These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

Assembly Hall

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
12Next page
 

[Issue] GM quality of service
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Cygnet Lythanea
World Welfare Works Association
#1 - 2012-02-08 00:27:41 UTC
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this complaint or not, but here goes.

For many years now I've played this game, and I have a long, long list of petitions to go through. And since about 2007, the general quality of GM service has been declining. Response time has gone from hours to weeks. The quality of those responses has gone down the toilet spectacularly. In the most recent few it's clear the GM had not bothered to read the petition before posting a canned response.

I had one weeks old get a response that they were unaware of any such bug. Despite it having been listed as 'fixed' in the previous day's patch notes.

I'm sorry, but TL:DR is not an acceptable response in customer service.

Are there any steps that CSM can take, or is this something that needs taken to someone else?
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#2 - 2012-02-08 00:32:28 UTC
I have to agree with you there. Especially when they repeat "clear your cache" as a mantra (especially annoying since CCP hasn't gotten around to giving us a way to export/import our window positions and settings yet)
Drake Draconis
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2012-02-08 00:51:51 UTC
"in before lock" but at least this post is decent.

They will likely lock this and ask you to petition a higher GM....posting about it here will not affect much.

I do have to agree...quality has been dropping as of lately.

================ STOP THE EVEMAIL SPAM! https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=78152
Cygnet Lythanea
World Welfare Works Association
#4 - 2012-02-08 23:01:57 UTC
Drake Draconis wrote:
"in before lock" but at least this post is decent.

They will likely lock this and ask you to petition a higher GM....posting about it here will not affect much.

I do have to agree...quality has been dropping as of lately.



What's above Senior GM? Because one of them above was one.
Vertisce Soritenshi
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2012-02-08 23:16:52 UTC
Dev. Pretty much anyway. Unfortunately you quoted Drake so I read his reply and he is right in this case. Likely this thread will be locked but escalate your issue until you can't go any higher or are happy with the response.

Bounties for all! https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2279821#post2279821
Soon Shin
Scarlet Weather Rhapsody
#6 - 2012-02-11 01:09:53 UTC
I remember I sent a petition about an obvious macro i suicide ganked. After I blew up his ship he warped back and forth from the field to the station in his pod, at that point i podded him.

It took me over a month for me a receive a response from a GM, telling me that they will investigate it.

The only petition that will receive a fast response is the stuck petition, that is the only place where the GM's are active in, everywhere else is just an afterthought.
Agustice Arterius
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#7 - 2012-02-11 01:47:50 UTC
"clear your cache" is my favorite response to petitons I've seen, even better when "clear our cache" has no way of fixing the problem

being a full time help chat troll, the question of "Whens my petiton going to be answered?" has long since beaten the "Whens hulkageddon?"
Akelorian
FinFleet
Northern Coalition.
#8 - 2012-02-11 19:51:35 UTC
I was going to write one of these, I am glad someone else did it for me. The quality of responces from petitions and the increased wait times have become very annoying, as well as when the gm basically laughs at your petition and closes it right away without you getting a chance to respond causing you to open a new petition to have yet again that same gm make fun of you and close the petition again.

You know exactly who I'm talking about, and to be honest this gm's personal interaction with anyone of the petitions I have made are rather annoying. I swear he see's my name and is like MINE *trollface*.

CCP really needs to retrain their gm's, hire new ones, and make them less grumpy.
Corina Jarr
en Welle Shipping Inc.
#9 - 2012-02-11 21:14:12 UTC
Only speaking from my experience, but I have never had a problem with a slow GM reply, or the quality of it.
Cygnet Lythanea
World Welfare Works Association
#10 - 2012-02-14 06:28:57 UTC
Akelorian wrote:
I was going to write one of these, I am glad someone else did it for me. The quality of responces from petitions and the increased wait times have become very annoying, as well as when the gm basically laughs at your petition and closes it right away without you getting a chance to respond causing you to open a new petition to have yet again that same gm make fun of you and close the petition again.


My petition is getting to the point of absurdity. They admit now that I did have a bug, but because the bug is at my end, and not the server, and as a player I obviously used my evil player psychic powers to see into the programmers minds that the bug existed to file a petition about it before it was announced, because players are all scheming liars.
Bugsy VanHalen
Society of lost Souls
#11 - 2012-02-14 18:33:15 UTC
The GM's are not gods. They can not just snap their fingers and fix every little thing. They need to be skeptical as there are far more petitions from players looking to get something for free than actual valid complaints.

I have successfully filed and had solved several petitions.

