Lack of Community, Event, and GM Support for NA user. [Archive]

View Full Version : Lack of Community, Event, and GM Support for NA user.

Michizane

07-13-2012, 12:05 PM

Hello. Before I discuss the problems I and several other users have been experiencing I would like to note that I am not troll, flaming, or any other form of bad internet behavior. I am a legitimate customer with legitimate concerns about the wellbeing of the Final Fantasy XI. I have tried going through all the proper routes to address these concerns with no success. The only reason I have decided to post here is because I feel there is no other choose in order to have these issue addressed.

My first program is LS Community support. I was originally on the server Fairy with was merge with Sylph in June 2010. My sister and me remade our LS and had no problems until we tried to use the LS Community Site. It seems someone who used to play before the merge and quit had a LS by the same name and had setup a LS Community page for it with them as sole manager. I have contact SE via the LS Community's support page and e-mail, SE support and e-mail and even by phone. Each time I was told to go to a different page or site or e-mail only to be sent an e-mail saying I have to go and send my issue in to a page/e-mail which had told me to use the current one in the first place. It has been over two years and this problem has yet to be addressed.

The second problem is lack of player event support. An LS mate recently was have an in-game wedding and requested objects via the Player Event system. He filled out the paperwork and sent the request into SE, and LS reply that they can have things setup in that time slot for him and he need to reply to confirm, which he did. Then all communication stops. He tried to contact SE about his request and got no reply. His request time slot came and there was no event objects placed like promised.

The third issue and the most important is lack of proper GM support. I have had numerous run-ins with players who are in clear violation of the ToA and have reported them each time to the GMs with all necessary information, such as time and zone and people involved. Sometimes the GMs would say they would "investigate" and others they would just say they can’t do anything, even before they let me tell them what happen since they were only going on the short limited character file a GM call description. I am only going to address to events in this post however, despite there being several more.

First off my sister was farming monster in Xarcbard-S. When two other characters game along and started harassing her. She did not reply to their tells instead called a GM right away. While waiting for a GM to respond to her called The two characters started sending tells with racist effigies and slurs to my sister target North Americans because my sister's bazaar comment was in English. They were still spraying racial insults at my sister while she was talking to the GM about them. They even went as far as to threaten to MPK any member of our LS they see. A few days later they started harass other members of our LS in the same manner and did try to keep their promise of MPKing our LS members. Each time we had the LS member report them to a GM. However, these characters are still on our server today. I have seen many people get banned from just insulting other players or offer to do quests for RL money because they didn't know about the RMT rules. So I do not understand why someone who is sending racist comments to another player isn't banned.

Lastly people holding multiple monsters in dynamis. I have seen this more times than I can count. They will grab a large groups of monster and AoE them hate or have their BST pet attack them and when you try to claim a yellow one from them they will retarget the one you’re on to reclaim it making you disengage before you can even get any enmity on the monster. I understand that if a monster is yellow it is technically not being held since you can try to claim. However, if the enmity of the person who is fighting it and several other monsters at same time is too high for you to even have a chance out claiming it for yourself before it turns claimed again, than it is the same as holding since you have no chance of grabbing it away. I have heard of GMs banned FC parties in Abyssea for monopolizing monsters in the same method, yet when I and others report the same issue with Dynamis, the rule doesn't apply.

Like I have said I have tried to take these issue u within the normal systems made to address them with no result. I have even asked to speak to a GM's supervisor and was told the SGM would contact me shortly. I waited several hours online and was never contact. I have asked GMs to give me a phone number of where I can contact someone about these issues and was basically blown off. For these thinking I'm making things up. I have list of names of all characters involved including the GM. I will not post them on the forums, and I will only give them to SE if they so request. I like Final Fantasy XI and I don't want to see it fail, but if the programs setup to help the community don't work, and GMs will not enforce the rules, then they game will ultimately fail for lack of being fun.

Rosina

07-13-2012, 02:01 PM

good luck is all i can say..

Michizane

07-13-2012, 03:43 PM

good luck is all i can say..

Thank you.

Rosina

07-13-2012, 08:20 PM

Riggs

07-13-2012, 09:28 PM

Avina

07-13-2012, 09:44 PM

There was a theory around a few years ago that North American GM's could not take any action against Japanese players but japanese GM's could take action against any player no matter the region, not sure if this still stands

I'm almost positive that the GM staff is entirely bilingual. At least I think I remember Sage Sundi saying something about that. Either way, I don't think JP GMs only tend to JP players, and vice versa.

