[Stefancurulic]

can some1 answer me if it is item of the month going to be updated?

[Mattmeck1]

There is no more item of the month.

[Kryptk]

There is no more item of the month.

why not? o.O

[Spokane]

There is no more item of the month.

why not? o.O

Because all of the little kids and retards(A lot of people) on the server bitched and moaned cause the last item of the month wasn't up to par with them. They were to arrogant to realize the Item of the Month is a gift and a privilege.

[Spikestrike]

why not? o.O

Because all of the little kids and retards(A lot of people) on the server bitched and moaned cause the last item of the month wasn't up to par with them. They were to arrogant to realize the Item of the Month is a gift and a privilege.

+500 points to you my friend. I agree completely with this statement, maybe next time people wont be so arrogent and be so full of themselves they cant appreciate something that was given to them.

[Mattmeck1]

It wasnt just the last month.... It was every month..


Since the very first one.

[Pinkyy]

Pussy ppl crying about the items, so they took them of the game... One of the reasons I voted very 24h : ( Now I only do it to sopport the serv

[SticKyGreeNzlNY]

yeah it sucks, it was def one of the main reason i voted...look all the cool ish i got from the IotM....

Lyssa's Swift Dawn Saber **Cool Ground Mount**
Muradin's Spyglass(b4 it was available through event) **Trinket**
Diablo Stone & Tyrael's Hilt **Pets Based off the Diablo series** (omg i cant wait for D3 )
Whistle of the Ivory Raptor **Ballin Ground Mount**
Merciless Nether Drake **Sickkkkkk Flying Mount**
Charred Twilight Scale **Trinket**
Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal **Ballin VIP Ground Mount**

to name a few.


hopefully it returns...

[Stefancurulic]

well, that sucks then. i think u should keep item of the month reward or maybe u will lose a lot of votes...

[phalanx14]

You'll have to think of this above and beyond simple:
"oh the staff is insulted"
"oh these players want to be breastfed"

Those are side issues.


The focal point is simple:

- What do votes get you?
---> More players, increased ranks/visibility among vote sites.


- How do you attract players to vote for you?
---> Have incentives that will make them vote more often (ie. Item of the Month)

==========================
==========================

You want to succeed, then you have to go from this server being a "Personal Endeavor/Enjoyment" to a "Business" - and you have to have that mentality.

Sure, you may not like it if people get "too demanding".
- but the customer has a right to that

You may not like it if some get questioned as to "hey staff, why u do this"
- but the responses and attitudes have to come from Customer Service 101; not Personal Bias 101


Instead of removing it completely - make the Item of the Month STATIC.
It is the same each and every month - depending on the realm.

That way, you can attract more people to continue voting - for the same things that they will want regardless of what month they will be.

No more = "OMG last month's item was better".
No more = "OMG what will I vote for then?"

You can create a POLL = each active realm (except PTR, Damnation and Genesis) = asking (example):

REDEMPTION:
What item would you like as a permanent addition to the Item Store (as an Item of the Year)?
- X-name of mount
- Emblem of Y
- Trinket of ABC
- anything else you can think of


=============================
=============================

Sure, it may be a "privilege to have some extras available", and it may be a "privilege for people to play for free"; but you cannot always count on "the good graces of people" to just "support for the sake of supporting".

People will always want reasons and incentives to do most things.

[Mattmeck1]

Ok lets look at this from a business prospective.

We have lost some of the most beneficial staff members due to the abusive community.

The servers will not grow, be as taken care of, maintained and the entire community suffers due to them leaving.

The threat was there to loose even more staff members that would change the entire core of the staff.

We made a decision that is best for the entire community, and to stop loosing good staff members.



We are done putting up with the abuse, we are done catering to those who think they are entitled to everything.

If voting to help the server is not good enough... If voting for items is not good enough...If voting gain free VIP points is not good enough... Then you may need to look in the mirror and think about all the people that dedicate hours and hours every day so you can be here with such a crappy attitude.

[phalanx14]

Ok lets look at this from a business prospective.

We have lost some of the most beneficial staff members due to the abusive community.

The servers will not grow, be as taken care of, maintained and the entire community suffers due to them leaving.

The threat was there to loose even more staff members that would change the entire core of the staff.

We made a decision that is best for the entire community, and to stop loosing good staff members.



We are done putting up with the abuse, we are done catering to those who think they are entitled to everything.

If voting to help the server is not good enough... If voting for items is not good enough...If voting gain free VIP points is not good enough... Then you may need to look in the mirror and think about all the people that dedicate hours and hours every day so you can be here with such a crappy attitude.

Hey hey don't point the finger at me, I'm just being objective (I still vote though).

I just want to know how many left due to abuse that stemmed directly and specifically from "Item of the Month"?

What sorts of problems/comments did they encounter?
Is it mainly "OMG why item is different OMG! I hate u!"?

How does the planning go whenever an Item of the Month is decided upon?
Is it based on closed-door staff meetings; a random but sound decision; or a poll for players?


Call me the optimistic one, but if some random guy goes apeshit on me, just because the "Charred Twilight Scale" became a "Happy Turtle Mount" -->

Wouldn't it be more logical that (Customer Service-inclined) people would be first to state that:

"It's unfortunate that you didn't have enough vote points, but I can tell you the Item of the Month changes every 14th-15th of the month. The change is usually decided upon by a majority consensus of the staff.
Don't worry though, maybe in the future, and with enough requests by players, an old item which you need may be available again."

(Btw u got a PM)

[Mattmeck1]

Justice is no longer with us directly due to the item of the month issues.

