I don’t think I’ll be putting any more money in to DDO

Good gravy that seems ridiculous! These simple oversights make a supposed amusement into a frustration… that we’re paying for!

Mark,
Until this gets resolved, my enthusiasm for the game has plummeted and I can’t see myself putting more effort in to a site based on an IP that I’m getting the shaft from… especially since I’m expected to spend my own money (Turbine Points) to fix a problem that they admit they have.

I have no interest to get involved in another MMO… I only got in to DDO because I’m an old school player… more than 20 years.

I have a TON of games on Steam, I’m gonna start playing them now and give myself a break and be allowed to operate at my own pace.

On the feat choices of Toughness and Imp, please see the reply to LiveAndLearn.

Personally I don’t care what you consider a known issue is. This was not known to me and therefore not a known issue. I can certainly understand that if I crawled the forums all day long that I’d know this… sure. I have a family, company and podcast to take care of and don’t have the time that others do to invest in the meta.

Please look again at my above post… I at NO TIME blame anyone else for my feats choices. I am stating that this is a lack of customer service. I bought the inital Lesser Hard of Wood, realized I messed up and bought the two flawless shards to swap feats and found myself unable to go the direction I wanted to based on inability of the software. That’s 895 points + 240 points = 1,135 points. $11.35 (Assuming $50 = 5,000 points). $11 for an unusable character that’s geared toward archery and the imbues that are impossible to obtain due to the lack of authorization (I’m assuming?) granted to the GMs in the game.

I just want what I’m due. A feat swap. If you can’t accomplish this by forcing it somehow or a database field change, then why not give me a Lesser Heart and let me respec again? It costs nothing to create a digital object, it costs me the time to go back and respec the character out again. That’s the last feat I needed to finally be AA again.

I made a mistake. I stated this. Stop being an apoogist. I saw the mistake I made and picked up what I understood to be the stuff I needed to fix it, but the software doesn’t work they way it should after FOUR years. That’s not my fault.

For the record, I did use the Ron’s Planner to plan out my respec and didn’t place the enhancement points. It just didn’t occur to me. The software is useful but doens’t make use of someone that has spent a couple bucks on their machine… I’ve got a 1920×1080 display, but it takes up less than 1/2 my screen and can’t be maximized. It’s also a little hard to use and has a learning curve. I did use it for my intimtank and am much the better for it. I intended to link to the program here in time.

Let’s say I hosted your website on one of my servers. Let’s say, that despite my 100% uptime in 14 years, one went down, just for sake of example. You contact me and I tell you that it’s a known issue and you should follow the official support forums for a solution. Now add to that, I give you canned replies with no sincerity. Add to that the simple fact I can walk over to the server and push a reset button and have the server up in 8 minutes. But I ask you politely in my canned message to watch the forums. Would you still pay me for services? I’d assume not.

I appreciate your thoughts on my lack of build experience. I apologize that my time spent doing other things such as being a part of my family or running my company has interfered with my ability to learn how to build the most über character possible.

You and Saul both touch on my not having Improved Crit on the character. This is because I have a Keen Min2 bow… Imp Crit doesn’t stack with Keen, so I’d rather have the 22HP instead of a dead feat. I do use other bows, but they’re utility-based and each have their own function. The Imp Crit only takes me from a 5% chance to a 10% chance to SEE if I crit on the bows I use about 3% of the time. I’m not that worried about this… I’ve got the slayer imbue working and if I roll a 20, it’s going to do +500 (untyped?) damage anyway… I usually score at least 1 every 10 shots, so I think my DPS output is acceptable.

I know that 500ish is a high amount of HP for a character that has little intent to stand toe-to-toe with mobs, but I didn’t see much else that appealed to me. If I had access to Weap. Specialization feats, I could go there, but I wanted the 25% or whatever they lowered it down to for the capstone and didn’t bother with a splash. What else do you think I could have gone with, assuming I’m not interested in Imp. Crit?

Thanks for insulting me on my own blog btw, that’s really fourteen of you.

Thorgar:

a) it looks like an April fools joke, being posted on April 1st… so if it’s real… idk, probably should have waited a day.

Honestly, It shouldn’t matter if it was December 25. I am a paying customer and should have ideal service no matter what day of the week it is.

Thorgar:

Everyone can agree however that that was unacceptable but I think it’s something that you will have to figure out how to accept and agree that they also can’t and will never ever be able to refund you the TP or the money for the service that you paid for and used as advertised and should have known the risks.

