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Posts with tag looking-for-group

Does a video game have to force us to make good choices?

by Anne Stickney Feb 20th 2012 at 2:00PM

Take a moment and picture this: There's a politician out there, a pretty sleazy politician, who is basically in a position of power to use that power to do whatever suits him or her best -- no regard for anyone that voted him into office, no real sense of caring for those he is supposedly serving. One day, someone comes up to that politician and says, "Hey man, I'll give you $3 million if you start taking an interest in your constituents and doing what is best for them, OK?" The politician agrees, takes the money, and promptly starts doing the right thing.

Is that politician in the wrong? Or is that politician simply learning that if he behaves badly, he'll get a bribe to start behaving correctly? What's to stop him from behaving badly again, if he thinks he's going to get another $3 million out of the deal? More importantly, if all the other politicians out there see this guy get a bribe to behave like a decent politician and all of those politicians decide to start behaving badly in an effort to get that bribe for themselves, are they in the wrong?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

Should WoW players be responsible for player accountability?

by Anne Stickney Feb 8th 2012 at 4:00PM

Blizzard's policy as far as reporting players has been about the same since day one. If you have a problem with a player, you report them. While Blizzard can contact you and thank you for reporting the issue, it will not give any details regarding what it has done about the problem being reported. This has always been understandable to me; in the many years on and off that I worked customer service and call center jobs, rule #1 was that you did not speak to anyone but an account holder regarding the status of their account. To me, the Blizzard policy is just more of the same kind of treatment -- Blizzard cannot tell you about actions taken against another player's account, because hey, their account isn't yours, you know? It's private information.

That said, I have reported my share of players over the years, and I never really knew if action was taken against these players or not. In simple cases of name violations, like using an inappropriate word for guild or character name, I could usually tell if something had been done, because the guild or player in question would have their name changed. But in cases of player harassment ... well, you never know if they've been told anything or not. You just sort of hope this means the person harassing you will go away and that will be the end of it, but there are absolutely no guarantees.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

Encrypted Text: A savvy rogue's guide to starting Dragon Soul via the Raid Finder

by Chase Christian Dec 7th 2011 at 9:00PM

morchok
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here.

The introduction of the Raid Finder is one of the biggest features in patch 4.3, and so far it has been everything that we could ask for and more. The queues have been quick, the bosses are tuned just right for the demographic, and the rewards are potent enough to keep the system running. Anyone with decent gear can queue up for a raid, gaining valuable experience and gear. I think the new system is perfect for allowing new raiders to get their feet wet, preparing them for what lies ahead.

Even as a pure DPS class, the Raid Finder queues haven't been too bad for rogues. Between my own experience and the word on the street (not Greg), queue times are between 15 and 30 minutes, and groups are mostly competent. To a class that's historically had problems finding a spot in a raid group, the Raid Finder looks like our new best friend. The only bummer is that we can't start or progress in our legendary quest line in the Raid Finder. In order to maximize our random group's chance for success, we need to be prepared to do our best.

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Filed under: Rogue, (Rogue) Encrypted Text

WoW Archivist: Patch 2.0.1, Before the Storm

by Anne Stickney Oct 18th 2011 at 7:00PM

The WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold?

Patch 2.0.1 was, according to a large chunk of players, quite possibly one of the best patches to come out of vanilla WoW. It had nothing to do with the introduction of the new talent trees in preparation for The Burning Crusade's looming launch. It had nothing to do with the new, bulky, and rarely used first iteration of the looking for group tool. There were no launch events with this patch, just a heck of a lot of data that needed to be implemented in preparation for the launch of the first expansion.

But what had players either cheering fervently or cursing forever had nothing to do with the imminent approach of The Burning Crusade. It had everything to do with PVP and the removal of the honor system as we knew it in vanilla. What's so special about that, you ask? Let's take a journey back in time and look at the good and bad of the old honor system. If you think today's Arena grinds are difficult, well ... you're in for one heck of an eye-opener.

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Filed under: WoW Archivist

Zarhym hints at cross-realm raiding

by Daniel Whitcomb Aug 17th 2011 at 9:00AM

In a recent player-created thread about cross-realm raiding on the official forums, Community Manager Zarhym popped in with seven enigmatic words:

Zarhym
We have some plans. They're good plans.


