Azeroth Advisor Featured on The Instance and WoW Insider
Generally speaking, I’ll take any chance I get to plug the company I work for and run with it. Not simply because I work for them, but because I genuinely love my job, love the amazing folks I work with, love the parent company, and truly believe in the value of the service they produce for players. So, while listening to the latest episode of The Instance podcast this morning (my absolute favorite podcast that I have quickly become a majorly geeked-out fangirl of), I got pretty excited when I heard them talk to Curt Schilling about The Azeroth Advisor.
There were a few “announcements” leaked about the Advisor in the latest episode of The Instance that I’ve refrained from discussing here because of NDA stuff, but Curt talked about with Scott and Randy. I won’t repeat it here (mostly because, technically speaking, we haven’t been told we can talk about it publicly yet and I don’t want to get myself in trouble), but suffice to say, the changes have been exciting for all of us at the Advisor.
WoW Insider also got in a mention of the Advisor in a recent post that further enforced my general feeling that Mike Schramm can be an asshat now and then. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the guy. Frankly, I’ve never spoken to him. But I frequently find myself either disagreeing with or being vaguely offended by things he’s said. Specifically in this case:
“…but most of the information and guides you can actually get from them are pretty much equivalent to what you’d find here on WoW Insider (or less helpful, if we may say so ourselves).”
Total. Bullshit.
Mike, it’s poor form to bash competitors outright, especially if you haven’t seen or understand how the product actually works in the first place. And, more to the point, the Advisor isn’t a competitor so much as an additional resource for players to turn to for aid. The Advisor doesn’t have a monopoly on players (neither does WoW Insider), and enjoying the guides the Advisor has to offer is not exclusive from enjoying WoW Insider. So, dispense with the superiority, please.
That aside, let me clarify: simply by the design of the software platform on which the Advisor operates, it is inherently more personalized than WoW Insider could ever be, delivering character specific updates straight to subscribers’ inboxes for any/all of their characters of any level and progression range. As for the quality of the guides, I can safely say (as both an author and an editor) that at least grammatically speaking, the Advisor is leagues ahead. (For example, typos and misspellings don’t run rampant through the Advisor as is frequently the case with WoW Insider.) Also, the authors for the Advisor are no less skilled and knowledgeable than you would find under the WoW Insider flag.
Of course, I’m rather biased, having quickly developed a deep love and respect for all members of the Advisor team as I’ve worked with many of them closely over the past couple months. (As a disclaimer, because it’s bound to come up: I’m not speaking on behalf of the Advisor or any of it’s employees; I’m speaking solely on my own behalf without consent or censure from any of my fellow employees or superiors at the Advisor.)
In short, I just think Mike’s mention of the service was poorly worded and poorly presented. I don’t like seeing something I’ve worked so hard to help develop and improve being put down by someone who doesn’t know much about any of it. I have no desire to see it turn into an Us vs Them situation, that’s counter productive to what either team hopes to accomplish I should think. Anyway. I’m off my soapbox, I promise.
Thanks to Scott and Randy of The Instance for taking the time to talk about the Azeroth Advisor, what it’s about and what we do. I will continue to worship you both weekly, from afar. 
(And if you haven’t subscribed to The Instance, do it now! They rock!)
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I saw the WoW Insider article that mentioned this, and thought you might have a couple words to say about it. Well done.
Adreniss last blog post..Blogroll Updates And Other Matters
While my connection to the Advisor is a lot newer than yours, I had about the same reaction.
I was tempted to leave a strongly worded comment, but figured it was better left unsaid, considering I was rather angry. Either way, I agree with you!
Oh let me clarify something.
I’ve worked for Mike Schramm. On WoW Insider.
The only thing you got wrong was the phrase “Mike Schramm CAN BE an asshat”.
He’s an immovable phallic object.
He’s the reason I don’t write for them anymore.
He’s the reason I don’t read the site anymore than I have to.
He’s the reason the site is going down the tube and the few good folks who remain are jumping into lifeboats as quickly as they can.
I could go on for hours, but I won’t.
The best thing AOL Corporate could do for the health and prosperity of that site is launch Mike Schramm into the atmosphere. He belongs behind a counter asking “Would you like fries with that?” not submitting us to his awful writing, out-of-touch opinions, and self-proclaimed authoritarian voice.