As for taking action against another JP player, I'm not sure if NA GMs are banned from that or not. But one time I was in Bostaunieux Oubliette doing Grounds pages with a large party and I accidentally pulled a mob that had linked to this one JP player. He flipped his lid, and even though I apologized a lot, he started getting racist. I can read Japanese and was able to respond... just in romanji, since SE hurts my soul by not letting us have IME support. He kept demanding that I personally leave the zone (and the game, if I recall correctly). I called a GM in the late hours of the night and they shut him up, whoever it was. He didn't bother me again.

This all being said, I don't want to make it sound like the JPs hate us like so many posts do. Sure there are some tensions, but most Japanese players I have run into are very friendly to me. Moreso, I'd say, than NA players even. There are mean Japanese players just like there are mean North American players.

Daniel_Hatcher

07-13-2012, 09:46 PM

Moreso, I'd say, than NA players even. There are mean Japanese players just like there are mean North American players.

Agreed 100%

Michizane

07-13-2012, 10:10 PM

wqhat i would do is go to the feedback section and make a complaint about this, there is infact a rating you can do to grade how well gm and their CS do.. give then a low rating and details as to why.

then call SE and make a complaint as to the stuff listed here in question.

I been there btw... one of the resons around treasures that I started over on was some pig that i didn't even know... would send me random tells asking of id kick a guy in the nuts, if i was a girl and if was paid would i kick a guy in the nuts. I never met or seen this person in game. Yet they knew exaxtly when i was on. I reported and blocked this person and he would just make an alt which i would block. rinse repeat. This lasted 3 mnths and he harrassed other ppl as well... i ended up changing servers cuz my black list was full of his alts. and he still harrassed me.

Like I stated in my OP, I have try using all forms of support to either been ingored or blown off.
*edit* Just to point out, you have just admitted that SE did nothing about you being harassed by another playing and was forced into changing servers to hide from them and they still came and harassed you. So, they didn't address your problem either, even when you went trough the correct channels.

I'm almost positive that the GM staff is entirely bilingual. At least I think I remember Sage Sundi saying something about that. Either way, I don't think JP GMs only tend to JP players, and vice versa.

As for taking action against another JP player, I'm not sure if NA GMs are banned from that or not. But one time I was in Bostaunieux Oubliette doing Grounds pages with a large party and I accidentally pulled a mob that had linked to this one JP player. He flipped his lid, and even though I apologized a lot, he started getting racist. I can read Japanese and was able to respond... just in romanji, since SE hurts my soul by not letting us have IME support. He kept demanding that I personally leave the zone (and the game, if I recall correctly). I called a GM in the late hours of the night and they shut him up, whoever it was. He didn't bother me again.

This all being said, I don't want to make it sound like the JPs hate us like so many posts do. Sure there are some tensions, but most Japanese players I have run into are very friendly to me. Moreso, I'd say, than NA players even. There are mean Japanese players just like there are mean North American players.

I never said they person was Japanese (even though they are) but it should not matter what race someone is. If you start spaming someone with racist slurs and such you should be banned. I have seen people be banned for shouting racist things about Japanese players. There is no excuse let someone who engages in this sort of hateful action to be allows to stay on the game. If this happen in RL they could and would be charged with some form of hate crime. So for the GMs to sit by and do nothing is an insult to all players.

Demon6324236

07-13-2012, 11:07 PM

Sapphire

07-14-2012, 02:55 AM

The second problem is lack of player event support. An LS mate recently was have an in-game wedding and requested objects via the Player Event system. He filled out the paperwork and sent the request into SE, and LS reply that they can have things setup in that time slot for him and he need to reply to confirm, which he did. Then all communication stops. He tried to contact SE about his request and got no reply. His request time slot came and there was no event objects placed like promised.

This point is interesting for me, as I applied for Player Event Support for my wedding. Your LS mate got more than I did in that they got an initial response. I never heard anything back from SE, and I checked to make sure any e-mails hadn't gone to spam repeatedly. I did not get any of the items I requested in the end.

Still was a nice wedding at least.

Avina

07-14-2012, 04:29 AM

The problem is that SE is nationalist. They have shown it many times I have no doubt they do it here a ton too. No offense to our reps but I wouldn't be surprised if they have to keep certain info from us the JPs get. GMs care less about helping us, I have been told many times to just look on a community website for something rather than the GM themselves actually taking 3 minutes out of their time to help me. PS2 continuing in Japan but not in NA. To me it seems logical to assume thats partly why.

