GM says "Mailbox piccolo concerts are right out!"

A forum thread about a player and a GM talking about the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire popped up yesterday. As usual it was deleted, but the image was saved by Neuroxin on the WoW LJ community -- where I saw this. While GM threads are nothing new, the reason that this player was contacted by a GM is a new one on me. Were you aware that using the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire when you are AFK on top of a mailbox can get you in trouble with the GMs?

While I totally appreciate that the piccolo can be annoying over a long period of time, does it truly interrupt the ability to play? Is it on the same level as ganking someone over and over as someone suggested? I'll admit that I totally hate that item, but not because it makes me dance. I hate it because a small flute should not sound like a harp. (and yes, that's nitpicky of me)

Now personal opinion aside, players using the piccolo near me has never prevented me from opening a mail window, working with my inventory, or talking to an NPC. When it happens I just hit CTRL-S and temporarily disable my game sound until I move on. That way I don't have to hear the flute that sounds like a harp. To me, it is nowhere nearly as annoying as the Rotten Arakkoa Egg quest that shuts down whatever you are doing and makes you vomit repeatedly. (Truly annoying when a group turn them in one after the other while you're working at the mana loom. Gah!)

I realize that GMs have a truly hard job. With experience as a tech support representative for a large ISP as well as having moderated a few healthy-sized online communities, the GM's and CM's have my sympathy 99.5% of the time. But making GMs chase down players and stop them from using an item that normally allows for long periods of uninterrupted dancing seems like a tremendous waste of resources. If there is a problem with how long the sound repeats or how long it keeps players dancing, why hasn't Blizzard changed the piccolo so that doesn't just continue to loop indefinitely? It wouldn't be the first time that a trinket got a cooldown or duration added. GM time could then be used running down spammers instead of running characters off of mailboxes -- or threatening them with an account ban/termination if they don't clear off.

[via the WoW LJ community]