World of Warcraft Server Hostage A Hoax

[Evil Avatar]

According to an article on 1Up.com (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3148170), a recent World of Warcraft forum thread posted by the Imperial Order Guild on the Detheroc server, stating that the Guild would not open the Gates leading to the new Ahn'Qiraj content until paid a ransom of 5,000 gold, was just an elaborate hoax.

Considering that the first server to complete all the necessary elements and open the gates pulled that feat off almost a month ago -- January 22 on Medivh -- there's no doubt players are starting to get a little anxious. Those emotions quickly spilled over in the ransom thread with everything from threats to other guilds rallying support for a quick farming of the materials needed to make another Scepter and get the gates open. Back and forth the arguments went, some 30 pages, until this morning when the thread was summarily deleted from the forum by Blizzard. Almost immediately after that a new post appeared from the same member of the Imperial Order that had issued the original demands stating that it had all been a prank and the joke was on you.You can check the status of your server Here (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wareffort/servers.html). My server is 98% and the gate is still closed.

[dotbomb]

Sounds to me like Blizzard threatened the guild with disciplinary action to get them to change their tune. Which really sucks honestly because if Blizzard programmed a system in which one single guild (or person) could hold that much power over the game environment they should let it play out imo (isn't that what designing a MMO and persistant world is all about?). But that's precisely what I grew to hate about WoW... Blizzard's lack of forsight into what occurs or could occur in their world.

[Ernst_Jager]

So many things they could change in this game to make it even better. Of course pushing back the shaman review really kind of pissed me off anyways. Right now my biggest complaint is the power Hunter's have in PvP. Crazy

[GreenIce]

ya, high killing blows is really a problem in pvp, I mean they can call you a fag and all you can do is sit there and take it :(

[Savok]

Blizzard is really good at having no idea what their content will do to a living, breathing server. The recent Valentine shit had Dark Iron crashing every night. And yes, there's a list a mile long of things that need fixing, yet here we are with more server fucking events.

[SteveRage]

Jean-Paul Sartre was right, Hell IS other people. People like that.

[bradlay]

So many things they could change in this game to make it even better. Of course pushing back the shaman review really kind of pissed me off anyways. Right now my biggest complaint is the power Hunter's have in PvP. Crazy

I don't get why people bitch about hunters with warlocks and shaman still running around. How hard is it to kill a hunter? Snare them once and they're toast.

[Mrbunchypants]

It was a quick money grab that failed.
As for wow it self..... do get me started. :mad:

[Liquidize105]

Blizzard wants to dictate a "fair" gameplay experience for everyone. Certainly another first for mmo alongside their 5 mil subscribers.

[Nite_Moogle]

5000 gp is a trivial amount to hold a server hostage for. If they were serious they would have demanded to be paid in sulfuron ingots or elementium.

[Zurik]

It still amazes me that people with pay money to put up with this crap.

[Citizen Philip]

The scepter is a raid drop, but more than one can exsist on a server. It's like holding a rare happy-meal prize hostage.

Please enjoy the "happy-meal": children, toys, fat, greasy foods. Fatty childen with greasy toys. Fatty toys with greasy children.

[Kefkataran]

Jean-Paul Sartre was right, Hell IS other people. People like that.

A Sartre quote in connection with videogames? Great!

It still amazes me that people with pay money to put up with this crap.

What crap? A silly joke thread on a forum? Huh?

[KDups]

Our server open the gates this past weekend. The server queue was 800+, the lag was HEAVY, and the server crashed at least four times. Though I will say the action in Silithus was pretty awesome, huge insects and egyptian pharoah type creatures running all over the place. Too bad my alt wasn't lvl 60, I contributed nothing:P

[jeditanuki]

And to think, my server was mad because the Guild responsible for opening the gates did it at 10 am on weekday!

[RandomViolence]

What crap? A silly joke thread on a forum? Huh?

I think he was referring to WoW, Kef. :)

[Roc Ingersol]

This whole 'event' was a joke.
Seriously, it couldn't have taken more than about 30 minutes to design.
Don't get me wrong: the raid quest line looked pretty cool. And that's what makes the least sense: when they try they make kickass content. So why aren't they always trying?

But hey, in 1.11 we get another raid dungeon.
So ya know, that'll be.... something. /sigh

[Heretic Machine]

Thank you Jack Bauer.

[gzsfrk]

I think alot of people would be happier if they would just play WoW like a Diablo II for which you have to pay a monthly fee--play, level your character(s), group when you feel like it or when necessary, get to 60, investigate the world to your heart's content, and then quit. Just consider hitting 60 the end of the game, like beating the last boss in Diablo II, play and itemize a little longer if you feel like it, but then just quit.

Of course, that's not for everyone, since many DO enjoy raiding. But I know that I didn't really have any interest in neverending Raid or PvP grinds. WoW was a great game for me; I really enjoyed it for the three or four months that I played, but I'm glad I quit and moved on when I did. Sort of like when a sitcom knows when to finish its run before it gets stale.

