been relatively correct with the exception that iWin's gameplay tracking has been off by 1 to 3 mins either way, which evens out over time. But, now all of a sudden, it appears that the differential has increased to 6, 7, 8, or even 10 or 12 mins LESS than what I've actually played. Double those mins for the Opals to be awarded, and anywhere from 12 to 24 Opals a pop adds up every time I play a game and can easily add up into a few hundred Opals over a relatively short amount of time (i.e., a few hours to a couple of days).

So if you have now decided to award Opals for what you deem to be "active" gameplay only, while refusing to define the "undisclosed amount of time" that you track as "idle" or "inactive," then how in the world are we as customers supposed to know what we have rightfully earned? It's like you are forcing me to trust you to balance my own checkbook and yet you won't even let me see my own checkbook. No way would I ever let my bank do that with my account.

Please, please clarify all this nonsense for us. I really am tired of it all. I just wanted to play a game. And it has turned into a full-time job to do anything with iWin at this point. Why, oh why, have you guys made this so difficult for US, your customers, who pay YOU so that WE can have fun?

Possible Known Bug in Games Mgr Update: One last thing, ever since the Games Mgr update, my avatar in the upper left corner of the Games Mgr window is a grey head when I exit a game. I have to sign out and back in to the Games Mgr to get my avatar/face to show up again...every time I play a game now. Not fun. Not fun at all. I used to have to do that to update my total Opal count, but the Games Mgr update seems to have fixed that, except now my avatar has to be updated. So I'm still repeating the sign-out/sign-in process every time I exit a game. How annoying! Is this avatar problem a known bug or issue at this time as I have described it? Is anyone else experiencing this on a regular basis since the update? Just wondering..... And if it is a known bug, is there a fix currently being produced for it?

I would appreciate any information and clarifications you can give us, Anne (or David or Nathan), on any of the issues I've brought up in this post. Thanks for any help you can and will give.

Truly and sincerely concerned,
Christina

My avatar does the same since the update. I do not have problems with opals, but the avatar gone and the hotel doors not opening is very annoying.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Wed, 3 Jun 2009 20:59

I too have the same avatar problem; not there, also lots of problems with the broken elevator, the opals delima is never ending, not earning what I was (max 720) I'm getting about 2/3 yet spending more time trying to do it. The rules for this inactivity must be clarified because 4 hours to me and 4 hours to you is different. Remember along with the 720 max of active constant play ( don't leave your seat or take hand off of mouse rule) we have to sign in and out after 4 hours. I used to write down to make sure I was getting the same amount, I can't even bother. May as well have a time clock to punch in and out, calculate it write a ticket complain about it and I am an adult, I'm not a child that needs to be babysat with rules to play. This is not real money, it is limited already please stop making it a production to play earn opals design your rooms chat with others instead of a b---- session about problems? These are the conversations everyones having now. Even at work (earning real money) you get a break to smoke, eat, drink, use the facilities and have a bite to eat , take a break witihout deductions from your pay. I even eat at my computer to make sure I keep it on & going. Please consider the members feelings on this and do something about it to make it better. Up til now that seems to be iwins goal, making it a better gaming experience which the hotel did, don't make it an unenjoyable task. Thank you, LA

Do we still need to post information here if we've submitted tickets about opals not being awarded?

Am doing so now, just in case.

I cannot get now ANY opals when playing via game manager, except for Wordscape, where my opals total is more or less as it should be. For all other games, I just receive the 'Play longer to earn opals' screen.

For the first 2 days after the update, I played free play games (Arctic Quest, Flowery Vale and I think Enigma and Cradle of Persia) forseveral hours, with zero gain.

I then discovered that if I go in via my programme menu, I can earn opals normally, but I have to remember to open game manager just before I close the game in order for this to work. Yesterday I forgot and was awarded 0 opals for over 4 hours of (free) play of Flowery Vale.

AnneiWin wrote:First I have some new information. iWins Game Manager now measures activity. This means, if you’re not actively playing a game, after an undisclosed amount of time you will become ‘inactive’. Once you are inactive you can no longer earn Opals.