Square-Enix isn't so much nationalist as it is that they are a Japan-based company. Because of this, Square-Enix Japan likely has significantly more staff to address concerns and has a stronger presence there. It's where the servers are. Any request that needs to go through requiring upper level approval from a non-Japanese reason has to be translated and sent to Square-Enix headquarters. All of that effort takes time.

Likewise any news that gets announced that you think they are 'keeping from us' has to be translated since it is released in Japanese first. Not all that shocking. It's a Japanese company. If they wanted to leave us in the dark, we wouldn't have Camate and Bayohne traveling to Japan and making a big ol live video stream to explain to us what went down.

This is not racism so much as it is a fact of business. I wouldn't expect, for example, Blizzard to offer the same level of care to Japanese players of World of Warcraft. I don't play WoW, but a quick Google search told me that BlizzCon has never been held outside of Anaheim, California. I'm sure players of other regions don't like that either, but the fact of the matter is that where a business is based. It is no different for Square-Enix. Honestly, its pretty dang cool we got the Fan Festivals to begin with.

The JP PS2-Exclusive Adoulin expansion is just straight business. Tell me where in America you can buy new PS2 games with the hard drive these days? If anything you find them used, mostly where game vendors are trying to clear out their outdated inventory. In Japan though the PS2 is still marketed, and its games still marketed. They aren't bringing Adoulin to the PS2 out here because we don't sell new PS2 games in any of our stores anymore. It is not some conspiracy attempt to phase out the North American players since the majority of us don't play on Playstation 2. It sucks, but they aren't going to develop a whole American line of PS2-Adoulin when the only venue to carry it would be Amazon.

I never said they person was Japanese (even though they are) but it should not matter what race someone is. If you start spaming someone with racist slurs and such you should be banned. I have seen people be banned for shouting racist things about Japanese players. There is no excuse let someone who engages in this sort of hateful action to be allows to stay on the game. If this happen in RL they could and would be charged with some form of hate crime. So for the GMs to sit by and do nothing is an insult to all players.

I agree, they should be banned. But my comment was actually directed to Riggs.

Demon6324236

07-14-2012, 04:30 AM

I got told I wasn't allowed to ask people not to run through the area because there was a wedding in progress there -_-...

Frost

07-14-2012, 07:14 AM

Not making excuses for SE but there's a slippery slope when it comes to dealing with those comments the JPs use against us in English/Auto-trans. They hide behind the fact when a JP says something in English that it might be a "mistranslation". But when you respond in English, you know what you're saying.

It doesn't matter if they're overtly racist or blatantly rude, they possess 'plausible deniability'.

If a JP says "NA <too weak>. <amateur>! <country> <leave>"

what the GM has to see them say is:

"Hello friend! It seems your skills need some improvement, please return when you're able to defeat these foes with ease and have a nice day! ^^ "

And that's your customer service lesson for the day.

The rest of the post, I can only say SE has always had an um... "interesting" way of doing things when it comes to customer service.

But just remember, you're not dealing with people face to face. There's all kinds out there, besides just plain angry people, you got people with psychological & social disabilities, as well as developmental disabilities. You never know who's on the other side of those insults. It might be some lonely guy who just "doesn't get it" and sits there wondering why 'everyone is an idiot'. Or it might be a dude with asperger syndrome that you've upset their 'pattern', and they want you to go away.

Just remind yourself that they're not even going to be a memory in a week, and do your best not to sweat it.

bungiefanNA

07-14-2012, 12:07 PM

The problem is that SE is nationalist. PS2 continuing in Japan but not in NA. To me it seems logical to assume thats partly why.

Installed user base is part of that. PS2 HDD was sold in Japan from 2001-2009/2010, and compatible models were sold from launch until then. In NA, HDDs were released in 2004, and discontinued 9 months later. Compatible PS2 models were discontinued at the same time. So Japan had the hardware made and sold for nearly a decade, we didn't even have 10 months, less than 1/12th the time. Japan has an easy stock of replacement HDDs and consoles, we don't. Japan is still getting rereleases of PS2 games, in their equivalent of Greatest Hits, so they're still making, stocking, and selling discs. Sony of Japan has allowed this to be the case.

Riggs

07-14-2012, 09:05 PM

I'm almost positive that the GM staff is entirely bilingual. At least I think I remember Sage Sundi saying something about that. Either way, I don't think JP GMs only tend to JP players, and vice versa.

