im finally seeing that steam support sucks.

[CPLS]

i bought assault on dark athena and it doesn't work. i contacted steam and this is what i got.

1 « Message by you on Mon, 4th Jan 2010 12:10 am »
when i load the game, the screen changes resolution, goes black and then a crash report opens. i tried downloading a patch for the game, to no avail. i tried changing the dx level and as far as i know my drivers are up to date. is there anything else i can do to get the game to work?

2 « Message by Robert on Thu, 7th Jan 2010 10:39 am »
Hello Adam,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Technical support for this title is handled by a third party support department - please follow the link below for instructions to contact the support provider for this title:

Title: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_a...3826-TIKX-9919

Please let us know if you experience further difficulties, or if you have additional questions or concerns.

3 « Message by you on Thu, 7th Jan 2010 12:22 pm »
thank you for your time, but as much as i have tried to fix this problem, it persists. i am sure that my laptop meets the requirements for this game and it is the second game that has not worked for me. i have exhausted all means i have been able to find online and... well anywhere i have looked and nothing works. i would please like my money back, or at least a credit for the amount of the game, being $6.79. thank you

4 « Message by Robert on Sun, 10th Jan 2010 12:32 pm »
Hello Adam,

Please provide a transcript of your exchange with the support provider for this title.

5 « Message by you on Sun, 10th Jan 2010 2:40 pm »
im not quite sure what you mean. what exactly would you like me to do? do you mean i have to take this up with atari? because i bought the game off steam.

6 « Message by Robert on Sun, 10th Jan 2010 5:28 pm »
Hello Adam,

As the game was not made by Valve, the amount of support we can provide is extremely limited.

You will need to speak with Atari for further assistance to troubleshoot your issue.

7 « Message by you on Sun, 10th Jan 2010 5:57 pm »
ive tried to contact atari, but that was more than a week ago and i havent heard anything from them. rather than wait and find more proof that the game will not run on my laptop, i would just like a credit for another game please.

8 « Message by Robert on Mon, 11th Jan 2010 2:27 pm »
Hello,

Thank you for contacting Steam support.

We are aware that there is an issue with CD keys for Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, causing an "Invalid or banned CD Key" error when attempting to create a multiplayer profile.

This issue should not have any effect on the single-player portions of the game.

At this time we are working with Atari as well as the developers of the game, and hope to have this resolved quickly.

Thank you for your patience.

9 « Message by you on Mon, 11th Jan 2010 3:29 pm »
i am not having a problem with the cd key. the problem is not the cd key. the game does not START! it CRASHES when i click on the game. this is getting annoying. please just refund my money!

[Jelly]

You'll probably hear from Atari in another month. Their support is super slow. Last summer, when I bought The Witcher, I needed to get a CD key to unlock a patch. I put all of the required information into their little support request form and it took them five weeks to get back to me. That was a fairly simple problem, too, and it probably only took a support dweeb ten seconds to fix it.

It actually sounds like an Atari problem, tbqh. Maybe they gave Valve a bunch of bad keys or something. It sucks that Valve won't even give you store credit for the game, though.

[bananahammock]

You won't get anywhere unless you use this type of an approach;

I understand you can't offer technical support for all titles sold through Steam and that I need to resolve this issue with the developer and/or publisher of the title, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault On My Rectum. This is the same avenue I would be forced to pursue if I had purchased the title at a local retail outlet.

However I felt it important to notify you, one of the major distributors of this title and the distribution service I ultimately chose, that the developer and/or publisher is not supporting me as a customer. If a refund for the purchase of this title is not an option, I certainly understand but will be far more apprehensive about purchases through Steam in the future. You are, after all, one of the parties who profited from the money I've spent on a software release that simply does not work.

I've always been confident in purchases made via Steam, at least until now. If a refund isn't an option, I'll continue my seemingly futile efforts for support from Atari and I'll definitely think twice before buying through Steam again in the future.

Fuck yourselves.

[CPLS]

I believe I will copy that and paste it next time I get an email from steam. Thank you banana.

Oh and jelly, it's not an atari problem, it's a they put the wrong requirements or some shit problem. Or my thing isn't supported or some bullshit. Cuz I torrented butchers bay and it works fine.