Think of it like a screen saver on your computer. If you don’t touch your computer for X amount of time, your screen saver turns on and you can no longer see the screen (unless your screen saver shows the screen. But you get my point. )

If you are actively playing your games, and are still not receiving the correct amount of Opals, please post below with the following information:

What games are you playing? (Very important) :
Which of these games do you own? :
How long did you play? :
How many Opals did you earn? :

What about the 'thinking' games when you have to sit and work a problem out, like the puzzle levels in LUXOR 3? Will the IWIN 'screensaver' function kick in then and stop awarding opals? Also..... does the opal awarding only apply to CLICKS.... what happens if you're runing your cursor all over the screen trying to work something out and NOT clicking? Does IWIN Central drop the bar on you then????

Here are some of the games I own & I've played and not received the appropriate amount of Opals:

5/30 Jewel Match 2 - 51 Min - rec'd 82 Opals

5/31 Treasure Island - 25 Min - rec'd 44 Opals

5/31 Scrabble Deluxe - 44 Min - rec'd 60 Opals

5/31 Big Kahuna 2 - 131 Min - rec'd 210 Opals

6/1 Big Kahuna 2 - 54 Min - rec'd 94 Opals

I did file 2 tickets on the gameplay where my Opal counts varied at least 25% of what I was owed and was reimbursed.

~MaryBeth

mookie57 wrote:Hmmmmmm......I have not had the problem of earning opals. My sympathy goes out to those who do. I have in fact played a game for "a bit" and been surprised at the opals I have earned. Thats when it is time to go do chores or something rather than focus on the computer. I read the post about extending the time due for the "custom expression" contest. Why not let it go on and then start a new contest. The prizes seem to be getting better and better. Why not make it a really gigantic prize so that those who haven't gotten any opal this week have something to look forward to. I really don't think it is fair to stop the game because a few haven't been able to earn opals. Lets move on.

iM GLAD THAT U HAVE NOT BEEN AS UNFORTUNATE AS WE THAT HAVE BARELY RECEIVED OPALS....BUT WHAT MAKES U THINK IT IS ONLY A FEW OF US ??? SOME PEOPLE CANNOT BE BOTHERED TO COMPLAIN TO SUPPORT...BUT I AGREEE WITH THE NEW CONTEST AND GIGANTIC PRIZE BUT WE STILL NEED OPALS TO JOIN THE CONTEST! SO UNLESS THEY CREATE A CONTEST (50 OPALS OR LESS) WITH FEW OPALS TO USE...THEN I SECOND YOUR IDEA!

OOps.....Sorry Gloryous..I didn't mean to offend anyone. Just thinking that in the time that this one contest is over there could have been 2 contests and two awards given. Just my personal opinion. Not attacking anyone. ..........Peace......

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Fri, 5 Jun 2009 01:21

Not offended...I just think there r many that go through this...but u r lucky not to be one of them...anyway...I am still waiting for a response from iwin about my missing opals...will I be reimbursed OR NOT??? I keep receiving the same repsonses...now they are asking for my payment details for the game that I purchased??? Huh? If I can c that info under my account details...how come they can't? Come On! I know they are working hard to fix all these glitches but sending me repeptitive responses to my claims is not making the problem go away?

Will I or won't I be reimbursed?

I COME IN PEACE AS WELL

Gloryous, at least you are getting SOME responses!

I sent a ticket in the first night I couldn't get opals after the update, immediately received a reponse that I should update my sound card(hard to see how this could link to opal delivery even if it wasn't up-to-date) and since then have heard nothing, despite reopening my ticket and submitting a second ticket about further update problems and undelivered opals.

Strangely though, I DID get a reply to someone else's problem! (Wish I'd got their opals too!)

Maybe we should all start filing 'some people have been reimbursed, when will I be?' tickets.

This thread is for information gathering. I have been copying the information out of it to have QA check it, and to evaluate how the activity monitor is affecting Opals earned.

Please understand that the testing QA has done so far internally, shows that the activity monitor is working correctly. If you are actively playing your game, with the window is in focus, you are earning Opals.

