WoWSocial Addon, Blue Posts, Ghostcrawler's Tweets, Just Another Summer Night

[12/6] Friends & Family Beta Test Hotfixes, New Features Not Likely To Be Added During Beta, Design a Legendary - Part 3

MLG/ManaGrind Tournaments This Weekend, Top 100 Hearthstone Player Rankings - Week 6

WoWSocial Addon (China Only)
A nice new Group Finder feature is coming in Warlords of Draenor, but NetEase has come up with a solution for Chinese players to use today. Players in China are currently testing an addon that allows for group chats, creating groups, and scheduled events with cross realm players.

Unfortunately the addon won't work on US/EU servers in its current state, as it relies on passing messages between servers via officially run characters that serve as message passing proxies.

You can see the translated FAQ and translated screenshots below, but keep in mind that things can be lost in translation. Thanks to ngacnlcq for the translation!


Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Why can't I click this addon while it keeps flashing after I log in the game?
You need to wait for the end of addon flashing to enable it.

How do I apply to join a group?
You can apply for a group by clicking "Search Group", selecting corresponding group characteristics and activity time, and clicking "Apply to join".

Why can't I join a group after I apply to join that group?
After you apply to join a group, you need to wait for the group administrator's approval. If the group administrator refuse your application, you can't join it, and the addon will not notify you.

How do I leave a group?
Click "My group", right click the group you want to quit, and select "Quit".

How do I view group information?
Click "My group", right click the group you want to view, and select "View Group Information".

How can I chat in the group?
Click "My group" and double click the group in which you want to chat.

Can I view previous chat log?
You can't view the overwritten chat log at the moment.

Can I chat in multiple groups at the same time?
Yes, you can double click multiple groups in "My Group" to open multiple chat boxes.

How many groups can I join?
You can join multiple groups without any limitation.

How to create a group?
There is a button called "Create Group" in the bottom right corner of the addon. Click "Create Group", select group characteristics and activity time to create it. Please note that if you don't select any group characteristics or activity time, other players are not able to find this group.

How many groups can I create?
Each character can create 3 groups at the moment.

How can I modify the group portrait?
Right click the group you created, select "View Profile", left click the portrait, choose a new one, click okay and save.

How can I disband a group?
Only group creator can disband group. In "My group", select the group you want to disband, right click "View Profile" and click "Disband".

How can I invite others after I create a group?
If some players apply for joining your group, the addon will be flashing in the minimap and you can click it to view the information. If you accept the application, tick it, or you can cross it if you refuse. You can also right click the group you created in "My Group" to "View Profile" to view the application.



Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Warlords of Draenor Professions
We're actually hoping to do a bunch of work with crafting in Warlords. Nothing I can share any concrete details on yet, but we're talking about it a lot. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Raid Finder and Group Browser
So my question becomes are they seriously doing away with the current LFD/LFR system that is in place for WoD, or am I totally misunderstanding this.
We're not getting rid of LFR or LFD. We're just creating an easier way for players who want to do content without random matchmaking to find other players. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Indirect Flight Paths
Ok Blizzard. Please create direct flight paths. Seriously stop wasting our time with connecting flights and slow flight path speeds. This isn't real life, you aren't losing money every time a flight path takes off half empty... PLEASE PLEASE just make direct flights and speed this [fluffy bunny] up. Your just wasting our time on these 5 min flights. That is why people stop playing, poor customer design and input.
We've said it in the past, but I'll repeat it here. If there are bad flight paths that just don't make sense, let us know. We can always take a look at them. We also plan to make sure the flight paths and transportation in Warlords of Draenor is as convenient as possible as well. We don't plan to remove the feeling of traveling feeling like traveling still though. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Ghostcrawler's Tweets
Today was Ghostcrawler's last day at Blizzard, but he can still be found on Twitter at OccupyGStreet.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Ghostcrawler's Departure
I'm not surprised the internet doesn't actually understand what my job was. I am surprised it is so certain in its bad assumptions. (Source)
To be fair you've not done a whole lot to help dispell the myths.
Really? I am always careful to say "we" when describing a new feature or game change that the design team is going to make. (Source)
We've always assumed it was the royal "we"
Lol. No wonder MMOC posters think I'm arrogant. (Source)

HOnestly, I think the number of people happy he left are greatly exaggerated. Most people think it's a sore loss.
I think that is true as well. In my experience the folks who feel they aren't being heard feel the need to yell louder. (Source)
Doubt most players know who GC is and most do not know he is now gone. Not ment as disrespect btw.
None taken, and I agree completely. Most players have no idea who I am, and many that do have no idea what I do. Just read MMOC. (Source)

