EA - NO High Seas, NO SA upgrade = no players, what does it take?

[MissEcho]

As the title says

I returned to UO 2 months ago after a (2.5 yr absence) to give the HIGH SEAS booster a look see.

The Australian Origin Store (the ONLY flipping UO store that Origin in it's wisdom will automatically direct us to when clicking on ANY LINK to the store) does NOT
sell either. In fact it only sells 12 of the 26 things the USA origin store has for UO.

I opened two accounts out of my five, but having waited 2 months for the item to be available it is now close to the time that I figured I would hang around to see the items get stocked or leave again.

This is at least the third thread where this lack of merchandise has been reported, I also initially sent an email to support (which has NEVER been answered).

What does it take to actually get the attention of someone who can actually do something to address this issue? Or is it that you really do NOT give a toss about the Oceania players (irrespective of what shard they actually play)?

I know this issue was reported before I returned and I know you are all aware of it ........... SO why is has NOTHING been done to correct this?

Are you just happy to take our monthly subscriptions while treating us like second class players?

Can someone please advise who it is we should complain to in this abysmal excuse for customer service as obviously the forum here and emailing customer support doesn't do any good?

ps: I do NOT want to make international phone calls to get access to items, it shouldn't cost me money to actually try to 'buy' something.

pps: Although some readers of this forum have been VERY kind to offer to buy me the booster, and for me to arrange paying them, I won't do this as the booster is just ONE of the items I would have bought, and if enjoyable would have in all likelihood opened more of my accounts and then needed other things like the garden beds etc. I don't think it should be up to players to be spending their money and forwarding me codes and them me organising international payment to refund them the outlay etc. Not only that it doesn't address the issue for all the other AU players, nor ongooing purchasing for myself.

Will someone from EA/MYTHIC please advise if they actually INTEND to stock the items at Australian Origin store?

If not say so and I will close both accounts NOW as I am fast running out of patience.

Sorry to sound narky but enough is enough, this issue should have been addressed the instant it was reported. In any other business people would have been fired for such poor service to customers who actually want to 'buy' a flipping product.

 

[Vlaude]

Why make an international call when you can call locally?

Australian Support - EA Games

 

[Jactiggy]

I'm with ya.
I have two accounts which are stuck in the dark ages (Pre SA) and there's no way of me upgrading.
I'm basically trying to give EA the equivalent of 4 months worth of subscription fees in 1 hit.
I just can't see the problem, perhaps I'm missing something, but wouldn't it be a one hour job just to put a few things up on your site?
I just don't get why it's so bloody hard.

Anyway, like you Echo, I too am losing patience, but I'll probably just do what I've always done, which is to continue taking it right up the tail pipe and keep on playing as I always have.

DAMN YOU UO ADDICTION!

*Curls up in shower crying and eating cookies*

 

[lupushor]

I keep picturing what's soon to come:

One of us calling the EA Games Support Line:

"Hello, I have an in-game problem!"
"Hi, what game to you play?"
"Ultima Online"
"OH!?!...Really???"

 

[MissEcho]

Why make an international call when you can call locally?

Australian Support - EA Games

Already rang that, and was advised that all product for the EA stores is managed in the USA and was advised to send an email (which I did).

The thing that really p*ssed me off ringing that number is that a normal call cost for a telephone call in Australia is approx 25c per CALL, and 99% of companies offer a 1800 number (local call charge) for interstate calls. Not EA, no $2.48 per minute, that is outrageous for a customer support call. You pay that for those extortionate porn calls for goodness sake, talk about price gouging.

Imagine if you had a major game problem that was needed to be addressed by that EA customer support center? It would cost you upwards of $74 in call charges to spend just 30 minutes on the phone. That is close to being CRIMINAL.

 

[Vlaude]

Already rang that, and was advised that all product for the EA stores is managed in the USA and was advised to send an email (which I did).

The thing that really p*ssed me off ringing that number is that a normal call cost for a telephone call in Australia is approx 25c per CALL, and 99% of companies offer a 1800 number (local call charge) for interstate calls. Not EA, no $2.48 per minute, that is outrageous for a customer support call. You pay that for those extortionate porn calls for goodness sake, talk about price gouging.

Imagine if you had a major game problem that was needed to be addressed by that EA customer support center? It would cost you upwards of $74 in call charges to spend just 30 minutes on the phone. That is close to being CRIMINAL.

Ah ok, it does sound like you've tried everything you could think of. I'd be frustrated too. Hopefully you can get a better response.

 

[A Thought Elemental]

That origin store thing has some short-sighted parts in it's design.

