Does this mean old forum will be closed (instead of read-only) by end of year?
I have very mixed feelings on this one. Yes, I want them to be more open about what they are doing. I hate that bots impact the leaderboards and discourage honest players. I want to at least see some evidence of action against botters!
On the other hand, I get why they don’t discuss the security measures they are working on or the lawsuits against bot makers - until the hammer drops. It only gives the bot makers a way to evade and adapt. Of course, some are outside the reach of US law anyway 
I think you really really really underestimate both the player base, and the number of people who engage in nefarious activities.
Third party sites usually operate outside the reach of US law. They are criminal organizations, not just a few kids in a basement.
-They use phishing, malware, and virus software to compromise real player accounts. Real players who are very upset about that.
-Game company spends real money in man hours to have CS assist and at least recover access to the account, if not the lost items.
-Server resources used by bots and the impact that can have on real players - lag, etc.
-Ongoing costs for a team to deal with security issues
-Legal team costs to go after them
-Financial compromise by giving third party sites info (yes people do that). For some reason the players don’t blame themselves though. They associate it with the game.
-Game balance around trade. Gear curve is set to prevent everyone from gearing too fast. Setting in game drop rates is easy to control. Outside systems like trade muck with that. We saw how bad that was in D3 Vanilla. This makes players very angry, esp when they want to find loot.
Someone else making a few bucks off a game is not that big a deal, even if it is illegal to profit off IP you don’t own. It is all the negative impacts on real players, and the costs to the company to combat and fix that. In the end they just limit things.
I honestly think you overestimate the amount of players that do shady things. I don’t think any normal rational adult will bot in a game that isn’t boring. I also don’t think that same person would go to a website to purchase digital goods.
Buying BiS items in a RPG ruins the experience and makes your purchase pointless.
As for power curve it should be done with a majorities of players being able to see the end game content and be able to help with someone that’s full BiS gear that’s only a percent or so stronger. Instead of a system like D3 where no gear matters when leveling and only level 70 legendaries matter. If you get a BiS legendary item while leveling it should be good the entire game.
Divide gear chances by level ranges.
I did that on purpose. For me, I’m aware of how tough it can be but the average consumer does not understand. But these are the conversations that need to happen so the consumer knows the context because most of them don’t think like developers or are aware of the problems. (This also doesn’t mean players can’t have better insights.)
These are the conversations that will go a long way, like you told me about the steak temperature. You need to educate the consumer and through that is having a casual conversations about these things.
I’m not asking for 100% transparency. Just some where we can daily, non aggressive conversations but that road is very hard for Blizzard right now, it’s very hostile for you guys right now. But it is partly blizzard’s fault and some of the community.
But it’s never going to get back to a stable relationship with Blizzard making all these decisions behind close doors. Just talk to is.
Cheetah, it’s literallly your job to communicate with the community and I understand that you have orders above you to keep a tight lip on some issues… but it doesn’t mean you can’t sit here and talk to us about the bot and stolen credit cards.
This part is true.
This, not so much true. I have spent a ton of time (many years now) in D3 and WoW helping folks who are compromised, and paying close attention to the ban waves. The amount of people doing it is fairly large. Large enough to have a major impact on other players, and therefore on CS support - as well as game reputation. Nobody likes to play against botters/cheaters.
I have a small advantage in that I have spent a lot of time with the Blizzard CS team and on the TS/CS forums. I suppose that makes me a bit more aware than average?
Most likely, yes. I’m working on a more formal post with an actual deadline, but that takes a little back and forth communication with the appropriate teams + localization to execute. 
We’ve been monitoring web traffic, and most of the most popularly searched topics have already been migrated or recreated on this forum, but folks should definitely still go save anything they treasure if they haven’t done so already.
Hmm sad to hear that… GDPR sucks.
I’m definitely glad I got MissCheetah’s cosmetics guide done then. It’d have been much more of a pain for her (and anyone working on it) if the old post info had disappeared before the new stuff was done.
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I need to clarify. MVPs are regular players. We just get green text. Mine is green because I am a Tech and Customer support MVP, as well as WoW Community MVP, and was a D3 Community MVP. That comes from just helping players find info, explaining things, linking to news, etc. Oh, and managing not to get myself suspended by being too snarky!
