NOT?
I'm wondering how people like the support, the GW-support team is giving us?
And I don't mean the regular and free updates we get, which I really appreciate.
I mean: How does support answer to your problems? Do they solve them? Do they read your requests carefully? Do they understand what you want? Are they quick, reliable?
I have had a lot of contact with several supporters of all kinds of companies over the past years and all I can say is: seen one, seen'em all.
I have about 6 requests so far, including characters getting stuck somewhere, enemies doing hyperspace jumps (one moment 50 meters in the distance, the next already behind you), one open request about abusive names, and so far none of my problems that I encountered in the game have been solved.
What I really don't like (and that addresses almost any support-team I got into contact with) is the wide spread "Don't call us, we'll call you" mentality.
You report abusive names, you make suggestions, you file in errors and what do you usually get:
"If we don't hear from you in the next 72 hours we'll assume the call to be closed"
I know that they keep telling you that a "closed call" doesn't mean it's no longer researched, but recently, I got doubts.
What is your experience?
best support I've ever seen...
Ashley Twig
Kaylynn Of Ascalon
beats me. i have no REAL complaints. Im very happy with this game and a few things got to me and I bitch a lil bout them but in the end Im happy to have a kick ass game to play and nothing I say will change policy so i don't worry about it. (i'm a sheep)
Morganas
The "hyperspace jumps" that enemies do usually happen to me during when my connection hiccups (usually doing stuff on my other laptop while playing guildwars on my normal comp, so I can see when the connection goes screwy), it's pretty widespread, and I don't see how opening a support ticket would help, as they certainly know about it.
As for getting stuck, I've never seen this happen to a player character, and I've gotten quite a few hours in this game. If it's henchmen you're talking about, they actually seem to have fixed that in the last patch. Still, I don't see the point in calling support for this sort of thing and expecting a reply back (you can simply warp to a town), though I can certainly see how it would useful to ANet to hear about the particulars of such bugs.
As for name violations, they don't hurt you, and children shouldn't be playing online games anyways, so I really think it's a moot point. Enforcing the naming policy when they're probably swamped with reports of naming violations is probably very difficult for them, especially considering they can't higher as many GM's as a game that charges monthly.
The "we'll call you" mentality is perfect for a game that doesn't charge monthly, as they only have a few GM's on call, and they have to picky about what they respond to.
As for getting stuck, I've never seen this happen to a player character, and I've gotten quite a few hours in this game. If it's henchmen you're talking about, they actually seem to have fixed that in the last patch. Still, I don't see the point in calling support for this sort of thing and expecting a reply back (you can simply warp to a town), though I can certainly see how it would useful to ANet to hear about the particulars of such bugs.
As for name violations, they don't hurt you, and children shouldn't be playing online games anyways, so I really think it's a moot point. Enforcing the naming policy when they're probably swamped with reports of naming violations is probably very difficult for them, especially considering they can't higher as many GM's as a game that charges monthly.
The "we'll call you" mentality is perfect for a game that doesn't charge monthly, as they only have a few GM's on call, and they have to picky about what they respond to.
Arcador
If you talk about the /bug command - it is double edged blade (of extingtion :P)
This is not ordinary MMOPRG so you cant expect the GM, Consouler or whatever it is to come and resquire you. Thus a stuck is equal to restarting the mission (or activating the next cut scene). Anyway when stuck try to click around with the mouse - the pathfinding often unstucks me.
/Bug is not "Page a GM".
About the hyperspace jumps they are only visual - enemy moves for 1-2 secs max then returns back to its place. The bad side is that you attack him and see how you character moves past the enemy and running somewhere there (the real position of the enemy). All other issues are caused by some lag minor bugs - (returning to previous postion and etc). I guess it is some sort of hard to fix bug - deep in the engine roots caused by latency so its fixing may be slow and taking a lot of effort.
All bugs are stored in some log I guess and reading them requires A LOT of time. Some players report thing such as "OMG I DIED THIS GAME SUX RETURN MY MONEY" and sort of - which is pure flood.
Don't tell me you are using the phone support! I never use it. (except for local I-net provider problems) Especialy for things that cannot be fixed that easily.
