I've prepared a number of e-mails and collected addresses to send them to in order to try to get Funcom's partners and advertisers to put pressure on Funcom to revamp their customer service.
http://www.ao-clancentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=236
I'd encourage anyone who has been frustrated by the complete lack of regard of Customer Service for it's customers for the last months (this isn't just about this weekend) to send in these mails. All you have to do is copy and paste into your mail editor and sign your name at the bottom.
Things have been getting worse. Funcom has no incentive to improve things on their own. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard.
Working for better customer service in Anarchy Online
Moderators: AOU Team, Forum Moderators, Site Managers
So you have been banned or what? Btw, you have no way of backing up your claims in said letters. I'm not familiar with USA laws, but I'm sure FC could take you to court on this.
I agre FC's support is lacking, but unless you're willing to actually back up your claims with examples, it's just slander. Futher more, think about your actions. You call out to community to spam those adresses. I know I clean up my in-folder by simply deleting spam, without even bothering to open it up.
I agre FC's support is lacking, but unless you're willing to actually back up your claims with examples, it's just slander. Futher more, think about your actions. You call out to community to spam those adresses. I know I clean up my in-folder by simply deleting spam, without even bothering to open it up.
"War may be Hell....but it's good for business!"
-The Association for Merchants,Manufacturers, and Morticians
-The Association for Merchants,Manufacturers, and Morticians
I haven't actually been banned for anything, never have. However, I've been threated with bans for sending mails to customer support, which seems quite indefensible to me. If you'll note, I did give examples of the types of problems I'm attemtpting to address in the post at the bottom of the page. While the particular action of the e-mails was prompted by Funcom's actions this weekend, it's actually just the latest in what I see as a pattern of abuses.
I have also asked people to try to customize those letters with their own examples, so that it's not just spam, but is more personal. I did consider a petition, a number of people have suggested that it would have been a more effective mechanism, but after thinking about it, I decided that a flood of mails, even if all alike, would send a stronger message.
Addressing Trgeorge's point in particular, I tried to write the mails in as careful a way as possible. I tried specifically to not express my personal opinions as if they were fact. If there are items in the mail where you believe I have failed in this, please let me know.
I have also asked people to try to customize those letters with their own examples, so that it's not just spam, but is more personal. I did consider a petition, a number of people have suggested that it would have been a more effective mechanism, but after thinking about it, I decided that a flood of mails, even if all alike, would send a stronger message.
Addressing Trgeorge's point in particular, I tried to write the mails in as careful a way as possible. I tried specifically to not express my personal opinions as if they were fact. If there are items in the mail where you believe I have failed in this, please let me know.
How many did canceled due to poor support?...Our only way to exert influence on them is through cancelling our accounts, which many people have done over the past months, and which has accelerated lately....
Not true. FC didn't mentioned any names. Even if community has asked for such actions in the past.a recent event, a number of the statesmen of the community were banned from the game, and their names and reputations defamed by Funcom representatives.
Check news or Community corner on forums.anarchyonline.comthis, Funcom has given them no clear information on the cause of their removals, and has attempted to prevent the truth from coming clear.
Unfortunatlly that was all the issues you included in any of those letters.
Like I said, you don't really back up your claims. So in a way, those are your personal views, not facts.
Now, if put this whole deal on the side, what exactly are your intentions? If those partners pull out, all you'll achive is that FC will terminate froob program (It's sponsord from them after all). On the other hand, if enough players cancel their accouts, FC will simply shut game down.
"War may be Hell....but it's good for business!"
-The Association for Merchants,Manufacturers, and Morticians
-The Association for Merchants,Manufacturers, and Morticians
30+ I know of in the last week... although a few are because they believe the bans are unfair, most are because of the way Funcom has flubbed the customer service in dealing with the bans.Trgeorge wrote:How many did canceled due to poor support?...Our only way to exert influence on them is through cancelling our accounts, which many people have done over the past months, and which has accelerated lately....
US law at least defines defamation based on direct or indirect identification.Trgeorge wrote:Not true. FC didn't mentioned any names. Even if community has asked for such actions in the past.
Again, the word "clear" here is of the utmost importance. My primary concern in this is that customer service doesn't have clear communication to and from the players. Even after reading everything Funcom has written in the forums last night, I needed to petition last night to verify that a tactic I planned to use wasn't an exploit, and even the GM and the director of exploits weren't able to validate it on the spot.Trgeorge wrote:Check news or Community corner on forums.anarchyonline.comthis, Funcom has given them no clear information on the cause of their removals, and has attempted to prevent the truth from coming clear.
When we're talking about baning or suspending people, there should be no ambiguity and no grey areas. Always before I felt comfortable that if I stumbled across an exploit, I'd know it for what it was, and in fact, I have found a couple and reported them. After the communication from Funcom in the last week, I'm no longer confident that I know how to avoid whatever it is they've now classified as an exploit.
If you'll read the last post on the thread, I've outlined a few more of the specific incidents I'm refering to, including things like threats on individuals and threats on entire organizations.Trgeorge wrote: Unfortunatlly that was all the issues you included in any of those letters.
Like I said, you don't really back up your claims. So in a way, those are your personal views, not facts.
I don't believe partners and advertisers will just pull out. I believe they will go back to Funcom through channels that aren't available to us and will basically say "Hey Funcom, you're really upsetting your customers, and they're our customers too. Address some of these concerns, or we will walk away."Trgeorge wrote: Now, if put this whole deal on the side, what exactly are your intentions? If those partners pull out, all you'll achive is that FC will terminate froob program (It's sponsord from them after all). On the other hand, if enough players cancel their accouts, FC will simply shut game down.
