Overview
Terri L. Perkins
<terri67@bellsouth.net>
Customer service in an online game faces challenges that other service industries do not. Not only is the product always changing and "open" for business 24/7, its customers speak a variety of languages, come from extremely diverse demographic backgrounds and knowledge bases, demand top-of-the-line service for a product they are paying an average of less than 50 cents a day to use, and hold the representatives
accountable for many things that are not in the game company's control. If you can imagine a large theme park with only a handful of paid employees and thousands of customers demanding changes to the rides,
corrections to the weather, a refund for time they spent waiting in line, demanding the annoying person standing next to them be made to disappear, and complaining that something in the park's pavement is making their shoes slower than everyone else's, then you can imagine the challenges that plague online games.
The challenge then: to provide fair, quick, respectful, and consistent service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a dynamic world, to thousands of diverse people scattered over the globe, and to do this for a very nominal fee.
Customer support, like your game, is not an end product but a process. Ole Schreiner, customer service manager at Funcom Inc., states:
"One of the most important factors in satisfying customers in an online game is to treat all customers with respect and having a customer service team that can fulfill the customers' needs regardless of the experience level the customer might have with on-line games."
Planning to Succeed
If a computer without Internet access is like a car with no fuel, a potential blockbuster online game without well- designed support is like a vehicle that only works in reverse. While no one dares to release a game to the public without painstakingly scrutinizing every artistic shot, line of code, and music score, it is amazing how many will open their doors to the masses completely unprepared to support the players. If one-fifth of the planning that went into the art, design, code, and marketing of online games went toward customer service, the woes that face today's games would be drastically reduced. Early on, during the development planning for the game, plan to implement the coding that will save you time, customers, and countless hours in the long run.
Case Study 4.3.1 explains how to do this effectively.
Case Study 4.3.1: Planning Customer Service
While every game will require unique coding for their specific plans, gamestyle, and design, a few elements are common across the board.
Naming: Ability to block offensive names, change names, avoid impostors, and so forth.
Disruption: Ability to silence, temporarily ban, and permanently ban disruptive players. Players need a way to block unwanted communications from each other, but not warnings from the support staff.
Exploits: Ability to check logs of player actions for traces of hacking.
Inventory: Ability to check a player's inventory.
Gameplay: Ability to find players, reach their locations easily, and move them within the game world.
Tracking: Ability to add comments to a player's file for easy viewing from within the game.
Reset: Ability to restore a player character's previous state after a problem.
Reward: Ability to grant bonuses to players.
Filtered views: Searchable views by rank, profession, time in game, and other criteria.
Help system: An easily alterable in-game help file system that can be modified as changes occur.
Call: A way for players to request customer service assistance, both ingame and otherwise.
Communication: Secure message boards for player/staff exchanges.
NPC control: A way to create, resurrect, or remove non-player characters.
Reporting: Methods for players to report bugs and submit feedback.
Billing and technical assistance: Access to accounting records and a technical problem resolution
database.
Make sure you have these functions tested and ready to work on opening day.
Policies and Consistency
For each event, create two policies: one for the players, and one for the customer service staff. Make sure that both staff and players know the policies; this will save an immeasurable amount of time and manpower. Also make sure that the paid staff and volunteers are following the same policies: players will rarely differentiate between the two, and complaints will mount quickly if enforcement is perceived as erratic. This is especially important in multidimensional worlds, as it only takes one person creating his own rules to throw the game off balance and create an uproar. Create and publish policies covering player character names, reimbursement issues, harassment, exploits, player-versus-player violence (so-called "player killing"), and any other issues that are unique to your game.
Case Study 4.3.2: Customer Service Policies A Sample Player Policy
"Disruptive behavior that might affect others' enjoyment cannot be tolerated. Disruptive behavior might include, but is not limited to spamming; monopolizing chat lines; use of profane names or language; or interrupting an event organized by another player or a Game Master. Any such behavior might result in your character[s] loss of game privileges for a time, and repeat offenders might be banned from the game permanently."
A Sample Staff Policy
"When you receive a complaint regarding disruption, go invisible, log the incident, and send a private message to the disrupter identifying yourself and asking him to cease the behavior. If the player continues the disruption, silence him for five minutes, warn him verbally and in writing, and note the incident in the player's history file.
For extreme cases, notify a senior volunteer or Game Master and ask for a suspension of the player involved."
Choosing Customer Support Staff
When it comes to the heart of the customer service program, you have four basic options: a small paid staff, a large paid staff, outsourcing, and volunteers.
Paid Staff
Hiring only a few paid staff and hoping for the best is generally not a valid option for the massive multiplayer games, because of the workload involved.
However, Ultima Online and Asheron's Call chose this approach after using volunteers for many months, citing legal concerns as the main reason. U.S. Labor law, quite simply, does not recognize such a thing as a
volunteer in a for-profit business, and several lawsuits have been filed against companies that use them. See Case Study 4.3.3 for more information on this topic.
