The pit. It's what game studios call the cube farm that houses their customer service teams. In this week's edition of the MMO Underbelly, Sanya Weathers explores the pit and uncovers some tales from the trenches.

But for all that gloom, a CS pit is… fun. Black humor and black coffee are staples, as are cigarettes and beer. Drinking booze on the clock is never really okay, but you’ll probably find a few drawers with a secret stash for the purpose of “one minute after shift’s end” shots. (If there are HR watchdogs nearby, the booze is probably stashed in the trunk of someone’s car instead. There’s no point in losing your job over a tablespoon of hooch.) Caffeine is the primary drug of choice, though you’ll find wide disagreement on the topic of the most efficient means of delivery. Of course, any answer that is not Diet Mountain Dew is wrong.

The pit itself is a shrine to all things bright and nerdy. The posters, the action figures, the toys, and the conversation are all things you probably love, if you were willing to work for hourly wages doing game CS in the first place. No matter what the season is, it’s warm from all the CPUs working overtime. The light level has more to do with the philosophy of the manager than anything else – both troglodyte dark and operating room bright have their points.

Read it all here.

Very informative!

Helpful for us gamers who dream of landing a job in the MMO industry at some point :D

Thanks Sanya!

Interesting to know pre-generated responses get reworded evey know and then, but the one's i do like the most are the creative one's. Yeah it's a job that's on the business end of a donkey but does show the willingness to learn and patience in dealing with the players.

As a former CSR and (briefly) head of a CSR department for an ISP, I loved that bit. CS is an environment you can't really appreciate until you have been in it. It also cannot be overstated how much management attitude and policies can affect CSR people. Chances are the happier and nicer the CSR staff is, the better the management behind them is.

The manager I started working under (and trained under) was a paragon of CS; trained everyone thoroughly and enforced policies that stressed honesty with customers, actual problem resolution and even allowed the "spontaneous" 1min break after a nasty service call (complete with the company sponsored punching bag hanging out in the rec room)...heh sadly after he was fired and I eventually ended up as "boss", the suit I reported to was fond of such policies as resolve as many calls as possible, as fast as possible, lie to the customer whenever the company line calls for it, rigid clock time and call quotas...preferably enforced by standing behind the CSR and berating them when they underperformed...needless to say we didn't get along well.

Even at the best of times, it can be an incredibly stressful job. Constantly on call, late hours...called in on overnights. Caffeine was of course essential and I even fell back into smoking on my breaks. (managed to quit again they fired me though heh)

I enjoyed this article and I could relate to it in some ways.  I worked at a retail toy store for nearly 2 years interacting with customers everyday.  I lasted longer then most people did.  The people who had it the worst were definitely the people in customer service who handled returns.  You really began to see how bad people really are when they lash out at complete strangers for no apparent reason.  I've seen parents lie in front of their children to my coworker's faces, just to save a mere $5.  Of course, you can never ACCUSE a customer of lying, so you just report it to a manager and give the customer what they want.   My friend was only able to last 6 days before she quit. 

I was initially a normal cashier but then later moved to electronics.  Customers were usually not rude, but when they were, it was tough to bite my tongue.  I was called an asshole twice and did not retaliate either time. (One of the times the other customers turned on the person and chasticed her for being so rude)  

Atleast the vast majority of my customers were adults with children, an expected sign of happiness in their lives.  I couldn't image doing customer service with a bunch of angry nerds who's lives revolved around a videogame.  It must be so much worse.

I hope people read your article and think twice before raging at those who work in customer service.  It's a rough job.

The CSR route is very similar how I got my current role with DarkSpace. I joined the game Staff as a Moderator (mall cop), and slowly progressed to the point where I am now one of the head honcho's in both CSR and development. I would love to be able to define my role more clearly, but there is simply far too much to list.

The main difference with my position and the above article, is that this has been done entirely from home, on a voluntary basis, for less than peanuts, as a hobby, while trying to hold down various full time jobs. I may be a fool for this, but I do get a twisted sense of satisfaction in knowing that I have helped our service survive for so long, and it looks pretty good on the resume too.