If you stop playing to answer an instant message, or check an email, and the game is not in focus, you will not be earning Opals for that time. If you stop playing because you get up and talk on the phone, or even go to the bathroom you will not be earning Opals for that time. However, as soon as you bring that window back into focus or start playing again, you will start earning Opals again.

Mr_Lahey phrased it well:

If there is no activity from the player after a few minutes the game stops awarding Opals. When the activity restarts the Opal faucet reopens.

No need to log in or out.

We aren't doing this to penalize anyone. It is to be fair to the players who don't leave the game open on their computer all day to earn Opals.

We are trying to keep fair and accurate Opal earnings. Unfortunately, people can no longer just leave their games Open all night or running in the background to earn Opals.

We are looking into possibly tweaking this activity monitor in the future; based off the feed back I’m seeing. Please continue to leave feedback. While each specific post will not be addressed. I assure you each and every post is read, and the feedback is valued.

However, I want to make sure that there is a full understanding of how the activity monitor now works before any tweaks are made.

As always, please contact support HERE if you need anything specifically addressed regarding your account.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mon, 8 Jun 2009 11:59

I guess I will throw in my few cents. I am experiencing a lot of the same things mentioned here. My logo is gone and I have to sign in to get it back; my storage items keep disappearing and then re-appearing. My opal count is not always what it should be but I'd have to say its correct more often than not now. It used to be way off. My animals disappear from my rooms and don't end up in storage. In fact, when they are gone, they are gone. But they do get replaced.

I hate this idle time thing. I wondered why I was playing for hours and not getting anything. I have fibro myalgia and am always in severe pain. Now and then I have to adjust my body in a different way for 1- or 12 minutes or I need to get medication. We can't get more than 720 a day so what is the difference if a small percentage of that is in idle time. It doesn't cost iWin anything.

We are not stealing from anybody.

Information noted, but removing anything that is not on topic - Anne

I can't afford to be an Icoins member and I am sure that there are plenty of us out there, including children. All I ask is that it be fair to all of us who play the free games with the Ads. I know I could never sit and get 720 opals a day and I never have. I am all for whatever it takes to make this fun again. I have been getting opals for most games, but not all hidden object games. I have to agree that sometimes it takes a long time to find items, or an ad pops up. When ads pop up our games are paused and no opals. So I know that the 1 opal per minute is no longer the case. I will say it again, please make this fair and fun for all of us.

elderrock wrote:I can't afford to be an Icoins member and I am sure that there are plenty of us out there, including children. All I ask is that it be fair to all of us who play the free games with the Ads. I know I could never sit and get 720 opals a day and I never have. I am all for whatever it takes to make this fun again. I have been getting opals for most games, but not all hidden object games. I have to agree that sometimes it takes a long time to find items, or an ad pops up. When ads pop up our games are paused and no opals. So I know that the 1 opal per minute is no longer the case. I will say it again, please make this fair and fun for all of us.

That is a very interesting point. I’m going to be asking if the ads affect this or not.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mon, 8 Jun 2009 12:06

OK...I was done with posting...BUT I have to add a little more info...The "opal fountain" that mr lahey speaks of...DOES NTO WORK FOR ME!!! if I do not click in time...and the game goes off winning opals..thats where it stays...I have no idea..that is happening...unless...I keep signing in and out of these games...endlessly...the FUN is gone...Im losing levels...in hidden object...Im penalized because I am clicking too much...to make sure i stay ACTIVE...by active...how long is that EXACTLY....I woiuld like a SPECIFIC length of time...so I KNOW just how long I can sit...and scan my screen for hiiden objects without having to click...!!! You, and Im talking IWIN...are taking the FUN out of the whole hotel and decorating rooms...without opals...I cannot decorate...so to me..I have no reason to sit endlessly...to win 4 opals!!!...my opal fountain does NOT start up again...once you set my game...as inactive...my opals fountain GOES DRY!!!!...Im getting frustarted ..where I use to loo forward signing on IWIN...and enjoying myself...not Im turning in ticket after ticket...because of all the problems..

