Here's a helpful hint to why GMs are either contradictory of themselves or seem like they are from 2 different worlds. I used to work for Best Buy's call center, you know, the people you call when you had a computer problem. Now, when I first started, I had a class with some other folks that basically informed us of what we can and can't do. Weeks went by and I noticed some of the other CSR's who had been working here a while didn't follow the rules. They basically did as they pleased but usually in favor of the customer.

Now, if you know anything about Best Buy and their service plan policy, then you'll realize where this can lead to a problem. The service plan states what is an acceptable repair and what is simply a swap out of items, like say a keyboard or mouse. Anyhow, if a customer has 3 repairs and a 4th computer problem verified, they have the ability to trade in that computer for a brand new one of the same price range.

So, to make a long story short, Best Buy makes rules for a reason, so they aren't handing out free computer replacements left and right. These rules are mentioned in a class every CSR takes before they start their job. So, those CSR's that do their own thing, even if they think the customer deserves it, are in fact violating Best Buy's policies.

So, to relate this to WoW GMs, I can only assume the following. GMs that are nice and helpful and go beyond the call of duty to help you out have probably been working as a GM for quite some time. GMs that seem rude, tasteless bastards with fake sympathizing farewell macro's are probably the new guys, the fresh recruits, who are probably doing exactly what they were told by Blizzard to do. Hope that helps you decipher why some GMs seem nice and others don't.

My two worst GM experiences...

1)  The day BC went live there was some confusion as to whether the Dark Portal would open at midnight EST or midnight server time.  About 12:15am EST I got hold of a GM and asked if the portal on my server had been opened.  His response was "I have no idea".  Now, this was the single largest event in the game since the retail launch and the GM has no clue if it had happened yet?!  What's worse is his apparent apathy and unwillingness to look for the answer.  Maybe the guy in the cubicle next to him had better info if he had bothered to turn his head and ask.

2)  I got a gold selling/power leveling spam mail one day.  Following Blizzard's suggestion I filed a ticket and went on about my business.  When the GM contacted me he gave me the usual spiel about investigating and not being able to discuss it.  During the conversation he asked me if the player who sent me the offending mail is on my server.    I haven't been that floored by a stupid question since the day the gal working the BK drive thru window asked me if my order was to stay or go.

Originally posted by sposocke
I've met both sides of the coin/GM. Back when I was playing (pre-TBC) I wasn't really happy with my first char (a druid) so I started playing a warlock.

 At around lvl 45 I got bored of this one too so I began a mage, which then became my main char and first to hit 60. But because I really thought I'd play the wl for a long time I gave him the better name, but then ofc wanted to swap his with that of the mage.

 I contacted a GM, he was nice, polite and without any hassle changed it within five minutes. Great! Another time I think it was Scholomance, there was an optional quest reward, a ring and something else, I'm not sure if I messed up, had the wrong idea of the item or because some other issue but I picked the wrong item and asked a GM to remedy the reward if possible. He too was nice, spawned in, told me to drop the item thus destroy it and gave me the alternative. Once again nicely sorted.

A few weeks later I had a new char on another server where I pretty much ran into the same problem as before with the names (this time I discovered my hots for rogues). So I once again contacted a GM and he told me that technically it wasn't possible. Riiight. Naturally I told him that this had been done for me before on another server so it can't really be that much of a problem.

But instead of just complying he hinted that I probably had a name which violated TOS, I clarified, then he told me that this was illegal and they weren't allowed to do that but merely on names violating the EULA. Sure. So if I had given my char an offensive name I would have had the possibility to rename him to my liking, whereas as a normal customer not violating any TOS I wasn't.

Clearly I was getting no where with the guy and pulled out after a few minutes of debate. The fact that he left me with something along the lines  of '...and lots of fun in Azeroth' was almost cynical. Asshole. I probably wouldn't be complaining if he had immediately stated that normally they aren't allowed to do so, but he didn't, he actually lied saying that it wasn't possible due to technical issues. I don't know if it is or isn't violating any EULA but I doubt Blizzard would have fired him because of it and further more the fact that he lied but then resorted to some apparent rule violation gives me the impression he just didn't want to do it.

