Should you buy ESO?-My Experience

SirTenac

Hey,
I just wanted to post this up here because It's something I feel very strongly about at the moment. Like many others, I pre ordered the game, the digital content is fine and dandy...but "early access"? Count me in!
4/1/2014...for a lot of us the BIG day, I'm a nurse so I wake up at 5:30 every morning; well yesterday I woke up at 4:30! Why you might ask? because on 3/31/2014 I had the game downloaded, installed, and waiting. I wanted to be ready to leave with plenty of time for me to play around. I pull up the launcher...rub my hands together...click play...loading wheel!...nothing. Try again...nothing. OK, so I'll talk to support...nothing...I literally got an extremely convoluted answer about "whispering to mages" and "They're the ones with all the true power"...CRAP. So I go to work...thinking all day about coming home and playing! When I get home...nothing, the same problem persists and support is more of a waste of time then any sort of support. I wonder if a patient came into the ER and asked for my support and I said "I'll whisper to the mages, they're the ones with the true power!" if I'd have my job tomorrow? I understand there is a difference of literal life and death...but the principal stays the same; when someone requires your support...YOU SUPPORT THEM! Anyways, So after digging all around the internet I FINALLY got the game to launch...with no help from ESO's support staff. So now I'm ready...I type in my user name TAB...I type in my password and slam down on the enter button! "requesting log in"................................................................"Log in timed out". I try again......Error 103 unable to connect to server. I try right at thirty times...to no avail. I contact support....(I like to bang my head against a wall, over and over, until finally I realize, this might not be a great idea! hahaha). They literally copy and paste the information of the website...now I'm no genius, but I do have a Masters in Nurse Anesthesia, so I feel its probably fair to assume that I LOOKED AT THAT BEFORE I CONTACTED SUPPORT! So I wake up again this morning, after already missing out on an entire day of "early" access, and try again...server down for maintenance. So I'm off to work, so sulk once again, with no real proof that I'll be able to play tonight. In conclusion I know we didn't pay anything extra for the early access but we deserve to get what we were promised. If I put a patient under to preform surgery and say to them "by the way, since you're the first patient to come in today. I'm going to throw in an extra finger for free!" then I don't...I feel its only fair for them to be upset with me. In fact I'd completely understand if that patient posted a long story about their experience at my table. Since ESO's support staff seems to think their player population is stupid, I'll spell it out for you. I'M THE F-ING PATIENT! SO F ME!

Lalai

Having worked in technical support, at a call center.. and having been responsible for phone, chat, and e-mail support.. I'm not sure from the information you provided whether you actually gave them enough time to try and fix your issue.

Often, customers don't actually check website, nor do they even listen to messages while waiting on hold. It was extremely common to get flooded with calls when our service went down, even when adding a "we're currently experiencing problems" type message to the waiting music. E-mails are put on hold during this time, for the most part, and chat support generally has long wait times. Typically, an auto-response type e-mail is sent first, just in case it does fix the issue, and yes, it usually includes very basic troubleshooting that a lot of people don't bother with (and usually they -still- don't bother with it after the e-mail because the problem couldn't possibly be on their end).

Actual e-mails we answered within a 48-72 hour time period, faster if we could but it all depended on the volume coming in, and when something went wrong that volume shot up. When no real issues were present our turn around time was a few hours.

I'm sorry you haven't been able to play early access thus far. If your issue isn't one being talked about or answered in the technical support forums here, and it continues to prevent you from playing, I would highly recommend giving them a call. My personal support experience with them has actually been quite good.

Edited to add: Oh, and that Mage stuff you were talking about was their creative way of telling you something was being worked on or had been elevated.

"The Mages Guild is working with some top-tier craftsmen to make some better reins to prevent equine escapes in the future, but until then, using this command will resolve your issues."

That's part of what I got when asking about a horse issue I was experiencing. I rather like it. Adds a bit of color and I know it adds some fun to their work day, as well as adding personality to their customer support.

mutharex

Should you buy ESO? Hell depends on your mental and emotional stability...

Trouvo

mutharex wrote: »

Should you buy ESO? Hell depends on your mental and emotional stability...