As for taking action against another JP player, I'm not sure if NA GMs are banned from that or not. But one time I was in Bostaunieux Oubliette doing Grounds pages with a large party and I accidentally pulled a mob that had linked to this one JP player. He flipped his lid, and even though I apologized a lot, he started getting racist. I can read Japanese and was able to respond... just in romanji, since SE hurts my soul by not letting us have IME support. He kept demanding that I personally leave the zone (and the game, if I recall correctly). I called a GM in the late hours of the night and they shut him up, whoever it was. He didn't bother me again.

This all being said, I don't want to make it sound like the JPs hate us like so many posts do. Sure there are some tensions, but most Japanese players I have run into are very friendly to me. Moreso, I'd say, than NA players even. There are mean Japanese players just like there are mean North American players.

I know you have not stated that my post was raciest but i want to make it clear that there was no intention on my part to make a raciest comment. I was simply saying i remember a threat on alla back about 6 or 7 years ago where this was discussed and i though there was an official response saying us gm's could not deal with Jp players as there was a special protocal that needed to be followed

oliveira

07-14-2012, 10:45 PM

Installed user base is part of that. PS2 HDD was sold in Japan from 2001-2009/2010, and compatible models were sold from launch until then. In NA, HDDs were released in 2004, and discontinued 9 months later. Compatible PS2 models were discontinued at the same time. So Japan had the hardware made and sold for nearly a decade, we didn't even have 10 months, less than 1/12th the time. Japan has an easy stock of replacement HDDs and consoles, we don't. Japan is still getting rereleases of PS2 games, in their equivalent of Greatest Hits, so they're still making, stocking, and selling discs. Sony of Japan has allowed this to be the case.

I would put the entire blame on that into the infamous HD Loader piece of software.
It did affect FFXI and the PlayOnline service, even if indirectly. -__-;

Michizane

07-15-2012, 12:06 AM

Update: I finally got contacted by the SGM... 36 hours after i asked if I could speak with them... :/

Rosina

07-15-2012, 03:35 AM

the jpn crowd do not hate us.... if fact some assume we hate them since ppl use the term "jap" alot which still stings as a racist slur. infact we was racist first when ppl gave a stink about "jp only" parties. remember japan was playing ffxi a year before us unless u imported a copy. this game started out as hell (see ffxiv for basic hell) so they put up with the game a year later we show up and pretty much claim it as our game tho we didn't toil the first year.

We didn't understand their terms of community "rules" or equite (sp?) like asking befor random;y checking... all we did is insult them for it.

i took time to try to talk to japanese players and learn from them on what they find as rude and what is polite. And i try to be respectful of that no matter how odd i think it is... infact in ffxiv.... i had an hour long conversation with a japanese player. I was doing quests i just waved, they waved back and we started talking. We talked about the various anime we watched, and how i know more about

Rosina

07-15-2012, 03:42 AM

a japanese singer then they do. we both laughed. Then we said our goodbyes and did our thing.

there are nice and rude ppl no matter what nation ur in. all we can do is report. And give feedback. But this game is old and the NA team is pretty small. Even the japanese team is small as alot when to go fix ffxiv. But i think once the game is relaunched, we will see more love. FFxiv is being rebuilt from the ground up with new engine, new map, new UI for controler, and new UI for keyboard mouse. Adding a ton more content as well as changing them around. this is being done with in a year and a 1/2 not something that u typically seen. as most mmorpg take 5 years to build. So se is pulling a "first of the industry". so they need all the help to work on it.

anyway i offered my suggestions, and said my peace again i wish u luck. if anything just block them players. most ppl are not as twisted as my stalker of 2008.

Teraniku

07-15-2012, 12:46 PM

equite (sp?)

Etiquette

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/etiquette

Muse

07-15-2012, 04:58 PM

I know you have not stated that my post was raciest but i want to make it clear that there was no intention on my part to make a raciest comment. I was simply saying i remember a threat on alla back about 6 or 7 years ago where this was discussed and i though there was an official response saying us gm's could not deal with Jp players as there was a special protocal that needed to be followed

Hey! I remember that thread too!

Here's a direct quote from it.

I'm on Cait Sith server in Windurst and for 2 weeks now there is a lvl 1 whm JP player that sits at dock fishing for 12 hour stretches without moving.