If I try to load it up on my browser, it forces a Finnish language localization on me, and gives me no option for any other language. I couldn't tell you if it offers any UO stuff because I can't read it.

A chunk of people in Finland do not understand the Finnish language, and there are 2 national languages here - - Swedish and Finnish. The site ignores the Swedish speakers and also the batch of people here who do not speak either (we use English).

I've already posted in here about it but.... the site like, seems destined to never be corrected or something.

 

[Omnius]

I keep picturing what's soon to come:

One of us calling the EA Games Support Line:

"Hello, I have an in-game problem!"
"Hi, what game to you play?"
"Ultima Online"
"OH!?!...Really???"

I've actually met three or four employees of EA and its studios. That's basically how they respond to being told I play UO. It's usually the beginning of an extensive conversation in which the theme is "Why UO?" or "Why not ::Insert failed mmo project name here::?"

 

[Mesanna]

Hello everyone,

Give me a few days and let me see what answers I can come up with. I will keep you guys informed of anything I can find out.

Mesanna

 

[kelmo]

*smiles*

 

[Mesanna]

Hi guys,

I spoke to the people responsible for the Origin store tonight and they told me the Australian team will be adding the two upgrades to their store catalog.

As far as the Finnish/English options, the only comment I could get is that they will pass along your feedback to the local store manager. I know its not great news for you but atleast its one step forward.

We will get there sooner or later *smiles*

As I get more information I will pass it along.

Mesanna

 

[lupushor]

Hi guys,

I spoke to the people responsible for the Origin store tonight and they told me the Australian team will be adding the two upgrades to their store catalog.

As far as the Finnish/English options, the only comment I could get is that they will pass along your feedback to the local store manager. I know its not great news for you but atleast its one step forward.

We will get there sooner or later *smiles*

As I get more information I will pass it along.

Mesanna

I just hope that by being involved from the inside You m'lady don't get the same feeling that we get from the outside: that You are the only one that actually cares about us. Even if You kill us because of it.

*bows*

 

[MissEcho]

Thanks for that Mesanna, however, it isn't just the 2 upgrades I mentioned that are missing, although if they are available at least we can play with the current game content so many thanks for that .

However, in the letter I sent to them by email I noted:

The Australian Origin store stocks:

Ultima Online™ Legacy Token Code
Captain's Bundle Captain's Bundle
Ultima Online™ Advanced Character
Forged Metal Tool 10 Charges (100% Enhancement)
Ultima Online™ Character Transfer Code
Rustic Theme Pack
Rechargeable Housing Teleport Tiles
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot Code
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot and Storage
Ultima Online:™ Stygian Abyss Expansion Pack + 30 Days Game Time
Ultima Online™ 3 Month Game Time Code
Ultima Online™ 6 Month Game Time Code

The USA store stocks:

Undertaker's Staff
Rechargeable Housing Teleport Tiles
Ultima Online™ Advanced Character
Rustic Theme Pack
Gothic Theme Pack
Britannian Ship
Woodworker's Bench
Pen of Wisdom
Ultima Online™ Eleventh Year Collection
Natural Hair Dye
Ultima Online™ Legacy Token Code
Forged Metal Tool 10 Charges (100% Enhancement)
Ultima Online™ Character Transfer Code
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot Code
Forged Metal Tool 5 Charges (100% Enhancment)
Haochi’s Pigments
Ultima Online™ Character Name Change Token Code
Ultima Online™ Character Gender Change Token Code
Ultima Online™ Housing and Bank Storage Upgrade Code
Ultima Online™: Stygian Abyss™ (Account Upgrade)
Ultima Online™: Stygian Abyss™ (New Account + 30 Days of Game Time)
Ultima Online™ 3 Month Game Time Code
Ultima Online™ 6 Month Game Time Code
Captain's Bundle
Ultima Online™: High Seas Booster
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot and Storage

12 items as opposed to the USA 26 items, and I know as soon as I am able to buy High Seas, chances are I will want the Britannian Ship which is another item missing. This is surely a systemic problem, other threads show the Europe stores also missing various items. Someone in EA needs to sit down, list all things for sale and ensure they are available on all sites, surely it shouldn't be that difficult. It has been an identified problem for well over 2-3 months so needs to be fixed.

I will be keeping my eye on the Aussie site and will definitely let you know if the promised two items appear.

 

[BeaIank]

Messana, while we're at it, can you talk to Origin store to add Stygian Abyss upgrade to the Brazil store as well, please?
We have most of the stuff available at the US store, save for this upgrade.

 

[R Traveler]

And HS upgrade to EMEA store please.

