NOTICE: NWN Authentication Server Down

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               Wrong again Gregor. And, BTW, you're being a bit of a Richard.

Emotions are very much at play here. When EA bought Bioware there was a lot of tearing at sack cloth and gnashing of teeth. Bioware was a very special developer. They went out of their way, spent time and money, staying in touch with us. They were responsive to our needs and even when we didn't get what we wanted we walked away knowing we'd really been listened to.

We loved Bioware. Love, in case it defies your Vulcan sensibilities, is what us plain-old human beings call an "emotion".

"Don't worry," we were promised over and over again, "We're still the same Bioware. We still love you, please give us a chance."

And most of us did. We bought their games. We voted them up as "best developer" in escapist magazine. We plugged them in our blogs and on social media.

Some of us saw the writing on the wall long before this (for me it was when customer service decided they'd rather lose me as a customer than get my DAO DLC working), but the end result has been the same. We've had to realize that Bioware is just a name on a box now. It's a marketing gimmick for a soulless corporation that looks at it's customers as marks to be squeezed and employeed as fuel to be burned and purged.

Were we fools to allow ourselves to become emotionally attached to a business? Sure. Should we have seen the writing on the wall when Bio was bought? Should we have known the business model was going to change to reflect the new parent companies contempt for it's customers and it's own employees? Should we have abandoned our loyalty towards them and begun our grieving process? Yes. Obviously.

But many of us didn't. Love isn't easily abandoned, even in the face of death. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and stayed on.

Promises were made. We took those promises in good faith. We trusted. Those promises have not been kept. Now we are seeing the folly of our trust and loyalty.

Now, as we mourn the death of an old friend, we feel.

In business terms, we've lost our faith and trust in the Bioware brand. But in human terms:

We feel betrayed. We are hurt.

This is not something that needs to be, or even can be, "proven logically". It simply is.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par UrkOfGreyhawk, 01 août 2011 - 03:48 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               ^ Needs more strings in the orchestrated background....  and I may need to check blood sugar level....
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_FunkySwerve]

               I'm with Gregor. EA has probably made a calculated decision that the cost to fix the issue is more than the cost of lost goodwill. That, or they just haven't made it priority 1. Either way, their business, their call. It's all too easy to empathize with the small group of customers here, since I'm one of them, but seriously, it's hard to credit the notion that their lack of support for a 10-year old game is going to break their business model. Railing against them for it is absurd, and isn't helping anything.

Funky
               
               

               

                     Modifié par FunkySwerve, 01 août 2011 - 06:59 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               Ahh, Elhanan... the technical incompetent with a nose for speculation. Mocking my feelings? If I had any respect for you that might bother me.

See... here's the thing... I'm NOT technically incompetent. And when I do have a technical issue I don't understand I have a small team of programmers I can access for answers. I'm hoping you're just too uneducated to be pissed. You may actually believe that it takes a more than a month to set up an authentication server in which case you're just a mark, and you may actually believe that it's OK for a business to ignore customers for months on end in which case you're also a chump. So I'll take your mockery for all that the mockery of a chump is worth.

Because I know better it's my job as a consumer to make a stink when my custom is disrespected, and because I'm not a moron I know beyond any reasonable doubt that we're well past that point.

You hitch that wagon to EA and ride it as far as it'll take you. I hope you're a console ****** because console tards are pretty much all EA cares about.  I'm speculating that Bio will never again make a game that's not dumbed down for the console market. And I'm gonna lay another piece of speculation on ya, and I have an annoying tendency of being right when I speculate, in the end they're gonna screw ya. EA usually does.

Funky: It's not EAs business model that's being broken. Nobody here expects EA to do anything but suck. And I'm not just talking about allowing old games to expire. EA screws their new customers too. That's what EA does. They buy small developers with reputations for excellece, gut them, turn them into sock puppet schlock mills, exploit the brand for as long as they can, and when they've alienated the customer base and the brand loses it's value they shut them down. That's EAs business model.