Case Study 4.3.3: Volunteers, Games, and the Law
More on volunteers in the legal system can be found at www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs13.htm For more information on the lawsuits relating to volunteers and online services, see:
www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/04/16/aol_community/index1.html http://dir.salon.com/tech/log/2000/09/21/ultima_volunteers/index.html www.e3dnews.com/e3d/Issues/200102-Feb/lead.html
www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,41821,00.html
As of August 2002, none of the lawsuits have resulted in settlements against a gaming company, but the issues are of significant concern and warrant attention.
Unfortunately, the only way to pay for a large staff is to charge considerably more than the average game can reasonably expect from its players.
Simutronics' games have long offered "premium services" where players can opt to pay considerably more for preferential customer service, and this model works extremely well for them. However, the games in question are text-based, with considerably less overhead than their graphical counterparts, and still allow a large number of volunteers to assist. Everquest introduced "Legends" premium service in 2002, but no data is currently available on its success or lack thereof. Finally, while several thirdparty companies, including Zreality and the Themis Group, offer online gaming customer service assistance, the effectiveness and costs involved must be carefully evaluated before choosing this option.
Volunteers
Despite the threat of litigation, the volunteer approach was chosen by most online games and has worked quite well, although its effectiveness varies due to management issues, willingness to trust the volunteers with commands that have the potential for abuse, and available tools.
As the volunteer service model is the most prominent, it is going to be the focus of the rest of this article.
Why Volunteers?
Cost reductions, although substantial, are not the only reason why game companies create volunteer programs.
Often, the players themselves demand it. Most interviews with the developers of future online games feature the question, "Will you have a way for volunteers to work with the game?" [Strand00] states: "I am convinced that online gaming would not be what it is today if it hadn't been for the volunteers."
Volunteers can improve the community aspects of the game world and provide much more game experience and dedication than a temporary agency employee working for near minimum wage. Furthermore, those who excel as volunteers in the industry often hold degrees and lucrative jobs and would not be interested in fulltime employment even if the companies could afford them. A large number work with the games for enjoyment and to be a part of the special behind-the-scenes community. Most volunteers are "hardcore" gamers with years of experience as players and the vast majority are at least part-time students in college.
The downside of volunteer programs is twofold: there is a risk of litigation, and managing volunteers is very time consuming. If your staff is comprised of volunteers who average as little as five hours of work a week, you will need eight times as many volunteers as you would full-time employees to offer the same coverage. Worse: in reality, you might end up needing 30 times more volunteers than you would paid staff, because you must account for the fact that you cannot force a volunteer to adhere to a specific, regular schedule.
Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, EverQuest, DragonRealms, and Anarchy-Online all began life with the devotion and caring of hundreds of volunteers. Asheron's Call later disbanded their volunteer customer support staff and Ultima Online removed their volunteers in the North American and European game worlds due to concerns of legality.
Case Study 4.3.4: Comparison of Games and Support Models Table 4.3.1 lists several popular games and their service models.
Table 4.3.1: Customer Service Models
Game Producer Player
Base
Type of Game Customer Service
Everquest Sony/Verant Very large MMORPG Mostly volunteers with limited powers
DragonRealms Simutronics Large Pay to Play Mud
Paid/volunteer mix
[*]Asherons Call
Microsoft Very large MMOG Paid staff only
[*]Ultima Online Origin Very large MMOG Paid staff only
Anarchy-Online Funcom Inc. Large MMOG Mostly volunteer
[*]Both games started off with large volunteer staff groups and discontinued due to fear of legal complications.
How Many Customer Support People Do I Need?
A good rule of thumb is to take your player base and multiply by 1% to arrive at a minimum number of support personnel needed. Note that this can greatly vary depending on whether your game has one "dimension" (i.e., copy of the game world) or many, how advanced your customer service tools are, how complex the game is, how much support you want to provide, whether you plan on an all paid staff or the use of volunteers, and how much power you are willing to place in the hands of your volunteers. The 1% rule is followed primarily by medium to large games with more than one dimension that use a combination of paid staff and volunteers.
For example, a game with 50,000 players providing 24/7 support might be able to survive adequately with four paid staff on at all times, but will most likely be better off planning to have one paid staff on at all times and 10 volunteers on at any given time. However, what many games fail to plan for is the number of staff needed to administer the volunteer program itself. As of 2002, the most successful volunteer programs have required one to three paid staff managing the volunteers. However, it is vital to note that these programs empower several of the volunteers with extended abilities and allow for approximately 10% of their volunteers to work in supervisory and administrative capacities.
Case Study 4.3.5: Staffing a Volunteer Program
Demographics for FunCom's program ARK (Advisors of Rubi-Ka) show the average volunteer to be a college student with one to five years of gaming experience. Polls of their volunteers showed over 60% to be in the 21 to 30 age group, approximately 15% in the 18 to 21 range, and 15% in the 30 to 40 range. The majority of volunteers are male, which is also reflective of the player base for the game. Eighteen months after the program began, 7% of the volunteers had been in the program for over one year, and another 10% had volunteered for six consecutive months.
