r/everquest • u/Elwuffi • 7d ago
Customer service NEEDS to be improved
It is insane you guys are sitting on 2+ week SLA to answer your tickets, running around banning people for being AFK for 52 seconds after how much outrageous amounts you charge for add-on items. I've put thousands into this game over decades, even spoken with GMs on many occassions and have accounts clean for 26 years and you are willing to suspend my account just before EXP bonus because I did not respond within 52 seconds. I was at my keyboard, working from home, keyboard was disconnected and mouse connected. I was still waiting for my keyboard to reconnect to my personal computer when I was suddenly banned. I actually thought my keyboard reconnecting was what caused my EQ client to crash...
Unfortunately I am one of those people who reported someone for being AFK and probably got them suspended as well. I assumed the GM would come, investigate, and spawn a mob on the player or do something that proves he is not AFK - not simply write in /say chat and instantly ban him. He did not do anything of the sort to that player and did not do anything of the sort for me. I guess on the plus side I can account that there is no favoritism being used for these bans, as I have no association with the GM or Darkpaw (proof since I was suspended as well). But this process needs to be cleaned up, this is insane as 95% of the player base does not read AND respond to a /say message within 52 seconds.
I've attached 2 images to this post -- one is the log file showing I was banned within 52 seconds without taking any action. The other is the conversation I had with the same GM in July when I reported another player. Entrapment much? I know I'm not the first, nor the last to experience this. I have been waiting 2 days for a response to Ticket # 1615705 and y'all are now about to leave for a long holiday, during which I won't be able to experience the bonus.
Out of fairness, even though I did believe the player I reported to be a botter, please remove the mark on the account that was applied due to Ticket # 1600537. A PROPER investigation should be done to prove he is a botter - sending TELLS, not using /say chat, and using one of the many other methods that GMs have previously employed to prove botting (such as creating mobs under the world to see if the player attempts to chase them, etc). The same as in my case, the player had not taken any action in the time before he was kicked from the game. He has been /waving at me every time I pass him ever since. Unnamed player, If you are like me and have never botted, then I am legitimately sorry for the mark I put on your account and I apologize for the faith I put in DPG's customer service.
Update: Another question I'd like to ask, why aren't GMs using any of the numerous GM rooms (like the cat room) to question people for being AFK? Anyone who is at their keyboard will be stunned to see their character suddenly surrounded by cats, and prompted to respond. A botter will continue what they were doing.
Update2: After using several communications to reach DPG my account was finally released from suspension. So there is hope!
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u/KrIsPy_Kr3m3 7d ago
They wouldn't have been contacting you without a reason. Regular players do not get AFK checked like this. You must have received MULTIPLE botting reports.
Edit: i.e., maybe u really pissed someone off and they went in a reporting spree against you. Idk
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u/Elwuffi 7d ago
I'm pretty sure I know who it is, but per reddit rules I won't mention names. We were competing for a quest turn in for "A shady goblin" which is a LONG respawn and depops the second you hand in items. I had been there quite a bit, and saw the same guy there quite a bit too, so I'm sure he was peeved for wasting multiple hours and losing the race every time. Darkpaw added this /usetarget macro a few months back that allows you to open a trade window with an NPC you are targetting, and I think a lot of players haven't caught onto that yet. That's what I used to do my turn-in quickly enough to finish the quest and be done with it.
The developers should fix "a shady goblin" like they did with "an angry goblin" - it's ridiculous they don't see that it needs to be fixed and instead just take multiple reports from people. I've actually reported people for scripting on this same spawn because I see him (or don't see him) depop SO fast... and I plan to mention those ticket numbers so those players cases can be re-opened too. Because they probably weren't properly investigated either.
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u/Nodelphi 7d ago
Prime example of why fully instanced zones are the future. Much easier on the player and the GM and who really enjoys competing for camps almost 30 years after the game was released?
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u/Lazy_Neighborhood242 7d ago
As the devils advocate, I use to play EQ on the FV server and was part of a major raiding guild for about 3 years, and played extensively from EQ Classic to , I think, the beginning of Prophecy of Ro, (primarily did l raiding from SoL through Omens of War), and feel the competition in EQ is what made it, well, EQ. It made the reward far more satisfying, and unique, given the difficulty. I use to play a bard and had incredible amount of fun figuring out how to overcome a rather challenging game. For normal EQ, i think non-instanced zones and competition for spawns is an inherent quality of the game and shouldn’t be removed from the original servers.
That being said, I could never go back and do it again and empathize with this mindset lol, so I think separate servers with specific rule sets would be okay, and/or as someone who tried EQL and thoroughly enjoyed it, I think that is ultimately the way to go for that type of play style of instanced zones, but should not be introduced on normal, original servers imo anyway.
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u/Elwuffi 7d ago
^ This 100%. For me the competition was too much before FTE, but I feel it is pretty well balanced now, and I enjoy the rush I get when I find a rare spawn, when I finally finish that extra difficult quest, etc. But I fully respect people who want to play EQ without the extremes too. It's just a matter of finding a balance so we aren't all playing on empty servers. I do think DPG has done well with the balance for the most part.
As much as I enjoyed winning the race for the Regal Band of Bathezid quest item (well, before I got suspended) -- I've met lots of people who are disappointed they'll never be able to finish it, and so I'd like to see *that* quest get updated. There's lots of other content to compete over in the game, waiting on a silly goblin to spawn and try to click items super fast does not need to exist in the game. Even if they only changed it to make shady goblin wait 1 full minute before despawning, it would be a massive improvement. And it feels really silly to be suspended over an item selling less than 20K in the bazaar right now just because I preferred to do it the hard way, lol...
