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ALL SWG VETS AND NEW PLAYERS READ THIS!!!
Sabic133
Member UncommonPosts: 46
I think if you are thinking about comming back or trying SWG you should read this first..
First a little back information about myself: I have been playing SWG since beta minus a 14 month deployment to Iraq. I have had 3 level 80 characters over the past years I have been playing and several lower level characters spread over 3 accounts. My last log in was late july 2005 so its been a little over 2 years since I've played (14 months of that was in Iraq). So this brings me to why I will never play again and a warning to those who are thinking about comming back...
DON'T DO IT!
This is my experience with trying SWG again.. A friend and I decided to resub to SWG to see basically the state of the game and if it was worth playing anymore because frankly when I left in 2005 it was complete garbage. So with it being 2 years since I had logged I did a user name recovery. I got my user name emailed to me and went threw the process to resub the account only to find that the user name they had sent was to my wifes sub account with the only character being a level 32 twi'lik female. I thought to myself "ok people have had to make this mistake before I'll just send up a ticket" I don't even think the response was a human just a generic email they send to everyone who sends up a refund request ' sorrry your SOL ' is basically what it said and stated nothing unique about my specific problem or the fact that I HADN'T LOGGED INTO THE GAME ONCE.
Which brings me to my next problem. The prior trouble should of been a wake up call but no I decided to waste another 14 bucks getting the right account activated I was already patched up and ready to go hit "play" go to the character login screen hit my level 80 character and it loads up then BAM what do I see? My level 80 character is now a level 65 character I thought "what the deuce?" I exit and proceed to send another ticket so I wait.. and I wait.. and finally I get another generic response saying they "reviewed the necessary logs" and "did not find any discrepancies with my account" So I calmly and nicely reply that he is mistake I know for a fact that my character was level 80.... the day goes by no reply.... 
I send up another ticket and the website keeps having errors I finally get it submitted saying that there is an error somewhere and that according to the skill conversion all my skills were combat xp and thus if I'm level 80 I should now still be a level 80 they reply saying that I'VE NEVER EVEN MASTERED A COMBAT PROFESSION that I was a master merchant!!!!! I don't know the first thing about crafting.. so I reply WITH screen shots showing that I have the elder tabs for master TK/brawler/swordsman both in my tabs drop down box and my collections area only to again get no reply...
So I make ANOTHER ticket with the screen shots and a broke down explanation a child could understand of my situation and that I just wanted a yes or no if this was fixable or if I should just cancel my account and move on and learn never to trust SOE again my reply was "I'll send this up to the next tier" WTF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN SMED HIMSELF IS GOING TO FIX MY PROBLEM!?!?!?!?
..... So basically long story short SOE still doesn't give a crap about the few remaining customers they have which makes me think that the Bioware star wars MMO is probably true and they are getting ready to get scrapped. BTW here are the screens I sent up...
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2677/screenshot0002bd1.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6870/screenshot0000qr4.jpg
Comments
Hardly a shock , they do love copy and paste at SOE.
OP, your not a "remaining customer" as you so eloquently put it.
You came back to see if a game, that you admitedly never liked to begin with, had improved to a point where you might enjoy it - clearly you didn't.
SWG is actually a good game still (its not what it once was, but as Mick Jagger once said " you cant always get what you want " ) despite the changes made to the game and the fact that there are bitter ex-veterans that played the game and still get off on crying about something that happened long, long ago.
SOE Customer Support has always been helpful and to the point in my experiences, generally CS employees tend to be easy going individuals, willing to work WITH you because its there job to help - only an insane individual thinks they enjoy giving half-hearted response, or do it out of some kind of personal malice, its called policy and procedure.
Tiered customer service is the industry STANDARD, not SOE specific, when one tier of customer service is unable to deal with your problem it gets escalated to a higher tier for further investigation, to try and HELP you, not HURT you.
Sorry that they were not able to help you more, but nothing is out of the ordinary for there procedure.
Them sending you your wifes account info, means you requested it, the mistake is yours and you need to pay closer attention to what you are doing when you do it - they cannot just send you someone elses info when you requested your own, there system is automated, its literally impossible and would cause legal liability for them out the ass if things like that were happening.
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First off I didn't realise there were still SWG fanboi's left. Are you seriously going to defend the state of the game? I admit its "better" than it was when I left but its only because they are adding in things that they took away 2 years ago (beast master) when they made it wow with a star wars theme. I never said I disliked the game I said like EVERY OTHER PERSON has said that they messed it up and it WAS garbage when I left it is getting better now.
This is not my first MMO and not the first time I've had to deal with customer service and I've never got "sent to a higher tier" in fact I've had very good dealings with customer service, the first guy I talked to solved my problem if your in customer support you should be able to do the job not have to send me to someone else and make me wait a week to play a game all the while I am paying for them to jerk me around.
And seriously dude, who would buy an account these days? because there isn't a million posts on the tech support forums about respec tokens messing up account levels? No that can't be it I must of bought an account online you got me!! ... And the email was linked to both accounts so I think that is an honest mistake.