One day i was a little curious so i got out the old translator and tried to chat it up, no reply. Tried the next day. The day after nothing, person always at same spot, lvl 1 whm with no gear on so he can hold more items.

Since person was JP and would be fishing from 10am to 10pm and since they like 14-15 hours ahead of us that would be like fishing 1am-1pm straight every day for 2 weeks or more.

One day i decided to report this non moving, non talking super fisherman and got this response from GM.

GM:I cant touch JP players

Bhodi: well can you try to contact JP GM or to talk to Fisher with translator, it is pretty suspicious

Gm replies with non committal answer and tells me not to bother reporting people for botting.

I'm not trying to add fuel to the fire here, just saying that this thread did exist.

Does anybody remember GM Dave? He was awesome...

Here's a quote from him:

Now, there seems to be a misunderstanding amongst the general FFXI populace. Many players think that Japanese GMs have a greater deal of power or authority than us.

They are wrong.

We are all equals. Well... in terms of game based abilities.

Does it seem JP's get special treatment? Yes.

Do they? Not really. Information is easier to put out when it doesn't need to go through translations. Translate a JP thread sometime with google translate. You get some of the gist but don't really learn anything.

Michizane

07-15-2012, 05:22 PM

Okay, Let me be clear here...
I don't care if someone is Japanese, American, Mexican, or whatever. I realise there are bad apples and good apples in all races and nationalities. That is not why I posted this thread. The GMs ARE NOT doing the job they have been hired to do, same with some of the other SE workers who are suppose to be running the LS Community site, and Player-made events. So please stop the 'JPs get this. JPs get that" stuff. All it's doing is making us look like fools. To be honest, we don't know how good JP GMs are cause we are not in Japan. That is why I put in the title like of support for NA reigon.

Having said that I find it very telling that despite this thread being on the "Hot Topics" List for three days, neither the Community Reps or a SE Rep. has decided to make a comment on it. This is a big problem and it seems like they just want to sweep it under the rug. Seriously, who cares about a "Prism Staff" if the rest of the game is broken.

Rosina

07-15-2012, 05:55 PM

Etiquette

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/etiquette

thanks i guess ^^;; i was just waking up when i posted and couldn't recall the spelling.

Rosina

07-15-2012, 06:14 PM

Michizane

07-15-2012, 06:55 PM

gms are a hit or miss.... as the cait sith posting pretty much points too... that guy wasn't doing his job and fully commited to not doing well. Its live every other job... there ppl who work hard, there ppl who slack off.

GMs are infact equals most hired are infact fluent in other langues. but really gms get a TON of calls each day both in game, thru e-mail and from the werbsite. I remember where theire was an hour long wait for a gm call. First they need to read it and see if call is legit (people do prank call gms) then need to talk to the person about w/e is up.

pretty much if you ever worked for a customer service type job u will realise its a thankless job full of long hard hours. You gotta sit there reading over 1000 complaints daily on trivial stuff like petty fights, to serious stuff like death threats. They gotta investigate each claim then come up with a decent punishment to fit the crime. it does take time for everything to happen. there maybe 18 gm working over every server in this game.

If this is true why are most FFXI players in agreement that they are not doing their job?
Your like the only one defending them. Yet you even admitted they didn't do their job when you were being harassed.
Also how about the GMs explain why they wont do anything. Your not a GM, and I doubt you work for SE in any way, shape, or form. My aunt worked for AOL as a Customer Sevice Rep. I know it's a thankless job, however they are getting pay money to do that job. If you failed to do a job that you were heired to do you are fired. Your boss wouldn't care if you weren't being "thanked" to do it, your still taking money from the company to do that job none the less.

Volarione

07-15-2012, 10:28 PM

Demon6324236

07-16-2012, 12:34 AM

the only reason I haf to make a new char is because I lost my keychain, there goes 8 years out the window. no support and I will NOT be buying a new keychain. if I wasnt so damn addicted to this game....

You mean the security token? If you have your info for your account you can get that removed but keep your Satchel, I took mine off when mine broke and have never looked back, hated the thing anyways. Just call support and they should be able to remove it from your account provided you have the correct information.

