To anyone considering playing this game, please know that it's run by a bunch of vindictive tyrants.

I posted a question in the question and answer forum.

http://community.istaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26951

A friend (no seriously) currently has a choice between two guild master plots but we're short a bit of vital information.

Someone has told us that the GH that comes with the master plot can't be deconned. I've been hunting around looking for info but can't find anything solid other than a few old forum posts saying you need to build a GH on the master plot before others can build anything on the sub-plots.

It's of particular interest because the GH on one of the plots is not ideally positioned and if it can't be moved it makes that plot considerably less attractive and her decision a bit easier.

Does anyone know for sure how this works?

A few other forum members answered it that they couldn't be destroyed.

While most threads in this forum are never locked, the moderator decided to lock this thread. No explanation has been provided.

But the issue wasn't resolved so I posted another question just asking if my friend could submit a ticket to have the guildhouse repositioned.

It was instantly deleted. The reason provided was that the question had been answered. But of course it hadn't.

Other forum members read the post before it was deleted and one PM'ed me straight away to say how unfair they thought it was.

Don't you love Velea just closing threads all the time. And even to completely delete a thread. I find it happening more and more often from her. If they don't want to discuss something they just delete it and go on. So, sorry that your thread and posts were not even really considered by her. It happens so often with most of the subjects and post by me also.

I asked if she could name her supervisor so I could lodge a complaint. She advised she didn't have one. They're all equals apparently. So I PM'ed them and put my apparently terrible question to them.

What they decided was appropriate was to chastise me for the unspeakable sin of asking game-related questions on behalf of a friend.

Since Velea won't allow me to ask this question in the forums I have to resort to a PM.

There's a guild master plot with a GH placed diagonally across the middle of it. A friend of mine is very keen on the location and plot but the placement of the GH is kind of ridiculous and makes a lot of the space unusable.

If she bought the plot could she petition to have it shifted?

____

If the player has purchased the plot then that player should submit a ticket. Other players should not submit tickets for that player, nor should they be sending PMs or posting on the forums about it since it is a specific issue relating to a specific player and plot.

In fact I had already purchased this plot and another for my friend to choose between so they were both currently mine. She's very busy with university for the next few months so I was following up on this for her, but apparently that's a crime on those forums.

Consider yourselves warned :)

Well, in the end they did give you the answer, they don't want people posting on the forums (or sending them PM's) on behalf of other players.

If in fact you did own the plot, then you should have just said so and not presented the question the way you did.

But in the end, if they really are pissing you off, you could go play a different MMO, plenty of them out there.

 

It's hilarious that you or anyone else would think there's anything wrong with asking game-related question on behalf of another player.

There's just no limit on human insanity is there?

Meanwhile even though the developers are evil, the community is generally very nice and also not terribly thrilled about the way their devs carry on. Another supportive PM came in.

 

I feel like I need to apologize for your less-than-favorable experiences with our support staff in the last few days.

While I have no control over what they do or the decisions they make, it still embarrasses and frustrates me to see players treated in the flippant manner that you were in response to your query about plots.

If you're already feeling estranged, I understand completely and don't blame you.

I just want to reach out and let you know that those of us behind the scenes do not all share the same attitude as the support staff you encountered.

In your place I would open a support ticket (support.istaria.com - if I am not wrong), give all details, like "My character 'Kill_them_all_before_they_scream' owns a plot at Shepherds Mountain:Troy [and alike]". I'm not sure why Velea closed it. In my times - when I was active in the forum - I did not notice such habit.

The way you started your pm was pissy. Probably did not start that off well.

thats pretty piss poor CSR right there..  asking questions in a forum designed for it, should not be grounds for thread lock unless its already covered in the community created sticky (which all games should have)

doesnt matter if you are asking for your self, or a friend. a player's question should be treated as such and responded to (unless its already covered by stickies at which point the csr should advise them to the stickies in question)

no thread should be deleted instantly without due cause. its just pisspoor for csr's to go around locking and deleting valid threads/questions related to game mechanics. 

Originally posted by Lithuanian
 I'm not sure why Velea closed it. In my times - when I was active in the forum - I did not notice such habit.

It's apparently common now.

I'd only recently returned to the game so had no personal experience with it, but just a week earlier guildies had been talking in guild chat about the forum nazis when a new member told us about their thread having been deleted. And someone was complaining about it in one of the chat channels the other day.

Originally posted by Ichmen
no thread should be deleted instantly without due cause. its just pisspoor for csr's to go around locking and deleting valid threads/questions related to game mechanics. 

Yeah it's definitely pisspoor, but I also think it's more than that.

They have rules for forum behaviour which implicitly cover moderator behaviour. At the very least this moderator is breaking those rules. Frequently.

Trying to chastise players for actions which don't break the rules and are not malicious or destructive - i.e. asking game related questions on behalf of a friend - is bullying.

Most organisations have policies covering this and and a mechanism for customers to complain - not staff telling you the only person you can complain to about them, is them.

You have stated the main reason I have left the game permanently. Expect to be ignored or belittled by that individual it is her normal behavior.  Don't expect to get help from the Dev's if you are not in they're little click. Most of the best plots are owned by people who no longer play but are friends of the inner circle. I figure why I should pay for less a gaming experience for others who pay nothing and have a better experience. Not ever again will I grace that land.

If what you say is true, its obviously piss poor customer service.

 

But you don't have to call them evil, because of the action of one person. I can understand why you got upset, and it's easy to lash out, but come on be fair.

 

I had some lengthy back and forth mails with them regarding my old account, and that I made another character without realizing I had to pay and or overwriting my old one. I can't exactly remember what it was, but I was a none paying customer and they responded quickly and was very helpful.

 

Good experience, but I won't make a conclusion out of just that, and neither should you.

Originally posted by Everket

 

 

But you don't have to call them evil, because of the action of one person. I can understand why you got upset, and it's easy to lash out, but come on be fair.

 

Not to be snarky, but does Istaria have more than one customer service person?  My impression was only a couple hundred people played the game.