X-post from my post on the officials

[thefarmer]

Staff on duty schedules · on 6/6/2008 2:09:55 AM Generate a link to this post in a pop-up window. 40253
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You know what's annoying?

Assisting about a problem (Or in my case a possible bug with the new clothing system), being told you're number one in the premium queue, waiting several minutes (while the Host onduty and another GM deal with someone else in TSSE), then checking onduty to see this:

>onduty
Staff on duty:

>

My reaction?

>report Sorry to be a bother, but there was a Host onduty when I assisted, but now there's not. I'm just wondering if I should wait or go about my business since there appears to be nobody "On".
REPORT should only be used to notify the GemStone IV staff of emergency situations or gamewide technical errors. Please use ASSIST for general support.

My reasoning:

Again, this was about a possible bug in the system Bernt rolled out and figuring that the quicker it was fixed/or not fixed if necessary, the better.

Staff response:

***** Please be patient. Everyone in the ASSIST or REFERRAL queue will be helped by a GameMaster or Host in as timely a fashion as possible. You may type ASSIST or REFER at any time to see your position in the queue. There is no need to use REPORT for this matter.

There were additional reports on my part (where I tried to explain why I reported) and sends (telling me to not use report, and 'more canned messaging') but that's not the point I was trying to bring up here.

My question:

Why are the schedules of On Duty staff so secretive? What are you (staff) worried about? It's a customer service position and in no other business have I been unable to find out WHEN somebody is manning the fort to answer questions, be it by automated message or a little sign that says "Out to Lunch, back in 30".

I didn't think by asking if someone was going to be around would cause so much hassle for staff, but by the SENDs I received, I'd broken the law, or at least spilled sour milk into someone's expensive latte. It's 3am est and I'd like to go to bed. Is it really that much to ask if there's going to be another shift coming on?

-Kai

***
Visit my on-going auction page at http://www.freewebs.com/farmerv/index.htm

Seconds after I posted...



*** Host Liatheny is here to answer your assist. ***

>onduty
Staff on duty:
GameHost Liatheny

>
Liatheny says, "Hello, Vivaldi."
>'hello
You say, "Hello."

[Fallen]

I think GMs playing their PCs still see reports and such. They aren't On Duty, so they aren't listed as such. However, when shit hits the fan they probably drop what they're doing and help out as best they can.

[thefarmer]

I think GMs playing their PCs still see reports and such. They aren't On Duty, so they aren't listed as such. However, when shit hits the fan they probably drop what they're doing and help out as best they can.

I'm sure they can.

However what determines if it's bad enough to call in reinforcements?
I've gone days (playing the 2am-7am shift) with nobody ONDUTY with an assist pending and it still sitting in the queue. I don't think asking for a schedule of if someone's going to be visible when you ONDUTY is too much to ask for.

[Fallen]

Probably when the screamers (meaning automated OMG SOMEONE IS BREAKING THE GAME messages) get so bad they can't attempt to ignore the problem anymore.

[Joe]

I'm sure they can.

However what determines if it's bad enough to call in reinforcements?
I've gone days (playing the 2am-7am shift) with nobody ONDUTY with an assist pending and it still sitting in the queue. I don't think asking for a schedule of if someone's going to be visible when you ONDUTY is too much to ask for.

Sure it is... it's like bitching about merchants that put their schedules on the fucking calendar and then miss it. Why the hell are they going to tell you when referrals are gonna be answered? :)

[thefarmer]

Probably when the screamers (meaning automated OMG SOMEONE IS BREAKING THE GAME messages) get so bad they can't attempt to ignore the problem anymore.

True, but that would fall more inline with someone REPORTing rather than ASSISTing.


Sure it is... it's like bitching about merchants that put their schedules on the fucking calendar and then miss it. Why the hell are they going to tell you when referrals are gonna be answered? :)

I'm not asking for a timetable on when an ASSIST is going to be answered. I'm asking to know whether or not someone's ONDUTY to answer them.

Meaning, if nobody's going to be ONDUTY until 7am, and it's 2am, I can head to bed. Or, if I know someone'll be coming ONDUTY in ten minutes I can choose to wait if I want to.

[Tolwynn]

My guess is that while knowing would certainly be helpful for you, it would also be quite helpful for people trying to skirt the system for whatever reason - trying to grandfather bad names, throwing meteors, blatantly scripting, you name it.

They're likely spread thin enough as it is with the recent spate of losses, why make it even easier for folks hoping to cause trouble?

[thefarmer]

My guess is that while knowing would certainly be helpful for you, it would also be quite helpful for people trying to skirt the system for whatever reason - trying to grandfather bad names, throwing meteors, blatantly scripting, you name it.

They're likely spread thin enough as it is with the recent spate of losses, why make it even easier for folks hoping to cause trouble?

Good points.

However, the staff members that handle those issues aren't the same that handle ASSISTs.

[AestheticDeath]

I would prefer a time table for assists and referrals. And I would prefer to have an option to <send> message to any GM who just sent you a message. Basically like opening a dialog box with them, but only if they permit it.

I am tired of responding to a SEND and thinking myself an idiot because everyone logged in as GH/GM can see it.

I am also tired of every once in a while having a problem I need help with, and then having to wait for sometimes unending times to get any help. When I need help, I expect there to be someone there to help me, no matter how inconsequential my problem.

