Communication and Community, Part II

I think I have sold short WOW in communication in one sense. It does an amazing jorb of communicating visually surroundings and situations. I think there are many subtle signals sent that benefit all of us. Yet, that is the game communicating with the community and not the community communicating with community.

There are mods that allow for more communication like Auctioneer that reveals expected price in the Auction House as well as to vendors and even down to the results of disenchanting. Again, the game communicating data to player, but not the community in this case. I’m often asked to reveal this information as many do not load these mods.

Hal’ asked in the Wiki about agro radius. This information is there in the game to be communicated, if the game developers choose to communicate it. Easy enough to put a subtle ring around a player or a mob. . . . and on the mini-map.

I recall those days running backwards just to watch young Hal’ agro anything and everything. I even once saw her agro something from another game . . . it looked like Big Bird. Yet, if I didn’t run backward she’d be toast faster then she could communicate it to me in text [this might be my fault for not taking full advantage of the audio and having country AND western music up too loud to hear the hacking into the young warlock flesh].

Yet, these are all player to product communication functions. They do not extend beyond that limited scope. When it comes to the community, we have tools so limited as to be laughable for a game bragging eight million players.