GM Spada says Hi again! and wants to hear from you.

[Andsteel]

Thank you very much for fixing the problem that I have had since October last year. Numerous emails and paging of GMs failed but you didn't!

 

[EnglishPitbull]

Hi GM Spada.....

i know lost iteams are still lost and will not be replaced.
but what happend to me ? will it be a bug that can come back again or
is it only a bad mistake from the server.

i run with my character to marble passage to enter the lost lands.
i ride on my etherial lama while my grizzeld mare was dead after a fight on yew gate.

at the moment i run out of the marble passage to enter LL my character get stucked and the client crashed. after i relogged my dead grizzeld was gone.....

damn i spend 12 million to get it have worked hard to get the money and now after 2 days i call it my own it`s gone away!!!!

greetings
English Pitbull

 

[Ziane]

It would be nice to see a nice status page on the shards and secondary services (login server, housing server, promo code server) with up-to-the-moment-status, maint windows and notes about any known outages.

It would actually make more sense if there was some company-standard (or even industry-standard) tool for service monitoring primary/secondary services with just a skin of art/fonts for each different game). *sketches out business case*

There used to be this tool called UO Monitor that basically did this. It gave you a screen with a list of servers and their status. At some point I guess they pulled the plug on the login server they set aside for this. It was handy though, you could configure it to play specific sounds when certain servers came on/offline, so there was no need to hover by the PC if you were waiting for a shard to come up.

*misses UOMon"

I've still got a copy of the client for sentimental reasons...

Zi

 

[Spada]

Hi GM Spada.....

damn i spend 12 million to get it have worked hard to get the money and now after 2 days i call it my own it`s gone away!!!!

I'm sorry that this happened to you EP and I wish there was something I could do. I'm afraid that all I can recommend is that you submit it as a bug via www.uo.com and let us know if it's repeatable for you in that area, or if it was just once.

If it is repeatable, with luck, the QA team might be able to identify the problem and have dev fix it for the future.

-spada

 

[EnglishPitbull]

Good Morning GM Spada,

so if i`m read your post right,
i have to collect 12 million gold again
trying to repeat the "bug" and if i
lost my grizzeld again... i have
2 grizzeld mare no one will bring me back ?????

so you mean i spend hard earned money to find a
bug for ea . no sorry that`s not the way i think
i become fun in this game.

maybe a GM spend me a
mare i will try to repeat it.

 

[AesSedai]

Hi...
So, yes in regards to the expansion, we're trying to get the issues resolved now and allow our current users and past users to get back into the literal swing of things before SA launches.

- Hi / hi again.
Just thought I'd mention that I noticed things looking a bit different on uo.com this afternoon.
Thanks to Uriah, Spada and all the others involved.

 

[Arrgh]

Well, then I'm in luck! All phone support during normal business hours (7am PST to 7pm PST is now run domestically. However, we still have an outsource team for afterhours as we feel it is very important you have the ability to reach someone no matter the time of day.

Woooot!!! One step closer to an almost completely clued CS! Last time I called CS the Rep didn't even know what Ultima Online was, then again that was about a year or so ago. Congrats on moving in the right direction.

 

[Arrgh]

No I don't have any say in the patch message, but I know who does and I'll make sure she knows that you want!

Thanks!

Am I dreaming? Spada, the caped crusader! They need to pay you dbl time if you seriously can get all these things done because people have been asking for a lot of these things for a long time. Customer satisfaction goes a long way to keeping subscribers. I'm glad people are beginning to see that.

Someone mentioned the nightmare known as EA website. Is there any chance in Hades that we might see a navigable CS website just for UO or is that something we're just going to have to gnash our teeth and pull our hair out over? I don't wanna go bald...

One other thing of interest was I believe it was last year, the link for the uogamecodestore at the login screen had been hijacked to a phishing site that tried to install a trojan upon arriving at that link (I use a script blocker so I didn't get infected). I don't know whose hands this falls into but it was a serious situation and not a false positive. I think it'd be nice to be able to assign whatever browser to work with the launch page, within reason, that we trust the most instead of having to use M$ browser. Any chance that this could be implemented?

Thanks and welcome back! =)

 

[Spada]

Good Morning GM Spada,

so if i`m read your post right,
i have to collect 12 million gold again
trying to repeat the "bug" and if i
lost my grizzeld again... i have
2 grizzeld mare no one will bring me back ?????

so you mean i spend hard earned money to find a
bug for ea . no sorry that`s not the way i think
i become fun in this game.

maybe a GM spend me a
mare i will try to repeat it.

