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Microsoft's technical support

Started by Raloth Jan 8, 2004 at 5:46 PM 9 replies 350+ views

Original Post

Jan 8, 2004 at 5:46 PM

So I email their technical support with a problem I''m having with Age of Mythology and I get the typical "update your drivers blah blah" response. I wouldn''t have minded so much if I had mentioned that I already did that. Do they actually read the emails? So then I reply back and give them a dxdiag report. He mails back saying my DirectX version is 4, I should upgrade to at least 8. I thought this was a little weird, so I looked. Yep, Windows thought I had 4, even though I installed 9 a little while back. I fixed that (didn''t fix the problem though) but I''m still left with this one question: does that guy over at Microsoft even know they never even made a DirectX 4? Blah, just shows they never actually read your message or take the time to think about it (but I''m sure all of you already knew that

Oxyacetylene

Jan 8, 2004 at 5:51 PM

The real question is, does it even matter whether there was a DirectX 4 or not? It''s a useless bit of trivia. If you''re having a problem with the game, and dxdiag says you''ve got version 4, then it''s reasonable for him to think that''s the cause of the problem.

Raloth

Author

Raloth

Jan 8, 2004 at 5:52 PM

(If he thought about the problem, he would realize I wouldn''t have even gotten into the game if I had DirectX 4.)

falkone

Jan 8, 2004 at 5:58 PM

Everytime I set up a new computer, the dx version is at something unusable.. 6 I believe. So it not being updated isn''t that rediculous.

Raloth

Author

Raloth

Jan 8, 2004 at 5:59 PM

Sigh...

My point is that he never thought about the fact that there was never a DirectX 4. I''d expect someone working for Microsoft to know that.

Oxyacetylene

Jan 8, 2004 at 6:02 PM

quote:
Original post by Raloth
Sigh...

My point is that he never thought about the fact that there was never a DirectX 4. I''d expect someone working for Microsoft to know that.

I don''t see why he should know there was never a DirectX 4. As I said, it''s a useless bit of trivia and not really relevent.

superpig

276

superpig

Jan 8, 2004 at 6:03 PM

I''ve never worked at such a place, so I can''t tell you with any degree of certainty, but what I might expect is that they have a flowchart which they follow.

1) BEGIN SESSION
2) Has the user got the most recent version of DirectX?
If no, INSTALL DIRECTX; END SESSION
3) Has the user got the most recent video card drives installed?
If no, INSTALL VIDEO DRIVERS; END SESSION
4) Has the user got the latest patch for the game installed?
If no, INSTALL PATH; END SESSION
5) PASS ISSUE TO DEV TEAM; END SESSION

Or something like that.

Richard "Superpig" Fine
- saving pigs from untimely fates, and when he''s not doing that, runs The Binary Refinery.
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falkone

Jan 8, 2004 at 6:10 PM

Ah, Superpig, I haven''t gotten the chance to congratulate you. I also haven''t had the time to grovel to your moderator-ness.
*grovels*

In general, the lower level tech support people will be the ones handling calls such as these, and as such, they really don''t need to know anything. Higher level techs will be aware of such things, but they''re probably busy with matters that go beyond updating DirectX.

In reality, it really doesn''t matter if directx is version 4 or not.. it''s not the latest version, which along with drivers is the solution to most problems.

Oxyacetylene

Jan 8, 2004 at 6:13 PM

Exactly. Why would technical support have to know if there was a DirectX 4? What possible relevance does it have to getting the game to work? I don''t see why technical support should know every single mundane detail of the history of DirectX.

JimboC

Jan 8, 2004 at 8:28 PM

quote:
Original post by Raloth
I''d expect someone working for Microsoft to know that.

First problem is that you''re not talking to someone who actually works at Microsoft. Microsoft has farmed out their support to sub contractors many years. You''re talking to someone representing Microsoft - there is a difference there.

Second, you''re talking to someone in India who didn''t have to display the same level of knowledge that the person doing the same job had to display before the work was relocated to India. Many of the tech support reps don''t have anything other than a database of options in front of them - from what I''ve read, most of these people don''t even own computers.

What does your DXDiag say for version of DirectX? Mine reads: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902) - that is DirectX version 9, not DirectX version 4.

Raloth

Author

Raloth

Jan 8, 2004 at 8:44 PM

After looking at the log and what it reads now I can only figure the tech guy is completely new. Mine also said "4.09.00.0902" before and after the reinstall. Now can I complain? I understand being new on the job and everything, but something like this...

[edited by - Raloth on January 8, 2004 9:45:28 PM]

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