Best response bar none

Korah_Eaglecry

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Its a video game. Not a heart transplant. These sort of things are bound to happen with an MMO. Even in Early Access. Does it suck? Sure. But it doesnt make your problem any greater then the other players having issues as well. There is possibly numerous reasons why it was not working. And the knee-jerk reaction to post a blog style 'the day in the life of a nurse mmo addict' just reflects that you behave like most MMO casual gamers. You think all your problems are far more important then others and you typically fail to realize that quite often issues like this. Are on your end. Or...they cant be instantly fixed with the push of a call button.

wrlifeboil

FYI only people who have already purchased the game can post to this forum.

So posting the question "Should you buy ESO" in the forum doesn't make much sense.

Stautmeister

Actually had great contact with John. Once i got my first reply he replied within an hour of my response.
Buy the game if you enjoy free roaming MMO's. Where for once you have think rather than brainlessly skip all dialog.

UrielX

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Yeah the much better analogy would have been if 5000 people stormed the ED staffed by 12. That's much more on par with an MMO launch, and in that scenario it would likely be the same level of CS available.

Lalai

UrielX wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Yeah the much better analogy would have been if 5000 people stormed the ED staffed by 12. That's much more on par with an MMO launch, and in that scenario it would likely be the same level of CS available.

Right, and the OP would have a minor injury while people affected by the things here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/21yvux/shortly_after_system_message_about_disabled/

-would be receiving the major treatment and most of the attention.

Tiyamel

should you buy ESO? hell yeah lol seeing as your here you already at least pre-ordered it, chill, calm down, once you finally get in its well worth the hassle

SirTenac

First of all, I posted this not for my own forced glory or to sit on a pitty pot. I posted this because I know I'm not the only one with this dilemma. So I'm not some self righteous elitist rambling on only to hear myself speak. I simply decided to voice an issue that has been plaguing many customers. Yes you're right, the problem will be resolved and we'll all eventually be able to play. The conundrum of the situation is that most of us pre orders for one reason only; early access. This is day two of this and as of yet, no headway has been made. The second day of OUR "early access" (for those of you with the same issue) and I haven't even been able to log on. Now, I have my first surgery tomorrow morning at 6am EST and wont leave until close to 9pm tomorrow night. So there goes that day as-well, I've got to be back at 8am on Friday. Second of all, for whoever tried to "bash" me with the immature and juvenile comment about "The day in the lie of a nurse MMO addict". You need to learn some respect, It's people like me that make an actual difference in the world. I'll make say analogy I please, because it's just that, an analogy. Ohh and about respect. I'm not a nurse, I'm an M.D. I'm very well educated, and am completely aware that an MMO launch issue is not the same as an open heart surgery...I've been there...I've seen it done. So thank you to anyone who saw this post and has enough understanding to process what it meant. I only wanted to raise some awareness.

nerevarine1138

Please stop wielding your career (real or not, since you appear to be changing you story) lime a cudgel. This is a game. There will be technical issues. If you have trouble grasping the playful metaphors support uses to explain that they're working on your issue, you're going to have some real issues with getting good support.

Wow

wrlifeboil wrote: »

FYI only people who have already purchased the game can post to this forum.

So posting the question "Should you buy ESO" in the forum doesn't make much sense.

Wrong, everyone can see this post whether they have already purchased this game or not. Make sense to me

DanteYoda

mutharex wrote: »

Should you buy ESO? Hell depends on your mental and emotional stability...

So...are you saying if we are insane we should buy it?

Korah_Eaglecry

SirTenac wrote: »

4/1/2014...for a lot of us the BIG day, I'm a nurse

Claims to be a Nurse as if somehow its in any way, shape or form relevant to the issue.

SirTenac wrote: »

Second of all, for whoever tried to "bash" me with the immature and juvenile comment about "The day in the lie of a nurse MMO addict". You need to learn some respect, It's people like me that make an actual difference in the world. I'll make say analogy I please, because it's just that, an analogy. Ohh and about respect. I'm not a nurse, I'm an M.D.

Changes story as if claiming to be a Doctor will now make said complaints more valid.

Youre a fake. A fraud and worst of all. A terrible liar. I have no respect for a liar that would pretend to be someone who actually works hard to help others just to gain some attention. The only difference youve made today was outing yourself as the scum that you are.

