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Gul Berat's Lessons in Proper PR, Presented to PWE
gulberat
Member Posts: 5,505 Arc User
It seems there have been some important lessons in PR thrown out the window by Cryptic/PWE in the past few days--and frankly these are problems in general, but no more is it obvious than in this most recent incident with the Tau Dewa sector. I've posted a few of these tips before, but I'm going to make one more last-ditch try in the hopes that someone will wake up and smell the coffee. I WANT this game to succeed, and I would be very sad to see it fail because of this, but fail it will if some better communications and decision-making skills are not adopted, pronto.
No, I am not a public relations expert but I have worked both in operations management and in the corporate world, and these things are quite obvious to li'l ol' me. Trust me--ignore these, Cryptic, at your own peril.
(Note: This is NOT a flame thread. In fact, a lot of this is good advice for people in all types of business, and even in personal life.)
Rule #1: 'No Comment' IS a Comment. Any time that you do not reply to something, you are signaling that it is unimportant to you. Sometimes that may be appropriate...if something really is tiny in scale and not affecting anything, then it may not merit a response. Similarly, if someone is engaging in flaming or trolling, then it does not deserve comment other than a lock, ban, or what have you. But if people are trying to tell you something that rises above that "tiny nitpick" level and you ignore it, then what you have just said, whether you mean it or not, is "That (and quite possibly the person who said it) isn't important to us." Which ties neatly into Rule #2...
Rule #2: Ignoring It Will Not Make It Go Away. In the event of a crisis, the LAST thing you want to do is keep your mouth shut and hope things will just blow over. Sure, you don't want to blurt the first random thing that comes to your mind, or take the genuine risk of posting inaccurate information you have reason to suspect will become invalid later. But even something as simple as saying, "We are aware of the problem and we are doing the following things to try to figure out what's going on" is a lot better than nothing.
When you do not communicate, you have lost control of the narrative. Period. Even if you had great intentions, even if you had perfectly reasonable rationale behind what you were doing, failure to communicate your side of the story means that your potential listeners will decide what the narrative is. Maybe you have something to hide, and we're onto it...OR maybe you don't and we're dead wrong, and you're completely wrecking your brand capital for absolutely no reason. This kind of self-inflicted wound need not happen!
Rule #3: Communicate Early and Communicate Often. In the event of a crisis, keep the updates coming. OFTEN. It may not feel like you're saying much, but even small tidbits of real information provided regularly and as soon as you have them at least lets people know that you're on it and you've made a priority out of the problem. It also makes people feel like they have a little ownership in it too because they are trusted to know. People like to be considered and trusted and nowhere is this more important than when the excrement has hit the fan.
Rule #4: If You Make a Mistake, Take Personal Ownership and Apologize. You may fear that apologizing or changing course will make you look weak. This is the exact opposite of the truth. It takes courage to stand up what must look like a pitchfork-wielding mob and admit that you were wrong and that you need to change course. People know that and they respect it. It is the weak who just dig in, hide in their cone of silence, and refuse to change course when there is a real need for it. The only time that people will not respect such words of apology goes to Rule #5...
Rule #5: If You Make a Promise, Keep It at All Costs. If You Cannot, Do Not Make a Promise. I don't care how big or how small the promise is. Promises must be kept or your word means nothing--and in a crisis especially, people will cut you far less slack than normal. Whether this means making changes to the game/product as promised and on schedule, or it simply means delivering a promised situation update on schedule, your word is your bond. If you cannot make a promise, then make that absolutely clear that you have uncertainties in that area. At least deliver an update on the status of whatever the end goal is so that people know you haven't forgotten. If something goes wrong while trying to fulfill a promise, see Rule #4, and also look ahead to Rule #6...