[PixelSamurai]

So, how much fun is everyone having "collecting" all these items to unlock some massive raid content? How long does the actual raid take? Normally this would be the part where I'd wonder how people can "work" this game for so long until I realized how many hours I myself spent grinding.

[Exodus]

And to think, my server was mad because the Guild responsible for opening the gates did it at 10 am on weekday!

I pulled an all nighter to attend that one ;p
AV did it right, at that time all the kiddies were off at school and all the unfortunates that had to work too but still a ton of people showed up. :)

[Odwalla]

My server is 98% and the gate is still closed.

Really? The gate is still closed because the prerequisite of having 100% of the war materiel turned in hasn't been accomplished? Astounding!

[GrinR]

I just got 60 last night. It was strangely unsatisfying. I looked at the instances I need to go to to get better "stuff" since I dont level anymore, and realized I couldn't solo anymore - not really.

I guess it's time to play an alt to 60?

[Exodus]

I just got 60 last night. It was strangely unsatisfying. I looked at the instances I need to go to to get better "stuff" since I dont level anymore, and realized I couldn't solo anymore - not really.

I guess it's time to play an alt to 60?

or learn 2 play with others

[Rakael]

or learn 2 play with others

Oh god GrinR, you aren't going to let this one slide are you? *waits in gleeful antici.....pation*

[51|RandoM]

I think alot of people would be happier if they would just play WoW like a Diablo II for which you have to pay a monthly fee--play, level your character(s), group when you feel like it or when necessary, get to 60, investigate the world to your heart's content, and then quit. Just consider hitting 60 the end of the game, like beating the last boss in Diablo II, play and itemize a little longer if you feel like it, but then just quit.



That is the only way to do it for normal people. By normal, I mean people who don't think sitting around in a repetitive instance raid for 3 hours---every time you play, while the leader tries to keep the tards in line, just on the off chance you might get a new piece of gear that microscopically enhances your character---is fun.

I had hopes the PvP would be better and keep my interest after hitting 60th, but it didn't.

Play it as a three month game(or however long you spend getting a character to 60th in each faction)and then do yourself a favor and realize the real fun is over.

[51|RandoM]

or learn 2 play with others


People who like to solo are still "playing with others". Kind of funny how so many people don't understand how the game works, but still want to judge others on how they play it. If he played the game the way you THINK he should play, he would have been tired of the game even quicker.

Let me give you a little hint:

Guy is soloing a couple of quick quests, doesn't have time to get a group. He is still in guild chat, talking to people, still in town making deals, etc. etc. etc. He is still playing with others, even if he is 'soloing'.

Blizzard went out of their way to make the game soloable up to 60th. The raid content is just the cigarette after sex...and some of us don't smoke.

[GrinR]

or learn 2 play with others

I am the Guild Leader of a guild with 50+ players. Since it's a casual guild, only about 10 or so are above level 50, and 3 of those are 60. We all get along great, and I enjoy helping them level and protecting lowbies from PvP ganking.

I'm curious about this "learn 2 play" you speak of. Perhaps you could give me suggestions as to what I and my guild can do to dispel this feeling of hitting a dead end. Even better would be if you could make suggestions with the following caveats:

1. I can only be online 3-4 hours per day - maximum.
2. Because I'm on-call at work, I have no way to plan what days I'll be "free"
3. I am a feral-spec Druid who is AGIed to the max, perfect for DPS only.
4. My guildies (although the best bunch of folks ever) are also on similar schedules.

See, I've played since launch and L O V E World of Warcraft. I have at least 15 alts, all over 35, and I'm likely to pick up leveling one of them while waiting for your reply. I've gotten ALL of my RL friends to play, most of whom play with me. In every way I can think of - I'm playing with others every time I play. Hell, there's times I wish I could "DND" myself so that people don't know I'm on.

So when you say "learn 2 play with others", it piques my curiosity. Do tell.

[Sensei-X]

It was a lame joke if it was a joke, not that many people overall really give a crap, only those in the minority who are in high-level guilds are actually going to benefit at all and for the average player who can't get a party to go to UD Strat let alone MC this is a big non-event. If anything most people are pissed because of the massive lag these unlocking events are causing. Besides why would anyone pay a ransom, the person who opens the gate gets a one of a kind legendary bug mount, if one guild doesn't do it some other guild would so one of their members would get an even more inflated ego. Not to mention when this whole thing started Bliz had said in the event a server wasn't really building up resources fast enough, or at all, the gates would eventually open on their own, which may end up being the case for those servers under 20% right now.

[Verocity]

I pulled an all nighter to attend that one ;p
AV did it right, at that time all the kiddies were off at school and all the unfortunates that had to work too but still a ton of people showed up. :)

Right... So the people who don't have an education or job were the ones who attended the event. Do you all go down to the unemployment office at the same time so you can talk about WoW while waiting for your government cheese?

