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I don't know about some of you.

VicodinTacoVicodinTaco Member UncommonPosts: 804

What's wrong with you people that rank a game due to it's customer support?  I mean really.... What's always going so wrong with a game that you gotta get a person on the phone first hand 2-3 times a day?

I HAVE NEVER contacted customer support for any game in my entire life. 

EXCEPT, for a SSR Dungeon's and Dragon's game that I mail ordered back in the early 90's.  That was only because I had a brand new Tandy 286 and I didn't have a soft floppy drive (they sent me the 5.25 instead of the 3.5).

So of the hundred's of PC games that I've bought in my life, why have I never had to call customer service?  What do I manage to avoid that hundreds of others seem to come across a dozen times a day!?

I'm no tech head either.  I had to ask the EQ2 forum which video cards were better than a FX5200.

 

Comments

  • PsyklonPsyklon Member Posts: 33
    If you hear people complaining about support here it is usually ingame-support. Ingame mods are the public reps of the game. If you have lazy an/or griefing ingame support this reflects directly on quality of gameplay. Unless of course the game is flawless and not needing ingame support
  • jimothypetrojimothypetro Member Posts: 1,437


    Originally posted by loeslein

    EXCEPT, for a SSR Dungeon's and Dragon's game that I mail ordered back in the early 90's. That was only because I had a brand new Tandy 286 and I didn't have a soft floppy drive (they sent me the 5.25 instead of the 3.5).

    And what if they refused to send you the 5.25? Wouldn't you be pissed? That can be the difference between good CS and bad CS.

    In MMORPGs there are alot of things that can go wrong. All MMORPGs are filled with tons of bugs. Almost every person will have to contact a GM at one point or another. Whether it is something as simple as falling through the world, or another player harrassing you, etc.

    In the MMORPG I play now(WoW), I've only had to contact a GM twice(I think). Once was when the game just released, and my hearthstone was stuck at 40min. It took 4 days for them to even contact me back, and another day for them to fix it. That is not good CS.

    Just a few days ago I paged a GM again. This time because ONE person was training mobs onto us while our guild was fighting a raid boss. That person was warned, and he left. In this case... what if the GM didn't do anything? That one person would have screwed 40 people, and there was nothing we could do about it. I know if I heard one person could ruin a whole raid, I would take that into consideration if I was thinking about buying the game.

    There are a million things that can go wrong in an MMORPG that in a single player game you don't have to worry about.

    CS probably isn't something alone that would make me quit the game, but it's important.

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    "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
    -- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977

  • zoey121zoey121 Member Posts: 926

    First month playing wow i had the "death bug as well" . Did not get a response, the "birdy" didn't respond, so i started another toon. Then i got waylaid again with same bug on different server, different toon.

    I did understand it was a new game had issues and in time things would be taken care of.

    But after the second occurance repeated itself i did not stay with the game.

    In swg i had many instances of not get around, from harvestors one weekend not responding to things being stuck, and toon being stuck , there was a time my toon got hit with a "could not advance bug due to game bug. At that point csr would not help even though it was a big game bug. I cancled that account for a while as well.

    If a bug becomes so big that one cannot play the game and or if it repeats itself and cannot get past it it becomes a brick wall. If csr does not respond, then i do not either...

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    Well supporting your product is a big factor to making your product successful. For those of us who are expereinced enough in MMO play to work out our own in game issues, support is often not something we look for. For new players it can mean the difference between playing all evening or playing for 10 minutes and spending the rest of your playtime "stuck" or something coz no GM comes to get you out.

    Imho rating a game on its service is not only valid, its important.

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  • ElnatorElnator Member Posts: 6,077

    I generally rank in-game support as about midway down the scale of importance. If the game is well designed you shouldn't need too much support. Even in EverQuest (which I played for over 6 years) I think I had to petition for in-game support about 3 times total... yes... 3 times in 6 years.

    So while I expect a good response when I have a support issue I don't rank in-game support very high on my overall evaluation of a game. Sure it's important but there are other things like gameplay, graphics, fun, replayability, etc. that I rank much higher.

    Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
    Sig image Pending
    Still in: A couple Betas

  • darkmandarkman Member UncommonPosts: 767

    While customer support may not be the biggest factor of the game, it certainly is a factor that must not go overlooked. If I have problems in a game (which I do from time to time), I want to actually get them solved (or actually have a legitimate attempt at getting it solved), not so half-***** reply from some CS rep who tells me the blatantly obvious. Or like in Blizzard's case, where you have some CS reps who tell you they can't do something, and then others who go ahead and do it for you. That can make you sometimes leave a game because of crap like that. So it does matter a lot actually.