Extractor

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Its a video game. Not a heart transplant. These sort of things are bound to happen with an MMO. Even in Early Access. Does it suck? Sure. But it doesnt make your problem any greater then the other players having issues as well. There is possibly numerous reasons why it was not working. And the knee-jerk reaction to post a blog style 'the day in the life of a nurse mmo addict' just reflects that you behave like most MMO casual gamers. You think all your problems are far more important then others and you typically fail to realize that quite often issues like this. Are on your end. Or...they cant be instantly fixed with the push of a call button.

I find it amusing you have a knee-jerk reaction, I understand exactly what they are saying. It gets old everyone defending the game companies when people pay a price for a mmo they should get what is promised. Too often games promise what they know they can not deliver, use players time, money and frustration as pigs to fix issues that should have been solved before the game ever launched. For once can we have some ethics and a service for our payment?

lordspyder

Extractor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Its a video game. Not a heart transplant. These sort of things are bound to happen with an MMO. Even in Early Access. Does it suck? Sure. But it doesnt make your problem any greater then the other players having issues as well. There is possibly numerous reasons why it was not working. And the knee-jerk reaction to post a blog style 'the day in the life of a nurse mmo addict' just reflects that you behave like most MMO casual gamers. You think all your problems are far more important then others and you typically fail to realize that quite often issues like this. Are on your end. Or...they cant be instantly fixed with the push of a call button.

I find it amusing you have a knee-jerk reaction, I understand exactly what they are saying. It gets old everyone defending the game companies when people pay a price for a mmo they should get what is promised. Too often games promise what they know they can not deliver, use players time, money and frustration as pigs to fix issues that should have been solved before the game ever launched. For once can we have some ethics and a service for our payment?

If companies never delivered unstable MMO's at launch we would never have MMO's.

Name one that went off smoothly with no issues. You can't because it didn't happen, ever. So we would never have these games if you had it your way.

Extractor

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

SirTenac wrote: »

4/1/2014...for a lot of us the BIG day, I'm a nurse

Claims to be a Nurse as if somehow its in any way, shape or form relevant to the issue.

SirTenac wrote: »

Second of all, for whoever tried to "bash" me with the immature and juvenile comment about "The day in the lie of a nurse MMO addict". You need to learn some respect, It's people like me that make an actual difference in the world. I'll make say analogy I please, because it's just that, an analogy. Ohh and about respect. I'm not a nurse, I'm an M.D.

Changes story as if claiming to be a Doctor will now make said complaints more valid.

Youre a fake. A fraud and worst of all. A terrible liar. I have no respect for a liar that would pretend to be someone who actually works hard to help others just to gain some attention. The only difference youve made today was outing yourself as the scum that you are.

Your right, I did not catch this but now I see it. They might be educated but they are looking for some attention for some reason.

Extractor

lordspyder wrote: »

Extractor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Stopped reading after you compared Technical Support to a patient in a hospital.

Its a video game. Not a heart transplant. These sort of things are bound to happen with an MMO. Even in Early Access. Does it suck? Sure. But it doesnt make your problem any greater then the other players having issues as well. There is possibly numerous reasons why it was not working. And the knee-jerk reaction to post a blog style 'the day in the life of a nurse mmo addict' just reflects that you behave like most MMO casual gamers. You think all your problems are far more important then others and you typically fail to realize that quite often issues like this. Are on your end. Or...they cant be instantly fixed with the push of a call button.

I find it amusing you have a knee-jerk reaction, I understand exactly what they are saying. It gets old everyone defending the game companies when people pay a price for a mmo they should get what is promised. Too often games promise what they know they can not deliver, use players time, money and frustration as pigs to fix issues that should have been solved before the game ever launched. For once can we have some ethics and a service for our payment?

If companies never delivered unstable MMO's at launch we would never have MMO's.

Name one that went off smoothly with no issues. You can't because it didn't happen, ever. So we would never have these games if you had it your way.

LOL, once again someone who misses the point, been playing mmos since mmos were created, see the same messages at forums on every launch. My point is don't promise something you cant deliver, and as you said it cant be done so why promise it?

lordspyder

It's a goal, not a promise, no where did I ever see them say "I promise that there will be no down time or no bugs."

