Jensae1
12-07-2005, 01:39 AM
So, I'm poking around the WoW forums, amused at the uproar over the infamous 10-minute rule they put in today's patch, and we see this (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6124682&s=blizzard&tmp=1#blizzard) from Caydiem to explain the change (bold by me):
12/6/2005 11:54:52 AM PST
I just spoke with Kalgan, and he explained the reasoning behind this change.
As you know, there are several groups out there who are very good at their particular Battleground, and seeing such a group on the opposite team when you're in a pick-up group can be discouraging. For some, this means they don't even try to win; they AFK out or fish until such time as the Battleground ends, get their token, and go back into the queue.
This change is meant to encourage groups of all skill levels to put in effort towards winning. Maybe you can hold one or two bases in Arathi Basin; maybe you can keep them from grabbing three flags in ten minutes with a good defense. The idea is to give players incentive to try and fight rather than give up before the match truly gets going.
Note that this was tuesday morning (right after the patch went live).
Later that SAME day, Caydiem posts this gem (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6133189&p=1&tmp=1#post6133189):
12/6/2005 4:59:49 PM PST
I will endeavor to clear up the controversy and confusion surrounding the "ten-minute rule."
The idea that players would have to remain in battlegrounds for ten minutes before they'd receive a Mark of Honor for losing was one the developers were seriously considering as an effort to reduce the incentive players had to lose a battle quickly. The concept was simple: it would give players incentive to try and stay in, rather than giving up and allowing a quick loss without any effort expended. However, during further discussions, it was decided that adding a mild punishment to those who /afk out of battlegrounds, in the form of a requeue timer (Deserter debuff), would be preferable to the old "ten-minute rule" idea. In addition, since the problem was primarily found in Arathi Basin matches held during the Arathi Basin "holiday," the developers chose to improve the way in which bonus honor was awarded during Arathi Basin holidays rather than institute the ten-minute rule.
The ten-minute rule had been implemented as part of 1.9, and was set to be removed from 1.9 as the Deserter debuff was put in place. Unfortunately, because 1.8.4 was developed simultaneously with 1.9, the ten-minute rule had actually made its way into 1.8.4 too (which was tested and signed off upon some time ago, around the time this change was being implemented). As such, the ten-minute rule mistakenly went live.
This was not intended by our development team, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. The ten-minute rule does not exist on the patch 1.9 test versions that have been on the test realms for some time now (with the exception of Warsong Gulch, which is being fixed), reflecting the fact that the Deserter debuff was intended as a replacement rather than an addition to this mechanic. We intend to fix this bug in a server-side hotfix soon.
Thank you for your patience throughout this. We're keeping a close eye on PvP, battlegrounds, and the Honor System, and will continue to make changes as warranted.
So... I'm confused. She spoke to Kalgan (the lead designer for the mess known as the Honor Sytem, and Battlegrounds) that morning and he gave a detailed reasoning why they implemented it... and not 5 hours later (with forums filled with bitching) we get an explanation that it 'wasnt intended to go live'. Huh?
Blizz always gives me a good chuckle. :) Luckily they do this kind of thing consistently, so the good times keep rolling.
12/6/2005 11:54:52 AM PST
I just spoke with Kalgan, and he explained the reasoning behind this change.
As you know, there are several groups out there who are very good at their particular Battleground, and seeing such a group on the opposite team when you're in a pick-up group can be discouraging. For some, this means they don't even try to win; they AFK out or fish until such time as the Battleground ends, get their token, and go back into the queue.
This change is meant to encourage groups of all skill levels to put in effort towards winning. Maybe you can hold one or two bases in Arathi Basin; maybe you can keep them from grabbing three flags in ten minutes with a good defense. The idea is to give players incentive to try and fight rather than give up before the match truly gets going.
Note that this was tuesday morning (right after the patch went live).
Later that SAME day, Caydiem posts this gem (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6133189&p=1&tmp=1#post6133189):
12/6/2005 4:59:49 PM PST
I will endeavor to clear up the controversy and confusion surrounding the "ten-minute rule."
The idea that players would have to remain in battlegrounds for ten minutes before they'd receive a Mark of Honor for losing was one the developers were seriously considering as an effort to reduce the incentive players had to lose a battle quickly. The concept was simple: it would give players incentive to try and stay in, rather than giving up and allowing a quick loss without any effort expended. However, during further discussions, it was decided that adding a mild punishment to those who /afk out of battlegrounds, in the form of a requeue timer (Deserter debuff), would be preferable to the old "ten-minute rule" idea. In addition, since the problem was primarily found in Arathi Basin matches held during the Arathi Basin "holiday," the developers chose to improve the way in which bonus honor was awarded during Arathi Basin holidays rather than institute the ten-minute rule.
The ten-minute rule had been implemented as part of 1.9, and was set to be removed from 1.9 as the Deserter debuff was put in place. Unfortunately, because 1.8.4 was developed simultaneously with 1.9, the ten-minute rule had actually made its way into 1.8.4 too (which was tested and signed off upon some time ago, around the time this change was being implemented). As such, the ten-minute rule mistakenly went live.
This was not intended by our development team, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. The ten-minute rule does not exist on the patch 1.9 test versions that have been on the test realms for some time now (with the exception of Warsong Gulch, which is being fixed), reflecting the fact that the Deserter debuff was intended as a replacement rather than an addition to this mechanic. We intend to fix this bug in a server-side hotfix soon.
Thank you for your patience throughout this. We're keeping a close eye on PvP, battlegrounds, and the Honor System, and will continue to make changes as warranted.
So... I'm confused. She spoke to Kalgan (the lead designer for the mess known as the Honor Sytem, and Battlegrounds) that morning and he gave a detailed reasoning why they implemented it... and not 5 hours later (with forums filled with bitching) we get an explanation that it 'wasnt intended to go live'. Huh?
Blizz always gives me a good chuckle. :) Luckily they do this kind of thing consistently, so the good times keep rolling.