I've just come back from a night out and I've been away from the site for some time. I offer my help here and there when I can. So I may not be up to speed on everything going on, but this needs to be said.

I want it clear, that this message applies to EVERYONE in the Eternal-WoW! Community

Eternal-WoW! is a COMMUNITY. Everyone is a part of the community. Without our players we would have nothing. Without our developers we would have nothing. Without donors to keep the servers alive we would have nothing. Without our Game Masters, Moderators, Staff, Management, etc.. etc.. we would have nothing. See what I'm getting at? Everyone has a role in the community. The community would fall apart without everyone in it.

Most of the time players and staff get along quite well. Other times we have staff members who are having bad days who are sometimes short with players. Alternatively, a player could be having a bad day and feels like blowing off steam by being rather agressive. I know, i speak from experience. I've been on both sides of the fence. Hey, even sometimes the staff doesn't get along. Me and Cyph3r fight all the time. We've known each other long enough that at some point we figure things out. (I sound completely gay. I swear im not.) (I'll post a back story below, but right now this message is far more important.)

There are going to be times where people butt heads. (Yes, i know i just said butt heads). It's inevitable. People disagree. People have beliefs. People have opinions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of that. However, the problem occurs when a person (player or staff member, doesn't matter) forgets that there is another human being typing on another keyboard on the other end of that chat window. I respect those who remember this and try to treat one another fairly. A significant chunk of our community is respectful and just wants to have fun and as a part of the community, you have my sincere thanks.

There are going to be gray area's of the rule book. We have some rules that are way too general, such is life. We will never be able to make a rule for every known possible situation. I ask that people remember there is such thing as REASONABLE. Swearing is generally frowned upon. It's subject to interpretation. Saying, "F@#* YOU" to another member of the Eternal-WoW! community is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. On the flip side: "Man, Katy Perry has such a nice ass." While somewhat distasteful and vulgar, worse things are said on TV and well whoever says that would be right. Yes, we have female players, so it is important we remember to not be completely vulgar. However, those females who venture into a male dominated hobby, should also know what they are getting themselves into. (HARASSMENT, NO MATTER GENDERS, IS SOMETHING WE DO NOT TOLERATE.. AT ALL).

Regarding locking forum posts. We do that for many reasons. Could be the topic is a duplicate, makes no sense at all, or is in fact just trying to light a fire. There are some very well thought out posts that explain why doing X is better than doing Y. However, discussing why player X is better than player Y starts to hit a gray spot. You're now comparing two human beings who MAY NOT want to be compared. Then another community member comes in and starts personally attacking the two people having a healthy debate and completely ruins the fun for everyone. The situation I just explained is EXACTLY why we cannot allow topics that can easily spiral out of control. Every time a topic is started saying "donors are overpowered", "your staff sucks", "player x is a noob", or "x sucks because" we have to squash it before community members become hostile toward one another.

So I ask the staff: Please be sensible in your rulings. Ask yourself, "Am I punishing this person because I don't agree with them, or because they have broken a rule knowingly and willingly?". Please keep in mind, players can have a bad day too. Taking rules too literally is just as bad as not enforcing them at all. Players are a part of the community, we need them just as much as they need us.

Likewise, I ask the players: Please don't jump to someone else's rescue if the whole story isn't known. Please don't attack other members of the community. Please also be reasonable when working with staff. They are part of this community and are human beings just like you. Staff are a part of the community, you guys need us just as much as we need you.

Now, on a serious note. Those of you who are trouble makers, you know who you are. We (the community) will not tolerate our forums being taken over by a bunch of hooligans. WE will not tolerate one person of the community bullying, harassing, or launching a personal attack against another member of the community.

I will leave this topic open for discussion. Please keep posts to a constructive nature.

Due to several issues with the last PTR we didn't move forward with the update. Now many additional fixes have been applied and we're hoping it will be a smooth transition.

As always, instant level 80, free gear, and additional GM commands are provided to players for easier access to testing critical areas or spells.

You'll find the PTR realm in the "Development" tab of the Realm Selection Screen. Remember, if you find a problem, please put it in a ticket. All other tickets will likely be closed immediately without GM or Dev interaction. Thanks!

Changelog

Eternal: Done!
Redemption: Done!

Update: We found the actual reason for the Lag and it should be resolved. We'll still do the cleanup as it's time for it anyway. -Cyph3r

We're aware of the lag issues plaguing Eternal and Redemption, so we're going to make a push for cleaning those realms this coming Wednesday or Thursday (1/19). The cleaning will happen sometime between 6pm-10pm server time, and each realm is expected to be down for approximately 3-8 hours.

Thank you for understanding, and we apologize for any inconveniences the lag has caused. The downtime would be a perfect opportunity for anyone interested to help contribute to our Wiki or check out the current state of WotLK instances.

PTR
-----
There is now a Report Player section for the PTR, if you see a hacker take a screen shot and submit a player report as normal.

Anti Cheat is being tested on the PTR now, please submit feedback.

Gm's will be more visible on the PTR as per my orders. Live realms still have priority.


General
-------

You will soon be able to see the player reports you have submitted with Gm responses. You will not be able to see reports submitted by others.