Here's something from Mark Jacob's blog...

[Muylaetrix]

Am I the only one who gained loads of respect for Iain the moment he said that?

Honestly think he is right on the money, at least in the edited version

nope you are not the only one.

it wasn`t really tactful what he said, but boy, does he have a point.

 

[wessexcrusader]

Its a typical management technique Jacobs is doing, if you attack their company its personal. If management do the same to an underling thats business.

GOA will get very bad press if next week does not run smoothly , they know the typical loads and should handle it. I hope it doesnt . But if they feel they cant offer a smooth service next week they should admit it and delay.

I am personally contemplating going on the USA servers instead

 

[Bahumat]

I don't have a dog, does this mean Requiel just hates me? or me and my monkey?

 

[joap]

even as little as 0.5 % of all the post in the last 2-3 days is still an enormous amount.

He has to deal with it professionally, if he can't he should seek employment elsewhere.

This isn't the first time i found requiel's conduct repreensible.

 

[Dervish]

Am I the only one who gained loads of respect for Iain the moment he said that?

Honestly think he is right on the money, at least in the edited version

I'm glad he voiced it because I sure as hell wanted to say it. If I wanted an impersonal "management speak" answer to everything I would insist a computer scanned the forums and formualted pre-packaged answers based on what it found.

Did Iain lose his cool? Of course he did. Did he apologise? Yes. Was that enough? Of course not. Iain said what a lot of people already thought, it's just that people who complain (and rightly) tend to be more vocal than those who just sit back and watch the situation unfold. Personally I think Mark Jacobs has lost the plot and is pandering to a community baying for flesh. That approach is totally wrong and for that he loses a lot of credibility. Nothing he has said on the matter has exactly calmed things down. I cringed at his attempt at a podcast, his blog makes that look like an Oscar winning performance.

One thing is for sure though, GOA must surely know where they stand now regarding the issues of this weekend. Let's hope those people at GOA who need to fix the backend mess are working at least the same hours as Iain and Magnus have been.

 

[Ribbit]

it wasn`t really tactful what he said, but boy, does he have a point.

No he doesn't. You are either above that sort of thing, or you are stooping to that level yourself.

You most certainly don't include it in a public statement in an attempt to deflect flack, and divert attention from the real issues.

Which is OBVIOUSLY what he did.

The whole thing from start to finish was BUCK PASSING and attempting to excuse inexcusable failures.

Inexcusable failures that CAUSED the anger and frustration in the first place.

If you thrust your hands into boiling water, it's no use blaming the pot for the temperature.

I would also add, that a not insignificant factor in getting people extremely wound up, were some of the dumbest GOA apologists imagineable steaming in with their pathetic attempts at also excusing the inexcusable.

You know who you are.

 

[Flimgoblin]

No he doesn't. You are either above that sort of thing, or you are stooping to that level yourself.

You most certainly don't include it in a public statement in an attempt to deflect flack, and divert attention from the real issues.

Which is OBVIOUSLY what he did.

The whole thing from start to finish was BUCK PASSING and attempting to excuse inexcusable failures.

Inexcusable failures that CAUSED the anger and frustration in the first place.

If you thrust your hands into boiling water, it's no use blaming the pot for the temperature.

Ribbit you need to CALM DOWN and stop and BREATHE for a moment

 

[Ribbit]

Ribbit you need to CALM DOWN and stop and BREATHE for a moment

I am calm.

You wouldn't like me angry.

I've run several businesses over many years (I'm an old fart, but an experienced old fart), and I *once* got ticked off at a customer.

That was a customer that expected me (even beligerently and threateningly expected me) to supply him with goods to do something *criminally* dangerous and irresponsible that would likely kill people.

I had to tell him that if he persisted in his attempts, I would have to go to the Police, and if he carried on being violent about it, I would have to punch his lights out.

He saw the light and left the premises.

 

[dee777]

Breathing is overrated. ;P

BTW, I think Ribbit has a point.

//edit: Damn Ribbit, now you really got me interested. I playing the latest episode of sleeper cell in my head now. ^^

 

[Manisch Depressiv]

nope, this is IainC (Requiel) posting an update on WHA which included the paragraph:



The original version didn't make it as clear that he was refering to the people "compelled to make the death threats, racial slurs and other deeply unpleasant posts".

FH was thankfully clear of borderline-sociopaths (that or they kept themselves to themselves... or just got on with moderating the forums *ducks*)

Flim, it's not the first time Ian has done something like this.

He said that "dueling circles" would lead to further "anti-social behavior" and that was quite unprofessional as well.

If he is so unhappy with his customer base which asks for SERVICE and gets SICK for being screwed over and over again then it's time for him to look for a new job.

Asking for years to fix the DAoC flash account management just to see it happen again with Warhammer in a similar way was just too much for some I guess. And he was our person we directed the reports to.

That being said, all of it has been predicted by people who can think straight for a couple of seconds, it's known what GoA can deliver and what not.

If you think that MJ did a bad job with his post then please think twice about it: There is too much money at stake now and if you treat your customers like GoA did for years you shouldn't be surprised about the feedback as Ian was.

It's funny really, I've considered to do an own long-winded blog post about GoA for a long time now, looks like MJ beat me to it.

 

[Xandax]

Ribbit you need to CALM DOWN and stop and BREATHE for a moment

But he does have a point.

 

[Ribbit]

Just an addendum about that order I refused to take.

It cost me many £1,000's of pounds profit to turn it down.

But if you don't have standards, morals, and principles, you don't have anything, and money can't then buy you anything either. Because you no longer have yourself, ever again.

Standards, morals, and principles, are something GOA need to acquire, yesterday.

