Posts with tag HarryPotter

(There are no spoilers in this post-- see note below.)

We've been trying to stay away from covering the specifics of this, but I'm pretty sure that by now, everyone who wanted to read Harry Potter's last book spoiler-free has done so (I finished it last Saturday night after a marathon reading session, and really enjoyed it). So perhaps now's the time to, as Terra Nova does, examine these strange relationships between virtual worlds.

Why would the WoW forums (or any MMORPG forums, as TN mentions FFXI) be a hotbed of spoiler posting, and not, say, a note posted on the door of a bookstore (or any other place that is likely to hit more Harry Potter fans than the forums)? What is it that attracts the WoW playership to be both inclined to post spoilers, and inclined to be bothered by them?

The answer, I think, lies in the fact that WoW really has two audiences-- there are gamers, like myself, who also play Halo and Counterstrike. They play games to get the highest level and the best gear and most Arena points, and they think the Harry Potter books are nothing more than kids' books about a stupid wizard school. These are the people who think it's funny to post spoilers on a forum, and who take pleasure in ruining someone else's appreciation of something they have no appreciation for. But there's a second group that also plays WoW, and they are very different.

*Note: Before you go any further, I should mention that if you haven't read the Harry Potter books yet, you may want to stay away from the comments on this post. Spoilers will be deleted from our comments, but we can only act so fast, and any post about spoilers is bound to attract some itself.

Last week we heard that they were going to be taking spoiler postings seriously on the European forums -- and that spoiling other players' enjoyment of books or movies would be a quick way to get yourself banned. However, Drysc has recently reminded US forum-goers that they take the subject just as seriously. Drysc tells us:

We would like to remind our forum goers of our strong stance against trolling by way of posting spoilers for movies, tv shows, and books. We take these attempts to cause others grief and produce general unrest on these forums very seriously, and we take a harsh stance against any outright or veiled attempts to spoil the enjoyment of others. Posting spoilers can result in a lengthy suspension, up to and most likely a permanent removal of all posting privileges from these forums.

I'm quite glad to see they're taking a strong stance on the subject, since nothing's worse than having a book or movie's ending spoiled for you. However, I still think the best case is going to be to avoid this, and all other internet forums until after you finish reading that last Harry Potter book. After all, CMs are only human, and there are a lot of spoilsports out there.

[via World of Warcraft Warcry]

Warlocks rejoice, or at least I am rejoicing for the possibility of a new flying mount for my Warlock. Palm over at Worldofraids sent us some additional information about what is loaded into Patch 2.2, and although armor and weapons are always interesting to me, I was totally giddy when I saw the above image.

I would love to be able to say that this means that there will be a warlock-specific flying mount, but I actually doubt it. These days the trends more towards cool mounts like these being drops from instances, available to anyone. In a way the ability to fly away a la Harry Potter would be just as cool if it were available for anyone, I just hold on to the idea of Paladin and Warlock specific flying mounts tightly. Like death-grip tightly. If druids can have flight form, I don't see why locks and pallies can't have a quested flying mount. It only makes sense since they quest for their epic mounts.

Until further evidence comes to light keeping my hope alive, I will keep my eye out for more info on the Broom Mount. Perhaps that Grynfinndor guild you've been thinking about creating will now be able to soar through the skies in Quidditch formations soon.

Over on the European forums, Aeus is getting serious about banning people from the forums for posting spoilers. (Likely due to the immenent release of the final Harry Potter book, though he's clear that bans will come down for people posting any type of spoiler.) Says Aeus:

Posting spoilers is one of the worst ways to troll; not to mention the amount of players whose enjoyment and anticipation can potentially be utterly ruined.

If you were around the day the previous Harry Potter book was released, you would understand where Aeus was coming from. Every forum was packed with posts giving away the book's ending, in the titles of the posts and hidden behind misleading titles. And, I don't know about you, but I visit the official forums to talk about World of Warcraft. Aeus is off to an enthusiastic start, telling a spoiler-posting player:

Suspended for 9 days, that's when the book comes out. If... [the spoiler occurs] this becomes a permanent.

But while I admire his enthusiasm, with the number of posts on the topic that appeared with the release of the last book, I wonder if it will be practical to keep the forums spoiler-free. However, if you're a fan of the Potter series, I've got to recommend staying away from the forums -- and the general chat channels -- until after you've finished the book.