---

Q u o t e:

Acrofales, I'm the one who made the end of Beta event. Those infernals, those demons? All planned out by me.

That was a special case. Everyone enjoyed the "forced" event because no one cared. It was the end of Beta. These characters were being deleted the next day. GMs weren't taking tickets -- they were watching the action, spawning in mobs occasionally to keep people interested.

And yeah, it was fun for a lot of people. But that's not something we can duplicate right now (certainly not the way it was done in Beta, anyway). And it's not something we want to duplicate. These characters we're playing aren't going to be deleted the next day. Repair costs matter. Time matters. I understand that you feel it was fun, and I understand that you, personally, wouldn't mind it now... but I hope that, as I'm the person who made the encounter, you'll take my word for it when I say it's not the best thing to do at this point due to the factors I've mentioned in this thread.

As for the suggestion of hitting Thunder Bluff and Darnassus with bug invasions, not only are those two cities the most impractical to hit with Silithid lore-wise, but it's still forcing it on people. No, our general outlook at this time is that we're not forcing you to participate. You can if you like, but if you don't want to, you're not shoved into the action anyway. I don't think that's changing.

Now, Queptar!

Hah, Queptar, my friend, I know how human actors in these games work all too well. And because of that, I can tell you that with the number of realms we have, there is no way we could deliver content on a wide-reaching and high-quality scale with human actors at this point without the cost being astronomical (folks, I continue to make the point that this isn't about money, and in this case too it's primarily about quality. The business practicality does step in, however, since it's regarding personnel. Read on).

Here's the dilemma.

When you have a small number of available servers -- say you can count them on your hands -- employed actors are certainly an option. You can cover the ground you need to cover in a reasonable timeframe. Because your actors are employed by the company, you have strict control over the quality of their work, and the result can be a wonderful and engrossing experience.

When you have "dozens" of servers, depending on the number, you can probably field them with volunteer actors -- at this point, employed actors aren't remotely cost-effective for the impact they'll have -- but you can't control the quality as strictly. This results in a lot more human error and lore mistakes that are taken as canon.

When you have hundreds of realms worldwide, as we do, even volunteers (which we don't wish to use in this capacity for a number of reasons. Research volunteers for past games if you're curious) become difficult -- the sheer number you'd need to properly field these realms (and understand I'm talking a small crew covering several realms on a schedule, not a small crew to every realm) is insane. Your quality control tanks unless they're employees, and for the impact human actors make, it's just not worth it.

Now, myself, as a player? I love that human interaction. The idea of speaking to a famous NPC and having them respond to me in a human way is very immersive, and can definitely bring more players into the story. I understand well the merits of such a program, as they're something that interest me. But at the same time, human actors simply are not feasible with our model.

I've already covered the arguments regarding the Thrall event a few pages back, folks...

And as for a video, that's definitely a possibility, but only a while after the fact. The vast majority of realms have yet to unlock the gates, and we don't want to spoil it for them. ;)

EDIT: It appears now that this thread is broken. Thank you all for the conversation!

---

[ post edited by Caydiem ]

---

Q u o t e:
So its realistic for Thrall to stand in his chamber all day, every day in the midst of a "war"?

---

---

Q u o t e:
"...but I maintain that shoving things in their face with no quarter is not the way to go about doing that. You lead them; you don't shove them."

Of course not but does that mean that things can't change at all? Silithids expanding their nest in the Barrens for example? Or the cleansing of Dreadmist peak?

Building up the 'tension' with the threat of war between the Alliance and Horde, the Quiraj, Scourge and Demon invasions is great but what is a story without a climax?

What we have now is two thirds of a story. Are we ever going to get the ending?

I don't think it is a matter of "this game is bad without interactivity" it's just that is is less interesting that it could be and will have a shorter lifespan than is possible.

I think most people realise what Blizzard storylines are capable of (Starcraft anyone?) and it is unfortunate that this aspect seems to have been largely ingnored so far. I am aware of the limitations placed on the game and employees but what reasons are there to stay in the game if the only additions are going to be "now you can level up to level 70"? That (and gaining better items) is truly the only 'end' that is achievable at the moment.

AQ, the expansion and the current state of affairs is, IMO, fine for the moment but it would be disheartening to think that this is all it is ever going to be. AQ is a great starting point but it is surely obvious why players want to influence their world (even if only slightly) and experience it in a more 'dynamic' way (weather effects).

I hope this doesn't come off as complaining but rather wanting Blizzard to show what it is truly capable of. If not... well it would be a shame.

