Disclaimer: This post is the personal view of the blogger, and it is in no way the official company stand
Imagine manually levelling your character in-game for months at several hours a day, just to finally reach Level 99. You spend even more hours in the marketplace trading and buying items to arm your character with the best equipment possible. With all the effort you put, it’s only natural that you get attached to your in-game character, especially since you are now part of a guild that has like-minded people like yourself. You now find an online barkada, a greater reason to keep playing.
What if one day, you log-in and find out that your character was stripped of all the items you worked hard for, and your character deleted? How would you feel? What would you do? Who will you call? These questions will undoubtly race through your brain as you try to repeatedly log-in, wishing to yourself that there is just a problem with the game server. After several minutes, you finally realize it. You were hacked.
I felt that. Three times. The first one was during the height of RPC 2004, when I was still very competitive in the Chaos server. I was hack deleted along with fellow guild leaders in our faction. The second and third instances occured on RPC 2005. I went to Level-up, and they told me to follow the procedure by going to CIDG. I did all of that, even hiring a lawyer at one point – but what happened? Nothing. After countless days trying to recover what was rightfully mine, I finally gave up, quit Ragnarok for good.
Any marketer/businessman knows that it is infinitely cheaper to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. This is a theory accepted globally, and I’ve read enough marketing books that keep citing examples on how customer retention can boost revenues dramatically. Because of this policy, the player churn rate is simply uncontrollable. The “No Hack Compensation Policy” espoused by Level-up was totally contradictory to retention goals, and during my stay here as the Brand Manager for Ragnarok, I’ve made it my personal mission to tear down that policy. Why?
When you tell someone to go to CIDG – you are really telling them to just quit the game. There is no way that the CIDG can get the items back of the player, much less his or her account. When you tell people that it is their fault that they get hacked, and that you won’t do anything about it, you are throwing a valuable customer away. The GAME is not your business, the GAMERS are. The GAME does not pay you, the GAMERS do. This is a belief that I hold close to my heart, and something that I desparately try to follow day in and day out that I’m here.
In a matter of days, Level-up will finally announce the retraction of the No Hack Compensation Policy. It took me three months to convince key managers to finally drop it. I’d like to personally thank Andro, Head of the Game Management Department, for sharing my conviction. Though people may say it’s too late already, I will still consider this a personal victory. I’ve bitched about this problem in the Ragnaboards and among fellow gamers when I was still active in Ragnarok. Finally, things are starting to change.
Thank you, Ms. Jane Walker, LU CEO, and Sheila Paul, LU COO for putting me in a position that I can finally do things for the gamer and not just for the game. Lastly, thank you to all of you RO gamers out there who continue to support the community and the game. Without YOU, Level-up is nothing. Without the GAMER, there is no GAME.
And to my Level 99 Blacksmith, hack deleted three times… May you finally rest in peace. 
Elrohir on March 15, 2007
nice work wauks, too bad alot of players has already quit because of the “so called” policy…hehe good day!
HeWhoHasNoName on March 15, 2007
May his soul finally RIP for he has now attained his goal and be forever remembered. (PW account please.) XD
wauks on March 15, 2007
Yeah sadly alot have already quit because of being hacked. It’s a sad reality I have to deal with as the BM for RO. We can’t change the past anymore, but at least the people playing now have somewhere to go when something like this happens to them.
Zerth Runesheid on March 15, 2007
This is indeed a good news for all pRO Gamers, great job Wauks!
You’ve done extremely well as our over all GM and you did the same with the current position your in right now.
God speed dude.
Bele on March 15, 2007
Good news. GREAT news! no more shitty policies! one thing though, I hope LU actually delivers service this time XD
Diwa on March 15, 2007
Brings back a lot of memories /sob
Firechan on March 15, 2007
-smile- I’m glad that you have achieved this goal. I have never had this issue myself in iRO but I know several dear friends who have. I’ve always felt that the policies concerning “hacked” accounts were unfair especially since there are a few times when people DO get a roll back and other times when people do not. Politics and Favoritism aside, it’s awesome that you’ve won this for the players of pRO. Good job!
chynie on March 15, 2007
im 1 of the players who quit, sadly not more than once or twice i’ve been hack… i think around 10times or more, i dont know how it happend even if i chnge pass and email etc i get hack every 2months…imagine that every 2months !! iba n kc ang adik naglalaro p din from the start then pgkabangon mhahack n nmn then payaman mode n ulit hanggang npagod nko…
then RF finally came and transfer there. i just hope no more hackers when PW comes out
chynie on March 15, 2007
btw myron din hackers s RF pero rarely lng ako nkakakit ng hack incident
ChrisH on March 15, 2007
that is good work indeed, Wauks… /no1
alas, my very first character who was similarly hacked-deleted cannot be brought back anymore, but consider this not just your victory , but the whole RO playing community as well…
ChrisH on March 15, 2007
CBT account ko po… wakekeke…
Buksan Mo on March 15, 2007
naiyak ako paps.. T_T na miss kitang panoorin solohin si Orc Hero nun.. T_T anyway, Glory to the Circle!!! ^_^
Anonymous on March 15, 2007
Great job Wauks! This is actually a big step for LU to supporting their customers. Albeit late for LU but nonetheless it will improve customer’s confidence. Finally you have given your blacksmith well deserved justice.