Rosina

07-16-2012, 03:40 AM

@ mich
This is because ppl see what they wqant to see... if gm wasn't doing their job why was in 2006-2009 massive banning of rmt, gil buying, gil seelers, accounter buyers, accounter sellers banned? and over a billion gil taken out of circulation? I talked to a person on ffxiv who was a gm for another game. And told me how it works. Its pretty much an @ home job. You need a degree in programing. There is alot of coding you got to go thru before u can do anything. And each gm gets over 1000 call a day of not every hours. You simply can't answer to every call, and as I stated ppl infact to crank call gm with pointless stuff. They only handle the most urgent calls first. And i'm not defending them Just educating yall in how gm work in essence. You want proof of what gm go thru... Look up gm online on youtube. Like ffxi gm.

I'm in agreement that gm can be better. But I also understand the crap they deal with daily.

Rosina

07-16-2012, 03:42 AM

You mean the security token? If you have your info for your account you can get that removed but keep your Satchel, I took mine off when mine broke and have never looked back, hated the thing anyways. Just call support and they should be able to remove it from your account provided you have the correct information.

you may want to get a new one due to the account block from IP change

Demon6324236

07-16-2012, 03:49 AM

you may want to get a new one due to the account block from IP change

What do ya mean?

Volarione

07-16-2012, 05:59 AM

See I tried to remove it but couldn't log in without it, tried to get support and that was a no go so I said screw it and made a new char. Hopefully I won't need se for anything.

Demon6324236

07-16-2012, 07:21 AM

Ok what happened with support?

Volarione

07-16-2012, 07:30 AM

Ok what happened with support?

Sent multiple emails and called no reply to emails waiting on phone for over an hour, but on the plus side I've recaptured some of my love for drg

Demon6324236

07-16-2012, 07:49 AM

Sent multiple emails and called no reply to emails waiting on phone for over an hour, but on the plus side I've recaptured some of my love for drg

Hmm~ phone I would try a few times, emails always seem like a waste of time for any support I have ever tried however. Phone calls are normally 1~4 calls for me to get things done right, and I would do it if I were you only because the account I am sure has more than a few hours worth of work :x thats just me though.

Rosina

07-16-2012, 08:56 AM

Demon6324236

07-16-2012, 09:13 AM

it was a counter measure SE put in place because ppl was still able to hack accounts so now if u log into another account under a different IP then the account normally logs on it will block the account. The token by passes the requirment of having to painstakingly change ur password.

That is weird, I have never had that happen. I commonly log onto my friends account and play his character because he is in the military and barely gets to do much on the game so I normaly try to get him gear and such so that when he has time to play he can have a badass PLD. In either case I have never had this problem with me or him logging on his character and we have done this for about a year

Rosina

07-16-2012, 01:01 PM

That is weird, I have never had that happen. I commonly log onto my friends account and play his character because he is in the military and barely gets to do much on the game so I normaly try to get him gear and such so that when he has time to play he can have a badass PLD. In either case I have never had this problem with me or him logging on his character and we have done this for about a year

well its there you guys might be on same ip, cuz last year my swedish friend tried paying for my accout.. and by logging on mine his account was blocked... this was in july of last year. he had to chage PW

Dragoy

07-17-2012, 04:31 AM

Do note that logging in to other user's account, or letting others to log in to yours is a violation of the User Agreement. ^^;

Just sayin'~

However, a simple IP change is unlikely to trigger anything like that because depending of various reasons, the IP for a user may change quite often. Logging in from completely different countries might be 'raising some flags', but even so, people do move around so that alone shouldn't immediately lock the account either.

As for Gamemasters, I have been a volunteer one myself (not in this game, or in anything SQUARE ENIX has produced) so I have a pretty good idea what it is like. There are no excuses of not doing their job. With a volunteer helper system though, 'bad apples' are more than common, but when they are actually paid to do something, then you should complain if you feel one is not performing their tasks. If you get turned down, you generally want to contact a 'higher-up', as you have been doing.

This forum though will more than likely not be able to answer your questions, and I would not be surprised if it would be locked in the near future. ^^;

Personally I've (surprisingly) had quite satisfactory support via eMails only (I'm in Europe), though I've never really had any of the more difficult issues I guess. Well there was one time I got a completely misinformed reply regarding the fact that 'goy' is blocked from FFXIV (saying it isn't while it indeed is, and next reply actually admitted it), but that's another story!

Just some thoughts~
Good luck!

deces

07-17-2012, 05:57 AM

Rosina

07-17-2012, 02:46 PM

ironically on ffxiv forums someone got account lock from changing laptops...

Dragoy

07-18-2012, 11:57 PM

I have a question that maybe you can answer, I used to have major issues with freezes on NPCs, during CS for WotG missions and would call a GM to inform them of my situation. they would tell me Sorry for your issues and contact SE's "crazyoddcomplaintname.com" url. being I didn't have a PC at the time I would ask them can you please forward my complaint? I would get no response, was that them being lazy?

