Game Master

The Game Masters

Game Masters, or GMs, are Blizzard employees. GMs are the overseers of World of Warcraft and watch over a server to solve problems, disputes, and sometimes punish people disobeying the Terms of Use policy Blizzard set forth. You can create an in-game petition (usually called a "ticket") to alert the GMs to certain problems you are experiencing. Typically, GMs only initiate action when a ticket has been filed by a player, though scattered exceptions to this have been noted.

Sometimes, the term GM or Game Master has been used to refer to any blizzard employee who works on World of Warcraft. To avoid confusion, developers, and others with specific jobs are referred to by those titles, and official blizzard posters are referred to as "blues" or "blue posters" on the official forum. Game Masters are NOT to be used for help with quests, asking them for money, asking them for gear, etc.

How Game Masters Talk

"File:Blizz vs.gif"

About the job

In October 2010, MachinimaRealm (on Youtube) released an interview with a former game master in World of Warcraft. She answered submitted questions from players about game masters. One question was about whether it was an office job or not. She answered that it was in fact an full-time office job. She then also mentioned that game masters could only play as a game master on special computers configured to do it, so it's not possible to simply login as a game master using a password.

When asked about the work environment she answered that she believed Game Masters had to be among the most enthusiastic World of Warcraft-players she had ever met. They were not allowed to play the game while working but would often do so during lunch breaks. Another game master who answered questions submitted on reddit was of another opinion, stating that becoming a game master was a good way to get rid of your WoW-addiction. He did emphasize however that it was a really good work environment since they shared many of the same interests.

GM interaction

• GMs chat via whispers with players to provide them with information regarding a ticket or to gather more information from the player. Recently, players conversing with a GM get a separate interface frame apart from their normal chat interface.
• GMs at times may even make themselves visible to the player, but these are rare circumstances.
• Players often get responses via in-game mail. It is usually one of several form letters tailored to tell the player that an action has been taken, or that the issue will be investigated. Communications from GMs via the mail system will have a blizzard logo and special appearance. This special stationery is triggered by an item called "Blizzard Stationery"[1]. Typically any mail will be copied to the email address associated with the player's account.
• GMs may also contact players about tickets filed by others, either clarify a question about the ticket, inform the player of an action being taken that affects them, or to "get a player's side of the story". Typically players are not asked about reports filed against them due to anonymity concerns, but if action is filed against them, they are presented via email with the offending action and are able to appeal via reply.
• Greetings used by GMs vary from typical hellos to an in-character roleplay scenario such as the GM appearing in a swirl of mist or riding up on a mount. Some GMs will also follow up with as they close a ticket, though all tickets are officially closed with an automated statement informing players that they may send feedback to blizzard via an e-mail address.

Special abilities/functions

• GMs have differing spreads of abilities granted to them, presumably dependent on their seniority or area of expertise.
• GMs have the power to port players to locations; usually they only do this if they catch players exploiting the game (e.g. terrain exploiting for an advantage in PVP or Line of Sight exploiting in PVE), if the player is stuck, or if they are trapped in an area that they can not log on into (such as a battleground or instance when the server for it is down). Sometimes teleportations will be to obscure/inconvenient locations to make sure the player is not further using the GM system for a free hearth.
• GMs can retrieve lost items under certain sets of circumstances, including bugged items that do not work (a common example is darkmoon cards that mysteriously cannot be sold on the auctionhouse because they had "charges" that were consumed. As of Wrath of the Lich King, a suspicion that a hard limit on item restoration by GMs exists has been confirmed, as when an item is restored to a player, the in-game mail containing the item will note that they have been charged an item restoration. Players will not necessarily be charged if a broken item is being repaired or a similar problem not involving accidental deletion/disenchantment is being fixed. At times, players have had tickets referred to "item restoration experts" if the responding GM believed the ticket warranted further investigation.
• GMs may possibly transfer items stolen under pretenses such as an enchanter running off with materials, however reports are highly conflicting regarding under what specific circumstances this will be done. Generally GMs do not involve themselves in potentially dramatic situations such as ninja looting or mutual disputes.
• So-called "GM items" (also called "artifacts") exist, which are not accessible to players, and usually have some specific function or appearance regular players would not have access to. Two documented examples,  [Martin Fury] and  [Martin Thunder] include special abilities to kill targets instantly and are presumably used for testing. In at least one instance such an item had found its way into player hands and was used by the player for exploitation purposes.
• GMs can enter a mode that causes all mobs in the game to ignore them. They can also not deal damage in this mode. This is likely used to prevent being attacked should they need to get to a player in an area full of Mobs.

