If this work so hard, as you say, why you can just /testcopy you character to test server? And its not take hours of manual work i think.
They didn't just cancel it, it's broken and they don't have a fix yet. Is it International Whiny B*tch Day or something? So much BS on the forums today. Calm down people.
That is what they told us Niskin, but do you know if it is the truth? Maybe in their eyes, the fact that it created duplicate characters on each account is considered broken and thus needed shutting down until a fix could be created. Both of our theories could easily be correct. Having worked as a TSS rep, I have used plenty of wonderful answers like "it is broken" and " it will be up and running when it is up and running" to describe situations that would take much longer to explain to people who normally don't understand computers. That being said, since we are SUBSCRIBING customers to daybreak, we are giving them the "promise" of more business if they can maintain the status quo. Removing extra services like account to account transfers changes the status quo that was in place when our subscription was created. Due to this logic, we are getting less for our subscription money because we do no longer have "the option" to engage in this extra service even when this extra service costs more money.
It's a money making service for them, there's no good reason to shut it down unless they had to. I'm waiting to use it just like everybody else. Old stuff breaks easier and is harder to fix. That's just how EQ is at this point.
The code can be written. I am open to a pm from a Daybreak member. This can be done as it should have been from the outset.
Yes, it can be written, and if the QA on it isn't perfect then they set themselves up for a CS nightmare and a lot more wasted time. The point is, this is taking a while, and it will take a while longer still I'm sure. They've said they are working on it. What else do you want?
Niskin, have you ever worked for a company that allows a customer service to go unfixed for months or even years("cough" necro dot revamp). I certainly have not. Where I work, if an item doesn't get fixed within 30 days Maximum, someone gets fired. After that, they get someone else to fix the problem within the next week, period, and if that means overnighting parts to get it done, fine. The fact that this service isn't done is costing them money. I refuse to activate my subscriptions on my other account(s) until this service is fixed. I also cannot and will not recommend to anyone of the people I know to use any of your services until this has been fixed. I used to love boasting about the games that I play with my all access account. EQ, Planetside, H1Z1 are all normally great games, but they will get no word of mouth from me until I am satisfied.
I have worked for companies that had things that needed to get done, that didn't get done, which is basically the same thing. DBG isn't some cutting edge new tech company working on the hottest stuff and making their name in the world. They are the remnants of SoE, supporting and slowly enhancing the products they still have. They can't just fire people and bring somebody new on to get it done. The people they have now may be the only people who understand anything about the system as it is. Do you think new talent fresh out of school was taught anything about how to use development systems and tools from 1999? It's fine to wish this was fixed, it's not fine to have expectations that are outside the bounds of reality. I would love for this to be fixed tomorrow, heck yesterday for that matter, but pretending the reason it's not done is that they just need to fire somebody and have the new guy fix it is just silly. You're right, it's costing them money, and they know it. Which means that if they still don't have it done, there must be a major problem with it. It seems like it would be simple, just change the data that says which account the character is tied to, to another account. But obviously it's not that simple, or some other part of the process is holding it up. Or maybe they have determined that this service is costing them money elsewhere. I hope that's not the case, and it doesn't seem to be from the comments they've made about it.
Where are these companies now? You obviously need to learn a little more about business management. You hire additional people that have a track record of competency. You have them get trained up on the existing systems. Then terminate the employee that failed at their job. This sets the example that everyone is expendable if they cannot perform their duties in a timely manner. Also, your customers are the ones that determine what a time manner consists of. If you take too long, they leave and give their business to your competition, which effectively hurts your company two-fold: first by lowering your revenue and market position, and second by strengthening your competitor's revenue and market position. These are simple business concepts. If you understood them, your opinion of how DBG has handled this situation would most likely change.
I wish I knew just a quarter of the HR situation and exact architecture of the software at my own company as well as some of you know DBG's and EQ's.
In the same places they were then, although doing different things now in some cases. Failure happens, change happens. The point is that you can't just fire everybody when a failure happens and magically succeed with new people. The problem with setting the example that everyone is expendable, is that when they aren't, and somebody calls your bluff, you end up screwed over and looking like an a**hole. Whatever business it is you are in, and however that business works, that isn't how every business works. And you wouldn't be successful in other environments where knowledge of things is more important than being a tough-guy mid-level manager that everybody hates. DBG likely isn't attracting the hottest new developers, and they probably can't afford them either. This isn't to say they don't have good employees, but that the pool of prospects isn't going to be filled with "people with a track record of competency." There's no guarantee that any of the applicants will be as good as the person they are replacing, and that's if the original person even sticks around to train them. So turning people over to teach them a lesson and set an example doesn't really work. It's more risk than reward and a real morale crusher too. Of course it works in an environment where everybody does something similar and is easily replaced, but I promise you that managing systems and doing development in a large existing environment is not one of those places.