I for one can only guesstimate, since I never worked for SqEX. It's likely more about the company rules than about being lazy (I'd hope). I imagine they are very strict about the sections of the game the GMs can handle (hence the Support Centre with Special Task Force Unit, Feedback and Suggestions, and Customer Service in general), and are basically not allowed to touch matters that they are not there for.

If they could help, I can't imagine why they would not do just that (it is their job, after all).

ironically on ffxiv forums someone got account lock from changing laptops...

That does remind me of my other account getting the password change slap one time, and I do indeed have multiple computers in use. That account does not use the Security Token (if I remember right, you will never get this slap if you do use it).

Hmmm, if I weren't so lazy, I'd test if a mere IP (or MAC address) change would be enough. That is silly if it is indeed the case, and could possibly explain the reason why a certain user keeps getting it all the time (posted about it here on the support boards some time ago).

But that's all another story, for another place.

All in all, I do read about 'bad support' or 'no support at all' way too often, so it's not that I don't believe in it. I don't understand it either. =/

Jhanaka

07-19-2012, 11:31 AM

Hello Everyone.

This thread has brought to light some concerns that many of you are facing. Michizane was very diplomatic in his post so we wished to return the respect he has shown.

There are a few different points to address and as a Senior Game Master, I will touch upon those topics which I am able; Linkshell Community Site is one topic I will not be able to address, I am very sorry.

Player Run Events:
Our player event support is a very exciting part of our game though not many players take advantage of the events. From some of the comments made in this thread, I am afraid that some of your emails/applications are not reaching us properly so we are addressing the concern. On our side, we are doing tests with our Community Reps to see where the break down may be happening with the application, approval and rejection process. We are also reviewing our application/acceptance procedures and are going to re-word the message that are sent when an application is accepted/denied. We are also improving our scheduling system so that we are sure that your events are being set up properly and on time.

For those of your who are interested in our Player Events, they are a fun way that you can spruce up any special occasion. There are a few rules that are in place but for the most part, you can get pretty creative with the placement of the items and what each item says when a player looks at them. The Player Event Support is found at www.playonline.com under our “Community” section. The direct link is:

https://secure.playonline.com/eventsupport/index.html?polg_loc=en

While not every event will be approved, we will work with you to try to make it work.

Game Master Concerns:
Now onto the bigger concern: Game Masters.

As I am a Game Master Supervisor, it disturbs me to hear that you feel my GMs are not fully assisting you, our players. I can assure you we do have weekly quality monitoring review along with spot checks to see how our GMs are talking to our players and to ensure investigations are being fully performed. I don’t like to use the term “investigation” because I know it has such a negative connotation with our players: “Thank you for the report, we will investigate…” but that phrase seems to turn the stomachs of our players but it was never meant to turn into something bad – we wanted it to be a reassurance that we are hearing your report. There have been several GMs who may have tarnished our reputation by saying they “will investigate” then just walked way, but for the most part, we screen our GMs very thoroughly and this should not occur. This type of behavior from the GMS is very rare and we catch the behavior quickly, but do rely on our devoted players to be our second pair of eyes – if it feels wrong, it just maybe, so contact the SGM team.

This brings me to a incorrect point I saw in the replies: GMs are volunteers. Our GMs that support our games are paid employees and all come to an office. We have dedicated Supervisors and other staff to ensure that the proper work is always being performed and that our GMs are on task. Some companies do have volunteers or their GMs work from home, but we do not operate in that manner. We also have Game Masters who speak all of our Supported Languages: English, French, German and Japanese. All the Game Masters follow the same policies and procedures across all regions – in fact our policy/procedure approval process is very extensive as we all confer to ensure we are acting fairly for all game play styles.

Michizane >>
For your Sister’s account, I really cannot comment on the boards, or to you, about what the GMs may/may not have done due to our PlayOnline Privacy Policy. Your sister is more than welcome to request to speak with a SGM and we will do a secondary review to ensure our GMs followed all company policy for any violation. As for the actions on other customer accounts, as revealing account action it is not allowed, I can only say that we have a ZERO tolerance for racial slurs of any type and harsher action MAY be taken on the account. With that said, all of the GMs do a thorough review of both what was said and our policies/rating to make sure that we are fair for everyone.