Rule #6: Be Honest and Make It Right. This should be self-evident. But many times, ranging from the little white lie to a big one to make people feel safe or to placate them when they are angry, the tempting and easy route can be to engage in a cover-up. Remember that lying backfires--and in a crisis, even little lies backfire far worse than they might ordinarily. Even if what you have to say might make you look bad temporarily, be honest. Note that honesty and anonymity are generally mutually exclusive. Wearing a disguise to convey important information is in and of itself a form of dishonesty. Unless you are involved in a police or military matter, corporate employees should speak on the record and under their own names or it will just invite suspicion.
And if you did make a mistake, take action. Take action quickly. Words without actions are empty.
Rule #7: There Is a Time and a Place for Humor and Goodies. Dealing With People You Have Upset Is Not the Time For It. Maybe it seems cute to make a flip remark or engage in silly behavior, or maybe the goal is to outright try to distract people with shinies. This is like going up to the podium in the briefing room, dropping your pants, and mooning everybody while sticking your fingers in your ears and singing, "Nanny nanny boo boo!" It is crude, disrespectful, and juvenile, and if you thought that image was juvenile, good--then you've got the point. Don't be that person.
But what if you don't think people have a right to be upset? See Rule #8...
Rule #8: It's Not What You Meant, It's What They Heard. It doesn't matter if you know full well that they/we heard flat wrong. If people have been upset, if they are offended by what you have said or done, do not EVER make a statement like the following: "I am sorry that YOU have been offended." All this means is, "I'm just sorry I got busted and I would do it again given the opportunity," or "I don't care about taking the time to carefully craft my message to make sure that I am really getting across what I meat to." If people are hurt, even if they have completely misinterpreted you or your intentions, their hurt and anger must be treated with respect and addressed with appropriate sensitivity.
Now, that does not mean having to placate an obvious forum troll or spammer, or that you have to tolerate illegal or harassing behavior, but if you have reasonable people angry and upset at you, then you must show the utmost respect for those people and apologize for the hurt in a way that MEANS something. Examples of suggested wording include, "I am sorry that I conveyed the wrong impression," and "I am sorry that I did not consider all of the potential consequences of _____."
Notice one more thing about those statements...
Rule #9: Where At All Possible, Favor 'I/We' Language to 'You' Language. Now, sometimes it may be unavoidable, but making statements about how "you did this" and "you did that," especially when the excrement is hitting the fan, just make people feel belittled and accused. Even worse if the problem is clearly the fault of the one making such statements--it's an exercise in petty deflection. But...even if the problem IS the customer's fault, there is a tactful way to help the customer to see that this is the case without making them feel like the dirt on the bottom of your shoe.
I'm going to use an example I saw recently in the gaming field, to show how this can be put into play. Someone files a bug report. Sometimes, replicating the problem is a difficult exercise. Take the following communication: "I'm sorry, but I am unable to duplicate the problem. Either it doesn't exist, or there must be information you are not giving me." Well, you were going great in the first sentence, but the second part could use some help to get the intended message across because most people are going to read that and come to the conclusion you think they're either stupid or TRIBBLE with you intentionally.
Try something like this instead (even though you may still be thinking the first version in your head, sometimes legitimately): "I'm sorry, but I am unable to duplicate the problem. Could you think of any other information about what was going on at the time it occurred? Here are some examples of things that would help me to better understand what's going on..." Now you have the chance for a real, productive dialogue and a chance to elicit helpful information from the customer. It may be obvious to you, but by not letting on, you're showing respect and people will remember that. Heck, they may even be appreciative towards you if they learn something from it.
And finally...
Rule #10: The Social Media Test. You may have heard this as the "Newspaper Test" in business school, but it's a lot more serious than even the 24-hour news cycle now: with social media, you can become a laughingstock in minutes, and if you did something wrong or inconsistent, that times a million. Imagine social media getting hold of whatever you say or do...whether it's in public or it's in private. Imagine record of whatever you did going all around the world in seconds. If you would be humiliated, hurt, or embarrassed by it, if it would damage your livelihood or your reputation, if it's obvious parody fodder, if it's rude, if it's anything that would upset or offend you if a company did it to you, then you'd better consider another route because your reputation could evaporate in one instantaneous POOF of smoke.
