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'GamesMaster' Sir Patrick Moore has died
Revered British astronomer, writer, and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has died, aged 89. As the BBC reports, Moore passed away peacefully yesterday at his home in England.Moore was one of Great Britain's most recognizable personalities. He had a glittering career as a writer and broadcaster of astronomy, most famously presenting BBC mainstay The Sky at Night for over half a century. Yet he wasn't afraid to present himself unseriously, as British gamers who grew up in the 1990s will undoubtedly remember.As the face, or more specifically the cyborg head of GamesMaster, Moore was an integral part of one of the few successful video game shows TV can boast. Although his stint on GamesMaster was likely only a minor sideline in his incredible life, this tribute video by Big Daddy D shows just how memorable it was.
Breakfast Topic: Have you ever actually met a GM in-game?
One of the things which captivated me when I first started playing WoW were the whispered myths surrounding GMs. Being that this was my first proper foray into the magical and mysterious world of online gaming I had no real idea of what exactly their strange beings where except that they were uber-powerful and acted as both peacekeepers on the forums and tech support in-game.Over the years, I've submitted my fair share of tickets. Indeed once during the Wrath beta I and a bunch of other hapless explorers got trapped under Dalaran bank and I had to ask a GM to teleport them out (being a druid I just teleported to Moonglade -- after twenty minutes of waiting for my hearthstone to cooldown and them remembering I had an escape route). However in all my dealings with them in-game I've never actually met a GM in-game (on the other hand I've met a bunch in real life). So I want to know, readers, have you ever seen a GM with your own (virtual) eyes? Did they appear to you in that robe get up seen in the manual or as something a little more scary? Come on and spill the beans, I want to hear about all your fascinating GM encounters!
The Daily Grind: Do you wish there was more player-GM interaction?
There's something about gamesmasters which seems to fascinate us players. They are near mythical creatures with awesome powers and this is probably because, whatever game you play or official forum you explore, they are fleeting creatures. Often heard but seldom seen, you might spend ten minutes chatting to one after submitting a ticket but they rarely materialize. Sometimes though, they let their hair down and have some fun - usually on PTRs or as part of anniversary celebrations. I'm curious, readers, do you wish GMs would step down from their lofty seats and interact with us more? I mean on a day-to-day basis rather than once in a blue moon and not just for special occasions. Would you like to talk to one in the flesh rather than conversing with a disembodied chat box? Do you think they need a bigger presence in forums?
GM item scandal rocks WoW
As epic scandals go, WoW has had its fair share and the latest -- centred around a rather boring looking shirt called Martin Fury -- has had everyone talking over at our sister site WoW Insider.So it goes like this. One of the guild members of The Marvel Family on US-Vek'nilash, a fellow named Leroyspeltz, discovered a mysterious GM-only item has been sent to one of his alts when Blizzard were restoring items after his account had been hacked. So he gives this unassuming shirt to his Guild Leader, Karatechop, who decided to take it for a spin -- in Ulduar. He didn't file a ticket but rather assumed it was okay for them to have it because it came from Blizzard. They used it fourteen times in various instances as well as Malgyos and 25-man Obsidian Sanctum.
Breakfast Topic: If you could be a real GM what would you do?
Gamesmasters have been in WoW news a lot recently. We've had reports that a GM mistakenly sent Martin's Fury out to a player leading to pwnage in Ulduar. For the last twenty four hours, my inbox and those of the rest of the team seem to be full of screenshots showing a weird new bug where player characters suddenly become GMs, if only cosmetically (they get the little Blizzard logo next to their names, but none of the power).Since I started playing back in 2006, I've been fascinated by the Blues. Players speak their names with reverence. They exist unseen throughout Azeroth and have amazing abilities. Like many other players, I've opened tickets and engaged them in-game. I've even met a few in real life as well at the Darkmoon Faire and last year's WWI.Now I know the life of a GM is not all roses, that their powers are kept in check by rules and regulations, but if you had the chance to be a real GM for five minutes, what would you do? Personally I'd go hang out on GM Island or walk into the hardest instance and smote everything before me. So come on, readers, if you had the chance and the power, what would you do?
Tasos addresses Darkfall's GM corruption charges
Darkfall dev Tasos Flambouras posted on the official forums regarding player accusations that GMs have been crashing servers, refunding money and items. As players are often unsure of what awesome powers the average Games Master possesses but Tasos is keen to reassure players such reports are completely bogus.He says: "First of all GMs cannot crash the server, or cause a client to crash. They cannot create items or money. All their actions and communications are monitored and logged. We re-checked all chat logs and GM activity for every report mentioned in the forums or reported to us at the help desk, over the time periods that the questionable conduct was supposed to have taken place and found absolutely nothing. Because of this, any public accusations on the forums accusing GMs or the company of any such activities will be removed, and everyone contributing in the thread will be banned from the forums. GM activity is always monitored by us. If you would like to report GM conduct, then you should use support.darkfallonline.com to do so if you have proof of misconduct."We're not quite sure why players have been accusing the GMs but crashing servers is certainly above their powers. That's more likely to do with technical problems with the game client or overpopulation on the servers. Tasos is also keen to remind anyone that if they've been banned from the game or the forums, a message will appear when they try to log in.
