mezzanineview (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mezzanineview) wrote2010-07-08 12:48 pm
mezzanineview) wrote2010-07-08 12:48 pm
Entry tags:
about WoW, Real ID, and nerd raging
Hello once again from the throes of unemployment--I do seem to have a lot of time on my hands to play Warcraft. Mainly just been raiding Icecreamcrown Citadel in hope of finally killing the Lich King and laying out mobs in hilariously neat patterns, and with recent news from Blizzard about Cataclysm and Real ID, I felt the need to chat a bit about them, and hopefully cut through a bit of the drama surrounding these subjects.
So, as new talent trees have already been released and were still confusing as ever, I can't say I'm particularly surprised nor displeased to hear that they're changing their minds and revamping it into a roughly 31-points-for-a-fully-filled talent tree. At level 10 you invest a point into the spec of your choice and are essentially locked out of the other trees (unless you elect to respec), and receive a spec-defining talent that you would normally (in the current iteration of gameplay) would have to wait ages for. For example, elemental shamans picking up Thunderstorm or discipline priests getting Penance.
Hang on, this makes things a bit, well, easy doesn't it? Yes, indeed, it does. On one hand, the narrowing of choices (being locked into your talent tree until 31 points have been invested, talent points being distributed every 2 levels instead of every level) and being given extremely useful talents at such an early stage may seem too easy mode and counter intuitive to the idea of character progression--surely, such defining abilities should logically be saved for learning later?
Well, no. In removing a lot of the fluff talents ('increase x by y%') and condensing talent trees (wow, you mean I no longer have to scroll down to see all my abilities?), there's certainly the feeling that you're getting to the point of playing a certain spec without having to wait sixty levels. More likely as not, you'll quickly figure out if a certain class/spec is for you by having the tools which you need to determine this very early on. like,
"You know, I don't think this caster stuff is for me. I'm going to respec and see if being a feral druid is any better than balance."
and that sort of thing. Even better, if you know what you're rolling, you can feel like that class right off the bat instead of having to invest in the aforementioned fluff talents and wait for them to pay off five levels later--no more is the "this class sucks until around level 60" argument likely to apply. You want to be an affliction warlock? BE an affliction warlock, from the start.
And that's my view, take it or leave it. I, for one, will probably be leveling a ludicrous number of alts now.
Now, one could tell that by my last sentence there, I'm not feeling particularly deterred by the Real ID fiasco. If you don't know what's going on there, suffice to say that in an effort to reduce trolling in the WoW forums, Blizzard has decided to remove the veil of anonymity and show peoples' actual names on the forums, not only for WoW, but for Starcraft, Diablo, etc, ALL of Blizzard's titles.
Their hearts are in the right place here, and I understand their desire to stop trolling, except A) trolling cannot be stopped, Blizz, and B) this is an astonishing invasion of privacy, even for a jaded person like me to recognize. This doesn't impact me as much as other, more socially active WoW players simply because I don't use the forums at ALL.
You shall never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy.
But the nature of the privacy issues still stings and I cannot help but think this is a terrible idea that should be retracted immediately. Posts will not be retroactively affected, Blizz clarified recently, but soon, even Blue posts will reveal the poster's real names and put them at a terrible risk of getting hacked if, say, someone ruffles another person's feathers over a game matter. This isn't going to lead to less trolling, it will lead to more, and a possible upswing in hacking for anyone who will still use the forums, I'm afraid.
That being said, I don't think ragequitting WoW is the answer either. Unaffected players like me will still be playing, will still be looking on the horizon for Cataclysm, while the people looking to teach Blizzard a lesson by canceling accounts are going to be left out in the cold. What I do think should be done is petitions should be signed and e-mails sent to Blizzard calmly and rationally expressing displeasure--if we act like a rabid mob, I doubt we will be treated with much respect and won't be responded to very well. An intense, overemotional response is not what's needed; logic is.
Whew, that's it for now. If anyone would like to discuss either with me, I'd be more than happy to chat :)
now I must hop to writing, as I have not done it in a long time and I promised Nikki for her graduation present :)
So, as new talent trees have already been released and were still confusing as ever, I can't say I'm particularly surprised nor displeased to hear that they're changing their minds and revamping it into a roughly 31-points-for-a-fully-filled talent tree. At level 10 you invest a point into the spec of your choice and are essentially locked out of the other trees (unless you elect to respec), and receive a spec-defining talent that you would normally (in the current iteration of gameplay) would have to wait ages for. For example, elemental shamans picking up Thunderstorm or discipline priests getting Penance.
Hang on, this makes things a bit, well, easy doesn't it? Yes, indeed, it does. On one hand, the narrowing of choices (being locked into your talent tree until 31 points have been invested, talent points being distributed every 2 levels instead of every level) and being given extremely useful talents at such an early stage may seem too easy mode and counter intuitive to the idea of character progression--surely, such defining abilities should logically be saved for learning later?