Again, that doesn't mean humoring trolls--the difference between unjustified rabble-rousing and a crapstorm of legitimate indignation should be obvious.
There you go, PWE/Cryptic...PLEASE take note of this and act accordingly. Inevitably some decisions will make people happy and some will not, but if you follow these ten rules, you will see what open and honest communication does.
No, I am not a public relations expert but I have worked both in operations management and in the corporate world, and these things are quite obvious to li'l ol' me. Trust me--ignore these, Cryptic, at your own peril.
(Note: This is NOT a flame thread. In fact, a lot of this is good advice for people in all types of business, and even in personal life.)
Rule #1: 'No Comment' IS a Comment. Any time that you do not reply to something, you are signaling that it is unimportant to you. Sometimes that may be appropriate...if something really is tiny in scale and not affecting anything, then it may not merit a response. Similarly, if someone is engaging in flaming or trolling, then it does not deserve comment other than a lock, ban, or what have you. But if people are trying to tell you something that rises above that "tiny nitpick" level and you ignore it, then what you have just said, whether you mean it or not, is "That (and quite possibly the person who said it) isn't important to us." Which ties neatly into Rule #2...
Rule #2: Ignoring It Will Not Make It Go Away. In the event of a crisis, the LAST thing you want to do is keep your mouth shut and hope things will just blow over. Sure, you don't want to blurt the first random thing that comes to your mind, or take the genuine risk of posting inaccurate information you have reason to suspect will become invalid later. But even something as simple as saying, "We are aware of the problem and we are doing the following things to try to figure out what's going on" is a lot better than nothing.
When you do not communicate, you have lost control of the narrative. Period. Even if you had great intentions, even if you had perfectly reasonable rationale behind what you were doing, failure to communicate your side of the story means that your potential listeners will decide what the narrative is. Maybe you have something to hide, and we're onto it...OR maybe you don't and we're dead wrong, and you're completely wrecking your brand capital for absolutely no reason. This kind of self-inflicted wound need not happen!
Rule #3: Communicate Early and Communicate Often. In the event of a crisis, keep the updates coming. OFTEN. It may not feel like you're saying much, but even small tidbits of real information provided regularly and as soon as you have them at least lets people know that you're on it and you've made a priority out of the problem. It also makes people feel like they have a little ownership in it too because they are trusted to know. People like to be considered and trusted and nowhere is this more important than when the excrement has hit the fan.
Rule #4: If You Make a Mistake, Take Personal Ownership and Apologize. You may fear that apologizing or changing course will make you look weak. This is the exact opposite of the truth. It takes courage to stand up what must look like a pitchfork-wielding mob and admit that you were wrong and that you need to change course. People know that and they respect it. It is the weak who just dig in, hide in their cone of silence, and refuse to change course when there is a real need for it. The only time that people will not respect such words of apology goes to Rule #5...
Rule #5: If You Make a Promise, Keep It at All Costs. If You Cannot, Do Not Make a Promise. I don't care how big or how small the promise is. Promises must be kept or your word means nothing--and in a crisis especially, people will cut you far less slack than normal. Whether this means making changes to the game/product as promised and on schedule, or it simply means delivering a promised situation update on schedule, your word is your bond. If you cannot make a promise, then make that absolutely clear that you have uncertainties in that area. At least deliver an update on the status of whatever the end goal is so that people know you haven't forgotten. If something goes wrong while trying to fulfill a promise, see Rule #4, and also look ahead to Rule #6...
