Forum Post of the Day: Zarhym faces the flames
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 26th 2008 at 5:30PM
I was wondering when/if things would get a little hot and heavy for the new CM Zarhym on the forums, and this thread is it -- players start out asking for a date for the expansion (we all know when Wrath will come out already: "when it's done"), and when Zarhym orders up a generic answer, players start to test his limits. One snarky answer gets him to deal out a ban, and it's downhill from there -- when players start fighting with him over the fact that they want a new battleground, he gets a little snippy, and eventually, he says that putting in a new battleground would only satisfy a "small percentage" of the playerbase. And then players really get angry.I think Zarhym handled himself pretty well -- his little snipe at players for thinking an expansion was "too soon" last year was uncalled for, especially since Blizzard told us they were actually aiming for one every year. But he's not distraught to the point of a Tseric yet, obviously. He's just not quite as smooth as, say, Drysc or Neth yet in quelling angry players.
It's too bad that, since the CMs are anonymous, we have no idea when they start of their qualifications or past experience (though of course we'd trust Blizzard to hire people who know what they're doing). But Zarhym got his official welcome to the forums -- when players start flaming you for saying the wrong thing, you know you've made it.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Blizzard, Forums, Battlegrounds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Zanzi Jun 26th 2008 5:51PM
DING!
Grats!
rick gregory Jun 26th 2008 5:58PM
well he doesn't really say that a new BG would satisfy only a small percentage of players. Teh quote is:
"We do have a lot of resources currently focused on creating some very refreshing PvP content for WotLK. We will feature a new Battleground in WotLK along with Lake Wintergrasp -- an expansive outdoor PvP zone -- siege weapons, and destructible buildings. It has always been our goal at Blizzard Entertainment to put out content when we're fully confident it will be enjoyable and refreshing.
We feel that whipping a Battleground together to appease a small percentage of the playerbase prior to the release of the expansion is ultimately a bad idea. "
And I agree with him - doing something halfcocked WOULD be a bad idea. However, there's a middle ground between that and putting one out every 2 years.
Charlie Jun 26th 2008 8:12PM
Agreed. Mr. Schramm I believe you have read into what he said like many on the forums did: "Releasing a new BG will only satisfy a small percentage of the player base", vs "Releasing a new BG now will only satisfy a small percentage of the playerbase" That is true.
Mr red skely's big mistake was using the phrase "percentage of the playerbase". Its an over used phrase, much like welfare epics, and generally brings connotations. If he would have said "Adding a new battleground now would make that battleground not be up to the quality that World of Warcraft players expect, and more than likely be reviewed poorly". Would worked much better.
I think CM's should have a list of words/phrases not to use. Like "Percentage of the player base" "welfare epics" "raiding elite" "casuals", etc. That would make life eazier =D
Iskur Jun 26th 2008 6:00PM
I would have gotten "angry" when he said that a new BG would only satisfy a small percentage of players. AV was released 3 years ago. There hasn't been a new 40 man PVP raid in that time. The only other BG released is that joke EoS. I dare blizzard to poll their player base and ask them if they prefer arenas over BGs. The only reason players do Arenas over BGs is that BG rewards suck comparatively. Instead of asking what we want Blizzard is telling us what we want.
Arturis Jun 26th 2008 6:06PM
It is kind of sad that Harassing Forum Managers has become a bit of a Warcraft sub-game for some people.
infection Jun 26th 2008 6:07PM
"We feel that whipping a Battleground together to appease a small percentage of the playerbase prior to the release of the expansion is ultimately a bad idea."
Ummmm.... I'll agree with rick. We waited for BC forever and what did we get???? EoTS???? What a half ass battleground attempt that was.
I can only assume we won't be getting 1 battleground an expansion.
Of course there are pro's and con's. But it's like getting 1 new 5 man instance. Who the hell would settle for that?
These battlegrounds don't appease just a "small" percentage of WoW. In my battleground alone I get instant que's for anything I want to play, and there are around 30 of each one going most of the time.
Can anyone confirm the "percentage" of people that were in BT before Sunwell came out? And then compare that percentage to the people that pvp'd in battlegrounds? Yet they spent HUGE amounts of time to getting all this sunwell stuff together for NEW content for these people.
If that assumption is wrong, then I'd just like to see the numbers on that.
Eternalpayn Jun 26th 2008 7:15PM
I love EotS!
