In the second installment of this original Gamasutra series, our anonymous casual games customer support rep discusses tactics for dealing with disgruntled video game consumers, including the rich, the poor, and the... angry?
Following on from the
first 'Customer Support Confidential' feature, author William Kinnikin explains the following in his introduction:
"Now that you understand the basics of what you’ll be dealing with as a customer support representative here at A MAJOR CASUAL GAMES PORTAL, it’s time to get a better idea of whom you’ll be dealing with.
In the interest of saving your faith in humanity, you need to remember that you are often coming into contact with these people at their worst. They’ve spent hours trying to get a game working on a computer they are simultaneously ignorant of and frightened by. They are frustrated and tired. That said, some of them are just mean and stupid.
There are three basic moods that customers tend to fall into. They are:
* Angry
* Friendly
* Indignant
The thing to remember is that there is almost always a gap in between their request for help, and your reply. Friendly can easily turn to Angry. Surprisingly, Angry is often Friendly by the time you get back to someone."
You can now
read the full Gamasutra feature on the topic, including plenty more shocking exposes from the world of casual game customer support (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).