Wow. I have to say I’m surprised at this. Let’s break it down:
Unacceptable. Check.

Can’t and never will be able to refund the TP or money for the service that I pay for? Completely wrong. They can’t refund me virtual currency that they control? For a problem they know they have and are, as far as the public knows, doing nothing about? You are completely wrong, Sir.

I used it as advertised? No Sir. I reincarnated and realized I made a mistake, so I bought the flawless shards from the store to correct said mistake. I used the first and then waited3 days to use the second. When attempting to use the second, I couldn’t. The advertised service was that for the equivalent of $1.20 USD, I could swap a feat within the game out for another one. This is a simple database field change that a 7th grader can do by hand. This 4yo software could not do it. The advertised service was to swap a feat. The game would not. Explain to me where I used it as advertised.

Should have known the risks. WTF are you talking about? That’s like saying to a guy that just got in a car accident that he shouldn’t have gone down the road where the accident occurred. How do you know about an unadvertised risk? Don’t tell me it’s discussed in the forums. A small percentage of people follow everything in the forums. I don’t have that kind of time, therefore, it’s not know.

Thorgar:

If you are unable to do what you wanted to do with it, it’s honestly nobodies fault but your own.

So we’ve established that the game is supposed to swap the feat, right? If I know that I buy a car and stick the key in the ignition and the trunk opens and a clown pops out of the back seat, how is that something I did incorrectly? I followed the rules to swap a feat. The software is gimped. Not my fault. Check yourself.

Thorgar:

You first have to do the research before you pay for something to know if it’ll resolve your problem if you really want to get something accomplished and what you’re paying for isn’t directly a “fix this exact problem” type of thing that you’re paying for. Really… I almost think they should offer a build me a build service for money or a fix my character to do this service.. or provide a way for 3rd parties to do that for you… as it would really make a lot more people involved happier.

So every time I pay for gas, I have to do the research to find out exactly what ethanol is and they there’s approximately 10% of it in my fuel mixture? Do I have to know how it affects my engine and other systems in the car? No. It’s the gas station’s place to inform me of potential issues that may arise from my use of their product.

Thorgar:

c) I think the specific problem that you’re complaining about is the fact that when you tried to repair your Reincarnation Mistakes with Feats Exchanges, you couldn’t exchange the feats you wanted.

Sherlock Holmes has met his match! You’ve managed to repeat what I stated in my initial ticket nearly 2 weeks ago and what I’ve mentioned a few times in the comments of this post. Captain Perception strikes again!

Thorgar:

Well, I’m not sure how long you’ve been playing DDO but the systems are quite different and you can do feat exchanges using in game resources that aren’t TP.

Since July. In-game resources are Sibrys Sragonshards. That’s what I bought. Did you read the post? Are you really that stupid?

Thorgar:

I’d say at the very most, you could complain an get one of your feat exchange things that you purchased back because the specific feat you wanted to exchange couldn’t be exchanged but I don’t even think that I’d agree with that…

THAT IS WHAT I ASKED FOR IN THE CONVERSATION WITH THE GM! READ!

Thorgar:

Anyhoo, mostly, the problem what I can tell is that you were unable to switch out one of your many toughness feats for a mental toughness.

Again, your powers of perception are astounding.

Thorgar:

There’s quite a few reasons for that to be possible, but, if it’s the BUG that I think is the reason instead of a user error or anything else, it’s the fact that ever since they had the feat respect system, one of the biggest problems was that it can’t exchange the Toughness feat for anything else due to the nature of how it stacks, gets calculated in, or somehow just interacts with the systems. The fact that it’s a bug after 4 years, doesn’t get more attention and whatnot is not a good thing, but at this point, i’m not sure if it’s been fixed.

First of all, it’s not a “feat respect.” It’s a “feat respec.” You fail at grammar, Sir.
The fact that this bug has existed for 4 years amazes me. Four years paying who knows how many developers and they still haven’t taken care of this? That is crap QC and crap coding. It’s really not that hard to call each instance of a duplicate feat by a different name.
It doesn’t matter if “The Community” has known about this for 4 years or not. It doesn’t matter if the Turbine employees discuss this at lunch. I didn’t know about it. Turbine didn’t supply me with the information needed to fix my mistake.

This is not about Turbine. This is about the customer.

Thorgar:

I do believe that they’ve tried to address it at least once and I don’t see it in the known issues anymore(if it ever made it there as it predated many ppl who are now working on DDO and whatnot).

Well as stated above, it is a known issue as of 4/1/10. Were you dropped on the head as a child? As an adult?