I have been with this hotel since the beginning..and I HAVE NEVER had trouble getting my 720 cap..EVER!!!!!!!!....NOW, since your update...Im lucky I can accue 400...that is with me playing longer..then ever before...so to me..something is OFF...way OFF...what the deal...we have a 720 cap...WE OWN the games....I should be able to play however I wish...

I buy your games in good faith..to have a little fun...to forget problems for a while...I do NOT expect to have to sit....for hours on end....I want to get up and move...to get a drink...whatever...then come back...and play my game..is that not WHY games have a PAUSE button????...I really loved the whole concept of yoru hotel...but am hating all these silly rules...just let us play....win our opals....decoate our rooms...and then we will stay and BUY lots of games..I am a VERY VERY good customer!!!!...I buy alot of games....and what to do for me in return??? frustrate me!!!! again...my opal fountain has dried up...once my game is tagged for being inactive...Im done earning opals...I have a game called Annabel..I, for the life of me, could NOT understand why I was only earning 2....yes that is 2 opals...no matter how long I play...yes, I have reloaded my games...yes, I have reloaded Game manage...yes I have been there..done it...over and over....because this is the "cure" for me...to regain opal winning power....NOT!!! it does not work...Im wasting my time...how many times do I have to delete and reload...before you admit..it not my problem...The prpblem, I think, is that the game takes forever to load up..int hat time...I guess y'all think Im inactive...and reset my game...so now matter what I do..how long i play...Im doomed to very little opals in return!!!!!...Its not my fault...but the fault of who ever designed the game..and IWIN..for setting way too fast a clock!!!!!...Im rambling, frustrated, annoyed...instead of happy, chatty, and smiling...while I spend time here on IWIN...so please Anne..listen to your users...your customers...before you lose the really good ones...yes, you will always get ppl who play the free games...and will stay at the hotel..with minimun opals...but you will lose the ones who make you successful...Sooner or later..

I understand the frustration but please keep on topic. Removing the parts that are not on topic, and keeping the information that is. - Anne

I just re-read some of the posts and Anne in your previous post you say, "and even go to the bathroom, you will lose opals".

So what now? We have to adjust our bodily functions to a schedule so we don't lose opals? Doesn't that, for lack of a better word, sound sick? Think about it. Do you guys get docked if you use the bathroom or get a soda or a sandwich??

I am 66 years old. Never, in all my years, have I heard of such a thing.Over opals that don't cost you any money but which we pay for in one way or another.

In my professional opinion, 15 minutes should be allowed to use the bathroom, get eat or drink, take medication, rest a weary body.

God, this is a GAME we are talking about. Not World War III.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Sat, 6 Jun 2009 15:04

Annie: In ref to non members complaints. I didn't know known members could earn opals and play. So being a member we don't even get any benefit more then someone playing free games only? Maybe you should lower price of items if open to all to play or give incentives to be a member to have an advantage to earn more opals for membership players. The way its going the things are going to be too expensive too buy at the rate of opals adding up. I also noticed that when you do stop to break that is it, it doesn't restart every time you start to play, I have timed that its not true. How do I post quick reply under subject I'm refering to? When is someone going to share the specifics exactly of this activity rule, time frame, how it is determined,etc, By the way way since staff is so worried about fairness in all this how in the heck does Mr. Lahey have 326,000 Opals???

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:14

OK..I realize as I write this I will get some negative "KICK BACK". But here goes. I recently read an article in a game web review site. It was from feb. It stated the IWIN focus and plans. Most of those have come to fruitian already. Pretty impressive. I am a travel nurse inbetween contracts and have had alot of time to spend on the web. I fiind myself drawn to the forums, and esp the archives. The talk is always about the opals. Some people seem pretty passionate about this. Sometimes I have to remind myself it just Zeros and Ones. If someone dropped a zillion opals on me right now I would probably write them in my will. In two weeks, when I'm on contract, probably wouldn't even notice. All I am saying is get a perspective, lighten up. This should be all fun. (btw I ended up bald in a few of my sign ins) LOL.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:30

I was playing for most of today and just finished playing Mysterious World. Up to this point I had earned only 343 opals. When I exited the game, I got the message that I should Play longer to receive more opals. So I lost 377 opals for today. My avatar is still missing.

Mr. Lahey has 326,000 opals???

