Zenimax; you need to communicate better and more with your customers

Jarnhand

Love the game! Yes some horrible horrible bugs and exploits are there, but I have a hope you will take care of your baby, it just goes a bit slow, at least what it seems for us customers.

You need to let your customers know what you are working on when it comes to fixes, bot bans/gold farmers, exploits, know bugs (without broadcasting how to exploit), coming plans etc. Yes I know you have given information about upcoming plans about new content, but to paying customers that are angry at exploits, stuck in bugs etc, that just makes them more frustrated.

When there are bad exploits, game-breaking flaws or bugs in the game; drop everything else and focus on fixing them! Everyone that are in customer relations knows that once you make a customer angry, they are hard to win back, and they also spread their anger...

So please; communicate more, show us you take the flaws/bugs/bot problem/exploits serious! Would hate for this game to go down in flames!

Slash8915

ZOS is starting to get a LITTLE bit better about it. But yes, I agree. They really need to step it up in the customer service department.

Jarnhand

Shameless bump! This is even more important now after the 1.0.1 patch info.
Zenimax need to make some statements on what is working as intended and what is not. Your customers simply deserves to know.

adamrobertfarmer

I agree, the CS is appealing at communication, canned responses and closing threads are not enough. People want real information, it makes them much more likely to be patient. That said the community here is not exactly the most helpful either. Some people are great and really want to help others don't. It is a shame.

GossiTheDog

Yeah, the communication isn't great and the community is toxic. People post for help here and get ten incredibly rude replies.

Jirki88

Lots of people here are toxic because they've had issues, and just like OP says, ZeniMax haven't been communicating for ***. The longer you let a few annoyed people sit together without giving them any information, the more toxic they will get. It's logical.

Cherryblossom

Forget it, they don't care, one disheartened customer.

Eris

I see messages from CS at least once a week on the subject. Do you think that they should be posting a message daily, hourly, in every new spam topic on the same subject (like this one)?

Think about this. If they were to post a message daily that said, "We know there is a problem. We are constantly working to fix said problem.", how long would it take for people to start saying, they are saying the same thing every day, we need more.

Now the question is, how can they give you more. They cannot tell you what they are doing to fix the problem as then the gold spammers, the botters, etc., would have programmed their software to get around it by the time it was deployed. So the only thing they can say is we know, we're working on it.

How would it help them to say that every day any more than once a week or so?

deef85b16_ESO

Jirki88 wrote: »

Lots of people here are toxic because they've had issues, and just like OP says, ZeniMax haven't been communicating for ***. The longer you let a few annoyed people sit together without giving them any information, the more toxic they will get. It's logical.

And in the end these people will leave the game.. If the issues/debacles etc. aren't already bad enough, but not providing information or service they make it even worse (information/support can turn around a lot of negativity into a more positive outcome). In the end they will look somewhere else, where they are being heard and get what the pay for.

adamrobertfarmer

Eris wrote: »

I see messages from CS at least once a week on the subject. Do you think that they should be posting a message daily, hourly, in every new spam topic on the same subject (like this one)?

Think about this. If they were to post a message daily that said, "We know there is a problem. We are constantly working to fix said problem.", how long would it take for people to start saying, they are saying the same thing every day, we need more.

Now the question is, how can they give you more. They cannot tell you what they are doing to fix the problem as then the gold spammers, the botters, etc., would have programmed their software to get around it by the time it was deployed. So the only thing they can say is we know, we're working on it.

How would it help them to say that every day any more than once a week or so?

I think people's problem is that there isn't that much communication and what there is seems insincere and copy pasted.

People also notice that they are very quick to close critical threads, but less willing to comment on serious issues.

I use as an example a thread from a few days ago about fake GMs in game, that is an issue that could seriously affect people but CS make no comment upon it.

Oblongship

Jarnhand wrote: »

Shameless bump! This is even more important now after the 1.0.1 patch info.
Zenimax need to make some statements on what is working as intended and what is not. Your customers simply deserves to know.

*Facepalm*

You could always go to the State of the Game post the devs made where they outline what they are working on...

Have you even looked in the dev section?

Orizuru

While communication could always be improved, I don't feel that ZOS has provided significantly less communication than what was/is provided by competitor products. While I do know of a few that have better methods for communication, those are all games that have years of experience behind them in MMOs. I think ZOS is going to make a few mistakes along the way, but eventually they should be able to reach that same level of communication with their players. I think the biggest detriment currently is the way they present the information. I don't think a lot of players know where to find things like patch notes. A General Discussion forum would be a big help as well, so there is a place to relocate a lot of the threads in CS and Players Helping Players that really don't belong in those forums and are preventing players from using them as intended, which is to get help understanding game mechanics or problems they are having with the game. Instead, those forums are flooded with suggestions and complaints that really aren't helpful to anyone.

Player communities are always toxic, so I tend to just ignore that aspect of the forums. The anonymity of the internet gives a lot of people more gumption than they would otherwise have, and I haven't seen a game yet that has managed to tame this aspect of the player community. I've just learned to take the good with the bad and make the best of both.

adamrobertfarmer

Oblongship wrote: »

Jarnhand wrote: »

Shameless bump! This is even more important now after the 1.0.1 patch info.
Zenimax need to make some statements on what is working as intended and what is not. Your customers simply deserves to know.

