Credit for all the downtime
By
Aett_Thorn,
Posted on: 2011-09-22 09:50 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
I'd see this differently if it was a unexpected downtime, but it's not. They said 12 hours and it ended up being 9, yes it's still a long time, but was up sooner than expected.|
Originally Posted by EtherealStar
For all the bad things World of Warcraft does, they do compensate downtime. This is a perfectly reasonable request... they can extend the account time by 2-5 days, or simply add paragon points with their new system, and in turn probably get us to purchase more points.
PS: Please don't turn this into a conversation about World of Warcraft. I'm just saying that other MMORPGs absolutely compensate for unreasonable downtime. It isn't 'opening pandora's box' or some forbidden thing no one does. I'm not going to be upset if they don't, but it is annoying. I get up early in the morning so when the game is down so much I'm hit by the majority of it. This isn't much fun. |
I will say that the notice was short compared to others, I'd say a 2 day notice would have been ideal, not 13 hours (I may be off a hour or two, terrible w/ time zones).
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Why do his nipples have flaps?|
Originally Posted by Mr. DJ
No you didn't.
 |
And, more on topic- They aren't doing maintenance at certain times to purposefully or ignorantly inconvenience Oceanic players. Their studio is in North America, most of their customer base is in North America, their servers are in North America. One way or another, they WILL inconvenience people with down time, but inconveniencing the MAJORITY of the customer base at prime time is just a very stupid idea in general. If it's a choice between that or having the server hopefully up and running by the time the majority of players generally get online, it only makes sense to pick the latter.
Personally I think something might be in order. Im not really all that picky about things usually when it comes to down time. But when you juggle work, or happen to be in a prime time scheduled down time slot like some of my friends, it's like something should be done.
Essentially now, I have not actually been able to play for 3 because of issues.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Clouded
Most of those complaining are looking for good customer service. Hiding behind a EULA is a poor business practice in this case.
Don't get it twisted. I don't think any compensation outside of an extra day or two double exp is necessary (due to ALL the extra downtime, not just today). I find the request for any $ or PPs to be a poor idea. |
I don't agree that we should be compensated - but I do think that Paragon's communication has been below par in this instance. These maintenance windows are hitting the EU especially hard. Most of yesterday and a huge chunk of today and that's on top of what we've had already, and the most we get is a "we apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding." It's a bit poor really.
Thelonious Monk
Quote:
Firstly, how long did you have to stare at those nipples before you noticed those flaps?|
Originally Posted by Prodiguy
Why do his nipples have flaps?
And, more on topic- They aren't doing maintenance at certain times to purposefully or ignorantly inconvenience Oceanic players. Their studio is in North America, most of their customer base is in North America, their servers are in North America. One way or another, they WILL inconvenience people with down time, but inconveniencing the MAJORITY of the customer base at prime time is just a very stupid idea in general. If it's a choice between that or having the server hopefully up and running by the time the majority of players generally get online, it only makes sense to pick the latter. |
Secondly, the problem isn't that it targets the same people everytime - that is understandable. The problem is that it is targeting Friday night's Primetime which is at the very best, poor business design.
Until the Earth starts taking 7 days to rotate, there isn't any reason that any planned downtime has to effect the Friday night of anyone anywhere in the world.
This is the second week running that they have shown this level of disregard.
My only reasoning is that their schedule is very tight w/ Freedom/i21 as we're only really in the head start/live beta testing phase.
NOBODY wants to do that amount of work on the weekend, and they're actually work for this guy...
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And that's the crux of the matter. We are paying to beta test a product so that people can play it for free...|
Originally Posted by Mr. DJ
My only reasoning is that their schedule is very tight w/ Freedom/i21 as we're only really in the head start/live beta testing phase.
NOBODY wants to do that amount of work on the weekend, and they're actually work for this guy... |
(It also wouldn't be the first time that time has been given out on this game. Issue 4 or 5 the release was so bad and laggy in the EU that they credited all accounts with a couple of days extra time)
or the issue that was released on a Friday...oh the shenanigans!
Ok...so here goes
My cell phone died. Phone company saw it was under warrenty and I am a loyal customer. Gave me a new phone, 2 months of free features and extra time! WOW...now Im super loyal!
