State of Support 7/7/2016

Malrok · July 2016

Tiana wrote: »

Are there certain GMs signed to certain types of CS reports? As in some for harassment cases, some for bugs, some for quests/achievements, etc?
What is the system, or do all GMs cover all types?
I see that being a partial issue if they cover all types, because cases that should be looked into and put first might not be put first or looked into properly. And cases with quests/achievements are, usually, super quick and done.
I understand we won't get live support back (during those days... I had, maybe, only put 2-3 tickets in all together since I started playing at release), but maybe a bit more order for who covers what type of reports would help.

And if you do use the system I stated above, ignore me.

GMs cover all types of issues. However, that doesn't stop us from prioritizing more urgent issues.

That being said, every ticket is important and most players want a response as soon as possible. As a result, even urgent issues will have a wait time when we are backed up.

aeee98 · July 2016

BrofessorX wrote: »

did anyone else's vg's not reset today ?!
mine didnt reset but my dungeon runs did.
now i gotta wait 2-3 days for support

I noticed that the vanguard dailies reset earlier than the actual reset time lately. Not too sure if it is intended.

Ap4thetik · July 2016

Svafnir wrote: »

Malrok wrote: »

Sevlon, I think the primary issue with giving player support is a lot of the tickets received do need CS attention since they directly involve things a regular player can't do, if you check support page when submitting a ticket under "Issue type" most of them require a GM to check, things like game performance issues (and only to an extent and by very few people in forums); trouble patching (same as before); questions regarding events, items, quests or achievements... that's pretty much all that could be "possibly" addressed by fellow players providing support, since most of the other options when submitting a ticket directly need GMs to get anywhere and granting special privileges to certain people that just "volunteer" to help ease the burden is just not going to be accepted by anyone, starting with the company, since there's a real chance of all he.ll breaking loose sooner rather than later..

Malrok wrote: »

You bring up some great points. Most content updates result in around a 30% increase in ticket volume. Historically, only Fate of Arun and Gunner + Steam were much higher than that. We were expecting around a 50% increase in volume for the Ninja release.

In reality, it was closer to a 100% increase in volume for the first few weeks after the update. That created a backlog of around 2000 tickets and resulted in long response times.

The problem with a backlog is that it isn't addressed by just keeping up with incoming tickets. We need to do better than break even to fix the problem which may require more GMs. Even then, there is a delay for hiring/training before we can start making progress.

I will also say that most of the tickets we receive require some action on our part through the use of tools that only we can access. I like the idea of players helping, and we definitely appreciate the players who frequently help others on the forums or in game. However, if someone needs an item restored or an order refunded, that is something that only we can do.

I don't want to make excuses, because I know we can do better. I just want to be transparent since there is obviously some interest in what is happening behind the scenes.

There are a few things that could be done to accomplish the goals that need to be achieved, keep costs down, and avoid the issue Svafnir brings up of "All he.ll breaking loose."

To address the main issue, lack of personnel. Volunteer support from the community is a very good way to resolve this. I know there are concerns that have been brought up about 'Volunteers' not having access to fix certain problems, or the potential of them causing problems. There are two things I could see being done that would allow volunteers to help. While preventing any unwanted scenarios from occurring.

First, you don't just have people volunteer and be granted access to help with CS tasks. You actually 'hire' volunteers. They would use their real information (would be the same as getting hired anywhere in real life) same as every other employee of EME. They would also be bound by any and all current employment contracts used by EME to protect the privacy and integrity of customers information.

This would not only serve to discourage any potentially unwanted people from applying (people with the intention of misusing the authority granted from such a position would not want to give you their real information easily). But it would also give EME a way to take legal action if necessary. In the event any person or persons were found to be conducting themselves in a way unbecoming of EME staff (same as any employee working in your offices).

Ideally, this volunteer job position would be integrated into the 'Jobs' section of the main website. Hiring would be the same as for any other position. You'd want to screen the applicants to verify they will fit the role. I'd also recommend having applicants include their information regarding the forum. To allow you to see if any applicant has been prone to unwanted behavior in the past.

I'd also make sure it is clear that while they are being hired for a job. It is as a volunteer. However, if EME would like to provide compensation. I'd suggest doing that in the form of granting EMP. How much, and based on what is entirely up to you.

Unfortunately, this approach would still require training for these staff members. However, I believe it could potentially provide a large influx to your support staff, at very little cost. While maintaining a high standard for Customer Support. As well as allowing dedicated members of the community to really give back to a game that they have loved for a very long time.

Now unfortunately, I'm not aware of the current systems used for Customer Support by EME. This approach would however, require the implementation of a remote Help Desk of some kind. I've used these many times in the past for various websites I've worked for. Usually, they take the form of either a web portal (specialized web page based software). Or as a software client installed by the support staff on their local machine. Once again, their are pros and cons to both of these. EME would have to assess this on their own to determine the best choice for their particular case.

Last, but certainly not least. This would require (ok, maybe not require, but would greatly benefit from) a restructuring of your Customer Support workflow. I'd suggest moving to a tier-based support system workflow (if that's not already implemented at EME). You would have the initial Tier 1 support be your Volunteer staff. Hired and trained as previously mentioned. I think you could easily gain 25-50+ volunteer staff from that.

This staff would be dedicated to support tickets of things you know are easily handled. Such as stuck characters, accepting and passing along bug reports to their appropriate destinations, broken quests, event information, etc. As well as potentially all tickets submitted for in-game issues. Keep in mind, this staff would be employees of EME, bound by employment contracts. So what access they're given is up to EME, but will also determine how much they are able to handle on their own.

Regardless of how much access they're given. There still will be situations when a more experienced (and likely one with higher access) member of EME would be required to solve a particular situation. In this event, the Tier 1 volunteers would pass along the issue to your Tier 2 staff. With the addition of a universal Help Desk software system. All information from the previous correspondence between the end user, and volunteer support staff would be passed along with the request. This would allow your Tier 2 support to basically 'pick up' where the Tier 1 staff left off. Without having to start from the beginning. Saving a significant amount of time.

With most of everything else handled. There are still some things that handle very sensitive information, such as tickets regarding billing. As such, these would be sent directly to your in-house Customer Support, which would be your Tier 3 staff.

This system is by no means, 'perfect' (having worked in customer support, I know there's no such thing lol). It would also not be an 'overnight' fix. However, I do believe it could be a very effective system for EME. It could take a large burden off of your in-house staff. With the ability to temporarily 'suspend' access for your Tier 1 support (this would be like an 'off duty' thing, when all of the staff is no longer required). This would give EME the ability to more easily control the the size of their support staff in preparation, response to, or after ticket volume changes. Allowing them to quickly re-enable access of your 'off duty' volunteer staff. To rapidly deal with things like an influx of tickets after a large content patch.

Just an idea though. Do with it what you will.
Servers are back up though. So back to leveling. ^_^

app1ejuice · July 2016

I think something that could help a lot with basically no effort is to show the queue of tickets. Sometimes, if the queue for tickets is really long, players may feel like they're simply being ignored. If you added some sort of like visual bar or something showing how many tickets are "ahead", then that would ease a lot of the tension.

Sometimes the issue in the ticket is about accidentally discarding something really big, or some other big mistake -- it's quite a bit of anxiety to wait for it to be recovered.

State of Support 7/7/2016

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