Hello, I apologize in advance for a potentially lengthy and heavy post.
I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for over 10 years and before that, my MMO journey began with SWTOR. The customer support over there wasn’t anything special - you made a ticket, got answered by a bot, and had to re-write the request in order to get in touch with an actual human employee.
After that when I began playing WoW I was blown away by the support system. There was an option for a live chat which was a breath of fresh air and the game masters genuinely seemed to care for your concerns instead of just posting generic and corporate phrases. Most importantly, the request was solved 100% of the time! Even in silly situations, such as when I asked for free subscription time for 3 days before my paycheck arrives and the GM was actually kind enough to give me a whole week. Those were the days, am I right?
Fast forward to January 2025: Today I approached customer support about a pet called “Red Cricket”. This pet is an indirect reward for earning a maximum reputation with Sho in Mists of Pandaria - I say indirect because you receive the item in the in-game mail upon completing the reputation. Mind you, the fact that you receive it in the mail after is not stated anywhere.
Now, the ADHD farmer and completionist that I am, I rarely check my in-game mail (because it is usually full of legacy raid stuff), therefore this particular mail was “purged” some time ago. A similar situation happened last year, when I missed Mailemental in my mail and the support re-delivered it to me upon request. Logically, I figured approaching customer support again about Red Cricket would lead to them re-sending the mail so I am not forced to grind the reputation. pre-requisites and god knows what else on another character.
But to my absolute shock and disbelief, I was told three times that they are unable to send me the in-game mail because “It’s not about the ability to do something but the rules and regulations Game Masters has to follow.”. What?? I’m sorry but… What??
And not only that, but as the final nail in the coffin, the Game Master Athvesurn wrote “So, unfortunately, you have to do it again and maybe don’t let the mail expire next time.”…
So, let’s sum it up: For whatever reason the game masters are now unable to provide a service they provided me with countless times before, and in addition to that I also receive a passive-aggressive remark about me daring to miss an in-game mail that the game doesn’t tell you you will receive.
My lord… Whatever has happened to the old support. I was sad when live chat went away but I adapted. However, this sort of inability to act and the attitude is alarming. Just what is going on here? What is the point of the support now?
The GMs of old were the unsung heroes who have inspired me to pursue a career in gaming Community Management and my style was always reminiscent of theirs. However, this sort of downfall should seriously be studied and looked at in more detail.