What Blizzard do better

[Belgaram]

Someone already mentioned it but read:

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/23689/World-of-Warcraft-600-Jobs-Going-Redundant.html/utm_campaign/MMORPG%20Newsletter/utm_source/MMORPG/utm_medium/email/eatrack/[%7Cemail%7C],7

[Apollodorus]

I'm just happy they allowed us to keybind '\' to something other than "Open a ticket". Was painful bumping that accidentally while tanking a tricky boss fight.

[Vincynt]

Alright the game just came out not a few months ago.

Correct.

 

For those that are starting this what WoW does better and what not you should really stop. Considering this is Bio's first their very first mmo they are doing good.

In terms of content people should not compare WoW to SWTOR. Blizzard has had a lot longer to create content. I completely agree. But we're speaking about Customer Service. There are certain standards for Customer Service. It shouldn't matter how long a company has been around. I'll use the example of a retailer again... If I opened up a business called "Vinny's General Store" and sold the exact same type of products Wal-Mart does, small kitche appliances, bedding, bathroom ammenities, clothes, etc. And Wal-Mart, after having been in the retail game for a long time accepts returns with a valid proof of purchase, but I do not. Would you then say "Well it's ok, Vinny's General Store has only been open for a couple of months. One day he'll figure out he needs to accept returns on products customers are unhappy with with a valid proof of purchase". No, you'd be pissed off you didn't buy your toaster from Wal-Mart where you could have returned it if you didn't like it.

 

Really the only complainers are those that have played the mmo's of the past and are expecting the same service and quality appearance.

I'm expecting the same level of service, you are correct. And again I don't see how that could possibly be seen as unreasonable. Lets use restraunts this time... You go to an Applebee's, you expect your server to bring you your beverage, and to offer you refills when it's empty correct? What if at my restraunt everything was the same but we decided we weren't going to offer beverages at all. We just hadn't thought that people would want to have a drink while they ate their lunch or supper. Would you keep coming back hoping that one day, you know, maybe after several years, we would realize that people DID want beverages with their food? Or would you just say something, give me a second chance because lets face it I'm a nice guy, and then after the second disappointment just go to the Applebee's down the block because you know you can get a water with your burger there?

 

To be honest Bio is doing a fantastic job, the game was released a bit early but what game isn't now adays.

I agree that for a launch it was pretty great, and there is a lot of content for a new game (the difficulty of that content is in question, but there is a lot, more then WoW had at launch that's for sure).

 

I was there at WoW's launch, the game was alright but it wasn't mind blowing, for its time it was a fantastic game, though the animations were pathetic, you could barely tell when you parried let alone struck someone, the classes were highly imbalanced, and the pvp was non existent. Well look what a couple of years can do, trial and error through player suggestions and their own ideas they created a fantastic game.

I agree with you that it takes time to develope those things. But we're not talking about content in this thread, we're talking about customer service. Which shouldn't be something that needs to be developed. Empathy isn't something that a company should have to develop this day and age. A sympathetic ear saying "Yeah man, that sucks, I can't fix it right now for you because I don't have the tools, but I'll make sure my boss knows about it and that it's an issue." isn't something that needs to be developed by a company. That's called hiring the right type of CS people and training them properly. Customer Service isn't something that should be new to BW, MMO's sure, but we're talking Customer Service here and there are a lot of companies out there they could have learned from.

 

This game will flourish in due time, give it that time and stop comparing it to other games.

Ok, I'll compare it to a different company instead of game if that makes it easier... Wal-Mart has better customer service then BW does. I can return something to Wal-Mart without proof of purchase as long as they sell that same product and it isn't software. BW won't even lend a sympathetic ear, they'll just tell you "Yep, it's a bug. Thanks for telling us."

 

As for what blizzard does better, I would say Difficulty. Least when it first came out, I find myself having difficulties quite often but not anymore.

I like SWTOR, I like it better then WoW. There are lots of things I think they did better game wise and that I enjoy. It's just too bad they can't do basic customer service.

