LOL

Keep your Free Games in those....................other countrys, or go to there servers to play them. For me if the devs would like my money, make it P2P.

Games should all go with the WoW model....make everyone wait at least a day before they get GM interaction, and even then, get a form letter response.

It must work, everyone is treated the same, and they have many paying customers.

Yes paying players should get better service.

As for the amusement park example, if I got into an amusement park free and a ride was out of service, I wouldn't complain because I didn't pay anything to deserve the right to complain. That example just doesn't work for anyone who is level headed.

Also I have never, ever, even come close to subbing to a game because of customer service. Never has there been a point where I thought "Man I got good customer service, I should now start paying money to this game." Customer service can make you quit paying for a game, but it can't make you start paying for one.

I am pretty tired of the people who want quality products but don't want to pay a cent, and now on top of that they feel they deserve amazing customer service all while still not paying a cent?

STOP BEING CHEAP AND PAY FOR THE GAME.

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

I am pretty tired of the people who want quality products but don't want to pay a cent, and now on top of that they feel they deserve amazing customer service all while still not paying a cent?

 

STOP BEING CHEAP AND PAY FOR THE GAME.

+1

There are 2 parameters to take into account: the ratio between paying and non-paying players, and the number of incidents you can expect. As an approximation I'd say 1 microtransaction can pay roughly the salary for handling 4 incidents (it depends on minimum wage, taxes,and so on, but anyway the following reasonning still apply even if you disagree on this number), if you forget about operating costs of the servers and salary of development to improve the game.

Now if the game is well-enough designed, you can expect something around 1 incident per year, including transaction problems, in-game problems, customer mail to answer, ...

And here comes the ratio between paying and non-paying: if you have 201 players, 1 of which is paying 1 microtransaction per month, you get 201 incidents and the money to handle 48.

It just cannot work. And you don't even included operating costs, new investments, and such. You need a 50:1 ratio just to handle the customer service !

So it's not a matter of philosophy or rightness, it's just that this business model leaves you with no other choice than providing almost no service to free players.

The analogies I read in this thread should take this problem into account. You don't have a 200:1 ratio in a store, so the salesperson can treat you with as much respect as the next fellow with the showing ovrergrown wallet. Analogies are nice, but must be used carefully.

If I have an in-game issue with a game that must be resolved by a GM... then it should be resolved, no matter my current paying state. While I understand as a free player, I may have to wait in a longer queue, it's still an issue that will likely affect any player, paying or not. Issues like that need to be seen and evaluated so they can be fixed for the betterment of every player.

Mind you, I'm not talking about issues where I get ganked. I'm talking about actual bugs/glitches. A hole in the terrain that drops  your character to a point where he can't get out on his own. A ore node that produces an infinite amount of ore as long as you stand there, etc. These are things that should be handled by the staff without question. If someone is reporting something potentially gamebreaking, their account status should not matter.  Yet, the tone I sense from many of the posters here, you're saying that for every issue, it should matter. Why? Bugs can exist for everyone. And that pit that just trapped me could trap you just the same.

Also, at casinos, sure there might be a VIP line to get your cash/chips quicker, but if someone walks in the front door with a gun, you can bet that it doesn't matter one bit who informs security. If someone goes into a store and loses their child, the staff there won't stop to ask if the parent bought anything first before reacting. They'll lock down the store and find the child. It's those sorts of services that these places offer to everyone who walks in through the doors, whether or not they spend one dime there.

 bad customer service is why I left WoW

I used to work in customer service. There are real service standards that I have seen and practiced. I have yet to see any game's customer service department meet those standards.

I agree with the "you get what you pay for" way of thinking. Seriously, if you don't pay for a product, you can't expect too much support.  My free things that I see may offer support on a limited scale (slower response times, email only, etc) and I think that is the right thing to do.

Free loaders get on my nerves, though. I remember when I was a waitress (I'm no longer one for this, among several other reasons) and the customer got their food for free because of a reason not related to me, like the kitchen being backed up or they just didn't like the food. Even though I provided great service, got the manager to give them free appetizers or deserts for their trouble or got their check for free, they left no tip. That took out of MY pockets after I did all that work for them.  If it was not for them, I could have had PAYING customers that payed their tip and for their food an not have their bills and free items count against my end of the day tabs.

That's how I feel about this issue.  The company is already shelling out money for the bandwidth, content, and so forth for this non paying customer. Now, man-hours are being used to issue CS. Getting unstuck could only take a few moments, but what about larger issues that could really suck a CS reps time. For that one free player, several paying players could have been helped.

Ok, I'm going to stop ranting now.