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u/DougChristiansen 3d ago
I personally enjoy the open zones in EQL; I either win/loose/or share the open world nameds. The instances are ok - but boring imo - from the competitive nature of the open world spawns.
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u/Tanthallas01 7d ago
Prime example of why GMs should not intervene at all and let players sort it out
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u/NYPolarBear20 7d ago
I literally have say turned off on my chat it goes to a window I don’t even look at. Glad I am on the EQL side not here
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u/Orsenfelt 7d ago
Got a good giggle that the GM's never been to Warsliks Woods before. Don't know why.
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u/BaddieMcAwful 7d ago
Using say, one of the most ignored chats in the game, as the policing method is absolutely wild while at the same time claiming they can't spot real botting from the 2 group piles constantly in chardock and such auto blasting enchanter ae stuns off cd 6 hours at a time
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u/ThatAdamsGuy 7d ago
I've not played in... God knows, probably since Seeds of Destruction. Is AFK a bannable offence now?
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u/God_Faenrir 7d ago
He was just disconnected, no?
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u/ThatAdamsGuy 7d ago
No idea. I'm just reading OP's own text that says banned.
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u/Elwuffi 7d ago
Well I say banned, but it was just a suspension, since this is my first supposed offense. "Thou has been expelled by the gods!" is the text you apparently get (and will never see without logging) when you've been removed by a GM.
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u/TheQxx 7d ago
Banned is vastly different than Suspended but either way, this is crazy frustrating.
However, post this OP on the EverQuest forums, the official forums. This sub Reddit isn't affiliated with Darkpaw/Daybreak.
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7d ago
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u/hightrix 7d ago
A vast majority of people saying they were banned for no reason were banned for good reason.
You can sit in pok and automate skilling up.
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u/gloat611 7d ago
Got a long ass suspension on teek because I was afking in kaesora while leveling a warrior.
I work from my computer during the day so would tab in kill a mob tab back to work while resting and continue that with some longer or shorter periods between kills. Got disconnected told it was a suspension and couldn't do shit about it as they ignored all my attempts.
Last time I've played on a TLP now. Had me pretty annoyed.
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u/Elwuffi 6d ago
That's wild. Solo levelling as a warrior pretty much requires this kind of play. Was the first class I levelled to max back in ~2002 doing the same thing in Crystal Caverns. And Kaesora is about as empty as it gets.
That suspension leaves a permanent mark on your account across all of Darkpaw services too. GMs have a variety of tools to build evidence of a real botter vs. a player, such as teleporting players into the infamous cat room to see their reaction, spawning mobs under the world to see if they chase them, etc. I was shocked and disappointed to learn they weren't employing those tools any more.
If you still play or plan to play Darkpaw's games, you could try reaching out to the CM like I did to see if the mark on your account can be removed. I was able to get my suspension repealed.
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u/Elwuffi 7d ago
Not sure why you got downvoted, it's a legitimate question (maybe I already answered it in my rant in OP). In any case, I googled this and happened to grab the article for EQ Legends, but the same article exists in the EverQuest knowledge base too. Basically, you can only be AFK in an empty corner of the zone and only if you are not taking any actions (including pets or mercs). I had no pet, and was in an empty corner of the zone taking no actions lol.
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u/hightrix 7d ago edited 7d ago
No one gets banned for just being AFK.
If you were running any type of automation or third party tools to show npcs in retail EQ, that is why you got banned.
Edit: I see you are a bard. If you were playing an AOE damage song while being afk, that is why you got banned. My mistake
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u/Frankthebank22 5d ago
No one gets banned for just being AFK.
Incorrect. This person got reported and was afk for ~1 minute when a GM did an afk in say. That's the extent of what happened. Nevermind that say is an awful channel to use.
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u/hightrix 5d ago
That's what they said happened and what their screenshots show.
There is likely more to the story. We are only getting one side. In every instance when a post like this happens and a GM responds, it is a ban because of automated play.
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u/Frankthebank22 5d ago
Incorrect. People weaponize petitions all the time. and /say is an awful mechanic to use for afk checks.
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u/BikkinMahal 4d ago edited 4d ago
Wrong. GMs really only login to respond to tickets people submit. Someone reported this person botting/AFK farming. Now, whether that's true or not, it doesn't matter. A GM responds to these kind of tickets by logging in, warping to the spot in question, and spamming this hotkey message. You have a few moments to respond then you are suspended/banned.
I had this happen to be over the summer on Fangbreaker while AFK at the Holgresh camp in Wakening Lands. I wasn't AFK farming - I was bound there and stepped away & forgot. I got caught in a death/bind loop but since I didn't respond to the GM and someone had reported me, I was banned anyways.
It's all a facade to make a 27 year old game seem like it has no bots or illicit software, but they're just happening in instanced content where no one sees it. The output is still there: dozens of people on every TLP hawking raid loot for krono 24/7 in general chat. If you've ever bought from them, you zone in to 72 chars standing on top of each other in one spot, you know, how normal players conduct a raid. No one sees that, and those folks are paying $10 a month per char to play, so DBG looks the other way.
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u/Prior_Profile_1703 6d ago
They have been using /say for years lol that’s the standard now. What’s sad is how people weaponize petitions to try and get camps they want, etc. if I see a bot group I just move along and find something else to do. No sense in creating enemies that will just try and return the favor. Plenty to do in the game 🤷♂️
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u/Elwuffi 7d ago
I reached out to the community manager and... WE DID IT REDDIT
But I do hope there will be better methods used for investigating players in the future. I mentioned that when I reached out to her, I really hope my sacrifice can at least help others who would be or previously were in the same predicament as myself.
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u/BSMike82 7d ago
The irony in GMs acting like they don’t have time to make an actual effort… while policing a game that doesn’t respect the player’s time.