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GOA Warhammer Online Community -
English Forums -
Shallya’s Place of Welcome -
General Discussion -
Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
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Tanarustrue
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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1.
Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
18-03-2009 23:33
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Since patch 1.2 everything beyond the first line of text in any macro is lost every time I exit the game. I reported this and received a response that suggested it was my UI settings that were to blame and instructed me to reset my UI. I did this, which helped not at all.
As requested in the original response, I reported that their suggested solution had not worked. I heard nothing more on the matter.
Having discussed this with other players I discovered that far from being specific to me and my UI, the problem was common, so much so that I suspect that it is universal, at least on my server. A further bug report has brought a single line response that:
We have investigated your appeal and can confirm that this is currently working as intended since patch 1.2.
As this is contrary to their previous responses, to my experience, and to common sense, I find that as a response it is less than satisfactory; indeed it falls so far short of an adequate standard of customer service that I find it personally quite insulting.
I understand that macros probably don't seem a topic of the highest importance to many people, but Warhammer is supposed to be a role-playing game, and the character that I had chosen to roleplay was a playful, comically repellent, irrepressibly ingratiating, wilfully annoying & perversely childish little clown of a Squig-Herder, who had evolved, much to my surprise, to become 'the singing gobbo'. I had saved as macros dozens of verses of silly, semi-literate, borderline obscene little ditties that I would 'sing' when nothing much was happening in-game.
Example:
"Chase da Orda, catch da Orda, kill 'em till they's deadz;
Then kill 'em sum more, 'n' just ta make sure;
Jump up 'n' down on their headz.
Slay da Orda, flay da Orda, butcher 'em up in ta bitz;
I likez me dwarfs roasted 'n' elves lightly toasted;
But 'umies just givez me da **bleep**z.
Tho we beatz da Orda 'n' eatz da Orda they keepz comin' back fa more;
So we beatz 'em 'n' eatz 'em again 'n' again;
'N' dat iz da glory of WAR!
altogether now
Yes dat iz da Glory of WAR!"
OK, so it's silly and childish, but it was fun. I enjoyed my 'singing', and judging from the large numbers of appreciative comments I got from other players, other people enjoyed it too. In reaching level 36 in this ludicrously burlesque manner I encountered hostility to my style of play (of the "F**k off to a roleplay server you annoying c**t" variety) from precisely three other characters, to set against each of which I could cite several score instances of approbation.
Like any game, Warcraft is only as much fun as the people with whom you are playing it, and I think that my gobbo was generally considered to have raised the fun quotient for almost all who encountered him. However, he has vanished; I can no longer play him. Of course the toon is still there, but his songs and all his other little comedy macros aren't, and as the character was essentially defined as 'the singing gobbo', without his songs he no longer really exists.
Of course I could re-enter each macro every time I log-in to the game, but that would take so long as to be unendurably dull for me; or I could have far fewer, shorter macros, but that I fear could quickly get dull for everyone else. So I simply don't really play the character any more, and as he was very much my favourite toon, my enjoyment of the game as a whole has greatly diminished.
The macros system was fairly simple, but worked reasonably well until the 1.2 patch, which killed it completely, and along with it, my character.
Though we're currently subjected to patches on a worryingly regular basis, none are addressing this issue, although it would seem to be one that should be exceedingly simple to fix. No-one at the developers even appears to be willing to acknowledge that there is a problem.
The fun of the game comes almost entirely from character interaction, and instead of continually fiddling around with minor changes to content and balance, the developers should be concentrating on facilitating more and better forms of interaction, or at least on ensuring that those that are supposedly present are actually working. But this seems to be a subject in which they have precisely no interest. Too many tech-heads and not enough actual gamers at the developers I suspect.
So, I shalln't be renewing my subscription, which is a shame, as I had been enjoying the game, many aspects of which I had held in high regard. I have asked in-game to be notified by e-mail when the problem is finally corrected, but as the developers aren't even acknowledging that there is a problem, I don't hold out great hope for this.
I may perhaps return at some point in the future, but experience of mmorpgs (I have played several previously) has taught me that once one's account lapses for any length of time, it is unlikely that one ever re-acquires sufficient motivation to re-engage with the game-world.
So, for the moment at least, it's farewell from me.
The stunties shall sleep more easily, and Destro can remove their earplugs:
The singing gobbo falls silent.
Kill 'em all, 'n' let Gork (or Mork) sort 'em out.
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Durazul
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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2.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
18-03-2009 23:48
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"I likez me dwarfs roasted 'n' elves lightly toasted;
But 'umies just givez me da **bleep**z." 
