So What's the Deal with VIP Support?
By
Ael Rhiana,
Posted on: 2012-02-16 10:00 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I'm glad to see the emphasis on response being placed. I don't petition often, but it's nice when a GM responds quickly and helps out with whatever. I remember petitioning over some pretty obnoxious grieving, and not getting a GM show up at all -- hopefully now that they're showing up over small things, it means they'll be there when it's something important.
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Seriously? Because one night I petitioned someone spouting racial slurs in broadcast. Brian Clayton called me about 15 minutes later on my cell phone and told me they tracked it down. It was some guy in Maryland, and that they actually contracted someone to go to the guy's house and shoot him in the head. "Don't worry Tony, he won't be doing THAT anymore," he said, and then--I swear, this was a little bit creepy--he kind of silently giggled.|
Originally Posted by Zwillinger
There's something to be said for getting both sides of the story. Of course, I'm not privy nor part of the Customer Service policies or procedures, I cannot speak to this aspect of it specifically.
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At first it was a little unnerving, but later, I was kind of pleased at the incredible quality of customer support displayed over the incident.
*This didn't actually happen. It was just a dumb little story for your mild amusement on an otherwise uneventful Thursday night.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
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Ohhh. So *that's* who that guy was. The amateur didn't notice the tiger pit.
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Originally Posted by TonyV
Seriously? Because one night I petitioned someone spouting racial slurs in broadcast. Brian Clayton called me about 15 minutes later on my cell phone and told me they tracked it down. It was some guy in Maryland, and that they actually contracted someone to go to the guy's house and shoot him in the head. "Don't worry Tony, he won't be doing THAT anymore," he said, and then--I swear, this was a little bit creepy--he kind of silently giggled.
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That word that is hurting your brain would be "TEXAS"
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
But Austin is in...
*hrk* |
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
Is there a reason that you wouldn't reply to the GM with:
"Is there any information you need that I haven't already included in the petition?"
And if a specific question was asked that I'd already answered
"That information is already in the petition"
That's what I'd do
I had a problem a few weeks ago about not getting the Midnight Squad badge on my Dominator when I was helping my friend do his Midnighter story arc, I sent a ticket and the GM was even more clueless than me about the problem, turns out you must do the arc yourself now to get the badge but why didn't he know that?.
On a positive note at least they reply to you and most of the time within 15 minutes or so, other games like wow you have to wait days now for a reply sometimes.
I don't even bother anymore, my stories are the same as everyone elses.
I petitioned an RMT spammer not long ago...GM visit.
I petitioned someone clearly breaking the EULA...GM visit. Apparently they had to escalate my petition to a senior rep to find out if Green lanterrn and sup3rman really were no-no's. Before Freedom's launch those sorts of names would be genericed on the spot. I saw one of the toons several days later...NOT genericed. I was like...wow...okay, whatever then.
And let's not forget petitioning a racist bigot who was going off in broadcast...GM visit.
And every single one of those GMs was clueless, I don't think any of them read the petition at all.
It isn't worth the time or effort anymore. Or like someone else said...petition and then log off or switch toons. I've done it, I admit it. I really don't need to waste 10 minutes with a clueless GM visit over an RMT spammer or whatever. READ the petition!
"Certain it is and sure: love burns, ale burns, fire burns, politics burns, but cold were life without them." - Romulan proverb
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What "both sides"? YOU file a petition and the GMs show up go "NOBODY expects the Spammish Inquisition!" and interrogate YOU! You've already GIVEN "your side". And they have the server logs to corroborate! |
Originally Posted by Zwillinger
There's something to be said for getting both sides of the story.
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If they want to approach the RMTer/douchbag/spammer/whatever, go ahead! But that isn't what's happening here.
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Could you ask about this change? It's vary easy to not see them, or get distracted and cause issues in game, when they come to talk to you.|
Originally Posted by Zwillinger
Oh if you got the impression that there's zero communication, I apologize. This couldn't be further from the truth. We have open lines of communication to CS. I just haven't familiarized myself with every single one of their policies.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
But Austin is in...
