Star Wars The Old Republic: 

Worst Customer Service and On-line Financial Transactions, EVER

WARNING FOR ALL ASPIRING JEDI, SITH, AND MANDALORIANS:

SWTOR ( http://www.swtor.com ) is a MMPORG game with fantastic detail and depth in the Star Wars universe.  It is also, without a doubt, the worst experience I have ever had with an on-line billing system for a game, and with hours on hold waiting to talk with Customer Service.

My son plays this game, and I watch him do it, and of course provide the funding.  Unfortunately, their system to buy "Cartel Coins" is probably the worst ever, having been broken for over a month now.  Furthermore, their promised game cards, which could get around their worthless credit card heist system, have yet to show up at Game Spot stores, as has also been promised on their website.

As far as their credit card heist system, BUYER BEWARE.  If your account gets stray electrons that mess up a single byte of information, then trying to add different payment options fails (such as adding your Pay Pal, different credit card, etc).  The only way to see if it works is to try making a purchase, which I did with the CS rep several times, and on my own while on hold for roughly the length of the Star Wars movies (combined) it felt like.

You call Customer Service, thinking that they can fix it... and listen to 30-60 minutes of the same boring Star Wars music and stupid messages about being in a que, and laughable messages about how they are improving their Customer Lack-of-Service (haven't yet, from a user perspective!).  Finally a polite guy took my credit card info, and entered it, so that it works, and purchase finally went through. Lack-of-Customer-Service rep tells me the account is automatically locked out for 24 hours after a purchase, to prevent re-purchases.  Hmmm - that is wierd.  Why would that be necessary?

But the account is finally functional, a purchase was made. Yaay - problem solved, right?

WRONG.  Over the next day, all of the failed transactions were submitted to my Mastercard account.  Instead of a single $39.99 charge, I have around $300 of charges.  Pretty good money-making scheme.

So then I call Customer Service. Hours on hold, to get told that you have to call during Central Standard Time business hours and talk to an business office account billing droid-person-something.  Here's the kicker:  YOU CAN'T CALL THEM DIRECTLY, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE CONSTIPATED CUSTOMER SERVICE QUES!

 Well, since I actually work for a living, it isn't easy to sit on the phone all day right away.  Nevertheless I called today about 4pm.  About 40 minutes of waiting into it, I got a human-sounding guy who told me the same as the last guy - talk to billing during business hours, put me back in the same interminable waiting. Now it is 5:23pm, and the business office is undoubtedly closed, and I am still on hold.

This game is technically well done, but the implementation of their credit-card heist system is criminally negligent, and reflects badly on Lucas Arts, Lucas Films, George Lucas, Electronic Arts, and Disney now, which is a real shame.  I don't much care what their excuses are; if your billing system is stealing from people, then it should be shut down until it works, and just let people play for free other than their monthly fees.  How hard can that be?

For now, all I can say is BEWARE SWTOR ( Star Wars The Old Republic ) unless you want your credit card ripped off.  For me, I am calling Mastercard to dispute the charges and have them removed.  And I removed the credit card from SWTOR, of course.

I hope others aren't ripped off like this or worse.  In 2012, it is a shame that a neat game is compromised by a cheap billing system.

RV Park Review - Standrock Campground, Wisconsin Dells, WI

I've camped here now 2 Springs in a row for a week or so at a time, for the yearly shakedown, and to get out after a long winter. Gives me the chance to work and camp at same time.  Peaceful, pretty, spotless, close to Dells, good store, camp in back, not front to be away from freeway. http://www.standrock.com/

It's a little close to the I-90 freeway, so you won't want to camp in the front rows by the clubhouse if you don't want to be in sight of the freeway.  However, the back rows of campsites are really nice!  (I was in 19).  Easy to back into and full hookups in many (not all, check first).  Good tall shade trees, but enough sun to enjoy sitting out.  The campground is pretty with nice hiking trails (not very well maintained - wear jeans and shoes!) that highlight the midwest pine and oak forest in the rocky Dells. Excellent playground for kids, and farther over is a basket ball court and 6 horse-shoe throwing course thingy's and plenty of room for throwing a Frisbee or playing ball, etc, well away from campers.

The camp store has all the basic camping and RV supplies and soft-serve ice cream.  And, being Wisconsin, they have their own tavern, too!  (Good low key family-friendly Wisconsin-style tavern, with fresh free coffee in the morning for campers).  The pool is nice looking but I haven't tried it as it opens on Memorial Day, and I have camped before then.

Internet connection is probably OK at the camp store, but unusable at sites.  Use your Verizon phone/data plan and you will do well, with 5 bars most of the time, and only occasionally dropped connection during work and surfing use this year.