LAnn, members do benefit more than non-members.

Firstly, you earn double opals for any game you own (so one hour of continuous play would earn you 120 opals, but only 60 opals for someone playing it on a free trial).

Secondly, you receive a 500 opal bonus every time you buy a full-price game.

The problem of over-rigid application of rules about non-play hurts everyone on this site, and surely we are more likely to get someone to isten to us if we all work together, instead of creating a two-tier system of icoins members and other players?

As for Mr Lahey's opals tally, it has been explained elsewhere that iWin staff are given more or less unlimited amounts of opals for testing/room design purposes. I think that's understandable: they can't spend all day at work playing games in order to get enough opals to try a new feature out.

dthieman wrote:
I have been told by many that they do not use the iWin message in the forums because they feel they are being monitored. How sad. This is a country where Freedom of Speech is enforced. And now we have gamers moderating gamers???

All busy sites have moderators, taken from the site community, whose job it is to help make sure that there is no inappropriate language, that posts are posted in the correct thread so people can find them easily, etc. This is not a free speech issue.

I have NEVER deeted a post simply because it was negative, nor am I aware of anyone else doing this.

Nor do moderators have access to PMs - these are private, as the name suggests. You are probably more at risk of someone hacking into your emails on popular sites than reading your private exchanges here.

And in case you feel I am just an unthinking mouthpiece for iWin, let me say that I am also having various problems (including some lost opals) since the update and have somplained about them elsewhere.

So hidden object games (where you DO sit idle for much of the game as you search for objects) can no longer earn opals or at best, will only earn a few opals but you will not be credited with the full time you played. I'm glad to know that. I used to make a shopping list of games I wanted to buy here, each month, as I collected my icoins. I always spent more than my allotted icoins. I won't do that anymore.

By the way, I NEVER got my first game free just for signing up as an icoins member. And one of the so-called monthly FREE games for icoin members only turned out to be very much a 1,000 icoins pay-for-it game and expired after a trial period.

If you are going to monitor idle time, then you need to remove the 720 opal limit and you need to stick with "active gameplay" as your measurement for awarding opals and get rid of this invisible time clock for cutting off our opal earning. You just go straight "active time" for earning opals, no other limitations or qualifications would be necessary.

I agree, Uhuru.

If iWin can now tell whether people are really playing games or just running them unattended on the computer, why do you need a maximum (which penalises those whose gameplay is distributed unevenly across the week, e.g. heavier gameplay at weekends) and especailly the dreaded 12-hour rule (which has become even more of a nightmare now that some people's clocks seem to have reset since the update)?

LAnnT61 wrote: I do understand if you buy a game, and the double points.If you pay $ every month and don't buy a game and try the free games to decide what one to buy, there is no advantage over anyone playing freegames member or not.

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant before.

Yes, there is no difference in opals earned by members/non-members on free trial games. But if you are paying for icoins every month, presumably you will eventually use them for one of the games you have tried and you will then benefit more than a non-member.

I just finished playing Undiscovered something, Incan Sun, I don't play 4 the names. I played from about 5;30 2 about 8:30. I wanted 2 get to unlimited play & finally made it. I left the game a few times. When I looked at Games "last Played" 2 get the name if wasn't even there. Play longer to get more Opals wasn't listed cause the game wasn't listed. It did list the Cupcake Cafe game that I bought the end of last week. Then when I tried to access it yet again, it said I reached my Opal limit. I'd never seen that before. But, I've been off & on all day. Thanks, I'm missing probably at least 2 1/2 hrs. of Opals.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mon, 8 Jun 2009 01:46

