Alex,
I decided to post the Emails here, in case you guys aren't getting them, and so everyone else can keep up on this situation. I'm guessing there are others out there who are in the same boat as me and might be looking for some direction, or interested in how your team is handling this customer service issue. If you think this situation is going to go away, you are sadly mistaken. I have made a valid request for a refund, and would like that request to be addressed, please.
______________________________________________________________________
FW: Forum Post Follow Up
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From:
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World Golf Tour Customer Service
(members@worldgolftour.com)
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Sent:
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Mon 11/23/09 6:08 PM
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To:
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vgolfmaster@hotmail.com (vgolfmaster@hotmail.com)
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Hi Mark,
Hopefully this message will get through your filters. Was looking at some of your old forum posts
on the same subject, and can I ask if you run an anti virus software or skype
in the background while you are playing?
These use a lot of CPU and can make game play less smooth. But again, as stated in the previous email
below, please explain what specific problems you are having and include your
computer's specifications.
Thanks,
WGT
________________________________________
From: World Golf Tour Customer Service
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:57 AM
To: vgolfmaster@hotmail.com
Subject: Forum Post Follow Up
Hi Mark,
Regarding this post: http://www.wgt.com/forums/t/6462.aspx
, please explain what specific problems you are having with WGT in detail, and
we will try to work towards a solution.
Thanks,
WGT
RE: Forum Post Follow Up
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From:
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Mark XXXXXXXX (vgolfmaster@hotmail.com)
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Sent:
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Mon 11/23/09 7:03 PM
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To:
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members@worldgolftour.com
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Hi,
I understand your need for follow up on this, but also would like to know
why no one has yet to address my request for a refund, and to revert back to
the starter clubs. While my reasons for this request are numerous, even if my
only reason for this request was because I disagree with your charging of
equipment fees for a Beta version of this software, this should be enough
justification for you to address this request.
My system specs are as follows:
Intel Dual Core Pentium D 2.66 Ghz processor
Dell DM051 motherboard
3Gb DDR2 (533Mhz) SDRAM
Nvidia GeForce 8800GT GPU (512 MB)
Running on ATT DSL (Mb)
As stated in forums, I have tried Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Google
Chrome, and have adjusted all settings locally and for flash according to your
sites suggestions. I do have anti-virus software running, but have also tested
this by shutting down all open software and stopping all unnecessary services,
as was also stated in the forums. I have even ran this in safe mode with
network support just to test, and still received the same 'stutter' and 'skip'
of the swing meter. I have also makes registry adjustment for memory allocation
and page file adjustments and utilization, which should not be necessary, and
they have also not helped this situation.
I am unsure why none of these issues are being addressed within your
programming, and why this feedback is not being considered more seriously, as
there are numerous posters on the forums who seem to have the same issues even
after following your recommendations. I simply can not understand, from a
customer service aspect, why you are so unwilling to address the issue of a
refund. While it certainly is not a desired situation, the fact that people are
requesting refunds should be an indication that there are numerous users who
are unhappy with your product. This should also prompt you to wish to satisfy
those customers requests before you lose them for good, and should also prompt
you to want to address these issues in order to correct them. This is BETA
software, and the true intention of BETA software is to let users test it so
that improvements can be made. This appears to be an important step that you
have left out of the development process, and it at least appears that you are
simply satisfied taking money from users for using a BETA test program, with no
customer service steps in place to address dis-satisfied customers. This does
not bode well for any company who wishes to stay in business long term.
It is very clear to anyone with any programming experience that your software
renders far too much graphically during the swing process, a process that
should be handled locally on the users machine, with no communication to the
WGT servers, until the swing is completed. The flags moving in the wind, the
clock countdown, and any other animation should be suspended and handled
locally on the users computer until the swing has been completed, and only then
should this data be sent bac to the WGT servers. You are trygin to run this
software on the same level that a playstation or Xbox game would render, and it
simply can not work in an online environment.
