So it’s December, and 2008 is waiting to jump us right around the corner. It looks to be a big year for SOE and I am pretty excited to see how everything plays out. Along with the New Year comes new goals and benchmarks. One of these goals is to step up our customer’s ability to help them, help themselves (enter scene: Knowledge Base). So this is where I come in. My name is Chris, I work with the Knowledge Base.

The Knowledge Base or KB as I like to call it, has been around for quite a while. It’s gone through some changes and updates and additions through the years but it’s like one of those busted up old 50’s vintage cars. You know it could be something great but it needs a lot of work and effort into fixing it up. So this year, we’re gonna Pimp My KB. Basically, our iniative in this is threefold.

1) Remove outdated information, and update it with current stuff.

2) Add in new features (images/screenshots, quest info, class guides, etc)

3) Get the word out to all our players and make it something they actually use.

Sounds pretty straight forward, but the amount of effort involved is monumental. The KB has thousands of articles, and going through them to make sure information is updated correctly will be a Herculean task in and of itself. In addition, we’ll be adding images to most of the articles sort of like this. On top of all this, we’ll be generating new articles, not only for new products, but also for any existing game updates, expansions, and what not. We’ll also be tweaking the look and feel of the articles as well as the KB and support pages to try and make it easier for our players to use.

The task here is huge, but ultimately we’re committed to doing it because we understand what it’s like to be a game player and needing some crucial bit of information that might save hours of frustration and venting. We have a team of people (our Subject Matter Experts) that will be sacrificing many cans of Monster and Redbull to the caffeine gods in order to meet this goal. So if you haven’t check out the KB yet, maybe cruise through and take a look. Definitely check it out in the following months to see what’s going on and the efforts being made. If there is something you want to see, let us know, we do check the feedback even if we don’t respond to it.

Happy holidays to everyone, and see you next year.

Chris “Arandall” Cabral
Knowledge Base Administrator

The holiday season is among us. At least, that’s what I have to conclude when I go out shopping. It seems that in a few years we’re due for a new holiday called “HannuHalloThanksKwanzMas” when the vendors don’t know anymore which merchandise to put up for sale first!

Here at SOE’s Customer Service we just celebrated Halloween. We’re holding contests for the best decorated cubicle/office area, best costume, funniest costume etc. every year and it is always a good reason to dress up. What can I say, we work hard and we play hard and what better way then to combine play with work?

Below are a few pictures that I took during the day.

Here are most of the CS and QA folks that dressed up that day. From Flavor Flav to the Phantom of the Opera, from Pirates to a bumble bee.

Of course, the party wouldn’t be complete without:

The Zodiac killer and Captain Kirk

The Vanguard QA group made a complete dungeon of their area with fake stone walls, torture tools and awesome looking weapons.

My team created an EQII quest with a level 1.0 Epic spider (don’t ask why the spider was called PM Spider, I really have NO clue!) guarded by 0.5’s lil spiders. The goal of the quest was to distract all the spiders long enough so you could steal the eggs.

As for me; I decided “what better way then to distract an epic with the “big hug tactic!” Trust me when I say that my guild is always appears extremely happy when I deploy this tactic (NOT!). I still feel it is a valid way to pull a mob, my guild and raid members are less convinced and will mumble a bit about “silly Dutch women” when I rez them.

Ahhh, it was all good fun. The winners for the cubicle decorating contest and the costume contest have just been announced and I think everyone is happy with the outcome and had a good time.

And now we move on to the next holiday; Thanksgiving is already around the corner and we’re seeing candy corn and cranberry sauce and turkey pictures everywhere. Sugar rush anyone???

Since our last blog, a lot has happened within SOE Customer Service. It seems especially so on the games I work directly with.   Star Wars Galaxies introduced the new shiny Warden Program which took a lot of time, effort and collaboration between development, customer service, community, and you, the players!   I have to say, a month in, it is working amazingly well and those of you who play Star Wars Galaxies are probably now enjoying your time in Mos Eisley!  It’s a shame we couldn’t continue our theme of turning these folks overt so you could help with the fun, but we found this to be a more effective way and still managed to include you the players!