Thorgar:

Honestly, I don’t see how you could make a case for them to refund you the heart of wood or the TP for that.

Because their software doesn’t work the way… as you put it… as advertised?

Thorgar:

The big issue here is that a) there is no way to fix your character because you can’t swap out all your toughness feats.

Sure there is. A lesser reincarnation.

Thorgar:

And you have many.

Wrong. I have exactly how many I want. That’s not too many. I’m the customer.

Thorgar:

I think, that, if and when you reincarnated, that you failed to make him the way you wanted and the system worked as it should, you can’t get your points for that back.

Correct. I didn’t make the character the way I wanted. Is this the 3rd time you’re stating something I mentioned numerous times in this post? Are you mentally challenged?

The system didn’t work as it should, clearly, because there’s been this problem for 4 years. I really hope you don’t get a job working for government… that district will be doomed by my perception.

Thorgar:

I also think that if your build at that point was a mess,

Who said it was a mess? Aside from a single feat, it was fine. A mess? I’d check yourself on that.

Thorgar:

possibly bigger more messed up mess then before

Tell me you’re not an English major.

Thorgar:

you either try it again from the same point and fix it up the same way you you messed it up with a reincarnation or you give up on it.

Thanks there, Dr. Phil. I don’t recall asking for your advice on what to do with my character.

Thorgar:

I know however that they have another system and it looked like the right thing for you to use.

WTF are you talking about? You make no sense.

Thorgar:

But honestly… at that point, I think you should have done the research of how to fix your build, approached others and whatnot.

Approached other? Who? I did do the research. I wasn’t complete enough. My fault there. I know. I said this. I tried to fix it. Game wouldn’t let me.

Thorgar:

I know it’s hard to make builds that are respected as decent and stuff.

Maybe for you. People ask me for my builds all the time.

Thorgar:

I know it’s sometimes hard to get the respect for a build for both the character and a player, but the biggest thing that sucks is a failure in communication by you to others and by turbine to you.

I did not fail to communicate. I submitted a ticket per their system and you see the result above. There was ZERO fault on my part in this matter. Their software is to blame, their customer service is worse.

Thorgar:

It kind of sucks. A lot.

How can something kind of suck a lot?

Thorgar:

I think, when the first reincarnation didn’t work out as well as you’d have liked, your best bet might have been to request GM assistance who could have then given you advice on how and what systems and options you had to fix up your character as you would like.

Again, I didn’t ask for advice on what I should have done. I’m sharing my experience with others that play the game in hopes Turbine will get their integrate their feces. I understood I messed up and made efforts to fix my problem. What other “systems and options” do you know of that’ll help in this case?

Thorgar:

Or you could have done the easier/quicker/better/faster option and asked the community who probably would have been able to provide even better assistance as long as you communicated the situation better.

You start a sentence with the word “Or?” Wow.
This is also your perception of the easier/quicker/etc. option. The best option would have been for the software to work. I shouldn’t have to wait for the community to get back to me and tell me how this is a known issue. I shouldn’t be in this position in the first place.

Thorgar:

The fact that you spent more money at it right away, making more mistakes, only compounded your problem.

So you’re saying that if you got in an accident that you wouldn’t spend money and fix your car? That you’d wait?

Thorgar:

I think that at this point, you’ve indicated that your idea of how to fix it was to throw more money at it to fix it but obviously when that didn ‘t work again, you get upset and frustrated

Right. That’s the way that I knew, based on the crappy communication that Turbine offers, to fix my mistake. Buy (or otherwise acquire) the flawless shards for a feat swap.

Thorgar:

and I don ‘t blame you and I’m not surprised.

WHAT? You blamed me a good half-dozen times above! Do you not even read what you write?

Thorgar:

The problem however is that you’re trying to get what you wanted out of the money you spent. Sometimes it’s best to just relax and drop it when you’re not getting what you want out of it, possibly because of problems with the systems … but honestly, also in large part because of your own mistakes in handling the situation.

If you paid money for your wrecked car to be fixed but they didn’t do it because they didn’t have a specific tool to do the job, you’d let them keep your money and take your gimped car back and pay another guy even more money? I need you as a customer!

Thorgar:

Anyhoo, I ramble on.

Are you just realizing this now?

Thorgar:

I really think that the respect system isn’t the easiest to use,

RESPEC. NOT RESPECT.

Thorgar:

the feat system might have a bug/missing functionality with not being able to respect all feats but i’m pretty sure that a) they try and tell you that you’re doing so at your own risk when doing these things and that they never promise you’ll be able to do exactly what you want at any time.