Oh and I just noticed he said thank you for your patience, then I got pissed off and demanded a refund haha

[CPLS]

thank you banana, i copied and pasted what you said, with one small change. i dont want an assault on my rectum. they just said again "Hello Adam, You will need to remain in contact with Atari for assistance with this issue." so we'll see what they say next time.

[kingonly]

You won't get anywhere unless you use this type of an approach;

Fuck yourselves.

I love the sincerity of your message. It cuts away the chaf and all that is left is meaty substance. :P

This sucks CPLS! At least you didn't spend a ton of money. My suggestion would be to make sure your windows is all updated and that your video card has the latest drivers. I know it's a longshot, but it appears that is all you can hope for.

[clockw3rk]

id say that probably 80% of all customer service responses are either atuomated messages, copy and and pasted from a directory of answer for questions, or completely scripted and the people working in customer service are robots.

[CPLS]

id say that probably 80% of all customer service responses are either atuomated messages, copy and and pasted from a directory of answer for questions, or completely scripted and the people working in customer service are robots.

nah because there are the occasional typos... but i checked... all my drivers are updated and i meet the requirements for the game. idk wtf is up

[Jelly]

nah because there are the occasional typos... but i checked... all my drivers are updated and i meet the requirements for the game. idk wtf is up

The robots have a random typo generator to throw people like you off their trail. Beware, the robots are becoming smarter every day.

[CPLS]

The robots have a random typo generator to throw people like you off their trail. Beware, the robots are becoming smarter every day.

hahaha... alright. ill remember that.

[CPLS]

after 2 weeks, finally i recieve this.

14 « Message by Robert on Wed, 20th Jan 2010 6:34 pm »
Hello Adam,

As requested, we have processed a refund to your account.

Your confirmation number is: 54208510121660461

Your bank or credit card issuer will return the funds to your account - please allow 3-5 business days for the funds to be posted.

If you require any further assistance, please let us know.

[Jelly]

Maybe they don't suck so hard after all.

[bananahammock]

Banana ftw.

[CPLS]

after i said what you told me to say banana, they just said if im going to refuse to contact atari, they werent gonna be able to help me. so i yelled at them and they gave me my money. haha

[Hankey]

so acting like a bad guy is now proven more efficient that a good guy.

[Angry_Squirrel]

id say that probably 80% of all customer service responses are either atuomated messages, copy and and pasted from a directory of answer for questions, or completely scripted and the people working in customer service are robots.

This fear is why, despite not having the flexibility to customize my laptop (for what small customizeability there is), I like staying with Dell. Although it's annoying to stumble through the regiment of procedural questions, live chat support > all else. Not even support over the phone can be beat remote screen assistance.

The drawback is, however, that this kind of support is hardware only. They want you to call a line for software support at like $2 a minute. D: (good thing I've been able to troubleshoot almost all of my software issues...)

[bananahammock]

This fear is why, despite not having the flexibility to customize my laptop (for what small customizeability there is), I like staying with Dell. Although it's annoying to stumble through the regiment of procedural questions, live chat support > all else. Not even support over the phone can be beat remote screen assistance.

The drawback is, however, that this kind of support is hardware only. They want you to call a line for software support at like $2 a minute. D: (good thing I've been able to troubleshoot almost all of my software issues...)

But, given Dell's raging boner for proprietary hardware, unique Windows builds and hidden partition/install shits, support becomes somewhat of a self fulfilling prophecy. I've never needed software support with anything until I worked on a Dell. They do provide take-down/rebuild manuals for their laptops though, I'll give them that.

[Jelly]

Dell proprietary hardware is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I think nearly all of it is now ATX standards compliant (except I think Precision workstations are still BTX, which is really uncommon, but not proprietary).

Their damn Windows builds are damned annoying though. And I usually get rid of their hidden partitions and whatnot with a decent partition editor.

[bananahammock]

If it were a clear-cut case of removing the partitions and reinstalling the OEM equivalent version of the same OS using the provided serial, I'd cheer for Dell. Unfortunately, that isn't the case so I'll just go on buying their monitors and bitching about their PC's.

They have gotten away from propietary hardware though, I'll applaud them for that. Remember the desktop daughter boards and unconventional ISA/PCI slots? And yes, I'm basing my hatred on a bad experience 10 years ago.