Game Master's in hiding?

Keep in mind there are thousands of employees here. So just about every combination of playstyle you can imagine is represented here. Even in my own personal play experience I've covered a good chunk of the gamut.

I have:

1) joined and raided with guilds comprised of non-Blizzard employees who did not know where I work,
2) ran with premade Battleground groups back in vanilla WoW and TBC, where those players did not know who I was,
3) been in a raiding guild made up almost entirely of Blizzard employees and friends/family,
4) been in a raiding guild where a few members knew where I work, but did not "out" me to the rest of the group (they respected my wish to be anonymous),
5) had Arena partners who never knew I work here, and
6) have run dungeons with random players, all the way from random people on my realm in vanilla WoW, to people matched with me via the Dungeon Finder.

Ultimately, when we're in the game we're just players like you. I've quested and run Battlegrounds and dungeons with random people at nearly all levels as both Horde and Alliance. My employment does not shape my gameplay experiences nearly as much as my gameplay experiences inform me as an employee. I find it much easier to approach the game as "just another player," as it makes my profession that much more enjoyable when I get to join in the social aspect of WoW without the Blizz tag. ;)

I realize you're a forum CM, but do you ever feel conflicted when you see in-game rules violations, and do you have any extra pull when it comes to reporting them? Or do you just use the ingame report feature like the rest of us?

I have full respect for the ESRB rating and our Terms of Use. That said, when I'm playing WoW on my own time, I'm generally not interested in helping police things. Unless I witness some really severe conduct violations or exploits, I don't get involved in issues of harassment. My profanity filter is turned off, as I can handle what people are saying. :)

I don't really enjoy filing tickets or reports to GMs while playing. In the end, I'd just be another player adding to their workload. Now, if another player is offended by someone harassing or trolling others, I encourage them to file a report. I've played video games for years though and have pretty thick skin, so I just try to focus on being a skilled, polite player. If I don't get that in return, I tend to shrug it off and move on.

08/17/2011 01:51 PMPosted by Eithris

i wonder if they ever get the giggles when they see people in game speculating about this or that and sit there and chuckle like "if they only knew what was comin...."

Most definitely. :)

08/17/2011 02:03 PMPosted by Filuz

Guildhopper, eh?

Well, I've certainly seen guilds come and go over the years, but in listing some of my play experiences here, I'm putting things in context from 2005 (when I first started playing) to now, and covering multiple characters on different realms, factions, and rule sets (I've played on PvP, PvE, and... yes, even RP realms).

So I presume you've seen all the good and bad when grouping ---LFD ?

err...enough said :)

I've had some bumpy rides in the Dungeon Finder for sure, but the positive or "normal" experiences far outweigh the bad ones. I've definitely never experienced the majority of the horror stories I read on the forums.

I've yet to be kicked from a dungeon group as far as I can remember, and if I ever get a Vote to Kick prompt, I usually click "No" unless the player seems to intentionally be causing problems, or is being very selfish and constantly making everyone else wait for him/her. In the case of the latter -- sure, everyone has personal lives and sometimes real life calls -- I carry the philosophy they can always get back in the queue when they can actually devote the necessary time to completing a dungeon without interruption.

08/17/2011 02:11 PMPosted by Eveninglite

So just about every combination of playstyle you can imagine is represented here.

That exception is hunter PvP.

Even that's not true, regardless of your perception of class balance/representation. :)

08/17/2011 02:27 PMPosted by Lissale

Though I have to ask, you finish Molten Front yet?

I haven't. My commitment to doing the dailies everyday fell off a bit the last couple of weeks. I've been pretty busy at work lately, and sometimes I just don't feel like playing games by the time I get home. My weekends have been pretty packed full of fun festivities as well (including a romantic getaway this past weekend to Monterey, CA!). I'm also bouncing between a few different games at the moment. Yep, I like other games too! ;)

08/17/2011 02:27 PMPosted by Hallucinosis

That pug you just picked up in dungeon finder, who keeps going AFK during your run and face pulling mobs, yeah, that's Zarhym--he's busy responding to your posts on these forums.

Hehe. We have team-building exercises here and there during our lunch breaks. Sometimes that just involves going to lunch together. Yesterday though, we set aside time to play WoW together. We couldn't decide on what we wanted to do, and someone left their phone/authenticator at home (lookin' at you Lylirra), so Neth, Bash, Daxx, Kaivax, and I ended up all rolling humans together and questing as a group. Elwynn chat at the time was... colorful.

08/17/2011 02:39 PMPosted by Ainotna

gambit = gamut?

gam·bit   /ˈgæmbɪt/ Show Spelled[gam-bit] Show IPA
noun
1. Chess . an opening in which a player seeks to obtain some advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.
2. any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.
3. a remark made to open or redirect a conversation.

gam·ut   /ˈgæmət/ Show Spelled[gam-uht] Show IPA
noun
1. the entire scale or range: the gamut of dramatic emotion from grief to joy.
2. Music .
a. the whole series of recognized musical notes.
b. the major scale.



So yeah, probably meant "gamut," but that's okay because he's a GM.

I fixed it. :p

Now the real question, Zarhym.....

Will you be trying the new Raid Finder when 4.3 is released? And are you, as a player, excited about it?

Yep. :) I haven't raided enough in Cataclysm due to my work schedule and real-life commitments. So even though my guild is level 25 and working on Firelands, I'll probably find myself PuG raiding pre-4.3 content via this feature.