#0 - April 22, 2008, 4:42 p.m.
Our guild has been around for more than a year without a single incident of any sort being brought to the attention of the World of Warcraft game masters, or the Blizzard customer service department.
Unfortunately, we were reported to Blizzard because our guild name, Big Fat Geeks, did not meet with the naming standards that Bllizzard established. We were then forced to change our guild name since our name did not fit the medieval nature of our roleplay server, Earthen Ring. That's where I have issue with the customer service that Blizzard offers to it's customer base.
As I said, our guild was forced to change it's name from Big Fat Geeks to Big Fat Miscreants due to a conflict with the naming standards that Blizzard has put forth. The naming standard in question is that our name does not fit into the medieval nature of our roleplaying server. This I will disprove further below.
There are numerous instances wherIe I can point out the error that Geeks did not fit the naming standards. The word Geek comes from the word geck with it's origins in the German language. The definition of geck, and geek for that matter, is:
A person, a fellow, esp. one who is regarded as foolish, offensive, worthless, etc.
The word geck, being the earlier rendition of geek, has been found to be in use since the mid 15th century, when the poet Alexander Barclay included it in his famous work The Eclogues as can be seen in the following quote: "Aiijb, He is a foole, a sotte, and a geke also Which choseth..the worst [way] and most of ieoperdie."
Indeed, William Shakespeare also used the word in his work The Tragedie of Cymbeline as you can see in this quote, "To taint his Nobler hart & braine, with needlesse ielousy, and to become the geeke and scorne o'th' others vilany?"
Both of these instances date from the 15th century. The 15th century was a medieval period. The word geek in that case has it's origins dating back to this period without a doubt. The word may look differnt from that of it's current incarnation, but that is due to the fact that English speakers no longer use Olde English as we once commonly did. However, that does not dispute the origins of the word, nor its continued use in today's English language.
I happen to know quite a bit about etymology and the origins of words and when they were first used. I'm a librarian. It's part of my trade. I'm also a word junkie and have access to the online and print versions of the Oxford English Dictionary - the most thoroughly research English dictionary available today. I've also worked in the service industry for over 15 years of my life. That is nearly half of my lifetime spent assisting others as a point person in several customer service related fields.
That being said, I'm not one to make frivolous claims against anyone, let alone other players or the game designers, but I have to ask, is this how you treat an established guild, a guild thats been around for over a year, with well over 40 regularly playing guild members?
In addition, yes we did place an appeal to Blizzard and it was rejected. The rejection came in the form of a form letter sent by email. The rejection didn't address one point we stated, including those above. If one were to look at the ample amounts of evidence presented, our background as a guild, and that of our players, then you might think that Blizzard, or any customer service group for that matter, would not send a simple rejection form letter, they would address you personally. Thats not too much to ask considering that Blizzard has reaped several tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars with this game we all play.
Regards,
Syras of the Big Fat Geeks