Vanguard went through its server merge which, truthfully, went beautifully. I know from reading the posts on the forums that week that so many of you were happy with the smoothness and that all the amazing coders, programmers and production teams took time to make sure as little pain as possible was felt by you guys. We’ve had a very positive reaction.  The subsequent character moves are also moving along nicely and we hope all of you find a server where you will be happy.

I am taking a mini-vacation, but before I scoot off I thought I would leave you with a closer window into my world at the SOE office.   This week, I picked up a book called The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue fame.  I get teased a lot around here because all of my money goes toward music CDs, DVDs, books and concerts.  In fact, I  drove up to Corona on September 20th to see a Finnish Doom Metal band called Swallow the Sun (I included a picture of myself and the guitarist, Juha, below). And a week ago, I was standing on the rail for Megadeth in Anaheim. This weekend I am off to see Finntroll. Whew!

One of the main comments I get at work is how I decorate my office. So, I thought I would share it with you so you could have a look and join in on the teasing I suppose. I have a feeling this may start a trend.  You’ll notice a reoccurring theme of my favorite bands; Iron Maiden, Machine Men, Megadeth and some other gems thrown in! A window into my world … enjoy!

-Sharon Morris
Senior Customer Service Manager
Matrix Online/Planetside/SWG/Vanguard

With Labor Day already behind us, the summer is slowly coming to an end here in San Diego. However, things around the customer service department are warming up once more for releases, updates and expansions. It’s what keeps us busy and excited since we just know that we’ll never have the same day twice.

Today we launched “Legends of Norrath.” For customer service this means that we’ll have our knowledge base articles with all the FAQ’s regarding the game ready. We keep a special eye out for any Technical support phone calls, chats and/or emails and in-game petitions that will alarm us if players experience any problems, communicate with the development team and quality assurance team as well as that there is the general sense of excitement and anticipation when we release a new game.

I really wished that every customer could have their own “day behind the scenes of SOE”.  So many different people and departments work so closely together to get these games out to you that it still makes me view the entire operations from beginning to end in awe. For example, as the International customer service manager I deal with the localized versions of EQII. We patch the same data out on the exact same day (San Diego daytime that is), 100% translated! That to me is the ultimate crown on planning, execution of the plan, dedication and teamwork. 

I know that the development teams, customer service, quality assurance as well as our community teams are the departments that are mostly in the limelight. But if you think about it, … who makes sure your payment information makes it through to our billing system and adds the correct expansion to your game? Who makes sure that you can claim your veterans rewards in time, that you can read previews of expansions and upcoming products in renowned magazines? That all the correct data gets patched to your servers? That the game is completely and correctly translated? In short, a lot of people make “it” happen! As for me, customer service is the only place I would want to be. I get the best of both worlds. On one side I get to interact, speak and help our customers every day and on the other side I get the excitement of being part of a team that finds, communicate and help resolve issues on a daily basis.

Ima “Sentana” Somers
International Customer Service Manager

For those of you that haven’t heard, there is a SOE Block party this weekend.  Many of the Customer Service support staff will be there to mix and mingle.  Hope to see all those who are in the neighborhood stop by. 

Preparation for Fan Faire is all the buzz around here.  While the Marketing and Community groups do all the work and prepare a grand event for all, our Customer Support group (especially Moonlite and Sentana) are preparing a little something for the ‘CS Panel’ at Fan Faire, so be sure and stop by.   Everyone that is able to go is excited to be able to meet face to face the people that they interact with online, not just from a support perspective, remember many of us play as well, so meeting and greeting those that we might be playing normally with is exciting.  I remember going to my first Fan Faire, finding the table designated for my server and sitting and interacting with those…well let’s just say staunch supporters of Povar.  It made me realize very quickly that the /shout channel exists in real life as well, and server chatter equals real life chatter in many ways.

