Warning about Berserk Games

[Super_]

Recently, their customer support has become slow and toxic. I have been waiting for two weeks for a response about a gamebreaking problem I am witnessing. Instead of waiting months, it's common sense to ask someone about it so I talk in the game's global chat. However, they were really rude.

Firstly, I was told by the moderators to go to the berserk forums and when I said that they weren't responding to me on the forums, they said I should drop this issue. I can't talk on the forums as there's no one responding to me there and I can't talk in game since the moderators are corrupt, toxic people who told me to stop complaining about my rights.

IF YOU HAVE A GAMEBREAKING BUG, DON'T WORRY. THE DEVS WILL IGNORE YOU AND THE MODERATORS WILL TELL YOU TO SHUT UP AND BE IGNORED SOME MORE.

Finally, to all of you saying two weeks is nothing, I believe it is common sense that you will address how long an issue will take to resolve rather than ignore someone completely as from a sane person's view, it feels like your issue has the possibility of being ignored or misread.

[Super_]

I forgot to mention, global chat was very toxic. A lot of people sided with the moderators and told me to stop complaining. That's why I posted here. I just need someone who isn't an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to confirm that I have been treated unfairly.

[Super_]

I'm worried only trolls with nothing better to do with reply but I have hope someone will help.

[Baryonyx]

I'm afraid nobody will be able to help you here either, but why don't you state the problem or at least link to where you have already written it down before, because how else are we supposed to help you or judge your situation?

Besides, maybe it helps to know that the company consists of two people.

[Super_]

It doesn't take three people to reply to a comment.

[Super_]

http://www.berserk-games.com/forums/showthread.php?3886-Terrible-VOIP-Quality-Recently

[em]

So people in global chat, even the moderators there, aren't able to do anything about bugs. Complaining about the bug in Global doesn't do anything except let you complain.

Second, you can play the game without a microphone. I don't have a mic. Is it ideal? Not in rooms where everyone else has mics, but that doesn't make it game-breaking.

Third, it's only been 2 weeks since your first post. It takes time to identify bugs and fix them, especially as it's only a 2 person dev team. I don't see a lot of information in your post that will allow them to narrow down the bug, nor do I see anyone else corroborating that they're having the same issue. That makes it all that much harder to identify. A larger team would be able to respond to every bug and say what's going on with them, but with only 2 people, they can spend the time replying to you, or they can spend the time working on the bug, which would you really really prefer?

These things together do not make an environment toxic or corrupt.

[Super_]

1. The moderators were appointed by the developers, no? They should know if the developers are busy and ask one of them to confirm how long it will take for my problem to be addressed instead of being jerks who tell me to stop asking for help.

2. Playing a party game without microphones is more depressing than eating a double ice-cream cone by yourself. Microphones are needed in this game to quickly communicate to people, convey emotions and feel immersed and happy.

3. Your thinking is really stupid here. It takes time to identify bugs but it takes less than a minute to say "Sorry for the inconvenience. We're pretty busy right now and will address your problem in '3 weeks'." Also, I gave them enough information to get prepared to ask me more specific questions. I'm not a code debugger so I was vague with what I think was wrong. If I said X was wrong but it's actually Y, I'm wasting time. As you can see, I used a rare thing called common sense.

What makes the environment toxic is the terrible support from moderators in global chat who could have easily stated what to do instead of repeating the same thing, ignoring me and kicking me for trying to reason with them. What makes it corrupt is how I've paid for the game and that's all they care about. Being busy isn't an excuse to being rude.

And please, don't reply to this. Facts don't change and I've made it pretty clear you were wrong about some things.

[Trixi]

The devs only can ignore this. In your bug report there is no valuaable information to identify the problem. You dont mention your OS, soundcard, mic, driver version of mic/soundcard. Maybe you should check your computer first.

did you update your OS or the driver recently? Maybe you could try to do a rollback to the previous version.

This sounds really like a problem with your specific configuration of your pc.

[Super_]

Well I'd like the devs to ask for this information instead of ignore me.

[TRIBALien]

First, there seems to be a huge logical disconnect between complaining about poor VOIP quality and a "GAMEBREAKING BUG". It's hard to comb through your posts to differentiate between what is relevant versus just hyperbole. You may see "common sense" when you read your post, but I see almost no information that could actually diagnose your inconvenience.

You start out by saying that your mic used to work fine in this game but a few sentences later you say:

Either an update is incompatible with my mic or my 'new' mic (few months old now) was never compatible with TTS.

When you say "your mic used to work" are you talking about a different mic that you had before this 'new' one? Is it not possible to test the old one? What is the new one like? Is it connecting through a 3.5mm jack or USB? (It's not uncommon for Unity3D to have issues with USB (like Razer's) headsets.)

Then, you don't mention how many updates have passed since you didn't have any issues. Your post makes it sound like you've been away for a while (...since you evidently haven't tested it in a few months with your 'new' mic). Did you have any issues before they migrated to a Unity 5 codebase in version 7.0 (around April 2016)? Or did you notice the issues after they introduced the 64-bit version in version 9.0 (around the middle of last month)? (I don't think that the 64-bit version should make a difference in the netcode, however.)

Next, there's the problem of actually quantifying the "bad quality" itself. The only indication you've given that the quality is bad is "they say my voice is 'static' or 'laggy'". Is it always the same people complaining? Does anyone NOT have a problem with hearing you? Do they have problems with others or just you? Does your own voice sound okay to you? Are you always hosting or joining other's tables? Are the others the host? Have you tried it on empty tables or is there a lot loaded on the table anyway? By necessity, the in-game VOIP shares the same bandwidth as all other netcode so others hearing bad quality from you could be indicative of a poor network connection on their (or your) end. Without giving any indication of what you've tried, there's no ability to not only figure out where the "problem" lies...but even who actually has it.