To be clear. I've always said Chilton should be the focus of more peoples praise and ire than he's been.
It is telling that the folks who communicate less are also less controversial. Don't reinforce that, internet! (Source)

I like this analogy. You acted as a lightning rod/tank as a direct public voice. I hope someone takes this up.
I remember before I worked here the frustration of not understanding why design decisions were made. It was my goal to fix that. (Source)
I knew a consequence of that would be some players not agreeing with the design, but figured that was better than not knowing. (Source)

Obviously I didn't do it all alone. It took a large team to handle all the systems work. I just cleared roadblocks for them. (Source)
Systems design = classes, items, professions, PvP, encounters, UI, combat & major features. I spent most of my time on features (Source)

I figure that any kind of 'lead' is akin to 'coach' or Scrum master supporting the team and freeing them up to do their jobs?
Exactly. I try to remove impediments that keep my team from being able to of their job. (Source)

How much power does a Lead system designer have? example: guy 1 in ur team comes with an idea, can u then just turn it down?
That's not a great way to foster good morale. Typically you should give them pros and cons of their idea and see what they think. (Source)
Our feedback and playtesting processes are usually good enough to catch bad ideas before they go live. (Source)

will you keep the twitter account, or will it be deleted?
It's my personal account so I imagine I will keep it. I might change the name. We'll see. I certainly won't use it to discuss WoW. (Source)

Are you going to become a backseat driver, er, designer for wow then? Calling and telling them they're all wrong?
I'll be ranting on the forums with all you guys. (Source)

Well ghost crawler if you are leaving I hope you have had a great time working blizzard
I did. Blizzard is very much like a family. I made many friends that I will have for life. (Source)

If you're rly leaving...can I have your gold? Srsly though, thank you for years of hard work helping make WoW a great game.
You wouldn't want my gold. Like all of you, we have to earn everything we get in game. (Source)

If you were playing a horde character, what race would you prefer?
I'm partial to the older-looking orcs for melee or female trolls for casters. Female undead tanks are cool too. (Source)

The real question is what race/gender?
Human female. I'm not judging, but I personally have trouble looking at a dude's butt for so long. (Source)

are you healing hc raids without addons ? I can't live without mouseover macros for all heal spells at the very least
I try to heal without addons to get the experience and figure out what changes we need, but I certainly recognize their value. (Source)
Now that you're no longer a dev, do you think you'll be more likely to use addons?
Probably. (Source)

BC class design was a ways off. I hated not being able to tank raids with my Pally which was supposed to be a tank too
I played a Prot warrior at the time, and my guild only ran Heroic Shattered Halls with a pally tank and 3 mages. Not fun. (Source)

shattered halls wasnt that big of a problem. The big problems with cc started in magisters terrace.
I could tank MT fine, but by then we likely outgeared it. SH was an issue because we didn't have epics yet. (Source)

Just resubbed after 2 years because Warlords got me so excited, sad to hear you're leaving, best of luck to you
I'm pretty excited about Warlords. I have high hopes. (Source)

the real question is are you still gonna play? And what are you gonna insta level to 90?
Yes, and I am thinking of leveling the Prot warrior who tanked vanilla or the hunter that was my first character. (Source)

what will you miss the most?
The meetings where I was just sure there was no good solution, and somehow we come out of it with a great idea. (Source)

: What was your proudest moment at Blizz?
Seeing a designer I really respect get a promotion. (Source)
I'm not sure there is design related moment. The experience tends to be more humbling than prideful. (Source)

so was "you can't have both good gameplay and good story" blizzard's company line or your own opinion?
I don't think I ever said that. I said "Gameplay first," which is a Blizzard corporate value. (Source)
Other studios value story first, or world first or social first. (Source)

Some advice: [My pet issue] is why there were sub losses is one of the weaker arguments players use. Players don't have that data (Source)
i've canceled my sub and the data you ask the person to provide is very VAGUE. too vague for ur supposed data
But what if we looked at player history before they quit? What if we could that tell they used to PvP then stopped and when? (Source)
Granted correlation is not causation, but with large enough data sets, you can still detect trends and form hypotheses. (Source)

in your time at blizz what was your biggest idea/feature that never happened?
I think it will still happen, so I can't talk about it. (Source)

Any chance you can talk more about the "big unannounced feature" now?
No, because I still want them to do it! (Source)
but you can talk about titan project?
I guess they can't strictly fire me, but it would be in extremely poor taste. (Source)
so other question are you was on the team of this game (developing)?
I was only ever on WoW at Blizzard. I made very small contributions to other games when I could. (Source)