:p

[Citizen Philip]

or learn 2 play with others

The catchphrase of the atypical raider who is under the impression it's his right to 2 shot other non-raider players because "they don't have the skills to be in a cool guild, like me".

WoW has broken endgame content, severe balancing issues because of gross itemization and production schedule that is reactive as a rock.

When most casuals get to 60 BLizzard better have something ready or they are going to get whooped. The grumbling is only starting.

[GrinR]

I think I just started grumbling...

[MojoJojo]

Blizzard is really good at having no idea what their content will do to a living, breathing server. The recent Valentine shit had Dark Iron crashing every night. And yes, there's a list a mile long of things that need fixing, yet here we are with more server fucking events.

One of the big problems with these kind of games is you have the attitude above with one group of folks and the attitude of the below with another

WoW has broken endgame content, severe balancing issues because of gross itemization and production schedule that is reactive as a rock.

When most casuals get to 60 BLizzard better have something ready or they are going to get whooped. The grumbling is only starting.

"Fix what you have" vs "We need more content"

Unfortunately for the fix what you haves, more content keeps people playing longer... so they can see what new stuff has been added. There's more revenue in piling shit on, until they milk it dry... in which case people have left, so why fix anything?

There's a point in there somewhere.

I want Fallout 3!

[Jukey]

ya, high killing blows is really a problem in pvp, I mean they can call you a fag and all you can do is sit there and take it :(
There's nothing you can do?? How about log off and play a different game?

Would you like some cheese with your whine? :rolleyes:

[Savok]

1. I can only be online 3-4 hours per day - maximum.
2. Because I'm on-call at work, I have no way to plan what days I'll be "free"
3. I am a feral-spec Druid who is AGIed to the max, perfect for DPS only.
4. My guildies (although the best bunch of folks ever) are also on similar schedules.
UD Strat 10 manned doesn't take long, and some really fun items can drop there (one gives you an Eye of Kilrogg). UD Strat is pretty easy to PuG as well. Rest of the place is gonna be a giant problem though, Scholo can take hours, even in a raid. Can't even do Dire Maul really, leather gets screwed in the end game pretty bad I've found.

And dude, get some str items, I'm fully aware of how fucked feral druids are with gear, it's bullshit (why I let you guys roll on my Shadowcraft), but some str to boost base damage and get higher crits is always good.

[Evil_SPanKY]

or learn 2 play with others

What a clueless asshat!

[bradlay]

The catchphrase of the atypical raider who is under the impression it's his right to 2 shot other non-raider players because "they don't have the skills to be in a cool guild, like me".

WoW has broken endgame content, severe balancing issues because of gross itemization and production schedule that is reactive as a rock.

When most casuals get to 60 BLizzard better have something ready or they are going to get whooped. The grumbling is only starting.

I consider myself a pretty hardcore raider and I love it. But no, other than maybe the warriors, BWL or MC don't take an awful lot of skill. We're currently working on downing Nef and while it's hard as hell, I'm not doing anything that other people who put in the insane amount of time couldn't do.

This doesn't make it OK with me either that there is no more soloable content. BWL is a blast, but no fucking way in hell is it accessible to everyone. I'm a paramedic and have a fucked up schedule. Most of the people in my guild are mediocre students and/or rich kids. I don't think anyone with a normal life has any chance in hell of putting in the hours required to first, gear up in MC (months) and then to zerg your way through BWL.

I mean, casuals are only 90-95% of their customers, why should they give a goddamn about you?

[GrinR]

UD Strat 10 manned doesn't take long, and some really fun items can drop there (one gives you an Eye of Kilrogg). UD Strat is pretty easy to PuG as well. Rest of the place is gonna be a giant problem though, Scholo can take hours, even in a raid. Can't even do Dire Maul really, leather gets screwed in the end game pretty bad I've found.

And dude, get some str items, I'm fully aware of how fucked feral druids are with gear, it's bullshit (why I let you guys roll on my Shadowcraft), but some str to boost base damage and get higher crits is always good.

I've been to strat twice. It's ok.

I have some str items as well, I'm pretty much equiped as well as can be sans epics. I have a 31% crit rate, fully self-buffed, so I'm less worried about the base damage because my burst damage is sickening. I can tear down a 60 in no time.

Posting in a dead thread!! AWESOME

[Nite_Moogle]

Sadly GrinR, if you are a pvp-centric guild that has limited play time your options are pretty slim for real "guild content". The best thing you can try to do is get enough people in the same level bracket for battlegrounds and go to town. Eventually when you get some people that top off at 60 with a character that they like you can organize some solid battlegrounds groups which is endlessly entertaining. However the game isn't designed for small-group progression through PVP alone. Sooner or later you're going to want to start farming the 15-man instances and Dire Maul for gear. It's a nickel-and-dime effort but it adds up in the long run.