Signed, stamped, endorsed, et cetera!

I understand that MMO launches suck. I've been through my fair share of "HOLY SHIT THE HAMSTERS ARE DEAD" launch nights/days/weeks. I also understand that companies cannot usually afford to invest in resources (e.g. more hamsters) that they may not actually require. What I don't understand is how the companies tend to handle the problem.

There have been some game teams that constantly update the news page, post on their forums, and so forth; they apologize for their mistakes and do everything they can to reassure the player base that fixes are coming as soon as possible. It can, at times, turn to a form of grovelling (which is awful and unnecessary, for the record), but appealing to your customers has been a standard business practice as long as there have been business practices. (Continued!)