It's very hard for someone outside of the organization to know if there's any one cause for all of this. Most of the communications I have see have come from Geoffrey Higgins, who is the support manager, so he's the most obvious representative of the problem. It has certainly seemed that any feedback to Funcom about the quality of customer service has gone missing, which I realize is a big accusation, but seems to be the case and would be a really serious problem to solve. I certainly think that it is a pervasive atmosphere that the players are the enemy has been established within the support organization, and as manager, he is certainly responsible for that.
I would like to see the policies on releasing information be reexamined. Anyone accused should be given enough information regarding the rules they are accused of having broken that they are convinced as to the reasoning behind the suspensions. Questions and feedback sent to the support organization should be addressed within a reasonable time. Finally, there needs to be a mentality shift to a view where the players are not the enemy of customer service. Bans and threats are not the way to deal with a paying customer based.
Funcom has a truly engrossing product in Anarchy Online, and they have a very loyal customer base which will actually tolerate a amazing amount. A number of people have cancelled, but I think that a large number of them would come back to the game they love if Funcom would acknowledge and address some of their customer service issues. I truly enjoy Anarchy Online, and the actions I've taken aren't an attempt to hurt Funcom except insofar as it is necessary to get them to deal with the issues which are driving people away.
It may not be polite, but I do believe that individual e-mails will be more effective than a petition, especially because I've spoken with quite a few people who are adding their own content in addition to (or instead of) the letters I prepared.
What I'm hoping is that the advertisers and partners will see that people actually are so frustrated that they are willing to take an action, and to me at least, clicking a petition is a very minor action, while attaching your name to a mail (especially if edited) is much more compelling.
What I'm hoping is that the advertisers and partners will see that people actually are so frustrated that they are willing to take an action, and to me at least, clicking a petition is a very minor action, while attaching your name to a mail (especially if edited) is much more compelling.
Just a reminder that this site is still available, and Funcom has done nothing to remedy the situation as of yet. At this point, folks who are asking questions about the bans aren't even getting any response to their mails. Some have sent 4 mails in the last week and gotten nothing at all in reply. Is this really an appropriate approach to customer service?
Make your voice heard. Visit the link above and send mails to those who actually have some influence with Funcom.
Make your voice heard. Visit the link above and send mails to those who actually have some influence with Funcom.
Sefus, I agree with you completely that banning people is a part of the natural responsibility of Funcom customer support. However, if someone is going to be banned, there needs to be a very explicit list of things that have to be checked and double checked, and triple checked. Things like making sure the person being banned is actually the one who violated the rules, that they were aware that an action might violate the rules, and that they violated the rules with intent.
After those things have been satisfied, then FC certainly should ban someone, but when they do it, they must be prepared to justify their actions to anyone they do ban, and provide the proof based on which they made the decision.
Kaele, to answer your question, a number of people were banned about two weeks ago. FC claims that they were banned for using an exploit. However, the people involved have never been shown any proof, and the people involved still do not even know for which action they were banned.
All those involved were doing tower warfare at the time, and Notum Wars warfare is well known to be broken in a variety of ways. It's possible that Funcom considers that some action taken by these folks took advantage of the broken code. However, we just don't know because Funcom isn't telling them. Instead of giving clear answers, Funcom has given vague (and often contradictory) statements that instead of helping those who were banned and the community to understand why the bans were issued, just make us more confused.
Since the bans, a number of people, including me, have petitioned and sent e-mails to exploits@anarchy-online trying to clarify whether actions that we don't consider expoits are actually exploits according to Funcom. Instead of a clear answer, we get contradictory responses. You can ask the same exact question to three people at Funcom and get three completely different answers. When Funcom has shown it's willing to issue bans on the basis of these things, I believe that the paying customers have a right to demand clear answers.
I want to reiterate though, that the lack of a clear message from Funcom about the bans is just the latest in a sequence of incredibly poor communication from Funcom paid customer support. I do believe that the decline in customer support is a pattern, and that's why I've taken the actions that I have.
After those things have been satisfied, then FC certainly should ban someone, but when they do it, they must be prepared to justify their actions to anyone they do ban, and provide the proof based on which they made the decision.
Kaele, to answer your question, a number of people were banned about two weeks ago. FC claims that they were banned for using an exploit. However, the people involved have never been shown any proof, and the people involved still do not even know for which action they were banned.
All those involved were doing tower warfare at the time, and Notum Wars warfare is well known to be broken in a variety of ways. It's possible that Funcom considers that some action taken by these folks took advantage of the broken code. However, we just don't know because Funcom isn't telling them. Instead of giving clear answers, Funcom has given vague (and often contradictory) statements that instead of helping those who were banned and the community to understand why the bans were issued, just make us more confused.
Since the bans, a number of people, including me, have petitioned and sent e-mails to exploits@anarchy-online trying to clarify whether actions that we don't consider expoits are actually exploits according to Funcom. Instead of a clear answer, we get contradictory responses. You can ask the same exact question to three people at Funcom and get three completely different answers. When Funcom has shown it's willing to issue bans on the basis of these things, I believe that the paying customers have a right to demand clear answers.
I want to reiterate though, that the lack of a clear message from Funcom about the bans is just the latest in a sequence of incredibly poor communication from Funcom paid customer support. I do believe that the decline in customer support is a pattern, and that's why I've taken the actions that I have.
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