Mark
RE: Forum Post Follow Up
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From:
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World Golf Tour Customer Service
(members@worldgolftour.com)
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Sent:
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Tue 11/24/09 4:06 PM
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To:
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Mark XXXXXXXX (vgolfmaster@hotmail.com)
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Hi Mark,
Thank you for the information. We're
trying to figure out what the problem could be here. The swing meter is, in fact, rendered on your
local machine. So that we can have a
better idea of the severity and type of problem you are seeing, do you see the
meter stutter on every shot or only occasionally? Does it happen when you're on the green or
hitting from the fairway?
Also, I have read your forum posts about the different things you've tried to
alleviate the stutter, and would like to know if you've also tried turning the putting grid, avatar
rotation, reflections, friend invitations and background loading to OFF in the
game menu. Setting the Flash Quality to
Low might also help (i believe you said you had it on high in a post).
Please let us know when and how often this stuttering occurs, and try the above
recommendations if you haven't yet and we'll take it from there.
Thanks,
WGT
RE: Forum Post Follow Up
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From:
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Mark XXXXXXXX (vgolfmaster@hotmail.com)
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Sent:
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Wed 11/25/09 12:22 AM
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To:
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members@worldgolftour.com
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Hi again,
Not just trying to focus on the negative, but the stutter happens on almost
every game that I play. There are some times it is minimal, and some times the
site is virtually unplayable. It seems to happen more when I am playing with
members from outside the US, but I have enough issues when this isn't that case
to blame it solely on that.
I also do not see any consistency on where the stutter occurs, as it is
sometimes on drives, sometimes on putts, and sometimes from the fairway/rough.
The only consistent behavior that I have seen that might help as far as
troubleshooting is that once it starts, it never goes away, and typically gets
gradually worse. If this swing meter is rendered locally, which I am not
convinced of, there should be no data sent back to the WGT servers until the
swing is complete. If that is the case, then you must be storing the swing data
somewhere on the users machines. If you are not clearing this data before every
shot, this might be a cache or buffering issue.
I have also turned off all of the options in the game menu, including the
advanced options, and have tried different settings for flash, all resulting in
the same behavior.
Will someone be offering me an answer in regards to my refund request? I
understand and am grateful that you wish to address this and correct it if
possible, but I simply do not want to wait for this to be addressed and do not
agree with me being charged for this upgrade within a BETA test environment. If
you correct this and it is addressed within the full release of your software I
will reconsider, but I have no interest in keeping these clubs until then, and
would appreciate a refund, and a reversion back to the standard 'starters'.
Vgolfmaster
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, I sent this reply on November 25, and have yet to hear a reply from you. I am resending this in case it got lost:
Hi again,
Not just trying to focus on the negative, but the
stutter happens on almost every game that I play. There are some times
it is minimal, and some times the site is virtually unplayable. It
seems to happen more when I am playing with members from outside the
US, but I have enough issues when this isn't that case to blame it
solely on that.
I also do not see any consistency on where
the stutter occurs, as it is sometimes on drives, sometimes on putts,
and sometimes from the fairway/rough.
The only consistent
behavior that I have seen that might help as far as troubleshooting is
that once it starts, it never goes away, and typically gets gradually
worse. If this swing meter is rendered locally, which I am not
convinced of, there should be no data sent back to the WGT servers
until the swing is complete. If that is the case, then you must be
storing the swing data somewhere on the users machines. If you are not
clearing this data before every shot, this might be a cache or
buffering issue.
I have also turned off all of the options in
the game menu, including the advanced options, and have tried different
settings for flash, all resulting in the same behavior.
Will
someone be offering me an answer in regards to my refund request? I
understand and am grateful that you wish to address this and correct it
if possible, but I simply do not want to wait for this to be addressed
and do not agree with me being charged for this upgrade within a BETA
test environment. If you correct this and it is addressed within the
full release of your software I will reconsider, but I have no interest
in keeping these clubs until then, and would appreciate a refund, and a
reversion back to the standard 'starters'.
Vgolfmaster