One of my favorite aspects of your job, was the writing of those tips at the bottom of loading screens. True story.
I admit to writing the Alleria and Turalyon one. (Source)

Wait. Was Transmog you? Do I have to find you and hug you now?
Everything we do is a group effort, but transmog was something on which I worked a lot. (Source)
I had that feeling for some reason, which is why I think we won't get a Transmog Storage revamp now that you're leaving
Nah, there is a ton of support for it on the team, which is usually what counts. (Source)

Was it you who was responsible for the LFD? Even though it had its negatives, I found it to be one of the best additions!
Many of us worked on LFD. I remember the development fondly though because I worked really closely with on it. (Source)

Is there any idea you regret you supported to get implemented into the game?
I wish we had done flex before Raid Finder. Flex still feels like raiding. (Source)
was flex on thw radar when developing lfr?
We've thought about it for years. Balance was always the sticking point, which we finally solved by excluding the hardest level. (Source)

so how much of the ToC patch in wrath was your idea?
IDK. None of it? The raid was an attempt to see if good bosses could carry lack of new art. I feel like that was answered. (Source)
Heh it was Daelo's first raid after he took over from Tigole right? He needs to come back to WoW already also !(Tigole)
Your time frame isn't quite right. Daelo was the lead encounter designer for years and still contributes to WoW. (Source)

How long have you been playing WoW? And do you have any rare mounts or mini-pets that you're particularly proud of obtaining?
I started playing in the Mauradon patch. I'm not much of a collector but there are a few rare drakes that I ride. (Source)

I think he is going to design EverquestNext? Seems like the only big game in development thats worth leaving blizz.
Not sure I'd want to work on an MMO again. Anything would feel anticlimactic after WoW. (Source)

Game designers must adopt the values of their studio to some extent. Somewhere else I would design differently. (Source)
will we see you in the game designer position again?
Yes, but my impression is less in the trenches work and more guidance. We shall see. (Source)

Will you still attend Blizzcon?
Probably as a guest, if I didn't feel it would detract from the actual developers. (Source)

u can finally stop pretend everything is wonderful and perfect now! Gratz, Blizz can finally get someone serious
I think you will find WoW design philosophy comes from the team and not any one individual. Don't expect many changes. (Source)
I'm just waiting for the rage posts, "this happened because ghostcrawler left!"
Those tweets will come from me though, perhaps lessening the effect. (Source)

with you being gone from the dev team, what kind of changes do you see might happen in wow down the road.
Nothing drastic. Radical change probably isn't a good strategy for a 9-year-old game. (Source)

Is someone going to get a post of Lead System Desinger?
Not for me to say, but I suspect they will structure things a little differently for the time being. (Source)

I wouldn't want to take credit for MoP if I was you either, it's far from a masterpiece.
We're pretty happy with it. Still the fact remains that our game development isn't like a kitchen with some all powerful head chef. (Source)

How important do you thing esports will be for a game to maintain longevity in the future? (esp they get more visibility)
Depends on the game. Minecraft had no real esport. (Source)
Minecraft didn't have much of a game to be frank. Still esports and the tight balance needed hurt variety in WoW.
Not sure it was esport per say. Arena was easier to balance when we only cared about RMP. That didn't sit well with everyone else. (Source)

Try to stay involved with the game community in your new job. I know it sucks a ton of time from design but it is appreciated.
I love interacting with the community. I wouldn't want to give that up. (Source)

Do you feel that with your comunication, you kinda spoiled the gaming comunity and set the bar too high for other companies?
I don't know how much of that is on me, but if it encourages more dev communication with players, then it's well worth it. (Source)

Do you think your Twitter "experiment" was a success? I think so! Thank you for taking your time to talk and hear to us.
I think so overall. It has let me communicate with a lot more players in more regions than forum posts did. (Source)
It forces players (and developers!) to be concise in discussions and nobody has the expectation of long diatribes. (Source)
On the con side, I lose the ability to add caveats like "the system isn't perfect" or "I see where you're coming from." (Source)
And I think that leads to our answers sounding curt or trite or more certain than we ever really are. (Source)

I hope you saved that tag for someone or to retire it! Would suck to see someone take it and say stupid internet things.
Blizzard has the account name, and it will indeed be retired... at least until the inevitable reboot. (Source)

Just Another Summer Night
AFKPlayers made a followup to the Blizzcon Movie Contest video.