  • ElnatorElnator Member Posts: 6,077


    Originally posted by darkman
    While customer support may not be the biggest factor of the game, it certainly is a factor that must not go overlooked. If I have problems in a game (which I do from time to time), I want to actually get them solved (or actually have a legitimate attempt at getting it solved), not so half-***** reply from some CS rep who tells me the blatantly obvious. Or like in Blizzard's case, where you have some CS reps who tell you they can't do something, and then others who go ahead and do it for you. That can make you sometimes leave a game because of crap like that. So it does matter a lot actually.


    I would submit that if you have enough issues to make in-game support an important factor that the game has bigger problems than the CS staff :)

    Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
    Sig image Pending
    Still in: A couple Betas

  • XzaroXzaro Member UncommonPosts: 1,719

    You wouldn't be too happy if you purchased a game, encountered a bug of some sort so you can't get in game, you already subscribed, and customer support doesn't contact you for over 4 days, would you?

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  • NaosNaos Member Posts: 379

    Ingame support is very important and a lack of can assist folk in deciding to quit a game, but far too many companies see the userbase as "players" where they should be seeing "Customers".


    (forum seems buggy atm)

  • ElnatorElnator Member Posts: 6,077

    Both good points, but, again, I'd still say that if you have game-stopping issues of that magnitude that you have a bigger problem than just customer support. I'm not saying CS isn't important. I'm just saying that there are other issues that are more important. I rate CS about 5th on my chart.

    Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
    Sig image Pending
    Still in: A couple Betas

  • LightSlayerLightSlayer Member Posts: 182
    Customer Service is HUGE man.......If your character has a problem and there is poor customer service, you can waste HOURS!

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  • WickesWickes Member UncommonPosts: 749

    Good post loeslein.  I'm with you 100%.  I can play game after game for years and never need anything from customer support.  Too many people expect their games to come with babysitters, and I guess some games are almost doing that now.  If people would just exert some effort to figure things out themselves, often including just figuring out how to use their own computers, install drivers, etc. or at least some willingness to use their brains for *something* ... maybe even READ the manual or the FAQs that already exist when they have a question, they would do just fine.  Forget it ... easier to ask somebody to do it for them.  The second big group is the bunch who go into full meltdown if somebody is mean to them in the game ... they don't have a clue how to deal with it (they must love RL eh).  And the other main group is those who can play games for years, clearly see that every games has bugs, and still, when they run into a bug, it's like OMG, stop the presses, I found A BUG ... I can't go on living until somebody comes and fixes this.

    Yeah I don't deny that their are occasional legitimate needs for CS, but I would guess the legitimate portion is less then 5% - probably more like 1%. Gamers are the biggest bunch of whiners on earth.

  • stav1stav1 Member Posts: 282

    Yup i agree with Wickes.

    The only time i've had to contact support in a mmorpg (or any game for that matter) was in horizons. Lets just say they're graphics engine does not get on with 256mb radeon cards.  So once in the last 3 yrs.

    I can see that customer support may be important in certain cases but my enjoyment of a mmorpg hasn't been adversely effected by CS. Personally if i was ranking a game using 5 criteria - CS would be least important.

  • ElnatorElnator Member Posts: 6,077


    Originally posted by stav1
    Yup i agree with Wickes.
    The only time i've had to contact support in a mmorpg (or any game for that matter) was in horizons. Lets just say they're graphics engine does not get on with 256mb radeon cards. So once in the last 3 yrs.
    I can see that customer support may be important in certain cases but my enjoyment of a mmorpg hasn't been adversely effected by CS. Personally if i was ranking a game using 5 criteria - CS would be least important.


    This is why when I rate a game the CS ranks middle of the field

    #1: Performance/Lag... if you can't PLAY the game then it is kind of pointless to go beyond this, right?
    #2: VALUE... a game can be fun as hell but if you have to pay $40/hr for it then it's not worth it.
    #3: FUN... regardless of anything else if the game isn't FUN then what's the point? Right?
    #4: Community... Most of the time, if the first 3 items are up to snuff the next largest deciding factor is community. If the players are fun to ineract with and communications are set up correctly then the community works really well and is an added asset to the game. EverQuest, for all it's faults, had one of the most impressive communities ever.
    #5: Customer Service... if you have a game-stopping problem it can kill a game for you. However, the above items are more important in that failures in the above 4 will prevent a user from ever experiencing this one.
    #6: Graphics.... Once all the above criteria are met the next thing I look for in a game is graphics. While Eye Candy isn't MANDATORY it CAN kill the mood. For me if there's too much anime' style to graphics it utterly destroys any sense of immersion. Likewise really crappy graphics like buildings floating above the ground, etc, can destroy the realism and immersion as well.
    #7: Sound... again, not huge on my list of importance when I rate a game but if it's got sound the sound had better be relistic. Beeps and boops won't cut it in today's world. If the sound sucks I'd much rather have no sound at all.
    #8: Roleplay.... honestly... does anyone truely care about whether people roleplay in a game or not? I love to roleplay when given the opportunity, but in most MMO's all you're doing is hunting down critters to kill or fight or trying to finish whatever quest/mission you're on. Roleplay is incidental unless you actively try to roleplay.

