The Daily Blues

by Adam Holisky Jul 10th 2010 at 12:00AM

Each day WoW.com will take you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From Ghostcrawler's latest posts to the lowdown on StarCraft II and Diablo III, we'll keep you informed.

Hey we're back. It's like Ghostbusters 2, without the pink goo.

Ghostcrawler

Ghostcrawler -- Pet scaling

Quote:

We can't even get an answer as to whether our pets will scale to our stats for equal gear scaling with other classes... this simple question has been asked and ignored for far too long.

The plan is for your pets to scale 100% with your stats. In fact, group buffs don't even work on pets any longer so that they don't double dip from those buffs.

If you look at the warlock trees, there are tons of talents that buff Corruption and add range and crit damage and whatever. A couple of those per tree are okay but clearly we need to remove a lot of them and that means adding new talents, which unfortunately is slow.

source

Ghostcrawler -- Warlock's Harvest Soul

Quote:

They've already explicitly stated their design intent is for Warlocks to (ideally) only need 3 shards per encounter.

It's their intent to be that way. If it wasn't, you could use them in combat. It's not poor design, it's different design.

They want it to be like bloodlust. You use it at the right time, not all the time.

Yes, this is the design. Outside of combat (which means between encounters, not when you can get out of combat for 2 sec in an Arena), you can get the shards back quickly from killing things or using Harvest Soul if there is nothing conveniently around to kill. We don't want Harvest Soul to be super convenient. It's your backup option.

If we find that it's super frustrating as a lock in a long encounter (including a long Arena match), then we'll look at ways to get shards back in combat. However our prediction is as soon as we do that, locks will start blowing their shards on cooldown and then getting frustrated at a slow Aspect of the Viper-like mechanic to get them back.

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Other

Bashiok -- Interesting stats on the Real ID thread

Some interesting epic-thread stats:

Almost 50k posts, with those posts being made by a little over 13k accounts.
Most posts made in a single hour reached 1,800.
It was locked just shy of the 50k mark by Bashiok, who is just the worst and lives in his mom's basement.

source

Bashiok -- My role in the Real ID situation

I'm not sure if it's kosher at this point but I think I have the right, and I would like to state that at no time were any personal attacks made on me related or allowed to be interpreted as a mark against using real names on the forums. They were literally for nothing, and I ensured that was the case at every step. It wasn't too difficult.

Obviously the position on use of real names on the forums was reversed, for good reason, and that was based on a lot of factors taken in from the actual feedback received.

I say these things for one, because I want there to be no sense of accomplishment that any one "got to me" or by attempting to make an example did anything but act like a jerk and go against basic principles of attempting to lead a good and decent life, of which I strive for every day. And secondly, because I am just too hot to handle and too cold to hold. What What!? Peace!

source

Lylirra -- Next beta wave possibly early next week

While we do not have a precise ETA to provide at this time, we do expect to send out another wave of beta invites as soon as early next week. :)

source

Vaneras -- EU community news

Community News
Vaneras, Slorkuz & Wryxian 09/07/2010

Fansites:

WoW Serbia have put up a group of articles reviewing some Cataclysm zones and instances such as:
Stormwind
http://www.wow-serbia.com/cataclysm/zones/cataclysm-stormwind-201007022176/
Westfall
http://www.wow-serbia.com/cataclysm/zones/cataclysm-westfall-201007032178/
Uldum
http://www.wow-serbia.com/cataclysm/zones/uldum-201007062183/
Abyssal Maw
http://www.wow-serbia.com/cataclysm/istances/skywall-201007022177/
and the Skywall.
http://www.wow-serbia.com/cataclysm/istances/abyssal-maw-201007032179/

Battlecraft.it have been busy making videos of Cataclysm:
Stormwind City Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvkdsifjOpc
Orgrimmar Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVjVAB-yBk
Sunshaft Effect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xOKmH2SBFA
and the Worgen Starting Zone: level 1 - 5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kumUHHJB7o0

WoW.battlenet.pl have an article about the new talent specs system in Cataclysm.
http://wow.battlenet.pl/portal/wow/1/759/Rewolucyjne_zmiany_w_talentach.html

World-of-warcraft.pl have compiled a lot of information on Cataclysm!
http://www.world-of-warcraft.pl/naplyw-informacji-z-bety-kompilacja/

