Decision final, Fortnite boycott started, Fortnite emotes removed from channel

I was going to just update the last post, but considering the response from their support was enough to only solidify the decision that I was done with Fortnite (and unwilling to make any new purchases over the Epic Games platform), I determined a new post was going to be necessary.  In their response, they were clearly trying to be polite in their response, but ultimately I ran into a dead end on getting anything done:

Note that the support ticket was closed even before they sent the response above.

This decision is the ultimate end of my playing Fortnite and seeing as I won't have the game installed anymore, I won't be checking to see if an option to convert in the game will be added later, but will welcome any update from those that I made as friends in the game if they have the time to let me know if this changes.  In addition to the decision that I was done messing with this situation as a result of their poor decision to lock V-Bucks to the BR mode, I also sent the following response:

Then my decision is clear (based on your response); I am no longer your customer (any new purchases over the Epic Games launcher will not be happening on my account), a player/streamer of Fortnite (possibly no other games exclusive to the Epic Games launcher either) & will be working on a new public boycott against Fortnite, which includes supporting of other channels that stream Epic Games exclusive games on Twitch or focus primarily on game content exclusive to the Epic Games launcher on YouTube (given that most of the channels on my channel stream nothing but Epic Games exclusive games, I'll probably just disable auto-hosting until I find other channels to add), as well as removing Fortnite emotes I had created for use on my own channel.
I will be uninstalling the game directly after this response is sent, the new boycott expected to be published within a few days, as well as updating my review of the Save the World mode to show that I have since stopped playing the game (not even having it installed anymore) as a result of a change that stole 4+ years of my gaming life in re-assigning the premium currency I was collecting for use in StW to a mode that I was avoiding (for various reasons), collection of those V-Bucks being one of the few things that kept me playing it (associating those V-Bucks to 4-5 years of my life that has been stolen from me by forcing them to be locked in a mode that I don't play).

As for your statement of "continued support", any support that "was" there is now gone; I can not support a game or it's publishers (or in this case, their developers, as this was a development decision) when a decision this detrimental is made to a person that only plays StW, so your statement ends any support I have for the game or your company from this point forward, unless I see otherwise that I have access to what I was collecting in the mode I was collecting it for use in, (meaning considering I won't even have it installed anymore, either I need a notice that the conversion has happened or I will need a statement from other players of the game that they are allowed to spend V-Bucks towards llamas again, which has been the same situation in Genshin Impact regarding the lack of vertical invert, their lack of response towards the inquiry to add it & my unwillingness to even start it up without it, much less do the updates to even check for it; of course I won't be going to those channels while they are streaming personally boycotted games, so it will have to be over private messages from friends I have made in the game if I'm going to get any notice of such a change that might bring me back & make me even consider purchases over your platform again).

As stated in that response, because there is now a boycott active against Fortnite (and quite possibly any other Epic Games exclusive games, I haven't quite decided if I'm going to go through with that yet as I started streaming Dauntless myself, but there's a high probability that I will), I will be removing the Raven emote from my channel.  Given this was the emote that I was keeping in the 1000 bits slot on my channel (which 3 cheerers had achieved, given them permanent access to that emote), I will need to ask the bit leader which emote they would prefer to have access to (this is a benefit on my channel exclusive to the bit leader, they can reorder emotes on the channel on request).

If there are any more updates regarding my going back to Fortnite, it will be done on this blog, but it seems unlikely that this decision is going to be reversed...

I half-expect there may be retaliation to the response I sent them, which could quite possibly result in an account closer, which would result in the boycott definitely including all games exclusive to the Epic Games launcher (possibly on the Epic Games platform at all), but would go a step further, meaning all games developed using their technology (meaning the Unreal Engine), so may other developers & publishers would also be affected if the boycott against Epic Games goes into FULL EFFECT.