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Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Raiding

Dungeon finder, vote kicking hotfixes on the way

by Anne Stickney Feb 17th 2011 at 12:20AM

There's a new group of hotfixes on the way, and along with the hotfixes come a number of changes to the dungeon finder and vote kick tools. Community Manager Bashiok released a post detailing the changes, which will take realm restarts to implement. In other words, we'll likely see these changes go into effect after next Tuesday's maintenance -- unless, of course, Blizzard pulls the servers down before then. It's Blizzard's hope that these hotfixes will do a little to address poor behavior and unfair group kicks in dungeon finder groups.


Bashiok
We're making a number of hotfixes to address use of the Dungeon Finder and vote kick tools. The following hotfixes will require realm restarts to implement, which are likely to be next Tuesday's weekly maintenance.
  • Players who are outside a dungeon for more than a few minutes are now immediately able to be kicked.
  • If queuing as a group with a tank or healer, and the tank or healer drops group (or is kicked) soon after joining, those that queued with them will also be removed from the dungeon.

  • If three or more players group queue with each other it will require an additional vote for them to kick anyone they did not group queue with.

  • If a group queue of 4 kicks the one person that they did not group queue with they will each receive a more severe penalty to their ability to initiate future kicks.

  • If someone initiates a vote kick for someone they group queued with they will not incur a penalty to their ability to initiate future kicks.
With these changes we hope to reduce some undesirable behavior and annoyances, and encourage greater patience when using the Dungeon Finder. In addition, keep in mind that both initiating and agreeing to vote kick have always carried the same weight to your ability to kick in the future. It's always best to save your votes for when it really counts to ensure your ability to kick is available when it does.

We'll of course be watching how these changes work to improve these systems, and always appreciate your feedback.

As these and other hotfixes are implemented, they'll be added to the hotfix blog - http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2259389#blog



World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

Filed under: News items, Cataclysm

Ghostcrawler responds to heroic dungeon difficulty complaints

by Fox Van Allen Jan 12th 2011 at 5:00PM

Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street posted an entry on his blog yesterday called "Wow, Dungeons are Hard!" It's a rather lengthy (but worthwhile) read about the current state of Cataclysm heroics, Blizzard's philosophy on designing them, his impressions on their current difficulty level, and some advice for improving your performance.

Like I said, it's an epic post, and we won't reprint the whole thing here. This, however, is the key takeaway:

Wow, Dungeons are Hard!
The bottom line is that we want Heroics and raids to be challenging, and that is particularly true now while the content is new and characters are still collecting gear. They're only going to get easier from here on out. We want players to approach an encounter, especially a Heroic encounter, as a puzzle to be solved. We want groups to communicate and strategize. And by extension, we want you to celebrate when you win instead of it being a foregone conclusion.

On the other hand, we don't want you to stumble your way to victory. We don't want you to be able to overwhelm bosses without noticing or caring what they're doing. We don't want healers to be able to make up for all of the mistakes on the part of the other players. While at the end of the day, dungeons may just be gussied up loot vending machines, we want you to do more than push a button to get the loot.

Ultimately, we don't want to give undergeared or unorganized groups a near guaranteed chance of success, because then the content will feel absolutely trivial for players in appropriate gear who communicate, cooperate, and strategize.


All that being said, though, is Blizzard really satisfied with its dungeon designs and their current level of difficulty? Hard heroics are indeed hard, but the updated PTR patch notes for 4.0.6 (which went live just yesterday at almost the exact same time Ghostcrawler was discussing heroics) indicate that a series of nerfs is coming our way. That will no doubt lead to player rejoicing, but remember -- heroics are naturally getting easier as people get more familiar with them and players continue to compile better gear, which makes completion even easier still.

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Filed under: Cataclysm

Blizzard working on ways to improve dungeon finder

by Matthew Rossi Jan 5th 2011 at 1:00PM

The current dungeon finder is of course a vast improvement over the old LFG channel, but it can always be made better. In response to a forum thread about the dungeon finder's ever becoming performance-based, Zarhym weighed in with some interesting news.

Zarhym - Dungeon queue should be performance-based
We would love to implement better ways for Dungeon Finder to detect if players know what they're doing in dungeons beyond just the gear they've accumulated. We have some long-term design goals in mind for this we're not quite prepared to share this early on though. ;)


What was more interesting was the idea that Blizzard wants to improve the educational aspect of the service, however. With the current vote kick system, often players who are forced out of a group may have no idea why they failed, especially when they are new to the game.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Cataclysm

Sunday Morning Funnies: Middle-up

by Amanda Miller Dec 19th 2010 at 2:00PM

It's the last Sunday before Christmas, but whether you celebrate it or not, we'll have a treat for you next week on the 26th! Several comic artists are collaborating on a Secret Santa (or Greatfather Winter?) swap. They each have the name of another comic but do not necessarily know who all is participating and don't know who will be drawing their comic. This should be a blast!

