thefront wrote:I'm troubled to discover today that the "important information" posted by "Marjo" is being held up by in-game CSRs as the most information players can expect to get, yet it's somewhat vague and barely 400 words long. I've spoken to several other Ryzom players and each seem to have a different interpretation of it. Any attempt by us to get basic official clarification (about pre-existing subscriptions etc) in-game were met with repetition of the "notice" verbatim and strong worded demands that no such questions be asked in the "universe" channel. I'm not a veteran player of this game but I imagine that, had I been a paying customer for over a year and received such a terse response from my CSR and in-game community, I wouldn't be pleased in the slightest.
It's only natural to expect that players will have questions (especially those of us who are relatively new to the game), and that they will turn to in-game Q&A chat channels and their CSRs for answers to those questions. This community and its CSRs simply cannot expect so many concerned players to NOT broach this subject live in-game. It's completely unreasonable. After all, the "universe" channel is for questions and answers about the game. What questions could possibly pertain more to the game than its "new" subscription parameters? People used to routinely ask what the level cap is on the island in Q&A. This time people are simply asking what the *new* limitations are and looking for clarification. Why are those questions being met with such anger and refusals?
Unfortunately I've today witnessed little more than flippant accusations and frustration directed at anyone who broaches the subject in-game. CSRs demand that any questions be taken to the forum and effectively let the community verbally lash anyone who doesn't. Yet the forums themselves show signs of extreme moderation/deletions. As a result it seems there's been very little clarification or discussion of this most important of topics here. (I can only wonder if this posting will make it to the forums at all - for this reason it will also be emailed to the company).
Altogether, these managerial approaches seem like the perfect recipe for instilling mistrust and bad blood in customer relations and it's sadly very similar to the recent approach taken by two major MMOs during their own financial collapses and subsequent take-overs. I think I speak for many players who had hoped Ryzom might replace their former collapsed MMOs (lots of NGE refugees in Ryzom) when I say that I'm somewhat disappointed. I expected more from Ryzom and it's community. Thankfully, I've not yet invested too much of my hope, time or money in this game and so I won't feel too much regret in now canceling my two accounts, "free" as they now may be.
The in-game CSR didn't care, but in case anyone's interested.
-"All existing subscribed accounts created before 3pm GMT will be turned into free account..." could mean many different things since it does not clarify the difference between a "trial" free account and a "free account" as is being referenced here. So in effect it could mean all paying players are now on par with "free trial" players and even those ready to head to the mainland can't. It could mean nothing changes and you can still go to mainland from island if you were subscribed before, and the entire account is simply free until someone says otherwise. It could even mean something else entirely that hasn't been specified here.
To add "...with 1 month of free access" only makes it more unclear. After all, what's the point in offering a "free month" to people who have just been given a "free account"? Free is free. You can't offer "more" free than free. I suppose one can only guess that what is actually meant is that players will not be charged for this passed month? Or perhaps the next month? Again, imprecise phrasing and no available clarification.
The line "It will not be possible to pay to subscribe to a full Ryzom account anymore." is also far too final and imprecise. That could mean anything from forever to a few days. Again, it's unclear and no clarification is offered. It seems even adding "Until further notice..." (which would imply a shorter period) is too much to ask.
The line "You will still be able to create a Free Trial account, but at the moment there will be no possibility to upgrade your account and go to mainland." doesn't address those people who were paying customers and had yet to go to the mainland. Are they now stuck on the island? If everyone is given a "free account" as stated before, then why differentiate between trial and paying players at all? Why not then let everyone simply go to mainland? And what exactly is the point in playing Ryzom at all if one can't progress to the mainland indefinitely? Adding the line -"As a result we've removed the level cap for the Free Trial to give players in the Ruins of Silan much more to achieve in the meantime." implies that no one can progress to mainland any longer, even those players who were paying. Still, that's not entirely clear.
And really, I've only scratched the surface. There are players who have even more interpretations of the above "important information" and even more complex questions regarding their subscription. Sadly, they'll likely get the same refusals and stonewalling we encountered while trying to get answers to these questions from an in-game CSR. In fact, when we were told to not ask these questions in-game via the universe channel, and said we would then contact the company directly instead, the CSR seemed to grow annoyed, warned us to not "bombard" the company with useless emails, and that the company would give us no more information than Marjo's "important information" posting. Nice attitude there (for the non-English speaking, that's sarcasm). Treating your players with suspicion, as if they're you're enemy. That seems rather un-Ryzom like and will make it even easier for us to move on. Some of us have danced this MMO tango before and aren't eager to dance it again.
I'm going to respond to this as I couldn't see more misinterpretation or just plain wrong "facts" in a post if I tried. So hopefully this will give you some clarification.
Yes the CSRs in game have been bombarded with Tells and general chat regarding this announcement. From previous experience it is policy that they can only say what the official statement says and no more. If they uttered one single word outside of the official statement then we would have people running to the forums posting about how they have an exclusive statement from their favourite CSR and start getting people into trouble. Don't argue, this has happened before so we know it would be bound to happen in a situation like this. The CSRs in game know no more than what has been stated. If players choose to interpret it in a way that is different to how it was said in the news piece and spread that as "the truth" then that is up to them.
This is not a question of mistrust or turning on your player base. This is purely because there is no more information we can give you right now no matter how hard you push for it. We are trying to help players with genuine in game issues at the same time as fielding a dozen questions from people asking for information we don't have - hence it would make more sense to do it here so that more people can read the same answer.
The in-game CSR didn't care? I would take issue with that statement, as would the entire team, especially the ones for which this happens to be their job. Not caring about that? Yeah right. You ask for dates and timings, if we had them they would have been in the news piece, which is why it stated that this would be resolved shortly. We can't give you information that isn't known yet. When we know it, you will. That's how it's always worked here.
And as for these forums showing signs of mass deletions and heavy moderation? Well I'm just going to have to point out that this is completely wrong to the point where it's almost funny. Not sure what you're trying to do with that comment as there has been nothing even approaching that. That's not our style, never has been, never will be. A few posts were moved to more appropriate forums, like technical support or account support - but that is just standard. Your mass deletions? Sorry, didn't happen. Not sure what forums you saw that happen in.
The upshot is this. All the information we have is in the news piece. When we get more, you will get more. Until then there is nothing more we can add because there is nothing more to add until things start to get resolved. I know how frustrating it is when you want to know everything that is going on, but that is the nature of these kind of ongoing negotiations, sometimes they just take a little time. Just let what happens, happen.
Keep the faith
Souls