I have read all the posts on this topic and the concerns everybody has over the opal-tallying (although "concern" may be too light a term). There are some questions I have, one of which I already mentioned. What is an "undisclosed" period of time. What is the "focus" term mean exactly? I havent seen one of my games go "out of focus". So I conducted a little experiment.
I played the hidden object game, The Scruffs. from 3:19 to 5:43. I earned 278 opals or thereabouts. I should have earned over 300. And I played continuously, no breaks, no stops for phone calls, nothing, and I spent the entire time clicking my mouse anywhere and everywhere i could click without getting a penalty for clicking on non-listed items to find which tells me "clicking" may or may not have anything to do with "inactivity. It may have something to do with the game itself when the game doesn't move, i.e., the screen doesn't change or move in any particular way. There were a few, a very few, times I spent a minute trying to find an item. What I did instead of constantly spending minutes trying to find anything, I used the hints to the max just to keep the game going. I went out of my way to keep the game moving at all costs. The only time I had no choice was when the grandfather was explaining how he was a descendant of the Strattfords (and you cannot skip through it and it lasted approximately one minute). And in the final puzzle, I had to stop to write down the sequence of gems to open the doors. And I never saw it go out of focus.
This tells me that hidden object game players are being penalized simply because of the game. Other games which require constant play do not have as many problems. But as somebody here pointed out, there are many, many, many games which require pause for thought, writing down sequential memory puzzles, thought processes as to how to solve a problem, and I can't even imagine the nightmare action/adventure games would cause. And almost any word game when it comes to calculating scores with letters or taking a minute or two to determine the best strategy.
To sum it up, it appears that the "inactivity" time period is less than one minute.

And to test it again, then Fishdom from 5:45 to 8:30. I earned the total amount of opals that I should have gotten. And even about 5 more than I thought.

I think if this is an information-gathering topic, as Anne suggested, some thought might be given to just how bad an idea the "inactivity" monitor is and how ineffective it is when it comes to certain games. While iWin may have tested it and determined that it was working correctly, were the QA people playing every genre of game that iWin offers? Did they take the time to play a hidden object game and/or an action/adventure game without consciousness as to how long they were pausing to find anything or how long it took them to go from location to location, or how long it took them to click through the numerous chat bubbles or read the story or calculate a solution for puzzles as many hidden object and action/adventure games have?

I understand the whole concept of "cheating" where people leave a game up and running and walk away, er go, earning the maximum amount of opals
But I also wonder if iWin, since they have evidently obtained the technology whereby they can monitor games to see if people are playing, they might be better served to check those "inactive" game-players who are miraculously earning the maximum amount of opals without fail and with no time outs, no off hours, which I think would be easy enough, rather than penalize everybody who doesn't cheat. And I think it lacks a nobility of purpose to place so many restrictions and so many rules on game-play that nobody seems to be enjoying it anymore which is counterproductive to what I would think are iWin's goals in making their gamesite and hotel the best deal in town.. The 12/24 hour rule was crazy enough, telling people when they could and could not play to earn opals, and it seems nobody has figured out how that works, and then the 720 cap on earning opals, no matter how long anybody played, and now the "inactivity" monitor which tells everybody you are watching every move they make and if it doesn't measure up, you're out the opals. I understand the cap of 720, but it is an ineffective cap if nobody is earning opals because of the 12/24 clock and inactivity restrictions.

So my suggestion is this: 1) Set the clock at midnight, and at midnight in whatever time zone your players are from, which you can determine with any database of your users. Then everybody will know that from that point until the next night at midnight, they have all the time they want to accrue the 720 opals, and that at midnight, the clock starts over which allows them to play any time they want and for however long they want without having to worry about playing at 6 am and then wanting to play again at 7 pm which they cannot do now without the opal count disappearing. 2) Remove the inactivity monitor and instead "monitor" those users who seem to be maxing out regularly and without date or time restrictions which would be impossible for "non-cheaters" to do; and/or set a time frame for the inactivity monitor to 15 minutes. This allows for bathroom breaks, getting a glass of water, smoking a cigarette (which most people step outside to do - it taking approximately 5 to 7 minutes for an average cigarette), grabbing a snack, inactive game playing because of the elapse of time inherent in virtually dozens of games, and any other business they need to attend to, thus disallowing any "cheaters" from launching a game, walking away, going to work, etc., which seems to be the focus of iWin's concerns. With restraint as to mentioning other gaming sites, they are catching up because they see iWin as a true competitor, offering things such as Hotel iWin, to which no other gaming site has even come close. And I know iWin wants to keep it that way. I imagine that iWin didn't take into account the full impact of Hotel iWin and just how big a success it would be. And now let's hope they can keep up without creating an atmosphere of frustration, anger, and disappointment with the problems any "teething" process creates.