Rule #6: Be Honest and Make It Right. This should be self-evident. But many times, ranging from the little white lie to a big one to make people feel safe or to placate them when they are angry, the tempting and easy route can be to engage in a cover-up. Remember that lying backfires--and in a crisis, even little lies backfire far worse than they might ordinarily. Even if what you have to say might make you look bad temporarily, be honest. Note that honesty and anonymity are generally mutually exclusive. Wearing a disguise to convey important information is in and of itself a form of dishonesty. Unless you are involved in a police or military matter, corporate employees should speak on the record and under their own names or it will just invite suspicion.
And if you did make a mistake, take action. Take action quickly. Words without actions are empty.
Rule #7: There Is a Time and a Place for Humor and Goodies. Dealing With People You Have Upset Is Not the Time For It. Maybe it seems cute to make a flip remark or engage in silly behavior, or maybe the goal is to outright try to distract people with shinies. This is like going up to the podium in the briefing room, dropping your pants, and mooning everybody while sticking your fingers in your ears and singing, "Nanny nanny boo boo!" It is crude, disrespectful, and juvenile, and if you thought that image was juvenile, good--then you've got the point. Don't be that person.
But what if you don't think people have a right to be upset? See Rule #8...
Rule #8: It's Not What You Meant, It's What They Heard. It doesn't matter if you know full well that they/we heard flat wrong. If people have been upset, if they are offended by what you have said or done, do not EVER make a statement like the following: "I am sorry that YOU have been offended." All this means is, "I'm just sorry I got busted and I would do it again given the opportunity," or "I don't care about taking the time to carefully craft my message to make sure that I am really getting across what I meat to." If people are hurt, even if they have completely misinterpreted you or your intentions, their hurt and anger must be treated with respect and addressed with appropriate sensitivity.
Now, that does not mean having to placate an obvious forum troll or spammer, or that you have to tolerate illegal or harassing behavior, but if you have reasonable people angry and upset at you, then you must show the utmost respect for those people and apologize for the hurt in a way that MEANS something. Examples of suggested wording include, "I am sorry that I conveyed the wrong impression," and "I am sorry that I did not consider all of the potential consequences of _____."
Notice one more thing about those statements...
Rule #9: Where At All Possible, Favor 'I/We' Language to 'You' Language. Now, sometimes it may be unavoidable, but making statements about how "you did this" and "you did that," especially when the excrement is hitting the fan, just make people feel belittled and accused. Even worse if the problem is clearly the fault of the one making such statements--it's an exercise in petty deflection. But...even if the problem IS the customer's fault, there is a tactful way to help the customer to see that this is the case without making them feel like the dirt on the bottom of your shoe.
I'm going to use an example I saw recently in the gaming field, to show how this can be put into play. Someone files a bug report. Sometimes, replicating the problem is a difficult exercise. Take the following communication: "I'm sorry, but I am unable to duplicate the problem. Either it doesn't exist, or there must be information you are not giving me." Well, you were going great in the first sentence, but the second part could use some help to get the intended message across because most people are going to read that and come to the conclusion you think they're either stupid or TRIBBLE with you intentionally.
Try something like this instead (even though you may still be thinking the first version in your head, sometimes legitimately): "I'm sorry, but I am unable to duplicate the problem. Could you think of any other information about what was going on at the time it occurred? Here are some examples of things that would help me to better understand what's going on..." Now you have the chance for a real, productive dialogue and a chance to elicit helpful information from the customer. It may be obvious to you, but by not letting on, you're showing respect and people will remember that. Heck, they may even be appreciative towards you if they learn something from it.
And finally...
Rule #10: The Social Media Test. You may have heard this as the "Newspaper Test" in business school, but it's a lot more serious than even the 24-hour news cycle now: with social media, you can become a laughingstock in minutes, and if you did something wrong or inconsistent, that times a million. Imagine social media getting hold of whatever you say or do...whether it's in public or it's in private. Imagine record of whatever you did going all around the world in seconds. If you would be humiliated, hurt, or embarrassed by it, if it would damage your livelihood or your reputation, if it's obvious parody fodder, if it's rude, if it's anything that would upset or offend you if a company did it to you, then you'd better consider another route because your reputation could evaporate in one instantaneous POOF of smoke.
