Support

Getting help online

Plagued by lag and bugs the online RPG gamer will one day make the sacred shout-out for help from the Game Masters or GM for short. All three of these games have developed in game guides to help answer common questions and to fix common problems. It is their job to notify the GM's if the player is dealing with something the guides cannot handle. Most of the cries for help will be answered only with an eerie silence. It can take forever to get your message through and if you are already frustrated it only makes it worse.

Trees up closer

You're carrying a lot of stuff

Ultima Online

My experiences with Ultima Online Game Masters were some of the worst known to mankind, and what's sad is, I know there are people out there that have had it worse than little ole me. Send a message for help in the morning and consider yourself lucky if you get a reply before you log that evening. Ultima really did warm up to you in that way. The Game Masters were usually cold and always in a hurry-they must have been understaffed. The sad thing was if you wanted to play this online RPG you had to deal with this because, at the time, there was no Everquest or Asheron's Call to switch to. Yes, Origin had a big head on its shoulders and its GMs really did seem to enjoy being slow to respond. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there had to be a few good ones mixed in there somewhere, but I wouldn't want to have to wait for those odds if I really needed assistance.

What is this place

A nice low angle shot

EverQuest

Everquest support was a breath of fresh air for me. The few times I needed some help due to bugs I would get an answer within 30 minutes and sometimes even less. If the guide couldn't help me out he would put me in touch with the person in charge, which is usually a GM or a guide with more seniority. Either way it was a nice change to have people who responded promptly even if they couldn't do squat.

That's a magical item

Huge mountains in the distance

Asheron's Call

Asheron's Call is the blend of the two. The guides I have talked to seem as friendly and helpful as those in Everquest, but my problem is more with support's interface. If you have a bug to submit, or a complaint you can't do it in the game. You have to load up your browser, which takes you into the "Zone." To me, the Zone is nothing more than gas to a fire when you are already mad about something being screwed-up and interfering with happy-game-time. People do not want to surf the web looking for the hidden E-mail on who to send a flame to or any other type of complaint. The Tech help sends you to some webpages that require the user to agree to some statements and then you load up a chat room. Here you wait in line to ask your question and then wait in line some more. I would much rather be in my game waiting doing something since I am paying $9.95 for this rather than sitting in a web browser twiddling my thumbs. Hopefully people will complain enough to force them to redesign the system.