From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

[Aksannyi]

Okay, stealing this from BG because I know a lot of you don't read that forum, and this is actually something everyone who plays FFXI should see, because I think it's a really great way to renew your faith in SE. I actually considered logging in today, if only I had an account.

Here is the thread:
[ame="http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90886"]Not the typical {Black Belt} {Help me out!} situation: - Order of the Blue Gartr[/ame]

And here is what takes place, if you're one of those "Anti Visit BG" types. Spoilered because there's a lot of pictures.

The first post

Hello,

I was hesitant to post this for fear of the U7tra 1337 players lawl’ing at a Brown Belt MNK and also for the newbs telling me to stop crying because they don’t have Black Belt either…but here goes…

My character's name is Chaz and I am from Carbuncle server. In September of 2006, I separated from my girlfriend...during which time I moved out of the apartment we shared and left all of my possessions there for a short time. The day I left, I was logged into the game, my ex only had to reach for my PS2 controller in order to drop pretty much every item I owned as well as delete all of my merits. As of now, I've regained every item she tossed...save for one, my Black Belt.

Fast forward to 2010, aside from Spharai my MNK is pretty much perfect...and then there is this unsightly Brown Belt I've been forced to wear for 4 years. In that time, I've sent hundreds of EMails to the Comments/Suggestions center asking them to make the quest for the Black Belt repeatable or to instate some special policy as part of the Item Reimbursement program to allow for the return of items such as Black Belt that give a quest specific Title. Of course, they would have to make it so that this couldn’t be used to a financial advantage…but a Black Belt can’t even be NPC’d. I've also contacted alot of GMs begging for assistance. None of this has helped thus far.

Below are screenshots from my latest GM discussion wherein I actually made him verify my Title as “Black Belt”.











A few times in the past I’ve had my LS members send EMails requesting the same thing I was, and it hasn’t worked obviously. I placed a petition request on KI years ago as well. I know many feel like the game is dying, and they may be right…but I want this thing back before the end, if it comes to that.

So I humbly request that if you’re reading this, please send an EMail by going to PlayOnline.com > Service and Support > Contact > Suggestions and Feedback. This takes a mere two minutes to accomplish. I've been requesting that they do one of the following:

1) The quest “Beat around the Bushin” be changed to Repeatable. Or…
2) That special provisions be made to return items obtained by quests that grant Titles regardless of time lapsed since the item’s loss.

Maybe if they get 1,000 messages in one day regarding the same thing they will actually do something positive. If anyone has a better idea or suggestion other than “go almost win the Mog Bonanza” or “lawl go lvl PUP”…I’m all eyes.

Thank you for your time.

A few pages of "That sucks dood" and "Sent an e-mail" ensues. As per typical BG (and FFXI player, in general) fashion, people were not terribly optimistic that anything they would do would actually help out in this situation. I was reading the thread for sheer entertainment value when, on page 5, the complete unexpected happened.

The resolution:

I JUST GOT MY BLACK BELT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I was in the middle of helping another LS with some VNMs and this...

(Sorry there are so many SS...I was fighting ;



























Thank you so much to everyone that sent messages in! And to those of you who just kept saying how it would never happen rather than help the cause...eat some crow!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

I wanted to share this with everyone. Not gonna lie, the guy's reaction when the GM told him actually brought tears to my eyes, because he was just so obviously thrilled. Remember those moments when you got something spectacular in FFXI, and how excited you got? I do. For several months I've been probably the most cynical person on these forums (well, either me or Malacite, lol) and putting down SE at every turn, but this kind of restored my faith in SE.

And there's also that little line where the GM said they would be looking into situations much like the OP's, which is a very good thing.

If SE continues to take this stance of, "Oh, hey, we can help people even in extenuating circumstances because it makes them very happy," then this is a great thing for the FFXI and (soon) FFXIV community.

If you get a few minutes, I'd advise reading the thread, from the complete "Sucks to be you dude, but I'll try to help" to the "Wow, that's awesome, I can't believe SE actually did this!" It's not your typical BG thread, and certainly not your typical SE customer service story.

