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  1. #1

    Is it just me, or do WoW GM's seem kind of "powerless", anymore?

    I remember a few years ago, if I had an issue, a GM would make sure the shit got handled. Sometimes it would take a few days, or even a week, but you could rest assured your problem would be taken care of. These days, though, it seems like GM's are nothing more but the most basic customer-service, with absolutely zero power.

    Don't take that the wrong way; almost all of my interactions with GM's have been completely pleasant, and I have no doubt that it's a difficult line of work. But... something has changed. Perhaps it's some new policy that prevents them from actually addressing issues themselves, but there is a very stark difference in how GM's handle tickets today, versus how they used it.

    For instance, back with the Level 50 Sunken Temple rewards were first added, I chose a Ring as my Paladin reward, but after a few days, I regretted it and deleted the Ring, and put in a ticket hoping to get the Sword instead. The GM responded, not only granting me the sword, but also restoring the ring, as well. Some time later, I was looking for Vergian's Fist, but found it had apparently been vendored by accident, no telling how long prior. Sure enough, the GM restored it.

    Years later, I recently went looking for Verigan's Fist, and sure enough, it was gone (likely one of the many items that went missing when I got hacked during WotLK). So, I put in a ticket, and mention that while I know it's been too long for them to find the item itself, I know the item had previously been restored. After an admittedly quick wait-time, I'm basically given a big fat "Oh well!", and they claim there is no record of the item having been restored.

    I mean, the GM's themselves are every bit as polite and friendly as ever, but they don't seem to actually address issues very regularly anymore. Maybe it's just perception, or maybe the circumstances behind more recent tickets are just more ambiguous, but it doesn't feel like GM's are really resolving issues anymore, but are simply making sure your game is technically functional.

    I dunno, has anyone else noticed this?

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    I remember a few years ago, if I had an issue, a GM would make sure the shit got handled. Sometimes it would take a few days, or even a week, but you could rest assured your problem would be taken care of. These days, though, it seems like GM's are nothing more but the most basic customer-service, with absolutely zero power.

    Don't take that the wrong way; almost all of my interactions with GM's have been completely pleasant, and I have no doubt that it's a difficult line of work. But... something has changed. Perhaps it's some new policy that prevents them from actually addressing issues themselves, but there is a very stark difference in how GM's handle tickets today, versus how they used it.

    For instance, back with the Level 50 Sunken Temple rewards were first added, I chose a Ring as my Paladin reward, but after a few days, I regretted it and deleted the Ring, and put in a ticket hoping to get the Sword instead. The GM responded, not only granting me the sword, but also restoring the ring, as well. Some time later, I was looking for Vergian's Fist, but found it had apparently been vendored by accident, no telling how long prior. Sure enough, the GM restored it.

    Years later, I recently went looking for Verigan's Fist, and sure enough, it was gone (likely one of the many items that went missing when I got hacked during WotLK). So, I put in a ticket, and mention that while I know it's been too long for them to find the item itself, I know the item had previously been restored. After an admittedly quick wait-time, I'm basically given a big fat "Oh well!", and they claim there is no record of the item having been restored.

    I mean, the GM's themselves are every bit as polite and friendly as ever, but they don't seem to actually address issues very regularly anymore. Maybe it's just perception, or maybe the circumstances behind more recent tickets are just more ambiguous, but it doesn't feel like GM's are really resolving issues anymore, but are simply making sure your game is technically functional.

    I dunno, has anyone else noticed this?
    In the beginning of a franchise all companies goes out of their way to please and make their customers satisfied.

    Blizzard is beyond that right now and you see this effect on the amount of actions taken by gms atm.

    Thats my theory about it anyways

  3. #3
    My only early experience with GMs was when the quest for Ice Barbed Spear from AV victory bugged and wasn't checked "finished" upon winning the AV.

    Long story short, the GM accused me of trying to scam him and threatened me with a ban because of that, as according to him I should've done a quest to kill that elite mob in the mid GY. Ironically, that quest had been removed two patches prior to the "encounter" with the GM and yet he insisted he didn't see such change in patch notes and continued his ass-hattery.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Wilian View Post
    My only early experience with GMs was when the quest for Ice Barbed Spear from AV victory bugged and wasn't checked "finished" upon winning the AV.

    Long story short, the GM accused me of trying to scam him and threatened me with a ban because of that, as according to him I should've done a quest to kill that elite mob in the mid GY. Ironically, that quest had been removed two patches prior to the "encounter" with the GM and yet he insisted he didn't see such change in patch notes and continued his ass-hattery.
    That is definitely strange, id go ahead and report that GM. Ive never had an issue with a GM stuff still gets done quickly for me.
    "I hated hating Garrosh before it was cool."
    FOR THE HORDE!!!

  5. #5
    @wilian That GM is very unprofessional and should be reported to superiors. I've yet to ever deal with a GM that wasn't pleasant.

  6. #6
    http://www.wowhead.com/item=25140
    ^Same exact model

    They're not "powerless", it's just that recently you either get one you'd find useless or not useful, it's basicaly just a crapshoot, you're more than likely to get just a generic response though. Most of the time when they say they can't do something they're just trying to get rid of you and get on to the next one.

    The thing now is that you can actually restore things yourself(not sure how far back you can go), report people for whatever, and do other things without needing to submit a ticket to get a GM.

  7. #7
    No matter when I've contacted them, either back in TBC when the Shartuul's Transporter event bugged on a very regular basis (but you had to put up with it because, c'mon, Badge of Tenacity for a Feral Druid tank) or more recently when I jumped down from the hill at the end of Jade Forest, when the Sha of Anger first spawns and there was no way back up...