Lastly, wow.herniweb.cz also have a lot of information up on Cataclysm with the Worgen and Goblin Racials
http://wow.herniweb.cz/novinky/cataclysm-worgen-a-goblin-racialky/1/
information on capitol cities like Darnassus and Undercity
http://wow.herniweb.cz/novinky/cataclysm-screeny-undercity-a-darnassus/1/
some updated maps, and much more!
http://wow.herniweb.cz/novinky/cataclysm-mapy-oblasti/1/

Many more updates can be found on our fansites, so be sure to check them out if you do not want to miss out on anything.
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/links/fansites.html

World of ComicCraft:

Those undead will keep this place safe!
http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/371

Nice to see such friendly faces!
http://www.tehgladiators.com/?p=146

They were just lying there with a bunch of bones!
http://www.darklegacycomics.com/245.html

I can't believe these constant delays!
http://beyondthetree.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/205-captain-on-deck/

Ah, there she is!
http://woweh.com/?p=802

Let's get that helmet off!
http://www.arena-inside.com/?p=629

The ace times...
http://theacesquad.com/TASOnlineComicHolder.html

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

* Links on this news post may expire over time and some are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

source

Blizzard

Tags: blue-posts, cataclysm-blue-posts, daily-blue, facebookfeed, warcraft-blue-post, world-of-warcraft-blue-posts, wotlk-blue-posts, wow-blue-posts, wow-blues

Filed under: The Daily Blues

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

WaterRouge Jul 10th 2010 12:16AM

I feel from Bashiok's second post that he feels as if people weren't justified in attacking him as they did. I don't support that people did it but I feel it was a necessary example Blizzard needed for their change in heart to be enforced.

I doubt Blizzard gave him extra cash for doing what he did so it really is his own fault for opening himself up. If he had thought about the consequences he probably wouldn't have been in that situation.

Again I'm sorry he went through that but better he have a day of extreme stress than someone actually being physically injured from a RealID stalker.

Zanathos Jul 10th 2010 12:32AM

I feel that he was saying the hub-bub amounted to nothing and didn't detract from using real names.

Bryan Shipp Jul 10th 2010 12:35AM

People were not justified in attacking him as they did. Part of civil discourse--a part that nearly everyone involved in this discussion has chosen, deliberately and selfishly, to overlook--is the responsibility to be above all else CIVIL.

Fear of being uncivilly treated does not "justify" treating others uncivilly. No permission is or was given--"justification" is here only used as an excuse for people to treat each other unethically. The threats and disgusting displays of what people claimed to fear only served to demonstrate that they were themselves what they claim to hate.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "The dishonest man is the man most likely to think you are lying." Not because that's how YOU would behave. . .but because that's how HE would behave, and he assumes you are naturally just as bad as he is.

I feel badly for Blizzard, now--the community has effectively used violence against the company. And despite Bashiok's protests to the contrary, the lesson the community will learn is that bullying by golly WORKS. And frankly I would expect that after this fiasco, the official forums will become even more of a cesspool than they already were, for precisely this reason--"If we can be terrible to get what we want, we should be able to get even MORE if we're even MORE terrible!"

I think it's a sad day. But what do I know, I have no reason to hide.

caelwynn Jul 10th 2010 12:55AM

@ Bryan Shipp

I agree with you on most of your points, especially the tendency towards escalation in situations such as these. I am glad to see other people that champion civility and tact in sticky situations.

I find it interesting that Blizzard's announcement of changes which were intended to implement greater accountability (and thereby foster said tact) on the forums wound up causing such a flare in exactly the type of behavior they want to avoid. I haven't seen a change in community standards backfire like this in some time.

Now, I understand why the community got so incensed, I was quite upset by the foreboding breach in privacy myself. I am glad they backpedaled as they did.

I just hope that moving forward, we can keep discussions on new features, however disturbing or invasive, mature and responsible.

That being said, WoW.com readers are all mature and excellent. Right?

Keep it classy, Azeroth.

Hollow Leviathan Jul 10th 2010 1:13AM

You cannot earn or deserve being victimized by any crime. Lynching or vigilantism of any kind is immoral. What he did was not prudent, but it does not justify anyone who maliciously acted on that information, nor make it necessary.

Hollow Leviathan Jul 10th 2010 1:21AM

@Bryan Shipp I am certain that Blizzard is smart enough to exclude such indecent behavior from evidence in their decision-making process. I hope most people, myself included, got the message that Blizzard listens to the massive amounts of reasonable and constructive feedback, as well as possibly the equivalent of non-violent protest via cancelled accounts and disabled Real IDs on those who did not.