You get to see the best and worst in people when dealing with CSR, and as for Tubgirl... that's not even scratching the surface of internet depravity.

Would I do this as a full-time job? I honestly couldn't say. I certainly wouldn't mind getting paid for what I do, but then that brings a whole new series of expectations and commitments.

It would be fun to find out, though.

fun read

CSRs are the soldiers in the trenches of MMO companies.  Anyone who doesn't truly understand the awful, soul-numbing work they do is a heartless bastard who doesn't deserve the good treatment they think they do.

Good article.  I hope people read it and remember it the next time they have to report a bug...

These places are exactly like call centers. There is basically no difference, the only performance measurement they use is how many calls you take, nothing else matters.   If you think you can get your foot in the door in the industry doing this, the odds are highly against you.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

These places are exactly like call centers. There is basically no difference, the only performance measurement they use is how many calls you take, nothing else matters.  

Could you tell the names of the game companies - the request is plaural since you did say 'places' - that fit your description?

If you think you can get your foot in the door in the industry doing this, the odds are highly against you.

Again, can you give us examples of companies where that is the case? Did you know the Communications Director at CCP was once a CSR person for the company? Mike Farone, world builder for SWG was previously a GM for Origin. Chrissay Zeeman, one of the game designers for WAR, was previously an EA Tech Support rep. The odds are actually better for you than for an outsider. A year in CS for a game dev company means a year of constantly learning both the product and the user. Half the battle is won right there. The rest is up to whatever skills you bring to the table for the position you want to move to.

I am never rude to the CSRs I speak to when I have cause to petition in-game.

I was a Guide in EverQuest for about 2 years, oh so many years ago now, back when Guides actually answered petitions. I remember a particular rant by a very frustrated fellow Guide on my server's (Erollisi Marr) forums that spoke to me in ways I could only enthusiastically agree with. <cough>

I only quit when what we were allowed to do was cut back so much that I no longer felt that I was actually *helping* other players...which is the only reason I signed up for the Guide program in the first place. I loved helping. I'm glad I was a Guide for a while, and got to do that. Sure, I wasn't in a Pit, I was working from home, but I still put in lots of hours and all I got was my sub paid for.

Still, I can say it was worth it. I have some great memories of players I helped, things I got to do, impromptu roleplay in Lower Guk or West Commonlands when I was 'just on for player interaction', and the fellow Guides I worked with.

Wow Sanya,

Thank you for another wonderful read.  You truly are a tour guide into our industry and look forward to more of your articals.

 Mmmm... Goatse.cx.  It's been so long!

I feel for CS, I really do, I've spent more then my fair share as a dev (industrial applications, mostly robotics and ATE, not games) and even what dealings with customers I've had have often made me wish for recreational pharmacuticals and/or a loaded weapon.  Dealing with customers can be difficult and maddening.

That having been said, calling anything that goes on in the average MMO "customer service" stretches the term past the breaking point and only really highlights how absurdly low our expectations have become.

Originally posted by Myria

calling anything that goes on in the average MMO "customer service" stretches the term past the breaking point and only really highlights how absurdly low our expectations have become.

Absolute truth, that is.

Sanya, your other articles were decent. But I was deeply satisfied by this one. Maybe because there's still a hole in the drywall left by my fist after dealing with customers at my store. So I can greatly empathize with CSR people.

But the quality of the work itself, the range of not just the nitty gritty, but the low brow fun, the reasons why people would do such a job in the first place, your own personal anecdotes, and words from someone who manages those people that touched back on why people would do it to begin with... felt like eating a decent meal, reading this article.

I know you've probably got other things going on in life, so devoting the time into every subject, every week, may not always be easy. But I know you do read the forum for your articles from time to time, so if your eyes are here, please continue to bring this amount of depth to the things you write.