My appartment broke...yes...thats right, it broke. Power went off on my floor for 3 days. Food was thrown out. Appartment manager asked for an estimate. I said 50 dollars. Note sent the mail stating 50 dollars was deducted from my rent.
Computer Store. I buy lots of games. Game I got and was recommended to buy for some reason did not work. Returned game got money back. Store manager pulled up file and gave me 10 bucks off my next purchase. Thanks game store...Ill be coming back.
Ipod...ok so I dropped it in the toilet (Don't ask)...but it dried out...but stopped working. Ipod replaced. The woman was so upset that this "New" product died in just 30 days (No..Mentioned nothing about toilets) that I got a new Ipod...and because she was so shocked 10 dollars off Itunes!
Wow!
Im saying customer service is important. Companies need to know about issues and how customers feel. I am sure the CoX folks know this. I mean, it is obvious.
However if I dropped CoX in the toilet, I would not ask for anything. Felt guilty the first time...I don't want toilet guilt on my mind for the rest of my existance.
You'd rather play 15 bucks for a crappy game? Granted, they probably don't need 8-12 hours for downtime, but they overshoot the time so people don't complain when they say 2 hour maintenance and then down for 8. They are doing the best they can, if you don't like it, find another game. 
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Precisely. So since a week game time is about 20x the amount that the downtime was....|
Originally Posted by USA America
why does everyone, when you ask for compensation assume to break it down into a dollar figure? I PAID 30 days. give me 30 days. Hell for all the inconvience they should credit everyone with an extra week game time.
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the next time you are texting in line at the bank, and hold up the line, you have to wait for the next 20 people to pass you by before you go.
And the next time you miss an appointment at the doctor's (for whatever reason, because you gave the same consideration), and they lose an hour appointment, you have to work 20 hours for them to compensate.
And if you happen to have an accident on the road? Fuggedaboutit! Let's say each person held up behind you lost 15 minutes, and I'll guess 100 people (conservatively - we want to be reasonable), right? So 100*15*20 minutes working for them, that's... 1250 hours. So take 7 and a half months off from work to make up all that time.
That's reasonable, for the comparable inconvenience, right?
Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued
"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque
Listen to 80's and 90's cheesy music for the next few hours. That'll make you feel a whole lot better about the situation. That's what I'm doing, and I feel fantastic!
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from where did you go
Where did you come from Cotton-Eye Joe
See! I bet you feel better about it already... 
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I love you! That was pretty damn funny |
Originally Posted by galadiman
Precisely. So since a week game time is about 20x the amount that the downtime was....
the next time you are texting in line at the bank, and hold up the line, you have to wait for the next 20 people to pass you by before you go. And the next time you miss an appointment at the doctor's (for whatever reason, because you gave the same consideration), and they lose an hour appointment, you have to work 20 hours for them to compensate. And if you happen to have an accident on the road? Fuggedaboutit! Let's say each person held up behind you lost 15 minutes, and I'll guess 100 people (conservatively - we want to be reasonable), right? So 100*15*20 minutes working for them, that's... 1250 hours. So take 7 and a half months off from work to make up all that time. That's reasonable, for the comparable inconvenience, right? |
Contact me in-game: @CheeseSlicer
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No...not at all. Where I live if you do not cancel a doctors appointment within 24-48 hours and you do not go, you owe 50 bucks for the skipped appointment.|
Originally Posted by galadiman
Precisely. So since a week game time is about 20x the amount that the downtime was....
the next time you are texting in line at the bank, and hold up the line, you have to wait for the next 20 people to pass you by before you go. And the next time you miss an appointment at the doctor's (for whatever reason, because you gave the same consideration), and they lose an hour appointment, you have to work 20 hours for them to compensate. And if you happen to have an accident on the road? Fuggedaboutit! Let's say each person held up behind you lost 15 minutes, and I'll guess 100 people (conservatively - we want to be reasonable), right? So 100*15*20 minutes working for them, that's... 1250 hours. So take 7 and a half months off from work to make up all that time. That's reasonable, for the comparable inconvenience, right? |
We are not speaking of delaying others. We are talking about a lack of service that is paid for.
