*sigh* So what CAN a GM do for me?

[Ailish]

Back story: I used a salvage bag and all the leather came out in single pieces and wont stack now (see right of GM message). I didn't even ask them to fix it! I asked if they could check and see what the issue was and IF it could be fixed in some way.

Soooo ... apparently GM's can now only move items around or delete them. Neat.

 

[Magdalene]

Wow, the "in game support has no advanced knowledge on the game mechanics of Ultima Online" is bad on SO many levels....
Including, but not limited to, PR.

 

[Sebrina]

Ask not what your GM can do for you, but what you can do for your GMs!

Just kidding, I've always had good responses from GMs. They hardly make me say "Wow," nowdays. But, I'll never forget when one showed up walking up steps from underground like a creature from hell and completely undressed me to find the bug of an item that I could not get out of my hand.

I was actually blushing in RL standing there most naked in game while a crowd gathered round to see what was going on. You just don't get that kind of personal attention anymore.

 

[Ailish]

Right Sebrina, that is the sad part ... they used to be really good and very helpful ...

 

[Beastmaster]

GM aka Gamemaster is a gross misnomer nowadays. I think even the Devs refer to them as CSRs now. So the question should be what service can they provide given they have no advanced knowledge?

 

[Experimental]

"in game support has no advanced knowledge on the game mechanics of Ultima Online"


OMG, now we know why GM support is essentially nonexistent anymore.

It's bad enough to make me feel embarrassed for the GM's and EA/Mythic.


Jeremy, care to respond?????

 

[Wenchkin]

Eesh, that's bad form

You suspect they don't know as much as GM's of old, but you don't expect them to outright admit they don't have the necessary knowledge. That's bad.

Wenchy

 

[Coppelia]

Well, at least they correctly redirect you to where you should have been first.
Your problem didn't require the intervention of a GM ingame. It was a feedback about a problem with salvage bag.

So what's the problem with that answer? (beside the very stupid wording)

 

[Ailish]

I already SENT a feedback form ... what I wanted was for the GM to see if it was just a glitch with the leather that I could address myself, or that just maybe they could address. The issue with the bag itself I figured they would have no chance with.

As it turns out ... a friend of mine may have found the answer for me - that being that my client refuses to patch no matter what I do. Something that MAYBE a GM might have been able to point out, had they bothered to talk to me at all.

However, my thread has very little to do with my specific problem, and more to do with that bit that everyone else has noticed: "game support has no advanced knowlege on the game mechanics of UO". Maybe that doesn't bother you at all, Coppelia, but it bothers me alot, and apparently others feel the same.

 

[Old Wolf]

I've long felt that GMs have, for the most part, lost their friendly customer service touch.

For the most part, I'm positive about UO staff... I mean, I have nothing against the devs or Jeremy, they're all decent people in my book. But with the GMs it's come to the point where you NEVER get a real live person show up and help you with anything, even when it really is their job to deal with something (like for example that bug that randomly shows up with boats where you can't dry dock them until a GM shows up and does something to them).

In my experiences recently, the GMs just assume I'm incompetent, send me a canned message, then boot me out of the queue. I know they have a lot to deal with, but they could at least message me to see if I really know how to [dry dock a boat for example] before assuming it's a user end issue.

Now your situation specifically probably didn't require a GM to show up, because I don't really think there is anything they could do at that point (well, I guess they could replace the leather with stackable leather, but that's probably not worth it to them). But that doesn't mean that their service isn't sliding considerably.

I should add that I don't believe it's ALL GMs, but just most. I did get a very polite, very funny GM a year or so back that was extremely helpful and kidded around with me a bit before heading out. I miss those moments.

 

[Fox (Europa)]

So what CAN a GM do for me?

He can tell you what the weather is like outside his call-centre in Mumbai. He can tell what he bought at the weekend with the 1/5th of the wages someone in the US would get for the same job. He can maybe even tell you how many people he and his colleagues have made redundant in other countries because they will work long hours without benefits in conditions no Western union would tolerate. But ask him about pixels not stacking in a computer game and what he can tell you is that he can't help with that - what he'd like to tell you is to stick your pixels up your arse.