It's Bios business model that's gone down in flames. Until recently they could at least pretend they were the same old crew drinking brews and smoking fatties with us and just basically having fun being thre best damn RPG devs on the planet. I don't think THEY even saw it slip away. I'll wager Chris Priestly is chomping at the bit to come in here and tell us where the bear sits, and for a decade thats been the company culture here. If he'd known what was up when this mess started he never would have come in being all flippant the way he did. It must suck for the poor staff. They're probably only just realizing now that they no longer have any say, and that they are on the same path that brought so many great devs before them to ruin. Considering EAs history and their reputation for mistreating their employees as their culture slowly displaces the old, their future is bleak indeed. Now that all the projects that Bio was working on during the acquisition have been delivered I have a hunch will see the pace of change here accelerating rapidly.

Damn. Now I'm sad AGAIN.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par UrkOfGreyhawk, 01 août 2011 - 07:59 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               

UrkOfGreyhawk wrote...

Ahh, Elhanan... the technical incompetent with a nose for speculation. Mocking my feelings? If I had any respect for you that might bother me.

See... here's the thing... I'm NOT technically incompetent. And when I do have a technical issue I don't understand I have a small team of programmers I can access for answers. I'm hoping you're just too uneducated to be pissed. You may actually believe that it takes a more than a month to set up an authentication server in which case you're just a mark, and you may actually believe that it's OK for a business to ignore customers for months on end in which case you're also a chump. So I'll take your mockery for all that the mockery of a chump is worth.

Because I know better it's my job as a consumer to make a stink when my custom is disrespected, and because I'm not a moron I know beyond any reasonable doubt that we're well past that point.

You hitch that wagon to EA and ride it as far as it'll take you. I hope you're a console ****** because console tards are pretty much all EA cares about.  I'm speculating that Bio will never again make a game that's not dumbed down for the console market. And I'm gonna lay another piece of speculation on ya, and I have an annoying tendency of being right when I speculate, in the end they're gonna screw ya. EA usually does.

Funky: It's not EAs business model that's being broken. Nobody here expects EA to do anything but suck. And I'm not just talking about allowing old games to expire. EA screws their new customers too. That's what EA does. They buy small developers with reputations for excellece, gut them, turn them into sock puppet schlock mills, exploit the brand for as long as they can, and when they've alienated the customer base and the brand loses it's value they shut them down. That's EAs business model.

It's Bios business model that's gone down in flames. Until recently they could at least pretend they were the same old crew drinking brews and smoking fatties with us and just basically having fun being thre best damn RPG devs on the planet. I don't think THEY even saw it slip away. I'll wager Chris Priestly is chomping at the bit to come in here and tell us where the bear sits, and for a decade thats been the company culture here. If he'd known what was up when this mess started he never would have come in being all flippant the way he did. It must suck for the poor staff. They're probably only just realizing now that they no longer have any say, and that they are on the same path that brought so many great devs before them to ruin. Considering EAs history and their reputation for mistreating their employees as their culture slowly displaces the old, their future is bleak indeed. Now that all the projects that Bio was working on during the acquisition have been delivered I have a hunch will see the pace of change here accelerating rapidly.

Damn. Now I'm sad AGAIN.

Awww!

Soft kitty, warm kitty,
Little ball of fur;
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr!



But you are correct about a couple of things: I am Techless, and you do seem annoying. And look on the bright side: Could be worse; EA could be your company. That may not help you much, but it makes me smile....


               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Throkwatt]

               What it all comes down to is this has been a huge Customer Service fail, and speaking for myself, it's really colored my opinion of BioWare, and will have a definite effect on games I spend my money on in the future.
I think that for the NWN community to survive, it's going to be up to you guys to come up with your own solutions like the guys over at CoPaP/Avlis have done.BioWare seems to have left the building.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               Hmmm.  This is the first time that I am at odds with Funky here.  There USED to be a big difference in how Bioware dealt with their fans.  With their customers.

As I have indicated, those here are not just "old customers", but also new, repeating ones.  Being treated like we currently are, after the quality treatment that we used to get, is just bad customer relations (especially since it is far more cost effective to have someone post down here, just to keep us "satisfied and cozy" instead of giving us the cold shoulder).