Well, no. In removing a lot of the fluff talents ('increase x by y%') and condensing talent trees (wow, you mean I no longer have to scroll down to see all my abilities?), there's certainly the feeling that you're getting to the point of playing a certain spec without having to wait sixty levels. More likely as not, you'll quickly figure out if a certain class/spec is for you by having the tools which you need to determine this very early on. like,
"You know, I don't think this caster stuff is for me. I'm going to respec and see if being a feral druid is any better than balance."
and that sort of thing. Even better, if you know what you're rolling, you can feel like that class right off the bat instead of having to invest in the aforementioned fluff talents and wait for them to pay off five levels later--no more is the "this class sucks until around level 60" argument likely to apply. You want to be an affliction warlock? BE an affliction warlock, from the start.
And that's my view, take it or leave it. I, for one, will probably be leveling a ludicrous number of alts now.
Now, one could tell that by my last sentence there, I'm not feeling particularly deterred by the Real ID fiasco. If you don't know what's going on there, suffice to say that in an effort to reduce trolling in the WoW forums, Blizzard has decided to remove the veil of anonymity and show peoples' actual names on the forums, not only for WoW, but for Starcraft, Diablo, etc, ALL of Blizzard's titles.
Their hearts are in the right place here, and I understand their desire to stop trolling, except A) trolling cannot be stopped, Blizz, and B) this is an astonishing invasion of privacy, even for a jaded person like me to recognize. This doesn't impact me as much as other, more socially active WoW players simply because I don't use the forums at ALL.
You shall never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy.
But the nature of the privacy issues still stings and I cannot help but think this is a terrible idea that should be retracted immediately. Posts will not be retroactively affected, Blizz clarified recently, but soon, even Blue posts will reveal the poster's real names and put them at a terrible risk of getting hacked if, say, someone ruffles another person's feathers over a game matter. This isn't going to lead to less trolling, it will lead to more, and a possible upswing in hacking for anyone who will still use the forums, I'm afraid.
That being said, I don't think ragequitting WoW is the answer either. Unaffected players like me will still be playing, will still be looking on the horizon for Cataclysm, while the people looking to teach Blizzard a lesson by canceling accounts are going to be left out in the cold. What I do think should be done is petitions should be signed and e-mails sent to Blizzard calmly and rationally expressing displeasure--if we act like a rabid mob, I doubt we will be treated with much respect and won't be responded to very well. An intense, overemotional response is not what's needed; logic is.
Whew, that's it for now. If anyone would like to discuss either with me, I'd be more than happy to chat :)
now I must hop to writing, as I have not done it in a long time and I promised Nikki for her graduation present :)
no subject
First it was real names you can reveal to close friends. Next real names for the forum. Why not real names on in game chat to prevent trolling there? Why not real names in the dungeon finders to prevent loot ninjas?
Blizzard has signed a contract with Facebook (http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=466721). How long until playing WoW requires you to have a facebook account?
There's also a bigger issue. Blizzard has apparently decided to switch from being a game company (one that makes money by selling games to gamers) to a media company (one that makes money by selling you to advertisers). You're no longer a customer, you're a cost center. And whereas Blizzard one focussed on making the best games possible, pretty soon all they will care about is putting out the cheapest crap necessary to keep you there.
no subject
no subject
no subject
EDIT: Do you think you could find it?
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I don't agreed with Blizz that RealID is the key to stopping trolling, but I don't think they'd implement it ingame other than for friending purposes either. It doesn't make sense, and gamemasters remain on staff just about 24/7 to deal with ninja looting problems. Additionally, ninjaing bears little resemblance to trolling. Both are forms of griefing, yes, but if anything ninjaing is an immediately more actionable offense, whereas trade/general trolling is a way of life for most servers.
The Facebook app was to update people on the status/achievements of their toons, so if it reports a toon's name in their FB, you'll automatically know that person irl name, independent of Real ID, which somewhat makes me skeptical of the uproar over Real ID's use in the forums. We do know that FB has had privacy issues, but nowhere do I see that Blizzard is beholden to give up anymore info than is already available to one's FB account. How long until playing WoW requires Facebook? I'm sorry, but that doesn't seem like a rational line of thought.
The truth is Blizzard is a company, and you are a customer, and I don't understand what the misconception is here. The relationship is not intrinsically changing, save that they've made a very misguided attempt to stop trolling and this can impact the way people socialize in a very big way. And I couldn't disagree more about the quality of their games--Cataclysm, Starcraft 2, Diablo, the new MMO, etc...if anything they care about the quality of their products more now than ever. I know there's been griping about the direction WoW, in particular, has been going, but I personally enjoy the current iteration (and look forward to future expansions) immensely. If the overhauls in talents & zones/graphics & gameplay in Cata is any indication, Blizz certainly hasn't stopped caring about their games, even if you feel like they've stopped caring about you (which, again, is taking it a bit personally).
no subject
What we're seeing here is the frist steps toward that. They're trying to get you used to doing everything on Activision through your real name, a little bit more and more at a time.
no subject
I mean what.
I think the majority of people (ie
You shall never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy. LOLOLOLOL
LET'S PLAY WORGEN AND BE HAPPY Y/Y/MFY?
no subject
>.>
And yeah, I've signed the petitions too--let's see if we can get this straightened out, shall we? :P
I'd love to! Kravos has said he was to roll a worgen somethingorother too, and as long as you're going bear, I'll be your tree, y/n? :D
no subject
For reals, yo. \o/
YES! I hope to be a good bear tank! :D