Support Center?
 

Since we have been without a support center for some time...it seems like little is being done to actually get a new one up.

Why not just make a support center on login?

Lots of servers have in game support centers, where players can register tickets, admins can review, etc.

Why not do the same for the login server?
It gets little use as it is now...and i'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to add one and give access to the pwa's.

Although, if the issue of not being able to check tickets from offline is an issue, there would be a simple solution.

Make the ingame support center, then begin work on an external one that links with the in game one.
It wouldn't be too hard to make a linking in-game/external support center...

And this would be the perfect opportunity to actually put some work into a new support center instead of putting it off and leaving the community in the dust, forcing people to send in support tickets via email...

But, thats just my opinion on the whole thing...

Hello Sir,
If it consumes any time and causes GraalOnline to care - don't count on it.

No effort would even have to be put in it...theres a support center already scripted in the code gallery that would do better than the current system. -_-

Chris offered Era's and Stefan declined.

I've already fielded this question multiple times on the forums (Use the search feature :p).

The reason a Support Centre isn't made on the login server is because if for some reason someone can't even log into the client (Account locked out, globally banned, servers lagging badly, etc etc), how are they supposed to contact the Support Centre? So internal Support Centre is a no-go.

As for an external Support Centre, tons of effort was put into finding new software. Tig for one spent days upon weeks looking for alternatives, but Stefan shot them all down even if they were good. I could only assume reasons for this, but I'll never know for sure why he won't accept other software.

So, since some people might not be able to use the in game support center...we shouldn't make one at all?

Theres no reason not to make one.

People who are banned can continue to email questions in...

But for those people who pay tons of money to play a game, shouldn't they get some sort of support center?
And if time has been spent to make a new support center, maybe some more time needs to be put it, because so far, nothing has happened.

You can search for years for a new support center software, but that doesn't mean anything to the people waiting for one.

What's wrong with emails?

The way I see it there's at least three kinds of support:

- General Support (Bans, Server Issues)
- Account Support
- Stefan/unixmad Support (Things PWA don't have rights to or can't do)

I'd be interested in knowing the actual drop/gain they may have taken with the drop of the Support Center.

It's not just that "Some people can't access it, so don't make one?". Not sure how savvy with scripting you are, but GUI's are clientside. Clientside scripts are rather insecure and easy to alter illegally. The last thing we would want is to put sensitive information into a clientsided support centre. Local support centres, such as the one on Era, don't require sensitive information such as personal details, and half the time only require "Account/Community Name", and a reason for submitting a ticket.

Also, just to sort the beans from the cherries, the PWA don't have any form of rights to just randomly pull things like this out of our asses and implement them. We handle the tickets, emails, whatever. We don't handle the management, integrity and security of the what we're using. That's where Stefan and Unixmad come in. So, we can search for years for a new support software, but we're also the ones losing out, not just you. I think it's getting way too uniform with the community to believe that "Global" means we're all equals and could do the same thing as the next person in the team. That's simply not true. Just because you don't see Xor, Bell or myself making a coffee, doesn't mean it's because we're lazy, incapable or negligent. It just means you're looking at the wrong people for it.

What about people who cannot connect to the internet? You should drop email support because there's probably one person out there with no internet who has a question for you. We should use the good ol' fashioned stamp and envelope :rolleyes:.

People who cannot login would need to use email or the forums. I'm interested to know how many problems you deal with actually involve people who cannot use the client (in comparison to those who can).


It's really doesn't matter how we submit our questions or ask our problems as long as we're getting the support we need and deserve. If emailing works fine for everyone, so be it, but with threads like this popping up every other day, it obviously isn't working. The problem is that nobody knows how to get support...there needs to be links from the website and client.


EDIT:
I don't think security would really be a problem. Sensitive information would be handled serverside, and it's not like you'd be passing any information that isn't already handled on Graal anyways?

I'm not sure why you think this thread is directed at you? Nobody has accused you of being lazy, or said that you should be the one developing this.

Easy to alter illegally to do what, exactly? As long as you're validating the data serverside, which is a must for any script, there's no problem. The only security risk is that some staff member could use a script to read the text value from the GUI once they're on that staffs server, so some kind of global weapon would need to destroy all of the support center GUIs before serverwarp (which should be possible since it's also doing things like reconstructing the taskbar on serverwarp). The support center can even be enhanced to send emails alerting the poster that they have a new message. The only real problem with this is that guest accounts often are not unique (players can share the same PCID in some cases) so sensitive data might be leaked that way.

I'd rather see an online support center implemented, but unless you're willing to host it yourselves, which would only piss Stefan off, I guess that's not happening.

Sounds like a different department. Different company completely, even! :o Sounds like if someone can't access the internet they should contact their ISP via phone and worry about online stuff when they get their internet back. Sounds like you're just saying something like this to be a smart ass :o


I'm doing my part (Check signature). I can't do anything about the website though.

Well, the problem is Stefan. Our Support Centre has a leak because of Support Trio's software, and now he shoots down every suggestion? It's likely because he's way too security conscious. It doesn't matter if we validate via ServerSide, there's still risk and from my point of view, Stefan is way too security conscious to take "risks".

Kind of, yeah :D
The point I was trying to make though was that a scripted support center would still benefit a lot of people.

I'm not disagreeing. Heck, I suggested it ages and ages ago when the Support Centre first went down, but the arguments against it that I post are the ones I was presented with when I suggested it. Thing is, I understand all standpoints. I understand that it would be a good substitute, but I also understand that with the amount of problems this company has had with support, Stefan won't want to get it wrong and piss off people anyway.

Could always have the support center before you login for the in-game client.

I don't see why CJ has some sort of paranoia towards support centers, though. Any software can be vulnerable, there is nothing special about support centers. They should know that considering they are in the business.

So i went to the graal online website, and there is absolutely NO WAY to contact any globals or administrators unless you come to the forums and a.) make a thread b.) somehow find the contact list, or c.) go to the cyberjoours corporation website and email the sales department

Stefan if you read this, thats great PR work there.

I went on WOW's website, having never been there before and found myself an email to contact for a random issue. Some departments even had phone support!

On graal's all you do is go through an endless loop of clicking "Support Desk" and being taken to the home page of graal website. I for one would be to pissed off to bother dealing with an issue with graal if i was new.

A ingame support center would be nice, and if security is an issue then just take important complaints/requests to emails. If someone requests a password change then it could just be emailed to his account's email. However, im sure many questions the globals get are ones that had no personal information required such as ones dealing with playerworld problems and whatnot.