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Should free and preferred players have at least limited support?
Lowcaian
Member Posts: 265
Last night I was creating an alt. I misspelled the name and decided to recreate the character. I accidentally deleted one of my level 10 characters. Now the mistake was all mine and I was tired. The problem was that while I thought clicked on the character I was about to delete and typed in "Delete" in the box. It looks like I clicked just in between in the character list so my highlighted level 10 remained highlighted. Stupid but it can happen.
What if it had been my level 48 main?
I can understand not having the same support when it comes to minor problems, stuck characters and loot drops. These are not make or break stuff but the character deletion has the potential to be.
Should they restore characters in such cases even if you are not a subscriber (I can't believe it will add much workload as it does not happen very often)?
Had it been my main I'd probably called it quits and in the future someone else might very well do so if he/she does the same mistake.
I am preferred and shop from time to time in the Cartel Market so I am a customer technically speaking.
Comments
Maybe I am stupid but I can only find a page that says like you claim subscribers have ingame support. It gives a phone number but no way to submit a ticket from the site itself. I checked out the forums about character deletion and in one thread a Bioware employee said you could mail directly to [email protected]. I did so yesterday and got a canned response.
"Greetings,
I am Protocol Droid M0-T0, Human-Cyborg Relations.
Thank you for contacting us to report the issue you encountered.
If you have a Preferred status or Free-to-Play account, please be aware that in-game support, including item and character restorations, is only available to subscribers..."
I cut out the part about phone support.
Wow, that is lazy/incompetent... Or maybe they just fired so many support people that they just can do the number 1 priority stuff.
It seems rather silly to me, they will lose customers that way and it will damage the reputation of the game which is even worse.
Good customer service can´t salvage a bad game but bad service surely can bring down a good game. And TOR really isnt in a position where it can afford this.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
We can't submit a ticket even outside the game, thats's the point. How much do I have to shop at the Cartel Market to be a customer, $10 a month, 20, 30?
I said limited support. for important things. I can live with having no in-game support. It was no big deal but it could have been and I bet that somwhere down the line someone will make the same mistake with his level 50 and decide to just quit.
You are pushing. You know how you can get the support you want by subbing.
The little game you are playing won't work with me. You ask for an inch but you will take more than that. They should not cave into your demands.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Lol what game? I specifically said important things and loosing ones character is about as serious it can be in terms of gameplay. You said I could submit a ticket, well I can't.
Don't worry though if it happens again on my main I just quit, there are other games.
Sorry but you are a bit ignorant to the fact that just because someone is a free or preferred player doesn't mean they aren't spending as much money (or more) than a sub does. The fact is that the game was in trouble enough that they felt they HAD to go free to play or the game would surely die. So to think free players are 2nd rate citizens just shows you are clueless to what's really going on with F2P games. It's those F2P players that allow the remaining subs to even have a game to play int he first place...lose the F2P players and the game will go under because by making the game go free to play clearly shows that subs aren't enough to support the game and make money for the company the way they would like....and in any business if something isn't bringing in the revenue that you expect, they usually shut it down and try their hand at another product or whatever.
Bottom line, BW/EA is using free players to help support the subs...both bring in revenue for the game....when I spent my money in CM, that helped in someway to develop some of any one of these last few updates (or future updates) the game has...therefore I'm a contributor just like a sub...so are you saying I don't deserve the most basic of customer service?
Really if you think that, then it's no wonder why SWTOR got in trouble in the first place with subs who think like that....
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
You are mistaken. In a recent post Bioware revealed that the biggest Cartel Coin customers are subscribers. Most f2p players don't pay more than a token amount to play the game.
F2P has benefited SWTOR by bringing people to the game who ultimately become subscribers.
Ahnog
Hokey religions are no replacement for a good blaster at your side.
Wow, that line alone would worth a lenghty post... but what made me wonder is the delete mechanics.
I'm an avid altoholic and almost never delete a character, but on the few times I did, the games asked for the character name for comfirmation (with a few more Ok's and Are you sure windows). Asking for simply typing Delete seems a bit weak solution, at least imo.