Why not try on the Test Center? I believe we provide a lot of gold there, and that gold is somewhat easier to come by as well.

-Spada

 

[Hopeful]

I have purchased a token a week ago via the link that comes up on the patch screen when I start UO. The one that says UPDATED. UOGAMECODES.
I have confirmation of purchase(email) thanking me for the sale. But I cannot redeem it in game because "the promotional code system is currently unavailable" on cheesy for 7 days straight (or longer who knows?).
Why not tell me this BEFORE I PAY FOR IT?
I have emailed EA (ea nation doesnt even mention UO anywhere) with no response. I phoned twice. Waited 30 mins and got disconnected. Called back and finally got a human who told me he would "call me back later because he didnt have access to that information" and clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Still waiting for that call back BTW.
What could be so hard about adding relavent updates/known problems regarding ANY/ALL issues to the patch screen? Even once a month. I have to go to web sites not supported by EA to get answers or directions for anything current about UO. PLEASE provide a printed guide with SA.
If the promotional code system is down because of some transfer/dupe of some type of token PLEASE INFORM US IN SOME WAY.And disable the sale of such items on the site.
As it is, any new player likely has jioned by word of mouth due to EAs terrible promotion of the game. Imagine being met with so much ressistance and trouble and lack of support when you just want to check the game out.
Anyway... It seems I m out 20 bucks because ALL SALES ARE FINAL.NO REFUNDS. Although I havent got any goods to return from them. They just ignore you.
Just curious... did they put you back here anticapating the hundreds of problems to be addressed in SA when its released unfinished? Because if they cant address the simple most important part of things (selling and supporting of the game) I doubt much attention is being paid to ANYTHING else.
I will go to a broker to buy things next time because he will be more reliable and cheaper.Even if item is duped at least Im getting service. Maybe Ill get ripped off.. does it matter?? EA already did that.

 

[4th3ist]

Why not try on the Test Center? I believe we provide a lot of gold there, and that gold is somewhat easier to come by as well.

-Spada

With all due respect, wouldn't it be easier for someone with "administrative" access to the servers that can create items and all that jazz try and duplicate the bug to fix it? Anyways, I see where you're coming from but I don't see why it is in the hands of the user to correct something that is possibly an error with the game code or servers

 

[jack flash uk]

With all due respect, wouldn't it be easier for someone with "administrative" access to the servers that can create items and all that jazz try and duplicate the bug to fix it? Anyways, I see where you're coming from but I don't see why it is in the hands of the user to correct something that is possibly an error with the game code or servers

Sadly, all i can see is Spada not really LISTENING to the call for help

SPADA the player wants a replacement GRIZZLED MARE!

of course "you cannot replace lost items" but YOU could seeing as it is a detailed bug report.

instead of trying to patronise the poor player, just replace the mare, job done,costs EA nothing, you don't even have to tell anyone, how about just doing it??????

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

I WANT YOUR BLACKROCK!

 

[Mistura]

Why not try on the Test Center? I believe we provide a lot of gold there, and that gold is somewhat easier to come by as well.

-Spada

Why dont YOU try it on test centre lol

He is undestandably a bit peaved about the fact he has lost his treasured/hard earned item through yet another annoying bug so wtf would make him want to spend a single second of his life trying to work out if he can re-create this bug?

Jesus.

He's given you a fairly good idea of how this bug transpired so maybe, just maybe, instead of asking a paying customer who has now had a bad customer experience to carry out your own QA, you should assign a paid member of your staff to carry out this task.

 

[DevilsOwn]

had to dig back some to find this thread, sheeesh, what a chatty bunch

recently had a ticket open on the support site (11th anniversary token troubles, resolved now) and as a result of that ticket received an email asking me to take a survey about customer support

I would generally have no trouble with this, but the mail came from :

EA Outbound <[email protected]>

which may very well be the address for this sort of correspondence, but wouldn't it be better coming from "uosupport AT ea DOT com" ? I haven't yet clicked any of the links or even replied the email.

 

[Sunchicken]

Many of you may remember me, gods knows it’s been a long time since I had time to post and I apologize for that. You might be asking, “Are you back from the dead Spada?” Nope I’ve been here the whole time, only I’ve been busy working to make sure billing and tech support get better for you, and that Cal uses my aging knowledge of UO for the good of all mankind (sorry elves!) .

