Interview with GM Kragg : Lineage 2 General Discussions

Q. How many HGMs are there? How many 2nd Tier GMs are there? (SweetChoch)

We’ve got 5 HGMs (6 if you include HGM Spam, but he’s mightier than a mere HGM and he technically has a much longer title). We have around 30 or so 2nd Tier GMs that work across 3 shifts.

Q. Are both genders represented equally in the GM department? (petxurag)

As equal as we can be?but for some strange reason, more men always seem to apply for the job than women. We do have a good mix, though.

Q. Can you please give an overview of each Tier of GM and the chain-of-command and what types of calls each can resolve? (Mithoron)

Q. Who is on the Investigation Team? Why are petitions/submissions to support always escalated to the investigation team but players are never contacted by members of that team? (SweetChoch)

Q. How does one escalate a ticket beyond the first tier of GM’s? (Mithoron)

Q. How much power does the first GMs you contact have? (wolferey)

When you first petition or write an email to support, the 1st Tier GMs evaluate your issue, ask any necessary questions to clarify your petition, and then forward it to the proper department to best assist you. They are there to do all of the basic footwork, handle game play or non-emergency issues, and route more complicated issues to the next tier or appropriate department. They refer your issue to the people that can handle it, but they need enough information to send the issue to the next tier.

Next, your issue hits the 2nd Tier GMs. They are our Investigation Team, as well as a customer service team, and they cull over the logs, investigate your issue, ask you any additional questions, and inform you whether your issue will be escalated for resolution. Just this week we have given some 2nd Tier GMs additional power to quickly resolve quest issues, recovery claims concerning certain known issues, and carry out disciplinary actions.

Finally, if the 2nd Tier finds sufficient evidence in your claim, but it can not be handled by the 2nd Tier GMs, then the issue gets escalated to the HGMs, who create the policies and determine the final say on the complicated or stranger issues.

Q. How do you recruit new GM’s? How would one apply for a job of being a GM if there is a spot open? (Bodybag)

We post all official job openings through www.plaync.com or hire them through agencies that specialize in professional customer service representatives.

Q. One Friday night (Eastern Time, Erica server) in the last month or so, I decided to check how many GM's were on line (/GMLIST). I did this because I was hunting in an area with rock outcrops that will get you stuck if you go to pick up an item in them. I was surprised to find that no GM's were listed online! Question(s): How often does this happen? How many GM's are there for each server anyway? (Sword_Mejishen)

Q. Every so often GMs are not registered on the GM List. Why does this occur? It is disconcerting to get a response from a GM that is not listed on the GM List. (SweetChoch)

Each time that a GM logs on to a server, they are supposed to add themselves to the GM List. However, there are two possible reasons why they may not appear on the list. The first is simply because we have a team of GMs that jump from server to server based on petition load and response time, and occasionally they will forget to add themselves to the list when they jump over to another server.

The second reason is because some bot programs will check the GM List and respond to players appearing on that list in specific ways to counter our testing methods. If a GM responds to you and is not on the GM List, it may be because they were just testing some bots and forgot to add themselves to the list before they took your petition. GMs will only interact with you in one on one in petition, however, so that’s another good way to be sure.

Q. You have said previously that GMs play Lineage 2. What is the policy, if any, regulating their style of game play, what servers they are allowed to play on (especially HGM’s who monitor several servers if not all)? Who reviews and enforces that policy and their actions and have any GMs ever been found to be in violation of that policy? If so, what was the punishment? (SweetChoch)

Every GM is audited regularly by the HGM staff, and we audit each other as well, both on their GM character and our regular play characters. There is also a very long list of rules that all of our GMs are expected to adhere to. Any abuse of GM power is grounds for immediate termination.

On that note, however, getting involved in PvP and general game play is something that we encourage our GMs to do. They are free to get involved in player killing, territorial disputes, and player to player warfare. They are allowed to be a part of the game as much as any player, as long as they do not use their knowledge or powers to their advantage. As long as they play the game just like any of our players, they are given the same freedoms as our players.

Q. It has been said that the GM's are gamers. I assume that meant the 2nd and 3rd tier GM’s. So are the 1st tier GM’s more of a customer service oriented team? (Slaval)

All of our GMs are professional CSRs that have been involved in customer service for years. In addition, all of our GMs are gamers that have been playing PC and/or Console games for as long as they’ve existed. I still have my Atari 2600. Lots of people nowadays play games, even Pro CSRs. Every tier of GM is a customer service team, and every tier of GM plays Lineage 2, among other games.

Q. Do the GM’s play on a special client? (Bodybag)

Nope, no magical client for the GMs. We use the same Lineage 2 game client as everyone else.

Q. Are you only able to GM from the office or can you GM from home/a remote location? (SweetChoch)

Our GMs must be in the office to handle petitions and perform investigations. No one is allowed to handle petitions from home?I mean, how creepy would that be, wondering if the GM you’re talking to is in his pajamas? Most unpleasant.