An Ex-WoW Insider Employees last blog post..Best Trade Chat Quote Ever. Timing Is Everything.
I thought the wow insider article very comical. I know very little about the situation, but one thing is very clear. He crossed a line when he said that the articles were less helpful than wow insiders, and then he is surprised when people are “harsh today” as he puts it.
There are things you don’t do, for no other reason than the fact that you will get called out on it if you do.
Ihloss last blog post..WotLK Specific Macros
Thanks for the nice mention, and really glad you enjoy the show!
Scott Johnson (The Instance)s last blog post..The Instance #122: “Give back my honor!”
[...] Lassirra’s slightly grouchy post on Azeroth Advisor Featured on The Instance and WoW Insider encouraged me to got take a look at it. It looks pretty good - I’m going to have to actually [...]
@Scott Johnson (The Instance) - Omg *GEEKOUT*!
Ahem. Thanks for stopping by, Scott. I adore the show. 
@An Ex-WoW Insider Employee - Lol. I really tried to be fair, and temper my response somewhat because honestly, I really don’t know him well and I am biased in this case. I can only judge him based on the things that I’ve read, and they aren’t flattering. I’ve had extremely limited contact with him, but generally speaking, I just don’t find myself agreeing with him very often. 
@Ihlos - I honestly couldn’t believe he had the audacity to word it the way he had, or that he might have thought it would pass unnoticed. To so completely dismiss the hard work of so many individuals in such an elitist attitude was… well, stupid, to put it mildly.
All right, points taken. You’re exactly right, it is poor form to bash competitors outright, and writing that was a mistake. Obviously I’m biased for WoW Insider, having worked so hard on it, and in my defense, I probably know more about Azeroth Advisor than you think I do. But you’re right — writing what I did was a mistake. I’ve updated the post.
Mike Schramms last blog post..Breakfast Topic: Last minute preparations
@Mike Schramm - Thanks Mike for taking the time to stop by and make your side known. I think it’s very easy to let your own hard work on things effect bias in either direction, and it’s something we’re both guilty of.
It takes a big man/woman to admit their own mistakes, so thank you for that. I’m glad no offense was taken, as none was truly intended. Thanks again, Mike.
As someone who reads wowinsider regularly I’ll say this - some of the articles there, especially by BBB, are pure gems. I even disagree with the typos comment you made in your post and I’m very sensitive to that sort of thing, having worked as a technical writer in my past and being somewhat of a grammar freak 
On the other hand, the quality of the articles vary wildly - both in terms of writing quality and actual content. Well content may be debatable, since e.g. the important of Deep Freeze for mages is a highly subjective matter it seems. But from my subjective PoV I think a few of the articles could be more balanced/objective.
I haven’t taken a look in the past at the Advisor site - I tend to think of myself as someone who enjoys self-learning vs. being spoon-fed. But with 4 chars @70 and plans to roll a DK when LK is released, I’m finding out I miss things and feel sometimes “behind the times” when it comes to my other characters (except my mage), so the Advisor might be helpful there. Hey, maybe you can plug it as the perfect tool for altoholics
Solidstates last blog post..On Mage QQ and balanced posts
Well that sucks.
I went to the Advisor site and tried to get a sample newsletter. Couldn’t see EU servers on the list.
Went to the FAQ - one of them says “In situations where that information is not in US English, such as on the EU servers, our software is currently unable to understand that information and generate newsletters.”
Well what about all the English language EU servers, just because they are not in the US you can’t understand it?
I was all set to be excited by this new WoW resource… now I’m 
Solidstates last blog post..On Mage QQ and balanced posts
I have tried the Advisor on the free-trial basis before, and loved most of it, the info was awesome, and well put… However the biggest problem I had with it was the sheer amount of messages sent to my boxes, in one day I got more then 20 messages, due to my 2 alts, and that was the only reason I didn’t continue on to teh subscription, but other than that it’s an AWESOME service and that guys a douche…
Keep up the awesome rating Lassirra!
Nuadin
Uther
PS Thanks for responding to my email question!
I’d also like to point out: I’m tired, sick, and cranky. All good reasons not to have posted this in the first place, lol.