Small is beautiful

[Boggit]

I had a reminder just the other day that Indie developers really do try and help their customers out, when some of the big players just don't seem to care.

I bought the Destroyer of Worlds add on to Arcen Games AI War from Gamersgate a while back. I had the non-Steam game, and had been buying the DLC as they were made, without question as to compatibility. Frankly I hadn't realised I'd bought a Steam key for the game, so I couldn't install it into AI War as I normally do with their expansions.

Anyway, to cut the story short, I contacted Arcen Support for help. Chris Park their President replied and gave me a download link and instructions, without any fuss, not even pushing for proof of purchase. In a day and age where DRM assumes the worst, it was nice to be treated as an honest customer, and so promptly too.

I've also been in touch with Elvis supporting Battlefront's licensing scheme that I had a problem with, and again that was dealt with quickly and without fuss.

I've also had the same sort of response from Knuckle Cracker, the developer of the Creeper World Trilogy regarding issues on a Mac install.

It really contrasts with an enquiry I had about Company of Heroes on Steam that I put into SEGA support months ago. It was a long winded process, and while I eventually had an answer of sorts after a several weeks - it was essentially a "we'll get back to you" type. A couple of months after that I got another "sorry, we're still looking into it, but will get back to you" message, although I've waited several months now since that last message. Given the lapse of time now don't really expect an answer at all now. It wasn't anything controversial either, I just wanted to know if there was a way to roll back to an earlier patch of the Steam version of game, as I didn't want to have to log onto their servers just to play in single player skirmish mode, as I could do before their patch. A simple question, but apparently not.

Why is it that some big players don't seem to care about their customers? I feel fobbed off by SEGA, yet these small companies don't have anywhere near the same resources for support, yet are prompt and courteous. Frankly I prefer them because in each case they all dealt with my issues promptly without any fuss, and without treating me as an idiot.

I've put this post in because I think these small companies deserve some credit for the quality of their customer service.

[Nefaro]

Agreed.

There are a lot of great indies out there.  That includes their CS.

[BanzaiCat]

That's good to know and will go a long way to endear them to gamers, especially folks like us.

Also, I figured I'd better post this song because I KNOW Gus will be popping in here, being all vain and thinking this thread is about him:

[jomni]

Well there's a small shop called Battlefront that thinks otherwise.

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah I've had almost universally positive reactions from indie devs.  I once emailed one - who I promised I wouldn't name - who never ran sales for his games.  My friend really wanted a copy of the game to play online with me, so I emailed the dev to ask whether there was any chance of a Christmas sale (it was early December).  He replied that he didn't discount his games but provided me with a serial key to give to my friend!  That was very generous of him.  And I'm glad Boggit mentioned Arcen Games; I've never known a dev more responsive to their fans, they're absolutely amazing.

My experiences with AAA devs have been varied.  EA have a deservedly bad reputation, but in all fairness the two times I've ever contacted them for support they were very good.  One of those times I'd just reinstalled Jane's F/A-18 Super Hornet and I couldn't find the manual.  I emailed them to ask how I could get hold of one, and they just mailed one to me (the proper, spiral-bound manual).  I didn't have to provide proof of purchase or anything.

Conversely, THQ didn't give a shit when I couldn't find the manual for Frontline: Fuel of War (so I didn't have the serial key to reinstall) and told me I had to buy another copy if I wanted to play the game, despite my offer to provide proof of purchase and whatever else.  Bellends.

Edit: I read a blog by some indie dev a while back, I think it was Puppygames, explaining how expensive it was for small devs to spend time providing support to their customers (they called it "fixing people's computers"), which just goes to show how cool it is that indie devs are so responsive in the first place.  The massive publishers really have no excuse.

[Jarhead0331]

This is not a matter of big bad evil mega corp. vs. angelic good wholesome indie. It is a simple matter of economics. As companies grow larger their priorities change and the ones in charge are usually forced to focus on things other than customer care. When you have millions of customers in literally hundreds of countries around the world, customer service becomes more generalized and impersonal by necessity. Doing it any other way just isn't practical.

Also, for the little guys, kissing customer ass is more of a necessity. Park doing the right thing by you has resulted in you coming here and writing a glowing review of his benevolence, which hopefully, for him, will translate into more business.

I'm not saying that generalized and inadequate customer service is a good thing, but I don't think a company like sega deserves to be attacked over it. At the same time, by doing the right thing, I don't think a company like Arcen necessarily deserves accolades and praise. In fact, think about this Boggit...now that you have written this post here at GH, millions of our devoted fans will read this and start buying Arcen games. Chris park will become a billionaire as a result. He will expand the company, and by 2018, his gross profits will exceed those of sega. As a result, of this growth, he will have to set up a customer support system capable of catering to millions of customers, which will be based on the model created by sega and EA....and WHY? All because you started this thread.

[Toonces]

^   ::)

[Swatter]

This is not a matter of big bad evil mega corp. vs. angelic good wholesome indie. It is a simple matter of economics. As companies grow larger their priorities change and the ones in charge are usually forced to focus on things other than customer care. When you have millions of customers in literally hundreds of countries around the world, customer service becomes more generalized and impersonal by necessity. Doing it any other way just isn't practical.

Also, for the little guys, kissing customer ass is more of a necessity. Park doing the right thing by you has resulted in you coming here and writing a glowing review of his benevolence, which hopefully, for him, will translate into more business.

