The Daily Quest: Let's kill internet dragons
by Anne Stickney 
Jul 7th 2010 at 10:00PM
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment and you may see it here tomorrow! Take a look at the links below, and be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Real ID this and that --the web has been full of people discussing the impact of Real ID and so-called "social networking" in regard to their favorite game. But let's take a step back from all the outrage today, take a deep breath and look at what's really important in World of Warcraft: Killing dragons. On the internet. Internet dragons. Let's check out some advice on better and more efficient killing of internet dragons, shall we?
- Slice and Dice has some tips for helping your raiders improve.
- Murloc Parliament discusses raid leading and control of mods.
- The Hunter's Mark talks about coaching new raiders.
- And on a different note, I Sheep Things hands out their very own Wrath Raid Awards.
Filed under: The Daily Quest
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
usingwow Jul 7th 2010 10:08PM
Interresting article. No offense but "this" and "that" > this article.
relmatos Jul 8th 2010 8:33AM
Ya. I want other articles besides the big mess that blizzard made by decreasing our security just because they cant control their forums(and the solution was as simples as choosing a permanent nickname to represent all chars or a link where a person could see all the alts someone has).
However, that "this and that" commentary made it look as an attempt to divert attention from the big issue. I think everyone should start making a bigger stand against the announced change Wow.com and other sites included. This is a very serious issue.
As for killing dragons, I'm trying to do the gates of AQ chain before the quests go away but it's difficult to get a group for the damnable dragons :P
Feldring Jul 7th 2010 10:28PM
"Hic sun dracones," forsooth. And the internet dragon Real ID is serious enough to sap some of the enjoyment from a very well-done article. Both the intent behind this and the manner in which it was posted are laudible, but we need to slay the beast before us before we can relax.
I know this sounds melodramatic, though meant to be somewhat amusing; the issue of the day is something of a cloud over Warcraft at the moment. At least for me.
Anne Stickney Jul 7th 2010 10:31PM
Oh I know. I've been sitting here kind of heavy-hearted all day too. I figured if nothing else, I could try to lighten things up a little bit, and give some good raiding posts a little exposure in the process, you know?
Typical Jul 7th 2010 10:34PM
"But let's take a step back from all the outrage today, take a deep breath and look at what's really important in World of Warcraft: Killing dragons."
Our privacy and possible identity theft issues aren't the really important matters at hand?
Anne Stickney Jul 7th 2010 10:39PM
Is World of Warcraft about identity theft?
Is it about sharing personal information?
Is it about social networking?
Is it about giving people your real information?
No.
It is about killing dragons. On the internet. INTERNET DRAGONS.
I am withholding my opinion on what I think about those other things, and what I think about people trying to incorporate those other things into my favorite game about internet dragon killing. But I'm glaring at them in a disdainful fashion, oh yes I am.
Typical Jul 7th 2010 10:51PM
It was nice when killing internet dragons, and discussing how to kill them, was the reason I'd come to wow.com and similar sites in the wow community. Unfortunately, it's hard to focus on those dragons when these issues with real id are ongoing.
Maybe I need to find a new game. I already canceled my subscription to wow, in hopes it would voice my outrage and influence a change. But, even if there would be a reversal in their policy, which doesn't seem likely, the game is forever tainted and probably won't be the same, in my opinion. I doubt I'll return.
So, perhaps you're right, focusing on the game and it's content may give some other gamers the small relief they need from the mess made recently. I'm going to go have a look a massively and see if anything else catches my eye.
omedon666 Jul 7th 2010 10:56PM
"Is it about social networking?"
Unlike the things you listed with this, social networking in an Internet dragonslaying game is not an evil. The future of our favourite IDSG is to *know* and *like* your fellow dragonslayers.
omedon666.livejournal.com
theRaptor Jul 8th 2010 2:01AM
'Social networking' in the "we steal all your data that you thought was private and hand it over to anyone with some cash" Facebook style is evil. Hell I think the revalation of the RealID-Facebook link is of more importance then using RealID on the forums. Mark "privacy is dead" Zuckerberg will now have direct connections into battle.net and your private info.
P.S. Due to Facebook's out-and-out heel turn my Facebook profile lists my interests as "yak yodelling and breaking Facebooks data harvesting".
Cyanea Jul 8th 2010 2:37AM
@Typical
"Tainted" is exactly the word I was trying to figure out to describe this fiasco. I don't post on the forums, and I wouldn't miss doing it come RealID...but it still makes me uncomfortable that a company I've respected and nigh-worshipped for so long is capable of such blatant disregard for people's privacy, security, and comfort. I think the silence is even more nervewracking.
Tainted is a really good word. I cancelled my account this morning. I decided to take a week off, which is about how long my account has left on it. If I still feel horribly about the game, I doubt I'll be back.