They are a company and have a hierarchy just like any other company. It isn't rocket science, it's business. The majority of companies utilize certain sets of rules. You don't seem to understand that everyone is expendable if they fail to perform their duties in a timely manner. With that in mind, you work with those people that have a tremendous knowledge of the trade you are in to share their knowledge. That way, if they get sick, or have a midlife crisis and move to Jamaica on you, you have backups in place. This also allows you to hire new talent and train them up to a competent level. This, in turn, gives you the ability to weed out the incompetent ones. If that incompetent one just happens to be the one that has been there the longest, of course you attempt to coach them up, loyalty is not just a one-way street after all. But if that incompetence starts affecting your bottom line and your market position, things need to be done. Again these are simple business concepts. If you fail to understand them, that is on you. That statement is just stupid. They have money and are spending it on current employees that from their customers' stand point AREN'T GETTING THE JOB DONE. Welcome to the risk vs reward of business. It isn't as if their employees are the only ones in the world that can figure out how their systems work. They have knowledge. They can also share that knowledge with new team members. Of course there is no guarantee. What IS guaranteed is that because their track record for servicing their customers is less than stellar,It will not take much for a competing company to develop a new game, or provide better customer care, that will finally put the ones they manage in the dirt.
Well thanks for not taking subtle shots at my intelligence at least. I do recommend you don't do that to anyone though. Niskin's been pretty informative, insightful, and reasonable without having to suggest that you say stupid things or don't understand something. I am starting to see that that is the Forumquest way, but we're all just humans, here to play a game and have fun, and no one knows everything about everything. Just be cool, my dude. There might be general similarities between every company, but there are so many more complications involved and a lot that isn't revealed, so I think there are too many assumptions on this thread. Cross-account transfers are great, but how do you know they're such a priority for the company? Are these transfer really the biggest effect on their bottom line? How do you know there is actually anyone not doing their job and that they haven't already done the calculations? How do you know they have the money and time to fire some and train new hires, and that they haven't already done these risk vs. reward assessments? How do you know it's so easy to simply code up something in a weekend to bring back transfers? Do you understand all the dependencies in their source code, how the entities are set up and linked, etc.? Maybe they've taken all this into account already, but they don't have to tell us? I'd love the transfers to come back too, but it's not like they aren't doing anything about it. This is just one of many threads about it. It seems like all this comes down to is that the cross-account transfers aren't back yet, and it sucks, and some are getting angrier about it sooner than others. But the transfers aren't really a core part of the game or the subscription. Rocket science is probably more straightforward than business, by the way
What you said has never been the prevailing philosophy at DBG nor SOE. They never ran the business like that, and there are no indications they are changing. The work atmosphere there is that they are all 'friends'. They are not held accountable for mistakes, and they are not fired after making multiple mistakes. The conscious decision was to build an environment where you are not constantly in fear for your job, and so you are willing to take more risks and be more creative. Have there been firings? Yes. It's very rare. Also DBG has other priorities which you aren't factoring in. They have other games, and have been working on a 'super secret' game for years. EQ is not the priority and is treated accordingly. There will be all kinds of things in EQ that make your brain explode because they make no sense from a business perspective. This is how the company rolls, get used to it. Are you about to say, 'well then they will lose a bunch of money conducting business that way'? You'd be right, look at all the games they've sunset, look at selling off the company because they were losing so much money for Sony. They may not follow your winning philosophy, they follow their own, and I don't see them changing anytime soon. Back to the OP...Lots of people want it, it could make money for DBG, but don't hold your breath, they'll get to it when they get to it.
Seems to me they had a change in databases of some kind.... software change or upgrade we went through a lot of pain with server crashes, housing zone issues, account issues etc. While none are fun or bad I doubt Daybreak intended nor wanted any of it to happen. I suspect the account to account transfers are a victim of this same issue. Now I could be wrong because they don't come out and tell us what is going on in any detail. Personally I think things would have gone better with more communication in the past but such is life. I think it all comes down to EQ being an old game and as they sometimes have to upgrade systems that we will have to suffer through some pain from time to time.
I'd really like to move a character from one of my accounts to the other. would there possibly be any ETA update on this possibility?
I have been playing EQ on and off for 16 years. In all this time, I have never once requested an account transfer. And now when I want one, there is a service denial. I have been waiting, at my complete inconvenience, ever since last year for a transfer to happen. And quite frankly, my patience is drawing thin. I'd like to click off a song, with the chorus to be sung at Daybreak.. "WHY ARE WE WAITING" .... Please join in with me. Copy and paste the song. Perhaps if we sing loud enough, someone with a big stick just might start waving it around.
