Developer Memos: #3 Customer Service
November 4, 2004 by Foton at 8:22 am • Filed Under Developer Memos, Noteworthy
Tags: game design
I haven’t written a Developer Memo for quite a while; I had intended it to be a series when I first hatched my evil scheme, but I got sidetracked by … I’m not sure what. Maybe blackouts. Or displaced SWG rage. Who knows.
Before I get too deep into illegally using my e-friend’s Warcraft info, I’ll do another. This time focusing on Customer Service and Support in MMOGs, it seems important to write this before I experience WoW’s CS system firsthand. Because I’m sure it’s the best ever, since Blizzard is god.
Ya. Moving on…
I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a “good” CS system in a MMOG. I’ve certainly experienced bad ones; evil ones, to be sure. It could be that well-designed games (read: don’t annoy the shit out of me and don’t steal items, experience or time from me) don’t have much need for a CS system.
There’s the first suggestion: make sure the game won’t regularly steal items, experience or time. Less complaints = less payroll needed to deal with really, really, really pissed-off catassers.
Next, I think treating the customers and service volunteers like criminals is a very bad idea. I’ll agree that 99 percent of the players are raging rectums, but they are not cheats. When I complain that the demon game ate a backpack of uber poison-wheat-fangs, I don’t want to hear: Sorry to hear that, friend, alas there is nothing I can do, but happy travels to you!
Either the game needs a solid item tracking system, or you’re going to have to rely on the honor system with the players. Your choice.
Presuming me a cheat on the rare occasions I complain makes the game less about me versus the monsters and more about me versus you.
That’s not good.
You might need help someday with finding game-breaking exploits or the major-league cheaters; trust me on this, if I’ve been treated as the enemy, you can find your own game breakers. If I’ve been given a straight deal, you’ll receive the same in kind.
Lastly, I’m not sure what brain trust originally thought that MMOG customer service didn’t necessarily have to be in-game, or fluent with the native tongue of its customer base, or at least minimally familiar with its game mechanics … but I have my suspicions.
Form letters and bot answers I can get from the knowledge base. (Which, by the way, I have never found useful, but it makes a good stalling technique for an over-loaded CS system.)
If you can’t afford people to be in-game, fluent and game-knowledgable, you’re going to have to pass out a lot of item, experience and death refunds. You might as well just code the demon game to issue these types of refunds on demand.
Or here’s an idea: a help system that clearly states, “If you should erroneously lose items, experience or time due to a problem with game mechanics, please email the details (date, character name, lost items, zone of incident, desired corrective action) to *CS-email* and we will put the situation right within X days.”
Ya. WTF am I smoking?
Next week: I used to be volunteer customer support. Think Project Mayhem.
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afkgamer.com
[…] Still, it is probably unsafe to assume that customer service will always be a negligible factor in player retention. Even if personalized customer service is hard to provide profitably, automated help systems have plenty of room for improvement. (Some commonly reported errors, like finding yourself physically stuck in-game, should never require personalized assistance.) A greater degree of faith in user honesty (re: complaints that require in-game restitution) is probably appropriate, too — at least in the absence of better automated help. […]