I. IntroductionCould you introduce yourself to our users?
Luco Hello all. My name is Christian "Luco" Wehrlin, I am the "Customer Service Manager" at Games-Masters, and thus one of the persons responsible for the evolution of Perfect World MS. I'm German who now "enjoys" living on the UK-Island to work here.
Beelzebub Yes, of course: I'm Cristobal, I'm from Spain, and I'm actually working for Games-Masters.com as Spanish Supporter.
What are your duties?Luco I am responsible for organising the whole customer services at Games-Masters.com - that includes watching the helpdesk, the forums, etc. Apart from that I am also in direct contact with the Chinese developers in getting the best services from them as possible (patches, updates, ...).
Beelzebub And I'm the responsible for the Spanish support work.
How does your typical workday look like?Luco Usually I arrive at the office at around 8am, and most probably my email-inbox has filled up that I have to work through. Also I'll have a chat with China about the newest changes/work that they have done, and most probably there is something to decide or discuss on that matter. Apart from that, several meetings with all the departments are usually part of my day - that usually ends at about 7-8pm in the evening.
Beelzebub When I arrive the office around 8am, the first thing that I'm doing is checking the forums (English and Spanish), and Helpdesk System Tickets, so my workday would be something like Forum, Helpdesk System, and also being ingame solving some doubts from players and handling some bot reports ingame.
How did you began working for Games Masters?Luco Before I arrived at Games-Masters, I was a self-employed IT-Consultant, and MMO's more a hobby. That took more and more time, especially as I had my free2play-website going on that got quite famous in Germany. This is where I got in contact with Kru, and he kept asking me to join Games-Masters - one day I said "Ok."
Beelzebub I got contacted by Kru at the starts of July, and I started to work for Games-Masters at the ends of July 2008, he described me how the job will be and I obviously said: Of course I'm joining
But how did he know you? 
Beelzebub That's secret
Do you play PW?Luco Yes, I do play my Mage once in a while. I luckily am not recognised, and I won't go into details. Must say, that I keep out of any sort of PvP and Territory Wars, tho. And besides that, I only have a few moments of time where I can truly enjoy playing without thinking about all the next steps that are necessary. It's one thing if you are working to publish a game, and if you "just" play it...
Beelzebub Yes, with a character that noone knows, I wasn't recognised by anyone and won't neither say anymore details about it. I was playing guildless also. I enjoy working for the game a lot, so that's not a problem for me if I'm not currently playing it a lot.
What other MMORPGs have you played?Luco I started playing online games from the very beginning around 1994 - so the famous games Ultima Online, Everquest, Tibia, DAoC were among my favourites back then. Guild Wars was a long-time favourite of mine, too.
Beelzebub Yes, I started playing MMORPGs at 1999, when in Spain I could access a 56kbps modem at least, I've played a lot of them.
II. Team & team work
Beelzebub, how many hours a day you spend ingame, especially handling bot reports?Beelzebub As often as possible
So, how much it was today?
Beelzebub 4 to 5 hours approx.
Luco, can we players expect help from GMs 24h/7 days a week? (that is ingame and outside of game)Luco Yep, we are working on that. While it may not necessarily be a 24-hour coverage ingame, we will be very close to that. In fact we recently hired new people for exactly that reason.
Oh, that's great news. Will they be working in the understaffed helpdesk too?Luco They will also work in the helpdesk, too.
I
s there any helpdesk only staff?Luco Yes, there are many different functions. Some are helpdesk-only, others ingame-only, some are working at both fronts.
What if player wanted to join your team?Luco That *can* happen, but they are then first chosen by us, briefed and watched for a while. If his communication-skills and also his background (education, job, or other experiences) fit in with us, then he/she could get hired. In fact, it already happened.