 

[Manisch Depressiv]

Standards, morals, and principles, are something GOA need to acquire, yesterday.

They never will. Led by a tool, owned by the FT. Enough said.

That message from the CEO at 3 am made me laugh so hard.

 

[Ribbit]

They never will. Led by a tool, owned by the FT. Enough said.

That message from the CEO at 3 am made me laugh so hard.

Sadly I think you are right.

 

[Kev]

Sorry for the novel. Just my outlook on this shit.

There are a couple of important things to remember as to why Iain's post failed the way that it did. Yes the posts leading up to his response were completely out of line and downright silly but that’s what you get when you let a forum degenerate into a full on slagging match. That’s down to the moderators to police not the CM's on the end of the abuse. Once you give a human being a place to genuinely express his/her self don’t be amazed or disturbed by what they end up posting.

The main thing you seem to be forgetting is that he is getting paid to represent GOA on our behalf as the English CM and as such what he posted about his core client base is completely inexcusable and unprofessional. If one of my CSR’s here in my office were to even hint to one of my customers that they were a sociopath or anything else then I would not hesitate to end the employment of that person. We train our staff to be compassionate especially in the face of adversity as if you let your customers know you are doing your absolute best and that you feel for their needs it serves to diffuse a bad situation.

CM’s and CSR’s have a certain code of responsibility that you HAVE to employ when you are dealing with the general populace and that includes desensitising yourself from threats/insults and you never EVER insult anyone in a public place. Every person in the CS field has had critique levelled at them – sometimes violently and the standards you employ when dealing with this critique spell your companies policy when dealing with issues. Iain’s comments make me think we are just here to pay his wages and he doesn’t give a fuck who he says what to and in what context.

You need to be able to read past the bullshit to get to the core of the issue and my faith in GOA (what little I had left after the DAOC debacle) is now gone. I am now faced with the same decision that I had in DAOC. Play with massive latency, put up with GOA or not play at all. 1 and 3 are looking mightly fine considering that Wrath of the Lich King is only a few months away. GOA and Mythic need to take a serious look at their business partnership to see what can be done and get it fixed. EA / Mythic can’t afford another EU DAOC.

 

[Flimgoblin]

I am calm.

You wouldn't like me angry.

I've run several businesses over many years (I'm an old fart, but an experienced old fart), and I *once* got ticked off at a customer.

That was a customer that expected me (even beligerently and threateningly expected me) to supply him with goods to do something *criminally* dangerous and irresponsible that would likely kill people.

I had to tell him that if he persisted in his attempts, I would have to go to the Police, and if he carried on being violent about it, I would have to punch his lights out.

He saw the light and left the premises.

Sorry I was just being mean about the CAPITAL TEXT sprinkled throughout your post

 

[Vell]

It's good that some people understand why this is such as issue. Iain is completely incompetant as a CM. He may well have a plethora of other skills, but customer relations is most definitely not one of them. He needs to be moved to an alternative role, and somebody who does has the required skills brought in to replace him.

 

[Lorgar]

You all think you have a hard life!!!

Atm I am in the house and the electrician is using a jack hammer not 3 feet from my ears and for some strange reason Abba is on..... wtf..... no wonder I am on anti-depressants and attend behavioural therapy!!!!

 

[Ivynoxia]

lol

 

[Bahumat]

Sorry I was just being mean about the CAPITAL TEXT sprinkled throughout your post

Please calm down Flim...bit too much Caps!

 

[Belgerath]

You all think you have a hard life!!!

Atm I am in the house and the electrician is using a jack hammer not 3 feet from my ears and for some strange reason Abba is on..... wtf..... no wonder I am on anti-depressants and attend behavioural therapy!!!!

I know irl you love abba!

 

[Lorgar]

Do some work Belg!!!! lazy ass!!

 

[Belgerath]

This is work :kissit:

 

[Lorgar]

Oh Christ!!! Take That now.....

Its all GOA fault, time to switch on sociopath mode and make threats.... that should speed them up.. Well I live closer to them than most of you lot

 

[Belgerath]

Question is, can you be arsed to drive to Dublin, and do you actually have the car?

 

[Lorgar]

Na they have enough issues atm...

Btw I thought 'tracking' was a highly skilled and silent art... not done with a Jackhammer!!! my head hurts..

Oh,oh!! Pussy Cat Dolls are on now... \o/ now i will just check my e-mail and see if my afternoon will be complete...

 

[lefo]

They never will. Led by a tool, owned by the FT. Enough said.

That message from the CEO at 3 am made me laugh so hard.

I agree 100%. The GOA director should be looked at in the first place. For some reason GOA reminds me of Infogrames now known as ATARI. A company that is in bankruptcy because of "great" leadership.

 

[Sharkith]

When I buy a product, if I want a drama, I buy a film.

I am not paying GOA for drama, and now I am not paying them at all. Pre-order with them is cancelled, I have preordered the game now Mythic hosted, and you know what?

Once I had the game downloaded, it took a lot less than 5 minutes to enter the beta key, and launch the game and start updating it. Peak time EST was when I did it too.

I'd also tested their accounts page efficiency prior, logged in, changed the password, and timed the arrival of the confirmation of password change e-mail into my inbox. It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!
It took less than a minute and a half!

That sunk in?

Dude I was being ironic - you spoiled it now.

You are one of those people who write to their local council in different coloured pens complaining about the uneven pavement aren't you?

 

[Succi]

No-one who's already under a lot of stress having to handle a disaster that he didnt create whilst simultaneously getting tons of death threats, racist abuse etc. can be expected to take that without some reaction.

Wrong, he's a professional. It's his job to take it

 

[rynnor]

Wrong, he's a professional. It's his job to take it

Hes a human being not a robot.