Tips For Submitting A Petition
The Advisors of Rubi-Ka (ARK) are a group of volunteers who assist the playerbase with in-game problems and questions. You can find general information about us and the /petition system in this thread. The purpose of this post is to help the community make the best possible use of the /petition system.
ARK can assist with a wide variety of in-game issues, including but not limited to the following:
- General Gameplay Questions/Problems
- Stuck/Zoning Problems
- Lost Items
- In-game Harassment
- Quest Problems
- Bug Reports
There are some issues ARK does not handle, including the following:
- Account and billing related issues
For legal and privacy reasons, ARKs cannot access your account information; you must visit http://help.funcom.com/ if you have an account or billing issue.
- Spoiler Information
We cannot tell you tradeskill recipes, what weapons/equipment to use for your profession, quest solutions, and so on.
- Transportation
We can help you get your bearings if you're lost and we have the ability to move ourselves and players around where necessary to solve in-game problems, but we are not allowed to act as a taxi service
Some General DOs And DON'Ts For Using The Petition System:
- DO save any chat text that might be relevant to the situation.
The easiest method is to click and drag your mouse over the text and right-click to Edit -> Copy, then paste into Notepad. Alternatively, logging a window can be toggled on/off by right-clicking the window's name in your Friends Menu and selecting Log Messages.
- DO provide a complete description of the problem.
"I need help" is not terribly helpful and could cause un-necessary delay in getting assistance. Remember the five Ws of journalism and include all that apply: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Examples include: Time and date (in GMT), playfield, names of other players involved, a description of what happened, chat text, exact name and QL of items or nanoprograms, etc. The more of this information you give us, the more likely we are to be able to help you.
- DO read the FAQ entries provided.
If they answer your question, DO use /petition delete.
- DO reclassify your /petition correctly if the initial class it is assigned is incorrect.
The automated response you receive will tell you what class your /petition has been assigned and offer you the chance to change it. Make use of this, as it helps us assist you more efficiently.
- DO send your /petition from the account affected by the issue you are petitioning about.
We can help you if you're on an alt on the same account (though we may ask you to relog the affected character if necessary), but we cannot help you if you /petition from another account (the only exception is if you cannot log the affected account into the game at all for non-account related reasons).
- DO NOT send multiple petitions about the same issue.
If an issue affects your entire team/raid group/org, select a spokesman (preferably one who has all the relevant information, chat text, etc.) and have that player - and only that player - send the /petition (org issues generally need to be petitioned by the President or a General). Six /petitions on the same incident will not get your issue "more attention;" they will clog up the queue and cause everyone else to have to wait longer to get assistance.
- DO NOT /petition issues for your friends unless the friend is incapable of logging in to the game at all.
As stated above, we can only assist when the /petition comes from the account affected by the issue being petitioned.
- DO NOT abuse the classification system.
Some /petitions get higher priority in the queue than others because they need to be addressed as quickly as possible. Intentionally misclassifying a petition to get faster service is not only unfair to other players who are patiently waiting their turn, it is also considered Customer Service Abuse and can result in action against your account.
- Please DO NOT berate the ARK who assists you if they tell you they cannot assist you.
ARKs have policies we are required to follow, policies which exist to ensure that every player is treated equitably and fairly. If you do not like a policy, game mechanic, or other issue with the game, please visit http://help.funcom.com/ and explain your position. Abuse of an ARK is considered Customer Service Abuse and can result in action against your account.
Specific Types of Petitions:
Harassment
We hope that you are able to enjoy your time on Rubi-Ka without unpleasantness from your fellow citizens. But we cannot be everywhere in-game at once, so it may happen that someone abuses you or violates the Rules of Conduct in a manner which adversely affects you.
If you are being harassed in-game by another player, we want to assist you as quickly as we can. The most important part of making that happen is for you to submit a /petition as quickly as possible. The more relevant information you include in your /petition the better. Including the time and date (in GMT), name of the offending player, playfield data, a sample of any offensive chat text, and/or a description of the incident (including exact names and QLs of items or NPCs, where applicable) will go a long way toward helping us help you.
Exploits are a special case: If you believe you've discovered a possible Exploit, you can /petition it but most ARKs cannot discuss it with you or take any information about it. Follow the instructions in this thread on how to handle a possible Exploit.
Lost Items
Sometimes things just go missing. If you believe you have lost an item, try to zone and/or relog to see if it reappears. Check all your bags and your bank. If the item is definitely gone and you know you had it within the last 48 hours, send us a /petition including the exact name and QL of the item and a brief description of how you lost it. We may be able to help you get it back.
Quest Problems
Sometimes you get hung up while trying to do a quest - you lose an item you need, delete the mission, or have a problem with an NPC. We can often help with these problems. As with everything else, the more information you give us the more helpful we can be. Send in your /petition with the name of the quest you're doing, what step you got stuck on, and/or a description of the problem you're having, and the exact name of any items or NPCs at issue.
Zoning
Occasionally you'll find you can't cross a zone boundary or successfully enter/leave an area. Usually, trying to cross somewhere else and/or relogging and trying again will resolve the problem. If not, send in a /petition with as much information as possible (F9 playfield data is especially helpful). Try to avoid using the word "stuck," however, as that may cause your /petition to be misclassified.
Bugs
Not everything that doesn't work the way you expect it to is a bug. But if you think you've found one, we can take a bug report. Petitioning these is, however, the least efficient means of reporting them. While we are happy to send bug reports along to the Bug Hunters, using the /bug command is a faster, more efficient means of informing them of an issue.
General Gameplay Questions/Problems
Please include the actual question/description of the problem in the text of your /petition as this allows us to assist you more efficiently. Please be as specific as you can.
Feedback
We can and will take criticism, praise, and ideas you have for improving the game. It is worth noting, again, that the /petition system is the least efficient means of sending feedback. The best methods are to visit http://help.funcom.com/ or post in the Game Suggestions Forum.
Conclusion
If everyone using the /petition system were to keep all of the above suggestions in mind, wait times and other problems with sending /petitions would be significantly reduced. We're here because the community matters to us. We endeavour to assist everyone to the best of our abilities, and we appreciate your co-operation in helping us serve you better. Anything we can do - together - to make the process run more smoothly benefits everyone, players and ARKs alike.