It happened with Mortes, right?Luco Mortes is not a GM, but a CL (Community Liaison)- there's a bit of a difference there
What's the difference?Luco A GM is there to solve problems - sometimes in specific areas (like Tech-GM's, who answer technical support-tickets). A Community Liaison is a solemnly communicative job, where the job is, to "translate" between the community and the GM's or speak for us, etc.
I remember two bigger cases at forum where players had issues with GMs doing badly their work. Either it was incompetent answer (one that made the player feel unwanted and lost with his problem) and the other was bad attitude (and choice of words) by a GM on the forum. So, how is it with community GMs? Are they trained in handling the customers, especially when the serious problems arise (like with the item mall items/cash)?Luco Yes, there is training for GM's. Still that doesn't help you in all the situations that might arise. Situations that you describe are situations, where the good GM's can shine, calming down the situation and finding a solution. But - nobody is perfect - so mistakes can happen.
Last time it was either you, Luco, or Kru. Do other GMs. like Beelzebub, can't speak on PW MS behalf? Sometimes players expect quick info: we are discussing the matter in our team now.Luco Of course, not all GM's can speak on all topics freely, just as "they feel" - discussing issues back with me and Kru is a normal thing in such cases. And in some cases, we simply do not have an immediate answer, and first need to investigate a situation, the causes and possible solutions.
Yes, that's obvious of course. But as I wrote, can't they say at last: we are discussing it now or we are looking for solution? It was PW MS big plus in the beginning that you were quick to share info with players. Even one that you are working on something, etc. I remember few topics going for days without any response from GMs.Luco In several cases, these are topics that are either handled in a different thread, or where an answer wouldn’t have been possible without spoiling too much - like currently the question for the "Genies". In such cases, we do not answer. In critical cases, where solutions are necessary or a response must be given, one of our staff usually does give an answer.
Are there any Polish in the PW MS team?Luco Yes, there is a Senior Web Developer.
Please send him our greetings. Beelzebub, can you tell us, what are the most common people's problems? (apart from bots and fake guild bidding on TW?)Beelzebub Well, the main problem, as you said are bots, goldsellers and fake guild biddings on Territorial Wars, apart from that, there are some account and ingame problems
Account problems like the problem with having to create another account to play and couldn't delete one for months?
Luco that issue could have been solved by changing the password with your first account. Sadly, the "create another account"-message went through the forums too fast.
Beelzebub That kind of problem isn't one of the main problems, actually, just few people have problems with it
Share with us some details about unusual ones, please.
Luco I remember one ticket, where this girl kept asking for a picnic.
Picnic?Luco Yeah. That thing with the basket full of food and a sheet...
I didn't know about such a feature in PW.Luco I kinda have written the same answer - she meant in real life... I denied that, of course, as I'm married.
Beelzebub, how about we go for a picnic? Beelzebub I'd be up for one someday, hehe
I'll call you when I'm in UK then Beelzebub Okie ^^
III. Updates and EventsWhen will be the next update?Luco Pretty soon, actually. While it hasn't yet been announced, testing has already started.
Can you give us a bit info what we can expect then?Luco It's a huge update. It's not about item shop, it's about huuuge content.
Any language-pack updates scheduled for near future?Luco Partially all 3 available languages included in that huge update. And we are also preparing French and Turkey, where translations have already been started. We still have a problem with the English yet tho, but will be able to solve that pretty soon, I guess.
What kind of problems do you have with English?Luco More an organisational problem, than with the people involved.
Who translates the client actually?Luco We are supposed to receive an English translated game...
Translated by the Chinese developers?Luco That's what the plan is. Must say, that the newest update will feature good translations, so that's why we think that the real plans are now gonna kick in, and everything can be better.
Do you have any plans for other language versions?Luco Apart from Turkish and French - currently no plans which are set in stone. We know that the Polish players would be happy to have PW in their native language, but currently that is not on our task list, sorry.
That's too bad.
Luco Well, sadly we also have to look at the financial side of things. I'll never say "No way!" to a Polish version, but currently that's not possible. But who knows what the next 1-3 months bring. Things can change soon.