Fox

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

<gapes>


<scratches head>


<gapes some more>


<walks off - totally astounded>

 

[Crystal Canyon]

Back story: I used a salvage bag and all the leather came out in single pieces and wont stack now (see right of GM message). I didn't even ask them to fix it! I asked if they could check and see what the issue was and IF it could be fixed in some way.

Soooo ... apparently GM's can now only move items around or delete them. Neat.

Thats almost too much to handle all at one time!

Ive made alot of UO cartoons in my time, but this is better than anything Ive ever come up with!

 

[gunneroforgin]

I posted about this same problem when the silly salvage bag first came out. And it is still broken even after they said they knew there was a problem with the bags and said they were going to fix it.

I was concerned about this so, I did a little test. Using leather of each type, I made about a half dozen of each leather into tunics. then I put them in my salavage bag added some old weapons and hit the salvage all button and everything stacked. Then I redid the above without weapons and hit the salavage cloth button and by the virtures all the leather items stacked like they were supposed to. I say toss that bag a buy a new one and see if it still does it

 

[gunneroforgin]

He can tell you what the weather is like outside his call-centre in Mumbai. He can tell what he bought at the weekend with the 1/5th of the wages someone in the US would get for the same job. He can maybe even tell you how many people he and his colleagues have made redundant in other countries because they will work long hours without benefits in conditions no Western union would tolerate. But ask him about pixels not stacking in a computer game and what he can tell you is that he can't help with that - what he'd like to tell you is to stick your pixels up your arse.

Fox

What I would like to tell him is GIVE ME BACK MY JOB!

 

[Maplestone]

I'm confused about what you were expecting. This query strikes me as a waste of a GM's time - submit a bug report with how to reproduce it and move on with your game.

 

[BartofCats]

As it turns out ... a friend of mine may have found the answer for me - that being that my client refuses to patch no matter what I do. Something that MAYBE a GM might have been able to point out, had they bothered to talk to me at all.

Ok... so if you are not able to patch to the current version... and a GM cannot tell that you are running on the current patch why the heck are you here asking for help?? Perhaps you should try getting your patching fixxed first THEN worry about your leather.

 

[Ailish]

Ok... so if you are not able to patch to the current version... and a GM cannot tell that you are running on the current patch why the heck are you here asking for help?? Perhaps you should try getting your patching fixxed first THEN worry about your leather.

I had actually forgotten about the patch issue. I havent re-started my client in 24 hours, and frankly, I have gotten so used to not being patched (BTW, there is no real fix, I have to compile a patch from my husband's computer, which, him having Vista means I will never be able to find the stupid files).

Again ... my actual issue has nothing to do with it. Yes, I hoped it was a common problem with an easy solution, but I expected to be told something like "I have looked and it is not something I can help with ... try XYZ and go to KB#NNN and send a bug report". The last thing I expected was to be told that the GMs don't know jack about game mechanics. Heck, s/he probably did not even know what "stacking" was based on my recent experience with GMs ...

 

[aarons6]

im finding this a common problem with the salvage bag..
i just started my tailor, im at 101.8 and there has been a few times where nothing stacks.

your patching problem is probably a network error dealing with the ports and upnp.
if your other pc can patch then it has those ports opened and you wont beable to connect to the patch server on your pc.

you have to go into the router and open them for your ip manually.


here are the ports.
when i ran a lan of 4 computers all connected to uo at the same time, 2 wouldnt upnp correctly.

5000-5010 Game
7775-7777 Login
8888 Patch
8800-8900 UO Messenger
9999 Patch
7875 UOMonitor

if your pc doesnt open the ports, you will get lag. this might be causing your stacking problems as the bag tries to recycle all the items at once.

the game and login ports you only need one opened, the patch ports your going to have to share.
source of the ports
http://support.uo.com/tech_0.html

 

[Viper09]

I'm confused about what you were expecting. This query strikes me as a waste of a GM's time - submit a bug report with how to reproduce it and move on with your game.

I have to agree with Mapestone's comment here. Leather can't stack due to a bug with a salvage bag, big deal. Submit the bug report.

Also, why would a GM test what client patch you are on when the subject is unstackable leather? Not to be rude, but I am sure there are much more important calls for a GM to answer than unstackable leather and seeing what Clian patch you are using. Bugs should be submitted so they can prevent them from happening.

