GM says "Mailbox piccolo concerts are right out!"
by Krystalle Voecks 
May 17th 2007 at 9:30AM
![[We just want to be free to dance until our bits fall off! Of course, this girl hasn't got that much further to go...]](http://www.blogcdn.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/2007/05/piccolo_girl.jpg)
A forum thread about a player and a GM talking about the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire popped up yesterday. As usual it was deleted, but the image was saved by Neuroxin on the WoW LJ community -- where I saw this. While GM threads are nothing new, the reason that this player was contacted by a GM is a new one on me. Were you aware that using the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire when you are AFK on top of a mailbox can get you in trouble with the GMs?While I totally appreciate that the piccolo can be annoying over a long period of time, does it truly interrupt the ability to play? Is it on the same level as ganking someone over and over as someone suggested? I'll admit that I totally hate that item, but not because it makes me dance. I hate it because a small flute should not sound like a harp. (and yes, that's nitpicky of me)
Now personal opinion aside, players using the piccolo near me has never prevented me from opening a mail window, working with my inventory, or talking to an NPC. When it happens I just hit CTRL-S and temporarily disable my game sound until I move on. That way I don't have to hear the flute that sounds like a harp. To me, it is nowhere nearly as annoying as the Rotten Arakkoa Egg quest that shuts down whatever you are doing and makes you vomit repeatedly. (Truly annoying when a group turn them in one after the other while you're working at the mana loom. Gah!)
I realize that GMs have a truly hard job. With experience as a tech support representative for a large ISP as well as having moderated a few healthy-sized online communities, the GM's and CM's have my sympathy 99.5% of the time. But making GMs chase down players and stop them from using an item that normally allows for long periods of uninterrupted dancing seems like a tremendous waste of resources. If there is a problem with how long the sound repeats or how long it keeps players dancing, why hasn't Blizzard changed the piccolo so that doesn't just continue to loop indefinitely? It wouldn't be the first time that a trinket got a cooldown or duration added. GM time could then be used running down spammers instead of running characters off of mailboxes -- or threatening them with an account ban/termination if they don't clear off.
[via the WoW LJ community]
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
FadedReality May 17th 2007 10:05AM
Until the Piccolo has a disclaimer in the tooltip, I'm going to continue to use it as intended. Do I care if my fellow 70s feel their epeens shrinking as their character in their epic lewtz bust a move? Hell no.
I'd love to see someone get suspended or banned for this. The forums would crash.
Chris Gardner May 17th 2007 10:09AM
The GM and the player reporting were in the right.
There are lots and lots of things that the game *lets* you do but you're not *allowed* to do based on the rules. In the past people *could* stand in the firepots that lined the auction houses and continually make noises. They *could* exploit their way into Hyjal. They *could* mind control an enemy in WSG right into the portal out of the stage.
But you weren't *allowed* to do any of those things because they're against the rules.
This player obviously didn't stand there for a few minutes play the flute. They may have been their for hours. They may have had an afk bot playing the flute incessantly.
If you want to annoy people, do it on your own time against your own friends. Does anyone here who plays the game stand on street corners in real life and continually play the same 4-second song over and over again? Anyone?
Until then, I'll be happy to report these asses. I've gotten people banned for using the flute for more than 4 hours (I know it was me because they come back the next day and yell at me for getting them banned). I used to get people moved off the firepots in AH just for that reason. If people don't like that, tough -- go play another game.
Ablinkin May 17th 2007 10:27AM
I hate that trinket with a passion. The only item I have ever truely ninja-ed (as I and a friend ran my wife through the instance.) Why did I take it if I hate it? Purely because my friend wanted it just to annoy me with it. It is now a large brilliant shard.
Tabi May 17th 2007 10:17AM
I think it's pretty much a given that if a GM finds you doing something repeatedly _while_afk_, that you probably get in a little trouble.
bernard May 17th 2007 10:22AM
LoL @ 2.. Hes the type of person i gank and then make a trial account to provoke him..if he was in my faction.. theres always STV or diremaul arena...
You give a kid a toy and tell him how to play with it? Its not likes hes spamming a macro that has 200 lines of /cheer.
I got a warning for cursing at a lowbie horde (im alliance) i killed..
And I also was forced to change my name after I used spam sentry to report a spammer..
ben1778 May 17th 2007 10:20AM
@2 Thank you for stating that so well. I agree with you 100% Its not terribly difficult to transfer from intended use to grief for many different abilities, items, areas, and such. Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. This is not a new concept.
mrkleen May 17th 2007 10:25AM
if its not affecting the ability to play the game who cares?. Why are you standing at a mailbox for 4 hours anyway? Do you just wait around for people to be annoying so you can report them? When you see a guy in real life talking to himself on the street, do you call the police? Do you rat out the person on the street playing the same guitar song over and over again for spare change? Just like life, if you don't like something, change the channel.