GEcbt on March 15, 2007
grats.. =)
i was wondering why you joined levelup ’till you said this.. we met in an icafe in QC but that was a long time ago and i am now in Baguio..
Dante DeathBringer on March 15, 2007
I miss your BS Chief, it reminds me of the good old days. Rest in Waukeen.
The Shadows of Circle will always be with you that’s us.
Wauks on March 15, 2007
Thanks for the kind words guys. After this gets announced, the pRO Team will focus on the Server Merge. More details on that soon!
riui on March 15, 2007
Congrats and prepare for a heck of a lot of added customer service requests.
I do hope that people being paid off to hack delete or to give usernames and passwords won’t happen anymore nor would GM’s or database admins giving favors to friends.
mhuu~ on March 15, 2007
“The spirit of Blacksmith Waukeen has finally laid to rest. Rest in peace my mentor, knowing that Midgard will be going forward to a better future”
hehehe roleplay mode for my smith. ^^V
ADM[2] on March 15, 2007
Haha, SC made me play RO for 3 good years.. Smiths rule! well, at least we used to.. haha..
Wauks on March 15, 2007
Hindi pa pala tapos ang laban! I think I spoke too soon. I’ll give you guys updates as the days go by.
Spimps on March 15, 2007
Great job Chief! /no1
Waukeen shall rest in peace now.
Glory to the Circle!
Sir_Dragoon. of fenrir on March 15, 2007
thanks sa magandang nagawa mo wauks.. naranasan ko n din yang hack delete n yan! sa ngaun marami ng matutuwa.. sadly, mas maraming nagquit dahil sa policy n yan. malamang lng yung mga gm dati tinatamad lng ng magtrabaho kaya gnun.. peace guys /gawi
k!ll3r*a[V]eN* on March 15, 2007
“one soul has rest, but many will be resurrected”
kudos to you sir wauks, kudos!
Griffter on March 15, 2007
Nice One! Your Victory is everyone’s victory! Bravo!
ashak on March 15, 2007
Nice job Chief ..We will support you whatever you do Sir wauks .. hehe
Glory to the Circle .. ^___^
CrAzYkUrTâ„¢ on March 15, 2007
Waukeen is the best GM ever.
Hes like a father to us all.
Nakak miss ung mga siege nung active pa siya.
Grabe iba yung feeling eh.
He’s really an icon in pRO.
I share your sympathy, dami din nag quit dahil diyan, sa mga bagong pRO players ngayon and still holding on sa pRO, keep Holding on. Its a great game, enjoy it. Kahit quit nako sa RO ngayon di na mabubura yung memories.
Minsan bumabalik pa me dahil sa siege, sa saya ng woe.
Pero ang pRO hinde na tulad dati. Si Chief, yung mga strategies niya sa woe grabe sobrang lupit, siya lang makakaisip nun.
Kaya sa mga nag quit na ng pRO, PW tayo. Bagong simula sating lahat!
Cheers
Glory to the Circle
Capital_Cash on March 15, 2007
Wonderful, Simply Wonderful!
pinkbits on March 16, 2007
great job waukster! now that you’re at it… can you work on making customer services more responsive to customers concerns?
my concern:
we all know how old pRO is, dont you think asking for transaction numbers still apply just for kafra pw resets? aw come on… sometimes we input bogus names/words in online registrations and people tend to forget. how can i retrieve my transaction numbers in that case? i do admit its a fault in my end. but hey… they should have made the registration page fool-proof so as not to allow creation of game accounts if a verification email is not clicked or something… this is also a good way so you can eliminate people who create junk novice accounts just to make a pub so they can buy “LOAD” or other “PHP stuff” in-game…
thanks man… kudos to you!!!
Wauks on March 16, 2007
@everyone
Thanks for the support guys. Amidst all the criticism and problems, it’s good to know that I’m doing something right XD
Cheers and more power to the Pinoy Gamer!
TonTon on March 18, 2007
I’m with you wauks.. eversince im one of your fan, im very proud to be one of your guildmate in your main guild SC , u been very nice and great leader and a promising character u have made. Bravo!!
Evan on March 21, 2007
One man can make a difference. XD
Du Gha Zan on April 7, 2007
Aww sayang now lang nangyari ito ;( Anyway nice job Wauks