The campground is kept up spotlessly and excellent restrooms, spotless, too.

Overall, very nice place for peaceful camping yet close to Wisconsin Dells.  Far better than the next place north of here that shall remain nameless due to it's noisy carousing teens and drunks on golf carts near the river...

Camping Passages

I used to camp with only what I could carry on my back.  Then came the Navy, a couple back surgeries, and a couple wonderful kids...  Now I can't sleep on anything hard, and my RV has a microwave and surround sound stereo!  But it is still great to get out and listen to birds and bugs without the distractions of home, and to walk somewhere without overhead speakers calling, where each step is new.  To live simpler again.  To be able to stop where I want and lay out my camp there.

Yeah, it's different, but it's still camping.  I hope you can, too!

Want to donate to support my WebOS development if you like my apps?

If you do, here's the link to my CME/Development page that has a PayPal link.

http://home.centurytel.net/BBooDoc/

Vicodin can be a Godsend - occasionally

Treating chronic pain is interesting, to say the least, when you have it yourself.  

There are not many days my back doesn't bother me.  I am 20% disabled according tothe VA, from old Navy injuries.  It hurts worse if I am in bed too long, and generally wakes me up by 6 hours.   So sleeping in is not usually an option.  Pain meds aren't often an option either, as thinking must be sharp to catch babies, and feeling like a zombie is no fun.  Most of the time it is just meloxicam.stretching, walking, and thinking about something else.

So this weekend it was a real treat to be able to take a Vicodin, sleep for 2 more hours, and be able to get right out of bed without hurting.  Pity it isn't real and doesn't last!  At this rate I'll finish my 30 tablets from 2007 ... Sometime next year.  I already have 6 more I can pick up, which were prescribed when I couldn't find the 2007 bottle.  My doctor asked me if she should be concerned when I asked for the refill. 

And, that is what I think about when people want hundreds of pain pills each month for nebulous "pain" conditions.  Pain may come from this or that part, but it is RESPONDED to between the ears.

Bishop Score for HP / Palm WebOS

As announced previously, the most basic Bishop Score calculator for WebOS devices (HP / Palm Pre and Touchpad and similar devices) is now out.  It is an app for physicians and nurses and midwives to use with pregnant moms.  I will add more info to it over time.  Please leave me feedback here.

update 3/19/11 - I just uploaded to the HP WebOS App Catalog tonight.  Previously, it had been in the HP WebOS Web Distribution Channel, which is not as easily available to WebOS users. It may take a few days to show up in the App Catalog, while it awaits review.

WebOS Developer here

I am now an "official" developer, having posted an app to the HP Palm Application Catalog (Web Distribution feed).  It is just a simple Bishop Score calculator that I am using to teach myself how to make apps for HP WebOS devices (currently Palm Pre, Pixi phones.  TouchPad tablet and more phones and even desktops coming).

 I am doing this because I am a obsessive-compulsive technophile family doctor.  I like good tools - whether it is in my pocket in Labor and Delivery, on the ranch fixing fences, on my camper, or on my computer.  The old PalmOS PDAs and phones had great medical tools for obstetrics.  However, WebOS doesn't yet have the depth of medical apps. 

Fortunately, Dr. Alan Teh in Singapore has stepped forward and made a whole suite of medical apps. His site is here: http://palmdoc.net/ .  Also, in response to some ideas back and forth on PreCentral.net, SiratoXero started OB Tracker, an app to keep an OB list on WebOS devices.  Sirato got busy though, so he handed the code off to me to finish.

Since I know (knew) nothing about coding other than some high-school programming courses on TRS-80's in the 80's(!), I am starting by programming a Bishop Score calculator to learn how to do this.  Dr. Teh graciously got me started with instructions and a code framework to flesh out.  It is a free app, available here: http://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.monkonapps.bishopscore . 

When this app is satisfactory and I have learned more (a long ways to go!), I will start working on the OB Tracker app.  The goal of the OB Tracker app will be an encrypted HIPAA-compliant  list of pregnant moms that can be sync'd to a laptop without every putting any information on the cloud".  With it, a doctor or midwife will be able to keep their pregnant mom list of EDD's, blood types, Group B Strep status, G's and P's, and a free-text note field, too.

Why is this important?  So we can plan when to be out of town!  (That and the rather more important ability to instantly look up critical information on moms during obstetric emergencies or while discussing with consultants or checking out to partners, etc).

HP requires developers to have a web site.... so this is it.  Leave me comments/questions, and I will try to check this enough to be helpful.

A huge "thanks" to the moms who let us be part of their miracles, and to Dr. Alan Teh of Singapore, and SiratoXero, without whom I would still be trying to figure out what JSON is important for!