Well I glad I'm not the only one feeling frustrated lve the Opals. This has been goining on for me Since May28 after the IWinn Manager Update. I submited a ticket and lo and behold that ticket no longer exist in my ticket list.

I've been with IWINN since 2007 and have too many games to list. Sure hope hey figure this out pretty soon!!
I

What games are you playing? (Very important) : Jewell Quest II-III Bundle
Which of these games do you own? : Over 30
How long did you play? : at least 2 hours a day
How many Opals did you earn? : 0

Nanna14 wrote:Well I glad I'm not the only one feeling frustrated lve the Opals. This has been goining on for me Since May28 after the IWinn Manager Update. I submited a ticket and lo and behold that ticket no longer exist in my ticket list. I've been with IWINN since 2007 and have too many games to list. Sure hope hey figure this out pretty soon!!
I

What games are you playing? (Very important) : Jewell Quest II-III Bundle
Which of these games do you own? : Over 30
How long did you play? : at least 2 hours a day
How many Opals did you earn? : 0

It does seem very odd that you don't earn any opals for your playing time. You would think with the new upgrade and it's super-spying capability for watching active gameplay, not getting your opals would be a thing of the past since iWin is spying on you to see EXACTLY how many opals you deserve. So NOT getting them doesn't make any sense at all.

You can add the Samantha Swift hidden object games to the list of games not offering any opals. I "bracket" my game play on those games by playing other games (both purchased and free) and earn opals but as soon as I switch to a Samantha Swift game (I'm now on Golden Touch), no opals at all.

I've read everyone's concerns and felt that I also needed to add to what everyone else is saying. I'm normally the quiet type, but I really have to voice my opinion as a paying customer. I too have been having problems getting opals and never understood why. When I just learned a few minutes ago that we are being docked opals because of "idle time" while playing games. I really could not believe it.

It is unnerving to me that I've paid for more games than my icoin membership would have me to pay. I've far exceeded the amount of games in a year, and I'm only half way through the year. It scares me to think that the games in which I spent my hard earned money...(especially when there were times I really didn't have the money, because of the economy and all, but my kids might have wanted me to pay for a game they liked)....You guys would turn around and monitor us?!?!?!?! This is bizarre. It's bad enough you have the government monitoring us, when we least expect it. But I do not like the idea of knowing that while I'm playing my games...I'm being monitored.

I use to be with another online gaming site for several years (where they never monitor game play!), I was also a paying customer with them. They have the same games as Iwin and actually more up to date at getting the latest games, but I found out about IWin just by searching the net. I thought I would give Iwin a try, not because I didn't like the other gaming site. I just wanted to try something new. So I switched from the other gaming site to Iwin...before the Hotel IWin came into exsistance. I was thrilled about having found IWin (I even told a few friends about IWin) and once the Hotel Iwin opened up..that was just another cool perk that I could have fun with. Now I see it as a thing where my money is being put into this site, and my money even goes into the developement of Hotel Iwin, yet I am not rewarded fairly the way that I should be rewarded (as far as Opals go) and I'm being monitored on top of that. Why buy games??? If I'm going to be monitored, I would much rather be a nonpaying customer. At least if I am a nonpaying customer...I get all the same kind of perks, but I don't have to feel like I'm wasting my money.

Just like you don't want to be cheated out of a few "virtual opals", I don't want to be cheated out of what is rightfully owed to me as well. It's not just about "opals". I have far better things to worry about than a virtual opal, in which I pretty much paid for anyway. It's the principle of it all. I'm sure I speak for everyone here who are members on IWin. Hotel Iwin just so happens to be a part of the gaming experience...whether you are a paying member or not. We are told we are getting something for game play and told further more that "if we are paying members we accumilate double the opals!"...when in fact this is really not happening. You expect honesty from us. You expect us paying members to pay on time, follow rules, etc. We agreed to a contract when we signed up as members. Please be honest with us. This is all we expect from you.

