Blizzard's Attitude on the Official Forums

[Orumis]

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of rude, obnoxious, and uncalled for comments on the official forums; not from players, but from Blizzard. Specifically, Bashiok.

I know this isn't the first time someone has made a thread about this, but I'd just like to present a few posts I disagree with that I've seen the past few weeks/months.

1. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...1973?page=2#21
2. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0761?page=2#34
3. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...2072?page=1#17
4. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...1449?page=1#15
5. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0700?page=1#14
6. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0700?page=2#28
7. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0821?page=2#32
8. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0821?page=3#55
9. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...50841?page=1#5
10. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0746?page=1#20
11. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...77024?page=1#2
12. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1196140524#5

Despite if the posters "deserved" the treatment or not, I still think Blizzard employees should act seriously and not like children and derail their own threads. This usually isn't a problem with Blizzard, but in my opinion it has been lately.

What do you think?

[Veyne]

For the past six years, I've been noticing a lot of rude, obnoxious, and uncalled for comments on the official forums; not from Blizzard, but from players.

It's Blizzard's game. It's Blizzard's forums. We're lucky to even hear ANYTHING from Blizzard developers, especially so regularly. Do you know how many MMO's out there go months and months without hearing a single word from a developer?

I think we're pretty damn lucky and take it for granted. IMO, Blizzard more than deserves to act a fool every now and again.

[clarence034]

Agreed. I don't think it's just Bashiok, either.

If these guys were representing my company, and I found them on the official site for my company responding to customers with these poor attempts at being clever, asinine sarcasm, and just general disdain for the people purchasing my product(s), they'd get their ass chewed...or worse.

I don't know why they can't just provide a simple, professional answer to concerns (however moronic they may appear to be) from the player-base...which is the PAYer-base that funds their enterprise...without the obnoxiousness.

Your Pal,
Jubber

EDIT: After looking at about half the posts you link, I have no idea why you would refer to any of those as rude, obnoxious, or unnecessary. They may not be extremely professional, but he's definitely not harassing or griefing anyone.

[BurningStick]

I like the Blizzard responses, make them seem human instead of a faceless corporation. I think Bashiok is especially awesome.

[Sinate]

I actually really like this Bashiok guy It's good to see that some have a sense of humour and do not just give copy paste official company approved replies.

His humour is actually similar to mine and I find his replies rather witty and funny, not always the best timing but still amusing and makes reading blue posts alot more interesting

[Quandrix]

For the past six years, I've been noticing a lot of rude, obnoxious, and uncalled for comments on the official forums; not from Blizzard, but from players.

It's Blizzard's game. It's Blizzard's forums. We're lucky to even hear ANYTHING from Blizzard developers, especially so regularly. Do you know how many MMO's out there go months and months without hearing a single word from a developer?

I think we're pretty damn lucky and take it for granted. IMO, Blizzard more than deserves to act a fool every now and again.

For the past six year, Blizzard has released great games. And for the past six years, people have found something to whine about concerning the games no matter how good they were. 90% of the people seem to tend to like Cataclysm alot, and well, the remaining 10% are the ones getting the replies on the forums.

What i think is that Blizzard has merely realised that they have pleased the majority of their playerbase, and that the casual whiners that always will persist with their whine just need to be set in place serving them their own medicine.

[BurningStick]

Agreed. I don't think it's just Bashiok, either.

If these guys were representing my company, and I found them on the official site for my company responding to customers with these poor attempts at being clever, asinine sarcasm, and just general disdain for the people purchasing my product(s), they'd get their ass chewed...or worse.

I don't know why they can't just provide a simple, professional answer to concerns (however moronic they may appear to be) from the player-base...which is the PAYer-base that funds their enterprise...without the obnoxiousness.

I am glad they are not working for you then, cause I like the fact that we actually DO get responses from the developers. And to be honest, I would also be a smartass if I had to listen to peoples QQ and stupid worries for 6 years

[Denlore]

I like the Blizzard responses, make them seem human instead of a faceless corporation. I think Bashiok is especially awesome.

Agreed. I'm tired of "professional" responses to stupid questions, especially QQ.

[LordSyruss]

I really don't see anything particularly offensive or rude in any of those posts. Perhaps the first link, except it's a reference to a song. And while I would personally expect someone who represents a company to paying customers to maintain a reasonable level of professionalism, I don't feel that any of these responses are immature in any way.

That being said, people choose where they do business based on customer relations every day. I'm not going to tell you to quit the game, but it's certainly a way to express your disapproval.

[Deleted]

Yes, it might be annoying if a blue poster only enters your threat do troll you.

No, I don't think that any of those posts are uncalled for.

Blue's aren't some sort of allknowing anwsering machines, they are people like me and you, and they have the job to keep those trollinfested forums clean. If he posts useful information in the topics that really need blue posts (not the ones that ask silly questions or QQ about an OP class or whatnot), let them have their fun. What do you want? That they create a private user acount so they can use their right to free speech?