Oh, please fix the macros quickly, I want more! 
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Tanarustrue
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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3.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 16:44
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Thanks Durazul, but I'm not convinced that the macros are ever likely to be fixed. At the moment customer services are denying that there is any problem with them, although they had previously accepted that they were not working as intended.
I've noticed that the word 'Sh*tz' in our postings has been bleeped out. Indeed much of the content of many postings seems to have been pruriently redacted to a standard of corporate banality inimical to free expression and hateful to anyone who cares in any way about language. Does anyone else find this ridiculous on a forum devoted to a game where the NPCs routinely swear at us? I’ve lost count of the number of times an NPC dwarf has forcefully questioned the legitimacy of my parentage, and whilst trying to stave in my skull with an axe!
The other day (March 9th) the official site’s homepage featured the entry ‘Goodbye? No hello!’ which contained a recommended link to a video produced by a Karak Hirn player to mark their transfer to Karak Norn. I’m not criticising this video, I enjoyed it, it made me giggle, but even I thought that considering the truly foul-mouthed and wilfully offensive lyrics of the song to which this video was set, there should perhaps have been some disclaimer next to the link stating that it might not be appropriate for younger players. Yet now with the forums GOA have come over all coy (there’s a pun in there somewhere, but I don’t want to go there...). Can anyone come up with any reasonable explanation for this other than the worst kind of craven and cynical corporate cowardice?
Kill 'em all, 'n' let Gork (or Mork) sort 'em out.
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Zebwen
Member
Registered: 19-03-2009
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4.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 17:13
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Anotehr great achievment of GOA's customer service, a grand player leaves our ranks. I wonder how many it will take before they start paying attention?
Yo dawg, I heard you like debuffs, so we put a Harbinger in yo class so you can do nothing while you heal badly.
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Morrimara
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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5.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 20:22
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I raised a CSR on the a couple of weeks ago: Since a recent patch I have found all my macros have been violently truncated. These macros not only include a vital script to disable the combat lext creation/logging to avoid massive lag in orvr, but also numeros role playing long string of information. i.e. advertising the Reikland Arms event easily and getting the community involved with other such events. All this text has now been reduced to a pathetic 64 characters?! Help! and please please please don`t say this is how it is goling to stay :`( and got this email in response: In reply to your recent appeal we would like to inform you that the changes to macro system were intended. If you would like the macro system changed please submit an appeal in the feedback section of the websites or the in game appeal system. So I used the feedback form, with the same appeal, and got this in response: Dear Customer,
We have investigated your appeal and can confirm that this is currently working as intended.
For any further queries don't hesitate to contact us via the in game Ticket system.
Kind Regards,
WAR Europe Customer Support Team I can not longer easily advertise role playing events across regional and the API code to turn the CombatLogOff (to help with poor performance in RvR) and a very useful (especially for those of us who do not use ventrilo etc) Target output message i.e. /p Targetting >> {playername}, have both be truncated and not longer work! 64 characters??? this is a pathetic length for macros
Elsharla Morrimara (Hi, my name is *bleep* and I'm a Role Play junkie)
Fortune Cookie Mantras: The cure for grief is motion | Procrastination is the fear of success | Many possibilities are open to you - work a little harder | Wealth is the ability to fully experience life | If you wish to see the best in others, show the best of yourself | Teamwork: the fuel that allows common people attain uncommon results | If you're always a pessimist, consider just how futile that attitude can be.
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Tanarustrue
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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6.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 23:10
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Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail Morrimara, your experience seems to be roughly similar to mine. When I first raised the problem with customer support within around 48 hours (I think) of the implementation of the 1.2 patch I was assured that the behaviour I reported concerning the macros was definitely not intentional. I include a copy of the e-mail response that I received on the 9th of March:
Dear Customer,
The behaviour you reported is not at all intended behaviour. As a result, we would request that you attempt to reset your interface in an effort to help us troubleshoot and track down the cause of your issues.
Reseting your interface allows the client to restore it's game settings to the default values.
Please follow the steps below in order to do this.
Open the Directory where you installed WAR. The default is C:/Warhammer Online/.
If you are unsure on how to find this please:
• Open My Computer
• Open (C:) Drive
• Open Warhammer Online.
• Delete the CACHE folder.
• Delete USER folder.
• Delete the Interface folder.
• Run Warpatch.exe and make sure you tick the full file check option.
Be advised this process may take a short while to perform but this is a necessary step to help us resolve the issue.
