The Cranky Old Gnome

From time to time I will encounter something in game that will necessitate me petitioning Blizzard for help via there in-game help system.  I would say out of the 20 or so times I’ve had to submit a ticket that I’ve only actually been contacted by a GM four or five times.  I don’t remember the specifics of each incident so I can’t say if one issue gets a response more often or quicker than another.  I do know that any response I’ve received has come hours and hours later.  But that’s not really what this post is about.  While it may be obnoxious that replies come eons after submitting the ticket, I really appreciate that the GMs are always nice, professional, and at least in my experience, have a really great sense of humor.

The first few times I submitted a ticket it was all business.  They asked me what the issue was, I told them, they did what they could to resolve it, we moved on with our lives.  But on one particular occasion I was in a very strange mood when the GM finally contacted me; I talked to them entirely in Ebonics.  I really appreciated that the GM I was talking to was willing to play along a little.  She didn’t ask me to stop acting like an idiot or anything and was fully capable of understanding what I was saying.  But the best part was at the end where the following exchange took place (note, this has been paraphrased):

Me:  Yo yo word! Thank y’all fo’ hepin me get this wack shiz dealt wit yo!

GM: You are more than welcome. It was my pleasure.

Me: Word, yo.

GM: Yes. *ahem* Word.

Maybe I’m the only one who finds this amusing, but I thought it was hilarious.  Recently I had another exchange with a GM after reporting an account scammer, and I found it amusing enough to take a screen shot of so I could share it with you lovely folks.  Behold my terrible picnik photo editing skills!

I just really appreciated that they were willing to play along.  So, say what you will, but in my opinion and experience, Blizzard’s customer service has been really good.  They seem to take a genuine interest in their customers and their issues, and for the most part do a great job of responding to feedback about problems or unbalanced features in the game.  I’m sure there are plenty of people that haven’t had such great experiences with them, and you are more than welcome to tell me about it in the comments section, just keep things civil.  If you’ve had good experiences, I would love hearing those too!

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]”

~Fizz

Well the day has finally come.  You can now spend real world money and receive an item in game.  Sure there have been similar types of things in the past (e.g. the trading card game pets, or collectors edition of Wrath/BC), but those have all been indirect items received from spending real world money.  You buy the trading cards and you might get a pet card as a bonus.  You specifically buy the expansion, and just happen to get a pet included in it.  But now you can spend real money and directly receive on specific item in game.  This has caused quite the stir around the bloggosphere.  Elina over at the Pink Pigtail Inn has very strong opinions in opposition to this new feature.  Tobold isn’t surprised that this has happened at all.  There are plenty of others but I’ll spare you the link listing and actually get through my own view on this.

My initial response? I don’t give a rats arse about this.   Seriously, it makes absolutely no difference to me.  I’m not in the least bit surprised either.  World of Warcraft, like any other MMO is run by a corporation.  And that corporation, Blizzard, is out there to make money.  Despite the pedestal that some people like to place them on (‘other games might have micro transactions, but at least Blizzard is taking the high road!’), profit is their bottom line.  It’s true that they make a fantastic game and that they do a wonderful job of thinking about their customer base.  It does seem like for the most part they don’t do things just because it will make them money even if it’s bad for their player base.  I’m not saying they won’t do something just because it will make them money, but I am saying that they do a good job of taking the players into consideration before doing it.

Now one might say, ‘but Fizz, that’s exactly what they have just done!  They did this just for profit and it’s bad for the player base!’  Well I say that’s a bunch of nonsense and rigmarole.  Paid faction/race/(probably one day class)/appearance changes are clearly money driven, but I’m of the opinion that it’s a boon not a bane to players.  And as for the introduction of purchasable pets (with the removal of the TCG or collectors edition middleman)–it is neither a boon or a bane.  The fact is, it’s just a vanity item.  Some little pet is not going to create some huge differentiation between the haves and the have-nots.

One of the arguments out there is that the reason this is bad is because it’s a slippery slope.  ‘This will inevitably lead to Blizzard selling gold, gear, raid items, etc! And that’s not fair! It should be about player skill not wallet size! NERD RAGE! RAWR!’  Let me be blunt.  The slippery slope argument is typically a rather specious one.  I think there’s some fancy Latin term for this type of argument but I can’t think of it at the moment.  I think it’s something like post hoc ergo propeter hoc.  Actually I think that means one assumes that because one thing happened after another thing, it means the first thing caused the second. And that’s not the argument I’m going for…ok hmm…maybe there isn’t actually a fancy Latin phrase for it.  I do know that sometimes the slippery sl0pe argument is represented by the Camel’s Nose.  The Camel’s Nose is a metaphor that says, “If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow.”  It’s a non-sequitur argument.  There is no causal evidence to say that just because the camel sticks his nose in the tent, the rest of him will follow after.