*hrk* |
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
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Actually, it goes even deeper than that. They will also try to be "helpful" and add the offender to your global ignore list while letting the offender continue to do their thing.|
Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
It's the /help channel. I hang out in there from time to time dispensing wisdom, inf. (lots of it!), and generally helping any people I can. There are a lot of other forum regulars in there as well, doing the same thing. The other night, I pretty much walked someone (via /tells) through the entire Incarnate system. I enjoy helping people. I like seeing people enjoy the game as much as I do.
But as we all know, much like Atlas /broadcast, bad things happen. The smart player knows to report these few bad apples, and to /ignore them. Makes the game a better place for everybody. Except that might not be worth doing any more. The other night, I encountered two individuals characterizing gay people as child predators, molesters, and pedophiles. Crazy talk that is easily dismissed, but not before the old-school /petition and /ignore. /help is seen by everyone, from VIP to F2P. It's important that we keep it as quality as possible for a great first impression. It takes two seconds, and you can get back to enjoying the game. Within an hour or so, I got, "Hi, this is GM-A, what seems to be the problem?" But there wasn't a problem. I've reported RMT folks, power-leveling companies, exploiters, racists, sexists, bigots, etc. before--but I never had a GM show up. And what did they want? Well, they didn't seem to know. Maybe they had my /petition and they just wanted to hear what happened again--but that was pretty frustrating. /help chat moves pretty fast. I had to scroll back quite a ways to find the offending parties. So yes, I patiently explained and repeated everything all over again. Who were they? What were the globals? What did they say? Where did this happen? Everything I had put into the petition. The GM was polite, but clueless. "May I put them on your ignore list?" Seriously? I included that bit in my /petition as well. I know how it works, and it was clear by now that they hadn't read any of it at all. "You should really put them on your ignore list in the future." Um, okay? "I have placed them on your ignore list, thank you!" Fine, whatever. "Thank you for taking the time to contact the City of Heroes Support Team. We will use the information provided to determine whether a violation of the rules has occurred." Yes, I know. That's how it used to work. I'd just get that e-mail in the morning. When one player complains about another, you just get, "Thanks for the info, we'll look into it, but we can't let you know how it turns out." That's fine. That's fair. When suddenly, "Hi, this is GM-B, what seems to be the problem?" Are you kidding me? I had sent a /petition with the relevant data for each offender. I was now dealing with two GMs simultaneously? And again, "...what seems to be the problem?" Head, meet desk. It was a rundown of everything I'd experienced not moments ago. Now I had to scroll back even farther. So yes, I patiently explained and repeated everything all over again. Who were they? What were the globals? What did they say? Where did this happen? Everything I had put into the petition. "Is it okay if I place this player on your /ignore list?" *bonk bonk bonk* "Okay, they are on your ignore list, thank you!" *bonk* So by now, of course, I'm tired of this. I tell them, "Thank you for taking the time to contact the City of Heroes Support Team. We will use the information provided to determine whether a violation of the rules has occurred." Yes, moments later, they responded with the same thing. I deserved that, they're just doing their job. Later, I checked my e-mail. So as not to quote anything, because they don't like that, the e-mail explicitly states that petitions will now summon a GM to file out, basically, an incident report with you. They want all the information all over again, in the interest of "accuracy." So if you have nothing to do, help clean up the game by using /petition and get rid of people who ruin it for the rest of us. Wait for your CS rep to show up, because they will. But if you want to keep playing, hit /ignore and just don't bother. :/ |
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In a related CS problem, I recently had to send a petition to get my paragon points stipend.
I had to deal with the GM with a matter that I knew that particular GM could not solve. Instead this GM gave me the template for when paragon points should be given out. I've withheld the names of the GMs, but the if anyone at Paragon Studios wants to check, it was [Incident: 120210-000896].
This was my petition:
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| Windows: I'm a tier 9 VIP, I am on the third month of a 12+2 month plan starting on December 7th 2011. I've received my paragon point stipend on December 8th and January 8th. I did NOT receive my stipend on February 8th. I would appreciate this being looked into. I realise that this cannot be handled by in game support. |
02-09-2012 22:56:25 [Tell] GM: Hello
02-09-2012 22:56:31 [Tell] -->GM: hello
02-09-2012 22:56:36 [Tell] GM: This is GM XXXX from the City of Heroes Support Team.
