[Unanswered Ticket] Regarding a quest bugged only for one character

shi.zukesarwb17_ESO

Hi,

I post a thread under "general discussion" providing feedback about customer service a week ago (here).

I am posting this not primarily with respect to that feedback, though it is relevant, but because the latest ticket (#160705-002052) I submitted around a week ago has been left unanswered. I must point out it is only one particular character that is experiencing this bug and the quest itself is not universally bugged per se. Therefore, it is unhelpful to "pass on the issue to the devs" or "wait for a patch" because my issue requires an individualised solution. I know this because I have witnessed other players completing it without issue and I have in fact completed it on my other characters before. This bug has plagued certain characters since a year ago (see here), and the questline itself has been particularly problematic since beta (click for google search results). This is further evidence that "waiting for a patch" is not the solution to this problem. The quest has been bugged for this character for months.

I find it slightly appalling that the customer service officer who responded to an earlier ticket about the quest would suggest the solutions which have already been suggested in the auto-response when I have explicitly stated in my ticket that I have already tried all of them and more (I even listed everything I have tried). With all respect, customer service ought to tender slightly more individual attention to players and read submitted tickets a little more carefully. This is not the first thread complaining about customer service attitudes in this game, and I am not referring to those pertaining to content issues.

Kindly assist me in resolving this issue. Thank you and have a great day!

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

Edit: After bumping my support ticket again somebody finally replied. He stated that he could not assist me and it was marked as solved, though it is my opinion that that the problem may be resolved by the simple expedient of resetting the quest back 1 stage. Just thought I'd mention this in all fairness to them

Enodoc

I don't think there's a high priority on assisting with quests that aren't part of the main storyline, as such quests are ones that you can come back and do at any time in the future without affecting progress. The things they suggest, such as waiting for a patch or maintenance, do often work, even in individual situations, as maintenance will reset the server and flush out all the hanging codes, including some of the ones attached to individual characters.

Aside from waiting for Support to actively help you (keep pushing with the same ticket, not a new one, if you want to pursue that), the best thing I can suggest is unfortunately exactly what they have said already. Before this week's maintenance, make sure you have completely abandoned the quest and are not in Deshaan. After the maintenance, pick the quest up again and see if the same thing occurs. If it does, reply to Support with that info in the same ticket. When the next patch rolls out, do exactly the same thing (completely abandon the quest and leave Deshaan before the maintenance starts). If it happens again, reply to Support that it hasn't been fixed after a patch maintenance, and push them again to manually advance that quest step.

I think bugs like this one, which do not occur for all characters all the time, are a lot harder to track down than persistent ones, as the cause of them has to be based on a combination of numerous codes rather than just the coding for the quest.

shi.zukesarwb17_ESO

Hi @Enodoc , thank you for the prompt response. The only reason why I started a new ticket was because my previous one was marked as 'solved' when it clearly was not. I wouldn't call myself much of a completionist and it certainly doesn't bother me that much that to hound support about single spot on the map is blacked out because I could not resolve the quest in that hub.

What I am disturbed about (as a player since beta who has subscribed every month I have played) is the lackadaisical attitude that I have observed. I am speaking about issues pertaining to content but technical issues. What I have been consistently receiving for support tickets pertaining to different issues is that (i) an auto-response is sent, (ii) a customer service officer replies with a standard form response that states nothing more than what is stated in the auto response. Such an approach is baffling because the very function of an auto-response is for it to act as a replacement for standard form response. This makes me feel like I am speaking to an answering machine and that no individual attention has been given to my ticket. In my case, this is even more annoying because the customer service officer involved had the nerve to reply telling me to attempt steps which were not only replicated in the auto response but which I have explicitly mentioned that I have already attempted. As mentioned, I have I do not speak for my fellow players but the sentiment I am getting from what I see on the technical support forums is similar. Thus, it is my opinion that the attitude taken by customer service needs improvement.

As for my issue itself, I will continue attempting the quest after each patch. I have approached the issue from almost every angle. Before every maintenance, my character is fully logged out in another zone with the quest abandoned. I should mention that it is quite unprofessional for a quest to be left bugged out and plagued with issues for this long. Granted, there are players who are facing far more obstructive issues and these should be prioritised over relatively minor issues like mine. I am curious though, as a programmer myself, to know why it is so difficult for the quest to be reset to its pre-requisite quest from the backend. It is quite clear to me that this is an issue pertaining to a bugged trigger caused by me disconnecting halfway through the quest.

I am glad that ZOS has appointed helpful community ambassadors like you, to their credit, to ease their workload and a more detailed response from a player's perspective. Thank you and have a nice day.