The ongoing saga of ArcheAge, Trion Worlds, and the fabled 10% discount has reached another bend, as Trion Worlds is now flat out denying that the discount was ever a part of the game’s advertising. A user on the ArcheAge forums submitted a complaint to the San Francisco Bay Area Better Business Bureau, to have his complaint addressed by Trion Worlds. Trion Worlds first pulled out the EULA and pointed to the “we can change whatever we want” clause, before denying that the 10% discount was ever officially promoted.
Trion sincerely regrets any inconvenience experienced by the customer. The 10% Marketplace discount was not officially promoted as a benefit as it was never advertised in the ArcheAge purchase flow.
For the record, here is a screenshot of the 10% discount being advertised on Trion World’s own website. Update 12/16/14: This page has since been deleted. See its archive here.
Earlier this year I started Checking In With The Better Business Bureau, a segment talking about the consumer protection group with no authority. Back in February I checked up on a few MMO developers to see their scores, and this time I want to go more in depth on each company and their score.
For those of you who have forgotten or do not live in the United States, the Better Business Bureau is an independent organization that fields complaints and offers the company a chance to respond. The idea is to create a web of trusted businesses where people can check what is being complained about and how the company reacts to those complaints. When it comes to your score, a business can maintain a good score if they respond in a way that pleases the BBB.
Blizzard: B
Blizzard’s score has plummeted from February’s A+ rating. The BBB’s explanation is as follows:
“Recent complainants allege the company closed accounts on 130,000 users without providing notice, and accused them of using “hack” techniques to cheat on gaming. Most of these complainants deny any illegal usage, and in some cases, they challenge the company to provide them some proof of the alleged violation. The company responds in some cases concerning faulty servers by advising that new servers installed should remedy the problem. The company addressed a few complaints regarding account terminations by issuing the same letter in each instance of complaint, accusing the complainant of cheating, lying or using hack programs.”
Cryptic Studios: C+
Cryptic’s rating has remained steady since April, and the BBB has some kinder words for them than Blizzard.
“Our complaint history for this company shows that the company responded to and gave proper consideration to most complaints. However, more than one complaint is unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate.”
EA/Mythic/Bioware: A
Technically lumped into EA, the BBB scores Electronic Arts with an A.
“When considering complaint information, please take into account the company’s size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm’s responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.”
Funcom: A+
Funcom is maintaining their A+, with surprisingly few complaints in the past year. The BBB had this to say:
“BBB had previously identified a pattern of complaints concerningcustomer service issues. The company discussed with BBB in October 2008 ways to correct the cause of the customer complaints. Complaints have decreased in volume since the meeting.”
Gala-Net: F
For those of you unaware, Gala-Net is gPotato, publisher for such games as Allods Online and Aika Online.
“Our complaint history for this company shows that the company responded to and gave proper consideration to most complaints. However, more than one complaint is unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate.”
Jagex: C-
This is based off of one complaint.
NCsoft: B-
NCsoft is up, from a C- to a B-. According to the BBB, this is due to a few unanswered complaints:
Based on BBB files, NCsoft Corporation has a BBB Rating of B- on ascale from A+ to F.
Reasons for this rating include:
Failure to respond to 5 complaints filed against business.
Sony Online Entertainment: A
Most of the complaints, according to the BBB, are from people who forget to cancel their trial accounts.
“Consumer complaints received by the BBB allege difficulty in using this company’s online gaming service and being over billed or billed after they cancel the trial offer. In response to these consumer complaints, Sony indicates that some of their games may come with a limited number of days of game-play with purchase of the game software…”
Square Enix: A
Along with Sony, score remains in place.
“Our complaint history for this company shows the company gave proper consideration to complaints presented by the Bureau.”
Turbine Inc. : A+
Technically now part of Warner Brothers.
The BBB had nothing of interest to note.
A few companies on the list slipped in the past couple of months, most notably Blizzard over that mass ban. I guess it depends on how these companies view the non-authority of the BBB that dictates their reactions.
More on the BBB in three months when I follow up this article.
A long time ago, two months to be exact, I did a little bitty about the Better Business Bureau. When I wrote up the article, I wanted to put an emphasis on the points that the bureau does not have authority over businesses, despite how the name may sound. More importantly, as I noted, the BBB is very lenient with the scores that it offers businesses, due in part to the company’s response to complaints sent to the BBB, and then forwarded to the company, that matters. Not responding will put you in a hole, and quite a few people take the BBB for its word.
I did run quite a few developer names before posting my list, and something I did not expect happened: The article was passed around by a few websites, and through each discussion ultimately Cryptic Studios became the center of attention in each instance. Cryptic, noted punching bag for MMO Fallout, was rated an F by the BBB, who noted:
“We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.”
So either Cryptic is not responding to complaints, or they are fraudster identity thieves who might just kill you if you talk bad about them. One or the other, your guess is probably best. Yes, it is a cut and paste for each company, but I can’t read that without risking severe damage due to my eyes rolling back into my head.
Well, if anyone paid attention to that old article, apparently Cryptic was one of them. Forgoing the past 36 months, a recent view of Cryptic’s BBB page shows that they have been bumped: To a C+. Not the best, but that does put them above NCsoft. Why have they bumped up? Because they, wait for it, actually responded and worked out complaints! Of the 61 complaints, 43 have been resolved according to agreements, 2 are fully refunded, and only three are “refused.” The final 16 are still unanswered, but we can always hope.
Now I obviously can’t claim all (read: any) of the credit, due to the likes of people (read: anyone) who are far higher up on the MMO spectrum who either reported similar stories or re-posted my own. I can, however, make a bet: If this worked on Cryptic in just two months, let’s start harping on NCsoft for being the new bottom of the barrel. Perhaps we can get that C- raised to a C?
More on businesses and which are better, as it appears.
The triple-B, or Better Business Bureau, is quite an interesting outfit. One one hand, the organization has absolutely no authority over any business anywhere at any time, ever. On the other hand, its advice is taken very seriously by many consumers, by some as gospel, and by others who believe that the BBB actually has the above authority. The method that the Bureau uses to make grade is quite lenient on the business, if they are willing to respond to complaints. If someone complains to the BBB, they try to contact the company and the response determines the grade.
For example, the company I’m employed at while I trudge my way through College (Target) has received almost 1,500 complaints to the BBB in the past 36 months. However, due to the response by the company in most of the complaints, and the nature of the complaints in other cases, Target holds an A rating. Really the only way to get a bad score by the BBB is to not respond at all, which you will see below.
So I decided to look up a few of our biggest names in the MMO biz (by looking at the poll on the web page) and check out their rating. Keep in mind that not being a BBB accredited business does not hurt your score.
Blizzard: A+
Cryptic Studios: F
Funcom: A+
Mythic Entertainment: F
NCsoft: C-
Sony Online Entertainment: A
Square Enix: A
An F for Cryptic and Mythic? In Mythic’s defense, their BBB rating is likely out of date, due to the whole Electronic Arts takeover (EA has a B rating), but an F for Cryptic? Looking more in-depth, I found it is because Cryptic wholly refuses to respond to any complaints forwarded to them by the BBB, forgetting the one rule of the BBB: Not responding kills your score!
And this list doesn’t even include Turbine, Aventurine, Jagex, and others that were not listed on the BBB website.
MMO Fallout 