 

[A Thought Elemental]

As far as the Finnish/English options, the only comment I could get is that they will pass along your feedback to the local store manager. I know its not great news for you but atleast its one step forward.

I think that is the most you could do with something like this, thanks Mesanna.

 

[DevilsOwn]

while I, like many others around here, appreciate her enthusiasm, it continually mystifies me that Mesanna needs to get involved in so many aspects of player support

why isn't someone noticing this and bashing some heads?

 

[Mesanna]

Evening all,

I appreciate all the additional information regarding the other areas that need to be populated with the items and will pass this along to the Origin store also.

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful information!

Mesanna

PS I do kill because I care..sometimes I just care to much *winks*

 

[Jingles]

Hi Mesanna,

Sorry to have to trouble you again. But I just saw this post and was wondering if you could do the same for asian countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. I have a bunch of real life friends that don't visit this forum that have not been able to upgrade since the revamp that I worked real hard to get to return to UO. But like the OP are losing patience. Any news I can give them would at least help to keep them in game.

P.S. The asian stores I mention have the same 12 items available in the Australian store

 

[Mesanna]

I can only say I will try my best to get all the products we offer on all the stores.

Mesanna

 

[Jingles]

Thats all I can ask for. Thanks Mesanna

 

[Archangel0]

So many stores, and making sure all are stocked, one per country, it seems like a nightmare!

I both thank you and pitty you a bit, dear Mesanna!

Someone should tell the smart guys at Origin that in internet, ONE store for all countries can work, ONE webpage per game (instead of one silly pseudo-store carrying all games.. but having one of those stores for each country... it seems moronic to put borders on the NET... talk about backward)
http://vboards.stratics.com/images/set1/cursing.gif

Is there a complot, to disappear UO? I mean, they hide UO from sight in all the links, EA and Origin store. Make it hard for players to buy items, they cancel renewable subscriptions with no apperent explanation and give no UO link to customer service. Is it just me, or does it seem like they're putting nails on what they wish was a coffin?

 

[Basara]

Archangel0:

The primary reason for different stores for different regions is that some countries are particularly anal about game products. Some require their own rating system, or have incredibly silly restrictions on "violence" or other content.

Examples (not all are game examples):
The UK, which allows things like Monty Python and Benny Hill, yet blocked many anime from being imported due to violence that is less than what most action TV series and theatrical movies show (simply because the violence is "animated").
If I remember it correctly, the one of the reasons that taking heads for bounties and other barbaric uses for body parts (jerky?) were removed, is that the German government wanted to ban the game because of them.

Then there's the various oddball VATs and other taxes, and how some places treat DLC differently than shelf purchases, etc.

 

[Deb]

I am having a hard time buying it from the US Store

I am trying to upgrade an account
to Stygian and it says I have already purchased this.
I did for my other accounts when it came out, but now it won't let me
purchase just the upgrade code.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Sir Ophid of Yew]

I am having a hard time buying it from the US Store

I am trying to upgrade an account
to Stygian and it says I have already purchased this.
I did for my other accounts when it came out, but now it won't let me
purchase just the upgrade code.

Any help would be appreciated.

I'm getting the same message, and nobody is answering in customer service. It stinks.

 

[MissEcho]

Archangel0:

The primary reason for different stores for different regions is that some countries are particularly anal about game products. Some require their own rating system, or have incredibly silly restrictions on "violence" or other content.

Examples (not all are game examples):
The UK, which allows things like Monty Python and Benny Hill, yet blocked many anime from being imported due to violence that is less than what most action TV series and theatrical movies show (simply because the violence is "animated").
If I remember it correctly, the one of the reasons that taking heads for bounties and other barbaric uses for body parts (jerky?) were removed, is that the German government wanted to ban the game because of them.

Then there's the various oddball VATs and other taxes, and how some places treat DLC differently than shelf purchases, etc.

From what the EA guy said when I spoke to him in Australia, all the EA Origin Online Stores are managed from the USA. So basically they write the webpage and upload it to the relevant country server. It is how a gazillion multinational businesses operate. So you would think, created same place = same content uploaded around the world (with minor adjustments to suit). In any normal business the answer would be yes.

 

[Lord Crowen]

I am having a hard time buying it from the US Store

I am trying to upgrade an account
to Stygian and it says I have already purchased this.
I did for my other accounts when it came out, but now it won't let me
purchase just the upgrade code.

Any help would be appreciated.

Same problem here (european/german store in my case).

Workaround: Create a new EA-account with a new (throwaway) e-mail. Purchase the upgrade with that new account. Delete that account.

Honestly, sometimes I just do not understand why EA/Mythic is having problems with simple tasks like running a webshop.