Also, you missed the point, Mike. He said half-assing a new BG would only satisfy a small percentage, not coming out with a new one.
infection Jun 27th 2008 12:06PM
And you missed MY point.
We are waiting over a year for new battlegroundSSSSS (plural) and we get one.
All blizz is concerned with, is trying to fix the one's they have (if that isn't a joke in itself).
So by trying to just fix the one's they have (which wsg is still not fix) and by coming out with NEW AV FIXES TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY, they feel they have accomplished a great deal and made the population happy.
While in fact, we are sick of just doing the same thing all the time and would like more to choose from. And then it comes down to a question of....
"well if we make more, we'll have to give badges for it"
THANK GOD. I don't have to grind 80 badges of WSG and AB loss's to get gear anymore. I could actually go into another battleground.
This is the point.
One new battleground a year.
And like I said before, he relates "small percentage" to the pvp'rs, yet they come out with a new 25 man raid that isn't even close to the percentage of the game that can play in it. And that was my point. I bet the percentage that plays battlegrounds exceeds that percentage that can go to sunwell 25 man by 10x the amount, possibly more.
And his quote was "whipping A (singular) battleground", not multiple half assed battlegrounds. Once again solidifying the fact that we'll be getting one new battleground. (and some world pvp that hardly no one will show up to most likely... aka Halaa.. aka terakkar towers... aka zangercrap towers) Because it will be based on YOUR server and YOUR population, instead of battlegroup populations.
Moongoose Jun 26th 2008 6:07PM
It always pisses me off when a developer dismisses something because it would only satisfy "a small percentage of players" without actually backing that up with any data.
And if it's such a small number of players then why even bother haveing any content in it for them at all?
Slayblaze Jun 26th 2008 6:23PM
While I think there is a larger percent of BG'ers than Zarhym believes, with such a huge player as WoW has even a small percentage could equate into hundreds of thousands of individual players who would love another new Battleground. So he shouldn't make it seems so inconsequential.
I would estimate that the actual number of frequent BG players number at least a couple million, if not a bit more. That is more than some game's entire player base...nothing to make light of.
Alchemistmerlin Jun 26th 2008 6:10PM
He should just start handing out the mass-bannings.
It would be good for morale.
SaxxonPike Jun 26th 2008 6:20PM
Take all the CMs out and leave the players to fend for themselves. >:D
Charlie Taylor Jun 26th 2008 6:29PM
Take a look at the lineage boards. That's how it is there, no responses at all. Almost every post was a "I'm leaving" or "WTF NCSOFT YOU SUX."
SaxxonPike Jun 26th 2008 6:41PM
That may be, but that's unlikely due to not having forum responses. Might have something to do with the game there.
I would be great if people understood that the CMs exist to offer insightful information. They don't exist to answer every question, nor could they even do so anyway. That job's got to be torture..
jbodar Jun 26th 2008 10:55PM
I'd wager it's a large part of it. If there are no responses there's no indication that anyone was even reading the forums, so players could voice complaints to, well, each other. Whooptidoo! That solves nothing and amplifies player dissatisfaction. WoW players may not like the answers CMs give, but at least they know someone is paying attention to the customer, even if it's only lip service.
Tychon Jun 26th 2008 6:23PM
@mongoose when did get promoted from a CM to a Dev?
Moongoose Jun 26th 2008 9:53PM
He might be a CM but he speaks for the developers, Blizzard.
Heilig Jun 26th 2008 6:24PM
One of the posters makes an excellent point. This really wouldn't be a very big issue if they hadn't made PvP rewards so good that BG's are part of PvE progression. When BG gear is better than kara gear, every single fresh 70 is forced to do BG's until their eyes bleed just to be able to raid. This is even worse for people who have no interest in PvP but are forced into it against their will in order to keep up.
Charlie Taylor Jun 26th 2008 6:34PM
I don't believe it. I've never 'had' to do PvP to succeed in PvE. The gear requirements are totally different. You want to be able to raid SSC/TK? You gotta raid kara first. Beginner raids teach players the aspects of the game they will need to know in later raids.
Badge gear has alleviated this problem to a significant extent, so much that my guild is now starting on MH and BT.
Stoneblade Jun 26th 2008 6:49PM
Innnndeed...
Plus, there's the flip side, in that you get PuG'ed with people who are coated from head to toe in pvp gear, but seem to absolutely suck when placed in an instanced setting... Or, who flat-out have no idea about the strategy of certain boss fights, and make the wnitre encounter that much more painful and long.