For your concerns over the time it took for the SGMs to contact you, there are the Senior Game Masters and the acting Supervisor Staff who will always try our hardest to contact you should you request a “SGM”. Regrettably, we are only a few people so we cannot always meet you as quickly as we wish. I saw that you had to wait 36 hours – we do apologize for the long wait, but I will let everyone know that the SGMs will continue to try to contact you until the time we speak. If you go offline, switch worlds, change names or even leave for 5 years and come back, we will talk with you. During that time, be sure to actually discuss the matter at hand – many times when we are able to address our customers, they no longer wish to have their concerns reviewed by us, but we see that you are still upset and that is hard for us to let the concerns go. We will not push you to talk about the issue, we understand, but we cannot change the system until we hear all the “bugs”.

I have been with the FINAL FANTASY XI project from PS2 beta (my name was changed due to some customer troubles, but that is another story to tell another time…) and I have seen the Customer Service of this game evolve. As one of the Senior Game Masters, I am able to make suggestions on how our GMs deliver their Customer Service to you, so anytime I get strong feedback during my SGM escalations, or via our Feedback Email, I make sure it is discussed and passed on. There have been many revisions to our CS flow due to Customer Feedback, so do not think your words are not heard.

The last point I would like to make is this: GM Dave. GM Dave was one of my favorite things to come out of the experience as a GM. A avid fan created this persona to help us through some rough periods; many times I could come in and my GMs would have sent me his latest exploits. It is with sadness, though I must tell you this: GM Dave was not a real GM, or even a former FFXI GM. He may have been a real CS agent for another game, as he has some interesting insight into the job, but there were a few inconsistencies in his tales that lead us to believe it was just fan fiction.

I hope this addresses as many concerns as I could and thank you for reading my long post. I will be keeping this thread open as there is no violations, but let us try to keep the comments constructive.

Thank you,

-Senior Game Master Jhanaka

Dragoy

07-19-2012, 09:24 PM

This brings me to a incorrect point I saw in the replies: GMs are volunteers. Our GMs that support our games are paid employees and all come to an office.

Assuming that means me (since no one else mentioned the word), I never intended to refer to FFXI GMs being volunteers; that was about other games indeed, and the job in general. I did mention 'a paid system' there as well, though I admit, I probably wasn't too clear about it (edited for clarification). ^^;

Point being, even with a volunteer helper system, there are really no excuses of not doing the job. Either you want to help, or you don't. Unfortunately there are those who try to gain power through it (them bad apples, pthui~) and abuse said power. For paid ones, I really see no point for trying to abuse it, as it would (or at least should) very quickly lead to unemployment (as long as the system works at least to an extent, and isn't completely rotten to the core!).

What comes to FINAL FANTASY XI, as I might have mentioned, I've not personally witnessed any such behaviour from the support here. One meeting with a Gamemaster did leave me a bit puzzled though, and I think the feeling was more or less mutual. This was when long ways back, I reported the issue with the Abyssea -Vunkerl maw removing the 'Quickening' effect. While the GM agreed on that it does seem strange, it seemed as if it was intended, even though it does not happen with any other maw (as far as I know).

But yeah, it's not that I don't believe the reports of insufficient support, I just never witnessed it first-hand. The closest I've come is probably when a German friend lost an item of sorts, but had been unable to call a GM in-game for a long time, and thus, could not receive assistance. I got her to eMail the German support, and they would tell her there is no issue, and that she should use the in-game feature. I told her to eMail them again, and explain (again) that the feature is not working, and they would still implore her to use the in-game function.

Finally, even though I know that Gamemasters in FFXI are generally unable to touch issues reported by another player for another player, I would call a GM for her (she doesn't speak English well enough to explain her issue to perhaps anyone else than me), and luckily, after said GM mentioned this as well, they were kind enough to use the information from me and forward the issue, and I was told that she would be contacted via the game.

This never transpired.

After several months, when she lost another item (in a different way, accidentally dropped if I remember right), she was actually able to use the in-game function, and mentioned this issue as well The GM told her that I would need to contact a GM about it again...? It's probably too late to dig into that one now. Unsure if either one of us has the energy or the interest to do that. ^^

Either way, more than about poor support, I think this is about communication between and around the language-barrier, as well as handling a report for another player, from another player. I can imagine it can be beyond difficult indeed!

Hmmm, I had something else on my mind, but I seem to have misplaced it.

Oh well~
Perhaps that's enough, fer now.