Or you talk about the mail support?
Anywey GW is one of the bugfree-est stable-est issue-less online games I have played so far. Never experianced a server crash, no server, major bug that brings unplayability or similar issues.
I remember when my buddies were unhappy because when they make a raid the server began to lag and later often crashed or in UO the insurance bug that is known since AoS and it's "power" is like cancel the player to never play UO again or the "hyperspace jumps walking" on Anarchy Online and so and so ....
This is not ordinary MMOPRG so you cant expect the GM, Consouler or whatever it is to come and resquire you. Thus a stuck is equal to restarting the mission (or activating the next cut scene). Anyway when stuck try to click around with the mouse - the pathfinding often unstucks me.
/Bug is not "Page a GM".
About the hyperspace jumps they are only visual - enemy moves for 1-2 secs max then returns back to its place. The bad side is that you attack him and see how you character moves past the enemy and running somewhere there (the real position of the enemy). All other issues are caused by some lag minor bugs - (returning to previous postion and etc). I guess it is some sort of hard to fix bug - deep in the engine roots caused by latency so its fixing may be slow and taking a lot of effort.
All bugs are stored in some log I guess and reading them requires A LOT of time. Some players report thing such as "OMG I DIED THIS GAME SUX RETURN MY MONEY" and sort of - which is pure flood.
Don't tell me you are using the phone support! I never use it. (except for local I-net provider problems) Especialy for things that cannot be fixed that easily.
Or you talk about the mail support?
Anywey GW is one of the bugfree-est stable-est issue-less online games I have played so far. Never experianced a server crash, no server, major bug that brings unplayability or similar issues.
I remember when my buddies were unhappy because when they make a raid the server began to lag and later often crashed or in UO the insurance bug that is known since AoS and it's "power" is like cancel the player to never play UO again or the "hyperspace jumps walking" on Anarchy Online and so and so ....
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
and I don't see how opening a support ticket would help, as they certainly know about it.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
As for getting stuck, I've never seen this happen to a player character, and I've gotten quite a few hours in this game.
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Getting stuck is quite easy in pre-Ascalon if your a Ranger witha pet an Gwen on your side.
I got stuck between a tree and a river. Gwen and my pet followed me and wouldn't move.
Stuck!
Porting to town using the map is a workaround, but do you really want to see 2 hours+ going to waste on a longer mission just because your character can walk through rock, trees, other players/henchmen, but can't walk through your pet?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
If it's henchmen you're talking about, they actually seem to have fixed that in the last patch.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
As for name violations, they don't hurt you, and children shouldn't be playing online games anyways, so I really think it's a moot point.
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What really hurts me is, that names like
"<firstname> the banger"
or
"*arsch*" something
gets accepted for a name, when a prefectly harmless name like "Mayweed" get's rejected.
This makes a black-list with terms to be blocked totally useless
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
Enforcing the naming policy when they're probably swamped with reports of naming violations is probably very difficult for them, especially considering they can't higher as many GM's as a game that charges monthly.
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Arcador
And then anohter 2000 players will complain you that you didn't answer their ticket for name abusing in 1 hour :PP
Sagius Truthbarron
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
What is your experience?
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Yah, I'de say this is the best support I have ever seen. Maybe you should try playing another game where it takes the GMs weeks or even months to get back to you?
BTW: I submitted a name report and it was answered within 10 hours. They WILL NOT MAIL YOU BACK ON THEIR JUDICIAL DECISION ON ACCOUNTS.
Perhaps your reports are just too trivial for response. (IE: Reporting lag)
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sagius Truthbarron
I've never had a question that wasn't answered within 5 days.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sagius Truthbarron
Maybe you should try playing another game where it takes the GMs weeks or even months to get back to you?
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sagius Truthbarron
Perhaps your reports are just too trivial for response. (IE: Reporting lag)
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Ultimate_Gaara
Well i dont have to pay monthly, so i have no complains, so i think they are doing a darn good job, Keep up the great work Anet
Sagius Truthbarron
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
That IS fast.
