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BTS: Message from Support

Veranol said:
There is one big problem with opening a discussion with the developers, specificly regarding wanted features... Copywright/Patent.

If someone were to detail the method for a lending system (like, lending armor to other avitars) in this forum, and MA took it and implemented it, the original poster has a case for infringement and can try to collect damages and/or royalties.

Weather this would succeed is doubtfull, but it IS a strain on MA.

Just my observation. :wise:
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Then you have an eula when signing up for the forum or when regging an account saying that you dotn want those rights if you post any ideeas on the forum :)
 
In my humble opinion i think this has something to do with the fact that most players (at least the ones I have met) no offense quite honestly feel that no matter what we put in the support request we are going to get an unresearched canned message that results in nothing but frustration.

I personally have NEVER been told ANYTHING when I submit support request than a paraphrased "The EULA says even if it is our fault we do not have to compensate you" for an answer.

My other personal favorite is "we checked the logs and can not find anything wrong".


I wonder has it ever ocurred to MA or their support that the answer may not necessarily be "more staff" it may be "fix the darned bugs" some of which have existed for years.

I apologize for the shortness of the comments in this post but I am tired of being told "deal with it" when I send a support request.
 
Etopia i agree completely with you, MA should not spend resources on their own forum, and you give very good reasons why. I also agree they should take ALL opportunities to communicate more with their customers, meaning those in charge of support and PR and the company have accounts here and post semi-regularly.

I see a lot of repeated or underutilized work being done due to poor communications from MA. Would they provide a better interface for communications (FAQs, open issues, regular developer's blog), especially in-game (voting booths for voting on most pressing issues, a terminal for support withing game, etc), it would ultimately reduce the workload on the staff as less support tickets requiring individual response would come in. I agree with a previous poster that in a "virtual universe", logging out (because ffs we can't use a window) to submit and check support through a primative web interface is just silly. Let's take advantage of those buildings and the virtual world, folks...

(Clearly web support is needed when one can't get in-game, but wherever possible all interaction should be in EU)
 
Why don't MA create a simple bugtracker within EU?

Surely it would be easy to add a form, accesible by button click in game - that brings up all required fields for a proper suppert ticket?

It could even be timestamped so you must report the bug as soon as it happens.

I can't really see a downside to this.
 
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If 14 hrs is long when having trouble logging in I think the support has done a good job during the vacations... :)
 
I'm glad my last support case was red and used wisely, I don't mind the 2 weeks no reply policy :rolleyes:

PS: If the support team reads your case, the case date changes to that time ;)
 
Thank you Cornelia and Marco.

Other than time taken to answer, I've always been satisfied with my tickets.
 
Marco|MindArk said:
As some of you have noticed, receiving answers from the Support Department has taken unusually long the last couple of weeks. This was most regrettable. Partly this delay can be explained by the fact that we have had some substitute personnel during summer holidays, but there is also a further explanation for the long waiting times. We have noticed an increase of support tickets, which do not provide the information needed to efficiently solve the problems addressed. This slows down our work considerably. Therefore we would really appreciate it, if you could take some more time when you sit down to write your next support question. Please remember to include information such as when, what, who and how since this information is most useful for us.
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Has anyone else noticed that when something is wrong around here Mind Ark always find a way to blame it on the players?

When the LG was screwed up that was due to players autoclicking, when support is totally useless, that's due to people not submitting tickets properly.

MA can't run a piss up in a f&^cking brewery (just ask a barman for a drink ingame if you want proof) and won't even admit it. Maybe if you stopped looking for scapegoats for you inadequacies and started sorting out the problems with this universe, there wouldn't be the number of support cases and you wouldn't be so f^&cking useless at answering them. Until then don't blame the players for the fact that your house is not inorder.

The sad state of support during the period that you all swanned off on holiday required an unreserved apology from MindArk to this community not weasel words and an attempt to shift the blame onto the community.

Winston
 
101 said:
Has anyone else noticed that when something is wrong around here Mind Ark always find a way to blame it on the players?

When the LG was screwed up that was due to players autoclicking, when support is totally useless, that's due to people not submitting tickets properly.

MA can't run a piss up in a f&^cking brewery (just ask a barman for a drink ingame if you want proof) and won't even admit it. Maybe if you stopped looking for scapegoats for you inadequacies and started sorting out the problems with this universe, there wouldn't be the number of support cases and you wouldn't be so f^&cking useless at answering them. Until then don't blame the players for the fact that your house is not inorder.

The sad state of support during the period that you all swanned off on holiday required an unreserved apology from MindArk to this community not weasel words and an attempt to shift the blame onto the community.

Winston
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Little harsh there i think at least marco takes the time to come here and read the post he does not have to even do that
just be gratefull he does
 
As PR officer for the company to whom many of us are paying money, I would expect him to come here and post every so often. I would also expect him to deal with the rightful complaints of the community.

just be gratefull he does
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Sorry Marco I should be grateful that you deigned to grace us with your presence, i'm not worthy. People sit here and say 'How good of Marco, blah blah...', bullshit, Marco's job is to deal with public relations, a job that unfortunately seems to entail enticing new customers while blaming the current crop of customers for all the problems that occur within the game.

