Blizz Please Stop Pointing Fingers

#1 - March 25, 2011, 11:21 p.m.

Hey Blizz, we need to talk. Your loyal customers have been experiencing horrendous latency for weeks or even months. Your programmed reponse was to have your customers jump through hoops trying to fix things on THEIR end. But is the problem really on their end?

You copy/paste this reply to anyone experiencing latency or crashing issues:

Can you post some more information about your connection? Are you wireless?

Firewall (McAfee, Norton, ZoneAlarm, etc.)
Network Adapter and Drivers (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21137)
Router make and model (this should be printed somewhere on the front or back or bottom)
Cable or DSL Modem make and model

But after weeks and months of increasing latency complaints, you finally bite the bullet and forulate a non-copy/pasted response.

03/24/2011 5:26 PMPosted by Martyt
We’re aware some players are experiencing ongoing latency issues while trying to play World of Warcraft.

I'm happy you've finally addressed that there is a more epidemic issue here. Admitting it is the first step.

But then, once again, you deny all responsibility.

03/24/2011 5:26 PMPosted by Martyt
We’ve taken steps to investigate the cause, and at this time we’re confident that our systems and network are performing properly.

Even though you admit to not yet diagnosing the problem, you're completely confident that you're not at fault. How convenient.

So why is it so difficult to admit fault?

Is it because you're afraid that you'd be financially obligated to reimburse your customers for loss of game time?

Your product is currently defective to many of your customers and those customers are certainly deserving of some kind of remuneration, especially considering the months you wasted pointing your fingers at their ISP's, modems, and routers. Some players bought new modems and routers, changed their ISP, and even upgraded their CPU to alleviate the latency issue. All to no avail. Your customers that experienced high latency should, at the very least, receive free game time.

So I ask, Blizz, that you do the right thing. Obviously fixing the latency issue is most pressing, but in the meantime, please stop pointing fingers at your customers, when SOOOO many people from around the world have experienced the same issue. It's not a continental, national, or regional latency issue. It doesn't only affect a certain make/model modem or router or ISP. Stop it already.

P.S. - Your copy/pasted latency auto-responses (like the one from Davidhc above) have never fixed anything for anyone, so please stop it. Those perfunctory replies only perpetuate the false notion that the latency problem is somehow OUR fault.

P.P.S. - Why delete my post? Is it in violation of the terms of service? Please cite the violation, if any. If this is the incorrect subforum, please redirect me to the proper forum. Thanks.

Edit - MT
I only deleted it because you had deleted the post content yourself, leaving an empty thread with an accusatory title, which is still against the Forum rules.

This post does not belong in this forum, it's not asking for help with a problem we can help you with. Moving to General Discussion

Bashiok

Community Manager

#2 - March 26, 2011, 2:33 a.m.

Moving to General Discussion

Marty must be mad at me for resetting the D2 ladder.

I used to work in tech support before there was a World of Warcraft. When someone says a problem it's rarely correct to just say "Oh, you're probably part of this other problem." If you're wrong that person's problem won't be resolved, so you go through the entire troubleshooting process. Trust me, it's a ton of fun... And it's not blaming anyone, it's taking proper troubleshooting steps.

But that's just the reality of troubleshooting, not taking the proper steps, assuming things, and skipping steps breaks the process down to a degree that you might as well just randomly shout out things for people to try. And at some point that doesn't become a totally invalid strategy, but the basic initial troubleshooting steps should be taken pretty much every time unless there's very apparent proof right off the bat that you can be sure what their issue is.

I'm not closely involved in some of the discussions happening over the internet latency issues occurring right now for large sections of the country, but I do know they're very real and we're very seriously working to help get them addressed if we can, as they are affecting a great number of our players.

It's worth researching for personal information how internet traffic moves, the routes it takes, who your information passes through before reaching the destination, and what any one individual can do to change that*.

*Very little.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#9 - March 26, 2011, 2:40 a.m.

03/25/2011 7:39 PMPosted by Aedeus
Rude is not an endearing quality.

You thought I was being rude? I thought I was being a pretty cool shelf.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#18 - March 26, 2011, 2:54 a.m.

03/25/2011 7:44 PMPosted by Aedeus

You thought I was being rude? I thought I was being a pretty cool shelf.

More or less the last paragraph.

I'm not sure you have the ability to post and refrain from your little "jabs" at players.

I offered a suggestion on how to inform themselves on the topic to gain greater understanding of the situation.

Yeah, I am just the worst.