Basically they need to hire some more fucking personnel so they can man the fort 24/7.

I think a maximum wait of like 20 minutes isn't too much to ask. Especially when you can sit there and look at the queue and know where you are. If you are like 30 in a list of 50, you can expect a long wait and not be an idiot if they take some time getting to you. But I cannot recall ever being in the queue with more than 10 people, and more often then not its like 2-5 people in the assist, and the rest are in the referral.

Sometimes a single assist can take more then 5-10 minutes, but there needs to be more then one person able to handle these things. And if they are slow and doing nothing, then they can do some small RP thing or check for scripters, or play on their own or something.

And, the major portion of this complaint is because I do not assist, and then go about my business. I assist cause I want help now, and I want the problem resolved before I go do anything else. If I have to wait an hour before seeing someone, and god forbid I looked away at the time or went to the can and they come during that time, and then poof away re-entering you in the queue behind others... jesus.

BTW, I don't play many other online games atm, but how often do you not get some sort of immediate response when assisting in another game? Whats the normal wait time if any?


(What I really think they need, is a waiting room you can PULL yourself into if you want. You can go there from anywhere, you go right back to where you were if you leave. Or maybe just a door from the local moot halls. Once there there is like a curtained waiting room for anyone helping us lil peons. You wait in line, a signup list is in the room like a merchant list, since you can't see your own room order. Once your up, you go through the curtain to the other room, talk to the nice GH or GM and get your problem resolved, then you leave. You can see exactly how many people are waiting for help just like the queue list. But you can also see people getting helped, you can see that someone is doing something, and you are not left in the dark thinking everyone is wasting your time. Like the times there is no one onduty, but you see someone talking to a GH or GM more than likely getting helped with their problem, even if it might be more important than yours, or you see a lot of GHs or GMs on duty but no one is getting helped. Half the time they are on duty, they aren't there for customer service, but maybe an event or something. A waiting room with a visible person helping, and a line you can see....)

Hah, sounds kinda stupid once I type it all out, but whatever. YOU are not getting your time back either.

[CrystalTears]

When I briefly played Inferno years ago, they have a section just for OOC and GM interaction. I believe they termed it "upstairs" or something.

It was completely separate from the game environment. You would go there as a persona with your login name, not your characters. It was available for speaking to a GM, have an OOC conversation with another player, read your game email and messages and whatnot. It was the main thing I wished GS would have implemented.

[Ashlander]

Yeah that was a nice feature, speaking of which is Inferno even still around anymore?

[CrystalTears]

I have no idea. When I played, if there were 10 people on at any given time, it was busy. If it had the kind of player base that GS did, I would have stayed. Small scale populations are not my thing.

[Stanley Burrell]

Oh. I didn't know you were Vivaldi. You cool people.

And no offense, but Boondock Saints is on par with V for Vendetta in the mediocre-at-best category.

They're both award winning films in the exact same way 300 is famous for ten jillion photoshopped images & iVideos of someone being kicked down a well.

[landy]

Oh. I didn't know you were Vivaldi. You cool people.

And no offense, but Boondock Saints is on par with V for Vendetta in the mediocre-at-best category.

They're both award winning films in the exact same way 300 is famous for ten jillion photoshopped images & iVideos of someone being kicked down a well.

You stupid fucking bastard, Boondock Saints is a god damn classic. The humor, the action, the story, ALL topnotch. That they are Irish is just an added bonus, and anyone who can't recognize it as the finest piece of cinema in the past 20 years should fucking DIE!

[CrystalTears]

Don't listen to him. He's on drugs.

[Methais]

Basically they need to hire some more fucking personnel so they can man the fort 24/7.

They did a poll about this several years ago. I think the choices to pick from were whether people wanted to them to have staff on duty 24/7, or have more staff working on creating new stuff for the game.

New stuff won.

[Stanley Burrell]

You stupid fucking bastard, Boondock Saints is a god damn classic. The humor, the action, the story, ALL topnotch. That they are Irish is just an added bonus, and anyone who can't recognize it as the finest piece of cinema in the past 20 years should fucking DIE!

I guess it was okay. Nothing to write home about.

[landy]

Now what, do you suppose, is in that little black bag over there?

[Stanley Burrell]

Littler white bags. I like to consolidate.

[Deadelf]

When I briefly played Inferno years ago, they have a section just for OOC and GM interaction. I believe they termed it "upstairs" or something.

It was completely separate from the game environment. You would go there as a persona with your login name, not your characters. It was available for speaking to a GM, have an OOC conversation with another player, read your game email and messages and whatnot. It was the main thing I wished GS would have implemented.


Yeah that was one of the things I actually did like about Inferno. That totaly ooc out of the game area. Was a good idea.

[joehollywood]

You won't see a staff "calendar"...

Pretty simple reason actually, look at the "scheduled merchants" they can't get them to show up on time or at all about half the time. Last thing Simu wants is to have to hear all the backlash when assist/referral times aren't met as well.

As for the host's Disappearing like that, this may be just dumb luck or paranoia on my part, but it seems that I can type who every 10 minutes for an hour or two and the same host is on, but as soon as I type assist and am number 1 in the queue, they log off. My guess would be they have a set number of hours they have to log in game to get their privilaged status, so just letting the host "sit there" till there's an assist eats a lot of that time.

Joe