So are you truly saying here that you and I are no longer worth the time it takes to post here?  And that you support that?

Truly?

I find that hard to believe.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               

Elhanan wrote...

UrkOfGreyhawk wrote...

Snip

Awww!

Soft kitty, warm kitty,
Little ball of fur;
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr!



But you are correct about a couple of things: I am Techless, and you do seem annoying. And look on the bright side: Could be worse; EA could be your company. That may not help you much, but it makes me smile....

If I caught anyone in my company treating my customers the way EA treats theirs I'd fire them on the spot.

I've been boycotting EA for many years, but when they bought Bio I decided to make an exception. I wanted to suppport Bio and I figgured by refusing to buy their titles I would be weakening their hand. I bought DAO, DAL, And ME 1 and 2. But after this incident I'm re-embracing my boycott. I won't be buying any more EA titles, including Bio.

Like shamen said. By pissing me off they haven't just lost an "OLD customer". They've lost a real live paying customer that might otherwise have gone on for years buying new titles.

I don't expect EA to care. They may even be making a concious decision they don't want my kind of customer around ant more. They may figure I'd leave sooner or later anyway. After all, the quality of work coming from Bio is starting to fray also. DAL was only a step or two above the same old crap I'd expect from any other studio. That's certainly consistent with their history.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par UrkOfGreyhawk, 01 août 2011 - 02:42 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Keviant]

               Dragon Age sucks compared to it's almighty spiritual father, Baldur's Gate. The gameplay was overly casual, the story felt either boring or ripped off from several famous novels to the very end, it felt too easy even in the hardest difficulty and the fact it's called 'Dragon Age' when I only get to fight 3 dragons is pretty stupid; the dragons are also stupid to the point where I played blindly and won. The only things I admired was the bloodshed, the music and how the concept and back-story is very well done. The sequel is worst. That and the Mass Effect series (It's good but the sequel(though better) was overly casual compared to the first) persuaded me completly that Bioware is EA now.

Why is the following above here? Because it's a reply, a given opinion you can choose to give a **** or not, as well as a perfect example to show how everyone is acting now.

Why am I pointing out the complete obvious? Because everyone that right now and making this uproar worst. Everyone, including me, has been in this topic; an obvious or/, unneeded dolt that have been whining or pointing out something that IS happening now as well as arguing about the situation rather that coming up with a proper response. All, Me and I was completely uncaring, dullard, bringing up nonsense which helped no one and was oblivious to what may come for our community

This is a topic to prepare for and respond to any problems that may or will come in the upcoming future of the community and base for Neverwinter Nights if Neverwinter (2011) sucks very badly. For all of us who care, should be addressing this maturely and faithfully.

Firstly, we should make a group that is not only for the community but also a petition for a proper, detailed update or feedback from Bioware/EA concerning the matter at hand and what are they doing or planning as well as progress (if any made) about this situation. All of us should be able to coerce and get people to sign. A signature concerning the problem will be represented as an invite to the group of this community.

Secondly, if there was any case that NWNVault, Gamespy or any tied fanbase gets intimidated, bruted down or persuaded to remove support for the Neverwinter Nights community by Bioware/EA; we will work together to rebuilt a new one that has private database that can't be taken down in anyway by businesses, etc. The website for this database will consist files from Neverwinter Vault along with the latest updates for all versions (Not everyone has Diamond) and all the premium module installers (Another topic has all of them so there's not much to worry about this) for those who already bought them before Bioware cut ties from Atari.

Lastly, we should all agree to stop making worthless posts unless it involves giving ideas, a sense of care to support this topic to get noticed by replying or anything else, keeping the topic active (with replies concerning the idea, support, anything relative to the game kept your interest, etc) and more.

We can make this our choice to keep this alive publicly for everyone to enjoy this game without being cluelessly searching for necessities or finding a jerk of the community. Anything maybe possible if we work together and not a troll.

Otherwise if you may not feel as such, that we should keep quiet like sheeps and let the wolf decide or strike; then you shouldn't even be here posting unless your a bugbear or a troll.

'I hate trolls and I'm on a horse.'
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Keviant, 01 août 2011 - 02:23 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               

UrkOfGreyhawk wrote...

