I've moved!

I'm still moving over older entries. But, with my track record for unpacking... It'll be a while. So I've gone ahead and started rambling again...

www.randomramblings.com

Works out well doesn't it?

Customer what?

I am a fangurl. Not a fangirl... an actual honest to goodness fangurl. I know this. I admit it freely. I make sure that everyone knows that my opinion is severely biased.

That being said, however, I can point out when SOE drops the ball. There are things I find disappointing in game here and there. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the Arasai... I thought they could have made them something other than carbon copies of Fae. I'm not entirely overjoyed at the heavy emphasis on questing in RoK. It isn't that I don't like to quest, but I'd prefer to have other options of advancement that are just as viable, and currently there aren't. I'm not loving the lag issues.

None of these things are really deal breakers for me, though. They're annoyances but I can deal with them, because all of the amazing things they've done with the game are offsetting these problems for me. I can wait it out til they get things fine tuned.

My problem isn't with the game.

My problem is with customer service. I try to give CS the benefit of the doubt. I really do. It's a hard, thankless job. You deal with so many people a day that it's ridiculous and when you go home you want NO ONE to even look at you let alone talk to you.

I get it.

I can even see how it applies to email if I squint and hop on one foot and sorta tilt my head to the left. Really. I try hard to sympathize with how crappy a job it is to be a CS rep for any company let alone a company like SOE that supports several different games. Also, let's face it. Gamers aren't always the easiest of people with whom to get along. We just aren't. We're picky, we're demanding, we have major OCD issues, and we want things a certain way. Most of us are also smart enough that we can't really be placated with nice words and soothing tones of voice. We want results. And by gods we want them NOW.

All the same...

My current dealings with CS at SOE are leaving a less than pleasant feeling in the air. As a matter of fact there is a distinct aroma of brimstone and some rather noticeable puffs of smoke around my apartment. I'm irate. Not even mildly annoyed. Flat out irritated in bad ways. At this point I am no longer inclined to be understanding. I am, however, going to use my nice words.

The issue is my displayed account age when I type /played in game. It's a small and rather insignificant thing. It really only affects my vet rewards. However, since I've been playing this game since beta... It matters to me.

I sent my original ticket in... about a month ago now. I politely explained the issue, suggested that perhaps it had something to do with me hopping servers at some point, and asked what could be done to correct the problem.

I got the "we've received the petition email" and then... nothing. I think to myself, no big, my problem isn't major and they have people with actual problems that are severely affecting their game play.

I pulled my ticket back up to check it out and see if they'd done anything at all with it, as I haven't had the follow up email that tells me they've looked at it or responded or anything at all... It's marked solved. I beg your pardon, but my problem is not solved. A few deep breaths and I go ahead and read the responses. In game support can't deal with your problem, okay makes sense. CS dude says there is nothing I can do without first confirming your identity. Well alright... And there's a list. A long frelling list at that. They want the last four digits of the original credit card I used to activate the account, the account registration key off the dvd's, my station name, my real name, my email address, and the answer to my security question.

None of this is really all that bad... Except that they went in and closed the ticket without ever having followed up. There's this tin can response and boom closed and done.

I don't think so.

So now I'm a little irked. I start a new ticket referencing the old one. I restate my problem, add in the fact that I now have a further problem with the way that things were handled. I don't appreciate being blown off, even if my problem isn't a major deal, without the least bit of acknowledgement that you'd looked at my ticket. That's just rude.

I provide the requested information with two exceptions. The original credit card and the security question. I explained that I couldn't give them the original credit card number used to activate the account because I wasn't still using that card for the account and I couldn't remember which of my cards I had used to start it up or if I still even HAD said card. So that was out of the question. The security question... Well, great. I'd be happy to answer it. What is the question? I don't remember what I chose as the security question. I didn't write it down. It's there if I need to change something. Are you honestly suggesting that I go tracking this down to give you the answer when you can pull it up and ask me the question? Please. Get real. Ask me the question and I'll answer it. But since you can't be bothered to at least notify me that you've seen my ticket and answered me, requiring further information I won't run around doing your job for you.

This time I got a response within a day. Imagine that.

Unfortunately, the response was less than encouraging and really did nothing to help the downward spiral my opinion of CS was taking.

I got the same response about in game support not being able to help. Again, understandable and no issue. The problem was the response from the CS person.

Thanks for contacting us and just so you know, your bank has to keep your credit card information for 5-7 years, so ask them for it. Also, we need your registration key. Let us know if you need any more help.

....

Yeah. Fortunately, my first response to this was lost to the world of automatically generated emails to which one cannot respond. Oh, but would you look at that? Go back to my ticket and not only is it open, but so is the one before it. Interesting. I can add a comment.

I added a comment. Given my state of mind at the time, I was as polite as I could manage to be. I didn't swear. I didn't yell. But I did point out that there was clearly a lack of reading at all or a lack of comprehension of what was being read.