    No matter when it was, they've always been fantastic and got the job done right. I don't think they're getting more 'powerless' or whatever.

  8. #8
    Legendary! Airwaves's Avatar
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    They still have the same power as before. Its just that they deal with ALOT more tickets and problems now days. And alot of those "problems" are people making tickets for the most worthless stuff that just wastes there time. Now i haven't talked to the gm i knew since Firelands but that was where they stood back then. He was the GM of some Aussie realms so he had to deal with less then US ones but then again they have more gms. There is just way more tickets then there years ago with the same amount of time. So they just have less time to put into each ticket.
    Aye mate

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by saltyharbls View Post
    In the beginning of a franchise all companies goes out of their way to please and make their customers satisfied.

    Blizzard is beyond that right now and you see this effect on the amount of actions taken by gms atm.

    Thats my theory about it anyways
    How..are they beyond that.

    They're doing better than they ever have been.
    Quote Originally Posted by Princess Kenny View Post
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  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by kingriku View Post
    That is definitely strange, id go ahead and report that GM. Ive never had an issue with a GM stuff still gets done quickly for me.
    Think it's a few years too late to report that particular GM

  11. #11
    A lot of limits on them being able to help are due to excessive wait times and items being shifted to "self" help, or reports of bad behavior going directly to certain groups responsible for investigating and doling out punishment. In order to encourage players to use those features they don't let GMs deal with them via ticket anymore other then maybe direct the player to the correct way of doing things.

    GMs pretty much can't do anything with loot anymore. If you want to trade loot you have to do it on the 2 hour timer, if you accidentally vendor or disenchant loot you have to use the restoration tool.

    They are trying to make GM help more about getting quickly to players who can't play the game. If you are stuck or logging in immediately disconnects you I think you'd find that GMs have more then enough power there.

  12. #12
    Deleted
    I made many requests recently, i always received a perfect response, i don't know what about you are talking.
    Also you can now recover your items yourself using your battle net account page.

  13. #13
    Yes. Whether it's master loot to the wrong person, then forgotten about, or an incorrectly purchased item from a vendor that has no 2 hours return timer, GM's power seem to be limited in that regard. Their generic response has lately always been "with the 2 hour return timer, that should be plenty of time" followed up with "oh, sorry we can't fix that for you".

  14. #14
    The Insane Aquamonkey's Avatar
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    GMs generally don't provide services that have become automated. Item restoration after delete/vendor/DE is one if them since they added it to the account page. Also, the 2hr trade/refund window. Getting unstuck was added into the game UI, so GMs won't do this anymore either. Boss kill credit used to be a problem in Vanilla/TBC if you died and released, but was fixed to give credit and now you can't even release until the encounter ends. As the devs automate and fix problems, the less there is for GMs to do.

    I've always had positive experiences with GMs from item/account recovery, bugs, even when they would whisper me in BG to make sure I wasn't a bot.

    Most recently, Un'sok bugged out after we killed him. His corpse disappeared after the raid resed before we could loot it. Put in a ticket and the GM mailed the items to the appropriate people.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Destil View Post
    How..are they beyond that.

    They're doing better than they ever have been.
    Exactly. Thats why they dont have to put any mentionable effort into their customers anymore.

    This is common knowledge about business.

  16. #16
    I just went through something last night with a GM. I recently used an Elixer of Ancient Knowledge (300% exp gain for an hour), lagged out and died after 4 mins losing the buff. I put in a ticket and the first GM wouldn't do anything, so I reopened the ticket and finally they did something after another GM got "senior approval" to restore the item.

    Honestly I just keep opening tickets because eventually they will do something.
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  17. #17
    Hi all,

    I thought I might take a moment to also lend my voice here. Personally, I think I get where you are coming from Claymore - and I'll say this much, that there has been changes throughout the lifespan of WoW to how we've addressed issues. When I started as a Game Master (about five years ago) there were not as many self-service options, and many policies that had evolved over time simply were not there for us to follow. In some ways, the game of five years ago was more rough, and in that respect - our approach was a lot more hands on with certain kinds of things. As we proceeded, different ways of providing support meant solid policies and self-help procedures which did make for a quicker turnaround, however this may have been at the loss of that observed 'power' that you are referring to.

    I would offer this though as a contrast to the observation; back when I started it took us nearly a week to restore a character, now it can take as little as minutes (usually a few hours). For the most part, gone are the days when whole batches of issues linger on as we try to cut through the wide berth of a never-ending stream of requests. So yes, I see the value in what you are saying - but I do hope you'll take my word for it that the Game Masters are very much empowered in most if not all the same ways that they used to be.

    /Araxom

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by saltyharbls View Post
    Exactly. Thats why they dont have to put any mentionable effort into their customers anymore.

    This is common knowledge about business.
    What? No.

    I mean they're talking with the community and helping them out more than ever before.
    Quote Originally Posted by Princess Kenny View Post
    Avocado is a tropical fruit , south seas expansion confirmed.

  19. #19
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Destil View Post
    What? No.

    I mean they're talking with the community and helping them out more than ever before.
    Alrightie then

  20. #20
    Personally, it all depends on the Game master you get. Sometimes I've had to make up to three tickets to get an issue resolved. Depending on the GM, some of them don't know how to fix these things or are too lazy/about to go on break, etc etc.. Many other things can come into factor, if something takes too long they might not feel like doing it and just give that answer. Just like in any line of work, there's the awesome ones, the good ones, and the sub-par ones. That's really how I view it, but yes a lot of GMs are told not to do certain things especially when it's automated, or there's another way to do it that does not involve a GM.

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