Again, that doesn't mean humoring trolls--the difference between unjustified rabble-rousing and a crapstorm of legitimate indignation should be obvious.
There you go, PWE/Cryptic...PLEASE take note of this and act accordingly. Inevitably some decisions will make people happy and some will not, but if you follow these ten rules, you will see what open and honest communication does.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
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This is a solid post.
Cheers!
If only someone in PWE/Cryptic would listen...
IF YOU ARE READING MY SIG - THEN YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG
I can't claim to use them all perfectly myself. Thing is...when I do TRIBBLE up on one or multiple of these, I pay for it. I have even done so recently (think we all have at some point or another, if we're honest with ourselves). So I can attest to the consequences of failure personally as well as the successes. I hope the right people will take note.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Daizen - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Selia - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Do not assume the community has a singular voice or consensus. Many times you see a big push by the community for a change toward a particular style, such as increased difficulty. While their may appear to be a consensus for such a change remember those happy with how it is typically do not voice their perspective.
Ok that read's terribly. If someone can fix that for me to be concise I'd appreciate it. My two examples of it are when Geko was annoyed the community wanted the Aquarius to be competitive because in his eyes the community didn't care and just wanted the ship. Which is true for those who wanted the ship in the first place, then once it was available others acquired it and expected it to be competitive. The second is, well the difficulty debate.
What I'm trying to say is do not treat the players as a singular mass with a single voice when it relates to things that are mostly a style or preference topic.
Yeah. The more difficulty thing, like many others, was just a vocal minority being really really loud on the forums.
Like a hundred or so players out of how many? In my fleet of 100 players, around 10 wanted harder difficulty.
I personally feel like the attitude towards the customers is one of disdain. You know the problems in STO so I'll talk about Neverwinter.
In Neverwinter in the last update which came out after 9.5 in STO added Artifact belts they were advertised as the next big thing. Everyone had to have one because they were so much more powerful than any other item available in game. Now please understand that these items basically come from lock-boxes though a lower rank one can drop in game, though the drop rate is so low your better off spending your time gaining wealth and just buying one from the auction house. And then you have to refine them much like the upgrade system in STO except it costs WAY more, to the tune of hundred(s) of dollars to obtain and refine to "legendary".
Before the announcement of the next upcoming update there was a poll in the general chat forum of that game where 80% of players said they didn't want more artifact equipment in the next update. Recently the details of the next update were made available and they not only added new artifacts they added new belts that are now part of a set and thus even more powerful than the old belts that are only only a few month old. So, belts that either people paid big bucks for or haven't even finished refining are basically obsolete.
So the more rational and accepting players simply asked for them to make the old belts compatible with the new sets. Currently there is no plan nor has it even been mentioned as an option by any staff. Now you may be saying making them compatible would require them to add new code to the old belts and maybe that's not possible except that in the EXACT same update they are making the older original style artifacts (not belts and less powerful than belts) part of the sets.
Basically it's just a huge kick in the nuts to anyone who invested in the big item from just a few months ago. There are SO SO many ways they could have gone about it but they literally picked the path that would obviously be the least popular option with the players. They couldn't have accidentally made this choice, they from my point of view purposely chose and option they knew the players wouldn't like.
You just have to wonder what kind of business plan it is to do the exact opposite of what the players want constantly.
In that game they made it so you can pay $50.00 USD to clear that games equivalent of reputation system in the last update. So... of course they made the most recent reputation the most obnoxious and time consuming reputation and it's purposely not fun 2/3 of your time each day will be standing around waiting for dragons to spawn.
This last mod and monitization has lead to a joke that "Cryptic makes games so bad you will pay money not to play them."
I don't know what Cryptic could change but all I know is they need to make some big changes and even then it will be a while before I am once again willing to give them any money.
They don't get it, the more they make changes to the game that people don't like the less likely people will be willing to pay money to invest in them or the game.
