I am the consumer that pays for the products and services Funcom provides. I am entitled and so are you. If we all collectively quit spending money on Funcom products, because of extremely poor service in return for our payments, then there is no CEO. No Funcom.
This isn’t the government that can take our money through taxes. It is 100% our choice to pay them or not. Yes, they can also get investors to feed them cash, to try keeping things flaoting through rough waters, but ultimately if they can’t keep players/payers happy, their source of revenue dries up and they die, or get rolled into some other company like Tencent.
I’ve worked for a lot of technology companies. Some of them doing billions of revenue a year. We treat our customers with respect and don’t stuff glaringly unfinished products at our clients and call it completed product. Just one case of that would be enough to lose the faith of even long term loyal clients. I had clients like Google, Wells Fargo, Boeing, Costco, Chevron, Facebook, etc. They don’t put up with half baked product releases. I’ve had clients like mom and pop retail stores and individual consumers. They also don’t put up with it.
The choices are many and if the product and service provider is dropping the ball, they can’t expect to keep the loyalty of the customer base. There needs to be accountability. Someone at a high level had been reamed for the way this release was handled and maybe they had to fall on their sword to Rui or the board of directors, but they aren’t the primary source of cash flow for the company. We are.
So tell me, what is wrong with expecting more from Funcom and Rui? I had no problem arranging meetings between my CEOs and clients for apologies when there were serious product or support failures. That is part of their job. The buck stops here kind of role.
Maybe there is some unspoken rule in the gaming world that products don’t have to be good and they are only banking on a one time purchase from clients, but I don’t believe that. If they want loyal clients, they need to earn them.
My loyalty is pretty much on the fence right now. I love this game and strongly supported this company, but the updates and DLCs are getting sloppier, which makes me question that loyalty. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one noticing the trend.
So, does Funcom care? If no, they obviously have no need to respond.