Before life handed me the sort of lemons that put me on disability benefits, I had a not insignificant career in customer service, from call centers to cashiering.
After seeing some of the feedback on EVE Online here on the forums, I thought I’d offer what I hope will be helpful advice to those with legitimate concerns about the game.
Please note, I’m a newbro, both in the game and here on the forum. I’m not one who holds any authority to change anything about the game or the forum, and I don’t speak for any of the individuals with that power or authority.
With that out of the way, here we go.
- Be calm.
Some of the changes in the game are upsetting, but it doesn’t help anyone if you let your emotions trample your reason. You can communicate you’re upset without yelling, using all capital letters, or making wholly emotional statements devoid of reasonable arguments to support your claims.
Take a day or three to calm down and think about why a change upsets you, and think about how you’d explain it to the person you love most.
- Be reasonable.
There’s a certain type of person every customer service representative dislikes. They’re sometimes known as “Karens.” They are wholly unreasonable, can’t be pleased, and will treat everyone around them as lesser beings. All too often, they’re completely ignorant of what it would take to meet their demands.
If you want to see something changed in the game, ask your fellow players about it. Someone with a background in game development might be able to explain why your idea–as reasonable as it sounds to you–isn’t feasible.
- Be polite.
I worked for a cell phone company. I was the guy you called when you dropped your phone in the toilet, your bill was too high, or your ex wouldn’t stop calling and you needed to change your number.
There were customers who were polite, but obviously frustrated. They understood I didn’t personally cause their issue, so we cooperated to overcome their difficulties. For those customers, I’d do everything I could.
There were other customers who took their anger out on me, treated me with disdain, and couldn’t listen to directions because of their arrogance. They’d call me for help and try to tell me how to do my job.
Those customers got the bare minimum I was obligated to do for them, if their rudeness didn’t force me to disconnect the call first. I’d go to bat for a polite customer every time, but the rude customers–who were prone to point out “the customer is always right”–found out that simply isn’t true.
You will get leaps further in life simply by being polite.
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Present some ideas.
The U.S. Marines have a saying: “Present problems in the form of a solution.” Instead of saying, “This is a problem you need to fix,” think about how to solve the problem. When you go to the people who can change things, you can say, “We could do X so that Y doesn’t happen.” -
Talk to the right people.
Speaking of the people who can change things, you should air you grievances with them. Maybe talk over the issue with fellow players in Local Chat or Rookie Help–the latter to a limited extent–but understand they can’t change the game for you.
Ditto for CSMs and ISDs. You can bring your grievances to them and they might bring it up with the folks that matter, but sometimes your best option is to submit a help ticket, or try to engage CCP customer service more directly.
- Be eloquent.
Lastly, consider your communication skills. I’m not a great verbal communicator. I get flustered on the phone fairly easily these days (those damn lemons I mentioned earlier), and in-person my thoughts are easily derailed. I can write, though, which is why I generally prefer to do so when trying to resolve an issue.
Play to your strengths, and if you can, play to your native language. I applaud anyone who learns a second language, but unless you are absolutely certain you are as fluent as a native in English, I would advise you to communicate in your first language, if you can.
Scrolling down in the forums, I see what looks like Russian, Korean, and maybe Chinese, to name a few. That tells me CCP caters to a number of languages, so it might be best to write in your native language rather than try to communicate in a broken second language.
Oh, one more thing, in case it isn’t clear: the forums aren’t “CCP customer service.” I’m sure they keep eyes on the forums, but it’s likely one of the weakest ways to provide effective feedback to CCP.
Try their actual customer service, or ask the CSMs and ISDs about the best way to address your particular issue.