In fact in that TOS you agreed to the actually said that they can't guarantee that. It's you who expects the impossible, me and my brethren have been trying to temper expectations and alleviate fears on the facebook page, but people like you will always think the company owes you more than what they are actually promising. Get over it, this is far from the worst launch I've seen and moreover is probably one of the best I've seen.

Extractor

lordspyder wrote: »

It's a goal, not a promise, no where did I ever see them say "I promise that there will be no down time or no bugs."

In fact in that TOS you agreed to the actually said that they can't guarantee that. It's you who expects the impossible, me and my brethren have been trying to temper expectations and alleviate fears on the facebook page, but people like you will always think the company owes you more than what they are actually promising. Get over it, this is far from the worst launch I've seen and moreover is probably one of the best I've seen.

People like me? You don't even know me. Knock Knock -- Mc Fly? Wow I'm talking to a wall!

Lalai

Extractor wrote: »

LOL, once again someone who misses the point, been playing mmos since mmos were created, see the same messages at forums on every launch. My point is don't promise something you cant deliver, and as you said it cant be done so why promise it?

But they can deliver. Very few people are having issues logging in, playing, and leveling. It does suck when an issue crops up but that is the nature of an ever evolving game (and computer software in general).

Issues have been found that weren't there in beta and have resulted in down time. Games don't run on all machines equally, and sometimes something that seems like it wouldn't/shouldn't have anything to do with the game can cause problems with the game. The best example I can think of for this is when the Kindle Fire first launched and we had customers calling in reporting none of their apps would open, the Appstore wouldn't even load, and really wonky things. The fix? ...set the date and time correctly.

It's a downfall of technology. Pinpointing where one customer is having a problem, or even 100 customers are having a problem, when a million are not is extremely difficult to do. Issues that put the entire player base at risk are going to be addressed first and foremost. That isn't to say those 100 customers are not a lot of people, but realistically they are a very small percentage so the bug they're experiencing can be very very hard to replicate and thus debug.

The OP does come off as rather entitled, and exactly the type of customer I hated dealing with when I use to work there. I have no doubt he/she is experiencing a real problem, and I have no doubt it is frustrating, but from the looks of it support was trying to help as quickly and in whichever way they can.. it's just not fast enough for the OP.

Izatar

I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but in the beta I had hit this bug. It was a rare thing with Time Warner Cable where you have to have a port opened up by TWC. they were 23130-23137 and 443. Also on your router.

Metella

Hello, Dr Nurse. Even if you're not lying about one of your jobs, why on earth should that mean customer support should know you couldn't possibly have failed to check the website before contacting them? I used to work as an admin at a professional registration body for a profession involving a high level of qualification. I dealt with hundreds of application forms and I could count on one hand the number of times I received a form which didn't require me to send a letter pointing out the numerous parts of the application they had overlooked. And funnily enough, I got a lot of indignant calls from people saying it was nonsense to suggest they had overlooked something as simple as providing evidence of qualifications or signing the form, and every one of them expected me to drop everything to deal with THEIR issue. It was so bad that we actually hired an extra person in my dept to deal with it.

KerinKor

@OP: The rage in strong in this one.

Felarrond

We've already bought it! Oh Noes! Now, should we SUBSCRIBE to ESO? That remiains to be seen. I'll give it a couple weeks after official launch before I make that decision!

MorHawk

Glad I checked 'best of'. This is entertaining.

Gohlar

bjeardoeb14_ESO wrote: »

We've already bought it! Oh Noes! Now, should we SUBSCRIBE to ESO? That remiains to be seen. I'll give it a couple weeks after official launch before I make that decision!

Usually for a new mmo the new and shiny feeling really makes you love the game and you'll think you will sub. I didn't get that here either. Probably not a good sign.

To would be purchasers, I recommend reading some reviews and watching some videos. If you love solo questing, you will like ESO. If you like challenging group content, this is not the game for you.

Rangcom

Just sayin, not that I typically follow my own advice but. If you are looking to not get trolled, you probably shouldnt create a rage thread. Especially taunting the trolls with your career.

Krision

BLA BLA BLA BLA BAHH.....

Azarul

Sigh... I remember that dream I had of finally finding that diamond in the rough. That one true MMO that could do what no other ones could. Unfortunately I am let down again. They went and let the cry babies into the forums.