On the 5.3 day of Xmas … the usual QA Standard.
We got a Shriney new update, and while we could highlight how it has evolved the ‘pay to reduce grind’ philosophy into a ‘grind to pay to reduce grind’ ( New Shrines ); or feel the familiarity of how the single item in the ‘Bug Fixes’ section is being reported throughout the forums as a persistent bug ( [More info needed] TOD scrolls bug - #50 by Dank ; Game hangs on rewards screen after using a heroism scroll in ToD [WORKING ON A FIX] - #9 by dweeves ); or even talk about how many people across platforms reported being unable to access the game at all, have to re-download all assets (déjà vu);
…or the positive confirmed buff to VIP keys, and the rumored (inexplicably not mentioned in the release notes, but increasingly supported by evidence) appearance of Power Orbs in Major Chaos Orbs,
…all of that is already being documented in the forum.
One thing worth noting (given the ongoing conversation about GoW Communications) is how we continue to see a less inflamed reaction from the forum when compared to $imilarly-oriented updates, and this has been the case for a couple of months+ now: while it may be coincidental, this appears to correlate with the Mods’ shift in communication prose (and number of Mods interacting with the community), whereas they opted to prioritize silence over the alternative patronizing/dismissing that we have observed in the past (yes, the Pet Gnomes in Arena thing is still the freshest example 
).
Why is this worth highlighting? Because it adequately illustrates a point brought forward on several occasions but dismissed by Mods: the Messenger matters, because s/he determines how the Message is delivered.
And how the Message is delivered matters, especially when the Message is pretty much $et in $tone.
Regrettably (and despite the evidence), this continues to be refused by the Mods because ‘the communication would be the same’:
…and that may mean that those of us who have become accustomed with GoW’s QA (and set the expectation bar accordingly to avoid disappointment), may now want to start looking into embracing the current communications status quo as the acceptable standard, given the historical alternatives…
…at least until some non-Mod authority sees the facts and the value of further improving Communications with Customers.
