XBox live/PSO poor support - has this happened to others?

[Nynaeve]

So...those of you who are PSO addicts like me are aware of the poor service Sonic Team has offered the folks here in the USA...there was hopes that when Microsoft got involved, that the level of service would increase, but it appears that all that has been done is to add ANOTHER layer of incompetance and lack of awareness. A story of something that is happening to my best friend...

So I just got off the phone with a VERY hostile friend. One of the many things that has his blood boiling this morning was the SECOND occurance of an error message he got upon logging into Xbox PSO last night, where the server told him he cannot log in with his character's name, and it must be changed. THis happened before, where he had to change his FOmarl's name from Arch Angel to VoodooMoose, and now they want him to change VoodooMoose to something else.

Rather than attempt to figure out his section ID again, he called XBox Live customer support, and was on the phone for over an hour, and nothing came of it. They gave him such the run around that he ended up speaking to a supervisor, who said things like "I just got back from vacation, I've played this game for all of 10 minutes, I don't know what to tell you" and "We're working on a support phone line with Sega where we can transfer you to them, because they don't want us just giving out the #s" and "You have to call Sega". The woman he spoke to before this kept saying that she has not played this game, and coming up with excuses like "There must be someone else with this name already online" (when he had played with 2 players named Sephiroth before, and when the XBox searches on the Gamer Tag and not the screen name!) and "Why don't you just change your name, who cares what your section color is" and so on.

Soooo...anyone hear of anyone else having this issue? ANd did they get a better line of service than he did?

Up until now I've been SOOOO sad that I'm unable to join this new version and experience PSO with voice chat...but the frustrations might outweigh the joy.

[Sniderman]

Huh. Microsoft has bad customer service. Imagine that. I am surprised. :|

[digitalpress]

I don't know anyone who's played the Xbox version of PSO so I'm curious to hear more.

I am STILL WAITING for my GC keyboard and won't go back online until it arrives!

[Mayhem]

Friends in the UK (with a US Xbox and copy of PSO for it) have been having similar problems also... it's not just you Ny!

[Nynaeve]

Thanks! That's good to know, the experience he had last night sounded horrible and they were just so ready to say "Oh well, tough, suck it up" that I think these people are lucky that I wasnt' on the phone cause I'd have yelled at them, and I dont yell...

Joe...I've seen the Xbox version in action and talked on the headset. It's INCREDIBLE. There's so many cool little addons that it makes me terribly jealous, and the intimacy of TALKING to the people as you fight really brings you into the game in a big way.

I played my GC version the other night and plan on going back online soon, and often...cause I miss it. My keyboard is small, but it works, and there's alot of "moosies" that still play the GC version.

[udisi]

I went online with the xbox version and must admit I virtually no problems at all. It ran fast, no lag, except for when you picked up items, they didn't disapear right away, but as far as fighting and such it was awsome. The headset kicks ass, I played for about 4 hours, and will probably go on again tonight.

[Tempest]

I am STILL WAITING for my GC keyboard and won't go back online until it arrives!

I'm right there with you Joe when they finally do release it (any ETA?). I never did beat the final boss in part II.

Tempest

[digitalpress]

I am STILL WAITING for my GC keyboard and won't go back online until it arrives!

I'm right there with you Joe when they finally do release it (any ETA?). I never did beat the final boss in part II.

Tempest

I dunno! I paid for it online, it was due in late March - Achika recently updated me that the release was pushed back a little so maybe it's "any day now". I haven't gotten a shipment notification yet though.

[stonecutter]

I haven't tried this one, but from my experience so far, it is very unlikely I will renew my XBOX Live service.

[hamburgler]

I was originally going to get the game because it sounded cool at first but, when i heard you had to pay 9.99 a month,I decided not to get it.

[TVs Hasselhoff]

Gotta give Microsoft some defense here. They didn't publish the game, Sega did. Xbox Live customer service has been able to handle problems with the subscription and in-house games, but a game that came out by another developer, and only a week old, can't be entirely put on the shoulders of Microsoft for the problem.

And think about it. With close to 500,000 subscribers, he was able to get through to someone, even up to a supervisor level. Wanna talk about bad service? How about 8 phone calls over a two month period to get Verizon to discontinue my DSL service. My only problem with Xbox Live (using a hacked machine to get online...you can figure out the rest) was curteously answered by an Xbox rep, who spent close to an hour with me on the phone trying to get things working. And this was two days after the November 11th launch.

Haven't sold a copy of the game to a customer yet that has had problems with either the gameplay or the name issue. All have raved about it. My biggest disappointments were the inability to play on the Japanese and European servers like you could with prior versions, and that you have to pay $8.95/month after the first two months. At least Sega/Microsoft lowered the price of the game to $40 and gave you the first two months free to try and compensate.

[punkoffgirl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to pay twice on the Xbox? Once for the game itself, and another time for the xbox live service?

[TVs Hasselhoff]

To play PSO on Xbox, you have to pay for a hunter's license, just like on the other consoles (dreamcast and cube). But, your first two months are free, then if you want to continue, you have to pay $8.95/month.

Yes, Xbox Live is a $50 one year subscription. The only game that charges additional fees is PSO.

[Nynaeve]

Update - XBox live support contacted my friend last night and was on the phone with him for 2 hours, trying to recreate the problem. Apparently the post at my board with screenshots of the issue helped alot, but they still cannot figure it out. Suspicion about the wireless network connector is one idea, but they're working on it actively, which is good. This was a different person than the people he dealt with the night before, and he was very impressed with how much the guy was trying to help out.

http://www.voodoomoose.com/ikon/ikonboard.cgi?s=7cfbae7fa1e29890ca06646eb78a7b66;a ct=NW;f=11;t=261 for screenshots if you're interested.

Of course, knowing the XBox guy read my post there where I complained made me feel bad, how stupid is that!

And yes, you do have to "pay twice" in a way, which is why the poor support is TWICE as upsetting as it was when it was just Sega...the people who play don't mind paying but want to get what they pay for.