I'm not saying that generalized and inadequate customer service is a good thing, but I don't think a company like sega deserves to be attacked over it. At the same time, by doing the right thing, I don't think a company like Arcen necessarily deserves accolades and praise. In fact, think about this Boggit...now that you have written this post here at GH, millions of our devoted fans will read this and start buying Arcen games. Chris park will become a billionaire as a result. He will expand the company, and by 2018, his gross profits will exceed those of sega. As a result, of this growth, he will have to set up a customer support system capable of catering to millions of customers, which will be based on the model created by sega and EA....and WHY? All because you started this thread.

I disagree. Indies tend to make games out of a passion to create games. By the time you get to corporations as large as EA, games become a generic product whose sole purpose is to generate the most profit. From their point of view, EA isn't catering to gamers, they are making products for consumers. Once your customer becomes a faceless profit source, the customer service will likely reflect that reality. So when you call EA customer service, you might as well be calling the customer service center of a coat hanger supplier. At least the indies still realize, at a gut level, they are making things of passion. That will reflect in everything they do.

[Jarhead0331]

This is not a matter of big bad evil mega corp. vs. angelic good wholesome indie. It is a simple matter of economics. As companies grow larger their priorities change and the ones in charge are usually forced to focus on things other than customer care. When you have millions of customers in literally hundreds of countries around the world, customer service becomes more generalized and impersonal by necessity. Doing it any other way just isn't practical.

Also, for the little guys, kissing customer ass is more of a necessity. Park doing the right thing by you has resulted in you coming here and writing a glowing review of his benevolence, which hopefully, for him, will translate into more business.

I'm not saying that generalized and inadequate customer service is a good thing, but I don't think a company like sega deserves to be attacked over it. At the same time, by doing the right thing, I don't think a company like Arcen necessarily deserves accolades and praise. In fact, think about this Boggit...now that you have written this post here at GH, millions of our devoted fans will read this and start buying Arcen games. Chris park will become a billionaire as a result. He will expand the company, and by 2018, his gross profits will exceed those of sega. As a result, of this growth, he will have to set up a customer support system capable of catering to millions of customers, which will be based on the model created by sega and EA....and WHY? All because you started this thread.

I disagree. Indies tend to make games out of a passion to create games. By the time you get to corporations as large as EA, games become a generic product whose sole purpose is to generate the most profit. From their point of view, EA isn't catering to gamers, they are making products for consumers. Once your customer becomes a faceless profit source, the customer service will likely reflect that reality. So when you call EA customer service, you might as well be calling the customer service center of a coat hanger supplier. At least the indies still realize, at a gut level, they are making things of passion. That will reflect in everything they do.

I disagree. You talk about large corporations as if they are some malevolent entity. Corporations are made up of people just like you and me. The people making decisions have likes and dislikes, as do the people making the products. Yes, the decision makers answer to a board of directors, but if a company makes people consistently unhappy, that is bad for business and profit. The truth is, and I know many people around here don't like to or simply refuse to admit it, but companies like Sega and EA put out products that people like and want to buy. Plain and simple.  That is why they are a multinational conglomerate and also why Arcen is just Arcen.

[Swatter]

I don't think corporations are evil, I just think they aren't particularly good at making games. There is nothing wrong with making an endless number of middling games. I just think that when the people who are in charge of making games don't actually play games, something is lost.

[jomni]

But millions of people still buy them. So are they bad games?

[Swatter]

I didn't say bad, just something lost, especially regarding innovation.

[Jarhead0331]

I don't think corporations are evil, I just think they aren't particularly good at making games. There is nothing wrong with making an endless number of middling games. I just think that when the people who are in charge of making games don't actually play games, something is lost.

Wait a second...you mean to tell me that THIS guy is not an avid gamer?

[Gusington]

^His games are...real.

[Boggit]

This is not a matter of big bad evil mega corp. vs. angelic good wholesome indie. It is a simple matter of economics. As companies grow larger their priorities change and the ones in charge are usually forced to focus on things other than customer care. When you have millions of customers in literally hundreds of countries around the world, customer service becomes more generalized and impersonal by necessity. Doing it any other way just isn't practical.

Also, for the little guys, kissing customer ass is more of a necessity. Park doing the right thing by you has resulted in you coming here and writing a glowing review of his benevolence, which hopefully, for him, will translate into more business.

I'm not saying that generalized and inadequate customer service is a good thing, but I don't think a company like sega deserves to be attacked over it. At the same time, by doing the right thing, I don't think a company like Arcen necessarily deserves accolades and praise. In fact, think about this Boggit...now that you have written this post here at GH, millions of our devoted fans will read this and start buying Arcen games. Chris park will become a billionaire as a result. He will expand the company, and by 2018, his gross profits will exceed those of sega. As a result, of this growth, he will have to set up a customer support system capable of catering to millions of customers, which will be based on the model created by sega and EA....and WHY? All because you started this thread.

I think you should re-read what I actually wrote before letting rip.

I mentioned 3 Indies who all gave outstanding service promptly, and compared it to an enquiry with a big company, which after 6 months is still no further towards finding an answer to a simple, non-controversial issue. I have given the Indie's credit for their response, although they have a fragment of the resources available for customer services.

Put yourself in my shoes as a customer. Who do you think is providing the better service? Unlike you, I don't see any problem in praising good service, and if Chris Park and all the other Indie's who do that make a fortune because of good customer service, then I say good luck to them! If SEGA had bothered to address my query in a reasonable manner, or even in a timely manner that would have been good, but they didn't, and the impression I formed - not surprisingly - after waiting over 6 months on a non-controversial enquiry is that they don't care about their customer. I never said that they were evil, nor that all Indies are angelic. All I did was contrast the actions taken between three different Indies and one huge publisher. The huge publisher came up short. I just don't understand why you seem to have a problem with the Indie's getting some praise, yet defending the failure of the extremely well resourced mega corporation to reply to a simple question.