I had two more contacts with the GMs ('selling gold mail' and the MC bug which flagged people as having entered it before even if they hadn't and thus refused them access) but nothing noteworthy and both got sorted. Overall I guess my experience with the GMs was positive but that one guy does leave a taint on this impression, especially since I don't believe I was asking too much of him.

first OT note: what it is this week? the worldwide week of Walls of Text? did they gave freedom to this annoying animal? People get them as pet or something?

Second: This is a very typical thing that happens when customers interact with customer service, they forget the GMs are actually human beings and think they are all robots.

All of them are connected, infact, to a giant central network and whatever one says, everybody else also says, you know? Hive mind and all?

It never came to your mind that gm number 2 actually had no idea that such a thing could be possible (yes, he should have thought better as renaming is allowed if against the eula, so it is surely technically possible) but then he wasn't prolly thinking a lot about it.

Then again, I'm pretty sure GM 1 was not supposed to change your name like that, because the rule IS to change a name only if it violates the EULA, not when anybody damn pleases.

@Rhoklaw, I think there's some truth in that, but at Best Buy I can somewhat understand harsher policy since it's their money they're giving out if the customers request is unfounded. In WoW though it's really our satisfaction that counts and if we're happy and don't ask for anything out of line we provide them money. So I'd say it depends on the job one is in how forthcoming one should be.

And well Volkmar, I got 70 posts to my name you got what 1700? I don't think you should be the one complaining about walls of text here. Anyhow, he deliberately lied and then gave me some bs about how it was against the rules. My request had nothing to do with random 'how I please', in fact the first change -apart from the reason I gave before- was also out of convenience for others, since both chars basically had the same name but one was using a normal e and the mage ê or something, people had trouble contacting me. But that aside I do indeed believe since it's a game and it's our/my experience which counts the GMs should be as forthcoming as possible. The GMs can also look into how much changes you request. When I asked for that quest reward swap I used up my resurrection or whatever they call it slot, it was no big deal. And the name thing was not even five minutes of work. I think as  a paying customer for a year with just 5 tickets to my name (2 of those bugs/reports), as long as it doesn't happen every week, there was simply nothing wrong with my request. GM#1 had no problem with it and I've had it changed for me in a forum before, likewise no hassle, so why give me all that bs? Not to mention inclining that I had an offensive name and thus it was changed, even though I made clear to him that I had voluntarily requested it. The guy simply was no help and he didn't want to be. Like I said before I wouldn't have minded nearly as much had he said from the onset no due to EULA, or once he had realised it is possible simply complied, but fact is he just wanted to brush me off as fast he could and simply couldn't admit his first answer was bull. Finally let me ask you this, do you honestly believe that this GM#2 would go out of his way to sort things out for other people with serious problems? I doubt it. He's exactly the type which will give you some phony advice which takes up your time, while he doesn't have to bother with sorting it out.

PS: "... lots of fun in Azeroth!"

He was being a dick.

In WoW, i can see where GMs are annoyed with players. A guildmate of mine opens such stupid tickets just to be annoying " Is there a bank in Orgrimmar?" "Is this a PVP server" "what server is this". They are people too, but we are paying customers, and when we ask sincere questions, like "The buttons on my interface are disapearing/blinking, what should i do?" and you get some retarded roleplaying macros like "There is a beam of light in front of you" or "BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON *POOF*" it pisses you off. Gms in WoW are better than most games, but they certainly aren't the best. I can see where they want to play too, but make an alternate character for just playing.  Talking to a GM, my face goes from to and finally .
That was just an excuse to use smileys.

My g/f and I recently had both of our accounts hacked, my fault from not paying attention when looking for add-ons, anyway she sent in petitions for both of us. I had most of my stuff restored in just a few days, she is still trying just to get a response from a gm. Some gm's are very professional and curteous and others just seem not to give a crap. It all depends on how lucky you are whenever you experiance a problem.

Originally posted by Raize
My g/f and I recently had both of our accounts hacked, my fault from not paying attention when looking for add-ons, anyway she sent in petitions for both of us. I had most of my stuff restored in just a few days, she is still trying just to get a response from a gm. Some gm's are very professional and curteous and others just seem not to give a crap. It all depends on how lucky you are whenever you experiance a problem.

