RE: [DL] Rant!

[Wes Anderson <wes.anderson@lucasfilm.com>]

>> Having said all this,perhaps pinnacle has spoiled us
>> in the past, with their great support and always
>> willing to give us their ear. I think this has caused
>> us to have a sense of loyalty towards Pinnacle and a
>> more earnest desire to support this great game.

I think you are correct. Pinnacle has spoiled us. I do not think it caused a
sense of loyalty that we would not have had otherwise, and if it did I do
not think its the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that our
expectations have grown so big that no company could meet them and stay
financially stable, especially in a low profit margin business like RPG's.

Customer relations is truly about managing the expectations of your
customer. Its about keeping the customer expecting a certain level of
service and then turning around and providing just a bit more than that
expected level. If one can manage to keep the bar at this expected level and
then always perform just above that level they can make the customer feel
special as well all have felt in the past, but at the same time continue to
meet our expectations and stay viable as a business. This is a sad but true
aspect of the business world.  

I however, do not hold PEG responsible for this their failure to control our
expectations. Shane has always been completely honest with us which was
refreshing. They treated us like we were a friends rather than customers,
and they still try to treat us that way, which is likely why so many of us
dislike how cybergames is handling things now.

Hopefully once this rocky period has passed PEG will survive, learn a bit
and find a way to continue to provide a support level that continues to make
us feel like a part of a community while at the same time managing our
expectations a little better so that they are always able to meet and exceed
those expectations.