MailBag - August 14, 2005
MailBag
August 13, 2005
by Stephen "Blue" Heaslip
Letters are checked for spelling but not for grammar. Mail
intended for the mailbag
should be sent to mailbag@bluesnews.com.
Rant of the Week
| Re:
World of Warcraft & Blizzard's Lack of Customer Service
To Whom it may Concern,
I, along with several others, on the World of Warcraft forums have
become so upset we have resorted to e-mailing the major Gaming sites
in hopes that someone will post an article calling blizzard out on
their terrible Customer Service. Let me paint a picture for you, if
I may.
Ztryder, a level 1 Undead Rogue, was born in the middle February
onto the server of Frostmane. Frostmane was a brand new server,
fresh and clean for many to start over on. It was released by
Blizzard to give people a fresh start.
Fast forward: Last week. Ztryder is level 60 and has been for 4-5
months. However, I had only been into Molten Core (40 man raid
instance) several times. Our very best guilds on both sides had not
even killed Ragnaros (Final boss of Molten Core) yet. Suddenly,
Blizzard opens a transfer from Frostwolf to Frostmane. Frostwolf, a
first generation server, had many guilds farming MC. Frostmane was
ruined, and here is why:
(1) Our population went from low to high in three days. Our server's
first ever queue (line to join the realm) happened two days after
the transfer. I loved my Low Pop server.
(2) Before the transfer, our Horde: Alliance ratio was 1.1 : 1.
After the transfer Our ratio is something like 2:7
(3) 2 major Frostwolf horde guilds moved over, and 11 major
Frostmane alliance guilds moved over, wrecking our server stability
and delicate population balance
(4) Major server upsets, crashing, etc.
(5) Guilds with gear/weaponry/equipment light-years ahead of
anything we possessed.
The list goes on and on.
Why this one transfer concerns all of Blizzard and their customers
If they would do something as brash as a server transfer of this
magnitude without thinking of the social and economic consequences,
who knows what else they could do.
Currently, there is a thread on Blizzard's main forum page with 750
posts and over 21,000 views (and is growing every day). This thread
has had no Blizzard attention, even though over 30 original
Frostmane customers have quit the game because of this transfer,
myself included, and I suspect the numbers to continually grow.
I have no idea what you are allowed to post about something like
this, but an expose warning people that Blizzard is a company with
low-grade Customer Support and Service would really help ease some
people's minds.
Thank you very much,
Brian |
| I hear your pain... One of
the neat things about MMORPGs is how they are living, ever-changing
worlds. This also, however, puts you at the mercy of those same
winds of change. Last
MMORPG I played was Motor City Online. If you want to hear some
horror stories of being jerked around by the ongoing development,
and eventually lack of development, of a game, I'll give you a nice
earful some day. |
Not so fast there...
| Re:
Skyline Video I
don't mean to be a wet blanket, but that Skyline video you posted is
actually 210 KPH not MPH, which means that it's not very fast at
all. You can easily spot the speed because the traffic moves about
how it would at 130 mph... and the regular flow of traffic is around
80-90 kph (55 mph).
It's a bit misleading because they put it in the video. Remember
that a Skyline is a Japanese car, and there they use metric
(kilometers, not miles per hour). Just to give you an example,
Nissan sets the speed limiter on the new 350Z at 150-ish mph, which
is around 250 kph.
- SpectrumZZ |
| Only 130 MPH? I hate
when you get an old guy in the left lane with his left blinker going
and he won't push it past 130... Especially in the rain like that. Dammit grandpa, people have places to be!!! |
Instant IQ Test
| Re:
Idle Comment I
find it amusing that today's page shows one of those 2 sided ads -
on the left, a babe wanting to know if I want to meet her and on the
right, the "What's your IQ?" thing where the default answer (90) is
entirely appropriate for anyone who thinks they're going to ever
actually meet the babe on the left.
Great work - I'm a daily browser.
Jim Weisz |
| I've had the same thought
myself. The women in those ads look like they have to buy pepper spray by the case to ward off horndogs, but
they need to seek out companionship on the web? 90 may be stretching
it if you buy that. |
Getting Issue Oriented
| Re:
Video Games Helping Society? Teens committing fewer crimes, having
fewer babies You
don’t suppose that this decline in crime, drug use, and pregnancies
has anything to do with video games do you???
News media & politicians are quick to point to games when violence
is concerned but I see no mention of them in these articles.
Strange.
Lance Thompson |
| Strange? The day you hear
the lawyers say, "Things are going well, there's no need to go to
court over this," and the politicians say, "Things are going well,
no need to remove the incumbent in favor of me..." that will be the
day that something strange is afoot. |
Tooth of the Matter
| Re:
About your dental woes
Hey, this is the dentist that sent you email a
long time ago. I still read your site and love it. Thanks for doing
such a great job!
Also, I keep reading that you need more and more dental work. Your
dentist has explained prevention and the value of flossing, right? J
If you are flossing regularly, you will see a benefit eventually in
that you won’t have to keep getting work done. I do realize that
flossing isn’t fun or sexy but it sure can save you a ton of time
and money… but from reading your etc. a few days ago it sounds like
you are enjoying the medications… ; )
Keep up the good work and I do enjoy reading about dental work from
the patient’s perspective. Very entertaining, it is.
Brian |
| You are right, better
preventive care would mean fewer of these frequent cleanings. You
are also right that the meds don't suck either... if I could get one
of those portable nitrous cannisters like Dennis Hopper had in Blue
Velvet, I suspect Isabella Rossellini would have to take out a
restraining order against me... Mommie!!! |
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