[Nandito]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

Wow, very heart-warming read! (Though the dude could have been a bit more humble during the exchange. XP Those Black Belt shouts weren't necessary!)

Very nice though! Indeed, this would be the start of something great, but I'm not sure the majority of our player base would be able to handle it. Some asshat would try to take advantage of it, somehow.

[Takelli]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

Wow. Thats great, and helps restores people's faith in getting lost items back for certain characters.

Would be nice if this happens more often.

[AzureDemon]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

So cool!
Yet so sad it took so many years to happen xD

[cidbahamut]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

The four year turn around time does nothing to bolster my faith in SE, sorry. Neither does the fact that this was more or less an isolated incident with no official announcement of policy overhauls or game changes that are long overdue.

[Mhurron]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

And there's also that little line where the GM said they would be looking into situations much like the OP's, which is a very good thing.

a - This is a standard line in customer service, SE GM's have said it many times before.
b - BG and most other players usually get irritated over it because they think SE is just brushing them off, what makes this time any different.

I see customer service doing it's job.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

I've never understood why people make such a big fuss over SE's customer service, its really never been that different than most places. The only customer service I've ever dealt with that didn't have extensive waits and bent over backwards to please you was Nintendo's.

I think SE's GMs have had red tape applied than the usual GM in other gams would, but when you have so many servers to police, I can see why it may be the case for other MMOs, too. But when you're working with a smaller MMO, things are different and easier to manage, needs are easier to attend to and address.

Moral of the story here isn't "they're finally listening." They've always been listening and they've always responded to restoration pleas when groups of players keep spamming them about it. Seriously, I've heard dozens of stories like this from my time on Titan and Odin.

Organize, be loud and people tend to deal with and listen to you.

Well, unless your a congressional Democrat. Or the president.

[Aksannyi]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

I think the fact that they were prepared to continue brushing him off until a bunch of people spoke up about it does mean something. It shows that they're not exactly listening to just one person, but they'll listen to a whole bunch of us. There was a time when they wouldn't even do that.

After four years of getting told "tough shit, you're out of luck" when his item was dropped before the item restore was even implemented, I think it does speak to SE's favor that instead of acting robotic like they typically do in response to their customers, this time they actually stepped outside of the situation and realized this was something atypical, and needed special attention. How often can you say that happens with SE? Almost never.

I would really love to think that the fact that they actually realized that sometimes, not every problem can be solved with their typical canned responses means that they might be willing to look further in depth when situations really warrant it.

---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 PM ----------

And I admire this guy for not giving up. After Yamila was banned and I called for about the thirtieth time, I basically said "screw it" and quit playing.

[cidbahamut]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

Organize, be loud and people tend to deal with and listen to you.

Pretty much this.

A bunch of GM calls were placed for one specific player's circumstance and someone figured out it would be a good PR opportunity. Upper management green-lighted it.
Now they'll continue business as usual.

[Feba]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

Eh. Consider it a success when they check his fucking character data right off the bat and replace it. Or better yet, either make it possible to recover the item from the quest giver without calling a fucking GM, or lock out the throw button on things like that.

Or fuck, how about a Mr. Resetti for Vana'diel? "Goddammit you idiot, why would you ever toss an Excalibur. BUT, obviously you obtained one at some point, here's another. Don't ask where I got it.". Takes practically nothing to implement. Maybe put him in some pain in the ass location in Ulegrand or something to discourage people from throwing rare shit for fun and inventory space, but seriously.

[Jei]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

I can only see a few images. the rest says bandwidth exceeded.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

Initial images show his typical plea with a GM, second series of images show one of the Lead GMs finally granting his wish.

[Jay Adams]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

I can only see a few images. the rest says bandwidth exceeded.

me also........

[Zoltar]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

SE didn't give him the item ppl, they gave him the ability to REPEAT the Black Belt quest, which is normally not repeatable.

For those of you that think its cake to do those KS99's, it's not. You need solid players/strategies

[Aksannyi]

Re: From BG: Something that somewhat restored my faith in SE's Customer Service.

No, they actually gave him the item. It is in the screenshots. Which, unfortunately, have expired thanks to photobucket's gayness, but I promise it was there.