AoE: A is for "Aggravation"

There I was, sitting in one of the first big staff meetings of the year, and wouldn't you know? Two of my colleagues who cause me some issues, get all aggro up in my bidness, say some very pointed things within earshot of my new boss. What we were discussing was important, but once again, I find other's perceptions on truth and justice, interesting. But hey, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it. I don't have much in the way of resolving their statements that have left their mouths, and one in fact did have a very good point about (my) behavior and communication style. I do tend to "bird walk" and share anecdotes when trying to make a point. She just doesn't like it. So I have to change. I have to adjust, to suit her communication style. So, at work: time to shut my pie hole. Taking my proverbial ball and going home. I am sorry I don't get credit for all the times I tried to have everyone share out, only for one in the room to suck away the oxygen. Remember: put your oxygen mask on first, people, so you can help those who need it.

See? She was right. I do tend to bird-walk and share anecdotes. Hooray! I can have a blog that costs me nothing but pixel-dust and moonbeams, and as long as I pay the electric bill and keep the coffee hot, I can write my little heart out. But sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes, poor Cross-Dressing Rogue has to hear about it. And like any loving man, basically tells me to "fix it." To him, the problem is a nail, and I have a hammer. Fair enough. Silly women, though, always feeling better after we vent something! Silly men, for not.

Ah, but I say that, and it is far too much of a generalization. For I am telling him about the Watchdogs post, and he proceeds to share his current frustration, and Blizzard if you are listening: this is MADDENING.

He's on his hunter skinning in that part of Deepholm where the dragon scales fall like gold from the sky. He notices another player TAKING HIS SH*T! How can this be, you ask? Can't you not skin something until you loot it? Well, last month that would have been the case, but now with AoE looting, his dragons he killed to farm were ready for the taking, and this player walked right up and skinned his stuff. It was obvious theft. Peter Rabbit in the cabbage patch, and Mr. McGregor has a bow and arrow and an angry, sparkly spirit bear. He tells young Stinky McGee to back off, and he expects compensation by way of two pieces of savage leather and one dragonscale. Seems fair. The player at first apologizes, but when CDR requests reclamation, player tells him "Hell no." This proceeds in a dialogue exchange, and ultimately, CDR proceeds to skin some of this player's catches, to which he loudly protests. Yes. He gets upset, after he maliciously and with criminal intent skinned CDR's kills. But due to the fact that Stinky McGee can't seem to figure out how to play nice, and CDR is quite the watchdog himself, CDR looks him up on the armory, and writes letters in game to his guild officers. We all know how this goes: sometimes something changes, but more often it doesn't.

This is a glaring "unintended consequence" of AoE looting, and it sucks.

Okay, Blizzard: This is a bug. A glitch. An oversight. Fix it.

Specially, if you are a skinner, for this logically cannot be applied to anything else, and you shoot it, only you can loot it and skin it. Yes, it may be inconvenient to fix this for skinners only, but I promise, the level of farming rage is going to increase precipitously. No AoE looting for skinnable creatures: that way, you loot one at a time, skin it before the Stinkys of the world can take your stuff out from under you.

What I don't want to see happen is the ham-fisted approach Blizz took to LFR looting. Momokawa "won" a trinket she already had, and when I tried to trade it to another healer player, it didn't even let me trade it, and I was very sad. (And yes, that was about the 76th time an LFR group couldn't figure out how to single target Blistering Tentacles on the last platform, and I swore, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS I SHALL NEVER GO INTO LFR IN ITS CURRENT FORM AGAIN to my good friend. And I have kept my word.)

Now, on side-note, Kellda "Smoke on the Water Deep Purple" Warlock was in a dungeon, and a nice fix is the fact that one cannot need on loot that cannot be equipped. However, this was not good enough for another player, who called her an "effing dumbass" for greeding on a mail helm. Kellda proceeds to tell him she didn't not roll 'need,' but 'greed,' just like every other player there, to sell or DE for gold. Dumbass. Not sure how he/she wasn't getting this, but there may be some cognitive/social cues that are different for this player, so I am not going to judge too harshly. If anything, I worry about this person and his interpretation of what he perceives are the rules.

CDR's blood pressure did go up during his heated exchange with said asshat. I don't want CDR's blood pressure to be affected, I need him to keep calm and carry on. Maybe he'll take on another hobby besides Azeroth, and stop paying his membership dues to Blizzard. Who knows? He'll put in a ticket, and hopefully Blizzard will listen. We know they can't fix everything, and sometimes they over-fix things, and yes, fix things that aren't broken (I'm looking at you, fake shaman totems!), but we shall see. Now to put on my oxygen mask.