Here is a list so far of those that plan on attending Fan Faire from CS.   The list may still grow, but note them down and play ‘Fan Faire Bingo’ by getting as many autographs or pictures with as many as possible.  Then find Moonlite for a special prize.

Sharon ‘Moonlite’ Morris – Senior Customer Service Manager (SWG/VGD/PS/MXO)
Ima ‘Sentana’ Somers – International Customer Service Manager (EQ2)
Richard Schmelter “Greeblen“ – Customer Service Manager (EQ/EQII/EQOA)
Timothy ‘Maenar’ Vick – Lead GM Maenar (SWG/PS/MXO)
Jeremy ‘Naerfi’ Conrad – Subject Matter Expert (SWG)
Janice ‘Galatee’ Bagley – Subject Matter Expert (EQ2)
Gareth ‘Ichie’ Cales – Subject Matter Expert (VGD)
Jorge Sabala – GM Sopis (SWG)
Dan Binter – GM Brewko (PS/MXO)
Tony Cooke – GM Feldman (EQ2)
Amy Leo – GM Kimbial (EQ2)
Robert Robertson – GM Zekil (EQ)
TSR Bill Corning – Tech Support
TSR Jason Crawford – Tech Support

See you Online -

Brad “Mutato” Wilcox, Executive Director Global Customer Service

So it’s Monday morning, and like any of you who have to head into an office for work, Mondays are always the hardest, aren’t they?

I did not want to get up this morning, especially when you live in a place where swimming pools seem to be attached to every single house you drive past, and the weather is just positively wonderful.  We’re lucky here in San Diego, it’s a nice 72 degrees F (23 degrees C), with hardly any humidity. I was in LA this weekend, and I don’t know how you guys do it!  The heat and humidity was just yucky!  I shall not be going up to see Beckham play at the Galaxy until the winter when it’s oooo 65 degrees? Heh.  Anyway, I managed to get here, and of course with it being the beginning of my week, it’s the busiest day.  

I was pleased to see the Star Wars ticket queue had reduced somewhat over the weekend.  We have been fighting with large queues recently as you SWG players have probably noticed; it has taken us some time to get to your ticket.  I do apologize, and promise we have been working as quickly as we could to get to you.  I don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s looking better this morning!

There are a lot of people buzzing around my office at the moment…something to do with Fan Faire and videos!  I won’t spill the beans, but if you’re heading to Fan Faire you’re certainly assured a great time and some superb inside looks at things. Las Vegas is hot at this time of year, so be sure to drink plenty….water that is J

Next weekend is the block party here at SOE.  Last year’s was a blast with Smed, Brenlo and others in the dunk tank, and demos of our games with developers on hand to chat.  I shall be there again this year and will unlock some of the GMs from their chains, so feel free to come up and say hi.

I’m starting to see e-mails from GM Brewko come into my inbox which reminds me that those of you who play Planetside and Matrix Online know him for sure.  He will also be at Fan Faire, and will be around for pictures to prove he really does exist, and for a poke in the ribs if he ever killed you in an event!

The afternoon shift for the Vanguard team is starting to trickle in and so I need to scoot, but again look forward to seeing those of you coming for the Block Party.  Beers on Brenlo I hear! 

Sharon “Moonlite” Morris, Senior Customer Service Manager

Welcome to the new Customer Support Web site and associated new look and feel of the overall site.   Our Marketing and Web Teams have been busy now that American Idol has ended and the summer re-runs have set in, to spice things up and make your support experience all the better.    The new look and feel are terrific and we wanted to add some additional features to keep you somewhat entertained (after all we are an entertainment company), while you wait for that petition to be answered or the servers to come up after their latest update.

In the coming weeks we will give you a glimpse of the inside life of a GM and Technical Support Agent here at SOE with some of the features of the site such as;

• “Pimp My Caption”:  Submit captions for the screenshots posted.
• “Nerfed Names:”  When not fighting the evil league of gold/credit spammers our crack staff of “name nerfers” are always on task.
• “Favorite Petitions”:  Sometimes the customers are what keep us entertained.

