Ironforge is not a safe city!

It's got to be the gnomes!

Published on June 22, 2005 By chiprj In WoW

Over the past few months, I've seen Ironforge become more and more dangerous to the many people that visit it regularly.

The first thing I noticed many months ago was the big dwarf made ditch that runs through the entrance area. There are no rails to keep people from being pushed into it! This is a serious safety hazard that the dwarves should address! I nearly broke a leg the first time I fell into it. And I've seen gnomes nearly fall through the holes in the latticework at the bottom of that ditch. There are very few things in Azeroth funnier than a gnome crying out, "Help me! I've fallen and I can't get up!" So, I guess there is a silver lining to this cloud, but still. Ever notice how Stormwind is full of children but there aren't any in Ironforge? I think it's because they've fallen through the grill work and perished in the lava!

The second thing I've noticed is some sort of time disruption that seems localized near the entrance to Ironforge. It seems to have gotten worse in the recent weeks. This disruption makes it seem like time has completely frozen and then moments (sometimes very many moments) later, time will seem to have fast forwarded and whatever action I was doing will have progressed so that I am caught up with the time I was frozen. This added to the lack of rails around that ditch has added to a chorus of gnomes crying out on a regular basis!

I don't have a solution to this one, but I do have a suspicion as to the cause. I think it's the gnomes! I think they are back in Tinker Town doing Elune knows what and this is the result. I mean, they accidentally irradiated (whatever that means, I'm just using the word the gnomes themselves have repeated to me) their own city! I heard the Arch Druid wept tears of joy when he learned the dwarf king took in the refugee gnomes. He was sure the gnomes would ask him next for a home and I'm sure in the best interest of Teldrassil, he was happy not to have to turn them down!

Now, I'm not saying they did it on purpose. I just think this is what happens when you allow gnomes that are too curious for their own good to go dabbling in both the magic of mages and the magic of warlocks. Did no one learn a lesson from the Blood Elves? (Don't get me started on the humans, either, but at least they haven't had people drowning in the canals.) I know we did! And you never hear stories of people drowning in the pools of water in Darnassus or accidentally walking off the edge of Teldrassil due to one of these disruptions!

I have tried to ask the dwarf king to do something about this, but the senator that stands next to him always shoos me away. He's so rude!

So, I ask you all, my fellow alliance members, please lend your help in an attempt to fix at least one, if not both problems!

I petition first that the dwarven engineers and architects develop some sort of railing system to keep the unwary from falling into the pit in Ironforge.

I also petition the dwarf king to please investigate this time disruption and do something to reverse it.

I mean, really, think of the gnomes!

*I initially posted this over at the World of Warcraft Community Site forums under my night elf druid but I figured I'd share it here, too. I admit it's only funny (and marginally at that) if you actually play WoW, but it was fun to write.

My Ecosystem Details

Comments

Sturgee

on Jun 22, 2005

I hope people don't think that WoW is an addictive game that makes people "believe" in alternate realities, or at least lose themselves to the game to a point that they forget about the real world. This game is absolutely safe and fun, as can be seen in this article from the Chosun Daily, a Korean newspaper....

Sturgee

on Jun 22, 2005

sorry about the double post Chip...I got an error the first time, so I tried to repost, only to find it already here...

Just delete one if ya want!

chiprj

on Jun 22, 2005

sorry about the double post Chip...I got an error the first time, so I tried to repost, only to find it already here... Just delete one if ya want!

Done! HAHA!

I got a kick out of writing this "in character" but you're right, there are some people that do take things a bit too far and really eat up their lives. It is a time sink. I've passed through the addictive phase and now it's my steady hobby (at least that's what I tell myself). I have no problem with signing off early in the evenings when my wife gets home or getting away from the game on weekends.

Sturgee

on Jun 22, 2005

Yeah... I know that for every crackpot that can't control themselves, there are hundreds or thousands of people who use it for what it was intended for - entertainment. They play a little, have some fun, and let it go, which is totally healthy. It's bizarre to hear these kinds of stories though... that people would let themselves go that far. I've heard of guys dying in PC cafes and stuff from gaming too much... seizures, exhaustion, etc. Oddly enough, most of the horror stories I've heard have been from Korea. It seems like they are somehow predisposed to taking it a little too far.... I wonder if there is really something culturally that causes that....?

chiprj

on Jun 22, 2005

Another problem is that gaming has taken on a subculture over in Korea and other parts of Asia. It's turned into a profession. The last time I was in Korea, there were at least three cable TV stations dedicated to video games. They would have commentators sit back and watch the Starcraft (or whatever game) maps as two gaming professionals (members of corporate teams), complete with special suits that looked very much like NASCAR uniforms, sat in small cubicles and faced off against each other in a game. They would actually have play by play and color commentary on these shows.

Another professional aspect of the gaming world in Korea and other Asian countries (and I'm sure it happens here in the States, too, it just isn't as publicized) is people who are paid to play the online games for hours on end. At the end of a shift, they hand the character/computer over to the next employee. Whenever the character fills up all their inventory space, they go back to a town and sell it all off, very often for very high game prices to other players. They in turn will consolidate all their game money and then the company they are working for can sell the game money online for real life cash. They will have several characters on each server working together to do this.

By turning gaming into a profession, the attitude towards gaming changes. Every middle school kid hopes to be the next member of Team Whatever (I don't know the name of any corporate team off the top of my head) like many of our children dream of becoming the next Lebron James. And make no mistake, online gaming is a big a deal in Korea as major sports are to us. There's an excellent article about online gaming and Korea here - Link

sushiK

on Jun 23, 2005

I've never been Alliance but I heard their cities are superior to Horde cities because the Devs made Alliance stuff first then got around to making the Horde, ran out of time and blah blah blah...

Are the Alli cities spread of as much as the Horde one are?
I hate Orgimar and Undercity; takes 5 - 10 minutes to run here to there.
I also heard the Alliance cities have a lot more character than horde ones

CariElf

on Jun 23, 2005

Yeah, the lag in Ironforge is horrible. Is it just because there's always lots of people there?

Edit: Yay for google! I did a search for what cause lag mmorpg and I found this article from the Game Developer's Conference:

http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2005/features/20050310/esbensen_pfv.htm

If you can't access the link, it talks about a revolutionary new way to practically eliminate lag that is already being used in live video feeds. Maybe I should e-mail the link to the Blizzard team.

chiprj

on Jun 26, 2005

Are the Alli cities spread of as much as the Horde one are?I hate Orgimar and Undercity; takes 5 - 10 minutes to run here to there.I also heard the Alliance cities have a lot more character than horde ones

I mainly have Alliance characters, but I do have one undead warrior on Uther that I've managed to get up to lvl 20. I do hate how Orgrimmar and UC are so spread out. I think Org would be better if I played Horde more often and got used to it, but I avoid UC as much as possible. The maze to get into the city is maddening. Ironforge is by far the best city, in my opinion, and that probably is the chief cause of the lag. Everyone goes there. Between the auction house being there and the simple layout of the city itself, I find it is my favorite city. It does take up to 5 minutes to go places, but that's more to do with the lag than anything else. Without lag, you can go from one end of the city to the other in very little time.

Yeah, the lag in Ironforge is horrible. Is it just because there's always lots of people there?

I've heard that is the biggest reason. I also read that one way to reduce the lag on the user end is to turn off the hanging name, rank, and guild tags in the interface menu. But, I'm so used to them being there, I just don't like to do it.

iTZKooPA

on Jun 27, 2005

Haha that really funny, but nothing beats the GM conversation in on of the RP realms.
*digs for link*
ATR Forum - hysterical GM conversation

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