Done that, been there. Where is the line between trivial and non-trivial? |
Trivial name report: Mr Poo Head
Non-Trivial Bug Report: Found a bug that makes you die instantly when casting a certain spell with a certain helpful effect on you or some such.
Trivial bug report: "I lagged and it placed a model of a Mergoyle on the target the Mergoyles that were running at us were about to attack" or "A boss jumped 5 feet and I had to walk over to it"
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ultimate_Gaara
Well i dont have to pay monthly, so i have no complains
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Ultimate_Gaara
Exactly... well not quite, everyone seems to want everything right now and are very impatent, which im sure makes the people at Anet very frustrated, people should be happy Anet actualy takes time to read and fix things
i got my $56.99's worth so i have nothing to complain about, and there is one reason why, because im not paying monthly i learn to look past the little flaws.. when you have played D2 as long as i have it kinda becomes second nature
i got my $56.99's worth so i have nothing to complain about, and there is one reason why, because im not paying monthly i learn to look past the little flaws.. when you have played D2 as long as i have it kinda becomes second nature
Lasareth
I still can't quite figure out how a game that takes so much maintenance can have no monthly fees. I mean... how the heck are the servers being maintained? Off of the measly purchase fee we paid for it? That's pretty impressive imo.
Ultimate_Gaara
yes it is, i think too many people take the no fees for granted, a game like this only comes once in a great while
Watersong
Well, considering that the server doesn't have to maintain a whole world and that games are instanced...
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ultimate_Gaara
yes it is, i think too many people take the no fees for granted, a game like this only comes once in a great while
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Dax
Unfortunately I would guess there are hundreds and hundreds of support emails a day, and you never know how many people are actually have the tasks of answering/resolving them. I would guess with the lack of monthly service charge...not too many. Also I would guess that these people probably do other things as well.
I don't know what the situation is there, but I have seen the barrage of customer service tickets on a MMORPG and it generally isn't pretty. I'm not defending them in any way, but given the monthly pricing or lack there of...some concessions have to be made.
I don't know what the situation is there, but I have seen the barrage of customer service tickets on a MMORPG and it generally isn't pretty. I'm not defending them in any way, but given the monthly pricing or lack there of...some concessions have to be made.
Ba Ne
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
What is your experience?
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My issue was handled promptly and professionally to such a degree that I was totally flabbergasted. I say kudos to the support team.
Aniewiel
One thing to remember as well: While your ticket may be of the utmost importance to you, they may be receiving hundreds just like it. I'm thinking here of the recent lag issues on the European servers. Some of the "they're not responding to my request" stuff could be related to the fact that they're working hundreds of tickets that are exactly the same.
Lack of response doesn't mean lack of action.
Lack of response doesn't mean lack of action.
Alodarn
It's better than wow's customer support.
Tried twice to get in game support for a problem with a quest, and both times the ticket just vanished.
In the end I tried emailing them, from the support site, eventually a few days later I got a reply saying that the server couldn't handle my email as it had no space ... gave up at that point and deleted the quest.
Tried twice to get in game support for a problem with a quest, and both times the ticket just vanished.
In the end I tried emailing them, from the support site, eventually a few days later I got a reply saying that the server couldn't handle my email as it had no space ... gave up at that point and deleted the quest.
Algren Cole
rofl @ everyone that's never worked on a support team.
on a more serious note....technical support teams don't do anything. They surf the net all day and laugh at your problems...generally they are underqualified with little to no knowledge about what they are supporting.
which is why I never bother to contact support teams for ANY product.
on a more serious note....technical support teams don't do anything. They surf the net all day and laugh at your problems...generally they are underqualified with little to no knowledge about what they are supporting.
which is why I never bother to contact support teams for ANY product.
Adaria
I've reported a computer bug which seems to be happening again, GW freezes, I think it may be my video card for once, it was fixed but now decided to start up again. Here I go with rigerous tests to fix it, at least GW comes around after a minute of being frozen, but it hinders my ability to play by tenfold, Oh well I'll figure it out. I won't bother with support, most likely my dad or my boyfriend can help me fix it, it's not a GW bug, but a computer bug. I had to abandon my only ticket I had in for that awhile back, I never had the information for my comp that would help them help me fix the problem.
