Communication management

MntMan
281 posts Member
I have to say that I truly appreciate CG at the very least asking for our feedback in a very direct way and trying to collect data around it rather than "are you happy".

That being said it always surprises me that we live in an internet age where communication should be easier than it ever was and yet for whatever reason people always shy away from. In the customer relations business over communication, even without content, can help ease some pains.

Something on the lines of "Your feedback is being gathered and is appreciated. From what we have seen so far we can tell that you're facing challenges with the new raid and while we want the raid to be challenging we want it to be fun and rewarding to. We are taking your feedback and deliberating internally on this and will work to try and come up with a solution that addresses the concerns while still keeping the integrity of the raid itself intact."

Feel free to edit and personal flavor as you see fit. Nowhere do I propose an actual solution, give a timeline or promise anything apart from discussing internally. It just lets us know you hear us. I mean we know you do unless you lost your log in credentials. But telling someone you'r e listening can go a long way. All I ask in return for this sage like advice is 3 Ugnaut shards.

Also it doens't hurt every couple days or so if the villagers are still waving pitchforks in the square to repeat the same message. It let's us know you haven't forgotten us. While some will say patience is needed, and I agree, it's just good customer service to acknowledge your customers on a frequent basis.

Replies

  • TVF
    36527 posts Member
    CG_SBCrumb wrote: »
    Hello Holotable Heroes,

    We have received a wide range of feedback about the newest raid, The Sith Triumvirate and we would like to hear more about your experience. Please include the following information in addition to your feedback:
    • What tier or tiers did you play?
    • What GP is your Guild that is attempting the raid?
    • What teams you did you attempt the raid with?
    • What part of the raid motivated or demotivated you to continue trying?
    • What about the raid did you enjoy? What did you dislike about the raid?

    Maybe I'm reading between the lines but seems like you've generally said the same thing. Perhaps not, but time will tell, and until then, it is what it is.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    I'm not sure, but are you suggesting they have some respond to "all posts" in this fashion?

    That's a lot of posts.

    And how do you decide who to respond to if it's not everyone?

    How do they respond if the idea is already submitted, so they respond to the 100th suggestion of the same idea?

    What if an idea is actually not good? Not feasible?

    There is a whole can of worms that comes from just openly responding to everything "to make people feel better". They are very aware of and are always concerned for the community feelings but there is a line where it is not effective and just placating.

  • MntMan
    281 posts Member
    Well kind of. I mean I thanked them for asking based off of initial feedback and that's a good step. More my second point in the last paragraph. I understood before when they didn't have someone in the role, but communication is important. I.e. keep it coming. I mean a fair number of people are unhappy. Recognize it. Dealing with angry or unhappy customers is a skill set. It helps to acknowledge their anger and reassure and sometimes you have to do it more than once. It literally takes seconds to draft a quick message. Call it a full minute if you want.

    Downside so long as you don't commit to anything immediately? Small. I won't say nill. There will always be the contingent of people who complain that they haven't solved immediately.

    Upside? I'd think pretty decent. Especially form a community who has cried out that communication is lacking or that they made grand gestures to increase communication then disappeared for a while. Then came back out. Just say make it more frequent and can be smaller doses.
  • MntMan
    281 posts Member
    Kyno wrote: »
    I'm not sure, but are you suggesting they have some respond to "all posts" in this fashion?

    Nope. Not all posts. That would be crazy. This was in reference to the Sith Raid Feedback thread (and other large heavily debated posts that have huge followings of angry masses: exaggeration intended as a joke). Would have maybe seemed more relevant if it was kept on the General Discussion page but I cna't for the life of me keep a post on that page. I mean there's feedback on the Wampa event still there and all kinds of other things, but no matter what I write about it goes. (And some rightfully so). Also guess I could have includes a "....talking about you Sith Feedback" in the header, but again was hoping it would stay on the same page.
  • Not all posts, but, man if you reach 5+ pages you gotta know that's worth tackling.
  • Also, didn't they just hire someone for that purpose?

    Might as well just gave it to @kyno who is at least present vocally every day...
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    MntMan wrote: »
    Well kind of. I mean I thanked them for asking based off of initial feedback and that's a good step. More my second point in the last paragraph. I understood before when they didn't have someone in the role, but communication is important. I.e. keep it coming. I mean a fair number of people are unhappy. Recognize it. Dealing with angry or unhappy customers is a skill set. It helps to acknowledge their anger and reassure and sometimes you have to do it more than once. It literally takes seconds to draft a quick message. Call it a full minute if you want.