We can have our own opinions and speak our minds as MVPs. We just can’t violate the forum code of conduct.
Getting paid would be nice though, as would having access to meetings and info. I have to make due with what I see in Blue posts for the most part. Exception is when I talk to the TS/CS folks on Discord.
Edit - full disclosure, yes I have been to Blizz twice and spent a fair amount of time with the CS team, D3 team, and WoW team. It was really awesome and I am so thankful for the tours, time, and insight. Also, yes, I am under an NDA, but there is nothing sexy I am keeping from folks. It sometimes means I know 4 hours before a patch that it is happening or something. heh.
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Ah, i didn’t know. My fault - but yes. You should be getting paid.
Imagine how the community would act and how excited they would be if someone like Free got hired by Blizzard. Everyone seems to respect him and his ideas.
This would really go a long way with bettering the community.
And you as well. Times have changed, social media has changed, and why is a indie studio like grinding gears games doing a better job than Blizzard?
But even if you’re not hired, you are put in a position of some influence.
(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)
MissCheetah’s in a position of perceived influence. She has no actual influence. And it’s the very reason she strives to be as neutral as she can when posting here. That’s why she doesn’t hurl insults like a lot of other players do.
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Ah, like I said. I don’t know.
But I do know they should just hire her part time, and others like Free to answer to a community manager and have people work under that manager.
This stuff shouldn’t be as complicated as Blizzard is making it out to be. It’s driving me up a wall.
I have a social media account for my restaurant and hire people to manage it.
It would really would go a long way.
That does happen sometimes. Blizz has hired a fair number of folks who were theory crafters, wrote blogs, made guides, did podcasts/videos, etc. Even when they don’t hire them, they have a group they call “Influencers” who they reach out and talk to about things and even invite onto campus for discussions. It is not something a lot of folks are aware that Blizz does, but yeah, they do. Kind of like focus groups.
Can we pretty please keep the thread to Diablo related stuff. RL politics only derails things even worse.
I don’t think they did anything wrong and perspective is a great thing to share. So I applaud them for sharing their two cents.
See this is what I am talking about, you even admit this.
They just need to talk to us more in general. I had no idea that even happened and it’s a shame because once again.
There’s a huge disconnect where blizzard is doing these focus groups, but nobody even knows.
Blizzard does not allow telecommuting/work from home. You have to be on the Blizz campus behind the firewall on their computers. They don’t have the sort of job position you are describing, even if it would be somewhat logical.
I would have to move to California, lose my home I own, lose my cats, and deal with an insane cost of living. I replied recently to a thread about just that sort of thing… this weekend. In detail. Would you want to work at Blizz? - #7 by MissCheetah-1661
If that’s what you got out of my post, then I don’t know what to say. You aren’t paying attention.
The subject of my particular post wasn’t politics. It was nuance and that both people and AI don’t quite understand it. I answered Saidosha in regards to the whole General Data Protection Regulations…
It’s because of that GDPR nonsense, the feedback under David Kim’s update got deleted. The feedback getting deleted is connected to the very thread, and why Nevalistis jumped here to explain what’s going on.
I’m sorry, if I offended you in any way. It wasn’t my intention.
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You offended no one. You’re fine and an amazing human being =)
Some people are absolutely terrified of giving their opinions on things where a portion of the population doesn’t like that idea. Much like LBGT rights or blizzard banning a hearthstone player and casters because they dared to use a platform as big as blizzards to call out the human rights violations in HK.
We should use our platforms for spreading love and the betterment of mankind.
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Talking about the Influencers is kind of a touchy subject. I have no idea if they invited Free out, or had private conversations with him, or other D3 players recently.
They don’t publicize it much because some people get upset about “streamers” or “forum people” or “youtube/blogger”, whatever being more important than the average person. It is not that they are MORE important, it is that they enjoy giving detailed feedback and are GOOD at it.
What I can tell you is the sort of feedback and programs you want do exist, they just exist very quietly. Further, just because they GET feedback from Influencers, does not mean they actually change the game based on it every time, or in the way some would expect.
When you sit down and talk to the devs though, they can give you a fairly robust accounting of all the aspects they considered before making a decision. They hear, even if they don’t always go that way in that patch.