Why am I back now? This is probably the easiest to answer. I’m excited about our next expansion pack, I’m excited about all the great things Cal has managed to do for UO over the last few months, and I want to make sure that as UO continues to get better, that your experience with Tech and Account support gets better as well. I don’t expect you to be as excited about Customer Support as I normally am, but I can hope that when you do have to contact us, that you’re satisfied with support you got.

So what now? I’ll be looking through your posts and collecting feedback about your CS experiences. I’ll be looking for feedback that’s both constructive and valid. However, I have to put out the disclaimer, I will not be addressing any “In-game” GM customer support. GM Support is not my team and as such I can’t really comment on your in-game experience.

That being said I look forward to starting a few threads this week, and hearing from you. My PM box is open and I’m more than happy to hear from you. My one request is that if you are going to talk about Customer Support you include the Email “Reference #” of your contact so that I can easily see what you sent in, what CS said to you, and then follow up with the right people.

Thank you for your time, and your love of UO!

Well if your concerned with the future you might wanna start with the ILLEGAL THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS!!!!!
Dont worry your billing department has been on top of their game for multiple years now. Its the ingame support thats lacking

 

[katherinepgoh]

Spada, I have a suggestion. You should really have the GM's come and when they solve a problem, instead of that silly little chat interface, they should come and visibly speak with us as they once did. It used to be a good thing to do in UO even with having a problem that required GM intervention to have someone visibly, physically there trying to help you, and is comforting. In our daily interactions, we get the runaround from CS in so many areas of life over the phone or internet, and all it really seems to be when they refuse to show their faces is that they are uncaring and faceless masses.
I know that everytime I ever had a problem where a GM actually came and showed up, it made me smile to know we had support staff that cared enough to come and devote their attention to us directly. The chat interface is nice in instances where GM's are paged during battles, but if we are sitting doing nothing but waiting for you, can't you at least give us the courtesy of speaking face to face? (Virtually, at least?) Thank you

 

[Cailleach]

Bearing in mind that you run a multi time zone game, do you have any plans to provide multi time zone customer services and tech support? It sucks that folks over here in the UK or in Europe or anywhere out of the USA can't get customer service or tech support til you guys in the states get out of bed. Something that doesn't cost the earth to call would be a nice touch.

 

[Cailleach]

*bumps*


I really would like an answer to my question please.

 

[Spada]

I would generally have no trouble with this, but the mail came from :

EA Outbound <[email protected]>

which may very well be the address for this sort of correspondence, but wouldn't it be better coming from "uosupport AT ea DOT com" ? I haven't yet clicked any of the links or even replied the email.

This is the outbound email system we use for this type of thing. It's perfectly fine =)

Thanks
-Spada

 

[Spada]

Bearing in mind that you run a multi time zone game, do you have any plans to provide multi time zone customer services and tech support?

Unfortunately, we do not have any plans to provide multi time zone support at this time. However, our email team is always available and though it may take a little extra time to resolve that way, there is no additoinal cost to you.

Thank you
-Spada

 

[Viper09]

Sadly, all i can see is Spada not really LISTENING to the call for help

SPADA the player wants a replacement GRIZZLED MARE!

of course "you cannot replace lost items" but YOU could seeing as it is a detailed bug report.

instead of trying to patronise the poor player, just replace the mare, job done,costs EA nothing, you don't even have to tell anyone, how about just doing it??????

I lost my Crimson Cincture due to that bug going around. Give me a replacement!

oh wait, I never actually had one to begin with. Sure was easy to claim I lost it. If I really wanted to I could even fabricate a story to go along with it.

My point is simple: Anyone can claim they lost items. And almost anyone can make a really convincing story. This is why they can't replace items. It would be unfair to replace it for some, no matter how bad the story might be and not replace it for others. If people never lied I'm sure the story would be different but guess what? People will never stop lying.

 

[DevilsOwn]

This is the outbound email system we use for this type of thing. It's perfectly fine =)

Thanks
-Spada

thank you, sir, I will reply then

needed to make sure that all was completed before I posted the outcome of the 11th anniversary token troubles..... what was done for me was:

1. my money was refunded in full
2. 30 days gametime was added to my account
3. the tokens that I have in my pack do not need to be returned, I am allowed to keep them

I didn't ask for any of that.... I only asked that the tokens work as intended. At this time, that is not possible, so all of the above was done to compensate me.

more than fair, as I see it......