Feldring Jul 7th 2010 10:42PM
Yeah, I do. Really, it should be said that you succeeded: don't mind the residual gloom! Thank you for posting this, Anne. The links are diverting and informative, and this definitely made me grin:
"[L]et's take a step back from all the outrage today, take a deep breath and look at what's really important in World of Warcraft: Killing dragons. On the internet. Internet dragons."
You know, it's also good to have the reminder about why we care so much about what's been going on: we all love killing internet dragons in this great game. The articles you linked to are forward-looking, which is important. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da!
Thank you for this. /charge; /cheer!
Relgoth Jul 7th 2010 10:46PM
I see where you are comming from anne. I havent really felt like playing since the Real id came out. So most of this stuff irrelevant to me at this time.
I appreciate you wanting to bring back some fun but at this time id rather not people get preoccupied back into the metagame until this is resolved
Lissanna Jul 8th 2010 12:10AM
There may not BE a resolution, and it's easier for sites like this to just keep moving on. Plenty other articles have been about the Real ID situation.
medeii Jul 7th 2010 10:53PM
Anne -- World of Warcraft just became about all of those things. There's a time for hilarity and distraction, and this isn't it. I cancelled my account today (with the caveat that with a reversal and an apology, I'll re-subscribe). I know I'm not the only one, and the utter silence of an official word only makes the deep-seated knot in my stomach clench even tighter. It's a disappointment, even a betrayal, from a company that most of us had grown up with and trusted almost implicitly.
Those of us who take our privacy seriously resent the idea that others would treat our personal information with such arrogance. The replies from several CMs have been condescending, verging on abusive. I don't care if it's my name, my age, my sexual orientation, or the fact that I play a troll mage; none of it is anyone's business unless I choose to tell them. Period.
We trusted them when they said Real ID would be optional, and now -- not even very shortly after -- it's not going to be optional for technical support. (And if you want to try and get that support via phone or email, have fun with the time delays and hours on hold.) The frequently repeated "just don't post then" doesn't address the problem. It's come to the point that Blizzard either rescinds their data policy stupidity, or I'm done with them.
INTERNET DRAGONS can be had in a lot of other games, after all.
Falcon6 Jul 7th 2010 11:41PM
There is always a time for hilarity.
Al Jul 8th 2010 2:12AM
So when they aren't getting slammed for commenting on the latest Real ID rumour, they're getting slammed for commenting on other matters?
Maybe there's no new information on this fiasco at the moment, so they're moving on to other things. Can they win then?
gamerunknown Jul 7th 2010 11:55PM
I was making a group for VoA and during that time traversing Feralas when I bumped into Emeriss (okay, I was searching for world dragons to kill to be honest). I galloped as fast as my steed could carry me to the DM summon stone and recruited a full 5 people from the 10 man raid to kill the dragon before moving onto VoA. Since they had that ability that blows the raid up at 25% and we dropped her a full 50% within about 10 seconds, not even divine hymn music could make surviving cool. I survived, as did the tank, so all was well. Sadly, the rest of the group didn't see anything cool about killing a dragon and just left. Partypoopers. Dragons are still fun to kill.
Anyway, I think the Real ID change is great and the analogy to those worried about it are those who can't be bothered to kill internet dragons: trolls! They're just pissed that their level one trolling alt that are complaining about raid difficulties can easily be tracked back to a main that *gasp* doesn't have light of dawn. Or similar.
Elvgren Jul 8th 2010 1:57AM
And yet "gamerunkown" did not post his name.
Razmusen Jul 8th 2010 3:54AM
People don't post their real names because they know YOU will do something with it just to prove a point. It's easy to do that, but its also proving that you are the person you are most afraid of. Will you actually go buy a plane ticket and stalk this person to prove a point? You forget that's still against the law and it would probably cost you your freedom. If you play WoW, hopefully you are either too intelligent to put yourself in that situation, or too stupid to actually be of any real threat. Or 10 and still living with mom.
Blizzard knew exactly the reaction they would get from this and they did it anyways. They know exactly what they are doing and the fact that they are not explaining their logic to us reeks of corporate shame. There has been a lot of confusion in me today as well, and even tho I have backed almost 100% of the decisions Blizzard has made up to this point (excluding $55 for a server change), I think this is where they may have begun to head in a very dark direction.
One thought I had today, however, was:
If they are going to sell your information, why don't they just do it through more discreet channels, instead of a place where advertises can just come and get your name for free?
Ringo Flinthammer Jul 8th 2010 4:59AM
The fact that they are not commenting doesn't reek of corporate shame: It reeks of arguments in-house. Have you never worked for a major corporation? When they're sure they're right, they don't shut up about it. When they're sure they're wrong, they change direction. Silence means that things are uncertain in-house.