Realm First Removed (Why?)

#1 - Nov. 19, 2008, 8:18 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Hello,

REGARDING:
-------------------------------------
From: Customer Support.
Subject: Realm first Achievement correction.

Greetings. We are sorry to let you know that an issue was identified with the Achievement system, which was rewarding more then one player on a realm a realm first achievement. While we have fixed this issue from occurring in the future, you were amongst the small number of players who receive a realm first after it had already been awarded to another player on your realm. As a result we will be removing the achievement from your character as it's important that only the first player to earn a realm first be given credit. We hope you understand and apologize greatly for any inconvenience or confusion that this issue may have caused.
-------------------------------------

First off... It was suggested I post my message from "Forum:Achievement" to here. I'll try that.

I had my achievement for "Realm First: 450 fishing skill." removed and an email sent saying effectively, "Whoops, we screwed up. We gave it out to more people then we should have. We are removing your achievement. Thanks for understanding."

I don't understand.

I was playing since I could get the WotLK loaded. (I was playing WotLK by 3am Eastern) and didn't stop playing either the DK (for a few hours) or 'Shikazkah' until Friday night.

At no time was there a realm announcement received by me, or any of my guildies, that someone had gotten a REALM FIRST:450 Fishing - until I got mine. Also, I played for 6-8 hours AFTER that time I got the anouncement of 'realm first' and there was no duplicate announcement AFTER saying it was done by someone else.

I was watching my SKILL numbers and not my bonuses for all the gear/enchantments I had. I had 450 SKILL when I made my achievement.

Who/WhatWhere/Why/When did get this before I did?

ALSO, How is there a way to tell if some other goal has not been taken?
Is there a list some where of the people that have made achievements?

Please explain what happened as the GM and the Email that was sent to me did not.
The GM said I'd have to post to the forum to get any help/answers to questions regarding the matter.

WHO DID GET IT? WHEN? Why wasn't there an announcement realm wide for it? What criteria was used to determine who got it?

Thanks,

Shikazkah

PS: It might be nice to back it the information with Who/When the person got the achievements - at least then I could come back and say "No, I got mine at/about (x) time." The past/currently ongoing issues with my mail not getting fixed does not lend a happy-happy-joy-joy feeling about those who did the examination of the data. This pull back of "realm first" also happened in 'Burning Crusades' as I recall - can y'all get a little bit more of that 1.1+billion a year income into the QA department, please.

PPS: WotLK is pretty. Good job on the developement/eye-candy/quests/etc, for that I give it an A+. On the other hand it gets a D+ on QA for all the prep and errors that have had to be fixed. :/

IF I wasn't the first I'd like to know the processes that determined that, and why on Earth it happened.

-- example --
If you walk into a big store and they say "YOU! WIN! You are our 1 MILLIONTH customer!". and you get a new car, a big wad of cash, and a new house - you get all excited about it, tell your friend, family & IRS. It's not like you were expecting to the the award, but you did get it - that made it really cool. Did you deserve it, except for being the one millionth customer and them saying 'You are our 1 millionth customer!'? No, but you won it. It's your's, something to be proud of! Something to get excited about. Something to think, that's so amazingly cool, "Tt's a Major Award. I won it!" "Fra-gee-lay" (spelled Fragile). "That must be Italian." Something to sit in the window of life and show off to the neighbors!

Then the auditors show up AT YOUR NEW HOUSE, and and say "We discovered we made an 'Ooops', you were our 1 millionth and twelth customer" we have to take it all back... so sorry. Oh by the way, we made this mistake a few other times too. Our bad. We hope you understand. We'll give the cash, house, and car to the other guy - we'll track him down. Trust us." *thinking: Um, y'all just screwed up a dozen times. Trust? hahah.*
-- /example --

There wasn't even a nice little "We are really, really, really, sorry, we set an expectation and failed you, our beloved customer - have a free little (x) as a gift as 'We are REALLY sorry about this, really really.'" or a "We fired Bob, and Fred, and John for this. It happened in Burning Crusades also, and we swore it'd not happen again or heads would roll - we ment it. We are truly sorry, blood has been spilled to pay for your dishonor we have caused. With deepest appologees. signed (x)"

-- example --
What if someone came to California and hand out 100,000$ stacks of money to the Blizzard Employees as they walked out the Blizzard building, saying "GREAT JOB with WotLK! Here's a bonus! Thanks for all the hard work." and then the guy that was with him stops you at your car and rips the money out of your hands, saying saying "Oops, we think you didn't deserve that, never mind." How would YOU feel as a person?
-- /example --

Perception of caring and resolution is the big issue. You give something, and then take it away - with a generic note saying effectively "Woops". *shaking head*

A free Mammoth Mount would certainly make up for this error. It'd also give you a free pass, with me, to make a few more MINOR ERRORS in the future... hahaha.. (Not holding my breath on that one.)