Winston
 
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101 said:
As PR officer for the company to whom many of us are paying money, I would expect him to come here and post every so often. I would also expect him to deal with the rightful complaints of the community.



Sorry Marco I should be grateful that you deigned to grace us with your presence, i'm not worthy. People sit here and say 'How good of Marco, blah blah...', bullshit, Marco's job is to deal with public relations, a job that unfortunately seems to entail enticing new customers while blaming the current crop of customers for all the problems that occur within the game.

:handjob:

Winston
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Yes but EF is not a company or a project designed by Ma it is a private thing so yes we are lucky that he comes here and not one of the other forums or that he just does not limit is public relations to tv and radio adds or new investors in MA
 
Which is absolutely why they should HAVE their own forums.

It is also why they absolutey WONT have their own forums - they would be swamped because they are not fixing the problems - its a vicious circle.

You look at ANY company which has had problems - then look at how easy it is to contact them - first sign of crap company if the support is crap.

MA needs to provide more feedback on problem resolution, more feedback on what the fuck is going on at MA. The fact that Marco jumps on here and we should all be eternaly grateful is bull. Plain and simple. MA makes a ton of cash from us and I mean a ton - so there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever not to have a working, decent support / relations department which interacts with its customers.

Maybe what people need to do is fly to this game convention in Germany and meet MA face to face - they cannot then give you a bullshit support answer and fob you off.

Or another idea is create a website detailling all the bugs which are not getting fixed - maybe this might actually shame MA into doing something about them.

Come on Marco, prove us all wrong and get on here (or better still - your own company forums) and start addressing the many issues or is MA busy making another bullshit press release?
 
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101 said:
Has anyone else noticed that when something is wrong around here Mind Ark always find a way to blame it on the players?

When the LG was screwed up that was due to players autoclicking, when support is totally useless, that's due to people not submitting tickets properly.

MA can't run a piss up in a f&^cking brewery (just ask a barman for a drink ingame if you want proof) and won't even admit it. Maybe if you stopped looking for scapegoats for you inadequacies and started sorting out the problems with this universe, there wouldn't be the number of support cases and you wouldn't be so f^&cking useless at answering them. Until then don't blame the players for the fact that your house is not inorder.

The sad state of support during the period that you all swanned off on holiday required an unreserved apology from MindArk to this community not weasel words and an attempt to shift the blame onto the community.

Winston
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Amen and good Catch! Seems to always be our fault...
 
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Why THe f#$k do all you still play when all you can do is complain about whats going on

Play with it the way it is or go some where else and play but every damn thread turns into a Bash Ma thread play the game get over if ya do not want to spen money t hen go sweat for a living but stop crying
 
Draggger said:
Why THe f#$k do all you still play when all you can do is complain about whats going on

Play with it the way it is or go some where else and play but every damn thread turns into a Bash Ma thread play the game get over if ya do not want to spen money t hen go sweat for a living but stop crying
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what we complain about is that we have already spent the money. Having done so we expect to receive a level of service in return.

If I bought a laptop that stopped working after a couple of months would you tell me to stop crying and use it as a paperweight?

-rep for dreadful typing skills and a total misunderstanding of the situation

Winston

PS did you start playing in august or have you only just discovered EF?
 
Draggger said:
Why THe f#$k do all you still play when all you can do is complain about whats going on

Play with it the way it is or go some where else and play but every damn thread turns into a Bash Ma thread play the game get over if ya do not want to spen money t hen go sweat for a living but stop crying
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Sorry if I'm wrong, but your post sounds like the post of a non-depositer.
 
acaffrey said:
Sorry if I'm wrong, but your post sounds like the post of a non-depositer.[/QUOTe
you are wromg i do deposite very heavly also
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Draggger said:
Why THe f#$k do all you still play when all you can do is complain about whats going on

Play with it the way it is or go some where else and play but every damn thread turns into a Bash Ma thread play the game get over if ya do not want to spen money t hen go sweat for a living but stop crying
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Okay let's see you find a drill tower, get the deed, and try to extract it and get a message that says "this resource is owned by someone else" yet you have the deed right there in front of you and see how you react.

What kind of retard says "get ripped off and be happy about it"

-rep for not thinking before you speak
 
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Draggger said:
Last edited by Draggger : Today at 06:31 PM. Reason: calmed down
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wow you could have fooled me that one

Winston
 
Kaiser said:
What kind of retard says "get ripped off and be happy about it"

-rep for not thinking before you speak
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Draggger by the looks of things
 
101 said:
Draggger by the looks of things
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i am sure i spend just as much money in the game as many of you do but i do not constanly complain i know its a chance i take honestly the crying abou tthe game agrivates me more then the m oney i loose to small bugs
 
This nonsense will stop right now! No more bashing and flamming in this thread. If you have personal challenges with each other take it to PM but do NOT continue this tone in this thread. If you can't be constructive or civil in your posting then don't post at all. :wise:
 
