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Yesterday, we examined the current state of the Ghostcrawler experiment.  Today, we will take a look at how the forums are nothing more than a nuisance for someone as intelligent as GC, and why he needs to follow his instinct, and get the hell off of there.

The answer to the Ghostcrawler experiment is hidden deep within season four of The West Wing.  When GC told us why he believed blue trackers sucked, he reminded us all that 10 word answers are just the tip of the sword.  Players post on the forums, and when they do one of two things happen.  They give a 10 word rant that looks something like, “ZOMFG, why do paladins suck, I’m canceling my account” and fail to give the next 10 words, or the next 10 after that.  They fail to really have the opportunity to express their concerns.  If they try and take the other approach, well the first replies on a lengthy post lean towards, “don’t wall of text noob.”

The forums are a horrible medium for serious communication because it’s impossible to try and include all of the nuances of a design within such structured parameters.  It sucks for the players and it sucks for Blizzard, but they insist on maintaining them as the only realistic way to communicate with them.  Other avenues are often such disgusting exercises in ego stroking fluffers would be jealous.  The recent tweetcast was actually void of any useful information and even Blizzcon has become a one circle jerk of a panel after the other.  Questions of any real relevance can’t be answered in a panel, and they can’t be answered with a forum reply, and they sure as hell can’t be answered with a tweet

Pascal’s Wager

The forums are a little like Pascal’s Wager, which states even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should wager as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose.  Similarly, if the forums are a cesspool whether or not Ghostcrawler is present on them trying to educate the masses, which we have decided aren’t really masses but minorities, then why not just avoid the forums because appearing on them leaves him and his team nothing to gain and everything to lose.

It has never been more evident as the string of GC comments which have been blown out of proportion.  Everyone, even those of us who like GC are making pony jokes or being encouraged to tell our pugs GC said it was ok.  The forums have their own set of issues independent of any developers’ presence on them.

I’d like to point out before going further, I completely endorse the banning of idiotic posts on the forums.  Let those people who insist on blasting Blizzard for the sake of blasting them get banned for their vileness and let the rest of us try and do our best to use the forums as they were intended.

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

In his book, The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene tells us in law 16 to use absence to increase respect and honor.  Part of the problem is Ghostcrawler has become too accessible.  His one time humorous quips or explanatory posts no longer mean what they once meant because we have all become so accustomed to seeing them.  The rarity made them special, and now we all hit up our favorite blue tracker, and read his responses because we expect them, not because we are actually excited to see what the lead systems designer has to say.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder, and less frequent posts by GC will be appreciated.

It’s obvious he is a playful guy who likes to make jokes and kid around with the community. I have said before, I love the guy, and this is one of the reasons.  He reminds me of one of the guys.  He’s philosophical, he’s a drinker, he does a hell of a lot more than play video games, and, oh ya, he’s the lead fucking systems designer for the World of Warcraft.  Who wouldn’t want to sit down and have a Guinness with the guy?

If GC wants to talk game mechanics, he has every right to do so, but he should do it on his terms and not “tank the trolls.”  He should solicit feedback as he does, and he should provide detailed thoughts which allow the players as far into the development procedure as possible and not be afraid to say, “I’m sorry, we can’t really share that information.”  Any of you who follow him now are probably screaming at the monitor with something like, “YOU JACKASS, THAT’S PRACTICALLY WHAT HE DOES!”  I will agree. I would only request GC refrain from a zinger every now and then and maybe a little less activity so we all have our ears perk up like they once did back when he first appeared on the forums.  Since I could speak, I have been notorious for speaking my mind, and so I would offer GC a piece of advice my mother has given me for about 25 years now because I’m somewhat incorrigible…”you don’t have to say everything that pops into that damn brain of yours.”  I have since learned it’s because it’s inelegant.  It’s the punch Ali never gave Foreman when he was going down.

Tomorrow, I will talk a little NFL and Bill Parcels as I wrap up the Ghostcrawler review.