The gm's response seems to be more aimed at telling you he/she doesn't know why your leather does not stack right at that moment. Yeah, GM's aren't as friendly and as interactive as they use to be, but hey, gotta move with the times.

Btw, you tried re-installing your UO to try and get it patched?

 

[RoycroftLS]

I'm confused about what you were expecting. This query strikes me as a waste of a GM's time - submit a bug report with how to reproduce it and move on with your game.

I don't find the OP's reason for paging a GM as a waste of time. I mean, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. But a GM flat-out admitting that they have limited knowledge of a game they are responsible for overseeing is ridiculous.

I don't know which is more disappointing, the dearth of customer service in this game or the fact that players are starting to get complacent about it.

 

[Rix/\]

As far as the GM's go, I think they're are so short handed they use people who have no clue about UO as temps to fill in while they launch Warhammer.


Now the leather issue I've had to deal with, I found that the items I crafted and salvaged stacked no prob. But armor I got from loot and enhanced then salvaged didn't stack . Even unenhanced. But if you notice the FoF I believe they are adressing stacking issues in upcoming pub, hopefully this is one.

 

[Endrik]

Its been pretty bad for a while. The last time I actually had a GM show up was a couple of years ago when I asked about an 18x18 house that had been placed on the ocean. It was just off shore, so I took a boat out to it and waited for a response. The GM finally showed up, and so I greeted her with a friendly "Hello, thanks for responding". I was then nearly banned myself... the conversation went something like this...
(GM) What program are you exploiting so that you can see GMs?
(Me) Im not running any program other then UO, I paged and you just now popped in.
(GM) You must be running a third party program to detect GMs if you are able to see me. You must also be running an illegal third party program to allow you to be able to place a house in the sea. Which program are you exploiting?
(Me) Excuse me!!! I am not running any third party program. My house is that one over there on the land. It is not in decay mode, so I cannot be the owner of this one. Further more why would I place an illegal house and then page a GM on myself? And perhaps you should learn to work your own program before accusing people of running illegal programs becaus you showed up visible. Perhaps you should check your settings again?!?!

At this point the GM became invisible and a few minutes later I received a canned response about how the GMs would look into it and take action if necessary. Turns out there was no house placed on the ocean. My client was keeping another house loaded in memory, and when I would recall to my house it would display the graphic of the other house over the ocean. I figured this out a few days later while running from my house instead of recalling and seeing the exact house design that showed up over the ocean.

So not only was the GM worthless and uninformative... But also extremely rude. I later paged a GM on an untended macroer, and was soon abnned for unattended macroing. This I petitioned, and was finally able to get my account unbanned about 2 and a half days into the 3 day ban. I can only imagine that both of those marks stayed on my account as my account was perma banned a few months later. I left my char unatended not running any programs, just standing there, and an enterprising guild mate decided to take the opportunity to run a snooping script using me as the target. I got back just in time to see my guy sitting in jail and the GM telling me to expect an email with details. Needless to say my "friend" was banned as well. Although I tried petitioning this one, it was refused everytime, and that account remains banned to this day.

So no, I have never had any respect for GMs in this game. The people they hire have always seemed to be complete morons who can barely work a keyboard, let alone their own GM program, not to mention knowing anything about the game itself. The sad thing is it has apparently gotten worse.

 

[Rix/\]

He can tell you what the weather is like outside his call-centre in Mumbai. He can tell what he bought at the weekend with the 1/5th of the wages someone in the US would get for the same job. He can maybe even tell you how many people he and his colleagues have made redundant in other countries because they will work long hours without benefits in conditions no Western union would tolerate. But ask him about pixels not stacking in a computer game and what he can tell you is that he can't help with that - what he'd like to tell you is to stick your pixels up your arse.

Fox

WHAT? I thought it was customer service that was in some 3rd world country, Our GM"s telling by the lvl of their intell must be from france. j/k

And you must be think of another western country cause US wages are stuck in time compared to cost of living.

 

[Corrupted Goblin]

WHAT? I thought it was customer service that was in some 3rd world country, Our GM"s telling by the lvl of their intell must be from france. j/k

And you must be think of another western country cause US wages are stuck in time compared to cost of living.

he is.... its Canada lol