Incidentally, if you emailed me and entered as a participant but did not receive my reply email, email me again or check your spam folders.

Enough business; here is the list! It even features several new comics:

Gallery: The Sunday Morning Funnies guide to WoW-related web comics

Slash AFKNPC, or Non-Player CharacterTorment of the WeekDaily QuestsCoffin ComicsWorld of Warcraft, eh?

Filed under: Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: Change is good

by Amanda Miller Dec 12th 2010 at 2:00PM

It's super secret Santa time! The suggestion was put forth by Azarizotza last week in the comments section, and there seems to be some support for the plan. So, if you run a comic that gets featured here from time to time and you would like to participate, shoot me an email by 8:00 p.m. EST December 18. I'll shuffle the names and email them back out. Edit: If you don't have my email from our gallery correspondence, you can always use the WoW Insider tipline.

Now, for the list: GU Comics has a slew of WoW-related comics this week:

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: A long wait

by Amanda Miller Dec 5th 2010 at 12:00PM

With Cataclysm descending on Tuesday, excitement is mounting. To help you cope with the anticipation, this week's list of comics is extra long! As always, post your tips in the comments section.
I missed Arena-Inside last week (sorry!), so we have some catching up to do. In descending order:
  1. Once a Hunter, Always a Hunter...
  2. She Brought Her Paper of Pain
  3. A Cataclysmas Carol
  4. King's Orders
  5. Expect the Unexpected!
  6. Too Much?

Gallery: The Sunday Morning Funnies guide to WoW-related web comics

Slash AFKNPC, or Non-Player CharacterTorment of the WeekDaily QuestsCoffin ComicsWorld of Warcraft, eh?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: Magic carpet

by Amanda Miller Nov 28th 2010 at 8:00PM

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans out there! I will keep this short so that you can get back to your feasting.

Gallery: The Sunday Morning Funnies guide to WoW-related web comics

Slash AFKNPC, or Non-Player CharacterTorment of the WeekDaily QuestsCoffin ComicsWorld of Warcraft, eh?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: Hack kak

by Amanda Miller Nov 21st 2010 at 12:00PM

Comic news Skoteinos wrote:

We started an opinion blog that we've introduced a World of Wordcraft Crossword into and thought it'd fit in with the Sunday Funnies theme nicely. Right now we're planning one a month and they need to be printed out to be played, but if people seem to like it and it's popular enough, we'll [do] our best to do them weekly or bi-weekly with associated word searches every other week. We'll also look into investing the money in a program to make them playable online if the demand is there.

Check it out!

The comics

Gallery: The Sunday Morning Funnies guide to WoW-related web comics

Slash AFKNPC, or Non-Player CharacterTorment of the WeekDaily QuestsCoffin ComicsWorld of Warcraft, eh?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

The evolution of zerg dungeon farming

by Matthew Rossi Nov 18th 2010 at 7:00PM

When one considers how dungeons and heroic dungeons will work in Cataclysm, one of the first elements to consider is the way that dungeons have functioned since World of Warcraft's release. I find it illuminating to consider that one of the most complained-about aspects of dungeon running in Wrath of the Lich King seems to my eyes to be a consequence of a successful series of design changes.

We've all heard the complaints about groups treating the dungeons and heroics of the Wrath era as chores, five- to 15-minute frenzied runs through the place, annihilating everything in the path of five silent, grim harbingers of death. No nuance, no subtlety, and no strategy. Crowd control? Crowds are controlled by their own grim, horrible demises. When considered in this light, these dungeons seem less like adventures and more like unfortunate victims of beings who invade and despoil.

However, the reason for this is fairly simple. In Wrath, dungeons have been wildly successful at two very difficult tasks.

Read more →

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

Sunday Morning Funnies: Ten lifetimes

by Amanda Miller Nov 14th 2010 at 9:00AM

Disciplinary Action got a really spiffy redesign. Check out Episode 13 to see the new layout. Also check out The Seriously Boring Adventures of Aitrix!

And for a long list of the rest of this week's comics:

Gallery: The Sunday Morning Funnies guide to WoW-related web comics

Slash AFKNPC, or Non-Player CharacterTorment of the WeekDaily QuestsCoffin ComicsWorld of Warcraft, eh?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

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