If you could ask Ythisens anything...

07/13/2018 11:04 AMPosted by Woodspath

One question I'd ask is if you have any tips for keeping your cool when constantly dealing with people.

I assume nobody ever is saying anything with actual malice unless they're using specific words or intent to indicate so. So in my head everything I read is just super passionate. I don't look at it as "dealing with people" but more so interacting with them.

07/13/2018 11:05 AMPosted by Aelliciah

Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Sweet Tea!

07/13/2018 11:06 AMPosted by Edelodin

Thoughts on Nekrogoblikon?

Seen them play a few times. Not a particular fan but they're a solid group and I'll watch if they're playing anything I'm at.

07/13/2018 11:06 AMPosted by Zhulaa

I want to peep his characters and see how good he is, cuz he seems like he'd be pretty good at the game

I'd say I'm still pretty up there. Hopefully I get back into Cutting Edge with Battle for Azeroth. I think I have my guild lined up now so I'll actually have a set team instead of just tagging along with friends. I'm like 962 now on my main and that's with playing pretty casually.

07/13/2018 11:38 AMPosted by Jayjujayme

What is the meaning of life?

42

07/13/2018 11:40 AMPosted by Infernastorm

Pancakes or waffles?

Pancakes, or fluffy waffles.

07/13/2018 11:42 AMPosted by Wololoa

Why do I sometimes see dead pixels in the sky?

Where else would dead pixels go? Don't you know they all go to heaven.

07/13/2018 11:40 AMPosted by Glamlamb

Do you play dungeons and dragons?

I have! Wasn't very good at it.

07/13/2018 11:42 AMPosted by Deathstrokke

Do you prefer priests or paladins?

Paladins are the master class. This is an indisputable fact.

07/13/2018 11:46 AMPosted by Imonkyou

id ask him to not spend extra time helping a streamer when he wouldnt do that for the average person

I'll happily spend extra time explaining what our Game Masters do and why because they work hard and will always advocate for the player regardless of who they are. I might be biased because I was one but I think that is an advantage in knowing how that whole side of the company operates.

Did you know? That we have an internal program called CS4ADAY. Which allows people that don't work in CS the opportunity to hang out with a Game Master and learn how it looks on that side of the player experience. It's actually part of the Blizzard orientation and most people at the company make sure to sign up and do it once a year. Yes that also means that there are people out there in the world that have had Mike Morhaime answer your ticket, but you would have no way to ever truly know.

07/13/2018 12:08 PMPosted by Jellarie

How difficult is it for you to not yell "It's so fluffy!" every time you see Lore?

It's a struggle... some days I make it, some days I have to just try again tomorrow.

07/13/2018 02:24 PMPosted by Mirasol

Never give up on your goals when it comes to working at Blizzard.

-Be passionate about what you enjoy in the game, or with your suggestions for what might make games better.
-Post on forums and social media. Pick one user name so that the Blizzard community gets to know you.
-Post on the Customer Support and Tech Support forums. It will teach you tons about the sorts of policies and issues you would need to deal with as a GM. Really they do hire GMs/CMs from forum posters.
-Be willing to move to Austin Texas or Irvine CA.
-Keep applying for jobs on Blizzard's website that you think you qualify for. It does not have to be the end job you want. Most folks at Blizz come in doing one job like QA and years later end up as a Dev or artist, etc.
-Follow the BlizzardCareers Twitter and engage in Q&A sessions they have or ask question. https://twitter.com/BlizzardCareers

This thread on the CS forum has some interviews with TS/CS type MVPs which can give you some ideas about what we do and how you might get more involved in the community. You don't need green text to help others and become well known to Blizz https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20761656168#post-1

This times 100 honestly. I love sharing my story of how I got to Blizzard because I never once expected or even planned to work here but somehow my life ended up this way. I just always made sure I was prepared for any opportunity and the stars just happened to align. My only advice that works across the board is just that and to never be discouraged, you're gonna fail and that's okay. Most people don't get in on their first try but you never know.

Start now. Not tomorrow. Now. Samwise Didier posts a phrase on everything he does, ABC, Always Be Creating. That doesn't apply to only art.

07/13/2018 02:00 PMPosted by Mikaelle

Croatia or France?

I've never watched a soccer game in full until Yesterday. I'm on the Croatia train.

Sorry for the delay as I had to run off earlier when I was responding but I still wanted to answer stuff here. Have a nice weekend everyone! Good luck on finishing all your things before Tuesday!

07/13/2018 03:21 PMPosted by Woodspath

Thanks Ythiens for interacting in the thread and responding to multiple people's questions to let people be more familiar with you.

We all think you're a good CM.

And we like Yaks.

<3

07/13/2018 04:08 PMPosted by Mingz

Are you allowed to disagree with Ion without fear of being fired?

I obviously have my opinions and weigh in when I'm asked but I'm not a designer so I don't weigh in on what I think a solution should be. If Ion asks me, I know I can tell him what I think about the game and not be worried at all. That's at least from my own criticisms and opinions about about the game.

07/13/2018 04:15 PMPosted by Myhrez

How do you determine which threads to respond to?

Experience. I've been wrong in learning the process. Still don't get it right every time but you get better.

07/13/2018 05:35 PMPosted by Kryptonia

Do you know if Battle for Azeroth will have a dev signing event in Irvine the night before release like they did for Legion? I'd really love to know but haven't found any info and if so I need to know beforehand so i can take the day off work >. < .

It's been talked about and I know we always do them but I don't know any specifics beyond that. I'll ask when we're back in the office on Monday and we'll communicate that when/if we're still doing one.

07/13/2018 05:32 PMPosted by Romanna

How do you pronounce Ythisens?

Yith-i-sens

07/13/2018 05:40 PMPosted by Lilywhite

Kirk or Picard?

Darth Malgus

07/13/2018 05:46 PMPosted by Avalirina

Clicker, semi-clicker, wasd, esdf, arrow keys, no mouse, Wacom, 3 button mouse, 5 button, 12 button, dedicated game pad keyboard, all of them at once? Tell all the secrets!!! :-)

semi-clicker, wasd, mouse, 14 button mouse (12 on the thumb)

07/13/2018 05:48 PMPosted by Dokkslfar

What was / is the real purpose of bloodtotem saddle blanket?

Weren't you more comfortable the entire expansion?

07/13/2018 05:51 PMPosted by Mauerbrecher

What classes should I focus on in school if I am going for a business degree?

I feel like you could google a better answer I could give because I dropped out of college twice. Once for a previous career, second time to come work at Blizzard. Strange how that works sometimes right? Stay in school kids. I lucked out.

07/13/2018 05:57 PMPosted by Thathurts

Is it true that you really answer to a Gnome Overlord?

Technically someone in the organizational level above me does play a Gnome. So I guess yeah.

07/13/2018 06:40 PMPosted by Legionkiller

Favorite expansion?

Mists of Pandaria or TBC with the other a close second. I go back and forth on which one is my favorite. The game-play was great in MoP but I had the most fun overall experience wise in TBC because of the personal memories of the expansion. Legion or Wrath is probably third. It's honestly hard to pick sometimes between those.

07/13/2018 09:25 PMPosted by Maoxx

How does grilled yak taste?

excuse me?

