Can anyone tell me the point of the "Contact Us" link in the forums?

merlinmctav · September 2013

I recently had a couple of problems that I needed game master help with so I used the "Contact Us" link - and got profoundly unhelpful help.

First one my alchemy bugged out at level 17 and I am now unable to advance it any further. I sent a ticket and even gave them the steps needed to fix it.
Their response? We aren't going to do anything unless you send a bug report.
Okay, I thought that was what I had just done, but whatever - I logged into the game and sent a bug report referencing the ticket I sent. Two weeks later and I still haven't had any response and my alchemy is still bugged.

Second one I sold three fairly expensive items in the auction house expecting that the AH would take a 10% cut as advertised. You can imagine how I felt when I discovered that the AH cut is actually 12.5%, not 10% - this was quite significant as it meant an extra 60k AD in fees.
So, I sent in a ticket using the "Contact Us" link asking for my AD back and for them to either fix the AH so it only charges 10% or change the text to tell you that you will lose 12.5%.
Their response? We aren't going to fix it unless you send in a bug report. And by the way you aren't getting your AD back.
WTF? Words fail me. Do the words "Customer Service" mean nothing to these people? I tell them of a serious issue with part of their game and their response is basically "We don't care"?
I haven't actually sent in a bug report for this one and I really can't be bothered doing so if they can't be bothered doing anything themselves. Especially as sending in a bug report doesn't seem to get any response anyway.

I'm not one to rage quit, but it's seriously tempting to do so :mad:

lewstelamon01 · September 2013

Bug reports are just that--reports. You are basically telling the devs that "hey, I found this bug here". A response is usually not given to those, as the devs cannot personally respond to every bug report they receive (that would likely number in the thousands).

Also, the bug reporting queue is different from the CS ticket queue. Referencing a CS ticket does jack squat for the dev team.

abell39 · September 2013

I hate to have to tell you this, but there are a couple of things you misunderstood. Bug reports by definition don't get responses -- they're to let the devs know something is broken so they can fix it. They don't respond unless they need more info. The reason you have to put in a bug report is because the GMs can only answer questions, help with some things, and moderate the game -- they can't fix bugs. If they devoted their time to taking bugs to the devs, they wouldn't have time for anything else. That's why they automatically tell you to put in a bug report yourself.

The AH does take a 10% cut, but that's if you access it by walking up to one of the auctioneers in Protector's Enclave and press F (or whatever your keybind is) to interact with them. If you access the AH remotely through the auction broker's menu, the cut is 12.5%. I'm not sure about using the AH through the Gateway because I don't use the Gateway.

merlinmctav · September 2013

I'm aware of what a bug report is. By "referenced my ticket" what I meant was that I put the entire contents of my ticket into the bug report - including how to fix my issue.
I still cannot level up my alchemy skill. I don't really care whether the devs have to fix it or the GMs have to fix it. I have sent two separate requests, even giving them probable causes and how to fix it. The fact that it is still an issue three weeks later is poor customer service.

For the second one I didn't use the auction broker menu - I've never used that. The gateway says it takes a 10% cut. I'm not sure whether I used the gateway or the in-game auction house, either way the cut should have been 10% - but it wasn't.
Again, "we don't care" is really poor customer service.

frarii · September 2013

the AH fee is 10%, the AH broker OTOH has 12,5% as advertised, reading is tech.

merlinmctav · September 2013

frarii wrote: »

the AH fee is 10%, the AH broker OTOH has 12,5% as advertised, reading is tech.

Absolutely is. Which is why you probably should have read my reply.

lewstelamon01 · September 2013

merlinmctav wrote: »

I'm aware of what a bug report is. By "referenced my ticket" what I meant was that I put the entire contents of my ticket into the bug report - including how to fix my issue.
I still cannot level up my alchemy skill. I don't really care whether the devs have to fix it or the GMs have to fix it. I have sent two separate requests, even giving them probable causes and how to fix it. The fact that it is still an issue three weeks later is poor customer service.

For the second one I didn't use the auction broker menu - I've never used that. The gateway says it takes a 10% cut. I'm not sure whether I used the gateway or the in-game auction house, either way the cut should have been 10% - but it wasn't.
Again, "we don't care" is really poor customer service.

I fail to see how something that has absolutely nothing to do with customer service is "poor customer service". Chances are, the precise cause of the issue has not been identified by QA, and therefore a fix cannot be determined.

merlinmctav · September 2013

lewstelamon01 wrote: »

I fail to see how something that has absolutely nothing to do with customer service is "poor customer service". Chances are, the precise cause of the issue has not been identified by QA, and therefore a fix cannot be determined.

If you go into a shop and buy something that turns out faulty you take it back to the shop. They may send it back to the manufacturer to get fixed, but that's not something the customer should be doing.
If you go into a restaurant and your meat comes out green you send it back to the restaurant, not the farmer who provided it.
We provide a help desk service at work for some of the systems we have written. All issues go through the help desk and the help desk apportions the issues to the correct group to fix. They also provide updates to the customer on estimated times to fix etc. If the help desk does not do this then it is poor customer service and we could be in line for some stiff penalties.

