basicwiz opened this issue on Jun 06, 2013 · 258 posts
Cage posted Sat, 22 February 2014 at 1:39 PM
Poser Customer Support has finally gotten around to taking up the issues I have reported on the previous page, those which I speculate may relate to objFileGeom body part geometries. The bug has been passed on to the development team, where it may go somewhere or nowhere, who knows. :unsure:
In the midst of this, I think I may have managed to work out what Customer Support wants from us. I am working on some rules of thumb, for my own (shudder) future interactions with CS. I will share them here, since others seem to have difficulty working with CS.
That information you enter on the initial bug reporting form, hardware details, OS and Poser version, all of that, WILL BE IGNORED by the CS rep if and when that rep finally passes a report on to the dev team. Or not ignored. It may depend on the mood of the rep. Nonetheless, to avoid hassles, have all the data ready to hand them a second or third time. Put it all in a text file, so you can copy and paste the data with minimal hassle.
Gather every little detail about your hardware that you can, because the category of "hardware information" may be broad or narrow, depending (perhaps) on the mood of the CS rep. I use Speccy to gather all of my data into txt format. Edit out the private bits (Windows serial number, etc), then save the modified file. To be sure the CS rep always gets whatever is needed (don't expect them to tell you precisely what they need, just that they don't have it), copy and paste the entire modified Speccy text file to send to Customer Support.
If a report is finally passed on to the development team, the CS rep will also want from you a listing of all of your Runtime locations. Prepare this in advance and keep it ready for these encounters.
Don't expect the CS rep to cooperate with you, or to inform you of their needs. Half of what the rep states in those ticket discussions is being entered for the record, to prove to bosses or observers that the rep was doing his or her job adequately. The CS rep seems to like to talk past the user and ignore questions. You, the user, may wish to likewise address the boss or observer. Tell them what the CS rep is doing well or badly. CS may not tell you their needs in a clear and straightforward manner, but you should try to tell them your needs clearly, firmly, and (probably) repeatedly. As mdbruffy notes, "Sometimes the only way to get things fixed is to rock the boat."
If you can't upload files to the Customer Support bug reporting website, you may be able to send smaller files as e-mail attachments. This will not work with larger files, if your e-mail client has a file size limit. In that case, you need to upload to a website. If you do not have a website to which you can upload such files, do not expect the CS rep to readily inform you of options. The CS rep repeatedly noted that I was not providing sample files, while consistently ignoring my requests and demands that I be informed of, or provided with, options to allow me to share the files with them.
I finally did get an option from the CS rep, and it may be the option preferred by Smith Micro. SM has a website called sendstuffnow.com, where a user may be able to create a trial account and upload files for use by the Poser development team. Do not expect the CS rep to tell you this readily.
Rather than this, think of the CS rep as C3-PO, a rigid, autocratic, literal-minded, stuffy, perhaps sneaky, robot. The droid is silly and pitiful. You are not fighting an ogre, you are laughing at a silly automaton. It is important to regulate how you think of the CS rep, because that rep can seemingly make things go well or badly for you, depending on mood. C3-PO may seem obseqious and meek, but may also be taking subversive action, like when they were all captives of Jabba the Hutt, right? Do not offend C3-PO, if you can avoid it, because he isn't necessarily on your side just because surface behavior suggests it.
Have a buddy on the beta team, to whom you can turn if all else fails and an important issue isn't being communicated. Do not abuse the beta-buddy! Misuse of such personal connections is inappropriate, and offensive to the buddy. Only use this option when the real point at issue is the potential improvement of Poser.
Use the forums. Sometimes the Inside People do pay attention to the kvetching. Not always. It's hard to get their attention, but it can happen. They may actually take an interest, if an issue does potentially point toward the improvement of Poser.
Remember that we are all on the same team. We all want to make Poser better. It is easy to forget this, but it is true. You may need to remind others of this fact.
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Cage can be an opinionated jerk who posts without thinking. He apologizes for this. He's honestly not trying to be a turkeyhead.
Cage had some freebies, compatible with Poser 11 and below. His Python scripts were saved at archive.org, along with the rest of the Morphography site, where they were hosted.