07/13/2018 09:27 PMPosted by Snowslight

I'd ask Ythisens if he/she would be so kind as to do the MT for me on my druid. lol

I did them on my Paladin and that was enough Mage Tower for me. I will be sad I didn't get glowey cat and Were-bear though.

07/14/2018 10:12 AMPosted by Felplagued

Oh also what is your favorite fan concept for fan theories of allied races?
Sethrak, vulpera, highelf, Tuskaar, etc?

Someone made a pretty great Seagull one. I'ma pick that.

07/14/2018 01:31 PMPosted by Dimpishly

https://youtu.be/YdgmH9Vv2-I

Oh man if you're a Star Wars fan their trailers are just pure fan service from an overall theme level. Don't we all just want full cinematic lightsaber fights with environmental destruction, and some that are just pure betrayal and rage. 10/10 would watch again along with the "Sacrifice" trailer.

07/14/2018 01:48 PMPosted by Brahmina

Do you really have to read every thread, or can you just skim through and focus on the interesting ones?

I would love to be able to read every thread but it is physically impossible to do so. There's nothing requiring us to do it either, we just try to. I've gotten really good at skimming surprisingly over the last year and a half. I wonder how that happened?

07/14/2018 06:29 PMPosted by Ikarirei

Man I wish SWTOR had lived up to those launch movies. It actually kind of did, 1-50 for the class stories (basically eight mini-KotORs there),

That game truly had an amazing single player experience. Highly recommend it because the leveling experience is 100% a Bioware game. The Inquisitor and Warrior stories were really good. I ended up not playing it much outside of that though.

07/14/2018 06:42 PMPosted by Kaylee

and why he picked Zao

He's the cutest celestial pet.

07/14/2018 07:42 PMPosted by Horizon

Whats your favorite Mount in the game? i'm guessing the little Zao is your favorite battlepet :P

Favorite mount at the moment is Thunder Onyx Cloud Serpent. Battle pet is definitely Zao, but I actually don't own Zao. I've gotta step up my battle pet game because I feel like I should own him.

07/14/2018 07:43 PMPosted by Averax

Is water truly wet? Or is it only capable of making other things wet?

To be wet is to be covered in water or some other liquid, but water can't be covered in itself.

This video sums up my stance on this topic.

07/14/2018 07:44 PMPosted by Kentaurus

Do you like movies about gladiators?

Spartacus is one of the best TV series.

07/15/2018 01:11 AMPosted by Mistwynd

Ketchup or BBQ sauce on yak steaks?

I am of the stance that if the meat needs sauce then that's bad meat.

07/16/2018 10:58 AMPosted by Taelen

Who's your favorite lore character?

Lady Liadrin. I'll follow the Matriarch to the end of Azeroth.

07/16/2018 10:58 AMPosted by Taelen

Which boss (dungeon, raid, Mage Tower, Mike Morhaime, etc) is your favorite?

This is an insanely hard question because there are so many ways you can break out boss fights into categories. Heroic Putricide blew my mind. Lich King was just a great time. Killing Siegecrafter Blackfuse before the first round of tuning was the most gratifying. Lei Shen was so cool. See what I mean? I could go on for hours.

07/16/2018 10:58 AMPosted by Taelen

You're originally from the South, aren't you? Because as a Southerner, this sounds like something we'd say. Even though I love BBQ sauce.

Yep! I'm from a quiet little area known as Texoma.

07/16/2018 11:01 AMPosted by Arbs

Turkey Club or Chicken Cesar with choice of Soup or Salad as a side.

None of those options.

07/16/2018 11:10 AMPosted by Konietzko

Any plans on putting a vendor price on the Seal of Authority bonus AP token?

Is that one that we missed? I'll pass that on. There was a lot of AP Tokens they went through.

07/16/2018 11:30 AMPosted by Ryken

If you play Pokemon Go, what team are you and why is it Instinct?

I prefer the full title Pokemon games. Couldn't get into Pokemon Go. I think I choose Mystic though.

07/16/2018 11:39 AMPosted by Kolbain

If you could have any class or race added, which would it be? :)

I'm getting Zandalari and Dark Iron which is what I've always wanted.

07/16/2018 12:30 PMPosted by Melaroi

What feature are you most excited for in BfA?

The continuation and refinement of Mythic+. It's come a long way since the start of Legion and I want to see where it goes now within it's second expansion.

07/16/2018 01:39 PMPosted by Revannia

This is a fun post. I've enjoyed reading all the answers. Since you can pick and choose what to answer, I think all the blues should do one of these every once in awhile :) Thanks Ythisens!

This has actually been pretty fun to keep coming back to. I'm honestly surprised it's still going.

07/16/2018 02:14 PMPosted by Lemiki

Is the Twisting Nether really endless?

Does a Hunter always pull extra trash?

07/16/2018 02:16 PMPosted by Peonpaul

I'VE SACRIFICED EVERYTHING! What have you done?

I got out of bed today. So I mean, I gave up a lot.

07/16/2018 03:00 PMPosted by Kiyaara

Can't wait for the calls of Horde bias over the Liadrin comment. Great choice though.

Tirion was my favorite, until yeah. Liadrin literally wielded her suffering as a weapon. Her arc is just fascinating to me; Priestess to swearing off the light and emerging as a Warrior, then becoming the first Blood Knight. She is the embodied form of Retribution.

07/16/2018 06:14 PMPosted by Celaurienel

How long do you see WoW being around for?

It has the potential to keep going forever to be honest and as long as people keep playing there's no reason to ever stop. I mean Warcraft itself has spanned 24 years now, why shouldn't it somehow last 50 years?

07/16/2018 07:21 PMPosted by Ulminia

puppies or kittens....

puppies.

07/16/2018 07:39 PMPosted by Jøpp

Are you an ox in real life?

Isn't that the real mystery?

07/16/2018 07:47 PMPosted by Neall

Since we're definitely meeting at Blizzcon, Fistbumps? Handshakes? Bro Hugs? Handclasp and Hug?

A firm acknowledgement. Please see the Ron Swanson rules of a handshake.

07/16/2018 08:02 PMPosted by Dreadmoon

Did you kill Bashiok and Zarhym to get your current job?

That's actually how new CM's come into power. You have to highlander them for their power. What you didn't see was Ornyx standing on a mountain in the distance laughing as the lightning cracked as I usurped the chai...I mean throne.

07/16/2018 08:05 PMPosted by Koro

If you could take a movie and have all the roles played by a single performer, what movie and what performer would you pick?

Any movie, replace all actors with Jim Carrey, or Robin Williams. Either of those would probably be entertaining to watch. My mind immediately went to Inglorious Bastards but Robin Williams plays everyone.

07/17/2018 09:31 AMPosted by Sylvanelf

Would you agree or disagree that some older and iconic gear should be remade with the current graphic shine of 2018 WoW?

I don't think remade maybe and I'd rather just see new items, some of the older iconic pieces mean something to certain players. Remaking it can make those players feel slighted as it affects what they associate as their memory of those items and the adventure they had. This probably didn't make any sense at all but I think if older items are remade both the new and old version should still be around. I don't mind and would rather see them updated personally but to some players that matters. (This is by no means intention to do so just my opinion on the overall idea of it).

07/17/2018 09:34 AMPosted by Highpaws

i would ask him a cup of coffee.

I would accept but probably drink Dr. Pepper or water as I don't drink coffee.

Since I had a free moment I came back to this thread to answer some more!