We like to joke about self-destructive practices, but... :eek:
Gotta admit that I'm kind of glad I only ever play NW casually. That sounds horrible.
Don't undersell yourself...that's a great one.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
All of u qquers look like an angry kidos who was played with the stolen toy and when it was taken away, you start crying all over the forum in doom threads
Neverwinter is very far down the rabbit hole of Asian mmo. Its not all the way there yet, but its sprinting that direction.
Co and sto are very lucky by comparison.
Yeah, but guys like Tacofangs aren't the ones calling the shots. Haven't seen Stahl for a while. He is still running things, right? Who knows.
RE: Rule #7:
What if you crack a joke at your own expense as a way of tacitly conveying the subtext of 'Yeah we screwed up and we're not afraid to take responsibility for it; we understand your position' ?
Like if the server suddenly goes down, saying "Attention captains! The server hamster has had a heart attack! We are investigating and calling an EMT. More info soon."
Joined January 2009
It takes a special kind of stupid... :rolleyes:
It's probably easier to do something like that when you have brand capital and reputation to spare. I'm not sure Cryptic/PWE have either of those commodities in large quantities right now, so probably better to be serious until a lot of credibility is built.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Literally all of what was in the OP. Above all else they need to talk to us. I don't think I've ever seen Captain Smirk on here once whenever there was forum rage trying to calm it down. It makes me wonder why they bother hiring community managers when they don't talk to the community. (I don't hate Smirk and I don't want him to lose his job, but his "community managing" isn't.)
Support 90 degree arc limitation on BFaW! Save our ships from looking like flying disco balls of dumb!
Something to think about. But yeah; solid post!
And great post.
And then there's the 80% of companies that ignore it. Cryptic has a challenge with the universes most virulent and active fan base - The Trekker.
Taken from "Life on Earth, Revisited", BBC Documentary 2001
As narrated by David Attenborough (R.I.P)
The Trekk-ER is often constrained by his environment and as perhaps the only single-sex species on the planet, is at his best in the outdoors. Normally preferring a solitary existence in basements or single room apartments, the Trekker is known to flourish at annual events scattered around the planet. The events or 'Cons' as they are described, provide the Trekker with the opportunity to meet and converse with other single-sex members of their group in a quest for canon knowledge and 'Mr. Spock' rubber ears.
It is at these cons where the even rarer sub-species the 'Trekkie' makes an appearance. Within this sub group between the cos-players and fan-fiction writers are the rarest of Trekkie individuals - the Fe-Male.
As they (the females) are exquisite creatures and the rarest of the subgroup, the Trekkers often find themselves at odds with male Trekkies when vying for the affection of the female unit. There are recorded instances of females from other sub-groups interacting with Trekkers; SG1 Shippers, Twihards and Whovians are the most common. But it is during the bright and colorful uniform displays that the male Trekker is at his peak for reproduction.
Look at his deep red breasted uniform from The Wrath of Khan; it screams fecundity. or eventual death if you are a fan of the original series.
It is unfortunate for the Trekker however that while they are exposed to potential mates, they often succumb to the slightest Star Trek related argument. This is further exasperated since the dawn of the personal computer and wireless communications. The Trekker is never far from a point of contention, especially issues surrounding their favourite tv series or computer game..."
Communication is critical in any situation especially during issues that effect customers directly.
Thank you for trying, but I can am not optimistic PWE/Cryptic will listen.
Zeus
Nailed it! Great advice not just to pwe/cryptic but to anyone experiencing a PR problem.
However, when you offer advice to someone, for it to be effective:
1) They must acknowledge there is a problem before anything else occurs.
2) They have to listen to the advice.
3) They have to implement the advice.
4) They have to be willing to put up with "I told you!" from others for a bit.
I cannot see pwe/cryptic doing any of these. Which is not to say they will not. But based on past performance they will not take your advice and suggestions for their use.