(and on a short sidenote, in LotRO, after the server transfer (!) a dude tried to get back an old deleted alt, deleted even before the f2p switch and obviously back on Codies servers. Just out of curiousity. Without a subscription. And succeeded
I know, it's not relevant to the case, just sayin' )
lol not even payed customers get proper support in this game lol :P
Dont' think it was a problem exclusive to free or preferred. You are not being discriminated - they just generally treat everyone bad :P
Why? If you aren't paying them, they are losing money by still having to pay the employee who had to use their time to help you, when they could be helping someone whose giving them money to pay that employee.
Maybe a trashbin would would be a solution. Your deleted character goes there and stays a week or two and can be recovered from there. On another note f2p and preferred are potential subscribers.
LOL! So true!
Ok, so I'm mistaken that my F2P status and the money I spent doesn't help develop new content, doesn't help pay developers to do what they do, doesn't help support advertisement, doesn't help create content for sub only status...etc? Is that what you think? Do you think that it would be wise for BW to say subs aren't the biggest supporters? That would destroy their business because who would want to sub if they find out that F2P is bringing is as much or more support than subs?
Point here is never believe what the game company tells you themselves...they'll only tell you what's best for them in order to keep their money rolling in...lol
The question as stated is moot. It is all about what is better for the game.
"F2P" is a business model in which a company offers customers the opportunity to buy stuff. What Bioware decide to sell and what they decide to provide for simply "looking" is up to them; what Bioware.
Think of SWTOR as a restaurant.. The proprietor wants you to come in and check out the menu. You might get music, decent chairs to sit on, maybe even bread sticks or even a free drink just for going in and looking at what they have to offer. And they do this in the belief / hope that you will spend money. Or you could think of it as a mall that offers entertainment (think Las Vegas) or child care. Promotions, offers, sales - it is all about trying to get customers to spend money. Whatever the product.
Hence it comes down to Bioware to decide whether everyone gets the same level of customer service of whether people who buy the cash shop item "monthly sub" get better service. (Think of a sub as a cash shop bundle to see whether it is worthwhile).
The big problem is that SWTOR wasn't designed with a F2P business model in mind. It was designed to have lots and lots of monthly subscribers; subscribers who came into the game expecting a certain level of customer service. Expectations.
If Bioware decide to come out and say a "monthly sub" provides a higher level of customer service then on one level that might be good - the trouble is they would then have to provide a certain level of service. Bioware don't want that imo..
It clearly states that preferred get no support, not even by email. Is it possible that you just got lucky? I know it's suppsed to be the same but in reality it can depend on who is reading your mail/taking the call. I have had my insurance company give me three different quotes for my bike the same day because I talked to different people.
I had read as well on forums that preferred players got no support and on swtor's support page there is no clear information for preferred player support either, so I tried by the general support mail and hoped for the best. Since I explicitly stated that I was preferred, I'm pretty sure that all preferred players will get help from support if they have a problem with a cartel item. Maybe also for other issues.
The mail I send and the one I received, minus the names:
Hi,
Today I've used the cartel item "Unlock: Inventory Module (Account)". Unfortunately it did not work and none of my characters received extra inventory space.
Since I am a preferred status player, I have no way of petitioning this in game, therefore I'm sending this e-mail.
Kind regards,
...
Greetings ...,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your Unlock issues - I have reviewed your case, and can confirm that I have now resolved this issue for you; when you next login, you should find your Inventory tab expanded accordingly.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again if there is anything further we can help you with.
Regards,
...
So let me get this right, OP is suggesting non paying users receive the same service as a full paying customer? Wow
And before anyone barks on about f2p players do pay in some form or another, let me give you an example:
That would be like me having a basic Sky TV package (I am still a paying customer) and expecting to recieve the same level of service as someone who subscribes to the full TV package....
If you want the full service, then pay for it like everyone else...whats wrong with you people??
Driz
LOL! So true!
F2P players may not get all of the bells and whistles that a subscribing player has, but Bioware should support the game no matter what the gamer status is. Oh yeah, we're talking Bioware.....
as a preferred player, i have spend over 100$ on this game
and you consider it good business, to treat me , as anyone, who havent spend a dime?
this is like restrooms in stores,,everybody gets to use them,,even a guy, who havent bought anything yet