*Facepalm*

You could always go to the State of the Game post the devs made where they outline what they are working on...

Have you even looked in the dev section?

This is true but when a customer posts asking for specific help on a specific problem and is ignored then it becomes a problem. Two different problems here, you cannot deny that CS are dropping the ball a lot.

Jirki88

@NaciremaDiputs The problem is that ZeniMax, even if they don't have any actual experience running a MMO, should've learnt from their predecessors and competitors. There simply is no excuse "Hey, we're new, we're gonna make mistakes" when all of those mistakes have been done by dozens of short-sighted companies in the past. You gotta learn from others mistakes too, not just your own. And then, they've hired people like Matt Firor, who can't be said to be any green chicken in the MMO world.

Cherryblossom

Customer services haven't just dropped the ball, it's turned into a bomb and no one is willing to pick it back up!

Altheina

Eris wrote: »

I see messages from CS at least once a week on the subject. Do you think that they should be posting a message daily, hourly, in every new spam topic on the same subject (like this one)?

Think about this. If they were to post a message daily that said, "We know there is a problem. We are constantly working to fix said problem.", how long would it take for people to start saying, they are saying the same thing every day, we need more.

Now the question is, how can they give you more. They cannot tell you what they are doing to fix the problem as then the gold spammers, the botters, etc., would have programmed their software to get around it by the time it was deployed. So the only thing they can say is we know, we're working on it.

How would it help them to say that every day any more than once a week or so?

There are various ways Community managers participate more in forum without sounding like a broken record. The thing that I believe many players want to see is a much more interactive environment where, community managers would chime in discussions to share their views or maybe share a few tips and tricks that they have learnt(without spoiler or some sort of course).

They(Community managers) could even initiate topics to data mine certain aspects of the game, be it issues that players are having, future contents that players wanna see,etc...

Or best of us, get Paul Sage into the forum to say hi and interact with players.

Believe me, the points I've made above could make a huge difference!

Asava

Wait a minute? They have a CS department???

Jirki88

Asava wrote: »

Wait a minute? They have a CS department???

There are rumours about some rare Daedric Tomes hidden in a ruin somewhere in Tamriel that allegedly speak of such a thing...

Orizuru

Jirki88 wrote: »

@NaciremaDiputs The problem is that ZeniMax, even if they don't have any actual experience running a MMO, should've learnt from their predecessors and competitors. There simply is no excuse "Hey, we're new, we're gonna make mistakes" when all of those mistakes have been done by dozens of short-sighted companies in the past. You gotta learn from others mistakes too, not just your own. And then, they've hired people like Matt Firor, who can't be said to be any green chicken in the MMO world.

I won't argue that point, but I think it's important to remember that recognizing a problem and solving it are two distinctly different things. There may also IP issues.
It's possible that the veteran developers they have brought on-board have signed DND agreements with the studios they worked with previously.

I just think it's important to keep a level head throughout the process. Otherwise, we end up only contributing to the toxicity of the community.

Cherryblossom

Altheina wrote: »

There are various ways Community managers participate more in forum without sounding like a broken record. The thing that I believe many players want to see is a much more interactive environment where, community managers would chime in discussions to share their views or maybe share a few tips and tricks that they have learnt(without spoiler or some sort of course).

They(Community managers) could even initiate topics to data mine certain aspects of the game, be it issues that players are having, future contents that players wanna see,etc...

Or best of us, get Paul Sage into the forum to say hi and interact with players.

Believe me, the points I've made above could make a huge difference!

They need to give you a job, you have a better idea than they do.

ZOS_AlanG

Jarnhand wrote: »

You need to let your customers know what you are working on when it comes to fixes, bot bans/gold farmers, exploits, know bugs (without broadcasting how to exploit), coming plans etc.

We can assure you we're hard at work fixing bugs - and these forums have been quite helpful in identifying and detailing these problems. Communication is also key, and we've been regularly updating the In-Progress Known Issues thread, and posting about ongoing problems in Developer Discussions. You can also view general staff posts with the Dev Tracker.

We're working on revamping the forum layout to make our posts more visible, and accessible. The staff post signifier and ability to jump between staff posts was added recently, and we're working on several other improvements we hope to roll out soon.

Altheina

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

Jarnhand wrote: »

You need to let your customers know what you are working on when it comes to fixes, bot bans/gold farmers, exploits, know bugs (without broadcasting how to exploit), coming plans etc.

We can assure you we're hard at work fixing bugs - and these forums have been quite helpful in identifying and detailing these problems. Communication is also key, and we've been regularly updating the In-Progress Known Issues thread, and posting about ongoing problems in Developer Discussions. You can also view general staff posts with the Dev Tracker.

We're working on revamping the forum layout to make our posts more visible, and accessible. The staff post signifier and ability to jump between staff posts was added recently, and we're working on several other improvements we hope to roll out soon.