Should the problem still persist after performing this step, please submit a new appeal stating that you have attempted this and we shall endeavor to find another resolution to your problem.
Kind Regards,
WAR European Customer Support Team
The very best interpretation that it is possible to put on this is that several days after the patch was implemented GOA had precisely no idea what changes it had introduced. With hindsight their suggested solution reads very much like the mmorpg version of “have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?”
I think that this interpretation is generous in the extreme. The suggestion that for some reason that nobody is willing or able to explain a considered decision was taken to limit all macros to a derisory 64 characters, and that this decision was implemented without any announcement to the effect or reference to the fact in the patch notes is just ridiculous. I am fairly certain that this arbitrary limitation must be an unintentional consequence of some other change in the game mechanics that no one noticed before the patch was rolled out. Having found that they had introduced a new and infuriating bug, Mythic or GOA (frankly I’m past caring which) decided that rather than acknowledge the mistake, which might after all imply an obligation to do something about it, it would be easier to just pretend that it wasn’t a mistake at all, but rather a new policy. In maintaining such an implausible and transparent fabrication they are treating their customers with absolute contempt.
Had it really been their intention to dramatically attenuate our macros surely the obvious place to implement this policy would have been on the screen where the macros are entered; simply limit the text box to the prescribed length. This is not what was done. There were no changes whatsoever to the macros screen, and indeed longer macros can still be entered, they will just be subject to peremptory Procrustean amputation every time one exits the game. This makes a farce of the attempt to maintain that this was a deliberate policy introduced for whatever spurious reason.
I hope that someone with the knowledge and authority to answer this complaint reads it and offers me some explanation more convincing than the one line:
We have investigated your appeal and can confirm that this is currently working as intended since patch 1.2.
that is all customer service is willing to offer.
I think it’s revealing that the e-mail response that I originally received was clearly written by someone who doesn’t understand the correct use of the apostrophe and who didn’t even bother to run the text through a spellchecker. Of course this is a trivial complaint, about things that would matter not a jot if whoever wrote the e-mail knew what they were talking about when it came to game issues, but as they clearly failed in that regard too one can only wonder what the criteria for their employment were: anything beyond being willing to work for minimum wage?
Sorry, that was bitchy, I would normally consider such comments beneath me, but I’m angry and frustrated, so my judgement might be a little impaired. I’m sick of being lied to and treated as if I were an idiot by incompetent and uninformed customer service representatives. Such behaviour is insulting and offensive.
I was sold this game as an rpg. It was marketed and promoted as an rpg. It still is. However Mythic/GOA seem to have precisely no interest in maintaining it as an rpg. For a mmorpg not to be able to support macros beyond a single line of text is downright risible.
I shall not be renewing my subscription. I am certain that I shall not be alone in this.
Kill 'em all, 'n' let Gork (or Mork) sort 'em out.
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Lordproteus
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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7.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 23:45
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Macro's in general need to be looked at. I would quite like many, many, MANY more macro images to choose from.
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Tanarustrue
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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8.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 23:52
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That I can help you with Lordproteus. If you download the add-on called macro icons from curse.com it gives you an intimidatingly comprehensive list of icons from which to chose. This add-on was still working after the 1.2 patch, but as there have been so many more patches since, I cannot guarantee that it still is. Should still be worth checking out though. Hope that helps you with your problem.
Kill 'em all, 'n' let Gork (or Mork) sort 'em out.
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Lordproteus
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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9.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
19-03-2009 23:55
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Flimgoblin
Member
Registered: 18-03-2009
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40
39
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Gruntled
Delirium
Karak-Norn
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10.
Re: Problems with macros: why I shall not be renewing my subscription.
21-03-2009 15:52
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Goblin singing? best thing ever. Would be a shame to see it go. A muse inspired by (bloody) rivers To sing of many a killing blow. Mythic patched the other day Some did weep, some did cheer Many macros they did slay But worry not, a solution is near For when you cannot sing you heart And feel you've reached your darkest hour Download a mod to fuel your art And become a goblin Troubadour! Till the curseforge admin approve this beast A zip download will do it all (But lest nasties invade your nest virus check before install) -------------- Install it like any other mod = throw it in interface/AddOns /troubadour has instructions Any comments, suggestions on how to improve etc. more than welcome :) Download link: http://www.roguishness.com/war/mods/Troubadour-v01.zip Curse project: http://war.curseforge.com/projects/troubadour/ (Only just uploaded so it's awaiting approval)
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