Z-Access: Blue response!

Wow, there’s a lot of whingers out there. Tim Dean complains about complaining complainers.

Dear sir. I am disgusted with the way old people are depicted on television. We are not all vibrant, fun-loving, sex-maniacs. Many of us are bitter, resentful individuals who remember the good old days when entertainment was bland and inoffensive. The following is a list of words I never want to hear on television again: bra; horny; family jewels...

Thus spake Grandpa Simpson, representing every bitter, resentful whinger who’s ever written an indignant letter of complaint.

I nearly wrote a complaint letter once. I had a nasty experience with a particularly surly customer service rep from a major telco a couple of years back. They not only didn’t listen to problem I was trying to sort, but they gave me the total run around with false information and bum leads, and they capped it off by being rude and overtly bored.
 
Standard fare for many call centres perhaps, but in my early years, I actually spent some time as a call centre monkey. As such, I both know the pain of the average customer service rep, as well as the fact that it’s not that damn hard to be polite, attentive and professional, by gum.
 
So, there I was, finger poised above keyboard – a naked Word document awaiting a deluge of self righteous indignation – before I finally came to my senses.

It’s not that I think the letter might not have done some good. It might have prompted a ‘team leader’ to have a quiet word to said surly operator, and get them to smarten up and treat their job seriously.

But look at me! I mean, 'smarten up and take their job seriously?' That’d be like my not giving money to a street kid because I thought they were going to spend it on drugs.

It’s for this reason that I reckon a quick straw poll would find that most of the culprits behind complaint letters pack a grey mop (or a blue rinse), have a framed letter from the Queen on the wall, and have far too much time on their hands.

Until recently, that is...

I’ve noticed a new and disturbing phenomenon, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. After playing World of Warcraft for a couple of months now, I’ve been known to troll the official forums for any choice morsels of advice, update news or just to see what people are thinking.

What blows me away is the sheer volume of complaints that litter that forum. Now, it’s hard to ascertain someone’s age from forum posts, but there are a few tell tale pointers. One is mastery of the English language, another is choice of emphatic adjectives (cussing…) and the final one is perspective. So, using this entirely unreliable ageing method, it appears as though most of the complaints are coming from the younger players, and it’s actually the older ones who are calling for restraint, patience and tolerance.

I don’t know if I’m entirely comfortable with this role reversal. Then again, in WoW circles, I probably am on the older end of the spectrum, but I drink beer and kiss girls, so my friends seem to forgive me. And let’s not forget that I’m complaining right now...

The thing that really curries my goat is the nature of the complaints. They usually consist of this special breed of whinge that demands attention and insists that Blizzard pay special notice to their ill thought out, overly emotional and grammatically aberrant ponderings. I can’t say I’ve seen more than one in twenty valuable, constructive criticisms on that forum. The pity is, the constructive stuff tends to get lost in the noise, which is an even greater tragedy.

It makes me feel sorry for Blizzard really. Makes me want to give them a big hug, pat them on the head, and tell them it’s going to be alright. Then again, they have enough money that they can probably buy all the sympathy they need. Or the entire island of Guam.

This is by no means a new phenomenon in MMO circles, and I guess developers have to live with it as a pitfall that comes with the territory. One thing that Blizzard certainly has learned the hard way is that efficient and detailed communication to the players is essential. Personally, I think they’ve done a great job communicating – they still have plenty more they can, and should, do – but I’m pretty happy with the way they’ve managed things so far. And if you don’t agree, feel free to complain about it – on the forums, of course.