I disabled Real ID for the duration of the 3 days from announcement to retraction, and posted once in the appropriate thread expressing how and why I disagreed with this decision. I believe I did more to affect that change than any pizzas sent to addresses in Irvine, or whatever.

Oriflame Jul 10th 2010 1:36AM

Bryan,

I was with you till you said that you "have nothing to hide".

Your point that being a jerk is always a jerk move and that the ends never justify the means is entirely valid.

Claiming you have nothing to hide is entirely invalid though. Not having anything to hide is almost entirely irrelevant to a desire for privacy because privacy is much much broader than being able to hide.

Privacy is about having control over the information about yourself that is presented publically, and having the ability to not have that information out there.

You don't have anything to hide, but how does that help you when:
- false information is published about you and you have no means to correct it. (A series of forum posts under your name filled with racial slurs sure would make finding jobs harder - no problem! you didn't make those posts and you've got nothing to hide! your name's all over them and is the #2 Google result but you're not worried! You've got nothing to hide!)

- you want to have a balance of power between you and a third party. (you're ok with corporations having all sorts of private data about you because you've got nothing to hide! But when you and a big company disagree about what the truth is, they win, every time, because they've got total control of the "facts" of your life. This applies much more to entities like governments, insurance providers, etc, but I'd like you to consider that privacy is much broader than what you are thinking of)

- when you want control of your image. (Have you ever had a conversation with friends that you're totally comfortable with that you wouldn't have in front of your great auntie? Yes, you have. But, since you've got nothing to hide, it should be ok if every conversation you have is available to everyone you know and don't know, right? Or... very similarly, it should be OK if your wow habit is the first thing that shows up about you on google, right? That will never get you passed over for every job you apply for right? Or, is is possible that presenting information in the correct context and controlling how it is presented is actually relevant... a relevant component of what privacy is, beyond "nothing to hide"

TL;DR: What happened to bishok was wrong - that doesn't mean it is right to give up on the notion of privacy. Privacy is more than not having anything to hide.

-

icepyro Jul 10th 2010 1:50AM

Justified? Certainly not. No matter how upset people are, no matter what circumstances are, no one is justified in violence. I personally like to think that what made Blizzard backpedal was not the malicious attacks, but those that remained calm and posted reasoned explanations of why it is a Bad Idea(tm). In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that he was not in the meetings about the reaction because he was "too close". I am glad to see he kept his chin up and can come back to the forums.

No matter which part of the reaction opened Blizzard's eyes, I am just glad they did sit back and think it over and came to a better conclusion (whatever this actually means - I'm not fully hip on what will be displayed now).

Elmouth Jul 10th 2010 2:00AM

"People were not justified in attacking him as they did."

Oh please. He basically taunted the goddamn internet, he's lucky it didn't end worse than it did.

You don't go online and post your goddamn infos for the lolz

bennet Jul 10th 2010 2:08AM

@Bryan: If you were following the larger WoW community's objections to RealID, there were numerous polite, well-reasoned objections to being forced to provide your real name in an environment where virtual identities had previously sufficed, and in numerous cases were far more recognizable. I'd like to think that their opinions, not threats and childish pranks, prevailed in Blizzard's decision to reverse this ill-considered policy.

Utakata Jul 10th 2010 5:13AM

Brain, it's only a sad day for apologists such as yourself who don't get it, didn't get their way over Blizz not implementing a very stupid and dangerous decision.

As for accusing the community for violence over this is an exageration at best and a out right lie at worst. At no time did anyone commit any violent act against Blizz or it's employees over this. As for threats...most of the community would not condem such actions. I'm not sure what personal stunt Bashiok was playing to prove some point that lead him into this precarious situation he was referring to. Most of the community would not condone any violent acts or threats against him. I'm not sure where your getting this stuff from. Perhaps you're just sore that we won and trying to make us look bad. /shug

As for nothing to hide...well good for you, but I still doubt you would like being stalked. Most don't. This is why we like our privacy, to keep the nutters at bay. Just saying...

Killik Jul 10th 2010 6:39AM

The irony being that a minority of the community showed themselves to be the same kind of nutters that they claimed to need protection from.

theRaptor Jul 10th 2010 6:47AM

@Killik

No, they showed that a community has people from all spectrum's and that you can't trust that all individuals in the community will work for the common benefit. Which is why most of us don't want our real names out there.