Types of Volunteers
Typically you can expect to get three types of volunteers:
Desirable: Those who have the time, energy, and knowledge to effectively improve the customer service program for the company. Many volunteers in this category have college degrees and lucrative careers but simply enjoy the challenges and friendships that come with such a venture. A large number in this category are also college students seeking a "foot in the door" of the game industry.
Temps: Those who just want to see what they can learn or get by being a volunteer, or who genuinely want to try it out and find that it's too much like work. Temps drain time and energy, and usually give up within 45 days.
Problems waiting to happen: Volunteers who join to find information to abuse game mechanics, share with other companies, or to get an inside edge to assist friends.
Proper recruiting, training, and monitoring will keep the latter two categories to a minimum.
Turnover
Turnover in volunteer programs is normally very high, and is directly affected by the ability of the volunteers to receive satisfaction from helping players, the manner in which the company treats the help, and the "family" feel to the program. Programs that do poorly in these areas can expect a 25% turnover ratio per week. Even the best managed programs will still see a turnover of 3 to 7% depending on the season. One measure of a
volunteer program is how long the volunteers remain active, as well as their level of activity. As in any business,
happy people stay longer and produce better results.
In short, the secrets to a successful volunteer program are responsible empowerment, good management, correct tools, and the right people:
Ensure that volunteers sign a well-written non-disclosure agreement (NDA), that rules for volunteers are clearly posted, and that you pursue violations.
Verify that the volunteer is of legal age. This extra step can save you in child labor laws and NDA violations.
When recruiting representatives, ensure that they can write proficiently if they will be dealing with customers online and that they have a friendly "online presence."
Provide training. Some programs give a help file to volunteers and let them go. Some programs train, mentor, and teach tools and customer service basics. The latter cannot be stressed enough. Customer service does not come naturally to all. Training your representatives in diffusing difficult situations, how to escalate problems, and how to use positive statements along with the game mechanics will pay for itself when your staff is on the front line.
Make the volunteers feel respected by the company. Developer chats, meetings with paid staff, informal discussions, and occasional telephone calls can go a long way toward building relationships. As ỉrjan Mathis Tvedt, volunteer program manager for Anarchy Online, states: "The most important thing with a volunteer program that I have found is that it's just like any relationship. You get out of it what you put into it, you have to treat others like you want to be treated, and there has to be room for give and take."
Empower volunteers to do what needs to be done. The number-one complaint of volunteers is invariably, "I don't have the tools or permissions to help the players when they have a legitimate need." If your
volunteers can only answer players with "I'm sorry I can't help you", or "Let me refer you to (fill in the blank)," no one is benefiting. If your company cannot excel at internal customer service, there is no hope of them excelling with the external customers.
Have the tools to monitor and deal with staff problems immediately. Make sure you can catch abuse of power or poor customer service and that you deal with these issues appropriately when they arise.
Get good management and treat them well. Consider money spent on customer service an investment for the future rather than a expense. Strong leadership and personable people in both the paid and volunteer programs of customer service will save you time, money, and customers.
Provide rewards and recognition for the volunteers. Thank people, publicly recognize them, and provide tangible benefits when possible.
Case Study 4.3.6: Rewarding Customer Service Staff
Here are a handful of ways in which effective service representatives can be rewarded for their work, and therefore retained longer:
Unique items for their characters
Renaming items in the game after employees/volunteers Letters of recommendation, awards, and parties
Increased responsibility, ranks, and titles based on longevity Recognition on public Web sites, boards, and in the game itself Rewards of game points that can be used to purchase items or skills Preferential employment opportunities
Invitation to participate in developer chats Beta testing of other company games Trips to gaming conventions
Monitoring the Progress of a Customer Support Program
To make sure that your support program is performing appropriately, follow these simple steps:
From time to time, perform a simple Web search on "customer service" and "your game." See where people are discussing your support program, and what their concerns are.
Monitor the fan sites and message boards daily. Take this information to heart and plan to have staff respond on these forums.
Periodically review a sample of the feedback. Make sure you know what the top issues are and what's being done about them.
Consider surveys or a customer service audit by an independent firm. While most businesses employ some method to follow up on customer satisfaction, this is an area the gaming industry as a whole has not given a great deal of attention. Very few games today seem confident enough to employ this technique.
Track statistics on wait times. Set goals and plan for emergency situations to keep your customers from spending an undue amount of time waiting for assistance.
Create a quality control team to check on customer service. Test your staff. Take a walk in the customers' shoes and see what the view is.
Customer service surveys for Anarchy Online taught the company two important lessons:
The quicker customers received assistance, the higher they rated the overall customer service of the game.
When customer service staff were given survey results that pertained to them, the same staff rated a full point higher on the next round in over 90 % of the cases.