07/17/2018 12:56 PMPosted by Aldiara

Why did Blizzard purposely decide to release the expansion only a week before I start nursing school when they had all summer to release it at a more convenient time for me?

We wanted to test your dedication. It's a complicated relationship we have but we want all of the attention.

07/17/2018 12:58 PMPosted by Elaice

Do you think Garrosh did nothing wrong?

Of course he didn't do anything wrong.

07/17/2018 01:51 PMPosted by Gedanken

How much hay can a hay yak yak, if hay yak could yak hay?

I could yak about 5 hays.

07/18/2018 09:07 AMPosted by Sylvanelf

Here is your pic as promised!

https://imgur.com/a/D2bzKVa

OH MY GOD THAT'S SO COOL. I'm printing this out and hanging it up at my desk.

07/18/2018 09:14 AMPosted by Lieth

Why nerf leveling so much? I just got back after a 3 year hiatus and had to create a new account. I don't have time to be anything but a casual player because of work...and kids. I'm sure alot of people can relate. Leveling was already tedious. Why make it worse?

Having leveled a bunch of times I understand, but at the same time a character should feel like a journey. MMO's have always had a time investment factor and while its great to have quick, accessible content, there should be a balance. Compared to other MMOs in my experience at least WoW is still one of the fastest to get into and do "end-game content". Not using that as a cop out but just pointing it out. We do still read the feedback you guys post about it so I promise it's not unheard. I think we as a whole were spoiled because it was so easy for a while there, so the change feels very dramatic in comparison. I don't think anyone really intended for the ability for someone to go from level 1 to 100 in 2 hours so I like the leveling changes personally. Feedback is always appreciated on it though.

07/19/2018 05:18 PMPosted by Supercell

If you organize tables, you append.

If you flip tables, then do you up-end?

Maybe this is what Chen was talking about when he asked "why do we fight?". I thought it was because of pineapple on pizza.

07/20/2018 06:55 AMPosted by Sylvanelf

I also have to send a nod to Rygarius; I liked the way Coffeebird dealt with the community and appreciated his sense of humor.

He was actually the first person at Blizzard I ever met. I met him at Medieval times and was introduced to him and the person who referred me into Blizzard. I then met him again once I was a Game Master. Then I ran into him again after I became a CM. Kinda weird but I seem to cross his path shortly after every major milestone in my life related to Blizzard. He might be the coffee bird of fate.

07/20/2018 11:53 AMPosted by Waraila

First, what is your favourite zone and why? Is it story, visuals or a combination?

Secondly, do you read the warcraft novels? and which is your favourite?

TBC Nagrad. I was enamored with it when I saw the environment change as I ran into it from Zangarmarsh. The color palette is just so satisfying there. It's a Nesingwary zone so the usual quests come with it now that we know and love. It's just a place in the world that is just so pretty to just quest peacefully in. It's the only zone I go out of my way to do every time I level a character. I'd rather slow down and enjoy it.

I do read them, favorite is Arthas. It was the first one that I read of our novels so it has a special place in my heart. I still need to read Before the Storm but there's too many games to play! I'm gonna try and fit it in before the expac launch :)

07/23/2018 05:46 PMPosted by Alcey

How many hamsters does it take to power the WoW servers?

Breaking this into its own post because I just sent my favorite email to date to figure this out. This math is being done by me so there is a chance it's probably wrong somewhere so I'm being as detailed as possible.

Okay so thankfully a lot of math was done by this gentleman here on r/AskEngineers so I'm using a lot of these numbers.

So for context WoW is handled by a LOT of servers so I'm using a low ballpark number but its a lot more to be honest.

Here is the Data Let's use the "growing kitten- 4 pounds" as a baseline of 275 calories per day per 4 pounds. Kittens have a high energy level; not sure if it's similar to a hamster, but just to be safe let's say hamsters are twice as active as a kitten (just to give high-side numbers). So that's 550 calories per 4 pounds, or 137.5 calories per pound*.

According to this article:
<a href="http://dwarfhamsterblog.com/hamster-weight/

an adult hamster weighs 7 ounces at maximum. Let's say you have a very large, very active hamster. 7 ounces scaled to the very active kitten datapoint means it consumes approximately 60 calories of food per day.

Let's say that the hamster can use approximately 50% of that to run, and that 80% of that 50% is converted to electrical power. That means a total efficiency of 40% food to energy conversion (again, this is a high number.) You then have 24 calories of energy generated per day from your giant ultra hungry hamster.

24 food calories is approximately 0.028 kilowatt-hours.”

Now lets be nice and assume there are hamster labor laws and they have families they need to go home to and take care of, so we'll assume they work 8 hours a shift. Which averaged is .0093 kw/h per hamster per day.

I don't know the specifics of how our server design is so I'm borrowing some math that was done for a similar joke on the EVE subreddit(Again its not exact just rough bar napkin estimates):

Now, in 2015 CCP updated their server hardware to accompany 6 Chassis, each loaded with 14 node bays. EACH. So, that is 84 node bays. Assuming the average of a node bay power consumption one source here, not including fans at the bottom of the chasis, they consume around 500 watts, or around 1700 BTU PER HOUR.

E(kWh) = P(W) × t(hr) / 1000, and using this we find that each node bay runs approximately .5kw per hour. Or, you know, just convert 500 watts to .5kw. vOv. Multiplied by the 84 they have, we find that CCP's NODES ALONE consume 42 kw/hr. At least, I think its a rough estimate.

This means that a single server(what they call nodes) would take approximately 1296 hamsters a day ((.5*24)/.0093).

If you apply that math to our estimate of servers total that we use(again we're low-balling this here), this would mean that you need approximately 7,776,000 hamsters to power World of Warcraft, running each for 8 hours a day.

Assuming giant hungry hyperactive hamsters, and a low speculation of hardware power consumption. And that's just a rough estimate of what the nodes use, and an overestimate of the hamsters ability to convert calories.

07/23/2018 07:14 PMPosted by Alvraen

Ythisens.

You're welcome.

07/23/2018 07:16 PMPosted by Zën

Why do you answer so many questions that have no real point yet ignore ones that really have substance?

I like to think my answers have substance. Also that's kind of the point of this thread. I'm answering some stuff but of course some of the questions in here I'm not going to answer. Not every question is guaranteed a reply.

07/23/2018 07:24 PMPosted by Thwacks

You mentioned earlier about not having to worry about being in trouble for commenting on your criticisms of the game.

What is one serious criticism you have about the game or its direction.

That question was more so if I were to disagree with something internally, which of course there would be things that I dislike. Not every person plays WoW the same way or has the same experience so its understandable not everyone is going to like every change. Even us Blizzard folks are no exception, doesn't change my love for the world or the game itself.

I'm a very old fashioned player so I disliked the change away from attunements. It makes sense from a design standpoint to change it because its not a good user experience for some players, but I loved the world building a guild building it had around it. I actually liked spending some nights just messing around getting guildies their keys or attunements. The game overall I think is better without them, but I still miss it.

07/23/2018 07:26 PMPosted by Mandulis

Why do you think that the class devs forego alpha and beta feedback in which the players playing the game know how things will turn out? then halfway through or at the end, the devs finally admit the alpha/beta testers were right and make changes, only to create new problems for the next expansion that the alpha/beta testers will inevitably mention will happen and get ignored about, again?