Just because Blizzard has decided to sell two vanity items, does not mean that they will start selling gear/raid items/etc.  Right now it’s just another way for them to make money.  Just vanity pets.  Do I think they will stop with two pets?  No.  Do I really believe they will tumble down the slope and start charging for gear and so forth?  Not even a little.  And I stand by that prediction.  There is just not enough causal evidence to make the claim that they will.  Just because other games do it is hardly evidence they will.

Now, if it turns out that I am wrong, I promise to let everyone who disagrees with me comment and say, “I told you so, I told you so!”  Additionally, assuming the player backlash isn’t so high that Blizzard stops the practice, if they ever do start charging for things other than vanity items, that will be the end of my $15 a month.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]”

~Fizz

PS: I should say that I make no plans to buy either of these pets.  I feel the same way about them as I do about the collectors edition or TCG pets.  I don’t feel like paying real money for a vanity item.  I mean if someone decided to gift it to me I wouldn’t send it back or anything…. But I sure as hell aint spending the money for it.

I tanked something today for the first time since that horrifying heroic ToC run a few months back.  I was mulling about Dalaran, feeling sorry for myself, wishing I had something to do when I got a tell from someone asking me if I wanted to tank heroic Halls of Lightning.  I receive a lot of tells from people asking if I can tank something, but that naturally comes with the territory of being a tank.  In the past little while I have turned them all down.  Partly because many of the requests are for raids I’m not geared for, but most of the time it’s because I didn’t want to be knocked around like I had been in the ToC run.  So my default lately has been to just say, “I’m not geared for it” and go back to working on the Loremaster.

However, now that I’m done with that, I find myself with nothing to do.  Nothing to do, no one to talk to…sorry, didn’t mean to go down the sad road from my last post again…anyway…while most of the time I would have brushed it off, this time I replied, “sure”.

I’m really glad I did.  There wasn’t anything particularly spectacular about the run.  We got in, moved through the instance, down the bosses, had a few wipes on the boss due to a new and still learning healer, and then we were done.  But it felt so natural.  It felt right.  I thought I would struggle to get the run finished and that I would be fighting for aggro against better geared players.  But I managed it will.  Yes, the first few pulls were a little sloppy, and there were a couple pulls where the mobs got away from me.  Mostly though, I tanked it like I had any other instance.

What I’m getting at is I realized how much I missed it.  I love tanking.  I love the challenge.  I love leading the groups through an instance, picking and choosing the path we take, deciding who to take down, setting the pace of things–I really love it.  Despite all the crap I’ve experienced around it I still have this burning passion inside me.  This fire in my belly that nearly burned out.  Like the episode of Doctor Who where they get pulled into an alternate dimension and it looks like the TARDIS has died but they find a tiny little bit of it still alive.  Ok…wow…that was  super nerd moment.  Nevertheless, I stand behind the analogy.

I’m hoping it’s a sign of things to come.  That things are going to start looking up again and that I’ll be excited to “let the dragon smash me in the face while you stab it in the ass.”  The next step I suppose is to find a new core group of friends.  People like Oz, and Wally, and Trin, and even Adelpha.  And find a new guild, one where I can have the happy social experience without having to be the man in charge.

It’s nice to feel like happy things are possible again.

‘[Insert clever sign off phrase here]”

~Fizz

Warning, the following post is less of a blog post and more of a journal entry. I don’t really have a specific point in mind. I just started writing and out this came. I’m not really sure what to do with this entry. I hesitate to post it only because it’s fairly personal and I think at least, gives quite a bit of specific and personal insight into the guy behind the avatar that is Thistlefizz. It makes me feel rather vulnerable because it reveals quite a bit about my psyche. I guess it’s a ‘handle-with-care’ post. But you know what? I’m going to be brave and post it. I’ve been pretty closed of personally and emotionally for a while lately. It would be good for me to open up.

Also, I want to preface this with the fact that I wrote this after being up all night with a headache. I didn’t actually read it. I want it to stand as is. I was afraid that if I looked it over, even to fact check, spell check, or grammar check, that I would chicken out and not post it. So you’ll have to forgive me if this post is a little sloppier than others.

Finally, it’s kind of a heavy post. Not like the two others I posted today. So if you’re just hanging out at work looking for a simple distraction, this may be a little too heavy for that. Like trying to eat steak and potatoes for breakfast. Maybe that’s what you’re in the mood for. But don’t be surprised if you get a tummy ache.

Ok enough prefaces, here’s the post:

So with that, I’d like to tell you the story of my very first world of warcraft friend. What I mean is, the first person I met in the game not via my roommate or the guild I had joined immediately after creating my first character. Their name was Adelpha, a draenei priest.

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I am well aware that getting the Loremaster achievement is a huge time sink.  But I’m finally finished!

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