This article was originally published in forum thread: WoWSocial Addon, Blue Posts, Ghostcrawler's Tweets, Just Another Summer Night started by chaud View original post
Published on 2013-12-07 10:06 AM
65 Comments
Comments 65 Comments
  1. xact4's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hexme View Post
    The funny thing is people over at the official WoW forums didn't even like GC ether, it's not just a MMOC thing. GC was the reason why so many specs were mediocre throughout WoW's lifetime, he was a lead designer there's no "team vote what passes and doesn't pass" when everyone with half a brain knows only a few people (GC being one of them) were calling the shots over at Blizzard.

    I'm glad to see he is finally gone, 0 ***** given about GC trying to salvage his image like he wasn't a douchebag or anything, as a almost day one Paladin player, good riddance to GC and may misfortune happen to you for the rest of your life.

    Also people who don't think he's a douchebag, look up the phase "nerf to the ground"
    This kind of crap is exactly the problem with the vocal minority here.

    Your first little section there... how do you know ANY of this? You don't. You want it to be true so you have a conduit to heap all blame on and absolve yourself of any responsibility for sucking at (name any class). "I can't play X class because the God Emporer Ghostcrawler declared it so!". "...everyone with half a brain knows..." indeed, you may have to think about that one a little longer with only half a brain at your disposal.

    Also, if you were actually a day one Paladin, you would know how far the class has come since day one. A LONG friggen ways.

    And I remember the famous "nerf to the ground baby" quote. It would seem like he was being a douchebag if taken out of context, and if your sense of humor had lived in the half of your brain that I can only assume ran away and never looked back. It was a joke. A pretty good joke at the expense of the replied to, who was quite foaming at the mouth. A joke many people apparently still don't get, a lot of his posts back when he still posted had humor in them a lot of people don't appreciate.
  1. Ferrouswheel's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by NoiseTank13 View Post
    Sounds like some babies are mad that GC called out MMOC whiners on Twitter.

    Get 'em Greg.
    I see it the other way around. Greg is a baby whining over all the hate he got in the thread about him leaving. The mods over on the bnet forums were deleting all the "good riddance" posts so he got butthurt having to see some honesty over here.
  1. Lanesia's Avatar
    Some people here are really disgruntled.. You wish bad things and misfortune on someone becuase you don't like the work they did? You are a sad little person.
  1. otarma's Avatar
    I am amazed how negative some comments are.

    But just like Greg said, negative comments are more likely to be remembered, so I am gonna forget that I read them.
  1. markdall's Avatar
    1. I hope he's not working on a MOBA. I frigging loathe MOBAs.
    2. Someone please tell him to raise his eyebrows when he smiles. Not raising your eyebrows when you smile is what happens when you don't mean the smile.
  1. Azrile's Avatar
    WOW is a billion dollar per year game. If anyone thinks any one person would have control over that is just crazy. Even something like Hearthstone probably has more than 5 people who must come to an agreement before anything gets changed.
  1. SodiumChloride's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrouswheel View Post
    I see it the other way around. Greg is a baby whining over all the hate he got in the thread about him leaving. The mods over on the bnet forums were deleting all the "good riddance" posts so he got butthurt having to see some honesty over here.
    LOL. He probably doesn't care. If he did he would have quit long ago.
  1. Second's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Fummockelchen View Post
    Anyone can explain me like im 5 years old why this addon doesnt work in EU/US? becuase theres no translation????
    Its pretty easy. It wont as there are no "character proxies" setuped in NA/EU regions for that matter. They can be, they are not. When you think about it its another way to censor as all chat will go through fixed places.
  1. NoiseTank13's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrouswheel View Post
    I see it the other way around. Greg is a baby whining over all the hate he got in the thread about him leaving. The mods over on the bnet forums were deleting all the "good riddance" posts so he got butthurt having to see some honesty over here.
    Ah yes. Battle.net deleting threads that contain nothing of value other than "GC IS THE REASON FOR ALL WOW'S WOES". Such censorship. I can't see why they won't let a deluge of useless threads containing incorrect information and probably using language that most 2nd graders moved on from.

    Face it. You have misplaced hatred and don't understand a whit of what this guy does. The fact the guy has the balls to stand up to a bunch of whiny entitled brats hiding behind anonymity should be worthy of some respect. You can argue whether or not WoW is going in the right direction, but to lay it all on his feet is hilarious and smacks of work inexperience.

    MMO-C is the septic tank where all the BNet forum waste goes to.
  1. painweaver's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zatheyll View Post
    If 20 people each created seperate threads on an issue then with your logic then there are 520 complainers. 20 threads might look like a lot, and 520 might sound like a lot, but it isn't.