Q. Do you have shifts (e.g. a "night crew") for each tier of GM and if so, how do you have meetings with the entire GM team, communicate issues effectively, etc? (SweetChoch)

We have 3 Shifts with 1 hour of overlap time between shifts. At the end of this overlap time we have a crossover shift meeting to discuss the happenings of the day, coordinate between shifts, give feedback to and get feedback from the HGMs.


Exploits and Procedures:

Q. What are the correct procedures for reporting an offensive character name in game? (Piwackett)

Reporting an inappropriate name is as simple as petitioning /gm Offensive Name ?NastyName. If you provide this information in the petition, it gets routed directly to the GM team for evaluation, name change, and disciplinary action.

Q. At what point does harassing behavior like following people around and attacking their mobs become reportable to a GM? What can be done about this in the meantime? (toturi99)

Q. The terms of service forbid "harassment" of another player. Since this is a PvP game, some harassment is bound to occur. At what point, if any, does one cross the line from PvP over to harassing another player (non-stop PKing or train dropping, etc) in a matter which is a violation of the rules? (SweetChoch)

Lineage 2 is an open PvP game designed around conflict, organized clans, warfare, castle sieges, and territorial disputes. Every report of harassment has to be considered within the context of the game world. When one player is kill stealing or training mobs to make another player leave an area, this isn’t real-world harassment, but an in-game territorial dispute. One side is willing to fight for it, and it is the choice of the second player to fight back or move on.

Another example of reported harassment that isn’t is random player killing. They may be making a nuisance of themselves, but to us they are simply a brigand, ambushing other players, and can be dealt with by other players that decide to fight back.

Clan wars will often turn into two sides constantly hunting each other down, but if someone reports to us that they’re being “stalked?by a player of an opposing clan, we really can’t get involved, as it really is a clan issue and any action we take will involve taking a side in a clan dispute. Both sides are hunting the other.

There is a point when a reported issue is considered harassment, but ultimately, player killing, mob training, mob healing, karma baiting, and kill stealing are all tactics that every player has to fight one another. Every player is also entitled to kill other players, randomly or otherwise, combat their enemies, and fight for territory. We consider every issue in its entirety when harassment is reported, but if you can still fight back in game, then we will not get involved in player conflicts.

Q. Why are GMs always telling about their aggressive stance towards Bots/Botting, but never really ban them? Is the paying Customer more important to them than the use of 3rd party programs? (nodiea)

Q. Are the GMs doing something about botting? What? Are the GMs doing something about illegal farmers? What? (wolverey)

Q. On average, how many adena sellers are banned in a week? (_Cary)

Since the first day of Open Beta we have been hunting down bots, farmers and sellers. Since that day we have been finding the best way to find them and obtain the necessary proof to ban them. We have been forced to evolve as they have evolved. The total numbers often rank in the hundreds every week. Some months our total kill count is in the thousands. We ban them as quickly as they can buy new accounts.

Q. Will accounts get hacked ever get reimbursed? Case is this, in prelude, a few of my friends got hacked and got their stuff back by the GMs. Took awhile but they got it back in the end. But now in C1 a lot of people got hacked but none that I know of got anything back. I know that the there is the possibility of a false hack report, or getting hacked due to carelessness of the owner is probably a very high cause, but for those unfortunate souls that actually did get hacked without doing anything wrong. Will they ever get reimbursed? Or should we never expect any reimbursement at all. (Laffiel)

Each HGM gets involved in dozens of hacking issues a week. We investigate each issue thoroughly and determine the possible causes based on the nature of the intrusion. 70% of the time, it’s a player’s friend, family member, significant other, or clan mate; someone they trusted and shared their information with. 10% of the time its someone that tried to sell their account on ebay and the buyer charged back on Paypal. 15% of the time, they downloaded a Trojan, which is usually determined to be found on a bot program or illegally modified l2.ini file. The other 5% is because they were careless with their information, such as posting your account name on a clan web site, or posting information that lets others guess your account or password on a public web site.

There has never been a case of account intrusion that is a result of any security breach or hacking of the game itself. If there were, then we would reimburse, as it would honestly be the fault of NCSoft. However, almost every player that reports their account intrusion is found to be responsible, and often they are in violation of the EULA themselves for the reasons I outlined above.

Q. How many people get stuck and require assistance to move again each day? What’s the average response time? (Sanjuro_30)

The number varies from day to day, but the average response time is 10 to 15 minutes. If we get a large volume of stuck petitions at once, however, it can take longer.

Q. I see (on average) 10 different players de-leveling by attacking guards every single day. Is this illegal in any way, and if so, should I report it? (Tulcakelume)

De-leveling in and of itself is not considered an exploit.