[GnatB]

My personal opinion is that SWTOR in-game customer service is quite frequently incompetant.

 

English is *definitely* not their primary language. The responses to bugs/problems frequently show a fundemental lack of English reading comprehension. (and it isn't just some wierd bot scanning words in the mail and spitting garbage back at me. Several times the key words in the response don't even appear in the bug. (Seriously, a bug about companions health bar getting out of sync gets a response talking about missing UI rewards from PvP warzones?)

 

That being said, the one time I did have an item go poof (by a bug in the crafting system, which I'm still not sure is actually fixed) they did offer to replace it for me if I gave them the exact information of what went missing. (up to 3 times a month, IIRC. Which considering until I narrowed down the repro steps I was getting hit at least once a week, isn't really enough... Didn't really lose anything all THAT important though, primary reason I was reporting it was because it could probably be used as a way to dupe high end stuff)

 

Though, while prompt, in spite of my warning about the dupe potential the response seemed to indicate it was being handled merely as a missing item, so I responded to the response basically saying I don't care about the item, but this is a probable dupe bug, so they may want to put fixing it as a somewhat high priority... The response to THAT was basically oh. We'll forward it on to the dev team right away then.

[Katsushika]

1.2 is make or brake for me its getting beyond a joke now :/

 

As for customer service i had a piece of loot handed to me by mistake, i made a ticket 6 days later i received an answer to add more information which i did, 7 days later i received another mail asking for everyone's name in the raid, everyone's advanced class in the raid, time stamp of when the item was lost, reason for item being wrongfully given.

 

Ive given up now on the whole subject as the customer service is an absolute disgrace. Im waiting on my next mail from them asking for a DNA sample shocking just shocking 3 weeks for a simple task god help us when people start to lose accounts and stuff.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Katsushika

[Knockerz]

1.2 is make or brake for me its getting beyond a joke now :/

 

As for customer service i had a piece of loot handed to me by mistake, i made a ticket 6 days later i received an answer to add more information which i did, 7 days later i received another mail asking for everyone's name in the raid, everyone's advanced class in the raid, time stamp of when the item was lost, reason for item being wrongfully given.

 

Ive given up now on the whole subject as the customer service is an absolute disgrace. Im waiting on my next mail from them asking for a DNA sample shocking just shocking 3 weeks for a simple task god help us when people start to lose accounts and stuff.

 

In swg I forgot the event, but every one got a unique and expensive item in your inventory. Some how it disappeared from my bags and I made a ticket. The CR spawn the item in my inventory while I was not log in. When I log in the next day or days later I the item had reappeared and I end up with two copies of the item. I think it was an uber jedi crystal, but can't remember exactly what it was.

[Mephismo]

Probably if we knew their workload and how many there was doing the job we would be more understanding.

Personally I would say doing their best , could do better.

[Frostvein]

I dont want macros

 

Do you understand what he said? We already HAVE macros, just not an in game version. People are using them as we speak.

[Canis_Anubis]

What does Blizzard do better? Everything except launch their games on schedule.

 

Don't take it personally, Bioware, but you're late to the party. Get Macros, fix professions, balance the classes.

[Urbz]

Ahhh nothing like comparing a game that's been out 7 years to a game that's only been out 4 months. Ohh and i think BW is doing a lot more in its first 4 months then wow did in its full year.

[-Fritz-]

im not really following the discussion, but the one thing that stands out the most to me is when i played WoW i felt like i was in a game world, when i play swtor i feel like im playing a series of instances.

 

thats not just from wow being out 7 years or whatever, because wow felt like a game world when i played the original product all those years ago.

[Dyraele]

Ahhh nothing like comparing a game that's been out 7 years to a game that's only been out 4 months. Ohh and i think BW is doing a lot more in its first 4 months then wow did in its full year.

 

and the point is made even more since the game has been out less than 3 months

[Mashy]

I dont want macros

 

Me either.

[Senatsu]

The only thing Blizzard does better is the combat responsiveness, imo. The devs have done some goods things to help improve it, but it's still not as fluid as WoW's.