STFU. You’re basing all the above putting me down because you’re “pretty sure?” You have no effing clue what you’re talking about.

Thorgar:

I’m also sure that the people who replied to you so far could have explained things better and gone about things in better ways

First of all, you were pretty sure in your previous quote, not you’re certainly sure but you’re stating your absolute certainty as if it’s a continuation of the previous speculation? Do you understand how grammar works?

Furthermore, you cannot be SURE that the others could have explained things better. You weren’t there. You have no concept of the communications that were conducted back and forth. These people have also had problems with Turbine’s Support Department and are voicing their frustrations here and they’re welcome to do it. Just because you’ll take one in the back while picking a Quarter up doesn’t mean they will.

Thorgar:

as well as turbines GM support could have been a lot better and a lot more helpful

Could have or should have?

Thorgar:

while still doing his duty and working within the limits of his inability to refund you the TP/Heart of Wood.

“His” or “its?” Grammar fail.

Why was there an inability to refund the Heart? Simple customer service!

Thorgar:

tldr:
Community could have helped you plan the fixes to your build that you wanted to do to avoid the user errors that you made. Even support might have been able to help you at an earlier juncture. Turbine support is pretty sucky but at no point could they actually refund you the stuff because you didn’t get what you wanted out of the services you paid for. The problems with video games are sometimes it’s better to just restart or move on.

tldr? This stands for “too long, didn’t read.”
You’re going to paste something in here without citing a source and not even read it? You are just a gem!
Basically it says to take all the time you’ve invested along with the money spent and toss it aside and find a new game to play. What a silly thing to say for a game you’re defending.

Thorgar:

just as a reference, I’m a long time player who’s played for 4.5 + years now (since the original beta) and went from a casual player of his first MMO to a hardcore daily player who has hardly played for the last few months as the F2P changes and RL have made things less attractive to playing DDO.

Don’t care. Didn’t ask.

Thorgar:

oh, also in there, I wanted to add something about how DDO is one of the most complex games, complex software, complex rules, all interacting = really complex, the fact that anything works at all is pretty amazing… blah blah blah… yes, it’s sucky when things don’t work but you can’t ever go in with the expectation that everything is always going to work,

Yes I can. Can you get in your car with the expectation that the brakes will work?

Thorgar:

even when you pay money… blah.blah.blah… support would be what you want/expect in those situations to help… Turbine support has gone down hill a lot with F2P and the fact that they’ve been losing a lot of money over time

Turbine is losing money over time based on what? How do you know this? Any idiot with about 5 minutes would see that Turbine is gaining money at a pretty decent rate. How do I know this? Let’s look at the public records, College Boy: Turbine, Inc.’s Public Documents
You can see from their fiscal year ending 12/31/1008, their earnings company’s stock is worth
$136,000 + $109,298.80 = $245,298.80 and their fiscal year ending 12/31/1009′s stock was increased by 30% in total shares. That looks like growth to me, but it’s easy to just assume that Turbine is losing money. Good job. You look real smart now.

Thorgar:

as the same was suffering but that in an MMO situation no matter what you want, they’re going to always be limited in how much they can help you without impacting anyone else, or the game or anything… even a little and blah blah blah… umm where was I goign with this again?

“Blah blah blah” again? I’m confidant you have the IQ of a third grader. I have no conception where you were going with this.

Thorgar:

oh ya, basically, as you know, things don’t always work, and if you can’t get the support that you want or the resolution you want, you either throw more money/clever solutions/whatever at it ill it works, or you restart and try to avoid having the same issues, or you give up and move on and don’t let it get to you too much… those are your 3 basic solutions and options.

I expect that one day you’ll understand the fundamentals of business. Until then, stop telling others how to do it.

Thorgar:

I’ve seen a lot of games and a lot of other things that have sucky support… a lot of the time you go with another option next time so that you don’t have to deal with the product that didn’t work for you last time you had a choice. Obviously, if it’s something that usually works well and that you generally like, you either move on, suck it up or figure out something else… wow I really to stop rambling but it’s what I do best…

You also need to proof what you write next time. Stop being an effing Turbine apologist. The software needs to be fixed and until then, the customer service needs to be educated. You are not one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever interacted with, but don’t worry, there’s hope. Please repeat the following phrase to ensure your new career training will be complete:

“Would you like fries with that?”

Not at all, Jerry, you misunderstand me… I’m not quitting, I’ve got a lot invested. I’m just not spending more money. :)