So this is good but its a bit hyperbolic. You're not wrong but you're also not right. Of course feedback is listened to and things are changed. Every hotfix or change that we implement we actually can see, so we can follow essentially everything that is happening between QA and Dev. There were hundreds and hundreds of changes(I'm using this as a blanket term here to include everything class related, even bugs) Class Design wise just in the alpha alone. There will always be problems, WoW is a huge behemoth of a project to work on that is so incredibly complex that its hard to get down, even we get it wrong sometimes.

Just because something doesn't get a response also doesn't mean it was ignored. It could be a number of reasons as to why it wasn't changed to whatever you think it should be. Changing one thing can create a domino effect that has ramifications that we don't for-see. There's an issue right now for example where Inquisition doesn't work correctly with T21 and Divine Purpose, because those two things have not existed on live realms together, but once we fixed that it now causes Inquisition to do something else that is equally unexpected. This is all taking place on the development realms for example so you won't see it in the live game. I know its a pretty niche one-off example but I'm using it because it just came across my inbox.

There are also times where the Dev team disagrees with the feedback or its because of something else that we can't change it, but I do think where we disagree we should have at least a philosophy somewhere whether its in a Q&A or a blue post somewhere, we at least try to do this. It also doesn't exactly feel very good if you suggest something and we just respond with "No." So it's a complicated thing sometimes.

07/23/2018 07:29 PMPosted by Thwacks

Also...do you have an alt named Woodspath?

If I did, do you think I would I tell you? I didn't have something witty to say here but I figured if I didn't answer it people might infer that I would actually play a gnome. ...just kidding I do actually have a Gnome Warrior that has the best name ever, and its not Woodspath.

07/23/2018 07:31 PMPosted by Elthunis

"Do you know if there are any changes planned for Guardian druids on 8.1?"

I don't know anything concrete yet, I'm more focused on prepatch and launch. Once we're post launch then I'm more concerned with that. That's not a dig at class design but more so professionally what I'm focused on because I'm supposed to be. I always want to know those things and ask though for what its worth.

07/23/2018 11:02 PMPosted by Floyln

Why is PvP beta feedback ignored every expansion?

Please see previous response about class design but replace "Class Design" with "PvP Design" and times the difficulty by like 10. (Probably not an accurate number but seems like it to me)

07/23/2018 11:14 PMPosted by Trueßlood

Do you think Pit Lords could ever, or should ever, be a thing for warlocks?

I wouldn't put it past designers, they have a tendency to do crazy things. Just say you want hats on them and Muffinus might make it happen. (It's not a pug though so he might be reluctant)

07/23/2018 11:15 PMPosted by Mcgrammar

I have a very serious question that is past the point of needing to be addressed to be perfectly honest with you...

I understand the want to post that in a thread you see me active in but please don't do things like this. People always jump into threads saying "You respond to this but not this?". Trust me I've read the thread and honestly If something has 100+ posts it's pretty hard to not see it. I appreciate your concern though and it has been seen and read. Also I raised the cap on it since its almost at 23 pages.

07/24/2018 02:41 AMPosted by Neocleo

I would ask what the decision behind removing full screen was.

This was answered already here.

07/24/2018 01:41 PMPosted by Sherrimayim

How many people are on Blizz's Development Staff and how many were on it during LK/BC?

I don't know the exact number but its quite a bit! The WoW team has some crazy tenure and most of the folks in change have been working on the game for more than a decade.

On a side note, not sure if it's been asked before.. but how do you pronounce your name?

I answered it earlier but I should probably find a phonetic pronunciation for it.

07/24/2018 02:25 PMPosted by Stroganof

I was always curious how the avatars you Blizz people have are developed, e.g yours being a yak, do you make them up? Is it an inside joke?

Inquiring minds want to know!

There is a ceremony you go through to acquire your avatar. I would love to tell you but only when they believe you are ready do you go through the trial. Once complete you are blessed with you avatar animated and your text blued.

07/24/2018 04:21 PMPosted by Demigrax

Peanut butter with chocolate or Chocolate with peanut butter?

I am an equal opportunity Reeses connoisseur.

07/24/2018 06:23 PMPosted by Lydinie

Is it true you're an alien warlord from the planet Xarafaxlyza 9? If so, then is it also true about your plans to enslave humanity and process us into small, canned snack foods?

My response.

07/24/2018 07:44 PMPosted by Wardaegis

What process do I need to go through to apply and what are blizzards requirements for such a position?

There's lots of resources out there on how to get into game development if you're wanting to become a designer. If you talk to any designer the first thing they will tell you is to just start creating, literally just start doing it, create clunky little designs, games, or stories. You'll be terrible at first, but once you're bad and learn how to be better from your own trials and errors, as well as shared learnings from other designers, you get better. Everyone starts from nothing and there's no right path. Everyone has a different journey into it and come from various aspects. The Warcraft team for example has folks that were previously lawyers, accountants, data scientists, quality assurance, customer service, etc.

Follow designers(Twitter, YouTube, deviant-art, etc) that you like or people who create the projects you like on everything to see how they talk about what they do. They love sharing their thoughts and process as well as collaborating on ideas and approaches. I follow people who work on development teams because I just love hearing them talk about how they make things.

The best advice I can give is to just start, if you like it... immerse yourself in it. Never stop learning and remember the ABCs, Always Be Creating.

07/25/2018 04:38 PMPosted by Bankinghours

Ythisens,

How many people do Mythic raiding?

A lot.

07/25/2018 06:54 PMPosted by Jörð

What does the fox really say?

This.

10/01/2018 03:05 PMPosted by Amaelyn

If you won the lottery: Log cabin in the woods, or mansion in a busy city?

Honestly torn on this one. I love the convenience of the city but I grew up in a small town, so I like the quiet. I'd pick a nice quiet place that had good internet access. So probably a underdeveloped suburb if anything.

10/01/2018 03:12 PMPosted by Carnot

I would want to know why the clearly superior gnomish race gets so little time in the spotlight.

They're always below frame, we keep trying to put them on set but they always fall short.

10/01/2018 03:15 PMPosted by Bashin

WHEN CAN I PLAY OGRES

IDK BUT THERE'S A COSTUME AT LEAST!

10/01/2018 03:15 PMPosted by Lockedheart

How are you handling Orn being gone?

I miss the space goat :(. I've been hanging out with him at work everyday since I joined this team, he even interviewed me! I'm extremely happy for him though and still talk to him everyday so not much has changed other than his desk is now barren and empty and has far less plushies.

10/01/2018 03:18 PMPosted by Jetiam

i am outraged at this post Ythisens dont you have better things to do like ur job this is not ok omg Ythisens you are fired

That's where you're wrong kiddo *finger guns*

10/01/2018 03:30 PMPosted by Felplagued

1. If you had to pick one battle pet to bring to the real world as a pet, what would you choose?

Easy, Lil Ragnaros.

10/01/2018 03:30 PMPosted by Felplagued

Things like the soul shards glyphs showing for no one but the person who has the glyph on, being a thing since 7.2 I have asked in Q&A on twitter, here, in bug reports, etc.

Never gotten a response, are things like these sometimes bugs that just are very low priority to fix, or are they things that simply are intended but not stated as such?