Yep. It was always hit-or-miss for me too. I've had some that were helpful and pleasant to deal with, and some who were just morons copying and pasting from the book of canned responses. If I got a crappy one, I just submitted a new petition, being sure to point out that the last GM I spoke with wasn't able to help me.

Originally posted by Matty545
zaroborough is the worst gm ever, he is such an jerk, my friend was Quad botting 4 accounts, and he waited till they all hit 70, and he wispered my friend on each account and was like, One! /banned, Two! /banned, Three! /banned, last but not least, Four! /banned

Dude he was botting. What do you expect Rainbows?

In my days of WoW any time I needed a GM it was great. I'm not sure about GMs of other games due to me never needed them, so I can't say WoW is better or XYZ game is better.

Originally posted by L33t187
WoW gms are the best there is??? ROFL there probly the worst.... When BWL first came out are raid ID didn't reset and they didn't do shit about it... all they said is that they were really sry and that we would lose a week of raiding because they fucked up and didn't want to fix it.

Unless someone lied to me: that BWL issue was because of some bugs in the game mechanics, and GMs had no way to fix it, so it wasn't something they "didn't want to fix".

If that single GM experience of yours makes WoW's GMs the worst, then I'm sure you have zero experience with GMs in other games...

Originally posted by sposocke
@Rhoklaw, I think there's some truth in that, but at Best Buy I can somewhat understand harsher policy since it's their money they're giving out if the customers request is unfounded. In WoW though it's really our satisfaction that counts and if we're happy and don't ask for anything out of line we provide them money. So I'd say it depends on the job one is in how forthcoming one should be.

And well Volkmar, I got 70 posts to my name you got what 1700? I don't think you should be the one complaining about walls of text here.

Anyhow, he deliberately lied and then gave me some bs about how it was against the rules. My request had nothing to do with random 'how I please', in fact the first change -apart from the reason I gave before- was also out of convenience for others, since both chars basically had the same name but one was using a normal e and the mage ê or something, people had trouble contacting me.

But that aside I do indeed believe since it's a game and it's our/my experience which counts the GMs should be as forthcoming as possible. The GMs can also look into how much changes you request. When I asked for that quest reward swap I used up my resurrection or whatever they call it slot, it was no big deal.

And the name thing was not even five minutes of work. I think as  a paying customer for a year with just 5 tickets to my name (2 of those bugs/reports), as long as it doesn't happen every week, there was simply nothing wrong with my request. GM#1 had no problem with it and I've had it changed for me in a forum before, likewise no hassle, so why give me all that bs?

Not to mention inclining that I had an offensive name and thus it was changed, even though I made clear to him that I had voluntarily requested it. The guy simply was no help and he didn't want to be. Like I said before I wouldn't have minded nearly as much had he said from the onset no due to EULA, or once he had realised it is possible simply complied, but fact is he just wanted to brush me off as fast he could and simply couldn't admit his first answer was bull.

Finally let me ask you this, do you honestly believe that this GM#2 would go out of his way to sort things out for other people with serious problems? I doubt it. He's exactly the type which will give you some phony advice which takes up your time, while he doesn't have to bother with sorting it out.

 

Geez, you did it again, you wanna win an oscar or what?

What my posts have to do with using PARAGRAPHS? I do. you don't, learn to use them. please, I'm begging you.

Of course you see the issue from your personal point of view and that is fine, but think of this:

What happens if they start to be able to change names from a mere requests? do you understand the potential for abuse of this?

you go to a instance, ninja loot stuff, ruin your reputation but hey! you can just petition a gm and they change your name and tadaaa! nobody can identify you anymore!

So name change on request, good on the short term for one customer, bad on the long term for all other customers kinda of thing, who should they serve? you or all others?

And no, I cannot know what GM 2 would do. Maybe he is a noob, just on his first day or maybe he is really a bad GM. in the first case, give him the benefit of doubt, in the second he won't be a GM for long. be sure of it.

Just from my personal experience, the GM's i've dealt with were very helpful and curtious to me.  They fixed my issues right away (not that the issues were that hard or anything).  Then again, i'm coming from EQ II, where I played from beta to about 5 months ago, where GM's were none existant and completely inept at their jobs....so I guess almost anything is an improvement from there.