GM Appearance

• GMs interacting in game will have "File:Blizz vs.gif" prefixed to their name in the chat interface to prevent GM impersonation.
• GMs showing themselves to players will always start on the so called "GM Island" as soon as they create the character. It seems that this island is not of any other use as those GMs seen on there have not moved at all until they teleported away.
• GMs are allowed to choose the name they want to use themselves. They don't usually have characters on every realm, if they have to meet players in the game world it might take some time until they have created and prepared their character.
• GMs showing themselves inside of the Game World are still using another IM-like client to whisper with players. If you ever happen to meet one in game, you will notice that his character name has got some slight differences to his name in private conversations.
• GMs still appear in the game to some players. They have got the possibility to change their displayID, for example into that of a pit lord.[2] One interesting fact about this is, that they do have spells for that instead of using the console.
• It seems that not every GM, if any of them at all, has full console access. There is a special tab in the spellbook for blizzard spells, that contains every spell a GM could ever possibly need. (e.g. spawn/despawn/teleport players/appear to players and so on).
• GMs appear to be prohibited from using their position to affect any in-game characters they have a connection with, including their own, or those of friends and family.
• GMs are not allowed to moderate a realm in which they have their private account characters, or if there is a conflict of interest.
• GMs are not server-bound.

Armor

GMs generally wear  [Gamemaster's Slippers], a  [Gamemaster's Robe], and a  [Gamemaster Hood], though one has been seen wearing aesthetic gear.

GM responses

• GMs are bound heavily by their job's rules, but are still friendly. In one case when a player was feeling "lonely", a GM talked to the player for a while as she did other things on the job. She also appeared in person briefly as a Draenei Warrior, level 70. She was in assorted gear, obviously for aesthetics.
• Once as a joke, a player asked if his petition could reach Jeffrey Kaplan, or Chris Metzen, in which case the "unnamed GM" responded, "They aren't available.", and in the following conversation disclosed that Jeffrey Kaplan and Chris Metzen in some cases answer player tickets.
• As part of a joke, a player asked a GM a choice: If faced with either Pie or English Crumpets, which would he take? The GM responded that, even with his choice of preserves, he would prefer apple pie, but "...would sneak a slice of cheese on top of it".
• Another player once, after asking a Game Master for an item recovery, decided to ask the GM if he played Guitar Hero III: The Legends of Rock. The Game Master first "suspiciously watched behind his back" and "then whispered silently, "Yes"". The player then asked if he could play "Through the Fire and Flames" on Expert level, to which the Game Master responded with "well, I'm still kinda stuck on Medium, haven't played the game in a while now, so if I'd try now, I'd might be a bit rusty ;)".
• Game Masters are not server-specific; they can answer petitions on any realm, except for ones that they have characters on. Neither are they allowed to talk to people they know.
• Game Masters have a special mode called GM Mode. When it is enabled all monsters become neutral to them, however they cannot deal damage to any monster even if they engage in combat. They can also see normally invisible things, such as Spirit Healers.
• Once, a player asked a Game Master what kind of mounts Game Masters used. The GM quickly replied, "Nike Shoes".
• In a conversation with a GM, when he was asked what level GMs were, he replied, "Every level". Also, when asked whether GMs have to adhere to the level 80 level cap or are able to advance to higher levels he replied, "There is a cap for everything."
• Once when a GM was asked if he liked pancakes he replied "Pancakes are awesome. So awesome I am closing your ticket!"

Lead and Senior Game Master

Titles you will see in the official forums in signatures of blizzard forum posters. So far, they tend to post in the Realm Status forum.

It is known that Senior Game Masters are the "shift leaders". They make sure that none of the GMs does anything he is not supposed to do and they hand in the weekly reports written by each of the game masters.

Some of the moderators of the Customer Support forum come from Game Master backgrounds.

See also

• Life on GM Island - Life on GM Island at the Official Europe site (en).

External links

• Blizzard Entertainment US support page GM portal
• World of Warcraft Europe Game Masters
• World of Warcraft Europe A Game Master's Life
• Reddit I was a Game Master for WoW for three years