 

[MissEcho]

Hi guys,

I spoke to the people responsible for the Origin store tonight and they told me the Australian team will be adding the two upgrades to their store catalog.

As far as the Finnish/English options, the only comment I could get is that they will pass along your feedback to the local store manager. I know its not great news for you but atleast its one step forward.

We will get there sooner or later *smiles*

As I get more information I will pass it along.

Mesanna

So it is nearly 2 Weeks since I made this original post.

Still NO change to the Aussie website.

Did they happen to mention which century they would be adding the content?

Not good enough.

 

[aricz]

Hola! Is it safe to upgrade to Stygian Abyss and/or High Seas now? Just reading everywhere about the duplicate codes ..

 

[Raider Red]

Hola! Is it safe to upgrade to Stygian Abyss and/or High Seas now? Just reading everywhere about the duplicate codes ..

as of an hour it seems to be safe,I had just upgraded to high seas and had no problems.

 

[aricz]

as of an hour it seems to be safe,I had just upgraded to high seas and had no problems.

Thanks for answering!

If another one gives the thumbs up I can at last experience Stygian Abyss in the Ultima Online universe! I'm a fan of the Ultima Underworld series ..

 

[aricz]

Hm, can't use PayPal on Stygian Abyss? Oh well, I'll let patience do the work now. Buying when safe.

 

[MissEcho]

At least some of you can BUY the codes, at the moment Aussies still can't even get that far. Still no change to our UO store that has less than half the stock of the USA store. Not good enough!

 

[AirGuitarGod]

Okay, it has been over two weeks since Messana said she would look into this.
Still no Gothic Theme Pack for Australian players.
How hard can this be?

 

[jskalski]

Hard just because we are relying on other people to do it. We'll keep pushing. Mesanna continues to poke them.

 

[aricz]

I just upgraded to SA without problems.. EU.

 

[Jingles]

Hard just because we are relying on other people to do it. We'll keep pushing. Mesanna continues to poke them.

Thanks

 

[Aurelius]

Hard just because we are relying on other people to do it. We'll keep pushing. Mesanna continues to poke them.

Any chance you can explain to those supposedly leading the EA drive towards more and better integration of their sales with the internet (the main subject of Riccitielo's spiel to shareholders last year, when he stated use of online was going to be the salvation of EA's share price) that this is EXACTLY the sort of half-baked mismanagement of what should be an integrated sales system which will LOSE EA money, damage reputation and with a little luck knock enough of a chunk out of their next performance bonuses (as if they deserved any at all...) to make him focus on getting stuff like this working.

Or do they make enough money short-term to get away with not bothering doing the job right... :whip:

 

[AirGuitarGod]

"I spoke to the people responsible for the Origin store tonight and they told me the Australian team will be adding the two upgrades to their store catalog."
Messana, Feb 23 2012


That was well over two weeks ago and we're still waiting ...

Not good enough. I want my gothic them pack - now!

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

OK, you guys have really got to get this fixed ASAP!

Right now, the Origin Store has the SA upgrade code for $9.99 and High Seas Booster for $7.49.

That's half off for each. I understand it's another dept. but c'mon. Isn't their job to take our money for EA? Does the guy in accounting or the CFO know the people running the Origin Store are losing the company money and customers? I doubt it

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Here's the current list of items available at the US Origin Store;


Rechargeable Housing Teleport Tiles
Ultima Online™ Advanced Character
Rustic Theme Pack
Gothic Theme Pack
Britannian Ship
Woodworker's Bench
Pen of Wisdom
Undertaker's Staff
Ultima Online™ Eleventh Year Collection
Natural Hair Dye
Ultima Online™ Legacy Token Code
Forged Metal Tool 10 Charges (100% Enhancement)
Ultima Online™ Character Transfer Code
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot Code
Forged Metal Tool 5 Charges (100% Enhancment)
Haochi’s Pigments
Ultima Online™ Housing and Bank Storage Upgrade Code
Ultima Online™ Character Gender Change Token Code
Ultima Online 1 Month Game Time Code
Ultima Online™: Stygian Abyss™ (Account Upgrade)
Ultima Online™: Stygian Abyss™ (New Account + 30 Days of Game Time)
Ultima Online™ 3 Month Game Time Code
Ultima Online™ 6 Month Game Time Code
Captain's Bundle
Ultima Online™: High Seas Booster
Ultima Online™ 7th Character Slot and Storage
Character Reincarnation Token (Name, Sex and Race change)

There's 27 items in total.

 

[Aurelius]

UK store lists 28, but not in the same order as your list so I'm not certain what the difference might be...

Edit : Worked it out - we also see the Name Change token, as well as the 'Reincarnation' one.