Shame your talking to people no better than those potato headed Hierarchy.
Profits profits profits and TRIBBLE logic/customer service!
Can understand a company needing to make a profit, but Cryptic s behavior shows a lack of respect for its customer base.
As an example I give you an issue I reported and the response:
Issue I reported:
(This was regarding one of the Romulan rep missions.)
I completed it, it says "Submit Recording", but there's nowhere to submit the recording. I clicked on the console where I input the codes and watched the cut scene, but then nothing else happened. I left the cave thinking perhaps it would show up after I cleared the instance, but nothing. I spoke to the man who gave me the Daily I had to get to do the mission I wanted to do and nothing. From the forums it looks like I have to wait 20 hours and do the daily all over again and hope that the console works the way it's supposed to for Web Access. I can't drop it. Any ideas so I can get this from uselessly taking up a mission slot?
The Response (with my editorial comments included)
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.
We appreciate your patience as we worked to resolve this issue.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
To access your question from our support site, click here.
Subject
Romulan Tier Mission Web Access Broken
The above all seems fine.
Discussion Thread
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us. Here are some resources that you have at your disposal:
* Official Star Trek Online forums: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com
* Unofficial Star Trek Online Wiki: http://sto.gamepedia.com
I had said in my email that I had already been to the forums, and informed them of what I had found.
Here at Customer Service, we work with players who have gameplay problems such as being stuck in the terrain or harassed by another player.
Actual in-game strategies, NPC locations, item uses, etc., are things that we leave up to the players to figure out themselves, so that they can enjoy the experience of discovery and become more capable players in the process.
Quite possibly one of the most patronizing, condescending response I have ever read. Ever. My jaw literally dropped when I read it. Not only did it have nothing to do with my issue, they were using politicese to pretty much call me a n00b.
If you want to temporary remove the mission from the log, please bring up your mission journal ("J"), then Skip the said mission.
Already said I couldn't. It was one of the issues I requested help with. AND if you're going to submit a form letter response, for God's sake proofread the damned thing. "Temporary remove the mission"? Really?
If you are reporting a bug, please use the in-game bug report feature rather than Request GM Help.
Translation: Stop bothering us, n00b, we don't give a TRIBBLE that the game is broken. Deal with it. Yeah, you can tell us what it is, but we are absolutely not going to help you try to get around it.
Thank you for your patience and continued patronage.
Regards,
[Redacted]
Game Master
Perfect World Entertainment
http://support.arcgames.com/
End transmission
They couldn't have been more obvious about not caring if they tried. I would rather have gotten no response at all than that. Not only did they NOT read my issue, at all, they quite clearly showed that they had zero interest in helping me resolve it. Thank God it was a minor trifling issue and not something that concerned real money or was game breaking.
If their customer service is not designed to help players with their broken game, there are much, much better ways to put it than by using the insulting, ambivalent method above. Tell me that. Say, "We're sorry, but at this time we are unable to help you with this issue. Please submit a bug report so that our development team is aware of it to address in the future." Yeah, that would annoy me, but not on a level like the rank imbecility above.
They already do when you request GM help in the game, there's a little pop up that says, "Sorry, at this time we do not provide in-game GM help" or some such. Yeah, it's annoying and I can't believe it, but it's how their system is. That is direct and straight to the point without the spewage in the response I received.
Their Community Manager and PR Dept need some SERIOUS help in how to deal with customers. This is a Black Milk PR catastrophe waiting to happen.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
+1
This is a solid post.
Not communicating also, right or wrong, makes one look guilty (like the spin doctors don't know how to talk themselves out of it). ALWAYS communicate. Defuse the frenzy (fed by your own silence on the matter).
Also, don't hide behind Q. That also, right or wrong, makes you look guilty (cuz you're sending off the vibe that no one dares take personal responsibility for the mess).
What we need is something like a Community Manager, who can liaison between PWE and the community... Oh wait.