I will start off by saying that everyone I actually dealt with at Multiplay support was friendly, but that is about all I can say for the support.

I purchased my Project Zomboid server on a Wednesday night, I chose Multiplay due to reviews, the amenities listed on their site and the cost. Immediately I logged into Clanforge and was given the error that the server capacity was full for my area and I would have to wait for my server to be added. This went against the boast of having instant set up on their website. As I am in tech support myself, I know that things can happen and while disappointed I just waited patiently for the server to be set up. I received an email a few hours later stating that my server had been setup and I could now log in to make changes. I began setting up the world for my friends and I to play in. I configured the .ini files and the .lua files that control things in the world to the settings I wanted and saved/reset my server. Everything in the Control Panel seemed easy enough to use and was a breeze to navigate. Once I got everything configured I started the server and handed out the IP address and port to all my friends. We went to log on but it gave us all the error that the server was not responding. I racked my brain trying to get it to work and ended up deleting the profiles I had made with the config files, stopping, starting, restarting, and I unfortunately did not find a way to Reset the server with a full wipe. This is when I submitted my first help ticket.

I was answered back in a kind manner, even if it took over 12 hours for a response, and I was informed everything was up and running and fixed. Once more I attempted to log onto my server and I received the same message, Server Not Responding. So I answered the ticket back and informed them it was not fixed. After another long wait of over 12 hours I was told that my ticket would need to be escalated and that it would be handled by a different tier of support agents. I also need to mention that I ordered the server on Wednesday night and it is now Friday that it is being escalated . . . in the afternoon. I decided to be patient again and waited all day Saturday before getting on to look at the ticket system. At this point I noticed that it was stated the escalation staff only works Monday-Friday 9am-6pm. So basically if you have a really serious problem . . . like the server you purchased doesn’t work . . . you will get no help on the weekends at all. This was a bit backwards to me and my frustration began to build. I was now four days into my purchase, still unable to get onto my server, still unable to use the product I purchased.

Sunday passed and into Monday we went until late Monday afternoon I received another message stating that the server was fixed and I should be able to play now. I was really excited and logged onto the server with the initial basic set up for the .ini/.lua files. I was able to log in as were my friends. Unfortunately since we hadn’t configured the server at all at this point there were literally zombies everywhere in hoards of 8-10. After peeing ourselves and logging out, I went in and configured the server to how my group would like it to be. I saved the changes, restarted the server and we logged back in . . . but nothing had changed. So I went back to the forums and help sections (which have very little on Project Zomboid in the way of help), and found a forum post where someone mentioned you have to Hard reset the whole world, which is something you as an admin cannot do. You have to submit another ticket and ask for them to do so.

This was a bit aggravating since I was supposed to have full admin control, but once more I tried to be tolerant and wait to see what happened. About six hours passes this time and I get a response that my server has been hard reset (full wipe), so I log in and it has not. The items I dropped on the floor of our safehouse are still there, going outside there are still dead zombies we killed when we first logged in to prevent being eaten. At this point I have waited from Wednesday to Monday and at every step my attempts to play on the server I purchased have been filled with glitches, misconfigurations, script failures, and capacity issues (all excuses I was given during my ticket process). So I responded once more and expressed that the server was -not- wiped and to please wipe it. Once more there was about a 12 hour delay in ticket response, so far the fastest time was six hours to reply, the longest being over the weekend, so I was not hopeful in getting a reply quickly. This agent stated he wiped it and after logging in I found he did, but before I logged in, I reconfigured the .ini files again and the .lua file so the world would take the changes. While the wipe was successful, the changes were not. I could not make the configuration files work at all.

At this point I was beyond frustrated, because it is now Tuesday . . . one day short of a full week after purchasing the server, and I still was not able to play the game in the capacity promised (full admin privileges, server being up instantly, server even working at all for half the week, etc.). So I responded back once more and addressed the issue, I asked if I was even able to change the configuration files, or if it was like the hard wipe and I had to have them do it for me. The answer given back was basically they typically don’t do configuration, but since I was having such a hard time they could do it for me. Prior to purchasing this server I ran a private server from my home computer. I had configured everything myself and I had no issues. I have recently moved to a rural area and the internet service here is severely lacking, hence my move to paying for a server. I knew my configuration files were done correctly, and after researching more on the forums I found I wasn’t the only one who was having this issue. Pretty much every Zomboid Server post was about either not being able to configure something properly, or not having full admin control.

At this point I had enough and asked for my refund, which is still being processed. I was informed it can take from 7 to 21 days to process my refund . . . 21 days . . . . I was blown away. I was also informed if I replied to the ticket anymore that I would lose my place in queue and I would have to wait another 7 to 21 days. I have yet to get a refund, and if I do I will post again stating how long that took to happen. Having worked for server hosts myself and major game labels, I have to say that I was disappointed at EVERY step in this process. The ONLY good thing I can say about Multiplay is that the Clanforge control panel was easy to navigate . . . if it nothing worked but starting and stopping my server. The Customer Support reps were always polite, but apparently not up to snuff when it came to actually fixing anything the first time around or responding to serious issues in a timely manner. The only reason I am giving them a 2 on quality is because of how polite they were.

I gave the Website a 3 because while it is easy to navigate and use, it boasted claims that were false and misleading. I will never use Multiplay again after experiencing such horrific lack of support and being unable to use the product I purchased after a week of waiting for fixes. I suggest not using them, but if you do . . . you have been warned.

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