Yes this is definitely step to the right direction

Can't wait to see the new forum layout

Jade1986

Altheina wrote: »

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

Jarnhand wrote: »

You need to let your customers know what you are working on when it comes to fixes, bot bans/gold farmers, exploits, know bugs (without broadcasting how to exploit), coming plans etc.

We can assure you we're hard at work fixing bugs - and these forums have been quite helpful in identifying and detailing these problems. Communication is also key, and we've been regularly updating the In-Progress Known Issues thread, and posting about ongoing problems in Developer Discussions. You can also view general staff posts with the Dev Tracker.

We're working on revamping the forum layout to make our posts more visible, and accessible. The staff post signifier and ability to jump between staff posts was added recently, and we're working on several other improvements we hope to roll out soon.

Yes this is definitely step to the right direction

Can't wait to see the new forum layout

:: prays to auriel that we get a general discussion forum ::

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Klarick

They have been communicating....from the very beginning. They have the huge post count as proof. Unfortunatly, MMO Gamer and patience are two terms rarely seen together. Regardless of what an MMO company does, a small percentage of the community will bash them. Call themtrolls, call them whatever...but they are a problem in every MMO, especially brand new ones.

The game is barely a month old and people have been bashing Zenimax from the very first day.

tl/dr

They have been communicating. Forum search, bugs and fixes, and dev posts are your friends. Patience is a nuisance to the young, but a staple to the wise.

Cherryblossom

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

Jarnhand wrote: »

You need to let your customers know what you are working on when it comes to fixes, bot bans/gold farmers, exploits, know bugs (without broadcasting how to exploit), coming plans etc.

We can assure you we're hard at work fixing bugs - and these forums have been quite helpful in identifying and detailing these problems. Communication is also key, and we've been regularly updating the In-Progress Known Issues thread, and posting about ongoing problems in Developer Discussions. You can also view general staff posts with the Dev Tracker.

We're working on revamping the forum layout to make our posts more visible, and accessible. The staff post signifier and ability to jump between staff posts was added recently, and we're working on several other improvements we hope to roll out soon.

Sadly your comments are lacking in Threads that seem to get the most views and are hot topic's currently. Your developer Tracker and developer discussions do not list any of these issues.
So you answers are a week behind the community which does not help

Blackwolfe5

Great perhaps we can get a layout that looks like a proper forum. The current layout looks like something the Khajit dragged in. It would be great if we could filter out posts in other languages. I have no interest in reading german/french pists in the devtracker as I don't speak either.

birdeye

It not just an issue with Customer service its an issue that goes further than that. Before release there have been statements made that left players believing features worked one way when they in fact worked another way. An example would be veteran content we will told that we could pick which faction we could go to but its predetermined for you. Not a big deal but still its misinformation that needed to be clarified either because of a false statement or a change in the game mechanics but wasn't. That's just one example.

We have also been promised features that would come after launch that many assumed would be included in the first content patch yet will not be in the content patch and have not been given a time line or and update. What Features am I talking about well just to name a few the justice system, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood was promised to be released after release. Yet here we are nearly a month after release and have no word one way or another about any timeline. When you talk to customer service the only response you get is that the developers had not set a date.

We as players have long since accepted this as the norm when if it ppv or cable or even your internet provider you would have switched providers or asked for a refund. I'm not saying that ESO is a bad game its not it a good game even in its buggy state what I'm saying is we deserve better, Zenimax should do better, and we should not accept the norm we should be demanding what every other industry already provides us.

Bollerlotte

What about joining discussions in topics? as we feel so being left alone, ppl even start topics in call for communication. following quote makes me sad:

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

Jarnhand wrote: »

....
Communication is also key, and we've been regularly updating the In-Progress Known Issues thread, and posting about ongoing problems in Developer Discussions.....

SaibotLiu

What exactly would you want them to say that they havent already said? There was already a state of the game release, and CS posted a timeline for upcoming fixes.

People are so pampered these days. They now expect all their specific and special needs to be accommodated to, rather than just being happy when they get something. When they do get what they want, you'll no doubt move on to crying about something else that isnt going your exact specific way this moment.

Get over yourselves, in a hurry.

By the way, when you get the answer "there is no date" or "we dont have an estimate on the time frame for that." That's your freakin answer. Just because you want answers right bloody now this moment, its not going magically conjure a different answer for you.

birdeye

SaibotLiu wrote: »

What exactly would you want them to say that they havent already said? There was already a state of the game release, and CS posted a timeline for upcoming fixes.

People are so pampered these days. They now expect all their specific and special needs to be accommodated to, rather than just being happy when they get something. When they do get what they want, you'll no doubt move on to crying about something else that isnt going your exact specific way this moment.

Get over yourselves, in a hurry.

By the way, when you get the answer "there is no date" or "we dont have an estimate on the time frame for that." That's your freakin answer. Just because you want answers right bloody now this moment, its not going magically conjure a different answer for you.

So then if you cable, telephone, or electrical company said we have no date for the promised service you would be ok with that? Admittedly a game service is a luxury not an essential service it is the same idea. All I'm saying is that we should hold them to a higher standard. Game Developers are able to get away with releasing a buggy games because we accept it as the norm as opposed to the exception. Being pampered is asking for stuff for free that's not what has been stated or asked here.