Nanna14 wrote:Well I glad I'm not the only one feeling frustrated lve the Opals. This has been goining on for me Since May28 after the IWinn Manager Update.

How long did you play? : at least 2 hours a day
How many Opals did you earn? : 0

Nanna, not sure if you have seen the post in an earlier thread about this, but have you tried going into the games via your programme menu, rather than Game Manager?

Since the update, it is the only way I and some others can earn opals, and since you are not earning any at all (rather than just your total coming up short), you may have the same problem.

Of course this is not a fix for your issue, but it may help while you are waiting for joy from the support site.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:34

ycolon@ff wrote: and u know what u have a right to said what u want i respect it but once again i dont pay you i pay iwin

Did I answer this one, already? LOL, I don't remember. Anyway... what you or I or any other member PAYS for are the GAMES. That is all. Look in your shopping cart any time and you will see the only PURCHASES that you PAY for are games, back-up CD's, and maybe iCoins membership.

You do not pay cash money to view and post on this forum.

You do not pay cash money to chat (if it ever comes back).

You do not pay cash money to view and participate at Hotel iWin (even though with Opal Derangement Syndrome it seems we are paying with tons of frustration).

None of those items appear in your shopping cart. They are not purchased items therefore, iWin is not REQUIRED to provide any of that to any of us. All of the above not-purchased but free "items" are actually marketing incentives to make you want to stick around and ACTUALLY PURCHASE even more games. That's the whole point of marketing.

Because this forum is FREE, no you are not PAYING for a paid customer support service that has promised you a paid employee be made available to you 24/7.

In lieu of having paid employees shoulder 100% of the load of questions and problems that come up, we as a community, are blessed with and should be very thankful to have the presence of other knowledgeable members who are willing to devote their time to helping others. Getting snotty with them after they've just helped you just because iWin doesn't cut them a paycheck is counter-productive to YOU. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Even if you don't want to take their advice, at least understand they really were trying to help you out. They don't deserve getting spit on.

Again, the only thing you PAY for here are the actual games, back-up CD's and iCoins membership (and now maybe there are opportunities to pay for opals).

If I may..I just want to be the voice of reason. We are all frustrated and we all have a common goal. We want honesty and fairness. Yet there are times in which we forget, that through all the bytes and rams of our computer screens...there is a REAL person on the other end. I think often times we are so use to the virtual world, that in a sense...everything is virtual in our mind. We have to talk to others as if we were face to face with them. These are real ppl with real lives, just as we are real ppl with real lives. I'm including myself in this, becuase I don't want it to look like I'm coming down on a particular person. We can all be guilty of this. If we are looking for respect, we have to in turn give a little respect. As the old saying goes "actions speak louder than words".

Dinismurf, I'm going to try your idea with my Samantha Swift game and see if it will give me opals.

I don't see why we need BOTH the secret super-spy monitoring of active gameplay AND the screwy time clock that nobody understands with the 720 opal limit. Doesn't one eliminate the need for the other?

As for screens being "in focus" and that counting as "active gameplay," I know there are games where you can bring up a play screen that will stay in focus without any time clock running so there is no way to know if a person is sitting at their computer or not. Any monitoring device would show that as active screens.

If the spy software is counting mouseclicks and that's the criteria for "active," well, we've discussed already the many ways that is not truly a fair or workable solution.

IWin needs to not be so draconian and punitive towards their members. There should be no time clock at all and I'm on the fence on opals capping... I understand why they are putting the brakes on opal earning but they are also taking the wind out of their own sails by tamping down members' enthusiasm.

There is no sure-fire way to stop cheating. And to penalize members for one minute of idle time and require them to exit a game then come back and start it again to start up the secret spy monitor again is ridiculous. Why interfere in the flow of the game? What would be the point of playing?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mon, 8 Jun 2009 10:16

My goodness. This thread spiraled out of control quickly. I am locking this forum thread for the moment. I need some time to read over all these posts, and possibly clean up some harsher comments.

Please remember this thread was for gathering information about the new Opals change. And while I understand people may not be happy about this change, please make sure you keep to the topic. This is not a place to attack each other.

I may unlock this thread later, to allow for further comments on the true topic. So please be patient.