Customer Service Representatives (CSR) serve and protect the galaxy by answering calls for assistance and providing information. For this spotlight, we want you to meet GM Gourney and GM Zuglash and learn a little more about the people behind the avatars and what you can do to help them help you.

Ethan "Gourney" Nason

What's the funniest moment you had while working on SWG? Finding out that neutral turrets aren't really 'neutral', but not before shooting at everyone - much to the chagrin/amusement of the 5-6 players who were there with me. Is there anything you think the players need to know about CS for SWG? What can they do to help their issues get resolved quicker? The core of the team has been working on SWG since launch (myself, Volom, Sopis, Chrol, Vedan and Maenar), so there's a ton of experience and knowledge available to share with the entire team. Make sure you have all the particulars in your first response: the more we have available to us when going to investigate something, the less likely it is that we'll need to come back to you looking for additional information. Be descriptive; we don't charge based on character count! =)

How long have you been working at Sony Online Entertainment?
7 years

How long have you been working on Star Wars Galaxies?
7 years

What's your background like? What did you do before coming to SOE?
Retail sales support and IT hardware technician

Have you been in other positions within the company?
Game Master (GM) and Senior Game Master

Do you play Star Wars Galaxies?
I'm not actively playing right now but I do have a level 90 Trader - Engineer, level 90 Trader - Structures, level 82 Officer and a level 39 Jedi.

Have you tried all the professions?
No, I haven't.

What's your favorite profession?
Trader - no particular one. I like being able to put together stuff to help out other players.

What's your favorite area of the game?
Tatooine in general

What things do you like best about Star Wars Galaxies?
Player housing and player cities

Are you a Star Wars Fan?
Yes, but I'm just an average fan.

Do you play any of the other SOE Games?
I've played EQ, EQ2 and PlanetSide and am currently checking out PoxNora and The Agency: Covert Ops.

Does working on the games affect your enjoyment of playing?
It can; after working on something for 40 hours (or more) a week, there's a need to unplug and do something different.

What's the funniest ticket you've ever gotten?
Can't think of one specifically, but it's always amusing watching credit farmers rat out other credit farmers.

What do you like best about your job?
I like getting to work on different projects with different people every day; whether it's players or staff, groups or departments.

Describe a typical day in your life?
They still have typical days? Where can I sign up?

What kind of training did you have to undergo?
When I first started, learning the basics of the product and CS tools, but mostly procedural and situational training: what to do in certain situations, how best to respond to customers, things of that nature. I'd worked in service-industry jobs for 10 years and had been a volunteer guide/senior guide for EQ for 3+ years before I started, so I had a good idea of what I was getting into.

Pick one:

• Sith or Jedi? Jedi
• Pie or Cake? Pie

 

Additional Message
If you find a random bantha wandering around Naboo, I had nothing to do with it getting there. Honest.

Brian "Zuglash" Ferguson

What's the funniest ticket you've ever gotten? We get tons of funny tickets, but we have a slightly twisted sense of humor here. One ticket that does come to mind, however, was a pretty normal ticket (missing items or something of the sort) aside from the fact that he attached a picture of him IRL to the ticket. He was flexing in front of his motorcycles. Epic! My advice to players is make your tickets as enjoyable/funny to read as possible it will greatly brighten up our day, and it also might help you get what you're after. What things do you like best about Star Wars Galaxies? Heroic Instances, PVP, droid crafting, space combatthere's lots of fun stuff in the game that I enjoy.

How long have you been working at Sony Online Entertainment?
1½ years!

How long have you been working on Star Wars Galaxies?
My full time at SOE so far has been spent as a GM for SWG. So 1½ years!

What's your background like? What did you do before coming to SOE?
I was a professional gamer and full-time college student before coming to work at SOE.

Have you been in other positions within the company?
Nope!

Do you play Star Wars Galaxies?
Yeah. He's a level 90 Wookiee Medic - fully defensively/heal potency geared and spec'd. He's pretty fun to play and looks awesome while doing it because he's a Wookiee!

Have you tried all the professions?
Yep.

What's your favorite profession?
Medic. Having to juggle keeping people alive and doing as much damage as possible is fun for me!

What's your favorite area of the game?
The heroic instances. Challenging group play is fun!

Are you a Star Wars Fan?
I would consider myself a minor Star Wars fan compared to the zeal that others have for the brand.

Do you play any of the other SOE Games?
I do! I've been dabbling in some EQ2 lately.

Does working on the games affect your enjoyment of playing?
It can; after working on something for 40 hours (or more) a week, there's a need to unplug and do something different.

What's the funniest moment you had while working on SWG?
I don't really have a funniest moment. Every day is pretty entertaining/humorous for me, so it's hard for me to pinpoint a pinnacle when every day seems to be that day.

What do you like best about your job?
So many things to highlight, but if I had to pinpoint one thing, it would probably be my coworkers and supervisors. They are great people, and I truly enjoy working with them.

Describe a typical day in your life?
Wake up, get ready for work, go to work, go to lunch, back to work, go home, play video games or bass, read my book, go to sleep!

What kind of training did you have to undergo?
It was mostly hands on training, with me watching a senior GM work, or having them instruct me on how to handle issues. Thankfully, being an avid MMO player made the concepts behind the job second nature. I knew what I was getting into. The only challenging part was learning *how* to get stuff done with our tools, and also mastering our policies.

Is there anything you think the players need to know about CS for SWG?
Include as much information as possible when you are submitting a ticket. If you lost an item, let us know the last place you saw it, how you originally got it, and its exact name. Stuff like that. Also, feel free to be as silly or funny in your tickets as you want to be. Generally, the more fun I'm having working on your ticket, the quicker I'm going to resolve it!

Pick one:

• Sith or Jedi? Jedi. I always gravitate to the "good" side.
• Pie or Cake? The Cake is a lie, and I don't like pie. IT'S A TRAP!!!

 

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