Fortnite streams discontinued as a result of locking V-Bucks to BR mode

Early in the morning on March 31st, 2022, I updated Fortnite & logged in to find out that the V-Bucks I had been collecting for the past 4+ years in Save the World mode had been locked to the Battle Royale mode.  I do NOT play BR & I do NOT spend V-Bucks on the BR store, so this change felt like stealing 4+ years of my life from me...  Earlier this morning, I went on a few rants (over 1 live channel of a former Fortnite streamer who had helped me acquire Affiliate on Twitch as a StW streamer & 2 Discord servers, including the official Fortnite Discord), stating I was done with Fortnite, had left the official Discord & was expecting to uninstall the game by the time I had woken up (expecting) around noon.

After getting some sleep, I was thinking a bit more clearly & decided I would make one last-ditch effort to keep the game in my list of games before I uninstall it, this was to contact Epic Games support & see if they would be willing to convert most of what I had prior to the change into X-Ray tickets (what is now accepted toward llama purchases in StW, V-Bucks no longer being accepted towards them).  In this support ticket, the following was stated:

I noticed when I started StW this morning (not playing the last couple weeks due to health issues) that I got 1000 X-Ray tickets on login.  After some discussion about this on your Discord server, I eventually found that the V-Bucks I had been collecting since I purchased it in 2017 (over 37,000 before this change was made, which collection of these from missions & dailies were the primary reason that kept me playing the game after Twitch dailies were broken in StW in the first year of playability) are now locked to a mode that I don't even play (BR mode). I haven't been happy about a lot of the changes in STW for the last few years, but I continued playing it because I knew I had already spent over $40 for it at full price in 2017 (plus tax, purchasing roughly a month after it was playable), mostly just avoiding the modes I didn't like (which were missions that had the enclosing storm mechanic or didn't allow you to craft your own schematics).

Last night I blew up about this on your Discord server, stated that I was done with Fortnite & left the server (also blowing up about it in 1 other Discord server & chat in a live Twitch channel, that particular streamer not even having the Epic Games launcher installed anymore because he wasn't happy with the StW modes that didn't allow him to craft his schematics, 1 of 3 channels that helped me acquire affiliate status on Twitch while I was still streaming StW with their raids to my channel).  After getting some sleep & calming down a bit, I rejoined your Discord server & decided to make a last-ditch effort to retain those V-Bucks in the mode that I "was" still playing before I uninstall the game and make that decision to ditch the game final.

This request to retain me as a player/streamer of StW (and potential customer on the Epic Games platform) is that you convert 37,000 V-Bucks into 37,000 X-Ray tickets; this will allow me to retain most of what I collected in StW & to be able to use them in the mode I originally collected them for.  I have NEVER spent any V-Bucks on the BR store & locking what I had collected in StW to the BR mode is not going to force me to play it or spend them on that store, it's only going to get me to remove the game from my system & stop supporting other Fortnite streamers on a whole (not just BR streamers, where I already have streams tagged with "Mode: Battle Royale" blocked on Twitch, but the entire Fortnite game, regardless of what mode is being streamed).

I have already moved Fortnite to the "Discontinued steams" section of my Game List on my Twitch channel (with a descriptive reason why this game is being discontinued on my channel) & that is likely to remain the decision if the time & effort I put into StW remains as time I can't get back because those V-Bucks are now locked to a mode I don't even play.  Additionally, I'm intending on make a blog post about this on my Twitch blog explaining why Fortnite will no longer be streamed on my channel (if I can't get those V-Bucks accessible in the mode I play), as well as an addition to my review of the StW mode on my personal site, which is likely to be the final update to it once I'm left with the (expected) decision that all that is left to do with Fortnite is to uninstall it & never look at it again...  Another BBB complaint is also possible if I'm faced with the decision of just scrapping what took over my gaming life for the last 4+ years.

Depending on their decision (whether they decide to make V-Bucks usable on StW again, convert what I have asked to X-Ray tickets or just decide to give me the proverbial finger & reject the request or close the ticket without a response), is going to be the deciding factor whether I even keep Fortnite installed anymore (as well as whether I am even going to consider additional purchases over the Epic Games platform).  If the decision stands as it is now, Fortnite will no longer be played, much less streamed on my channel ever again & this will likely also affect my decision as to whether I ever purchase anything over the Epic Games platform again.