Aurendar May 17th 2007 10:26AM
For as long as I've been playing this game, I have never EVER once had a GM come on and tell me to stop doing whatever it is/was I am doing.
If a GM came on to do that, you can be pretty darned sure that this guy was doing this just to be an attention whore and he was most likely doing it for quite some time. Kudos to the GM for stepping up and making sure the game is enjoyable to everyone
Kahja May 17th 2007 10:35AM
I agree about the sound.
The item itself rules because it pisses people off.
Dancing does not affect what you're doing in the game whatsoever because a) if you're moving you don't dance and b) if you're at the mailbox or AH you aren't moving anyways.
tiamazzo May 17th 2007 10:37AM
That's crap. I love that flute. Long Live the Mailbox Fluters, imo. Any that disagrees with me needs to lighten up.
John May 17th 2007 10:38AM
isn't this the whole point of the trinket? how much is "too much"? If it's a problem, give it an x minute duration and a x minute cooldown.
Ross May 17th 2007 10:54AM
Boy #2, take the machisimo somewhere else. Its probably against the terms of service to ninja invite people to your group, throw them a summon, they show up at the STV Arena, kick them, and then kill them, but for some reason I do it all the time and it never gets old. I am glad you can assert your masculinity and power over others in an MMO, because its quite obvious that you are trying to compensate for real life experiences. Look I am not going to lie, I do stand on the mailbox and play my damn flute, I ran Strat live 15 times to get that thing and I am going to play it anywhere I please, you tell me anything that is better than steam tonks and the piccolo during raid downtime, (maybe archmage vargoth, but thats debatable). Its time to log off when you spend more time trying to get the offender in trouble (putting in a ticket) than the offender took offending you.
Jay May 17th 2007 11:00AM
@2 & 3:
Don't be stupid. If this is a problem, Blizzard needs to change the piccolo to not loop indefinitely, end of story. It's one thing to have macro'd something so your toon will do it while you are afk, it's an entirely different thing for the game to be doing something based entirely on it's own code and behavior.
Personally, I don't have piccolo so it will never happen to me, but many times I've been interrupted and suddenly gone afk for extended periods of time (like when a pipe in my basement sprung a leak.) Had I been in Org dancing with friends you'd think I should be banned? How stupid is that?
And it's not like you can't turn down your volume or just walk away from the piccolo player. This isn't an exploit, getting into someplace they don't want you to be. This is just a poorly designed item that should be fixed. End of story.
Kilawhar May 17th 2007 11:08AM
@12
Er...You slag poster #2 about his excessive machismo while touting the fact that you ninja invite people just to summon them to the STV arena and kill them?
"I am glad you can assert your masculinity and power over others in an MMO, because its quite obvious that you are trying to compensate for real life experiences."
Yeah...something like that....
Talitha May 17th 2007 11:12AM
TURN OFF YOUR SOUND!! Come on people, who plays with the game sounds on anyways? I-tunes FTW. If it's that annoying, turn of the sound....QQ
Kyle Harmon May 17th 2007 11:15AM
I wish they'd just remove the stupid Piccolo from the game all-together. Perhaps I'm just easily annoyed, but the thing got 10 times worse now that male Draenei are around to clap every 5 seconds as part of their dancing animation. At the very least, they should add a cool-down to it.
Hellbena May 17th 2007 11:36AM
There is a 1 minutes cooldown between uses of the picollo. It's just that you don't stop playing it until you move or get attacked.
Strongmark on Arthas May 17th 2007 11:43AM
I like in game sounds.... just not the stupid WoW music... :(
Chris Gardner May 17th 2007 11:56AM
#5 The bottom line is this: you have a right to irritate people, I have a right to get your ass banned. Guess who the GMs listen to more?
Don't like it? Tough. Want to do stupid shit like make a million trial accounts -- go ahead. Get your IP banned.
I don't take crap when I'm playing a game designed to amuse.
If you want to take things to the next level, you should take your griefing activities into the real world. Go onto a crowded street corner and irritate people. See how long it takes until you get your ass kicked.
Until then, you're probably just another weedy 2-bit punk teenager who only grows balls when he hides behind a veil of anonymity. My only suggestion would be to grow up and grow a real pair.
Rich May 17th 2007 12:14PM
The issue isn't the Piccolo, it's the the AFK part of that is the issue.
If he they were running around for 4 hours and doing something, there isn't a damn thing the GM could or would do. But if they are AFK, then that is a completely difference story.