[Vincynt]

I'm not understanding why how long a game has been out determines good or poor customer service? A game could not even be launched yet and have good customer service waiting to go versus a game that's been out for several years and might have poor customer service.

 

The life span of an MMO would be indicitive of the ammount of content it has, sure. But not of the compotency of it's customer service people. You're just ridiclious for arguing Blizzard has better CS because they've been around longer...

[Asuka]

I'm not understanding why how long a game has been out determines good or poor customer service? A game could not even be launched yet and have good customer service waiting to go versus a game that's been out for several years and might have poor customer service.

 

The life span of an MMO would be indicitive of the ammount of content it has, sure. But not of the compotency of it's customer service people. You're just ridiclious for arguing Blizzard has better CS because they've been around longer...

 

Because it depends on the number of CSRs the company has. How many CSRs do you think they have for 1.7million+ player base? The same CSR group that handles North America and the EU and quite possibly handling Aussievillie too.

[TheHoodedFang]

Because it depends on the number of CSRs the company has. How many CSRs do you think they have for 1.7million+ player base? The same CSR group that handles North America and the EU and quite possibly handling Aussievillie too.

 

Exactly.

 

The real issue here is people's own false expectations, they think Bioware can magically service millions of customers all at once.

 

Clearly none of these individuals ever worked at a call center.

 

PS: Blizzard's wait times at launch for ticket responses and out of game support often took weeks. Instead of praising them for what they have accomplished after having 7 years to do so, you (you meaning complainers in general, not the quoted user) should be praising Bioware for what they have managed to accomplish in a very short period of time.

Edited March 8, 2012 by TheHoodedFang

[Icebaron]

Exactly.

 

The real issue here is people's own false expectations, they think Bioware can magically service millions of customers all at once.

 

Clearly none of these individuals ever worked at a call center.

 

PS: Blizzard's wait times at launch for ticket responses and out of game support often took weeks. Instead of praising them for what they have accomplished after having 7 years to do so, you (you meaning complainers in general, not the quoted user) should be praising Bioware for what they have managed to accomplish in a very short period of time.

 

By your theory if someone were to make a crank up model T clone with no AC, no power anything and a top end speed of 20mph we should praise them because the first car was no better?

So Bioware should not look around and see what has worked and what hasn't from the competition and try to improve on it?

 

Under your standards, mankind would all be sitting in caves dragging women around by their hair.

[Kypp]

Exactly.

 

The real issue here is people's own false expectations, they think Bioware can magically service millions of customers all at once.

 

Clearly none of these individuals ever worked at a call center.

 

PS: Blizzard's wait times at launch for ticket responses and out of game support often took weeks. Instead of praising them for what they have accomplished after having 7 years to do so, you (you meaning complainers in general, not the quoted user) should be praising Bioware for what they have managed to accomplish in a very short period of time.

 

Exactly! When I had a toon deleted in wow a few years ago it took them 3 months to give me my toon back.. Now they do it in a day or 2 maybe less haven't had anything deleted in a while.

TBH bioware seemed quick to me. My wife bought the wrong speeder becuase it wasn't the one advertised next to the vendor. They got back to her withitn a day and told her they could replace ith but it would use 1 of their 3 restores per 6 months.

[Vincynt]

Because it depends on the number of CSRs the company has.

Which, if they were projecting millions of players and they were, should be enough to handle millions of players.

 

How many CSRs do you think they have for 1.7million+ player base?

Hopefully enough to handle 1.7 million + player base? Is that a trick question?

 

The same CSR group that handles North America and the EU and quite possibly handling Aussievillie too.

Probably, gotta love shift work. If you're launching ANYTHING, game or not, and expecting millions of buyers / subscripers you bet your bottom dollar someone's job was to work out a rough number of tickets that would be filed each day and determine how many csr's to hire. Whichever VP was responsible for that failed. And once you realized you WAY underestimated you go into overdirve to staff up the loss.