Finally, you need to understand that if you TRULY want help then you should probably rethink the way that you ask for it. Looking at your post history here and on the official forums, I don't see any other times that you've mentioned this. Additionally, nowhere do you have any contact with a real[edit: forum] moderator or one of the devs (Knil or Kimiko) like you claim. This leads me to believe that you're complaining solely about the global chat moderators. As others have tried to tell you: GLOBAL CHAT IS NOT TECH SUPPORT. The moderators there are NOT affiliated with Berserk Games, they are attached to geekshed (the IRC server that hosts the "global chat" IRC channel). [Edit: not always true as Bjoern pointed out below.]

P.S.
I do agree with you that the global chat is often toxic. I usually stay disconnected from it for just that reason. With the way that you are conducting yourself here; however, are we to believe that you weren't contributing to that yourself there as well?

[Bjoern]

Actually, the moderators are community members picked by the Devs. They are gamers like you and me. However, they are not part of Berserk Games, have no part in the development and their core responsbility is managing the chat. Quite often, though, they do try to provide help with common solutions to common problems.

[TRIBALien]

Yeah, I should have clarified myself better. Most of the global chat mods (with the exception of just Amyashi and Coyote...I believe), started out as users that volunteered to monitor the chat. Thanks.

[CrazyVulcan]

How is your internet connection? A am not really talking about your in-game ping number but what kind of network are you on? TTS tends to bog down when using the in-game chat option. I use discord for most of my communication.

It is free to use and set up your own server so you can simply send players the message code and you are good to go. If the mic is still an issue then you need to be looking at better options. The $9.99 headset from WalMart does not really cut it for online gaming. But don't feel you have to go out and buy a "pro" $150+ headset. Mine was $30 and works great.

Also global is a wretched place to go for any kind of meaningful interaction. Try to make friends who also play. Most of the time any kind of PUG game is going to be a nightmare at worst and unfun at best. That being said no one wants to play with someone who has a bad attitude to what really is a minor inconvenience.

But the TLDR is simple. Get a better internet service or use alternatives to the in-game chat.

[BadMannersXD]

qq more kid. f off. ur rig is trash and so r u.

[Stella the Traa]

Time to go lawyer mode I guess. You started the conversation fine, as expected from you.

<Super_> Hey
<Super_> Can I speak to a developer/
<Super_> ?

Two moderators pointed out that the best way to do so is through the forums.

<tyam> Super_: The best way to do that is to post on the forums
<BTR78> You can. Developers regularly read the forums, where you feedback is sampled, considered and regularly replied to.
<BTR78> Oh. Tyam was faster.
<tyam> :]

And since at this point, things didnt go your way, you got annoyed. Blatantly stating that the moderators are wrong without anything to back-up that claim. Again, as ive known you to do.

<Super_> But you're wrong
<Super_> They haven't replied at all
<Super_> I've got a gamebreaking bug
<Super_> They haven't replied
<Super_> So they're not investigating the cause
<Super_> It's been two weeks

Moderators again try to help you understand that these things take time.

<BTR78> One of the challenges of software development and more importantly debugging, is that causes are not always obvious. And more importantly, they may not be inherent in the program, but in the vast number of variables that go into a PC system.
<BTR78> So just be patient.
<RogueRedux> Aside from that, they dont need to respond in order to investigate

<Super_> I am being patient
<Super_> And I'm being ignored
<Super_> They do need to respond
<Super_> To show that they're dealing with it
(Auxiliary's personal note: I work service desk, and what youre saying here, is wrong. We occasionally get e-mails with issues that are not working anymore. We will create a ticket, and start investigating the root cause, while never even calling or emailing the end user until we need additional information or to try and troubleshoot.)
(note, at this point other users were getting involved with this conversation)

BTR again requests you to be patient, and to leave this issue at that note. Global is not tech support as has been pointed out by others above me.

<BTR78> Alright. Super, we have pointed out to you that the proper way to communicate is the forums, so please drop the issue in global.

Guess what you didnt do. Right, you didnt drop the issue.

<Super_> Thanks BTR
<Super_> But what I'm saying is they're not answering me on the forum

BTR, again, with the request to drop it. Warning #2 for anyone keeping score.

<BTR78> @Super_ What I am saying is: Please drop the issue

Now, at this point, you lose your ♥♥♥♥, as i expected from you, and ive known you to do so.

<Super_> Omg
<Super_> Are you seriously going to ban me because I have a problem with the game and you're trying to silence me?
<Super_> They aren't responding on the forums
<Super_> So I'm making a comment here

Throwing around claims that moderators are trying to silence you because youre saying youve got a gamebreaking bug. Essentially what youre saying is: moderators dont care about problems, and if any problems arise, they try to silence every and all user who mentions it. Again, blatantly wrong.

BTR, with the patience of a saint, gives you another warning. #3

<BTR78> @Super_ Yes, I am seriously going to kick you from the channel if you continue to press the issue.

Continuing the rant of Super_

<Super_> And here you are responding but you're going to silence me
<Super_> What makes things worse are the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in this chat
<Super_> "I'm not having a problem so you must be wrong"

And at this point, you were banned. Cant say it comes as a surprise, after calling several users ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, in addition to NOT dropping the issue, as youve been asked to do so several times.

<BTR78> !kb Super_ You overstepped a line. Please take technical support issues to the appropriate place: the forums. Your issue will be addressed when and if there is something that can be said about it. You are not being ignored.

(Auxiliary's personal note to super: keep in mind telling me to drink bleach on my profile isnt going to help your case, as youve done before)