why did you remove the cash back when you are the last player holding the stone? More profit for you?
I think it is a very bad thing to do that. This will very quickly filter away everyone that holds the emerald last, because those people will lose all their money and not have a cashback from which they can start over.
For example:
You have 45BTE on balance and decide to buy the emerald for 40.86. However, no one else buys it and you lose all your money.
On the old version, you would receive a small amount and you were able to start over in the small price ranges (5->15BTE) to gradually grow your balance again.
Now you just lose everything and you probably will stop playing because you can't buy the emerald anymore even at the lowest price and you probably don't feel vary happy and inclined to deposit more funds on a game that just striped you of 40.86 BTE.
Give people the cashback, give them a chance to start over again and regain the taste of the game. They will keep playing and it's important for this game that people play it, because else it will die in an instant.
To be honest, the profit margins for the house are ridiculously high right now. Half the profit on every sale of the emerald(even more if they have a website set O.o) + the entire last buy. All straight into the pocket. Don't be so greedy please, it's killing your game.
Why do people who enter a website url into their profile get severely handicapped in playing this game anyway? I'm lucky i didn't fill in that field when i started playing, especially because there is no way to change it back.
That was the original idea, the reason why the payback was removed was because that's the standard procedure I take when implementing a big change in the way the website works (e.g it was never meant to be permanent).
The website has always let you
remove a website, just not change it. There is a button to remove it if you decide you don't want to have the negative effects of it. People can enter a website if they want advertising for it, while still hopefully earning something from the emerald (although they pay a premium for the advertisment).
The house does not get the entire last buy, most of it goes to the last owner, which is why the 40% refund (Of everything the house has earned in the round) is so low. The entire profit is less than half of the last price.
Run though of the house profit with no refund (profit = total house profit if user loses it):
------ROUND 1:
Price: 6.5
Increase: 1.96
Profit: 0.96
Balance: 1.51
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 1.51
------ROUND 2:
Price: 8.46
Increase: 2.54
Profit: 1.25
Balance: 2.51
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 2.51
------ROUND 3:
Price: 11.0
Increase: 3.3
Profit: 1.63
Balance: 3.8
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 3.8
------ROUND 4:
Price: 14.3
Increase: 4.29
Profit: 2.13
Balance: 5.47
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 5.47
------ROUND 5:
Price: 18.59
Increase: 5.58
Profit: 2.77
Balance: 7.63
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 7.63
------ROUND 6:
Price: 24.17
Increase: 7.26
Profit: 3.61
Balance: 10.44
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 10.44
------ROUND 7:
Price: 31.43
Increase: 9.43
Profit: 4.7
Balance: 14.1
Repaid: 0.0
Profit: 14.1
With a refund:
------ROUND 1:
Price: 6.5
Increase: 1.96
Profit: 0.96
Balance: 1.51
Repaid: 1.3
Profit: 0.21
------ROUND 2:
Price: 8.46
Increase: 2.54
Profit: 1.25
Balance: 2.51
Repaid: 1.69
Profit: 0.82
------ROUND 3:
Price: 11.0
Increase: 3.3
Profit: 1.63
Balance: 3.8
Repaid: 2.2
Profit: 1.6
------ROUND 4:
Price: 14.3
Increase: 4.29
Profit: 2.13
Balance: 5.47
Repaid: 2.86
Profit: 2.61
------ROUND 5:
Price: 18.59
Increase: 5.58
Profit: 2.77
Balance: 7.63
Repaid: 3.71
Profit: 3.92
------ROUND 6:
Price: 24.17
Increase: 7.26
Profit: 3.61
Balance: 10.44
Repaid: 4.83
Profit: 5.61
------ROUND 7:
Price: 31.43
Increase: 9.43
Profit: 4.7
Balance: 14.1
Repaid: 6.28
Profit: 7.82
As you can see, the house doesn't make exactly what you thought. I take away the refund while testing brand new features just to make sure that the house doesn't go bankrupt from a bug, or at least not owe as much that it doesn't have.
Don't worry about the refund; it will be back soon. I'm pretty sure I've got all the bugs out now (The testing server = the production server
so proper precautions and testing is essential)
EDIT: The refund is back, I think it's safe enough to be there now.