MindStar9 said:
This nonsense will stop right now! No more bashing and flamming in this thread. If you have personal challenges with each other take it to PM but do NOT continue this tone in this thread. If you can't be constructive or civil in your posting then don't post at all. :wise:
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I appoligise for those who i have offended
I broke one of my own rules that i have made for myself and that is if i can not say something then say nothign at all
 
<ot>
TBH, Draggger and i had a brief exchange after the first post and response and the whole thing was quite reasonable. He must have then sniffed some strong glue or something shortly afterwards as he lapsed into demented ranting from that point on.
</ot>

I certainly don't give a shit whether someone deposits or not. What i do care about is that Marco created a thread on this forum, firmly blaming the sad situation with MA's support over the summer on the players and that people think i should in someway be honoured that he he granted us an audience. I also care that at anytime that MA screws up royally they never put their hands up in the air and apologise; they always find a way to reflect the blame onto the players. This to my mind is not good enough. I was taught that you should take responsibility for your mistakes and do something to rectify them as required.

Firstly Marco's post shows that MA as a company is not man enough to face up to their responsibilities and secondly I see nothing to suggest that they are capable of sorting out their problems.

Peace,

Winston
 
Ok, time to throw my hat in...

I think support has done a good job for me personally since I started playing. Most of my tickets, except one, were answered within a couple of days. The longest I had to wait was 2 weeks during the summer vacation period. I have never had a problem and was always treated politely by MA support.

I appreciate that MA is attempting to improve the support service they provide to us. Cornelia seems to have things on the right track, and while it would be nice to have someone to +rep on this forum, I think her presence would only invite a flood of support requests in EF.

I also think some of you should take a few minutes and think about how you formulate your support requests. If they are anything like the posts in this and other threads, then it does not surprise me that they get ignored. I know some of you have valid issues with support, but how many support tickets do MA get that are made up of only complaints, threats, insults and other garbage? How many unecessary tickets are submitted each day that just take time away from solving real problems?

I think it is an issue that Cornelia was trying to address, make sure your support request includes all the information needed...

We have noticed an increase of support tickets, which do not provide the information needed to efficiently solve the problems addressed. This slows down our work considerably. Therefore we would really appreciate it, if you could take some more time when you sit down to write your next support question. Please remember to include information such as when, what, who and how since this information is most useful for us.
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...and in my opinion it should also say, please be polite and do not use offensive language, and don't ask us why the loot is bad anymore, and your request might be handled faster...

Think before you send the next support ticket! If it was you on the receiving end, how would you answer the request?

...no where did my hat go to? :)

cheers :beerchug:
 
The biggest problem with the support is that they drink coffee while they sort out the tickets. (I guess they are allowed to drink coffee by the computer, and perhaps someone drinks tea!) Atleast i think so, can't say for sure though :D

And since they only got the ticket and can't communicate directly with the person who submited a ticket, they need to investigate and guess what the problem is if the ticket lacks some needed info. If they need more info the support case could take a week (or many weeks) to be solved.

Bascially theres not much stress, and it's easy to copy paste same answers on alot of tickets since they can't investegate as good as they could, because of lack of info, tempting coffee or whatever. Maybe spellbound by the NDA about any info in the game. Who knows, well MA knows but it's the players not typing properly it seems...

I don't know why MA wants a one way support in the first place. You can check out any serious mmorpgs (virtual universes, games or whatever you prefer to call them), and find that there are forums and usually GM's avalible 24/7 from INGAME. They are standing by to solve the present issue you have right away while you remember and can give a accurate description of the problem. They will also ask about any info that is needed to help solve the problem in the best way.

Those tickets are answered with 24 hours 99,99% of the time. Theres no time to chill with a coffee out while doing "live support", except when you have a break offcourse ^^

Yes sometimes it takes more then 24 hours, but there can be many reason for that. New released patch with alot of bugs, bugs that NEVER are getting fixed, understaffed support (people are sick?) and probably 200 million other things i don't want even want to start thinking on. But it happens very rarely.

There are also some that has the same offline ticket system, but noone needs to be a genius to understand that live help right away is the best thing a customer could get.

I don't know what MA has for plans in the future with the 24 hour support, my guess is still the offline one way ticket. I do hope MA can do something useful and start preparing for ingame live support 24/7. Even in vacations, or you could litteraly just shut down the servers if you don't have staff to make the universe run in holydays like eastern, summer, winter, christmas and so on.

Just my few thoughs
 
My guess is that if MA staff (beta testers with a wage) played this universe a bit more serious with more time spend in-game, do all the things we do, and maybe if they would be allowed to play for $$ with a limit on withdrawals or whatever extra reward, specially when one of them finds a bug or uncovers some illegal activity (scaming, misc. exploiting, rude dialogues etc, etc.), there would be 1/2 less support tickets sent and the universe would be more pleasant and enjoyable.


Maybe the cost for these "beta testers" would be less than a wage of a doc. phd. imp. PR expert who drinks too much coffee anyway.:tongue2:

Regards,
Robo
 
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