Zitat:

As it has now become incredibly clear that CM will not provide any further support for RR (despite the insistence of a certain person who has told us not to speculate about the future without offering a sliver of an argument that would indicate why we ought not speculate), the best we can possibly hope for is an apology. It won't fix any of the many, many issues with either of CM's FP titles, but it would show some evidence that CM is staffed by actual human beings who recognize that their customers are also human beings who are worthy of respect, or at least acknowledgement.

So, to help out the geniuses in customer relations, I did a quick google search for "business apologies." Shockingly, in the first few pages of results there wasn't a single article that said "When you screw up don't say anything-- don't even communicate with your customers." In fact, there were many, many articles pointing out how effective a sincere and timely apology can be. I also found an excellent example of a video game company that - shock of shocks!-- actually did issue an apology. Perhaps you can use it as a model. Or just go and play airsoft. Not that you're even reading this.

So, CM, if you don't want to go out of business, perhaps you should read over the following highlights that I've plucked from just a handful of these articles... Or perhaps you'd prefer to act as though none of your customers exist and leave us to the mercy of moderators and community managers who speak to us like children who need to be scolded and put in their place. Your choice. Your jobs.

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I. Some general comments on apologizing

"Instead of viewing an apology as an unfortunate part of the job that forces you to acknowledge a weakness, view them as a valuable opportunity to solidify and build your business relationships."

"Researchers found that people who are wronged in a business transaction may be more likely to say they would reconcile if the offender offers a sincere apology – particularly if the offender takes personal blame for the misdeed."

"To err is human. To apologize is divine. It is important to apologize the right way, especially in business matters. A business apology is somewhat different from a personal apology, but some of the same rules apply. No matter what the mistake, a proper apology can help to save your dignity and possibly your job."

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II. Actual apologies

"While more than two months have passed since the official launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that FINAL FANTASY fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies.

After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was to approach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team...

...We realize time is of the essence and are fully determined to provide our customers with quality service. It is because of this that we ask our customers to be patient until we are able to confidently present them with a concrete plan outlining FINAL FANTASY XIV's new direction. The free trial period will be extended until that time."