I let the CSR know that if he had read my petition which was quoted below for his convenience he would see that I couldn't give him the credit card information he wanted because I didn't know which card I had used and I wouldn't be giving him four years worth of credit card information in the hopes that one of them was correct and that the original hadn't been long since cancelled.

I also pointed out that in the petition below, which was once again quoted for his reading pleasure, I had given said registration key from the dvd case of my original collector's edition version of EQ2.

I further went on to explain, again, what my issue was since we obviously had either not read that or fully comprehended what the problem was. Which is quite simply that my account was activated on Nov 11, 2004 and my first character, who is my main and is still played and has never been rerolled EVER, was created on this date. However, her /played shows her creation date as June somethingorother, 2006. Which is a dramatically different date. This is what I want corrected.

I do admit to a rather high level of snarkiness at this point. I know this because I then went on to request that my petition be thoroughly read before responding to it again, and that if comprehension was an issue, rather than deal with the patronizing tone used with teenagers who don't know what they're doing that I be given the contact information of someone who could read and comprehend my request and with whom I could converse accordingly.

* twitch *

At this point I do feel a bit bad for breaking out the claws. But for crying out loud. If it's right in front of you and the information is there, why on earth would you ask for it again? And to tell me that my bank has to hold the card information is absolutely ludicrous if the reason I can't provide it is that I don't know which card I used or if I even still HAVE that card.

I think my biggest problem with all of this is the way it's being handled. I don't mind so much that they aren't really firing on all cylinders when responding. I understand they deal with a lot of issues in a day and sort of run on autopilot a lot of the time. I also understand that there are procedures.

However I do have a problem with my original ticket being marked solved when I was never notified that someone had responded to it. If you're going to do an email based customer service deal... Send freaking emails to people to let them know you're dealing with them and not ignoring them. I'm not going to sit around and refresh my ticket every 10 minutes while I wait for you to do your job.

Likewise, take an extra two minutes to slowly read through and pay attention to what was said. Please. I know you have a lot on your plate, but it's called CUSTOMER service. And the last time I checked, I am in fact, a customer. As such, I expect service.

It hasn't been delivered. The original issue was never addressed nor has the issue of their shoddy and sloppy handling of the original ticket been addressed as of now.

Customer service is a major sticking point for members of the EQ2 community and I'm sure other SOE games. I've defended them all along by saying that they have a hard job and a lot of people with whom they have to deal. I still say this. It is a hard job. Here's the thing though. And you really can't avoid this, as it's the bottom line. Customer service is very often the ONLY contact some customers have with the company. Not everyone is a giant geek who mortgages their soul to go to Fan Faire and meet developers and producers in person.

Only. Contact. With. The. Customer.

And you're failing miserably. Customer service, not just at SOE but anywhere, has a vital job. In a lot of cases experiences with customer service can make or break whether or not a company keeps someone's business. No one can afford to have sloppy customer service.

* does the happy snoopy dance of I told you so *

I absolutely, without a doubt, love to be right.

It doesn't happen often. In fact, all too often I make really ridiculous mistakes.

But just this once, I bask in the glory of rightitude. Yes, it's a word.


** for the people who don't know what this is about :)

Gods and Heroes has been cancelled. I said a year ago that this game was never going to make release. * flex * Yes, my ESPN is strong!

Hello, I love you. Won't you tell me your name?

I often joke that I have a "Freaks and Creeps Apply Here" tattoo on my forehead. Whilst this is obviously not true, as my forehead isn't large enough for that, it is an on going sensation.

Being female in an MMO is... interesting, for lack of a better term.

One need not even really be female to experience this. Which is an entirely separate discussion.

Just being perceived as female often garners attention. You'll get random pressies just for being a chick and showing up in the newbie zone. Can you say, eww?

What's worse is when you're minding your own business and making some potions and poisons and such (what kind of an idiot messes with a woman who can make poison, btw???). Sitting there crafting away, carefully measuring out components for that oh so dangerous hemotoxin...

freaky_guy_01 tells you: nice underwear!
....
I beg your pardon?
freaky_guy_01 tells you: do you often craft in your underwear?
* twitch * The plate gets in the way * goes back to crafting, mildly amused *
freaky_guy_01 tells you: a bunch of stuff that can't be repeated, not even here.
* gags * You're creepy. Go away.
freaky_guy_01 tells you: even worse things that make me want to go bathe in acid..
/ignore freaky_guy_01!!11!one11eleventyzomg!

guh. guh guh guh and a big heaping side helping of GUH.

Now, I know that this is an extreme case. I know that this doesn't really happen to all that many women. But good gods it seems to happen to me a lot.

Obviously my own fault for having a Dark Elf (superior race, hottest chicks in game, etc etc).

But it kind of makes you wonder about people who just randomly strike up that sort of conversation, if that's what you wanna call it, with a pixilated version of a totally fictitious race and assuming that just because these pixels are female means that the consciousness behind them is also female.

If I'd been thinking clearly at the time I'd have busted out with: Dude, I'm a guy. That would likely have been the end of it. But I'm just not that quick and I was so thrown by the whole episode that my mind was reeling.

