@GM Suggestion

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the suggestion, but this sort of sounds like:

1. Calling 911 and being able to ask for a specific dispatcher or emergency worker
2. Going to court and requesting a specific judge to work on your case

It either downplays the importance of your in-game issue, in which case it should be handled on forums (report abuse, character issue, etc) or it could seem like favoritism (but.. the other way? does that make sense?)

 

I think the concerns about language are quite understandable, and I think in a perfect scenario, being able to assign a GM that is more comfortable in a third language (2nd language being the language of memes xD) to situations that require it could be really neat. That said though, I think the problem would be more about feasibility sadly All staff members are volunteers that spread across various timezones. While this allows us wider coverage, it also means that it's usually the same few GMs available at certain timeframes. Unless someone has a messed up sleep schedule (which is more common than not LOL).

But I think that's also where the importance of forums come into play as well. That way players and GMs are available to respond based on their expertise/involvement to the case, regardless of what time the ticket was submitted.

So if I can summarize your concerns, it would be three major points (please correct me if I'm wrong):

1. Differing approach of GMs that A) fix things on the spot, versus B) those that redirect you to forums
2. How issues in bosses are handled (I'm guessing that's what you mean by twice a day)
3. Pre-existing staff restrictions that lead us to say "there's nothing we can do about it"

I'll try to clarify some points, that might clear (some) things up ^^

Regarding #1
Whether a GM fixes stuff on the spot or directs you to the forums usually relates to the type of issue. For certain issues (usually character issue or report abuse related), there's an undeniable process to things, and sometimes we (as staff) want to verify first then fix. There are a lot of players that like to take advantage of our kindness, and so we need to ask for that verification before we do anything. Whilst it isn't the most "efficient", I think the community (and us) prioritize doing things right, rather than quickly.

You would've also seen there are a few different roles for staff members. While it might feel better to just go straight to the top to ask your issue to be resolved, this (once again) has a process. Much like how you can't go straight to the Supreme Court to handle a legal matter, you have to go through the chain and if necessary your issue will be escalated. Bottomline is that this is just an issue about bureaucracy, and sadly inevitable Bureaucracy everywhere is slow and perhaps seem inefficient. But it exists because it works, and there is no more efficient alternative (especially when you factor in public servants/volunteers to the equation which staff members pretty much are)

Regarding #2
There are so many things that can possibly go wrong in a bossing scenario, so I can't really figure out what you might be alluding to... If it relates to a bug, we completely feel you and understand your frustrations. Possibly even more, since while it happens to you once in a while, for us, we see it every time it happens to someone. Statistically we just have to handle it more times epehands: For bugs, please rest assured that the devs work their hardest to fix issues. Sometimes, it's not as easy as we think, and you fix one thing and another thing breaks. It is sadly the nature of things... But that doesn't mean we don't work on it and simply expect the player base to accept it'll always be like that. We are all volunteers, and the devs probably have the hardest time, since they're working on so many things at the same time, all for better player enjoyability I hope you understand that part.

Regarding #3
This once again, goes back to the idea of bureaucracy and existing policies. Rather than thinking you have to "suffer in silence and move on", perhaps it might be easier to rationalize why we have those policies in the first place. It's so that loopholes can't be exploited with some people gaining an unfair advantage to others. Everyone is held to the same standard. There are also some game-related bugs that can be caused with those "we can't do anything about it scenarios". Two major ones come to my mind (esp if it relates to bossing)

• Warping a despawned player back into a boss:

Warping back into a boss can be tricky as you're not a part of the same instance anymore. It can break things, and even if the boss is no longer there, if you were to warp someone back, then another group will say "WE should be able to be warped back too!" < it's a slippery slope of setting precedents, even though there are various caveats attached to it.

• Boss loot related issue:

Spawning loot is also tricky, as it might turn out different than it would've should it have dropped naturally (from the boss). Add on the whole slippery slope argument here as well, and there's even more reason not to do it.

While making one or two people happy might be nice, it could also result in MORE players being dissatisfied. Sometimes, shared & equal dissatisfaction (aka by having policies that prevent us from doing xyz) is the more utilitarian approach to things. I hope that clarifies things for you ^^