A Troubling Trend...

I've been noticing a troubling trend in customer service lately, and I thought I'd blog about it here. It seems to be spreading to all sectors, but I find it most prevelent in the Online Games Sector. I call it the "We Do Whatever We Want" Syndrome, and it has some troubling implications  for the future of consumers everywhere.

It seems that a number of years ago, a near and dear company to my heart, Blizzard Entertainment, discovered that there may be potentially problems to their aging data centers. The easiest and simplest quick fix, in their eyes, was to amend the terms of use for their most played game, World of Warcraft. In short, the amendment made it so that they were not required to reimburse the player for any lost time in the game due to technical problems, or any problems of the type. This is from the Terms of Use document on the site:

THE GAME AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, AND BLIZZARD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE GAME OR THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE GAME OR THE SERVICE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. BLIZZARD EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. 

Take a minute and read that over. It, in a nutshell, says that any warranties, stated or implied (Most provinces and states require sellers to have a 30, 60, or 90 day warranty period, with receipt of purchase) for malfunction or defect in the product. (Fun fact: This is the one way to get out of a cell phone contract; have a problem with the phone within 30 days.)

This is more of a global problem with gaming companies. Some game companies, like Kingdom of Loathing, don't have the active number of staff members needed to police the problems that arise from thier games, and as such, I have a personal patience for their responses, as most people who play their games do. Then there are other companies like Dovo Games.

It's cruel, but I have no respect for Dovo Games. Their techs are usually slow to respond, and don't respond with troubleshooting problems. Heck, this is the usual response from them:

Dear ******, we have filed your words and will submit to the related department for further check. Thank you so much for your support and patience. Wish you good luck.

This is not good customer service. It may be cruel, but I would rather have the guy who is fixing the problem respond to me rather then some automated "it's being dealt with" message. It's the same message that seems to happen every time, and I get angrier every time I see it. it makes me not want to submit bug reports, and instead exploit, exploit, exploit.

It seems like it's going to take a big case to get everyone back on track, and boy, I hope I'm not part of it.

BTO - Getting Started Hints and Tips

Business Tycoon Online is one of the most popular web games on the internet - with good reason. It has a complexity that's second to none, and almost infinite expandability. The game however, is filled with potential pitfalls and traps for the new player, and although you can grow relatively fast without paying in, like many other games, most of your starting chest is spent on frivolous things. Here are some tips to help you get through this starting time:

1) Protect your Gratis Gold! Upgrades can wait!


You start the game with a almost unbelievable amount of gold, averaging 200 - 300 pieces to start with! While this may not sound like much, it's better to hold onto it and use it for Occult Training and Senior Training of highly skilled purple and red employees then to use it on finishing store upgrades faster. This is one of those lessons that it takes time and patience to learn though, so why it's number one on the list.

(Note: There are also other tings that gratis gold can be used for, such as some items in the shop and special prizes in the occasional updates. More then once you will kick yourself for spending hundreds of Gold or Gratis Gold when a event airs days later.)

2) The Factory is your lifeline to profit!

Factory goods will always beat out standard goods, so it's good to start getting your factory going early. Plan on making at least 1000 of each of the industries goods and selling them to the system for each device level, as the more you make and then sell, the higher amounts of raw materials you generate per day will be. Even a quality H good will provide enough of a bonus to make it worth while, although it's usually wise to balance between the number of goods you stock your store with, and the number you have for sale.

(Note: Want to figure out whether a good is worth purchasing? Take the daily base profit of your store, and multiply it by the good bonus that the said good gives. If the revenue(What you're left with) is more then the purchase price, you've made up the amounts!)

Another piece that should go into this same topic is oil wells. A oil well takes 1,000,000 TCN to explore for, and has a 50% chance of striking oil, however, even if one does not produce gas or diesel(bonuses to shops and production, respectfully), oil can usually be sold for upwards of 5,000 TCN a barrel in some cases, usually leading to a income gain for just drilling. There are some disadvantages however: You can only mine 500 barrels a day and the oil derrick takes 250,000 TCN worth of damage per day. Not horrible, but can sometimes be annoying.

3) Don't make your own guild; Join one!


The most damaging thing you can do as a newbie is to create a guild. On Kong-BTO, most older players poach employees from new guild leaders that are over the 3-day mark, as so many of them don't return. Your easiest solution is to join a already well established guild, of level 4 or above. Why?

• You're protected from poaching attacks from rival players. It's common for guild mates to gang up and hit the offender with store disturbances, media attacks and the like.
• You gain a revenue and Store Upgrade Bonus every day based on the level your guild is. The higher the level, the bigger the bonuses.
• Often, you can gain free things from guild mates just for being allies, such as medals, cars, trips and the like.

Remember, though, you're one with this guild. Donate some everyday, and when you get to higher levels, buy a trip or two for your mates!

4)Train your employees daily!


So, why train your employees daily? For one, each session boosts their loyalty and skill. Second, after they reach 100% proficiency, they start earning points towards their execution and management skills. These bring bonuses to all activities that your employees attend, and maxing them out is the key to NPC Landmark.

Speaking of which...

5)NPC Landmark, Horse Train, and Funfain EVERY DAY!


I'm not kidding here. Once you can, max out the amount of times you can do each of these activities every day. The funfair is full of nice items that make your life easier, and having a high level horse earns you all sorts of nice goodies, like junior equips and other similar things. NPC landmark is a great place to get bricks, gold and diamond contracts, and sponsorship vouchers via Easter Eggs. If you play luck fragments twice a day, you'll get a luck cupon that can be exchanged for gold, as well as the NPC Landmark Certificates.

6) Watch the trade market.


The trade market can make your life simple and easy, if you watch it enough. Mis-priced goods, charitable old players and the occasional sale can propel you forward in business like you would not believe.

These are just some of the tricks I've learned over the past few months. If you need any other pointers or would like some help, leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Ink: Why I hate and love this movie

I've just tonight be introduced to what will be my most hated and loved movie: Ink. This movie is spectacular, the actors are great, and the visuals are awesome. It has a story, and it sticks to it until the end. It keeps you guessing, and the characters all have qualities that make them redeemable in the end.

"So, then why do you hate it?"


This movie revolves purely around the story of how the main character screws up his life. From first glance, it seems to be a chaotic mixture of the after life and the real world, and this one man who is having the worst time of his life. We enter the movie just as he makes his ultimate failure: He has a car crash and is knocked unconscious.

From there it's a nauseating flurry of flash backs, and we learn more about his family. His wife just recently passed on, and thanks to a alcohol problem from his high stakes job, he looses custody of his daughter. The visuals are spectacular, and the ending ties it all nicely together. This is a masterpiece that, although visibly low budget, is of a quality that has not been rivaled in Hollywood in many, many years.

So, why do I hate it?

This movie suffers from a syndrome that affects all great movies, called Self-Referential Bullshit, or SBD. There is so much symbolism, twists, plot points and turns that it's far too much to be stomached in one sitting. At the end, you feel like you've just eaten a black forest cake the size of a tire; Happy, somewhat fulfilled, and about to throw up.

This being said, I urge you to see this movie. It's produced by a indy company Double Edge Films, and I sincerely urge you to check it out. There's a lesson here for all of us, but be careful. Read a light book first or watch some Ren and Stimpy... you'll need as empty a mind as possible to take in all of the awesome.