Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Heart of the Valorous Active This Weekend. Good or Bad?

Blizzard announced that the heart of the valorous buff will be active from Friday August first at 10 AM PDT until Monday August forth at 9 AM PDT.  It is once again time to stack up on some quick and easy valor so save that epoch stone hand in for a few days if you want to take advantage of it.  And that is really my question here.

A short bit ago when blizzard decided to spring the heart of the valorous on us with no notification at all people complained about it.  Now they give us advanced notice and people complain about it.  Blizzard just can not win.

In both cases I wholeheartedly agree with the people complaining because they are very reasonable complaints and they are valid at the face value for what they are presented as.

When they did not inform the players ahead of time people complained that they wish they had known so they could have waited to take advantage of it.  This is a very fair request.  It would be nice to know when something like this will be added, even if it is just one day in advance.  Anything that effects the way you play the game should be announced.  They don't just drop raid tiers without telling anyone so they should not release a buff like this without telling anyone because it might change how people will play that week.  So yes, I agree with all the complaints.   Blizzard should tell us.

Now they tell us and give us more than ample notice.  They tell us before people started to do their valor capping so that they have more than ample time to adjust their plans for the week.  Like me, I was going to come on and cap one of my hunters quick with some scenarios or however so I can upgrade some new shiny heroic gear and then maybe try and get some runestones with my lock.  Now that I see we are getting the buff this weekend I am not so much in a rush to do that.  I can easily enough just wait until the weekend.

This too however brings a fair deal of complaints that again are quite reasonable.  Just like I said I will change my plans, and I am flexible that way, other people are not taking to kind to being put into the position where they need to make changes, or at least having to make the decision on if they want to make changes.  There have even been people that argued that it ruined their plans and they would have rathered not know.  I can sympathize because I did have my plans for the evening and now I scratched them because of this.

Blizzard just can not win.  Announce it and they have people upset they announced it because they feel they need to change their patterns of play and don't announce it and people complain because they were not told so they did not have the option to change their patterns of play.

Well here I am, the grumpy elf, to offer blizzard some advice on the house.  Free of charge.  No need to even thank me for it.

How about the next time around you just make the valor buff last for the lock out, the entire lock out.  From reset to reset.  That way people can play how they want to play and take advantage of the buff.

And as an added bonus blizzard.  It might even make them play other characters, which means they are in game more maybe finding another class they like, experiencing something that will make them want to come back more often instead of just capping what they feel they "have to" cap in some short window they have.  They will have an entire week to take advantage of it on as many characters as they can.

It will also not alienate those people who complain they do not play on weekends, which is another very fair complaint.  It will allow them to take advantage of it just the same as all the other players of the game.

In the end however it will benefit you, the company, more than anyone else because whether you announce it or not, you will have people upset with you and you have enough mud on your face lately to begin with.  Try not putting more on there on purpose.  Just make the buff last the entire lockout week next time.  That is my advice.

So what do you think, do you think them announcing it is good or bad?

For me right now I think it is kind of bad.  I was going to go home and cap out a few characters tonight and now I feel like there is nothing for me to do because I am going to wait until the weekend.  Would have I been happier if they just surprised us with it?  Maybe, maybe not.  But I know one thing for sure.  If they did not announce it I would be playing warcraft tonight but being they did announce it I will be playing wildstar instead.  Something for them to chew on there I think.

26 comments:

  1. You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time.
    Thaddeus Lincoln (A. Lincoln's 1/3 brother who his 4th son was named after)

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    1. I never knew who said that, but I do know the quote itself. Interesting.

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    2. I was joking - Lincoln had no 1/3 brother named Thaddeus. :Þ

      Abraham Lincoln did say "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." which is taken from the poet John Lydgate's saying of “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

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  2. I haven't been earning any valor for a while since I just don't need any, so this doesn't really effect me. I'm glad they announced it in advance this time, but I'd be even happier if it was for the whole week instead of just the weekend.

    Lately, I play WoW on Tuesday nights (world bosses) and log in a little a couple other times a week, but I play other things (ESO, was playing Far Cry 3, going to try Watch Dogs now since I got it free with my new gpu) on the weekends.