    That's my criteria for a game. #4 and #5 are relatively interchangeable. And, yes, CS is important. But, as I siad, when I rate a game, CS is about halfway down the list.

    Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
    Sig image Pending
    Still in: A couple Betas

  • stav1stav1 Member Posts: 282

    Eh?? You rank customer service above graphics and sound??

    I think immersion in a game (which is greatly helped by graphics/sound) is one of the most important criteria.

  • ElnatorElnator Member Posts: 6,077


    Originally posted by stav1
    Eh?? You rank customer service above graphics and sound??
    I think immersion in a game (which is greatly helped by graphics/sound) is one of the most important criteria.

    Nonsense. Please explain why AD&D with a good DM is so immersive
    Or why MUDS were so successful
    Or why UO was one of the most successful MMORPG's for over 7 years. (And still is)

    High quality graphics aren't required for immersiveness.... they help, that's all. And sometimes (anime' anyone?) they hurt.

    Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
    Sig image Pending
    Still in: A couple Betas

  • NoraxeNoraxe Member Posts: 190



    Originally posted by stav1

    Eh?? You rank customer service above graphics and sound??
    I think immersion in a game (which is greatly helped by graphics/sound) is one of the most important criteria.



    I completely agree, This is the main reason I'm willing to check out a new games.

    I also agree with the thread starter.  There is a large percentage of players that cry about a games quality after they ruin their character,  spend all of their money or get their ass handed to them in a bucket.

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  • fizzle32fizzle32 Member Posts: 171

    I agree with the OP.

    Customer support LOL, I've petitioned like 3 times in my whole life. What is your major malfunction that you can't learn to ignore/work around/deal with any problems you have.

    My guess is some people are starved for attention and trying to get it from customer service reps.

  • VicodinTacoVicodinTaco Member UncommonPosts: 804

    Just a thought here....

    I'll often come across friends, or friends of friends, and most of their computers run like crap.  I beleive it's for one reason - they never restart their damn computers (another reason being spyware, but that's different subject).  I've seen kids install a program, uninstall it, throw Kazza on there, surf the net, install a new game; then leave the computer on standby for 2 days and do it all over again.  I've done all the same things, except a good ol' restart between each one.  I ALWAYS restart between switching MMORPGS or other memory intensive programs, and even after a dose of heavy web surfing, especially if I use Media Player or anything like that.  That being said, I'll own a computer for 2-3 years with very few problems. 

    I have no proof that this leads to good PC health.  

    Perhaps something to spread the word about however.

     

  • VicodinTacoVicodinTaco Member UncommonPosts: 804

    proof regarding my last post.




    Originally posted by Xzaro

    The first time I turned on Xfire before I logged into FFXI, I crashed after a few minutes (no error, everything just disappeared, didn't bring my back to playonline). Anyone know why, or any possible solutions?



    and then....




    Originally posted by ownage514

    Maybe it's your computer that is too old or something. Did u try to restart ur computer then run Xfire again?::::28::



    the response....




    Originally posted by Xzaro
    Maybe I'll try just that. Lol.



    http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion.cfm/load/forums/loadforum/495/loadthread/37293/setstart/1/loadclass/169

     

    HA!

  • n2soonersn2sooners Member UncommonPosts: 926


    Originally posted by Elnator
    Originally posted by stav1
    Eh?? You rank customer service above graphics and sound??
    I think immersion in a game (which is greatly helped by graphics/sound) is one of the most important criteria.

    Nonsense. Please explain why AD&D with a good DM is so immersive
    Or why MUDS were so successful
    Or why UO was one of the most successful MMORPG's for over 7 years. (And still is)

    High quality graphics aren't required for immersiveness.... they help, that's all. And sometimes (anime' anyone?) they hurt.


    Pen and Paper RPGs are the best. They have the best support (always a GM there when you need one), and they have some of the best immersiveness. Now the big question is, why are people paying to play games with inferior game play and customer service? My guess is the biggest reason they give up some gameplay and lots of customer service is for cool graphics and sound.

    image image

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