The Zone s Sysops Were AWOL

The Zone's Sysops Were AWOL

UC had a semi-tough learning curve. When this is the case with an online game, you need to have a human available online and in the game's chat room to advise prospective and new players on how to get started. Early in UC's life on The Zone, there was a constant stream of interested prospective players in and out of the chat rooms.

Not once in over a year did I ever see a sysop from The Zone on duty in the chat room for any campaign or to help someone wanting information about the game or wanting to know how to get started. Occasionally players helped them out, but that was somewhat rare; the chat room would stay open while the player was in the game, so it basically looked like questions were being ignored.

However, I did occasionally see a sysop from The Zone in a chat room planning strategy with a paying customer ally. My holdings in a game were also attacked more than once by sysops from The Zone playing the game competitively.

This is inexcusable. Microsoft was/is in charge of sysoping most of The Zone's games , UC included. One of the major reasons UC failed so completely to draw new players over time was the total lack of attention paid to it by The Zone's sysops. And if the sysops are going to play competitively, the least they can do is pull some duty in the chat rooms and help out the newbies.

Most of the items listed in this article add up to a constant, sad refrain: ignoring the service side of this business in favor of development. It doesn't seem to matter how often we harp on the issue; the service side of the online game market continues to get short shrift.

I suspect the first company or game to really pay attention to these issues is going to get rich, while the rest of the pack languishes.