So there aren't a lot of Polish players? Luco There are alot - it's just that the others have more. Lets say it in another way: If we would extend our licence to other languages, polish is very high on the list of the "would do"-list.
So where do come from players from most numerous countires? Luco The strongest countries (probably in all games) are Germany, UK, Turkey, Spain, France. Not necessarily in that order.
The ones that are expected to have their own client. That's quite understandable. Any others?Luco Don't think so. Sometimes it depends on which countries have holidays, but in general that's the stronger countries.
When there will be events ingame?Luco While there are sometimes smaller events currently, we are working on several events that will happen ingame and are of "bigger" scale.
And what are the smaller events? Like the one with spawning Grandmother of Wolves?Luco That and some others like "Find the GM", etc.
Ok, so when Open Beta ends?Luco Whenever we see that the game is ready (and the processes involved in that - patching, etc.) for commercial launch.
That's not the type of answer players want to hear 
Luco Yeah, but its the truth.
IV. AdvertisementCan we talk about adveritisng then? Luco Yup. Lots of stuff going on at that front, actually.
Can you elaborate on that?Luco Well, in Germany there have been TV-spots, and they might be Europe-wide in the near future. In Germany the Gamebox will be available - which features some special items, etc. - from 21st May on.
Do you plan launching boxes for international players? Luco We are currently browsing the options for that. In Germany it is/was quite easy with the partnership with Sevengames.de. We hope we can do that, moreover as soon as possible, too, but nothing has been decided on that yet.
So will we get TV spots in Poland?Luco I don't really know actually. Don't think it is among the countries that initially will get some. But I cannot say 'No' yet.
Why not?
Luco It is related to the companies that are there that we could work with. There's a bunch of countries being involved in the next step - not sure if Poland is among them.
Okay, so what about internet and/or newspaper marketing in Poland?Luco Newspaper marketing isn't really on our list - anywhere. If there are deals, that include that, ok, but we're not specially looking for that in the moment. Internet marketing in Poland will most probably happen in the not-so-far future.
Do you intend to do any marketing fitted for women? I'd like to see more women in PW. I know it already has a lot of female players (because of customisation, fashion items for example). But any female-oriented campaign?Luco Not especially... but it could be an idea with more and more "gamerchicks" being around...
How would you advertise Perfect World?Luco I really like our slogan that says: "Everything is different in a Perfect World... because you make the difference."
V. F2P vs P2P and paymentWhat do you think is better , p2p or f2p?Luco I personally like the freedom of Free2Play. No hassle with quitting a subscription, etc. just move on, if you want. Also you can just download the game and jump into it. I always preferred that system. If I wanted to spend some money to have an easier weekend, i went for that, instead of paying a subscription for a game that I had no time to play.
But don't you guys think that they can be much more expensive than f2p?Luco Yes, P2P can be more expensive than F2P...
So, Are you planning on lowering the cost of item mall things? How about lowering the cost for wedding?Luco Must add to the question above. It always depends on the player, and what he wants to achieve. If you want everything NOW, then its getting expensive in a Free2Play-Environment - but only a few do that actually. Most just spend a few bucks per month and are happy with it. We are not planning to lower any prices.
I haven't checked payment lately, did anything changed in that field?Luco Cause of the issues? We still are working through them. Biggest problem is always the verification of the accounts - and sadly the functions of our 'cash-tool'.
VI. PW MS vs PWI
How would you convince the players to choose the PW MS servers not the other ones? (both in terms of new players and the ones that migrated to another serwer, mainly PWI)?
Luco That's simple: Play with your neighbour, and fight against your neighbours - and fight in Europe, at times that suite you best.
But PW MS is international, not Europe only...Luco Well, currently I'm talking to a Polish gal... If someone from South America would ask me, the answer is simply: Play in Spanish...
VII. FinaleAnything you want to say to Polish players?Luco Keep going, have fun, and eat some nice crusty bread...