I have found that if you include as much detail as possible making it easier for them to verify the issue is valid, they will respond very quickly.

If they can not verify that you actually experienced a bug they will be very reluctant in compensating you for it. Many player here about bugs from friends and file petitions for bugs they never even experienced just trying to a free hand out.

If the issue cost me something in game I am very reasonable in the compensation I ask for and always stay calm and respectful. I have rarely had a petition go for more than a few hours without being resolved. If you are having problems I would say it is because you are either not giving them the info they need to confirm the issue or you are being an ass hat and getting your self bumped to the bottom of the list just for your attitude.

The system works if you know how to use it, and if you use it as intended
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#12 - 2012-02-14 19:15:44 UTC
Bugsy VanHalen wrote:
The GM's are not gods. They can not just snap their fingers and fix every little thing. They need to be skeptical as there are far more petitions from players looking to get something for free than actual valid complaints.

I have successfully filed and had solved several petitions.

I have found that if you include as much detail as possible making it easier for them to verify the issue is valid, they will respond very quickly.

If they can not verify that you actually experienced a bug they will be very reluctant in compensating you for it. Many player here about bugs from friends and file petitions for bugs they never even experienced just trying to a free hand out.

If the issue cost me something in game I am very reasonable in the compensation I ask for and always stay calm and respectful. I have rarely had a petition go for more than a few hours without being resolved. If you are having problems I would say it is because you are either not giving them the info they need to confirm the issue or you are being an ass hat and getting your self bumped to the bottom of the list just for your attitude.

The system works if you know how to use it, and if you use it as intended


This is true, but when it takes weeks to get any response whatsoever to something as simple as "The entire server crashed and I lost probes because of it, I'd appreciate them back" with three paragraphs of details about the situation, it's a bit out of hand. I understand they do get busy, but a clearly worded and detailed petition about an obvious issue shouldn't take more than a week to get answered.
FloppieTheBanjoClown
Arcana Imperii Ltd.
#13 - 2012-02-14 20:46:13 UTC
A friend of mine got a warning from a GM last night concerning "can baiting new players" because he was doing PVP in a rookie system. The thing is, he wasn't shooting anyone less than 3-4 months old. One of the guys he fought undocked in a Machariel, and the GM couldn't tell he wasn't fighting noobs. In fact, he was shooting all the guys who routinely DO can bait noobs.

Founding member of the Belligerent Undesirables movement.
Cygnet Lythanea
World Welfare Works Association
#14 - 2012-02-15 23:48:40 UTC
FloppieTheBanjoClown wrote:
A friend of mine got a warning from a GM last night concerning "can baiting new players" because he was doing PVP in a rookie system. The thing is, he wasn't shooting anyone less than 3-4 months old. One of the guys he fought undocked in a Machariel, and the GM couldn't tell he wasn't fighting noobs. In fact, he was shooting all the guys who routinely DO can bait noobs.



Supposedly, the GMs can't tell the co-oridinates of a ship in game.

But, then again, I was told my corp mates should have seen the war dec even if I was having a mail bug. I'm in a one person corp.
Bugsy VanHalen
Society of lost Souls
#15 - 2012-02-16 15:44:33 UTC
mxzf wrote:
Bugsy VanHalen wrote:
The GM's are not gods. They can not just snap their fingers and fix every little thing. They need to be skeptical as there are far more petitions from players looking to get something for free than actual valid complaints.

I have successfully filed and had solved several petitions.

I have found that if you include as much detail as possible making it easier for them to verify the issue is valid, they will respond very quickly.

If they can not verify that you actually experienced a bug they will be very reluctant in compensating you for it. Many player here about bugs from friends and file petitions for bugs they never even experienced just trying to a free hand out.

If the issue cost me something in game I am very reasonable in the compensation I ask for and always stay calm and respectful. I have rarely had a petition go for more than a few hours without being resolved. If you are having problems I would say it is because you are either not giving them the info they need to confirm the issue or you are being an ass hat and getting your self bumped to the bottom of the list just for your attitude.

The system works if you know how to use it, and if you use it as intended


This is true, but when it takes weeks to get any response whatsoever to something as simple as "The entire server crashed and I lost probes because of it, I'd appreciate them back" with three paragraphs of details about the situation, it's a bit out of hand. I understand they do get busy, but a clearly worded and detailed petition about an obvious issue shouldn't take more than a week to get answered.


I totally understand where you are coming from but the problem with the scenario you describe is the server crash. This is not your fault, And your claim is totally valid. But the problem is every time there is a server crash the GM's get hundreds of petitions to restore lost stuff. This should not be a problem, except for the fact that only maybe one in ten of the claims are valid, so they have to individually verify each one. This takes a lot of time. They generally do the easiest ones first.