    The first couple times they added the buff, it got me to play my DK and mage some, but since then I just haven't felt the desire. They both need gear and I don't want to do LFR and I just can't really get in a groove with them (I'm a one toon kind of guy).

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    1. I tend to spend my timeless coins for the buff and maybe do a dungeon or scenario on characters I do not normally play. But the buff does make me get a little valor on characters I do not normally play.

      One problem with that is I hate upgrading anything under 553. I'll do it when I have to but even on a player I rarely play I feel as if I am wasting valor upgrading an LFR piece or a flex piece and I hate that feeling of waste.

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  3. With the +16 upgrades on gear, it's a good idea. Will it keep from running LFR between now and the weekend, probably not.

    @Jaeger, got the new video card, promised Watch Dogs, but dealer 'is out' and I am waiting on a back order. Bleh!

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    1. Mine was a digital download through Uplay.

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    2. I guess if you are running for a reason other than valor it would not stop you but for me and having so many with the cloak already, I am willing to wait to run my LFRs.

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  4. OMG, Grumpy you are a Genius. How is it possible with the combined intelligence and gaming experience of Blizzard that they still get the small things wrong. It is just common sense to stretch it out for a week.

    I have handed in Epoch Stones the day before and I have missed the buff on other occasions. It is bad planning by Blizzard and terrible communication.

    That said Valor is becoming less important now that all my Toons are maxing out.

    I thought originally that Blizzard might alternate on a weekly basis between Valorous and Gaze but now I think they leave it to the famous Blizzard RNG machine and we know how much it loves Grumpy.

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    1. Common sense is sometimes not a very common thing.

      Not sure who said that but it is so true in many aspects of life including the blizzard offices it seems.

      Alternating and always keeping one or the other up might not be such a bad idea.

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  5. There are no reasonable grounds for complaining about the communication of this buff.

    I can understand, even if the sense of entitlement irritates me, the complaints surrounding the lack of communication the first time round.

    Now players have a choice that they didn't have last time. How can you complain about that?

    Grumpy... you now have nothing to do tonight because you were going to cap VP but are saving that to take advantage of the buff this weekend.
    So, before the buff was announced, what were you planning to do this weekend? Why not do that tonight instead?

    It sounds like grumpiness just for the sake of it to me.

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    1. People will always complain about what ever bothers them. In a way that is a good thing. If people complain that means something matters to them. So that is a plus. When people stop complaining, then blizzard needs to start worrying.

      I did do what I was going to do this weekend. I played wildstar instead. As I said, I have no problem with it, I am adaptable. Some people however were really upset by it and while you believe they had no right to be I agree they do have a right to be.

      How would you like if you were planning on watching your favorite TV show tonight and then got a notification that it was not going to be on until sunday. You would be pissed. It is roughly equivalent to that for people that only play wow, or are set in their ways, or can not play on weekends. You might not think they have a right to complain but they do. You just do not agree with their complaint, that is all.

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    2. due to some "BS-like-24-hour-coverage-of- some-not-really-news" news event. For example - "This just in, the President is having an in-grown toe nail remvoed".

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    3. It is nothing like a tv show being rescheduled!
      WoW wasn't cancelled until the weekend.
      It was still there, you could have capped just like any other week.
      You chose not to, you chose to take advantage of the buff this weekend.
      Without this communication, you would not have had that choice.

      A more accurate comparison would be people complaining to McDonalds that they are starving to death because they can't eat until the 2for1 big-mac offer this weekend.




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    4. I am not saying it is bad because it allows choice. You are trying to make it like I am. You could not be further from the truth.

      And it is a hell of a lot more like a TV show than it is like mcdonalds. Where the hell did you pull that outrageous comparison from?

      A TV show is something you want to watch and you wanted to watch something new on tuesday and expected it to be tuesday and it was delayed to friday.

      That is a pretty close comparison. Sure, you can still watch your show, but it will be a rerun. You like the show so you will like the rerun, but you just had your hopes for something new.