Customer service implies that they are there to fix customer problems, regardless of where the problems originated. So yes, it most certainly is poor customer service that I had to go directly to the developers and haven't heard anything since.

lewstelamon01 · September 2013

merlinmctav wrote: »

If you go into a shop and buy something that turns out faulty you take it back to the shop. They may send it back to the manufacturer to get fixed, but that's not something the customer should be doing.
If you go into a restaurant and your meat comes out green you send it back to the restaurant, not the farmer who provided it.
We provide a help desk service at work for some of the systems we have written. All issues go through the help desk and the help desk apportions the issues to the correct group to fix. They also provide updates to the customer on estimated times to fix etc. If the help desk does not do this then it is poor customer service and we could be in line for some stiff penalties.

Customer service implies that they are there to fix customer problems, regardless of where the problems originated. So yes, it most certainly is poor customer service that I had to go directly to the developers and haven't heard anything since.

You submitted a bug report expecting a response to your report and that the bug be fixed as a direct result of your report. That simply is not possible given the volume of reports that are received on a daily basis, and bug fixing does take time to reproduce the conditions that caused the bug, code a fix, and properly test that fix.

Then you submitted a ticket to CS saying that there was a bug and they replied that you had to send in a bug report. Usually, refunding of items is not done unless there is a issue as verified by the devs/QA team that would necessitate a refund of your resources.

CS is not responsible for bug reports. The only fault I may be able to find is the response, which, without the full text of the reply (which reposting is prohibited by Rules of Conduct) is, as far as anyone else is able to determine, subjective.

So, what it all boils down to, is you're upset that you didn't get what you wanted and are now venting on the forums about it. Sorry that this happened to you man, but...there isn't really anything anyone on the forums can do about it.

If it helps any, though, I'm talking with the CM about it now.

beckylunatic · September 2013

merlinmctav wrote: »

For the second one I didn't use the auction broker menu - I've never used that. The gateway says it takes a 10% cut. I'm not sure whether I used the gateway or the in-game auction house, either way the cut should have been 10% - but it wasn't.

In game, if anything interrupts your interaction with the AH, you'll get set as though you were using remote access (as through the broker). Same thing happens with mailboxes, except there it becomes very bleeding obvious that you need to re-click to interact with attachments. With the AH, you need to keep an eye on the % cut, but it does update if you've been interrupted (usually by invoking).

Gateway says it will take a 10% cut but actually takes 12.5%. I have bug reported this, and expect there'll be a text update fix at some point, as 12.5% makes sense since Gateway is effectively a remote-access AH for this purpose.

merlinmctav · September 2013

Yep, I am absolutely venting on the forums. I certainly didn't expect anybody on the forums to be able to do anything. I also expected asinine comments like "reading is tech".

The first part of my post was pure vent - I can't get my alchemy levelled up and I am completely in the dark about what is happening to fix it. That's frustrating and I'm venting about it.

But the second part was part vent, part request for information, part informing the community of an issue.
I am expecting that somebody else has had the same issue I had with the AH without knowing it - and that there will be people checking that as a result of this post.
I'm also checking it myself as to whether it was an in-game AH bug or a Gateway bug (as a result of posts in this thread).

It wasn't just a tantrum

merlinmctav · September 2013

beckylunatic wrote: »

In game, if anything interrupts your interaction with the AH, you'll get set as though you were using remote access (as through the broker). Same thing happens with mailboxes, except there it becomes very bleeding obvious that you need to re-click to interact with attachments. With the AH, you need to keep an eye on the % cut, but it does update if you've been interrupted (usually by invoking).

Gateway says it will take a 10% cut but actually takes 12.5%. I have bug reported this, and expect there'll be a text update fix at some point, as 12.5% makes sense since Gateway is effectively a remote-access AH for this purpose.

And this is the main reason I posted here.

Many thanks for your reply - it answers the questions I had.
I had just noticed the in-game AH cut go to 12.5% and I was trying to figure out how it happened.

As for the Gateway, I partly agree. Yes it is a remote access portal, but it isn't a middle-man like the auction broker. I don't have strong feelings either way about it other than it should charge what it says it will charge. If it says 10% then it should only take 10% - I still believe I should be refunded the over-charging.

beckylunatic · September 2013

I can also say that there was a bug with collecting the results of alchemy research via Gateway, where people would get stuck as you've described. It is supposed to have been fixed, and it's not a bug I've ever experienced myself, nor do I see reports of it to the extent of what it used to be like. I'm afraid I can't help you with a solution.

merlinmctav · September 2013

I've seen threads a while back about issues with alchemy on Gateway, and like you I thought they had been fixed.

What I believe happened, based on what I have observed with this issue and in prior alchemical experimentation, is that I think there is a maximum number of alchemical research items you can receive at each level of alchemy.
A corollary to this would be that you wouldn't want people "stocking up" on basic alchemical research early on so they can just breeze through later levels without doing the alchemical experimentation.

When I completed the level 18 alchemy research, the gateway bugged out and didn't give me the rewards (level 18). Whether that bugging out was due to communications problems or whatever I don't know, but the result was that all my alchemical research disappeared without me getting the next level.
Because I have now hit the maximum number of alchemical research for level 17 I will never be able to go any higher than level 17 as I cannot get any more alchemical research.

I sent all this information both to the GMs and to the devs, and if I am correct then it should be a very easy thing to fix my individual issue.
The tricky thing would be to determine how it happened in the first place (not impossible, just tricky - probably a database transaction issue).

Can anyone tell me the point of the "Contact Us" link in the forums?

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