On Blizzard’s “lackadaisical” efforts to fix bugs in World of Warcraft

Word of the day brought to you by Konor, a level 70 Draenei Shaman, who’s one of many people dissatisfied with the results of bug fixes, including the promises of things to be fixed by the next major patch. Lackadaisical is an adjective, used to describe something that lacks the inspiration or initiative or drive.

It’s the common view of big ol’ blue Blizzard, because of their reputation for major delays in their past titles. While Blizzard hasn’t been all that relaxed with fixes and maintenance issues in World of Warcraft, they aren’t exactly on the level to be praised either. There’s even talk going around that Blizzard could be in league with the gold farmers after all.

While the rumor was immediately shot down by Blizzard reps, players are still adamant about having paid for their game experience only to find that there are so many problems in the game.

Ultimately, the value derived from the experience becomes short of what they’ve shelled their precious money for. Eternally burning Nethaera was quick to address Konor’s post, with a very (emotionally) controlled rebuttal:

I disagree with your feeling that bugs and exploits are treated in a lackadaisical way. Of course, I see what goes on from the inside and see all the bugs that are fixed on a daily basis. We may not always list them all but as you may have noticed, we list as many as possible in the patch notes as well as have recently started listing hotfixes on the forums for people.

There is a process that must be done which includes first identifying that something is in fact a bug, then the team must be able to reproduce the bug (some are not so easily reproduceable), then they need to track down the exact mechanics that are causing the bug. After all of that, they must find a way to fix the bug in a way that doesn’t cause problems elsewhere. Some bugs are fairly simple fixes and some are a bit more complex and have other issues associated with them that need to be all addressed at the same time which delays the fix for the first thing.

It’s easy to sit on the outside and pass judgement because a bug that you take issue with hasn’t been fixed in the timeframe you feel it should be. The reality of delays however can give a whole new viewpoint.

With much going into the next patch, many players of unfortunate classes are looking forward to seeing some light on their misshapen talents. Perhaps Blizzard can win back some of their loyal patrons’ hearts with what Blizz has got in store for them.

Via WoW Forums

Word of the day brought to you by Konor, a level 70 Draenei Shaman, who’s one of many people dissatisfied with the results of bug fixes, including the promises of things to be fixed by the next major patch. Lackadaisical is an adjective, used to describe something that lacks the inspiration or initiative or drive.

It’s the common view of big ol’ blue Blizzard, because of their reputation for major delays in their past titles. While Blizzard hasn’t been all that relaxed with fixes and maintenance issues in World of Warcraft, they aren’t exactly on the level to be praised either. There’s even talk going around that Blizzard could be in league with the gold farmers after all.

While the rumor was immediately shot down by Blizzard reps, players are still adamant about having paid for their game experience only to find that there are so many problems in the game.

Ultimately, the value derived from the experience becomes short of what they’ve shelled their precious money for. Eternally burning Nethaera was quick to address Konor’s post, with a very (emotionally) controlled rebuttal:

I disagree with your feeling that bugs and exploits are treated in a lackadaisical way. Of course, I see what goes on from the inside and see all the bugs that are fixed on a daily basis. We may not always list them all but as you may have noticed, we list as many as possible in the patch notes as well as have recently started listing hotfixes on the forums for people.

There is a process that must be done which includes first identifying that something is in fact a bug, then the team must be able to reproduce the bug (some are not so easily reproduceable), then they need to track down the exact mechanics that are causing the bug. After all of that, they must find a way to fix the bug in a way that doesn’t cause problems elsewhere. Some bugs are fairly simple fixes and some are a bit more complex and have other issues associated with them that need to be all addressed at the same time which delays the fix for the first thing.

It’s easy to sit on the outside and pass judgement because a bug that you take issue with hasn’t been fixed in the timeframe you feel it should be. The reality of delays however can give a whole new viewpoint.

With much going into the next patch, many players of unfortunate classes are looking forward to seeing some light on their misshapen talents. Perhaps Blizzard can win back some of their loyal patrons’ hearts with what Blizz has got in store for them.

Via WoW Forums