    Downside so long as you don't commit to anything immediately? Small. I won't say nill. There will always be the contingent of people who complain that they haven't solved immediately.

    Upside? I'd think pretty decent. Especially form a community who has cried out that communication is lacking or that they made grand gestures to increase communication then disappeared for a while. Then came back out. Just say make it more frequent and can be smaller doses.

    I think we all wish it was that simple.

    The first QA was followed by many saying it was all "canned, we can't say right now" answers. This is what you are suggesting, and it is not as well received as you would think.

    Then like i said you have multiple posts about the same topic, one being 5 pages and one being new, because we all know some people like to feel special, are they supposed to then also comment on those "extra" post.

    I'm not saying it wouldn't be great to get this level of attention, but I dont think you are asking something that is realistic much beyond their schedule.

    You are also suggesting that they dont listen and take int he feedback, just because they dont state it.

    We can see what the new CM brings to the table.
  • Kyno wrote: »
    We can see what the new CM brings to the table.

    One post. 284 replies. 2 days. 0 acknowledgement. Yep.

    Don't get me wrong, I'd love for the new CM to do well. But the first part of "do well" is "do".
  • MntMan
    281 posts Member
    Kyno - It is that simple. People make it out like it isn't though. 5 posts on the same subject, call it 20 posts on the same subject should garner their attention and reaction. No they cannot respond within each and every post and even if they did, which would be a waste, it would be buried. There is the function to create a post of their own however and label it "Dev response to subject XYZ". One single post and response that acknowledges a community pain.

    Again not a response for every single thread opened up. But ones that seem to have multiple ones with multiple pages on the subject. It can even be at their discretion of course whether they post a response on suggestions for game improvement that might have multiple threads, but certainly anything that has people up in arms about a particular thing and it unifies the community against CG they should respond to an frequently.

    I head up North American Operations for a decent sized technology and services company. Sometimes our product has a bug and we don't know how long it will take or when it will be fixed. (Well depending on our SLAs some we better know, but not the point). You better believe I have my CS team reaching out proactively and communicating. For something like that it's not just once when it happens. It's throughout the day depending on the severity multiple times, often without any more information than letting them know we are working on it and it's our top priority.We even have an office in India and during massive flooding a couple years back that put our office basically under water as with the rest of the city we had no answer as to when the rain would stop or flood waters would recede. I got on the phone with most of our customers personally and sent emails throughout the incident along with our client services until not only the was the office back up but continued regular feedback as we worked through any backlog until it was all resolved.

    What's funny is that people always try and take the excuse that if we take the time to do that then we take away the time to fix it, but that's absurd. It is not the person communicating that is fixing (though they do take a bit of time by inquiring about a status update). Also while the customer knows it is being worked on you'd be surprised how much angst and ire is cut off and happy people can be knowing that you care enough to take the time to talk/respond. Sure you get the ever-angries that complain how it;'s never enough information, but even those ones deep down appreciate it at some level which makes doing so better than not at all.

    I would also like to petition this be moved back to General Discussion. I'm not sure why this isn't a general topic to discuss especially at this time. I would think that it is very relevant to the matter at hand.

    Thank you
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    Kyno wrote: »
    We can see what the new CM brings to the table.

    One post. 284 replies. 2 days. 0 acknowledgement. Yep.

    Don't get me wrong, I'd love for the new CM to do well. But the first part of "do well" is "do".

    He is still getting oriented to the new company. Hes a new hire, give the guy a break.
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    I understand your point but as you said the CM "team" we have one person.

    And I would imagine that that team has some autonomy, that is not the case here with the CM. A simple statement as you said, is not so simple.

    But as I said, we have a new guy and some new direction. Let's see what he brings to the table.
  • MntMan
    281 posts Member
    Fair enough Kyno. Just a suggestion. Never easy to have your first assignment to be dropped into something like this. All the best to the new guy. Sincerely.
  • Vettes4Fetts2
    523 posts Member
    edited May 2018
    Come on now, let's be realistic. If the new guy isn't up to speed yet, there should have been a response from someone. Anyone. Hot button topics require maintenance. It's not rocket science.

    "Great feedback, both positive and negative. I'll forward this off to the big wigs. Please keep this information coming, as it helps both the design team and the playerbase!"

    But no, let's just put it out, let it fester, and come back in a few days. It's just as frustrating as dropping an update on a Friday and leaving the bugs all weekend.




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