AT LEAST THEN THE "REALM FIRST" T-SHIRT I HAD MADE OVER THE WEEKEND WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A TOTAL WASTE... Grr.

Anyway,
~Shik

Reythur

#16 - Nov. 19, 2008, 10:28 p.m.

Q u o t e:
IF I wasn't the first I'd like to know the processes that determined that, and why on Earth it happened.

As mentioned in the notice you received, there was an issue where more than one player was able to obtain a "Realm First". While I'm unable to provide specifics regarding our investigation methods, I can say that Achievements do have timestamps on them. =/

Due to this, the issue was corrected and any duplicate "Realm Firsts" were addressed accordingly.

You have our sincerest apologies for any confusion regarding the issue at hand.

I am very sorry, Shikazkah, but it does not appear that you were the first to obtain 450 fishing on your realm.

Reythur

#18 - Nov. 19, 2008, 10:40 p.m.

Quelaani, if you have any recommendations, or ideas regarding the matter at hand, please feel free to post on our Suggestions forum.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11122

Reythur

#22 - Nov. 20, 2008, 1:22 a.m.

Q u o t e:
then having it taken away without explaination, well..

To be fair, there was an explanation. However, it appears that it was not as elaborate as you would have preferred that it be.

Please be aware that the message you received was a fairly generic message that was sent to those who happened to be one of those who inappropriately obtained a "Realm First".

Someone got the fishing "Realm First" several hours before you did, I'm afraid. =/

Reythur

#107 - Nov. 20, 2008, 10:33 p.m.

As this is getting out of hand, and I've still been unable to determine what it is that you want from us, Shikazkah, I'm going to ask you one simple question.

If we're unable to come to an understanding after this question is asked, answered and responded to then I'm afraid we're unlikely to do so.

Please try to keep the response you provide as short, and to the point as possible so that I may fully understand your concerns.

The question: What would you like us to do for you?

Reythur

#112 - Nov. 21, 2008, 12:22 a.m.

You have my sincerest apologies that you felt that this issue was not handled with due diligence, Shikazkah.

I understand completely that you feel the message that you received regarding the removal of the title was not the most personable nor did it appear to be heartfelt.

It is certainly a regrettable situation that something like this had to be done and that the issue arose in the first place. We try our best to handle each situation in a fashion that is beneficial to all parties involved, and it is unfortunate that you do not feel that yours was handled appropriately.

Q u o t e:

After all this, really, what I am trying to find out is what Blizzard is willing, if anything, to do regarding my particular situation to make it "Right".

Here is where you've confused me, Shikazkah. In the most recent posts that you've made and in this one as well, you've stated that you simply did not like the way you were informed of the situation (as best as I can conclude that is the case, anyway). What would you like us to do that would make it "right" for you?

I understand that you want this issue passed "up the ladder", but there really isn't anywhere it can go.

This issue was addressed and decided upon as a broad issue, it was not addressed in regards to each singularity. There was an issue that affected more than one character on multiple realms and as such the issue was addressed accordingly. I understand that's not what you want to hear, but these issues were looked into and the decision was made to address it accordingly.

If you're specifically referring to the in-game mail that was sent, I am sorry that the wording of the mail wasn't to your liking.

I ask again, what is it that you need from us? You keep using ambiguous ideas in regards to what it is that you want us to do for you. If you are looking for something specifically, I can tell you whether or not that is in the realm of possibility; you just need to let me know what that is.

Reythur

#117 - Nov. 21, 2008, 1:49 a.m.

Q u o t e:
THANK YOU!
I really do wish you well,
~Shik

You are very welcome, Shik.

I wish you the best. =)

As an additional, should you wish to comment on the process as a whole, please feel free to e-mail [email protected].

Q u o t e:
If there's nothing you can do, and it can't/won't be passed up the chain - there's not much more I can say or do, is there? I appreciate your time, and the time of the people on the forum that was civil.

And I do believe that you may have misunderstood me in this regard; what I meant was that we'd more than likely be unable to reverse the decision that was made. That doesn't mean that you're unable to express your dissatisfaction regarding the matter. You can do that by using the e-mail address listed above.