 

I worked at a customer service call centre for AT&T Wireless, then Cingular then AT&T again. Wanna know something? When the Motorola Razer launched some VP at AT&T/Cingular went "This thing is going to sell, it tested really well. We should up staffing at our call centers". The center I worked for went on a recruiting spree to fill staffing needs for expectected call volume.

 

And I'll say it one more time. On many other fronts, Congratulations BW! You did do a pretty great job imo. I was impressed by the ammount of content available at launch and was pretty happy I didn't have to wait long in queues, no unexpected server shut downs that randomly left the server down for hours on end with no notice (I'm looking at you Blizzard!). So again, lots and lots of good. But Customer Service? Bad, shape up BW!

[Esproc]

Ok, I'll compare it to a different company instead of game if that makes it easier... Wal-Mart has better customer service then BW does. I can return something to Wal-Mart without proof of purchase as long as they sell that same product and it isn't software. BW won't even lend a sympathetic ear, they'll just tell you "Yep, it's a bug. Thanks for telling us."

 

Well, I agree, Wal-Mart has great customer service.

 

They blow WoW right out of the water.

 

And I don't have to wait a week for a GM to respond.

[Ansultares]

Your argument doesnt make sense. He's not complaining about the bug, he's complaining about the customer service. And he's right, the GM's in SWTOR are useless, they dont solve problems, they are slow to respond and they are just naive/incompetant at times.

Not very surprising given that they outsourced customer service.

[powergirl]

Yeah , this I would have to agree , Blizzard customer service was top-notch and never really experianced problems with them . I experianced a bug here SWTOR where my quest keeps repeating and not giving me credit for finishing it . I opened a ticket and it just got moved aside , so I gave up and deleted my consular and started again .

[Strayjack]

Customer Service is what is being talked about here. Not bugs, not macros, etc.. It should be very simple from the very start how to go about dealing with customers in this environment. Depending on circumstances these client problems should be solved within a reasonable time, not days later.

 

Ie: I had a weird issue were I could not damage any mob in the area including my quest mobs. I relogged and logged back in, logged in an alt, but doing all these still none were working. So I sent out a ticket and hanged out waiting for a response. Two hours later, nothing! It wasn't a day or two, but a week later that I noticed the flashing ? (& mail symbol). I was wondering what it was because I completely forgot about that incident. So I opened this message and the message from that bot was: Okey, we received your ticket, this bug is known to developers and will be fixed in the near future. LOL.

 

That is just one example. I have many more. Simple things such as repeating quests bugs (Mask of Revan Quest Series), and want to remove that particular quest from quest log. 50% of the quests in my log are all greyed and cannot be ABANDONED. Meanwhile, I am being told that this problem will be fixed in the near future. I can't accumulate multiple quests, specially dailies without getting rid of PVP dailies. This problem existed from the very release.

 

I expect BW to have done their research with other method of CS. You don't even have to really do a lot of research or model your CS on an existing competitor, you simply, fundamentally create a foundation for customer service from creation of your company. The principles of outstanding customer service is with the people that work there. I have the impression that BW neglected CS and focused mainly on the half-azzed development of this game.

[Strayjack]

Because it depends on the number of CSRs the company has. How many CSRs do you think they have for 1.7million+ player base? The same CSR group that handles North America and the EU and quite possibly handling Aussievillie too.

 

With that basic principle you are saying that because they couldn't staff their game to address the possible issues that customers may encounter that you will be providing a pass for them, consider it acceptable, and all is fine business model? That is morally and ethically ridiculous model.

 

Did they not expect this influx of players and possible issues with the game? They released a beta game and expect that things will work out well? So its a small community, shouldn't they be able to handle such a community with such professionalism and efficiency?

 

I see it, the developers and staff care very little about customer care. They don't care about the community at all. The proof is here in this forum. I see gold addressing more issues on civility in the forum than having information put out by people in charge reassuring us of upcoming changes (patch notes, future plans). Simply Lacking.

 

I still have about a month of playtime. I have not logged in for a week now. I'm currently waiting for Dual/Multy spec enable in this game. If they decide to wait another two months, well that's not my problem anymore because I will not renew.