      That is a dead on accurate comparison to what is going on with this. You wanted the new "valor cap" on tuesday but were told that the better "valor cap" (meaning new episode) would not be until friday so you have a choice. Cap now (watch a repeat) or wait to cap (watch the new show).

      Not sure about what world you live in, but that is a dead on balls accurate comparison.

      Your example is about as far from comparison as you can be. Can not see how you can even compare them. If you are hungry, then eat, if you are waiting for the 2 for 1 you are an idiot or you are not that hungry.

      Not to mention, I do not think any person ever in the history of the world made their entertainment schedule around mcdonalds 2 for 1 but I can assure you that billions upon billions (yes, with a b) have planned their entertainment around television or games.

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    5. Your TV show isn't different though.
      It's not rerun vs new episode.
      It's new episode vs new episode (with no commercials)

      The episode (VP cap) is exactly the same in both cases.
      It hasn't been cancelled or rescheduled, it's still there. It will just be easier to watch at the weekend.

      That is where your comparison falls down.

      Now my comparison, while (deliberately) extreme, shows the ridiculous attitude of some players.

      McDonalds (WoW) is still open
      Bigmacs (VP) are still available.
      Quarter pounders (raids/pet battles/whatever) are still available.
      Burger King (Wildstar) is also open.
      There's other food in the fridge (go play football)

      So why complain that you are being told about this 2for1 offer?
      Why say you have nothing to eat/play/watch now?

      Being told of a 2for1 bigmac offer at the weekend definitely should not stop you eating now and should not stop you going to McDonalds now if that's what you want.


      Your last paragraph makes no sense, why mix the two analogies?

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    6. "It's new episode vs new episode (with no commercials)"

      That is a better way to put it. Watch the new episode on tuesday or watch it with no commercials on friday. I like that analogy.

      That version is better than my original one and much better than the mcdonalds one. We will use that one. ;)

      Either way, I still say the people that are complaining have a right to complain even if I do not care. Why should someone that watched the show on the weekend get no commercials (doulbe VP) and they get stuck watching them. If they are going to air it twice during the week they either should both have commercials or both don't have them.

      So if they want to complain that they (for whatever reason it may be) can not wait until the weekend or can not play on the weekend they would have rather not know because now they are upset. Let them complain, it is their right too.

      No matter which side you take it does not change the fact that it should last a full week which announcing and not announcing make no difference about.

      OT: That is actually how I watch TV. I never (or very rarely) watch anything when it is on. I wait until the next day and watch it with no commercials. I am willing to wait if something is better because I waited. That is why I am waiting to cap until the weekend personally.

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    7. Haha, still not liking the McDonalds one eh? :-)

      No worries, we'll stick to the other one.

      I'm beginning to think it's just my outlook...
      I see the buff this weekend as a bonus. I'm away this weekend so can't take advantage of it.
      I can still cap VP the same way I normally do though so I have nothing to complain about.

      Funnily enough, I watch TV the same way you do. That or use the box-set approach and queue a load up before chain-watching them.
      I never complain about having to wait either ^^

      Maybe I just don't complain enough!

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    8. I see it as a bonus too so we are on the same page there but for some people they would rather not know because then they feel they have to change things. Sometimes people, all of us, can be very inflexible on things.

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  6. It sounds to me like the WoW community needs a good couple of swats to the ass and sent to bed with no supper.

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    1. While I agree with you, it is getting tired, blizzard has brought it on themselves. If the buff was the entire week everyone would have just said thank you and moved on. They create their own problems.

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    2. You know as well as I do that they would have bitched that it only lasted a week or that they didn't get both buff's at the same time.
      /SWAT /SWAT /SWAT!

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    3. Of that they do not need valor, or that they are not on that part of the quest line (which they did say last time).

      People will always complain about things, but there is a matter of what is reasonable to complain about and what is just complaining for complaining sake. Blizzard has been making a lot of decisions people have all rights to be upset and complain about lately.

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  7. They should just put both buffs up until the expansion as a bonus for bothering to stay subbed for a year with no new content.

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    1. While I wholeheartedly agree I think they are trying to make them limited to add "excitement" to them. Not like it is working, but I think that is the intention.

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