If there were not so many asshats in the game putting in false claims the GM's could be a lot more efficient in getting to the valid claims.
Kimbeau Surveryor
Stapeley House
#16 - 2012-02-16 16:15:46 UTC
Bugsy VanHalen wrote:
If there were not so many asshats in the game putting in false claims the GM's could be a lot more efficient in getting to the valid claims.

Putting in a verifiably false claim should result in an automatic ban. Smile
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#17 - 2012-02-16 16:19:47 UTC
Bugsy VanHalen wrote:
I totally understand where you are coming from but the problem with the scenario you describe is the server crash. This is not your fault, And your claim is totally valid. But the problem is every time there is a server crash the GM's get hundreds of petitions to restore lost stuff. This should not be a problem, except for the fact that only maybe one in ten of the claims are valid, so they have to individually verify each one. This takes a lot of time. They generally do the easiest ones first.

If there were not so many asshats in the game putting in false claims the GM's could be a lot more efficient in getting to the valid claims.


I do understand that after a major event like that, it can take a bit of time to handle everything. But two full weeks (12/7 to 12/21) to get any response at all is a bit much, especially with a report that was fairly simple like that. I'm not trying to rage against the GMs, I know they are busy with stuff, but at the very least a blanket "We're sorry it's taking so long, we're backlogged because of X event that happened, we'll be with you as soon as we can" would be better than nothing at all.

I understand they get busy at times, but I still believe that anything over 1 week for customer service to get back to someone is simply unacceptable. If your support staff can't clear the backlog by then, you should either hire more support people or pay them overtime to get the job done. I'm not trying to come across as demanding or insensitive, but they shouldn't be willing to let support tickets sit there for but so long.
Astrid Stjerna
Sebiestor Tribe
#18 - 2012-02-16 17:14:49 UTC
mxzf wrote:

I understand they get busy at times, but I still believe that anything over 1 week for customer service to get back to someone is simply unacceptable. If your support staff can't clear the backlog by then, you should either hire more support people or pay them overtime to get the job done. I'm not trying to come across as demanding or insensitive, but they shouldn't be willing to let support tickets sit there for but so long.


Okay, so -- where should the money for the extra support staff, or the overime pay, come from? Should CCP cut their development budget, skimp on ofice maintenance, kill off someone else's job, cancel another project?

The money has to come from somewhere.

I also have an anecdote about my time in customer service (several, actually, but this one is the most relevent):

I was mid-level tech support (Tech 2) -- I had the training to handle most things, but really serious issues had to go to 'Tech 3'. They were the 'bug hunters' of our company, and if I couldn't fix it with basic troubleshooting steps, I had to send it up to them.

Sending a support ticket to Tech 3 was a very time-intensive procedure. We had to fill out two pages of technical information (SIM card, IMEI, make and model, location and range of error, among other even more obscure information), as well as posting our worklog.

If Tech 3 saw something that I hadn't done properly, they'd bounce my ticket, and the problem would come back into my hands.

I dealt with those tickets one at a time. Now imagine twenty- to twenty-five thousand people submitting tickets, with no way to know who's legit and who's yanking your chain until you actually read them.

I can't get rid of my darn signature!  Oh, wait....
Cygnet Lythanea
World Welfare Works Association
#19 - 2012-02-17 14:45:55 UTC
Kimbeau Surveryor wrote:
Bugsy VanHalen wrote:
If there were not so many asshats in the game putting in false claims the GM's could be a lot more efficient in getting to the valid claims.

Putting in a verifiably false claim should result in an automatic ban. Smile



The problem is that according to the GMs they can't verify the complaints are false, either. Apparently QA is so bad on patches to the UI and graphics engine that real, but rare, graphics and UI bugs (such as, apparently, mine) happen regularly, but can't be verified by in game logs. Meaning, God Help You if you get one and it costs you, because they (now? because this was not the case back in my day) cannot issue a refund based on issues with the game that happen on your computer unless the devs tell them it's real.

Or by, you know, looking, since it's increasingly clear from GM responses that they fail to do the bare minimum of research into problems at all. My most recent constantly referred back to a previous petitions. Out of the five GMs that played hot potato with it, only one had bothered to read the previous petition in question without prompting, and only because he had been the one to close it erroneously.
Sverige Pahis
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#20 - 2012-02-18 02:30:00 UTC
My experience with the GMs has generally been positive. What sort of petitions do you make?
12Next page