If I caught anyone in my company treating my customers the way EA treats theirs I'd fire them on the spot.

No doubt that you would do it; seen hundreds of employers like this over the years. Always right; always impatient, and unwilling to listen. They are the ones who cause the delays in lines everywhere because they have the uninalienable right to complain, and by Thor's rubber hammer, they are going to do it. As regular as other hot blowholes seen in Yellowstone.

As for now, back to gaming.....
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Keviant]

               

Elhanan wrote...

UrkOfGreyhawk wrote...

If I caught anyone in my company treating my customers the way EA treats theirs I'd fire them on the spot.

No doubt that you would do it; seen hundreds of employers like this over the years. Always right; always impatient, and unwilling to listen. They are the ones who cause the delays in lines everywhere because they have the uninalienable right to complain, and by Thor's rubber hammer, they are going to do it. As regular as other hot blowholes seen in Yellowstone.

As for now, back to gaming.....

Actually, Activision Blizzard is richer than Electronic Arts and their customer support is far better. It's just by choice. It's just by business logic to ignore several sects of your customers to earn more by attracting the bigger crowd.

Anyways, we should still get the petition running. Spread this and get as many people to help out or join our cause.

FOR EVERYONE: Go to Page 7 and read the SECOND last Post. Thank you for your Time.

               
               

               

                     Modifié par Keviant, 01 août 2011 - 02:47 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_UrkOfGreyhawk]

               Count your blessings that your not on my staff, Elhanan. Of course you couldn't be, because we design websites for professionals and with your skill set... well... we just don't have that many toilets to clean.  But customer service is our number one priority. Anyone who has a problem with that is shown the door. In less than 10 years this policy has taken us from being a minor player with less than a hundred clients to being the undisputed leader in our industry with more than 5000 loyal subscribers.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par UrkOfGreyhawk, 01 août 2011 - 03:04 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               

UrkOfGreyhawk wrote...

Count your blessings that your not on my staff, Elhanan. Of course you couldn't be, because we design websites for professionals and with your skill set... well... we just don't have that many toilets to clean.  But customer service is our number one priority. Anyone who has a problem with that is shown the door. In less than 10 years this policy has taken us from being a minor player with less than a hundred clients to being the undisputed leader in our industry with more than 5000 loyal subscribers.

I do indeed count myself among the blessed. Being placed on the edge of a precipice of unemployement as a daily event is hardly the job position I seek, let alone work for those that consider themselves omnicient, and sound their own horns of succcess as standard events. And my guess for all the clean toilets is that your 'Yes folks' make them rather obsolete....

As for the others that appear ready to grab torches and pitchforks, have a good day storming the castle. I will wait patiently here playing NWN1 and other Bioware titles.


               
               

               

                     Modifié par Elhanan, 01 août 2011 - 04:00 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               Although I am often at the other end of discussions as Urk, I can only add my support for his view of Customer Support - companies that treat their customers right remain a leading force among a sea of other-minded businesses.

I can liken that with the outstanding Customer Support that Logitech provides to it's customers, as opposed to that of Sony.

As a result, Logitech has retained it's longstanding name for quality products and superb Customer Support.  Sony on the other hand...

If Logitech was to suddenly "change face", they would quickly find themselves with a serious problem.  And this, sad to say, is what Bioware seems to be doing now.

We are your customers, Bioware.  We have followed you from way back, because you always showed us that you did care, and showed us that your customers were important to you.  We rewarded you with our loyalty and purchases.

Why are you changing this now?  You may reap rewards in the short term, but in the long term, you will lose that which you literally spent decades building.  A huge, valuable investment cast away...

Looks like EA wins this one.  And when the dust has settled, they will just cast off the sucked out shell, and us along with it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               @WebShaman - What do you mean by we, Paleface?

This client is fine with waiting; still able to play, and still see my other Bioware games patched and serviced regularly. You and others may wish to ride into the valley to battle against the imagined foe known as EA, but I am good remaining here playing games that still work fine.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Elhanan, 01 août 2011 - 04:16 .