As far as being on support, I am on a help channel in-game on another game, sometimes there is only one of us and we are slow to answer the calls in teh queue, others there are alot of us on call. I'm a general 'helper' so to speak, I answer questions about anything and everything related to the game. If I can't help someone out and no one else on channel knows what it is, I send it off to the more specific channels, Technical Bug support, those who deal with disputes in-game, people who help the new players with tours and the like, and a few other catagories.
It is tough understanding what people want, even when you're talking to them via whispers. Sometimes in the end they have to email one of the many support emails, [depends on what they need help with depends on what they email], I've done this a few times and never got a reply, I'm thankful that Guild Wars emails back within an hours time.
Imagine how many players there are on the game, and who knows how many GW support are online. I'm sure the support emails work much like the calls I get, go into a que and one by one are looked at, but as I've said, at times its hard to understand what people want done, and email is slower than whispering or chatting on the phone, but personally I'd not want to deal with phone support either, that'd be longer than email I think...
Anywho that's all I gotta say...
As far as being on support, I am on a help channel in-game on another game, sometimes there is only one of us and we are slow to answer the calls in teh queue, others there are alot of us on call. I'm a general 'helper' so to speak, I answer questions about anything and everything related to the game. If I can't help someone out and no one else on channel knows what it is, I send it off to the more specific channels, Technical Bug support, those who deal with disputes in-game, people who help the new players with tours and the like, and a few other catagories.
It is tough understanding what people want, even when you're talking to them via whispers. Sometimes in the end they have to email one of the many support emails, [depends on what they need help with depends on what they email], I've done this a few times and never got a reply, I'm thankful that Guild Wars emails back within an hours time.
Imagine how many players there are on the game, and who knows how many GW support are online. I'm sure the support emails work much like the calls I get, go into a que and one by one are looked at, but as I've said, at times its hard to understand what people want done, and email is slower than whispering or chatting on the phone, but personally I'd not want to deal with phone support either, that'd be longer than email I think...
Anywho that's all I gotta say...
Kuku Monk
Honestly, just think of the sheer volume of email they must get. Judging from some of the posts on this site, a lot of them probably aren't well thought out, grammatically correct, or even readable (on the other spectrum, don't write them a novel, just get to the flippin' pont!). Just think of all the email you get...now imagine having close to as many friends as actually play Guild Wars. Now won't your inbox be rather loaded? 
Give 'em a break. Just b/c they don't respond to you doesn't mean they didn't read your email, don't already know a problem exists, or aren't already working on a fix for the problem.
Give 'em a break. Just b/c they don't respond to you doesn't mean they didn't read your email, don't already know a problem exists, or aren't already working on a fix for the problem.
Alex Weekes
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
one open request about abusive names
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Quote:
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Getting stuck is quite easy in pre-Ascalon if your a Ranger witha pet an Gwen on your side. I got stuck between a tree and a river. Gwen and my pet followed me and wouldn't move. Stuck! |
Numa Pompilius
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
I'm wondering how people like the support, the GW-support team is giving us?
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theclam
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morganas
The "hyperspace jumps" that enemies do usually happen to me during when my connection hiccups (usually doing stuff on my other laptop while playing guildwars on my normal comp, so I can see when the connection goes screwy), it's pretty widespread, and I don't see how opening a support ticket would help, as they certainly know about it.
As for getting stuck, I've never seen this happen to a player character, and I've gotten quite a few hours in this game. If it's henchmen you're talking about, they actually seem to have fixed that in the last patch. Still, I don't see the point in calling support for this sort of thing and expecting a reply back (you can simply warp to a town), though I can certainly see how it would useful to ANet to hear about the particulars of such bugs. As for name violations, they don't hurt you, and children shouldn't be playing online games anyways, so I really think it's a moot point. Enforcing the naming policy when they're probably swamped with reports of naming violations is probably very difficult for them, especially considering they can't higher as many GM's as a game that charges monthly. The "we'll call you" mentality is perfect for a game that doesn't charge monthly, as they only have a few GM's on call, and they have to picky about what they respond to. |
I haven't lodged any support complaints, but in general, I think they support their game very well. Weekly interviews and near-weekly patches indicate that they are dedicated in making the game fun for players, even after they've got our money. Compared to other companies that just drop you unless you're paying them cash, they're amazing.