I didn't know about that but I'll mention it.
Honestly, when it comes to classifications this would be super low priority as its just a graphical thing that isn't majorly impacting anything. I know that sucks to read as its obviously an important issue for you but that's just a classification on where it would fall right now. Even though it gets identified as such, it could be something that gets fixed very quickly as its just a graphical thing.

10/01/2018 02:58 PMPosted by Ughash

Do your guild mates know you’re a CM? Are you allowed to share with people you run across who you are? Or do you typically (just for safety measures) only reveal it to close friends?

Yes they know. I don't tell people in games of course but in public if people ask I tell them. I get asked a lot because of the Blizzard employee shirts/hoodies.

10/01/2018 03:43 PMPosted by Barrison

Yth, are we besties?

We are now <3

10/01/2018 03:46 PMPosted by Solaron

Why can't my Female Void Elf twirl when she jumps, yet the male Void Elves and my Blood Elves can?

:O that's not fair.

08/17/2018 04:41 PMPosted by Woodspath

Ythisens oh Ythisens, where for art thou Ythisens?

Which zone so far is your favorite?

Vol'dun has been my favorite zone but Drustvar is a very close second.

10/01/2018 02:13 PMPosted by Cyouskin

If the warrior was being kited by the hunter, and the warrior was in the hunter's dead-zone, but the hunter in the warrior's deadzone (not in melee range, but not far enough to charge), who is more skilled? (Hunter or Warrior?)

I think the Hunter is more skilled in that scenario. :thinking:

10/01/2018 02:25 PMPosted by Aigeiros

hello have you ever been confused by an ability or item icon and then a long time later you suddenly realized what it is

Way too many to honestly name. I usually notice the art of the icon months later and am like "OH THAT'S WHAT THAT IS!"

10/01/2018 02:36 PMPosted by Aehl

For the last two years the Oceanic community has been asking about the night day cycle. Posts, threads, tweets, Q and A, posts directed to you and to Ornyx have gone unanswered.

We've actually been talking about this and coming up with solutions for this problem. Nothing immediately to say but I was actually in a meeting I think two weeks ago where we discussed this issue in pretty good detail along with how to fix it.

10/01/2018 02:40 PMPosted by Phurr

What is the actual process for you giving feedback to devs? I assume you aren't just copy/pasting threads into an email. There has to be a system involved. I feel like knowing this would give people some perspective into your job.

There is actually multiple ways that we give feedback to the devs. Depending on the issue itself really determines that. Say for example something is broken and it is critically affecting the game by just not functioning or something like an exploit. In those scenarios we usually send it straight to the individual developers responsible for those things. For everything else it usually falls into the bucket of getting a bit more refined before we send it along at the high level. We obviously need to filter some posts due to language and things of that nature, and we try to get it down to the core mechanical issue. Developers want to know what the actual problem is when it comes to trying to fix or solve something. So we try our best to filter it and rewrite it to their language. Sometimes we actually send things unedited to showcase how sentiment impacting things currently are.

It's a weird thing that you learn how to do. It took me a while to get it down honestly, but thankfully I wasn't posting then as I wasn't a full CM yet. :P

I know we say this a lot but you'd be surprised how many times we raise something up as an issue and then find out the leads on WoW have already read the threads. They're really good at stalking the forums.

10/01/2018 04:34 PMPosted by Fliptopbox

Do you ever take breaks (extended periods of time) from the game?

I do! It's usually in between patches or raid tiers. I usually am playing another game when that happens. I personally think that's very healthy behavior to just come and go. I always come back and spend the most time in WoW. FYI I'll probably not exist for like a week when Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out.

10/01/2018 04:38 PMPosted by Voidoflight

If you could bring any one hunter tame from in-game to real life to become your pet in real life, what would it be?

Thok! Definitely Thok. I mean its a giant dino.

10/01/2018 04:49 PMPosted by Aehl

Thats great Ythisens, can you or another CM go to the Oceanic forums and post that? The last CM post was April 2017. Some actual direct communication would not go astray.

Im not ungrateful by any means, but may I also ask why it took this long? Whilst you cant be there every day, those forums are for an entire region and the occasional CM post is not too much to ask. Last one was in April 2017...over a year, Ythisens.

So when it comes to different regions, there are different CMs. I for example handle North America. There is one for Oceanic but they don't post very often. They still report issues and I see their reports. I do agree with you though that you can feel neglected by that. I'll pass that on to that team in the mean time.

10/01/2018 05:19 PMPosted by Olthir

Favorite Horde race and Alliance race?

Horde: right now is Blood Elf, until I get Zandalari. #Zandaladin (I have no idea if that is going to be a thing or not please don't spam)
Alliance: Dark Iron Dwarves

10/01/2018 05:21 PMPosted by Snowfox

I don't know if 'd ask a silly question or serious.

So I'd probably ask Ythisens opinion on the song Yakkity Sax.

... and then ask if there was any insight or teasers about new forums here.

Fine then I'll have to answer both.

Yakkity Sax is the best. I especially love it when people spam my tweets with it which happened after I became new blue. 10/10

I'll drop a forum teaser for you. We've been meeting to discuss existing and new categories and deciding what we want to do in that space around them. We've seen some early looks and they look pretty great so far. Soon™

10/01/2018 05:27 PMPosted by Dirge

Pineapple or no on pizza?

I've made my stance very clear that pineapple doesn't belong on pizza.

10/01/2018 05:33 PMPosted by Ohgodmyeyes

Have you ever heard of or tried out 7 Days to Die, Yak?

I own it! I play that and The Forest with my roommates.

10/01/2018 05:34 PMPosted by Zunde

How come i keep killing your brothers and sisters on island expeditions but they're not coughing up the Yak pets.

:O

10/01/2018 05:35 PMPosted by Compassion

Can we mount up in some of the older dungeons when farming mog?

I WISH. I'd love to cut down the old farm times of instances.

10/01/2018 05:42 PMPosted by Arnelian

Will the Yak allow me to pet him?

Probably if you fed me pizza.

10/01/2018 05:56 PMPosted by Icevolf

Just dropping in to say that this post and Ythisens answers have restored my faith a bit in bliz and the community. With all the negative lately this was a breath of fresh air, so thank you Ythisens.

Thank you <3 These are fun little threads that I'd love to do more of and even see some other blues possibly participate in. Maybe one day. I know people always care very deeply about the mechanical impacts of the game and while those are important, it's just as important for us to just engage each other within the community about each other.

10/01/2018 06:03 PMPosted by Aeleara

Whys this expansion a complete flop?

It has some issues, like every expansion, but I wouldn't even come close to calling it a flop. At this point in Legion everyone was rioting about Legendaries and declaring it a flop and a failure. So while some of those things don't particularly feel good, I hope we have instilled enough faith in the playerbase to trust in the development team to make the right decisions and steer the ship as best we can. I know what kind of responses I'm eliciting when I say that but I like most players am always eager to hear what we say went wrong as well as how we're going to fix it when it comes to those topics.
For those Blizzard aficionados, yes I did just make a very obscure Chris Metzen reference.

10/01/2018 06:05 PMPosted by Sickntwisted

As a -player-, which azerite trait for your main is your favorite?

Right now my favorite is the Archive of the Titans because I love the potential it opens up with Reorigination Array in future traits. I'd love it if those other 1st ring traits gave as much impact.

10/01/2018 06:05 PMPosted by Sickntwisted

Secondly, what was your favorite joke to share as a Game Master?

