What is it with these guys and graphs?

Yet again, CCP opens its Kimono to share with the community some of its false steps and the corrective steps they take to make sure that EVE Online continues it promise of customer/community service. Quoting Shakespeare, CCP then shows apparently real numbers of petitions the in-game GMs receive, and the queue times over a lengthy time period. This really showcases how CCP uses metrics to not only design and play the game but take care of it.

Not surprisingly the petitions go up after a patch or expansion, but then level back out fairly quickly, and CCP does illustrate how they continue to improve as they learn and adapt to the game and it's players:

In the past six months we made some structural changes to our Customer Support department aimed at reducing our response time and offering better support. We are happy to announce that our average petition age is currently two days with most normal requests handled in hours. We hope our efforts shine through in the level of support we are able to offer.

For more information (a lot more information), go to the EVE Online website (subscription required). And for those of you looking to get back into the game, make sure you read Phil Comeau's re-visit to EVE Online in his Starting Anew With the Power of Two.