Greatly appreciated.

another slightly more sane way of breaking into games is the QA (Quality Assurance) aka Test dept.

• Same low pay,
• same long hours,
• same mind numbing / soul crushing work,
• same controlled substance abuse during lunch,
• same learning the business and interacting with all departments in the company,
• same leg up into art / music / programming / producer depts,

BUT

no customers to deal with.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by Ozmodan

These places are exactly like call centers. There is basically no difference, the only performance measurement they use is how many calls you take, nothing else matters.  

Could you tell the names of the game companies - the request is plaural since you did say 'places' - that fit your description?

If you think you can get your foot in the door in the industry doing this, the odds are highly against you.

Again, can you give us examples of companies where that is the case? Did you know the Communications Director at CCP was once a CSR person for the company? Mike Farone, world builder for SWG was previously a GM for Origin. Chrissay Zeeman, one of the game designers for WAR, was previously an EA Tech Support rep. The odds are actually better for you than for an outsider. A year in CS for a game dev company means a year of constantly learning both the product and the user. Half the battle is won right there. The rest is up to whatever skills you bring to the table for the position you want to move to.

 

 

 

 

Respond to this a bit and then add.

You could add in the new guy in charge for EQ1 was one of the first GM's in EQ1.  It depends... in general if you think that doing CS work is going to get you promoted soon(tm) then you are probably in for a rough ride.

I was a "smurf" in UO from early 1998 until early 1999... Moved to the Interest team and was there until it and any other program that had volunteers involved was shut down.  Then I did "quest design" as my last job for someone else...  Went back to my roots and opened my own studio (no I don't make games ;p) after that.  Which was 2005'ish...

So yes it does happen and there are plenty of examples out there.  I think someone who is good at CS and has a passion .. well you know how to be persistent without being annoying (if you want to pursue something).

As to the actual CSR bit... yes you see the best and the worst of people.  People who are grateful that you could help them...

Other people telling you they will kill you in real life and spew out every insult or shall we say creative speech you could imagine.  Some of it you just ignore.. other times I'd be pulling the account ID and pushing it along to "up high" (UO player names weren't unique so when someone stepped over "the line" you had to pull the account ID from their character).

CS actually helped me a lot when I moved onto The Interest Team for UO...  I remember the person who trained me was amazed at how easily I didn't react to people trying to distract me (they had people who would come in and screw with your training events to see how you would react..)...   I was just so used to tuning out anything that didn't involved what I was doing... that I honestly didn't know they were there.

Wonderful article, Sanya, as always.

This brought back a lot of memories from when I worked in tech support for an ISP. Some good, some not so good.

Good Memory - Mind you, I worked for an ISP, not a computer manufacturer, although I have good knowledge of such things. One time a woman called because she couldn't connect, and thought it was her modem: 

Me: "... Sorry, can you repeat that again?"
Me (Trying my best not to laugh): ".... No, ma'am, it probably wasn't the best idea to vaccum out your computer with your shop vac."

Everyone around me just about died.

Bad Memory - We had a guy that worked for us that was from Russia. One day, he got a particularly, well known customer, and not one known in a good way. He was a level 2 tech, I was a level 1, or lower level tech, working next to him. I had to go more by the script, even though I knew better, where he had the freedom to improvise and think things through on his own.

Anyway, he gets the transfer from some other level 1 tech, and you can tell he's getting agitated. He finally said, "Hold on, sir.", threw down his headset and walked way from his desk saying, "That's it, I'm not talking his call." I , being a glutton for punishment said, "Transfer it over. Make sure the supervisor is listening in." So he got on the line and listened in.

The customer was abusive, ignorant, and worse of all, convinced he was right. Finally, this exchanged happened:

Him: "You're a #*$@ING IDIOT! You know NOTHING about computers, NOTHING! I want to talk to your manager!"

I finally sorta Semi-snapped:

Me: "Although you make a compelling point, my Masters Degree in IT tells me otherwise. And I'm telling you, this isn't an issue on our end,  it's on YOUR end, and it's a hardware issue, which we don't support. I'm looking at your account and your inbox right now, we've been over every software setting we can concievably cover, and my manager is going to tell you the same thing. So here he is. Please hold."