My favorite joke is still "What is another name for Chromie's hips?"
"A waist of time"

Now its an item in the game so that's a little weird.

10/01/2018 06:22 PMPosted by Zaranthosdk

What do the devs have against flying? It was a max level staple of WoW for 4 expansions and people loved it. What changed?

Flying makes the world smaller. If you're like me the first time you stepped into Azeroth you were awestruck at how big the world felt. You needed to travel around the world to get to these far away lands and it felt like a big undertaking that added to just the scale of the world. It's one of the bigger reasons those in the Classic community are excited about because of this feeling that the lack of flying mounts invokes.

When you add in flying you now have to build the world relative to the ease of personal flying travel and its not an easy feat. I think the Pandora's Box has been opened on this one unfortunately and I'm in the same boat of wanting my flying mounts back always. I'm cool with pathfinder though as long as it's not too long. I however do miss that feeling of a massive world that I had when I just had a ground mount.

I probably made some typos in here as there were a lot of questions in this block. So sorry in advance!

10/01/2018 07:11 PMPosted by Zerea

I don't want to ask anything, but I would like to let Ythisens know that I think Blizzard has the best customer service in the world. That is not hyperbole, that is my honest opinion. In the almost three decades I have been playing Blizzard games, I have never had a bad experience with them.

I won't go into details but today they were able to resolve a nearly two year old issue (my fault for not getting to it sooner, but life is hectic sometimes) that I was sure no one would be able to help me with. It honestly amazed me.

I'll pass that along to the CS leadership to give the Game Masters that helped you some kudos <3. As an ex Game Master I can say things like this make their day.

10/01/2018 07:25 PMPosted by Iskandi

So my question is ..do you ever in the long dark boring hours of the night while we are sleeping, get on our toons and and drive them around ? Then maybe just to mess with us remove something from our inventory, leaving that open bag slot you know was filled before you logged off! Or repair bills when you know you repaired before going to bed!

Not while we don't have your ticket! However I can only speak for myself in this regard so I can say that I have left characters in some precarious places before for some laughs while in chats with players. Top of Hyjal, Bottom of Vashj'ir, End of Molten Core, etc. My team did have a competition once to see who could send the most players to the bottom of Vashj'ir "accidentally" while in chats with players. The only requirement was you had to roleplay it. I got second place with 13 in one day. The winner had 27, was pretty impressive.

As for tokens of niceness, any time I had to control a players character and noticed their armor wasn't 100% I used to repair it for free.

10/01/2018 07:30 PMPosted by Shrine

Mmmm i need a new rug for my floor, maybe a new blanket for my bed. Lays out a trail of sweet tea and yak snax, .... places a few blinding pots in range Then vanishes and waits quietly.

Ooo sweet tea! Wait... I'm cutting down on my sugar intake, I'll go get a glass of water.

10/01/2018 07:43 PMPosted by Dîomedes

Do you have any insight on when Arthas is coming back? Or at the very least if we will see Bolvar do something other than brood?

So story beats are actually the only thing kept pretty hidden from my team, which I love. I like to have a little surprise at least. We only know the bits around important things early (i.e. cinematics, cutscenes, things of that nature). We just get the broad idea of where the story is going to let us know what to prepare for. Since my team is more publishing focused we know just enough to prepare assets and preemptively think of future assets and ideas. The diorama at BlizzCon is an example of what my team does and how we executed that before anyone ever saw the Battle for Azeroth cinematic. I still have PTSD about reviewing figures for that thing.

10/01/2018 07:48 PMPosted by Hansgrell

What is the current state of the alliance economy (at least stormwind) are we much better off then when cataclysm happened? will stormwind's economy be able to handle the night elf and gilnean refugees and how will that impact our ability to wage war against the horde? after all we all had to donate gold to fuel the war effort in arathi, so obviously the stormwind government needs civilian aid to even commit to the war effort.

And how strong is the horde economy? i dont see them really producing much goods/gold to continually fund gallywix and their goblin manufactures. i honestly see the horde economy buckling from having to rely on goblins for their wartime productions.

I think the winner will be whoever figures out how to invest in free real estate.

10/01/2018 08:01 PMPosted by Hivemind

"What could you possibly tell me that would be of some benefit?"

Did you know the majority of policies that affect you on a daily basis come from local and state elections? Participate in local elections to make sure your voice is heard.

Listen, you didn't say what category of thing I had to tell you was.

10/01/2018 08:31 PMPosted by Fehnris

BFA overall isn't that small TBH. It's about the size of Draenor which was a pretty large expansion.

I'm not saying BfA is small by that statement, rather that the world itself feels smaller with flying. It's more of a game philosophy and design stance. You'll see most game designers when they talk about travel within a game about how its a balance of convenience vs inconvenience, but a necessary tool of world building. If there is immediate player access regardless of location, the barrier of travel feels psychologically lower for the player.

10/01/2018 09:11 PMPosted by Excerion

No wonder Blizzard "soon" means multiple years when a CM thinks something happening once in over a year is "don't post very often".

That still fits the definition of "not very often".

10/01/2018 09:31 PMPosted by Kirela

What is in the works for communication? Anything different from Q&As?

Will there be more blues for GD at some point? Are there blues that work on GD that we don't see?

I've spoken quite at length with various teams responsible for these things. We have some ideas but we need to flesh them out more. Anything grand scheme is gonna take some brainstorming to figure out fully but everyone internally is committed to improving the communication flow to you guys. We've talked about things like reworking the livestreams, more of them, different styles, more AMAs and engagement. Of course these are all wishes at the moment and its on us internally to figure out the best solutions and options. Not saying anything of course along those lines is for sure coming but just trying to be as transparent as I can be on what we've talked about.

Yep there are blues in GD that you don't see! Some could be CMs, some could be devs, some could be GMs. You'll never know other than those that do post.

10/01/2018 10:22 PMPosted by Onotay

You're too good for Blizzard. Have you considered being a community manager for another company?

I'm very happy at Blizzard and very much enjoy working for World of Warcraft. If you ever see me leave it means someone gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.

10/01/2018 11:18 PMPosted by Ñyxx

What's your fav BBQ style? :)

Texas style! That's actually the name of the style because well, Texans do things like that. As for BBQ dish, I'm a sucker for a good brisket but my bar for good brisket is unreasonably high.

10/02/2018 02:12 AMPosted by Lmaoforums

What's your favourite pop tart flavour?

The best flavor, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon.

10/02/2018 03:15 AMPosted by Alaeis

I would ask if he has had any prior experience in customer support before this job.

It's the majority of what I did before ending up in this role. I was even in CS here at Blizzard for a year before I became a Community Manager.

10/02/2018 03:16 AMPosted by Silenz

On another note; it's nice to hear the Day/night issue is being worked on.

Sorry for the miscommunication here, (The lead up to this is gonna make the following explanation a little ironic), but I accidentally quoted the wrong part of the question and I've since gone back and edited that quote. I was quoting the lack of responses and eluding to us working on the problem that OC players feel right now with the lack of blue posts. The day/night cycle issue is something the team is aware of but we don't have anything to share on it.

10/02/2018 03:43 AMPosted by Jagermeistr

Do you think Yak meat on a pizza would be good great or amazing?

It would be very unhealthy, tough stringy meat, yeah you don't want to try it.