Edit: the fun thing I see in those posts is this: We all whine about "Wrath babies" ruining our game with their bad habbits and lack of understanding of basic game mechanics. Those are the people that ask stupid questions on the official forums and get bashed by the less serious blue's.

Every non-MMO-reading noob they piss off on those forums is 1 less bad LFD random player imo

[cybermind]

1. Guy made a stupid ass post, got a stupid response (lovely quote from one of Adam Sandler's songs)
2. What is wrong with this?
3. What is wrong with this?
4. What is wrong with this?
5. What is wrong with this? Pete's Dragon reference.
6. What is wrong with this? Pete's Dragon reference.
7. What is wrong with this?
8. What is wrong with this?
9. What is wrong with this?
10. Lyrics from Radiohead's "4 Minute Warning," semi-related to the thread title
11. Dumb statement, Paladins aren't casters and Bashiok made a dumb comment in response
12. Poster named "Cupcake" made a good thread, people posted "thanks" and such, Bashiok posted an apparently awful ASCII art cupcake as a joke/thanks. What is wrong with this?

[Desamorix]

In that first link... Isnt that something that Adam Sandler says in some stand up comic thingy?

[clarence034]

I am glad they are not working for you then, cause I like the fact that we actually DO get responses from the developers. And to be honest, I would also be a smartass if I had to listen to peoples QQ and stupid worries for 6 years

No one is saying they shouldn't respond/participate. If they're going to do so, however, they need to realize they represent Blizzard. There are plenty of ways to write that demonstrate that you're not some drone and express your personality that don't involve mistreating your customer. The fact that you don't believe you have the discipline to behave properly doesn't excuse the rest of us, Blizzard developers included, from acting in an appropriate fashion.

Your Pal,
Jubber

[Stanton Biston]

He's not a CSR. He's not in any support fashion. The Community Representitives are PR/marketing people. Historically, they interact with their customer base on their customer's level, as one of the customers (to a degree).

Also the product in question is a video game. Not office automation hardware.

At any rate- Blizzard has shown in the past that there are lines that the CRs can cross, and those that have aren't CRs anymore.

[Kampret]

If you look at the quality of the customers' post, I'd say i'd do exactly the same thing

[Ceramicrain]

From what i see from these posts none of these comments you are taking offense to were on any forum topic that was constructive in any nature. Most of them are from players whining about something or going "wtf blizz" in some manner. Or in some cases these posts were made in topics that had completely derailed and the mod is just having fun.

So basically if you want a serious response and a professional attitude from a Blue poster your topic on the forum should have some sort of thought out and constructive criticism that promotes positive discussion, rather then a subjective view point about something and you need to voice your complaints and waste space and time on the forums.

[Orumis]

It's Blizzard's game. It's Blizzard's forums. We're lucky to even hear ANYTHING from Blizzard developers, especially so regularly. Do you know how many MMO's out there go months and months without hearing a single word from a developer?

Good point.

I think we're pretty damn lucky and take it for granted. IMO, Blizzard more than deserves to act a fool every now and again.

However, I'd rather have Blizzard employees not respond in the forums if they're not going to post something useful, especially when people actually have a legitimate problem or question.

Agreed. I don't think it's just Bashiok, either.

If these guys were representing my company, and I found them on the official site for my company responding to customers with these poor attempts at being clever, asinine sarcasm, and just general disdain for the people purchasing my product(s), they'd get their ass chewed...or worse.

I don't know why they can't just provide a simple, professional answer to concerns (however moronic they may appear to be) from the player-base...which is the PAYer-base that funds their enterprise...without the obnoxiousness.

Your Pal,
Jubber

Well put. Most of the time, they're pretty respectful and helpful -- even Bashiok is helpful and professional sometimes.

I like the Blizzard responses, make them seem human instead of a faceless corporation. I think Bashiok is especially awesome.

His humour is actually similar to mine and I find his replies rather witty and funny, not always the best timing but still amusing and makes reading blue posts alot more interesting

I think they can accomplish this while at the same time being helpful and respectful. I have no problem with them being human, but being human doesn't mean posting irrelevant things in threads, regardless if they're serious or not.

What i think is that Blizzard has merely realised that they have pleased the majority of their playerbase, and that the casual whiners that always will persist with their whine just need to be set in place serving them their own medicine.

Wouldn't they want more players and a larger subscription base? I think trying to please ALL their customers instead of just a few would be a better method, don't you?

I also think they should set an example, not "give them their own medicine."

[zalmatra]

its part of the new corporate trend for those used to being pampered all the time. the customer is not always right

[Raven]

Good point.


However, I'd rather have Blizzard employees not respond in the forums if they're not going to post something useful, especially when people actually have a legitimate problem or question.

"

i´d rather see them posting than not at all even if it would be a dumb answer then you atleast know they have read the post

and if you look at the forum post why should blizzard be the only ones that is always professional, its their forum, the users should be just as professional as the ones answering the questions, if you act like a complete ass and complain about every small detail i see nothing wrong with getting the same back

[Muis]

I quite enjoyed the links!
I'd say, give more of that. And I agree with the poster above. Atleast you know they read the topic!