Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Long Strange What The Hell?

If, like me, ya been workin' on Long Strange Trip this year, is time fer ta give up. As of this week, LST ain't givin' no more fast drakes. Nope, the reward now is apparently a funny-lookin' proto-drake what don't go no faster than 280%, unless ya pony up 5k.


All mounts that previously allowed you to fly at 310% have been converted to standard flying mounts, it is your skill that determines your flight speed. 


Now, LST were nevers about gear, or mad leet skillz. Ain't gonna be no easier at 85 what it were at 80. Was about time invested, doin' a lotta crappy achievements over the course of the year and bein' lucky with the RNG, with a big reward promised at the end. Ya gonna make promises like that, ya oughtta keep'em. Instead, Blizz done waited until after the patch were out and the rules changed fer ta say "ha-ha! fooled you!"

Few months ago, this were what was said on the matter:


In Cataclysm the plan is to allow level 85 characters to train 310% flying at which point all flying mounts will become 310%. Players with a 310% mount would be given the skill cost free.


Yeah, I know, it don't technically say thems what ain't got the achievement by patch day ain't borked. But it sure implies what they ain't. And on sumthin' like this, where yer downgradin' a reward what takes a gluggernuggin' year ta earn, ya gotta give folks notice. When the bear mount from ZF was goin' away back at the end of TBC, was plenty of notice. Months. Time fer ta organize an effort. Waitin' til now, then sneakin' in a little blue post what most folks won't even catch, is a crappy way ta treat yer customers.

7 comments:

Commander Kaji said...

Mr. Orc Man, I got the %310 last February, and I have %310 on all my fliers today without paying for the new skill.

Sadly, the post you quote at the end is still current information. If you had it, you get the skill free. If you're still working on it, sadly, (and wrongly, I agree), it will be %280 when you get it.

If you already had a %310 and your mounts aren't all up to speed (wow, a literal use of that phrase), then that's a bug what needs reporting.

Ratshag said...

I modified me text about that second blue post a bit fer ta maybe be more clear about me feelings. Blizz never promised I weren't borked on LST, but they clearly had opportunities fer ta warn me what I was. And they chose not to.

Awlbiste said...

If you have a 310 flying mount then you are automatically taught the new Master Flying Skill, which allows all of your mounts to go at 310 speed.

If you don't have a 310 flying mount then you have to spend the gold (well not have to) to get 310 Master Flying. At that point, all your mounts will go at 310 speed.

I don't see where Violet Proto-drake isn't going to be a 310% flying mount anymore, though I guess one can infer that from the first quote. In which case, that totally sucks.

Personally I'm not ponying up the gold, but I'll still do holidays for achievements and minipets and RP outfits.

BearTreeCat said...

I was six days away from my VPD.

SIX. FREAKING. DAYS.

enlynn said...

I can't believe I got lucky on this one. I got my rusted protodrake a good three hours before the servers went down for 4.0 this week.

The achievements for those mounts take a whole lot of time and effort. I thought the 310% was a solid reward because it's not necessary but it's neat. Blizzard really should have warned us that was coming, I'm sure lots of folks would have pushed a bit harder to get them done before the patch, had they known. I can't imagine the sense of achievement will be as satisfying anymore. D:

Anonymous said...

I know it's disappointing, and I'm probably not the one to properly express sympathy, but I think I'm still going to complete this Meta on my alts. My main got it a while ago, and while it really REALLY chaps my fanny, I'm so close, with so many.

*shrug* It sucks, but hey, it's life. I guess I think of it in the same way as the Hand of A'dal title being removed before BC. There was a big window for a number of people, and they rather capricously decided to close it. Annoying, but... well. *shrug again*

Sephrenia said...

They have mended it....

http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/16/patch-4-0-1-its-still-a-long-strange-trip/

Yay - you will save 5k gold for all that work :)