Outing a GM's in-game character

#0 - July 28, 2008, 5:34 p.m.

So i had a strange encounter the other day.

I submitted a GM ticket regarding a bugged quest. As usual it takes forever, so i was whipered on another character of mine. He asks me If i have time to talk about the ticket and I say yes, but it pertains to another character. He says he knows and asks me to log onto that character and He'd be on stand-by to inspect the situation. So I did.

The quest I'm talking about is the outhouse quest in Western Plaguelands. My character was in UC at the time, so i had a couple minutes of riding to get there. When i get there I see an Alliance toon at the outhouse, level 55 Shaman, circling it, jumping around it, etc. . I still wasn't able to click on it even though i have the outhouse key. Also, i was on res sickness.

I accidently drew some aggro. The shaman that was there all of a sudden Windfuried through the mob in 2 seconds and saved me. I thought, what a nice alliance guy. Then i noticed that this 55 shaman had Battle and gaurdian elixirs, firey enchanted on both MH and OH, and had some really nice gear. I thought how strange...

Then, i got the whisper. The GM (not the shaman) says the quest is working as intended and he recommends me abandoning the quest and accepting it all over and retry it. I said, OK I'll try that. Then he posts the usual e-mail/comment feedback tell and ends it with a FOR THE HORDE!!! Then the Shaman runs off and slaughters about 5 skeletons in 5 seconds. (I want to add that i don't even have a quest to abandon, just the outhouse key in my key ring and a blue question mark above the outhouse)

So, i thought this shaman was incredibly strange, over powered, and maybe I should whisper him on my alliance toon to see if he was having trouble with the same quest. The shaman was even a guild thats been around the server for a very long time. So i whipser him ..."Excuse me. Can i ask you a question?" no answer. I wait another minute. "Excuse me, We're you just in WPL?" no answer. Then i whisper him.."Excuse me Sir" but get a reply ...XXX has ignored you.

So i was like WTF. Then I armoried him. There he was. He even had a similar name to the GL name. For example. My name is Backjacker. The GL name is Frontjacker, another alt named sidejacker etc. He has other 70 with similar names.

Just a wierd scenario that seems like a GM outed his guild and his identity with out even helping me...
has anyonw else had an encouter like this? Is it bannable to oust the character i've been talking about?

Malkorix

#12 - July 28, 2008, 7:57 p.m.

Q u o t e:
So i had a strange encounter the other day.

I submitted a GM ticket regarding a bugged quest. As usual it takes forever, so i was whipered on another character of mine. He asks me If i have time to talk about the ticket and I say yes, but it pertains to another character. He says he knows and asks me to log onto that character and He'd be on stand-by to inspect the situation. So I did.

The quest I'm talking about is the outhouse quest in Western Plaguelands. My character was in UC at the time, so i had a couple minutes of riding to get there. When i get there I see an Alliance toon at the outhouse, level 55 Shaman, circling it, jumping around it, etc. . I still wasn't able to click on it even though i have the outhouse key. Also, i was on res sickness.

I accidently drew some aggro. The shaman that was there all of a sudden Windfuried through the mob in 2 seconds and saved me. I thought, what a nice alliance guy. Then i noticed that this 55 shaman had Battle and gaurdian elixirs, firey enchanted on both MH and OH, and had some really nice gear. I thought how strange...

Then, i got the whisper. The GM (not the shaman) says the quest is working as intended and he recommends me abandoning the quest and accepting it all over and retry it. I said, OK I'll try that. Then he posts the usual e-mail/comment feedback tell and ends it with a FOR THE HORDE!!! Then the Shaman runs off and slaughters about 5 skeletons in 5 seconds. (I want to add that i don't even have a quest to abandon, just the outhouse key in my key ring and a blue question mark above the outhouse)

So, i thought this shaman was incredibly strange, over powered, and maybe I should whisper him on my alliance toon to see if he was having trouble with the same quest. The shaman was even a guild thats been around the server for a very long time. So i whipser him ..."Excuse me. Can i ask you a question?" no answer. I wait another minute. "Excuse me, We're you just in WPL?" no answer. Then i whisper him.."Excuse me Sir" but get a reply ...XXX has ignored you.

So i was like WTF. Then I armoried him. There he was. He even had a similar name to the GL name. For example. My name is Backjacker. The GL name is Frontjacker, another alt named sidejacker etc. He has other 70 with similar names.

Just a wierd scenario that seems like a GM outed his guild and his identity with out even helping me...
has anyonw else had an encouter like this? Is it bannable to oust the character i've been talking about?

Nope, that was just a coincidence. Game Masters are unable to handle petitions from realms on which they have characters on their private accounts.

With regard to 'Locked Away' we are indeed aware of issues with this quest, and are working on a resolution. It's probably best to move on to other quests in the meantime.

Malkorix

#15 - July 28, 2008, 8:18 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Lol that quest has been bugged for almost 6 months or longer looks like they would have fixed it by now if they was even bothering

Apparently, it was actually resolved for a period of time, but recent changes have caused the issue to rear its ugly head again (at least, something that appears similar).

Additionally, while we have an amazing, hard-working and talented Development team, there is only a finite amount of work that can be done within a specific period of time. Therefore, some alterations, resolutions and updates must simply take priority over others.

All too often, there is a misconception that a 'simple fix' will resolve an in-game issue or a problematic quest. Unfortunately, World of Warcraft is exceedingly complex, so it is vanishingly rare for there to be a 'simple fix' for anything to be honest =(.

Malkorix

#19 - July 28, 2008, 9:14 p.m.

Q u o t e:

The in game GMS are working through hundreds of tickets a shift. The GMs here have a bit more time to explain stuff like this, especially if the forum is quiet.

Correct! I have some additional research tools at my fingertips. Also, I have the added luxury of being able to read a post at a more relaxed pace, rather than trying to figure everything out at the speed of a normal conversation.

Our In-Game Support Staff are a pretty amazing, and to my regret, an oft-maligned bunch of folks. They do work that's a whole lot tougher than it seems, and they work hard to reach our players both quickly and with accurate information. Still, they are actually human so it's only natural that a misunderstanding occur on rare occasions.

If you ever do have an experience that you'd like to report, good or not so good, please feel free to send an email to wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com that includes the name of the Game Master, (or Customer Service forum moderator), and a note including your comments.

If you'd care to comment on the performance of our Community Managers, then you'll want to send that message to wowcmfeedback@blizzard.com.