InFeStEd
meh, i still think that no matter what I pay for a game, I have purchased a product and deserve intimate catering.
Jaythen Tyradel
I feel the support team and response time is great from tickets that I have sent to them.
Alderman Sweet
Amen. Best support I've ever seen in any game. Amazing.
MSecorsky
I did fly one time. Walked off a tall hill in a mission and kept right on going, airborne. Plenty of OMG How are you doing thats.... had no idea, suddenly landed as though nothing happened.
A moment of fun entertainment, never repeated.
But I flew.
A moment of fun entertainment, never repeated.
But I flew.
Adaria
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Alex Weekes
This one in particular I can comment on immediately. You will never be told the outcome when you report someone for an abusive name or behaviour in-game. Once you make the report further investigation becomes a private matter between our support staff and the individual who was reported.
In this instance, the best course of action is to press 'W' once (this will clear any movement instructions still in place if you became stuck while using mouse-move) and then put your hands in your lap for a few seconds. Wait and the pet and Gwen should begin using their idle animations, which involve moving around within a radius near your location. As they move around you should gain some space to extricate yourself. |
Y'know I just now learned something new, I've never actually noticed the NPC's, er pets, Gwen, Henchies or otherwise do random things when I've been idle, but then again I usually go idle in districts. I've learned something new and this is very helpful, though I haven't gotten stuck recently, I'm sure it will happen at some point.
I've reported someone but since I never responded in 72 hours after the request for more information about the incident, I figure it was either settled or dropped. Though that 72 hour thing in these sorts of matters is a little annoying, I hate to think that these sorts of things get dropped, but just the same trust the GW Support Judgement, or whoever deals with that. Just curious about issues like this, but then I suppose the ticket is closed on my end, I've done my part, and unknown to me it must be taken care of between Support and the offender.
SO, I suppose the point here is to just not worry about it, I do remember it said I wouldn't hear anything of the judgements and that it would be handled between the GW Support and the person in question, so have a little faith, things are being taken care of but its out of your hands after you supply all the needed information, just sit back, relax and play the game. Let them deal with it. >^_^<;
Mister Pie
As far as games go, I'd say Guild Wars has one of the best support teams out there. Just my opinion though.
Not sure what you really expect though.
Not sure what you really expect though.
Sagius Truthbarron
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Alodarn
It's better than wow's customer support.
Tried twice to get in game support for a problem with a quest, and both times the ticket just vanished. In the end I tried emailing them, from the support site, eventually a few days later I got a reply saying that the server couldn't handle my email as it had no space ... gave up at that point and deleted the quest. |
After a month or so they will send me back a message that says:
"Thank you for your message. Please note that that we are doing our best to end hacking, cheating and blah blah blah" (Pornography is never mentioned)
They never do anything about it: Blizzard service is always terrible.
elenna
I'm really happy with the support for this game. I've sent in reports that have been responded to within a couple of days.
LathalDraugr
I have to say I'm very impressed by A.net support. First and hopefully last time I used it was to report someone who was mouthing off about the bombings in London today/yesterday. To give you an idea of the mentality here a few quotes from aforementioned person: "london = owned" and "I hope it was serious, something to giggle at for a while". I got a reply within a few hours, given I'm on the European server thats very good customer service as far as I'm concerned. Just a shame I'll never know if the idiot was banned, although I understand why they can't tell us.
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Alex Weekes
Once you make the report further investigation becomes a private matter between our support staff and the individual who was reported.
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I've tried to reason with the support, I argued as best as I could. I've quoted text from wikipedia.com about the term they flaged as "abusive" to proove to them, that there's nothing abusive about it: They just threatened to disable my support account if I would continue, updating my ticket.