10/02/2018 05:40 AMPosted by Xavares

Does Blizzard have like a daily forum bingo for maybe new topics. Check a box for maybe "immersion" and "toxic" and "unsub", etc.?

No but we could've honestly made one like 5 years ago and you'd still probably hit a bingo today.

10/02/2018 05:45 AMPosted by Dinkleburg

Whos your favorite level one Orc Warrior?

...Dinkleburg.....

10/02/2018 05:59 AMPosted by Byucknah

Hey Ythisens, long time reader first time poster. My question is what is a good question to ask you?

My team says: "What kinds of foods will you not eat"
The answer: "A lot"
They think I'm weird because I don't like sushi and pasta.

10/02/2018 06:25 AMPosted by Eleroleron

Do the blizzard employees debate about the High elf/Blood elf race definition, especially when all those repeated threads pop up?

Ever since we found out Allied Races were a confirmed thing we've talked about the idea of who/what could be an allied race all the time. It's a never ending conversation now because of the possibilities it opens up as playable races. We actually love the large discussions it's popped up among you guys. I mean megathreads that are spanning tens of thousands of posts total across all of the capped threads? That's just cool. No other feature in WoW as an idea has had that much engagement.

10/02/2018 08:16 AMPosted by Elsebe

To piggyback on that, what player/forum debates are most mirrored among Blizzard staff?

Lore, Allied Races, class design, best expansion, best raid. Other than some of the language of course it's very similar as far as broad topics. We discuss them a little differently but I giggle sometimes when I see people debating about something I read on the forums earlier that day.

10/02/2018 10:34 AMPosted by Tymberlea

Obviously, forum interaction is only one aspect - and possibly not the most vital - of a CMs duties. Ysthisens is aware of work that they do. While I value Blue engagement on the Forums, I absolutely understand why some may find the prospect daunting. You all are a rough crowd.

For Ysthisens: What is the most helpful way to raise concerns? CS Feedback tool in-game? Forums? Other social media? What tips would you give?

+1 to your first paragraph.

The most helpful way is forums along with in game. In game bug reporting sends a snapshot of data to help the QA team try to verify that what you've experienced is a bug, and the forum post alongside it helps longform explain what it was you encountered. When reporting bugs try to remove emotion and hyperboles out of them. That's the best I can at least share on it. I'm not on the receiving end of bug reporting so I'll ask someone in QA and get a better response on this. :)

10/02/2018 11:38 AMPosted by Wardbane

@Ythisens How can I become a WoW class designer? I love making classes and working on mechanics of other games such as D&D and warcraft 3. I don't approve of many of the class changes i've seen and would like to be a part of class development for the game going forward

Having that feeling of wanting to solve a problem is great. I think you should learn to identify what actually is the problem. Be able to break it down on the mechanical level and be able to speak in a niche level for each class but understanding any problems you feel exist as a whole in how they all relate to each other.

From what I've gathered the biggest barrier is simply doing it. You don't need to already be at a studio to be a game designer. Start now. Learn how to turn your ideas into more fleshed out creations. Make card games, make board games, learn to create your own little games using programs like Unity or Unreal. You can get free versions of those and other to teach yourself and learn from tutorials. Literally just do it. Then when you're ready you can use your creations as a portfolio to show what you can do and what you've learned.

I have a friend of mine here who was a Game Master, he created a little game in Unity that was very simple but it was pretty refined in concept. He worked on it in his spare time and at home and got people to play it and test it out for him to learn where he needed to improve. He then used that when he applied to join the Diablo team and it showcased his potential in what he was able to do on his own and how he approached the problems that he ran into. He got the job and is now a designer on that team. You can do it, it just starts with you. :)

10/02/2018 11:43 AMPosted by Amarlly

After the work on Classic is finished, do you think there is any possibility that the devs would port those zones, quests, and possibly dungeons back into the live game as alternate zones, accessible either by talking to an NPC or using a portal?

I think where that makes sense we should be doing those things, especially zones that we're revisiting due to new story beats that drastically change the landscape. We've been doing a pretty good job I think using the Bronze Dragonflights to accomplish that where it's needed.

10/02/2018 11:46 AMPosted by Kungfuapple

If you could decide the next allied race, what would you pick? (bonus points for what classes and everything >:) )

I'm terrified to say what Allied Race I want because of the forum posts that would invoke it. So let's keep it a mystery :P

10/02/2018 12:01 PMPosted by Ragebørn

This may too much of a niche issue, but for most arms warriors it's important.. why can't we choose what the shield looks like when we go into D stance?

No idea the restrictions on that but it would be cool if it somehow changed. It's a good suggestion.

10/02/2018 12:07 PMPosted by Notoffensive

What is the normal flow for when someone is reported in chat via Right Click > Report? It seems like nothing ever happens to the bots selling Uldir/M10 carries in Stormrage Trade Chat, despite reporting them for cheating, copying what they said in chat minus any links, and saying they're RMT carries

When you right click and report someone it actually builds out a list of reports against that player and it creates a ticket for a game master to review. Trust me, we swat them down but unfortunately there are a lot of bots that just spring up. It's a constant battle that team has to fight and they do a pretty crazy good job.

10/02/2018 12:11 PMPosted by Withpuppys

is genn a good boy

The goodest.

10/02/2018 12:13 PMPosted by Venjin

"Have the devs even LOOKED at the Guild Controls feedback thread?"

I actually read it almost everyday, at least all the new posts on it, and I can say that the devs have reviewed it a few times. Ion said it in a Q&A awhile back but please keep telling us what you'd like to see come back to those controls so that we can look into those. I know it's not a detailed of a response that you'd like to hear on it but that's all we really have on it at the moment.

10/02/2018 12:55 PMPosted by Dànnar

What's your favorite race in WoW and why is it the Arakkoa?

Zandalari at the moment! Soon™

10/02/2018 12:56 PMPosted by Mddsteve

What are the odds of Tier 3 armor becoming more accessible than checking the Black Market Auction House every day and being disappointed at the selection? Take my gold, I'm just tired of the hunt.

If there was no hunt I don't think it would feel as good when you complete it finally. I rarely see any Redemption pieces so I do get what you're saying. I think keeping it to the Black Market is fine as these are extremely rare pieces and they should be pretty illustrious. Would be a good suggestion as for maybe more things on the BMAH at once to hopefully increase your odds of seeing it.

10/02/2018 12:59 PMPosted by Fallynn

Are there REALLY too many elves?

There's probably too many elves, but we could always use more!

10/02/2018 01:12 PMPosted by Lueran

Mr. Yak, are there any ideas of Allied Race ideas from among the player base that you are exceptionally fond of, whether or not you think that race will come to be?

Please see previous answer above :P

10/02/2018 03:27 PMPosted by Althenar

What's your favorite color?

00B4FF

10/02/2018 04:44 PMPosted by Danaar

Why did you settle on the name "Ythisens?" How is that even pronounced? (Yeah... two questions... so?)

It was my name as a Game Master! You can probably search it still and find some old tickets that I've done that were posted online.

As for pronunciation its Yith-i-sens. There's probably a better way to present it but I tell everyone to think of the Y as pronounced similar to how Ysera is.

10/02/2018 04:47 PMPosted by Lydinie

If you were a hotdog and you were starving, would you eat yourself?

Lets hope I'm never a hotdog.