He figured why should he dedicate so much of his time to have his life threatened, his mom, sister, girlfriend, dog etc talked about.

And yes people did push it that far, this is not the first discussion about what was sent (search the forums is you want exact quotes of some of the PM's).


Justice was just one of many staff members that left, Sadist, Mysticone, and quite a few others just got tired of the abuse.

[phalanx14]

Justice is no longer with us directly due to the item of the month issues.

He figured why should he dedicate so much of his time to have his life threatened, his mom, sister, girlfriend, dog etc talked about.

And yes people did push it that far, this is not the first discussion about what was sent (search the forums is you want exact quotes of some of the PM's).


Justice was just one of many staff members that left, Sadist, Mysticone, and quite a few others just got tired of the abuse.

I've talked with Justice a lot, before, during, and after my turn as staff.
He's a pretty great dude, one of the most social and hands-on that you had.

I wouldn't wish for those same things and responses to happen to anyone else.

That said - those rants and threats he got - what happened to the players involved?
How were they responded to?

Also, one reason little nabs rage at their pixels is because they:
"felt it was useless compared to what was offered before"
So what I want to know is - how were Item of the Month changes conducted?
Were the requests of players taken into consideration? Were there polls, etc?
How many staff members meet to discuss (ie. "knowing the pulse" so to speak)


****
I apologize if I sound a bit like Mr. Cuddles-the-Questioner, but hey, in real life, my career usually jumped between Human Resources, Admin and Marketing Management - so sometimes these choices, and these incidents - really get me to question how things between both sides were handled.
****

[Mattmeck1]

Justice picked the items, via discussing it with players.

The last items were picked by taking the most purchased VIP items and offering it for vote points. And this was the item most raged over.

[phalanx14]

Justice picked the items, via discussing it with players.

The last items were picked by taking the most purchased VIP items and offering it for vote points. And this was the item most raged over.

Perhaps the reasons for that were:
- the previous items available (ie. personally I felt the RS trinkets were the best and most useful)
- the ease in which players were able to obtain previous items (ie. 250-300 VP)
- the higher price of the item in question (which most, after buying a previous month's item, might consider it impossible to get enough points)
- those who paid for the item and see it being handed via vote points

These can all be true, or any/either - but - marketing and customer awareness is often vague and fickle to understand.

You can make a market report that said:
"These guys would surely like it" - and end up with an opposite result.
And the same can be said for those just going with a risk and succeeding with it.

It's not always about numbers (how many were purchased) - but how "purchasers felt" and how potential customers would feel.

A customer who felt he got his money's worth for a single item is more likely to be a repeat customer; than, say (plain numbers), a lot of purchases for an item yet feeling it was "more of an afterthought".

[Mattmeck1]

At the end of the day, it was something we tried out.. and it got an overwhelmingly negative response.

Trial = fail

So we are not doing it.


We grew greatly for years before it, and the amount of votes has not gone down after it.

[SticKyGreeNzlNY]

Justice picked the items, via discussing it with players.

The last items were picked by taking the most purchased VIP items and offering it for vote points. And this was the item most raged over.

i can see this being a problem as people are paying money for items and then your offering them essentially for free. Im not speaking on my behalf, just thinking how other who spent money could have interpreted that.

For me i would love the item of the month to be exclusive mounts or other in game items of that nature. Or maybe even trinkets that are not on the VIP list...such as maybe that reign of fire trinket i think its called...ToC25 trinket...raw SP with stacks of spell crits that do fire dmg. Just to name one trinket that really interests me with my fire spec thats not listed in VIP

As a whole thou if item of the month does return i would say stay away from VIP items for item of the month just for the fact people are spending money for thous items.

[Mattmeck1]

Justice picked the items, via discussing it with players.

The last items were picked by taking the most purchased VIP items and offering it for vote points. And this was the item most raged over.

i can see this being a problem as people are paying money for items and then your offering them essentially for free. Im not speaking on my behalf, just thinking how other who spent money could have interpreted that.

For me i would love the item of the month to be exclusive mounts or other in game items of that nature. Or maybe even trinkets that are not on the VIP list...such as maybe that reign of fire trinket i think its called...ToC25 trinket...raw SP with stacks of spell crits that do fire dmg. Just to name one trinket that really interests me with my fire spec thats not listed in VIP

As a whole thou if item of the month does return i would say stay away from VIP items for item of the month just for the fact people are spending money for thous items.

All VIP items can already be gotten via votes, all he did was put it up for vote at a similar cost it would have been to get the item by trading in vote points for VIP points.

[phalanx14]

At the end of the day, it was something we tried out.. and it got an overwhelmingly negative response.

Trial = fail

So we are not doing it.


We grew greatly for years before it, and the amount of votes has not gone down after it.

It might.
Not saying it would, but there is a possibility.

People, by nature, would always want something in return.

It may not be now, or next month, but people might get tired of voting without a tangible incentive.
You'll have to dangle a carrot infront - as Psychologists have done.

And Votes-to-VIP conversion may not work in the long run (for many who have the "that's too hard for me to attain mentality").

That's why I thought, perhaps, one day you can re-consider it.

One Item / Per Realm.
Will not change every month. Will remain the same.
Decided by staff (who will give the choices); and players via poll (who will make the choice).


You'll cover all your bases:
- staff have their say, players have their say
- no QQ comparison between previous month and current month
- no complaints about being hard to obtain since they have a long time to obtain them
- items are intricate and important for the realms they will be in, so there will always be the mentality of:
"Oh I'm going to get this again so I'll vote more often"


By the way you got a msg..