And if there's one thing I really hate is, if people aren't open to reasoning and fair arguments and try to cut to the end of the discussion by saying: rules are rules.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Alex Weekes
In this instance, the best course of action is to press 'W' once (this will clear any movement instructions still in place if you became stuck while using mouse-move) and then put your hands in your lap for a few seconds. Wait and the pet and Gwen should begin using their idle animations, which involve moving around within a radius near your location. As they move around you should gain some space to extricate yourself.
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Why didn't support tell me? It sounds like a plausible solution to my problem.
The negative side: It doesn't work.
Don't take it personally (though it's kinda hard not to), but there's something else that I usually get from support (any, not particulary GW):
The state the obvios.
I explain to them in my best possible english that term T is contained in the want-to-be lastname of a character, and that the name gets rejected.
They reply: The name gets rejected, because term T is part of your name.
Hello?
That's what I told them in the first place.
Now, as trivial as this might seem to most of the players, it matters to me, and I expect more from support than something silly as: "You have problem P, because you have Problem P"
MoebiusLost
The lack of monthly fees is not an excuse for a lack of customer support, if there is one.
This, in effect, would still be a black mark on said company.
The explaining away of any problems encountered in technical support of a game you like is a poor response to the question. Although, I admit it is understandable given that the game is quite good.
As for my own experiences with Anet support, I can't really say as all I received were automatically generated messages. Additionally, I was reporting a scammer, and I'm not entirely sure where that falls under Anet rules.
In my experience people will only pay attention if you complain loud enough and long enough, and your friends/family are numerous enough to form a voting bloc. Particularly, names that are blocked by the blacklist but have no reason to be are likely to be considered not worth the time of fixing the filter, because after all it's only the Puritanical Neo-Nazis that will sue over that sort of thing.
Now in regards to technical support, all those stereotypes are there for a reason, and most companies don't have the money to pay for top notch technical support. IBM, for example, charges top dollar for the kind of technical support some people seem to expect off-hand. This isn't to say that competency can't be expected, only that you will probably be disappointed.
This, in effect, would still be a black mark on said company.
The explaining away of any problems encountered in technical support of a game you like is a poor response to the question. Although, I admit it is understandable given that the game is quite good.
As for my own experiences with Anet support, I can't really say as all I received were automatically generated messages. Additionally, I was reporting a scammer, and I'm not entirely sure where that falls under Anet rules.
In my experience people will only pay attention if you complain loud enough and long enough, and your friends/family are numerous enough to form a voting bloc. Particularly, names that are blocked by the blacklist but have no reason to be are likely to be considered not worth the time of fixing the filter, because after all it's only the Puritanical Neo-Nazis that will sue over that sort of thing.
Now in regards to technical support, all those stereotypes are there for a reason, and most companies don't have the money to pay for top notch technical support. IBM, for example, charges top dollar for the kind of technical support some people seem to expect off-hand. This isn't to say that competency can't be expected, only that you will probably be disappointed.
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by MoebiusLost
In my experience people will only pay attention if you complain loud enough and long enough,
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Some will just threaten to disable your support-account if you continue updating your ticket with research, good arguments etc.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by MoebiusLost
Particularly, names that are blocked by the blacklist but have no reason to be are likely to be considered not worth the time of fixing, because after all it's only the Puritanical Neo-Nazis that will sue over that sort of thing.
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MoebiusLost
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ashley Twig
It works with some support, but not with everyone.
Some will just threaten to disable your support-account if you continue updating your ticket with research, good arguments etc. I hope you just didn't call me a Neo-Nazi, did you? |
I think the prinicple remains though, that if you get enough people to complain, they will take you seriously.
That depends -- would you sue over that sort of thing?
Ashley Twig
Quote:
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Originally Posted by MoebiusLost
That depends -- would you sue over that sort of thing?
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But I figure that the chance to win that is zero, or at least very close to zero.
Does that make me a nazi?
The basic principals of sueing are that two parties disagree on a subject.
To resolve that conflict of interest they ask somebody to decide wether who is right and who is wrong; that would be the judge or the jury, depending on the judical system etc.
You might argue that even if there was a real chance of wining, it still would be point- and worthless.
That reminds me of the movie "One flew over the cookoos nest".
Jack Nicholson trying to rip some sanitary installation out of the floor, failing.