The examples you provided while interesting, do not deal with customer service issues at all.
I also might have missunderstood this as well.
If i did...Im sorry
This game is like playing roulette.
Here is my money! Now spin the wheel!
Oh look, its another maintenance. Better luck next time.
The game has been down more than it's been up recently during *normal* playtime and it has negatively impacted my ability to use the service. I realise that's subjective, but ultimately it's all each of us can go on from a personal point of view.
I'm not really bothered about monetary refunds, I doubt many people are, but I think some form of gesture would be prudent. Ultimately I understand why the downtime is required and how important it is for the game to be running stable for freemium players, but it's coming at a cost to paying customers (exact cost dependant on geographic location with EU/Oceanic players hit hardest).
Something like a few bonus Paragon Points or a limited double xp event (which is cost neutral for Paragon), tailored more as a 'thank you for putting up with all the prep for freemium players' than anything else. That side-steps setting a precedent for future downtime.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the game and am happy to subscribe. I just feel a little too much like I'm paying to beta test for freemium people - again my own opinion but that's all I've got to go on.
All this whining and entitlement BS makes me sick. Seriously people, c'mon.
Characters:
- Dawnshift (50 Peacebringer/Virtue)
Quote:
Would be an argument if it wasn't a service people pay for, as it's not gone free to play just yet I think it's valid for customers to raise a complaint if they have excessive service outage.
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Originally Posted by Dawnshift
All this whining and entitlement BS makes me sick. Seriously people, c'mon.
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For those of you playing the COH Forum Drinking Game, "I want to be reimbursed for down time" counts as two shots. Drink up!
Seriously.
Every game has bugs, instability issues, and more. Stop acting all entitled just because the devs are trying to make sure when the flood gates open, we don't have a bunch of mapservers, crashes, and whatever else there could be.
If you think that you are entitled to something just because they are trying to fix things or because this is a game and it will have problems, then you might as well be playing WoW. You may just get what you want there.
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Thats horse hockey.|
Originally Posted by Fluct
Would be an argument if it wasn't a service people pay for, as it's not gone free to play just yet I think it's valid for customers to raise a complaint if they have excessive service outage.
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Paying or not, downtime to fix things or because things CAN AND WILL go wrong does not mean for the playerbase to ***** and moan about being reimbursed. Anyone who asks for such is an entitled whiner.
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It's about perception though, if you lose the faith of your customers you lose your income. As I said I don't care about being reimbursed and I doubt many people do, they just don't appreciate losing a significant percentage of playtime over a short period due to ongoing issues.|
Originally Posted by ShadowWings
Thats horse hockey.
Paying or not, downtime to fix things or because things CAN AND WILL go wrong does not mean for the playerbase to ***** and moan about being reimbursed. Anyone who asks for such is an entitled whiner. |
In a way this would have been better if they'd taken the servers down for 24 to 48 hours straight to finish *all* the hardware upgrades (yesterday and today) before bringing it back up.
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Dude, I am absolutely positive that you've played a whole lot more this month than I have, and I ain't complaining.|
Originally Posted by USA America
Since we have had so much downtime outside or normal acceptable maintenance, I expect some credit to the month I've paid. If my cable, telephone service or internet service was down for more than 48 hours in a month, you can bet they would be scrambling to compensate me.
I paid for 30 days service, not 28 days. |
There's always books to read, and they're free and don't go down for maintenance.
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I'm pretty sure book stores don't share your assertion that books are free |
Originally Posted by Virfortis
Dude, I am absolutely positive that you've played a whole lot more this month than I have, and I ain't complaining.
There's always books to read, and they're free and don't go down for maintenance. |
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Hello, Operator? Um, my book is broken... I can't read past the start screen... What? Open it? Really? Does that, like, 'turn it on'?
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Originally Posted by Virfortis
Dude, I am absolutely positive that you've played a whole lot more this month than I have, and I ain't complaining.
There's always books to read, and they're free and don't go down for maintenance. |
It may be an oversight but I think that when it comes to business, oversight and stupidity are synonymous.
They have work to do, work that has to be done and has to be done when they can do it. The fact that this regularly annoys the same group of players will be seen as 'unfortunate but unavoidable', nothing more than that.