My manager came back to me later and said I was absolutely right. He thanked me for taking the call after the first tech gave up on it, and said, "Jesus, I never could have been that calm talking to that guy." Few days later, found out that he called back, and when asked about the previous call, admitted we were right.

In some ways, even though that was a bad memory, it earned me a lot of respect in that pit until I finally left. Half emtpy, half full I guess.

Great read. Thanks a lot!

 Great atricle!

I always try to wait a while after I experience a bug or problem (and it's usually never with an MMO). That way I'm a little more calm and come off a little more polite. The only time I lost it was for the support on my laptop. I sent it in once and it seemed like they didn't fix anything. I had to send it in again (hoping it would get there before my warranty ran out) wondering if I was flushing mroe money down the drain. So many problems with it, mainly with games. Outdated drivers, crashed whenever it got a little heated, DVDs made crackling noises, it was insane. I was about to crack. Sent it in the last time. They replaced the motherboard (Including the sound card) and the video card.

I felt a little embarassed about my pissy email. I still won't be buying a computer from them again, though.

Originally posted by Flummoxed

another slightly more sane way of breaking into games is the QA (Quality Assurance) aka Test dept.

• Same low pay,
• same long hours,
• same mind numbing / soul crushing work,
• same controlled substance abuse during lunch,
• same learning the business and interacting with all departments in the company,
• same leg up into art / music / programming / producer depts,

BUT

no customers to deal with.

I totally agree with that.

My CS experiences, when dealing with an American CS, has been pretty decent.  However, I cannot stand the majority of CS that is farmed out to india.  I have to admit I have cussed out my fair share of barely english speaking CSR's that are serving a predominantly english market....it makes no sense to me.  I know it's cheap labor and all that, but it provides horrid customer service.

fastest way to piss off a pissed off gamer is to hand him off to a CSR that doesn't understand what his problem is due to a language barrier.

I just wish that the csr's werent handicapped by the developers so much in what they are able to do for the customers. (yes Im looking at you Turbine)  My cs experience usually ends in one of the following 2 statements...1) im sorry, we are not able to reproduce items ingame and therefore cannot grant you the quest reward....2) Im sorry, this quest/bug is a known issue on our forums and the quest/action will have to be repeated at a later date.  I did CS for an airline for years so I know how fustrating the experience can be but at least I got to offer a real explanation than a canned response.

On a side note I thougth it was interesting to know that you can go from csr to the developemnt team in a gaming studio.  In most organizations those sides are kept extremely seperate.  CSR's can only get promoted up the csr chain...marketing up the marketing chain..field services up the field service chain etc....  Most companies in other professions dotn want to incur that training cost to switch ladders unless absolutely necessary....why promote a csr to developer and then hire a new csr and have to train 2 people instead of keeping your csr and just hiring someone new for development.

---

Originally posted by goingwylde

On a side note I thougth it was interesting to know that you can go from csr to the developemnt team in a gaming studio.  In most organizations those sides are kept extremely seperate.  CSR's can only get promoted up the csr chain...marketing up the marketing chain..field services up the field service chain etc....  Most companies in other professions dotn want to incur that training cost to switch ladders unless absolutely necessary....why promote a csr to developer and then hire a new csr and have to train 2 people instead of keeping your csr and just hiring someone new for development.

---

The company I work for has recently made it a condition of employment that anyone employed as a dev is to spend at least 3 months on CS to get a good working knowledge of the product in the first place. This has even been extended to one of the devs that was already here coming down to the pit to get said experience.

How can you expect to get the best from your devs if they've never used the product before they start 'developing' it?

I live it on a daily basis, for a business ISP in the UK. I could really do with a change of pace and break into MMO CSR'ing though (was a volunteer CSR for EVE a few years back but run out of free time to do the requisite hours)