---

[ post edited by Caydiem ]

---

Q u o t e:
I'm not certain that any game can come close to the SEER program in UO. That allowed volunteer players to utilize the behind the scene game mechanics with game master approved story lines, with game master/volunteer usage of NPC characters in the realms. It is unfortunate that current USA law prohibits the use of volunteers in this manner.

From a purely game player perspective, it was the closest thing to picking up Lord of The Rings or Wheel of Time and actually participating, that i've ever seen. I've been playing MMORPG's since Diablo.

I've not read the entire thread, but until a time when game mechanics can be utilized in this special way, if a company would allow that ever again?, nothing will come close.

Imagine, a healer from the Tauren Mill area, requesting you go speak with Onyxia on a potion elixer to solve the water problem plagueing Ironforge. Getting to Onyxia and having to solve several game riddles she requests you solve before giving the answer. -- This story line I lived in UO... best fun i've ever had... doubt we ever see that again.

I don't expect a reply, but just giving you my... Wish List.

---

---

Q u o t e:
One, very specific way to progress the storline in Azeroth, has to deal with instanced zones. Take Gnomregan for example. It has been a year and countless millions of players have exterminated the troggs, yet they still exist. Now, what if, there was a way to completely exterminate them forever? An epic quest, for each player, to flag themselves, for the zone Gnomeregan 2.

Basically, the questline would be epic, something that would cover a span of many lvls. The end reward of the quest would be, the extermination of the troggs, and the rebuilding of the gnomish city. You could then create more quests deriving from the rebuilding of the city, so that you could, over many lvls, finally have rebuilt gnomeregan to its former glory.

On the technical side of this, wouldn't it be possible to create a flag on each character, that would allow them to be given a choice of which instance to enter? If they are flagged, they would be given access to the gnomish gnomeregan, as well as having the option to enter the non trogg infested instance. If they are not flagged, then they have no choice but to enter the trogg infested instance of gnomeregan.

On top of progressing the storyline, you also allow yourself to add repeatable content on top of repeatable content. The new Gnomeregan could be a hub for high lvl quests, could have instances inside, deep down inside the mountain. It could open up new engineering recipes, new vendors, another means of transportation throughout the world of azeroth in the form of trams, teleportation devices, ect. An entire town is build out of an existing zone map.

---

---

Q u o t e:
I'm not certain that any game can come close to the SEER program in UO. That allowed volunteer players to utilize the behind the scene game mechanics with game master approved story lines, with game master/volunteer usage of NPC characters in the realms. It is unfortunate that current USA law prohibits the use of volunteers in this manner.

From a purely game player perspective, it was the closest thing to picking up Lord of The Rings or Wheel of Time and actually participating, that i've ever seen. I've been playing MMORPG's since Diablo.

I've not read the entire thread, but until a time when game mechanics can be utilized in this special way, if a company would allow that ever again?, nothing will come close.

Imagine, a healer from the Tauren Mill area, requesting you go speak with Onyxia on a potion elixer to solve the water problem plagueing Ironforge. Getting to Onyxia and having to solve several game riddles she requests you solve before giving the answer. -- This story line I lived in UO... best fun i've ever had... doubt we ever see that again.

I don't expect a reply, but just giving you my... Wish List.

---

---

Q u o t e:
One, very specific way to progress the storline in Azeroth, has to deal with instanced zones. Take Gnomregan for example. It has been a year and countless millions of players have exterminated the troggs, yet they still exist. Now, what if, there was a way to completely exterminate them forever? An epic quest, for each player, to flag themselves, for the zone Gnomeregan 2.

Basically, the questline would be epic, something that would cover a span of many lvls. The end reward of the quest would be, the extermination of the troggs, and the rebuilding of the gnomish city. You could then create more quests deriving from the rebuilding of the city, so that you could, over many lvls, finally have rebuilt gnomeregan to its former glory.

On the technical side of this, wouldn't it be possible to create a flag on each character, that would allow them to be given a choice of which instance to enter? If they are flagged, they would be given access to the gnomish gnomeregan, as well as having the option to enter the non trogg infested instance. If they are not flagged, then they have no choice but to enter the trogg infested instance of gnomeregan.

On top of progressing the storyline, you also allow yourself to add repeatable content on top of repeatable content. The new Gnomeregan could be a hub for high lvl quests, could have instances inside, deep down inside the mountain. It could open up new engineering recipes, new vendors, another means of transportation throughout the world of azeroth in the form of trams, teleportation devices, ect. An entire town is build out of an existing zone map.

---