alt="Spirit Healer" />

The Scroll of Resurrection in World of
Warcraft is a powerful tool. It's purpose is to bring a player back
to life, or more literally, bring them back into the game. The scroll
allows any player to invite a friend who has been inactive to come
back to the game for seven days at no cost. Not to mention, some
other epic benefits for both players when the scroll is used.
Needless to say, it seems like a pretty sweet deal for all parties
involved.

Well, that pretty sweet deal is set to
expire. Blizzard has
announced via their blog that the Scroll of
Resurrection will be taken out of action by February 18^th.
The magic of the scroll has dried up and players will no longer will
be able to ask their friends to rejoin them in World of Warcraft and
collect free stuff too.

After reading various forum posts on
the subject, it seems that many players are pretty tore up over this
development. Reactions range from outrage, to disbelief, to simple
sadness over the news. However, my reaction is exactly the opposite.
You see, in my opinion, the Scroll of Resurrection long ago lost it's
usefulness and it's exit has been long overdue.

alt="Goobye Scroll of Ressurrection" />

Two Years – Too Long

Back when it was implemented, the
Scroll o f Resurrection was a mighty fine idea. What better way to
entice players back to the game than to offer up free game time and
some cool rewards to go along with it? It sounds great in theory, but
in actuality, the Scroll of Resurrection was a pretty useless tool.

You see, you can't just Resurrect just
any friend. Oh no. There are a slew of rules and guidelines that need
to be followed. The worst of which is the stipulation that before a
player can be Resurrected they must have been inactive for at least
two years. Let that sink in. Two. Years.

Two years is a long time to be away
from the game. In fact, it is highly likely that if you have resisted
the call for two years, you likely aren't coming back. There are
exceptions to the rule, but I'm willing to bet they are far and few
between.

A game like World of Warcraft isn't
kind to players have been away for so long. Coming back you find
yourself behind on the story, behind on the economy, behind on gear.
Unless you have a great support system, you are likely to find
yourself overwhelmed with it all. The same is true with brand new
players who find themselves intimidated with the immensity of all
they have missed out on.

That is, of course, if you can actually
find someone who has been inactive that long. If you are like me,
many of your friends take breaks, but not two year long breaks. I
could go over my friends list right now and not see a single person
who has been inactive for such a long period of time, rendering the
Scroll of Resurrection totally useless to me. Not to mention the
multitudes of others who have inactive friends they would love to use
this feature on, but can't because they have only been gone for weeks
or months.

Of course, there need to be some rules,
otherwise it would surely be taken advantage of. But lets face it, two
years just feels way too long.

Begging to Resurrect

Further proof of the Scroll of
Resurrection's lack of use can be found strewn across forums
everywhere. Here you will find post after post of players asking for
someone, anyone, to give a scroll to. Why? The Scroll of
Resurrection, as mentioned above, is down right difficult to give
out. Let's face it, if something is useful and in demand, there is no
reason why anyone should have to beg to hand that something out.
However, time and again you can find post after post of players doing
exactly that; begging to give something away.

alt="Blizzard Forums" />

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

With all that in mind, I think it is
safe to say that the Scroll of Resurrection has been broken and in
disrepair for quite some time. With minimal usefulness, this featured
needed some serious tender loving care to become relevant again. TLC
that Blizzard is apparently not willing or able to deliver.

So instead of mourning the loss of the
Scroll of Resurrection, I say we say good riddance to a feature that
was broken and quite useless to most players. Instead, let's look
forward and hope that someday the scroll may be reborn in a better,
less dysfunctional form. And if this is indeed, goodbye forever,
well...I doubt, despite the hoopla on the forums, that many of us
will actually feel any long term remorse. In fact, I doubt many of us
would even notice at all, if it wasn't for that really cool mount –
the only thing worth grieving for with the loss of the Scroll of
Resurrection.

Do you think the removal of the Scroll
of Resurrection feature is no big deal? Have you ever successfully
used a scroll? Will it eventually make a reappearance? Share your
thoughts and experiences with us in the comments section below!