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Arlee In Azeroth: Moving Forward With World of Warcraft | MMORPG.com
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Arlee In Azeroth: Moving Forward With World of Warcraft | MMORPG.com
Robin has been trying to write their World of Warcraft column now for week, but just has no been able to bring themselves to fully do so. Well, having got their thoughts somewhat untangled, Robin is back to talk Blizzard and WoW.
Comments
It is good to hear that you play itself is currently pleasant in the meantime, and your experiences with other players are positive. At least there is a little silver lining to accompany the dark clouds of late.
They still play, but less than before, as they didn't like what happened (ofc) and they feel that the game they grew up with has now been tainted. Where i get that, they grew up with it, it was a magical safe happy place and then to find out this was going on all that time, ouch.
Me? i'm playing the living f'ing shit out of it like i've never played it before.
OK, there are some bad apples, what am i going to do? jump ship and leave the good decent employees in their time of need?
Turn my back on them after the many, many years of joy they brought to my boys and i as they grew up, hell no. Heads are rolling, those days are long over.
Then you get peeps like preach, I'm out, oh way to turn your back on the PEOPLE THAT MADE YOU WHO YOU ARE. People only know who you are thanks to all the people you just jumped ship from, wow just f'ing wow man.
Hey thanks for the millions of dollars i made off your backs while life was hell for you at work, but you know i can't handle this, i'm bored, peace out, like omg zero loyalty. This when they need you, but you have your fake reasons and we all know the real reason, you can't make money from wow now after this so peace out, unreal.
My slight disappointment with 9.1 is that it's not as hard as CN, already got AOTC like weeks ago, 3/10 Mythic, but there is definitely fatigue setting in with the guild.
We had 28 on the roster, Mythic 20 packed, rotating on runs, to where now, we can't cap 20, we're floating like 15 to 18 peeps solid, so that's becoming worrisome. Around 10 people bailed.
And you know what it was, not the scandal, these people had their back, staying to support the good employees...
it was when they announced they stopped working on the game.
Boom, did that ever take the wind out of people's sails.
9.1 was like wtf, and now 9.2 is well, who knows they ain't even working on the game so f it, hard to have your back if you don't have ours, was their feeling on that.
I have picked up my alt time though, questing through BFA is rpg heaven, such good questing, and all brand new to me as i did all that on horde and never on alliance so, yeah! FOR THE HORde /errrrr ALLIANCE!!!
We all have and we all do and if I'm being completely honest with myself when a straw (or a heavier weight) breaks the camel's back my decision to leave games is almost always more a function of my own waning interest than any one critical external event.
It doesn't even have to be about reprehensible conduct by the developers of a game. I play and have played games where I detest the cash shops and loot boxes but as long as I can successfully ignore them, I keep on playing if I'm enjoying myself and try my best to keep the annoyances out of my mind.
My last involvement with WOW just prior to and after the Shadowlands release was pretty brief actually - just barely 4 months - and leaving it had nothing to do with anything other than just losing the desire to log in.
My involvement with Diablo 3, OTOH, has been constant for several years.
This is why I was even aware that the Blizzard D3 forums had a very good community manager for years that went by the name of Nevalistis and that she had left about a year ago although I knew nothing about that other than she was now working at Wizards of the Coast.
What hit home for me more than anything else about the revelations from the past few weeks at Blizzard was actually a post in the D3 forums that in turn had a link to a rather lengthy bog she had just shared about her years at Blizzard.
Nothing very sensational or titillating in her blog. Just the honest experience of a woman working in that environment being constantly denied opportunities and promotions and having at one time the legitimate concerns of D3 players about a particular new armor that had technically buggy appearance issues dismissed when she brought the feedback to the team on the assumption that she was just objecting to its slightly more revealing than usual look because she was a woman.
It's a very good read that at least for me, put the current goings on at Blizzard in perspective: https://wtbrecognition.blogspot.com/2021/07/my-experiences-at-blizzard-entertainment.html
I'm not a boycotter of companies. I play EA published games despite having a very low opinion of the corporation - I even bought the Mass Effect remastered trilogy and played the crap out of it recently. And yes I am still playing Diablo 3 this season and am likely to play D2 Resurrected as well.
Some of that old art but not the artist rationalization I guess. I also am an imperfect gamer who is prone to compartmentalization trying to keep annoyances (or worse) about the artist away from the art I enjoy,
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Shame on you Activision/Blizzard,
No King Rules Forever.
There are other games. WoW's old anyway. 2004 old.
I've really been misinterpreting this whole "woke" thing if that's what it means.
If you don’t want to play, don’t, never force yourself to play a game you’re not feeling.
If you do still want to play, don’t quit to make a stand, you’re a stand-up person obviously and the game needs people like you more than ever. Be part of the change for the better.
The only way things will get better is if we support the decent employees left and especially the ones who signed their names.
Although pulling your wallet seems like prudent action to take, all that is doing is giving back the power to Blizz in that.
“Welp!!! profits are down, time to let people go, where is that list? Let 80% of them go don’t want to make it look too obv.” On top of that you’re letting the toxic players take over your game.
Be the change!
From Merriam Webster:
"In an 1881 letter, Emily Dickinson wrote "Almost anyone under the circumstances would have doubted if [the letter] were theirs, or indeed if they were themself." People have used singular 'they' to describe someone whose gender is unknown for a long time, but the nonbinary use of 'they' is relatively new."
The singular "they" has actually been in use when the gender is unknown for 100s of years. The only difference these days is that it is also being politely used even when you think you know the gender.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Harden up or move on? I find it ironic you think people coming forward is a sign of weakness. To finally stand up after years of harassment, to find the courage to defy the fear of ridicule and chance of losing your job, to be able to overcome the urge to just be quiet and keep out of the spotlight, that IS hardening up. That is moving on. Packing up and going away isn't making a better life. Demanding a fair and safe workplace is making a better life.
I'm retired now but I spent 30+ years working full time in a union representing professional and technical health care workers - pharmacists, dietitians, physiotherapists, lab and radiology techs, etc. I came up through the ranks as a lab tech myself before being hired as a full-time union rep.
Even in that union environment with representatives to keep an eye on employers and help you in meetings when you needed it, many were reluctant to "rock the boat" for fear of career-threatening reprisals and black-listing. It took courage to speak out and challenge their supervisors and managers when they needed to be challenged because you were putting your chances for future choice jobs and promotions in jeopardy by doing so.
Workers at Blizzard speaking out deserve a lot of credit for having the guts to do it when their jobs and careers are even more at risk than they would be if they had the support of a union.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Yes, in a "good luck with that" sort of way.