02-09-2012 22:57:22 [Tell] -->GM: I think there is a problem with my paragon points not being awarded this month
02-09-2012 22:57:55 [Tell] GM: You will receive a base stipend of 400 Paragon Points for every month you continue your subscription and remain VIP.
02-09-2012 22:58:53 [Tell] GM: Keep in mind that the Paragon Points were granted early in September and October.
02-09-2012 22:58:55 [Tell] -->GM: I'm on a 12+2 month plan that started in december 2011. I'm also a Tier 9 VIP, so I should get an extra 150 Paragon Points per month as well.
02-09-2012 22:59:05 [Tell] GM: Keep in mind that the Paragon Points were granted early in September and October.
02-09-2012 22:59:21 [Tell] GM: This means that everyone with a VIP subscription on October 12 received 400 points on or about October 12, regardless of their true stipend date.
02-09-2012 23:00:25 [Tell] -->GM: I realise this. I also know by looking at my account's billing that I was awarded my stipend on December 8th and January 8th.
02-09-2012 23:01:18 [Tell] -->GM: and by looking at my account billing, I did not receive the stipend yesterday.
02-09-2012 23:02:02 [Tell] GM: Okay, I am escalating your issue to a Senior Game Master.
02-09-2012 23:02:27 [Tell] -->GM: I am also aware that would have to happen. thank you for your time for this response.
02-09-2012 23:02:41 [Tell] GM: Thank you for contacting the City of Heroes Support Team.
02-09-2012 23:02:50 [Tell] GM: Take care, bye
The second level GM gave me an incorrect date and gave me a link to the knowledge base entry for the Paragon Stipend.
Only when I replied back with a screenshot of my last two award dates and my subscription renewal date (Dec 7th) did I get a long time GM to actually look into it. The final GM (also a senior GM) corrected the issue (6 days after I was supposed to have the points awarded), and said it should be fixed for next month.
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I had to nuke a bunch of posts in this thread due to their particularly political & trollish nature (if you'll allow me to make up a word). Please keep the thread on-topic.
Thanks,
Moderator 19
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If you wanna get technical, that's a violation of forum policy right there.|
Originally Posted by Moderator 19
I had to nuke a bunch of posts in this thread due to their particularly political & trollish nature (if you'll allow me to make up a word). Please keep the thread on-topic.
Thanks, Moderator 19 |
Tsk tsk!
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Wait, WHAT IS THIS
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Originally Posted by Rajani Isa
I knew I forgot to ask something at the Ustream yesterday.
I'll just take knowledge of how soon I will have a Lil'laruu and go on my way.  |
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It's an Image of the Well - it's the vanity pet that comes as part of the Salute to Statesman reward program. The "skirt" is actually a sort of waterfall, like the waterfall backpack.
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Originally Posted by FlashToo
Wait, WHAT IS THIS
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Also, I don't get what the problem is here - what's wrong with personal contact from a GM?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Nothing, as long as it's not an issue that needs personal contact while a bunch of other people are waiting with problems that *do* require personal contact.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Also, I don't get what the problem is here - what's wrong with personal contact from a GM?
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Petitioning harassment does not require me to reiterate what my /petition text says. It does not require me to tell the GM what the name of the knob goblin was, or the time it happened, or any of that. First off, most (if not all) of that should be in the original /petition text, and from there they can look at the logs.
We went SEVEN YEARS without GMs responding to things that didn't need an in-game response. SEVEN YEARS. We were perfectly happy with it, too.
After SEVEN YEARS, while we have more players on at a time than in a VERY long time, they implement "everyone needs some face time" policy? No. Just no.
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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The differences between customer service for free and paid players is night and day.
I am currently subscribed and the other night, I had trouble with buying paragon points. Not even 10 minutes after submitting my ticket, I had a GM speak with me, escalate my ticket, get an email from the new GM handling my issue and a prompt follow-up to my response email.