I get flirted with a lot online, it's just sorta what you deal with being a chick gamer. Random and kinda sad PM's on forums from people you don't know, tells, mail, whatever. Somehow they always find you because you're Eleanor. Two points for the reference.

I honestly don't think people know just how creepy this really can be. And then I think to myself, good GODS why do they do it in the first place?

When someone figures it all out, lemme know! I'll just be in the bathroom trying to scrub this invisible tattoo off my forehead.

Back to things that...

Piss me the hell off.

Last time it was entitlement. I could probably continue to go on and on about that. It's everywhere and it's a disease that is destroying our society... But onwards!

Drama whores. I probably could just stop there, but I'll go on a little bit.

EQ2 is a game. G-A-M-E. It's there for fun. It's there to help you forget about the crap you deal with everyday in your life and provide a few hours of escape and imaginative fun. Of course there are people out there who take it too seriously, just as with all things in life. Then there are the people who try to ruin it for everyone else.

Every so often you'll run across someone who seems perfectly normal. Then BLAMMO!!! Out of freaking nowhere the shit hits the fan. The real reason that someone goes off the deep end doesn't really matter. It's the made up reasons that create the drama.

The people who are known as women online and seduce and romance guys and get presents and such out of them... Surprise! I'm really a man and don't you feel dumb now?

The bored wife who cybers everyone and their dog until her husband finds out and pitches a fit and forces her to quit the game or lose the cushy lifestyle... Suddenly turns into the uber bitch from hell and tells everyone that she was thrown out of the guild and forced to leave because people are stabbing her in the back.

It doesn't matter who or what. It only matters that they do everything they can to make everyone around them miserable and ruin the game for everyone else.

I hate this crap. It interferes with my fun and it's just too much real life invading my escape.

I know it's hard to avoid drama and such when dealing with any living being (please note I didn't say intelligent cause most of them are shit stupid). It's my own fault for playing games instead of reading books. I love my MMOs (bite me, I'm not saying MMOG so don't even start) and will continue to play them. I still just want to throw stuff at the stupid drama whores though. Fortunately, I've still got my books to escape from my escape... Which, in retrospect, is a little wrong, but oh well.

There are a few things...

That just piss me the hell off.

I'm not talking little annoyances like the guy in the office with the ridiculously loud voice. I'm talking things and people who make me want to track them down and vivisect them.

That's right. Jack Thompson! (Alright. Not really. I just threw that out for Mads *blows a kiss*)

In actuality this is probably going to be a two day rant. Today it's all about entitlement.

I loathe and despise the entitlement attitude that the vast majority of the world seems to have with every fiber of my being. I hate it the way raiders hate casuals and soloers hate everyone.

What set me off this time was a discussion about fluff items in game. Can you freaking believe? Something that has no effect whatsoever on your game play. It's a triviality at best, and yet there are people out there frothing at the mouth and whining like little bitches about this.

Mind you, these people will whine like little bitches about any and everything. The biggest whine is that SOE deliberately excludes people. Especially people who aren't American. Contests are thought up with the sole and express purpose of blowing off any customer who doesn't live in the US. My response to that? Bull. Shit. And quite frankly it blows my frelling mind that you are actually that shallow and self absorbed and CHILDISH to really think that a major company, located in the US, would seriously sit down at a meeting and ponder all the ways they can tell the rest of the world to go eff themselves. Grow the hell up.

What set me off? Fan Faire cloaks. That's right. People who preregistered for Fan Faire and managed to drag their pasty white arses out to the desert to sweat and suffer from sun exposure got a little fluff item just for going. It's pretty and purple (WOO!) and it shoots off fireworks. Wow. That's a frelling game breaker right there. Stop the goddamn presses! That's gonna swing all the raids. EVERYONE NEEDS ONE!!! Oh wait. Not everyone made it to Fan Faire. Well, hell. Everyone should get them anyway! Cause that's just elitist and exclusionary and just flat out rude. If everyone doesn't get it, no one should.

* boggle * SG-01, who is a rather lovely and sweet boy, came from overseas to go to Fan Faire. Gods only know how much it cost him. I called in favours, begged, borrowed, and sold off one of Radar's kidneys in order to make it to Fan Faire. It isn't exactly like I flashed my tits at SOE and got a spiffy little item just by virtue of living in the boil on the ass of the US or anything.

And yet there are honestly people out there in the world who still think it's all about them. The people who made the effort and sported the cost of getting out to this event and supporting their game and the company who makes it shouldn't get anything as a gesture of thanks or appreciation. You know what? My 5 year old is more mature than that. People like this make me sick and honestly make me fear for the future.

This whole "give me," "I deserve," "I am owed" mentality is truly frightening. It's a rampant freaking disease. Instant gratification and self absorbed behaviour is becoming the norm and it's throwing society down the toilet at a rapid little swirl.

Grow. Up. Not. All. About. You.

* twitch *