10/02/2018 04:51 PMPosted by Adrim

Mr. Ox, I'm curious is there a particular charity that you feel is super important or too often overlooked?

I would say that you should independently research the charities you're interested in donating to. It's your money so you want to know that it's going to what it should be going to. Charitable Organizations have to disclose that information so it's out there, so it's on you to look into it before you make those decisions.

I don't want to tell anyone who they should or shouldn't donate to. If they feel happy about what their money went to then who am I to make them feel bad about it?

10/02/2018 04:58 PMPosted by Scelene

I had a feeling you'd blow right past my question about the War Front contribution timer. Thanks.

You know, even a "I can't comment" or even a "I don't know" would've sufficed. Have a good night Yth.

Sorry I must've missed it. The only thing I know is that its player contributed, so the speed of that phase is totally determined by you guys and how many turn ins are made. It's on a regional scale obviously so its for the entire faction on your regional realms.

Posting as it's own reply for this one cause it's a little long.

10/02/2018 07:03 PMPosted by Tymberlea

What is the oddest request you were ever able to grant a player as a GM? What was your favorite?

Oddest was someone asking me to ban them so they could go into study crunch for finals. In hindsight it wasn't that odd but at the time it really caught me off guard and was pretty smart.

My favorite is unfortunately a tear jerker but it's one that I keep close to my heart because it broke me for a bit.
I got this ticket from a woman who was very emotional on the phone call and really upset. We talked for a bit and I got her to open up and just chat with me about what was going on so I could try to help. She then proceeded to tell me her story. She grew up not knowing who her dad was and it was just her and her mom for almost her entire life. A friend of hers got her to try WoW, to which she was hooked and had been playing for over 10 years. When she was 19 her father made contact with her finally and unbeknownst to her, he had been trying to track her down for most of her life. They finally reconnected and started to build a relationship, and when they talked about the things they liked to do she mentioned WoW. He remembered this after she mentioned it and he looked up the game, to which he then bought it and played it in secret so that he could surprise her with something they could do together. He learned how to play the game and finally told her one day. I could only imagine how much that meant to her because of just the emotion in her voice. They then started playing the game and even leveled some characters up together. For about a year they played the game together at night when their work schedules allowed, but they never missed a Thursday since they had started playing together because that was their night. What she didn't know was that during this year he was diagnosed with cancer and it was Stage 3 at the time of them meeting but progressed to Stage 4. He was hospitalized the last 2 or 3 weeks but they still continued playing together. She bought them laptops so they could play in the hospital and they continued to do this until he was too weak to play. After he passed away he actually wrote in his will that he wanted his WoW account to go to her so that's why she was contacting us. What most people don't know is that we do these transfers of ownership for accounts in the event of death if its a direct relative, so I go through the process and do this for her. When she logs into the game and gets on his main character she saw that he had some mail in his inbox to which she goes to open on the phone with me. The mail in his inbox were letters addressed to her.

He spilled his heart out to his daughter. Told her what happened. Told him he was scared to die, scared to leave her after he finally found her. I'm literally tearing up writing this again right now. It was the single most impactful ticket I ever handled as a Game Master and its one of my favorites.

When you're a Game Master we're pretty understanding if you handle a rough contact or an emotional one and we give you time to decompress after that. Get up walk around, go talk to another GM to get your mind off of it, call someone if need be. Occasionally they send you home to just call it a day, this was one of those days. I went home and called all of my family back home.

10/02/2018 04:59 PMPosted by Rexaia

If I could ask him anything. I am curious about one thing. what made him choose this job?

I love the Warcraft community, regardless of your stance on how the game design is or the directions we've taken, I love that we have the same passion and I want to do everything I can to continue to foster that. It was also a chance to work for World of Warcraft, something that is very near and dear to my heart. I obviously have further career ambitions, but this is what I want to do now. There's a lot of reasons why but those were just immediately what came to mind.

10/02/2018 05:13 PMPosted by Starchìld

I'd ask why he always responds to troll/low effort posts feeding people to make more of them and rarely acknowledges the constructive posts.

These posts are extremely easy to respond to and takes just the time I need to write something up. I'd love to respond to all of the constructive posts but the presence of a blue just derails the topic. A lot of times as well is that I don't have any information at that moment to add to the topic. I also don't think responding with a empty reply to all constructive posts is a good idea. It establishes the expectation that we will make changes to whatever the post is about. I've seen the discussions of people arguing the opposite but we have the unfortunate knowledge of experience in this manner. We tried that before. We still get quoted on things even from Classic and TBC we acknowledged but still haven't been able to do yet. We obviously prefer to comment on things we 100% know are going to change.

10/02/2018 05:31 PMPosted by Gozuk

@Ythisens - What's you stance on Elemental Shamans now that you have leveled him up? Elemental got some 8.1 changes, but overall fairly minor.

Haven't finished the shaman just yet. I finished my fifth 120 last night with the Warlock and the Shaman I think is next. One of my guildies said last night that the changes on Tuesday were definitely noticeable. I also said in a previous thread regarding 8.1 that that is still some early information and anything major rotation wise would be coming in later. I don't know any specifics on that at the moment though.

10/02/2018 05:45 PMPosted by Zulrokh

Is it against the rules to bribe the Blues with Sweet Tea and Luckydoos?

*scratches out section of employment agreement*
Nope, not against the rules.

10/02/2018 05:47 PMPosted by Keelivaron

On wowhead concept art of a place called Fang Desert was shown, is this an early version of Vol'Dun or is it a not yet released zone.

No clue. (legit answer I have no idea)

10/02/2018 06:58 PMPosted by Saángreal

After all no one even bothered to respond to a well constructed post of mine about how if WoW modeled RL in a certain way. https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20768526913#post-1

Yet, if I made a post and said, "Write your favorite non seqiutor" or "what is your machinima" I'd probably get 1000 pages.

Post constructive, albeit, sardonic material, I might as well post in the Diablo 1 forum.

I'm not saying you post is bad, but I had to read it several times to even understand what you're suggesting. Even once I did understand it, I had zero clue of how to even acknowledge this idea. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying there is literally nothing I could say to that.

I can suggest that you're trying to suggest a thing that doesn't solve a problem or something the playerbase really "wants". Posts like that typically don't do very well because it doesn't rally an emotional response. I'm not saying play into that, but playing into that works because humans are... well human.

10/02/2018 11:06 PMPosted by Bloodfall

I doubt you know, but does the devs have any plans to super beef customization (and by beef, I mean a giant tauren on bloodlust) because the one thing that WoW fails in the competition with other MMO's is customization options.

Speaking of which, will we have ever get the long majestic shrouds? Like slyvanas in warcraft 3 or Maiev?

As for part 1, Art Director Chris Robinson talks about this in almost every BlizzCon Q&A because it's a good question that comes up. He spoke about it in more depth a bit last year. The team has a lot of ideas they want to do and they definitely want to add more character customization options. They know its a player want, and the team definitely wants that too.

As for the shrouds, no idea. Never know where we will go with armor or weapons, I mean, you can wield a fish.

10/03/2018 02:56 AMPosted by Jagermeistr

Whats your favorite paladin transmog and what spec do you play/like the most.

The Challenge Mode set, haven't transmogged out of it since I got it. I use Argus's Scythe of the Unmaker with it. Also, Ret! I do love Holy. I'm always down to swap and play wack a mole with raid frames.