I don't have to discourage new players, SOE is doing a fine job for me. I am just giving returning vets MY EXPERIENCE comming back to the game and why I don't recommend it. SOE has taken 30 more of my dollars and left me with crap so I discourage even 2 people not to come back from my experience with them then I would have to call it even.
First I want to thank the OP for serving and glad that he has returned. Sorry that he had to find his favorite pasttime altered beyond recognition. Sorry to say, as far as the Stewardship of game, we are not dealing with patriots here are we.
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
well whoever is defending SWG, they obviously don't know what they're talking about. After the NGE the combat experience was changed to fit the new professions, depending on the professions you were before the NGE, determined your level after. I don't know which professions gave what, but I was a master combat medic, medic, and something else, but I was level 80. I had mastered other professions like teras kasi, rifleman, bounty hunter, etc. but I too was set back to 67. It's not a rollback on you specifically, it was set like that for countless players. I myself quit after the NGE, came back like a year later only to see things were even more unbalanced. The NPCs are too hard to do anything solo, as it's just as hard finding 7 other people who aren't busy, who you can somewhat trust. It's a bad game that got worse over time. From what i saw last time, the devs just refuse to listen to the players.
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SWG is like marmite, either you like it or you dont there is no inbetween but in saying that the guys that make marmite havent changed the recipe since it was made....unlike swg
Yes I like the game or I wouldn't of came back, however the game became garbage when I left in 2005 and in alot of ways still is garbage but at least the garbage doesn't stink as much these days is what I'm saying. I somewhat hoped that the game would slowly grow back into what it used to be but with the idiots running the show over at SOE I now see that there is no hope for SWG.. so hopfully they just take the IP rights away and someone else (you know who I'm talking about) takes over and makes a good game.
Also.. The email I got read someting to the effect "dear customer bla bla bla bla here are your account names" then listed 2 names and with it being 2 years and I've done alot since then I couldn't remember which one my main character was on. There was no way to tell which characters were on which accounts besides I guess maybe sending a ticket but we can see how those things turn out.
Back in the day, I started playing SWG during Beta 2. I was fairly active on the pre-release official forums, and the Beta forums. I was also a member of a fairly high profile pre/post-release PA. I played from Beta 2 onwards until I quit around the release of the CU/NGE.
Two weeks ago, I decided to come back to SWG... Mostly because I was bored with all of the other MMOs that are out now. I resubbed and logged back into my old character. The system gave him level 80, and I decided to go with the bounty hunter class, since thats what I was before I left the game so long ago. When it filled my bars with 80 levels of skills in no particular order, I can say that I was a little overwhelmed. I tried for a bit to figure out what did what, and place things in logical places on my bars. After awhile, I just decided it was too different and with no idea what anything did, it was hopeless.
The next day though, I woke up and I decided that the best way to get a handle on what was going on, was to start a new character. I'd get the logical progression of skills, and learn the new mechanics, and basically just figure out how the game has changed. I changed servers from Chilastra to Ahazi to play with a friend from work who also decided to try it out again. I rolled a Jedi (Yes, lame... I know. But I wanted a lightsaber, and I'm just playing for fun to learn the ropes again), and I am now level 31. I must say, I am having a ton of fun.
Yes, SWG is not what it used to be, and that is a tragedy. However, if you try to put the past behind you, and take SWG for what it is now, you might have a new outlook on the game. If not, that is cool too, it is your choice. I can say that I am definitely enjoying myself again, and thats what its all about.
You know- there are still good points about SWG if you prefer PvE. But if you want a really good space game Eve Online is it. And welcome back
I played EvE for a fair bit and it was great while I played it, for sure... It just a game that forces you to rely on large, large guilds/PAs/corporations in order for you to see the best parts of the game. Normally, I don't mind that, but in EvE I didn't really enjoy the idea.
It's alittle odd that you were level 80 in the CU and then came back as level 65, it's the first I've heard of that happening with a character that had logged in during the CU and then again in the NGE. Every other time, the issue happens when it's a character from Pre-CU that never logged in during the CU. I have to ask, if you couldn't remember what character was on which account, is it slightly possible that you forgot which of those characters was which level?
Typical $OE reaction, customer is wrong at first so same here the customer has confused his accounts, can't be a bug. $OE has hosted SWG without bugs and always in a flawless state.
-----MY-TERMS-OF-USE--------------------------------------------------
$OE - eternal enemy of online gaming
-We finally WON !!!! 2011 $OE accepted that they have been fired 2005 by the playerbase and closed down ridiculous NGE !!
"There was suppression of speech and all kinds of things between disturbing and fascistic." Raph Koster (parted $OE)
Just out of curiosity what in the world have you been smoking? maybe if we all had some we would see what your talking about.
The OP stated he left for a while so I guess just because he was gone doing obligations to our country he doesnt know what he is doing. I dont see this as a way to scare away new players, he doesnt have to, the game itself does that.