Q. With regards to the glitch from Hardin's Academy to get to DVC entrance, what is the policy with regards to its use? We have gotten mixed messages with some GMs saying it is OK to use and then others teleporting players back to town. If it is a violation to use this glitch, what is the proper way to report a player using this glitch and what is the punishment for a first time or repeat offender? (SweetChoch)

This is a known and patrolled exploit and we do not condone its use. Players that are caught using this exploit can and will be disciplined.

Q. It is also against the rules to transfer access of your account to another person. Some characters are actively hunting 24 hours a day for days/weeks/months on end. Since this is not humanly possible, can't this be used as proof of a violation and if so, how should we report it? What is the scope of punishment for this violation? (SweetChoch)

We are aware that there are some players that obviously play for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and this is actually one of many, many criteria we use to find offenders in the game. Playing for 24 hours a day in itself is not conclusive proof of a violation, but it is a perfect indicator and can prompt further investigation. You can report these players as a bot (since it is generally not humanly possible to play 24 hours without the assistance of 3rd party programs) or even as farmers (which they usually are) and we will definitely look into them.

Q. If a quest that I have spent many hours doing crashes my client due to two items with the same name in quest tab. Why am I first expected to wait for the next higher tier to assist me when I first petition? Then, get told I have to delete one of the items and run half way back around the map to try and get the items again. Why can't the GM's take the wrong item from quest tab and add it to the other item? It was the game that crashes my client, but I am expected to spend another 30 minutes running back to get item and then run back to complete quest. Are the GM's told not to help when this happens other that to tell players that they have to go back to complete quest again? (Deebris)

First, please check out the answer above concerning how the Tier system works. We have encountered a few quests where quest items will appear in two stacks or you will receive multiple instances of a quest item. When this occurs, we will delete the duplicate stack or item and allow the player to continue the quest from the exact step they got stuck at.

Your issue sounds like a known problem with the Amber Beads, which will end up in 2 stacks, one of 69 and the second stack of 1. Until recently, the 2nd Tier GMs did not have the power to add items at all, and so even though they could tell you to delete the items, they had no power to add them. In addition, response for an HGM could have taken up to 2 days (due to farming/botting/hacking issues), and most players want to finish their quest much faster than that. In the interest of customer support, we have given certain 2nd Tier GMs the power to add items for known and simple issues, which will make it much easier for them to fix these issues quickly and as they come up.

Ultimately, if you have any problem with the GMs or the way that they handled your issue, please write to support and your ticket will be routed directly to an HGM for review. We are always looking for ways to improve our customer support and are always open to suggestions and criticism.


Mechanics:

Q. Why do GM's look like regular characters? This GM (his name is GMShade) looked like a DE fighter. It may be a good idea to make the GMs stand out a bit more, and look a lot less like "HappyBoy001-4000" that is stealing rooms in Cruma. (Tulcakelume)

I agree with you. I’ve been fighting with Spam to let the GMs walk around looking like Antharas so that they stand out, but he keeps shooting me down.

Seriously though, we let the GMs pick their avatar for their GM character. GMShade chose a Dark Elf Fighter, I chose a Dwarf Fighter (Dwarves Rule!!!!), and Spam is an Orc Mystic. If we decided to look like mobs you’d probably attack us the minute we appeared.

Q. Will the GMs sometime show up in a town or something, i.e. showing themselves public? (wolferey)

They do occasionally, but they’re not really supposed to. Most of the time you’ll see a GM because he’s warning a large group of players for something, testing a bot, or because he accidentally forgot to hide again after warning players or testing a bot.


Fun:

Q. HGMSpam was a history major. He must have written many papers in college. Why can't he spell? Does the rest of the HGM tease him about being reliant on a spellchecker? If not, why don't they? (SweetChoch)

Oh, we make fun of Spam all the time. All the HGMs make fun of each other on a regular basis, but Spam’s the most fun because he’s our boss.

Q. What do GM’s like on their pizza? (TheFocusElf, Bubbledude)

If you asked everyone individually, you’d get dozens of answers, so usually when we order pizza for the office we have to settle on either Extra Cheese or a Pepperoni/Sausage combo. A lot of GMs like vegetables on their pizza, but no likes the same selection of vegetables, so they’re out of the question. Every once in a while, we’ll get a giant pizza that’s about 3 feet across. It’s gone in about 20 minutes.

Q. Do any customer drive you crazy with their demands so much that you just want to PK their character? (snake41468)

Who do you think PK'd you yesterday?

But seriously, I’m sure that it’s crossed some of our GM’s minds, but no one goes hunting any specific players, and if they did, we’d lay the smack down on 'em. That’s not to say that some of our GMs haven’t gone on PK rampages before, but they’re not hunting anyone down specifically unless it’s an ingame vendetta. GMs are not allowed to foster ingame grudges for work-related reasons.

NICE! ^^