[Xizid]

Yo yo:
http://www.mmorpg.co...ways-Right.html

[Koomar]

Interesting, but I think that the developer, for all intents and purposes, can be assumed as a single entity in the eyes of a customer. The reason is because there is eventually a decision made and that decision goes in to play. If the team is split, the team leader (or some other boss) makes the decision. Sure, not all developers agree with it, but as a team they do have a very specific game plan. They aren't just making it up as they go along. Maybe the point the author was trying to make is that biases may make their way into a game or that the development team may change their minds later.

For example, as a customer... it makes no difference to me if 49% of the workers at EA (or even 99%) don't like ripping people off. In the end, they rip me off.

[Koomar]

In other news, I've always hated the saying "The customer is always right." If you really ran a business and tried to stick to that all the time, you'd be screwed. For example, a common occurance when I worked at The Rainforest Cafe (a restaurant) was having people come in to the restaurant that thought the prices were too expensive but they wanted to eat there anyway. Some of these customers were crafty. They would set some groundwork (complaining about something that wasn't really an issue) and then when the bill came, they'd refuse to pay the whole thing and a manager would have to give them money off.

They did this because they knew "The customer is always right" and the manager would just do it. I seriously had one guy get angry because his steak and mashed potatoes came with vegetables and he didn't see that on the menu (he actually tried to argue that it wasn't printed on the menu, as if we didn't have access to them ourselves). The vegetables weren't mixed into the steak or potatoes. They were comlpetely separate, but he complained anyway and then wanted money off his bill. I believe he even called me a "fucking retard" for not telling him about the vegetables when he ordered.

In this case, a business has to stand up for itself. The customer is lying to rip you off. If a customer at a retail store got caught stealing and claimed that they were right to do so, no business would let them walk out the door. Yet, at this restaurant, our managers always gave in to these types of customers. Isn't it a poor business decision to guarantee the repeat business of somebody that just made you lose money?

[Miletius]

That's why my favorite Japanese restaurant has a sign up front that says:

1) Aki (the name of the restaurant) is always right.

2) If Aki is not correct, see 1

It's a joke, but it stems to the early days of the place, when lousy customers would come in and try to get things for discounted rates (or even free food). Since they did not speak the language well, they got ripped off a lot by people who would come in and walk all over them.

However, they managed to build a reputation among the Japanese community that allowed them the freedom to tell anybody giving them a problem to fuck off. Business is booming for them though, even is this horrible economy. If you have a good product, people will come and abide by your rules.

Dunno where I heard it somebody once said that "customer service" can be described as a method companies use to shake you down for money while making you still feel good. If you need bend over backwards customer service to retain your business, then your product isn't good enough to sell on it's own merit.

I think the viewpoint is a bit extreme but it still makes an interesting point.

For most MMO's I feel the same way. Of course you need a community team that relays information to the players and gets feedback. But you should never be making concessions to customers on the basis of "the customer is always right." If you are fairly popular MMO you are obviously doing something right, and you should trust your own design decisions and observations.