I could go on and on about your post but to someone who apparently loves SOE it wouldnt be worth the time, but for you to say the game is still good is total crap and to say SOE CS is so great with no problems is even worse.
Out of every 100 men, 10 should not be there,
80 are nothing but targets, 9 are the real fighters.
Ah, but one, ONE of them is a warrior,
and he will bring the others home.
-Heraclitus 500BC
Typical $OE reaction, customer is wrong at first so same here the customer has confused his accounts, can't be a bug. $OE has hosted SWG without bugs and always in a flawless state.
"Working as intended"
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
this isn't the first i've read about guys serving a tour and coming back to this mess and i sympothize with ya.
customer service has always been subpar to nonexistant, but what happened to ya, just a guess is you we're reworking your template last time you quit and the nge defaulted you to lower level cause points were unused. that possible?
Okay so here in my theory..
The combat upgrade came out around april 2005, I resubscribed to my account June 2005 and played until July 2005 before I had to quit. I used all the respec tokens to try out different builds before quitting and to my understanding the NGE hit November 2005 when my account was not active.
SOE I guess hooked me up when NGE hit by taking away 15 levels and now I don't think they can go back that far to actually see the mistake or the CS are too lazy to do it (probably a little of both) I just wish I wouldn't of cleared out my old computer with all the screen shots on it that was pretty stupid but I never thought I'd have to defend my integrity to some chump at SOE.
So after doing some research to make sure I wasn't losing my mind there is no possible way you could have the master tk/brawler/swords and the 2 lines of medic without being a level 80 THUS at one time during this accounts creation my character was level 80 in a combat skill set its as simple as 1 + 1 = 2 but apparently the calculator at SOE is malfunctioning.
Not only do they say the screen shots that I have submitted were apparently fake because according to their up to date records I have never mastered a combat profession period no if's and's or but's about it. Its just ridiculous to me how stupid these people are.
If you have the badges, then it'll be pretty easy to prove that their claims of you not having mastered a combat profession is false. I won't lie, the usual initial CSR's you get can be pretty wild with their suggestions, but once you get to the next tier of support, they're somewhat smarter.
Obraik's advice is good...just keep submitting CS tickets (be sure to document in each ticket the previous attempts) and eventually you'll get to a CSR who pays attention and doesn't just cut and paste a response to you.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
One thing that seems to be missing is the fact that in the old 250 skill point system it was very easy to drop a mastery to pick up a different set of skills. I have no doubt that OP was a master of thos skills during the life of the character. What does matter is the EXACT skillset that toon had at the time he quit playing. Based on the level the NGE assigned him it looks like that toon had a single mastery of a profession along with other skills. The other skills while adding up to 250 points do not equate to a second combat mastery thus the system gave him a lower overall combat level.
Eh got me, your lucky to even have a character still. People seem to assume it is the norm to leave a game and come back anytime and have everything the way it was. I just like to remind everyone that in the day this was not the norm. You left a game, you lost it all, while it is cool today that many (if not all) MMO's offer your old characters back into the game, no ware in anyone’s agreement when you sign up does it say "we guarantee your character if you cancel...." most say " after 3 months, the availability of your old information is NOT guaranteed" is pretty much seen in every MMO agreement when you digitally sign it.
Sucks to be you, but when I come back to games, it is nice to see my stuff there, but I do remember in all agreements so far, this looms as a possible outcome and there is no guarantee it will be there. Be happy that you had something.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
Well almost 5 days since my ticket has been submitted and I'm up to a "tier 3" customer service rep, which basically for you not so tech savy people he can eat his cereal without supervision and the worry of him drowning himself in it. And still no response.. I tried the live chat all he said is "your in the queue" this is the worst experience I have ever had with a customer service EVER whether it be games, bank account, cable tv anything I've ever called customer service on in my life has not been this frustrating or just a unmatched lack of genuine care for the customer. SOE IS THE WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER SEEN.
Do you have time to learn Hindi?
You're welcome to come to NZ and try get help from Telecom, I'm sure it'll make you appreciate SOE's support
You're welcome to come to NZ and try get help from Telecom, I'm sure it'll make you appreciate SOE's support
Heh I tried Verizon for 3 weeks (because it was going to be cheaper than comcast and we'd had dns issues quite often).
I never had working server... and to make a long story short... the only reason it got solved was I went through the states attorney generals office.
In fact its not solved yet.. I agreed to pay $83 out of a total of $200+ they wanted (for the never working service). So when the bill came.. it said they owed me $60.00... (aka -$60 due). I'm afriad to even call them and try to fix that one.
Sorry that the OP is having issues.
I have many elder tags for professions I never even took up.. to be honest. My BioEngineer has an elder tag for every combat profession AND politician...
That character mastered 3 things... EVER (medic, bio engineer and doctor).
I have another character that was a Master TKA/Smuggler.. and when the CU went live it was mashed down to a level 58... that was never fixed either.