    520 people don't like a change out of millions. (Something like .0000007%)

    Yeah, Blizzard knows stats, and they know that 520 people don't have the say over millions of people. 20 threads on a single issue might look like a majority of the Wow population because it's right in your face, but that isn't even close to true.
    There is a slight hole in your logic, seeing that you are only considering people MAKING the thread count as a voice. You're also forgetting that MMOC is not the only non-official WOW forum on the internet were people discuss wow. Also, we will never know what the numbers look like on the official forums because posts on a controversial topics or negative opinions are usually deleted in a matter of seconds. Now, when you consider the variables that you "glossed over" in your argument that "520 people" skyrockets for only being a single instance "complainers".
  1. Alayea's Avatar
    <AFK>Pl@yers churning out yet another great machinima!
  1. Zatheyll's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by painweaver View Post
    There is a slight hole in your logic, seeing that you are only considering people MAKING the thread count as a voice. You're also forgetting that MMOC is not the only non-official WOW forum on the internet were people discuss wow. Also, we will never know what the numbers look like on the official forums because posts on a controversial topics or negative opinions are usually deleted in a matter of seconds. Now, when you consider the variables that you "glossed over" in your argument that "520 people" skyrockets for only being a single instance "complainers".
    Even a few thousand is such a small number. I know my statement had incredibly large flaws, but I'm just showing that even what looks like a big amount "an entire page of QQing" for example can actually be very insignificant.
  1. Goondicker's Avatar
    Man, I about pissed myself over that video. Great job dudes.
  1. TidesOfBlood's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by painweaver View Post
    There is a slight hole in your logic, seeing that you are only considering people MAKING the thread count as a voice. You're also forgetting that MMOC is not the only non-official WOW forum on the internet were people discuss wow. Also, we will never know what the numbers look like on the official forums because posts on a controversial topics or negative opinions are usually deleted in a matter of seconds. Now, when you consider the variables that you "glossed over" in your argument that "520 people" skyrockets for only being a single instance "complainers".
    That's a straw man attack. Zatheyll's argument was made in the context of the logic of the person he was replying to. You cannot attack Zath's argument based on other assumptions since that is not what is being addressed in Zath's argument or even the core of argument that he/she was making.
  1. Extremity's Avatar
    That social addon is a really good idea. If I were able to make something similar for US/EU and maintained a few passthrough toons, or better yet a sort of client/server addon system where players can maintain their own, would there be any interest? It might take a while to do so I'm trying to determine if it would be worthwhile considering it'd probably only be useful until WoD, unless I was able to include some sort of feature that's in demand but wasn't readily available in WoD at launch.

    Any thoughts? And anybody experienced with LUA that'd be willing to help? PM me, I guess.
  1. ringpriest's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zatheyll View Post
    Even a few thousand is such a small number. I know my statement had incredibly large flaws, but I'm just showing that even what looks like a big amount "an entire page of QQing" for example can actually be very insignificant.
    The poll here on MMO-champ back when the announcement that GC would be leaving is probably a better indicator (although it is limited by just being an internet poll). If I remember right, about a quarter of those who voted were happy to see him go.
  1. tangers58's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Arbs View Post
    Some people just don't understand that things are done by a team not one person.
    Some people don't understand who was in charge of that team...
  1. SodiumChloride's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by tangers58 View Post
    Some people don't understand who was in charge of that team...
    Some people don't understand that Blizzard doesn't make it's decisions "top down" (for gameplay at least), where a leader gives marching orders and everyone falls in line, but rather make decisions by consensus like a senate.
  1. tangers58's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SodiumChloride View Post
    Some people don't understand that Blizzard doesn't make it's decisions "top down" (for gameplay at least), where a leader gives marching orders and everyone falls in line, but rather make decisions by consensus like a senate.
    Obviously you have never had a real job...
  1. painweaver's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by TidesOfBlood View Post
    That's a straw man attack. Zatheyll's argument was made in the context of the logic of the person he was replying to. You cannot attack Zath's argument based on other assumptions since that is not what is being addressed in Zath's argument or even the core of argument that he/she was making.
    I'm not really sure how pointing out that Zatheyll grossly misrepresented the issue of non-vocal complainers would be in any way considered a strawman. If anything, Zath's original statement was a strawman and probably anecdotal as well.
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst
1
2
3
4
LastLast

Site Navigation

Social Media

Services

My Account

Support

Advertise

Resources

Terms of Service

Privacy Policy

Our Communities

© 2023 Magic Find, Inc. All rights reserved.