 

[the 4th man]

As the title says

I returned to UO 2 months ago after a (2.5 yr absence) to give the HIGH SEAS booster a look see.

The Australian Origin Store (the ONLY flipping UO store that Origin in it's wisdom will automatically direct us to when clicking on ANY LINK to the store) does NOT
sell either. In fact it only sells 12 of the 26 things the USA origin store has for UO.

I opened two accounts out of my five, but having waited 2 months for the item to be available it is now close to the time that I figured I would hang around to see the items get stocked or leave again.

This is at least the third thread where this lack of merchandise has been reported, I also initially sent an email to support (which has NEVER been answered).

What does it take to actually get the attention of someone who can actually do something to address this issue? Or is it that you really do NOT give a toss about the Oceania players (irrespective of what shard they actually play)?

I know this issue was reported before I returned and I know you are all aware of it ........... SO why is has NOTHING been done to correct this?

Are you just happy to take our monthly subscriptions while treating us like second class players?

Can someone please advise who it is we should complain to in this abysmal excuse for customer service as obviously the forum here and emailing customer support doesn't do any good?

ps: I do NOT want to make international phone calls to get access to items, it shouldn't cost me money to actually try to 'buy' something.

pps: Although some readers of this forum have been VERY kind to offer to buy me the booster, and for me to arrange paying them, I won't do this as the booster is just ONE of the items I would have bought, and if enjoyable would have in all likelihood opened more of my accounts and then needed other things like the garden beds etc. I don't think it should be up to players to be spending their money and forwarding me codes and them me organising international payment to refund them the outlay etc. Not only that it doesn't address the issue for all the other AU players, nor ongooing purchasing for myself.

Will someone from EA/MYTHIC please advise if they actually INTEND to stock the items at Australian Origin store?

If not say so and I will close both accounts NOW as I am fast running out of patience.

Sorry to sound narky but enough is enough, this issue should have been addressed the instant it was reported. In any other business people would have been fired for such poor service to customers who actually want to 'buy' a flipping product.

Pen and paper/EA Marketing.

 

[MissEcho]

Already done the pen and paper, even had a response (after 2 months) basically:

Thank you for your enquiry.

We are sorry to hear of the issues you are receiving.

We can confirm that the content will all be available for local players. Our online team are working on making the content available as a priority.

Regards,
EA Customer Support

Overall Progress since December 2011.
Emailed - No response
Rang - advised to email again.
Posted to numerous threads to the forum - December/January
Emailed Again - response above on 27 Feb
Posted My Own Thread (this one) where even Mesanna and Jeff got involved or made comment. (Three weeks ago)


Result to date = NOTHING

 

[Raider Red]

awesome,I love the horoscopes too.nice break from the norm.

 

[AirGuitarGod]

I ended up getting a friend in the USA to purchase the Gothic theme Pack for me.

 

[Lady-Tor]

I'm in Australia and after reading this I don't think I'm going to bother buying anything more off EA. They don't want my money do they? Maybe it's not good enough for them?

 

[Sevin0oo0]

interesting, When he said "because we are relying on other people to do it", first I thought some Mom & Pop shop, then thought Origin might be a better guess.

but... VA country has a position open: "BIOWARE MYTHIC - Online Marketing Manager" and one of the main duties is:
"Set best practices in the areas of catalogue management, offers, pricing (item level and currency funding level), promotion, e-commerce user flows and usability, merchandizing tools, payment instruments by region, etc."

web site sales sound like something around this spot? just askin'.
Also askin, wonder who the 'other people' are?

 

[Cogniac]

...Also askin, wonder who the 'other people' are?

EA is quite a large corporation. The division in charge of the Origin Store is not only separate from UO, it's separate from all of Bioware. In order to find someone at EA that's in charge of both in order to force some action, you'd have to go so far up into the Executive VP pay-grades that whoever you eventually found would have no idea who you are, what you do, or what you're talking about.

 

[O'Brien]

LOL. Tell me again why they changed the store to begin with? Is it supposed to save money to, well, disable folks from giving you money? *shakes head*

Makes me wonder if UO isn't still around simply because said Executive VP pay-grades are too busy in management meetings to put any thoughtpower into anything as obscure as UO and doing a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether such an insignificant operation should exist or not.

Really puts things into perspective for us lovers of the game, doesn't it?

EA is quite a large corporation. The division in charge of the Origin Store is not only separate from UO, it's separate from all of Bioware. In order to find someone at EA that's in charge of both in order to force some action, you'd have to go so far up into the Executive VP pay-grades that whoever you eventually found would have no idea who you are, what you do, or what you're talking about.