As always you will find the answers to hopefully all your questions with a Self Help Knowledge base of over 13,000 articles in four different languages and our Game Masters are here 24 X 7 to assist.

From time to time, we will publish a bit to our little blog here to give your further insight into the day to day happening of your game masters and customer support.   There will be various authors, spotlights etc, which come your way, so by way of introduction:

Brad “Mutato” Wilcox, Executive Director of Global Customer Service

My name is Brad Wilcox and I am the Executive Director of Global Customer Service.   Gaming and Technology is a passion, and when I am not getting yelled at by the wife to put down the mouse and get off the computer (EQ2 is my game of the moment) and mow the lawn, paint some room or whatever task is on the “honey-do” list I am spending way too much time and money on collectible card games or sports trading cards and action figures.

It’s all about the entertainment world for me with a love of movies, books and music, not to mention trying to catch the local baseball or football game with the family (I work on wife faction too, to only lose it later) as any baseball game is better than most other activities, and grabbing and converting the latest TV show from Tivo to PSP to watch on my daily commute.

See you Online!

Ima “Sentana” Somers, International Customer Service Manager

Hello, I am Ima Somers and I am the International Customer Service Manager. I am responsible for the customer service of the localized versions of our games and have an awesome team of French, German and Japanese employees to assure that our non English speaking customers are assisted in their own language.

I am originally from The Netherlands and moved to the United States 10 years ago. After several jobs in different industries I finally managed to find one that was the perfect combination to fuel my passion for games and get paid doing what I love at the same time! If I am not working or playing EQII you can find me at a gym for an hour of cardio or throwing around some weights. I also love to travel and while doing so take lots of pictures as photography is another big passion.

Tschüss,  Au revoir, さようなら, Tot ziens!!

Rich “Greeblen Dah Ogah” Schmelter, Customer Service Manager

Hail adventurer! My name is Rich Schmelter and I am the SOE Customer Service Manager for the EverQuest product line.

I’ve been with SOE for well over 5 years now, but when I first started with SOE, I worked as a GM on EverQuest (some of you may remember me as the server GM for Terris-Thule).  I quickly became a supervisor for EQ and later was chosen as the CS Manager for the launch of EverQuest II.  About 2 months after EQII’s launch, I was given the opportunity to also manage CS operations for EQ and EQOA and I’ve been going strong ever since.

Aside from PC and classic pen and paper gaming, I enjoy a wide variety of interests that include building computers, reading, sailing, martial arts, snowboarding, movies, historical re-enactment (yeah, I used to be a big Ren Faire geek), the occasional TV show (Mythbusters, CSI: Las Vegas), and of course attending Comic Con International (http://www.comic-con.org/) !

Safe Travels!

Sharon “Moonlite” Morris, Senior Customer Service Manager

I am Sharon Morris, Senior Customer Service Manager here at SOE. I’ve been here just over 5 years, originally on EverQuest, and then moved over to FINAL FANTASY XI.  About a year ago I took over Star Wars Galaxies, Matrix Online, and Planetside.  I now also have Vanguard:Saga of Heroes to look after! *puff pant*

I am known around these parts for my love of soccer and heavy metal music…looking forward to the upcoming Megadeth tour! I started playing online games with the now defunct Underlight that was originally on mplayer.

If you are heading to the block party here at SOE, or the upcoming Fan Faire in Vegas I shall look forward to seeing you all there, but am sure I shall post a blog or two here too!

Happy Gaming!

Satao “Tsunami” Minami, Customer Service Manager

My name is Satao Minami and I am the Customer Service Manager for our Accounts/Billing and Technical Support.  I have been here for 7 years working in both In-game and Technical Support.

I enjoy competition.  From sports to a good game of poker, I am a highly competitive person and will always put up a good fight.  Video Games has always been a passion of mine, particularly strategy type games.  You may have seen me running around with my Ratonga fighting some Epic mob or running away from a band of PvP’ers.

See you online!