The people who outed Bashiok did it to prove a point. The nutters that harassed him did it because they are awful people (it is called 4chan, Google it).

edgehead Jul 10th 2010 7:17AM

Quoted from Bryan Shipp:
"There's an old saying that goes something like this: "The dishonest man is the man most likely to think you are lying." Not because that's how YOU would behave. . .but because that's how HE would behave, and he assumes you are naturally just as bad as he is."

But you can always trust a dishonest mant o be dishonest, honestly. It'sthe honest ones you have to watch out for, as you can never tell when they'll do something incredibly stupid.

Xano Jul 10th 2010 9:37AM

@All the responses to Bryan: Did anyone notice he most likely used his real name....just sayin' :P

All good. As usual in ANY situation, some took it to an extreme, some plugged their ears, closed their eyes, and went "La La La, I don't see you, I can't hear you" to the whole situation, while still others did the appropriate thing by canceling the account in protest while posting a well thought out response on the forums.

Baba Jul 10th 2010 11:10AM

People who are ripping on the community for rising to Bashiok's challenge aren't considering the full implications. Sure if they are using the information to flood his life with hate, it's abusive and can't be justified. HOWEVER, if they simply used it as an opportunity to showcase how vulnerable someone could be made through this, I believe it's perfectly right.
Another example of such a thing happened in the UK, where some public records were lost (healthcare records, bank details etc). Jeremy Clarkson said it was a load of hype over nothing and challenged anyone to use some of his details to exploit him. So someone took £10,000 from him and gave it to charity. Clarkson admitted he was wrong, and didn't follow it up because he knew the potential danger when he started it. Same with Bashiok.

Would the forum idea have been scrapped without this incident? Probably, but it helped bring about its downfall imo. Neg me if you want, but meh, I give you my honest, balanced opinion.

Merus Jul 10th 2010 12:03PM

The difference is that Bashiok did not invite people to invade his privacy. Jeremy Clarkson did. (If your story is accurate, and frankly I can see Jeremy Clarkson saying something that foolish.)

It's a lot like the lock on your front door. Are people justified to walk in and take what they want because they can pick your lock, or because you left your front door open? No. Security precautions don't negate invasions of privacy, in the same way they don't negate invasions of property.

Utakata Jul 10th 2010 4:41PM

Perhaps I was a bit harsh...so I am making a retraction of what I stated. I guess the "nothing to hide" part really irk'd me really bad, because it's such a terrible arguement. Instead, I refer to *Oriflame's wonderful and elegant responce of explaining why that position is false. My apologies for coming off like that; it was evidently not needed. :(

*Though I'll add to Oriflame's piece: Having something to hide is not necessarily a bad thing either. Most of us do; whether it's guilty pleasures, porn fetishes to working for the NSA. :)

Spark Jul 10th 2010 8:13PM

If the issue had been something else, exposing personal information would have been entirely out of context and inappropriate. But it was about personal information and, among other things, the exposure of a name.

This is an information security issue. Sometimes those cases require a functional example to press home the point; a proof of concept. Years ago, I had identified an issue with an employer's system passing passwords unencrypted on their network. I brought up the point and it went largely dismissed as impractical to exploit. So I asked for a meeting with the appropriate management in the boss' office. I plugged my laptop in to his network, fired up a few apps, and soon had a stream of passwords scrolling across the projected image of my laptop screen. Within the month, they had the application using encryption.

In this case, the issue of privacy was being dismissed by Bashiok himself. He volunteered his name as an example; a proof of concept for his argument. Individuals within the community responded by extending that proof of concept to display the dangers involved. Unfortunately, this should have stopped at a certain point. When I exposed the password issue, I didn't then go ahead and start using the passwords to wreck havoc in my employer's network. Likewise, the individuals in the WoW community did not need to start using Bashiok's personal information to harass.

In short (i.e. TLDNR) - this was not "I'm ordering pizzas to our house until you give me free ponies", this was "this is why we want our privacy" - it was simply taken too far.

One last comment...

-----
Bryan Shipp Jul 10th 2010 12:35AM

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "The dishonest man is the man most likely to think you are lying." Not because that's how YOU would behave. . .but because that's how HE would behave, and he assumes you are naturally just as bad as he is.
-----
While there may be truth in that the dishonest expect dishonesty, it is still wise for an honest man to be cautious.

MightyBurebista Jul 10th 2010 10:15PM

Hollow Leviathan said:
"vigilantism of any kind is immoral."

...did you just call Batman immoral?

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