Unsubscribed, any and all tickets I sent in received no in-game assistance from a GM, no email until days after, the email did not even address the issue but instead contained a canned response, link to the FAQ page and the name of the GM who "addressed" my ticket. Even follow-up emails asking to speak with a GM via email about my ticket got a canned response.
At least as a VIP despite dealing with a clueless GM the first go, you can always ask to speak with a different GM that can get the job done instead of the email runaround to nowhere that freebies get.
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Having the GM put the target of your harassment petition put the offender on your ignore list is a bit of overkill too.
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Originally Posted by Aggelakis
Petitioning harassment does not require me to reiterate what my /petition text says. It does not require me to tell the GM what the name of the knob goblin was, or the time it happened, or any of that.
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Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
Had another issue tonight...this GM could barely speak english... >.>
I got the usual: Tell me what you petitioned only it was: Can youn verify me your issue?
Um...seriously?
Then: Is this concern account?
Say...huh? O.o
After taking them step-by-step through what I'd petitioned (my blackwand is missing on about half my toons) I got exactly what I expected, they couldn't do anything about it in-game and are escalating my petition to a senior rep. That's always the response I get; from RMT spammers to EULA violations to almost any in-game issue...escalation to a senior rep.
"Certain it is and sure: love burns, ale burns, fire burns, politics burns, but cold were life without them." - Romulan proverb
My Characters
Every petition I have sent in they show up and ask me to explain exactly what the problem is. I'm sure there are reasons for it even if it is annoying. Things like:
1) You opened 2 petitions one saying the boss in a mission was missing and one reporting a player name. You find the boss go on to the next mission. GM shows up, you think it is about player he thinks it is about boss.
2) Some people's written skills are so bad I'd want them to type if 4 or 5 times in the vain hope that by combining them all you might get all the words correctly spelled once.
I am happy they show up so fast you managed to get 2 at once. Try reporting someone in WoW and see if you ever get a response.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
Sorry, playing catch up on this thread. So did we decide the best way to handle this? Just tell them to read the petition and ignore the GM? That sounds like trouble.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
I'm waiting until I've had a couple of my own experiences with the new support policy, then I'll have some actual constructive feedback.
I changed my mind completely when I realized I'd done something I always try not to do: I jumped on the rabble rousing bandwagon after reading a post on an Internet forum. That isn't a slight against your OP, it's just an acknowledgment of what personal experience has taught me about Internet forums.
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My question is, why did this change after nearly eight years. And it's not a change for the better--far from it.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
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I'm going to ASSUME that its all part of the Freedom project. With the influx of new cash from the F2P model (irony?) we are getting more stuff, content, costumes, and yes - support. Before Freedom I would have to wait hours for a petition and often gave up and logged. Now if I have a concern I am assisted within minutes. So from where I'm sitting they are doing good.|
Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
My question is, why did this change after nearly eight years. And it's not a change for the better--far from it.
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It's too bad you are not happy with your experience, but you still must give them an "A" for effort. Keep providing feedback to them to let them know what you think they are doing wrong, and how they can make it better.
For those that didnt want a GM to show up.... don't petition! Its pretty much as easy as that...... there are other ways to make complaints besides the ever handy "petition".
Also by now everyone should be familiar with /gignore and /ignore.
Its just a game - ignore the ever present idiots and move on.
If you're not having fun then the haters have won!
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"Just cause you don't understand what's going on don't mean it don't make no sense
And just cause you don't like it, don't mean it ain't no good" - Suicidal Tendancies
I too have noticed that GMs appear to not read the Petitions sent. A few times recently I have had to send petitions....stupid kill-alls....mutter, mutter. I would carefully put all the details into the petition, but when the GMs contacted me ingame they were clueless about what I wanted, and equally clueless as to where I was.
After I repeated everything I had put into the petitions, they were very, very, helpful.
Makes me wonder if I GMs I had dealings with were given just my global and told to contact me and find out what my problem was
Which would be ok...I am very glad they are there to help us out...those kill-alls on large maps are a real pita.
Lisa.
So don't wait for heroes, do it yourself
You've got the power
winners are losers
who got up and gave it just one more try
***Dennis DeYoung