It's been a very long time since I wrote anything for
TenTonHammer.com.    Some of you may
remember me as Boomjack, the reviled creature that penned Loading...
for what seemed an eternity for all of us.  In that time I
offended many of you, informed some and amused a few. I grew
weary writing a column every day.  Good ideas like
entertaining Vin Diesel jokes became increasingly scarce. I handed over
the reins to my esteemed colleague Jeff Woleslagle and spent my time
working on the business side of the company.   



Boring...



Take the most entertaining industry on the planet, envelop it in a
greasy layer of humanity that smells of wet dogs and stale beer and you
my friends have the bean-counting side of this
business.    



Finally something on the business side of this equation is entertaining
enough for me to enjoy what I do again.


GearScore is now part of the TenTonHammer.com family. Our href="http://www.playerscore.com">PlayerScore
product ranked and rated players via the web. GearScore rated players
via an addon. The resulting orgy of ratings and rankings is sure to
ruffle some feathers, mostly of those who either can't be bothered to
learn how to play the game or simply don't possess the skills to do so.
I'm not being elitist here. My score isn't anything to write home
about, but I do take the time to try and play well.



It has always bothered me that I had no way to tell the world just how
good or bad another player was.   Sure, GearScore on
its own gave some indication, but frankly how many players got carried
through raids in order to get gear?  Apparently many. Equal
GearScore didn't mean that the players were equal. It gave some
indication of experience, but it didn't give me the whole picture. I
wanted input.   



Enter the Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down button in the new GearScore. I love
it. If you suck, thumbs down.   If you are fantastic,
thumbs up. If you are neither.. no thumb.  



YOU GET NO THUMB FOR BEING AVERAGE.



When my kids aren't around I call it the Douchebag button. Guy leaves
after he loses on a piece of gear.  Thumbs down. Tank explains
the fight to those who don't know it. Thumbs up. I love it. In one fell
swoop, the Douchebag-O-Meter was born and players have to take some
responsibility for their actions."Oh, but that can be abused," cry the
few in the forums. My answer, then don't be a
Douchebag. 12 million people play the game. Do you really
think that given those enormous numbers that a person or a guild can
really affect your rating? Maybe if you piss off 4Chan that will
happen. Try it. Otherwise, don't be a dick and you'll be fine.



I leave you with the following picture. If it offends you then chances
are that your rating will consist of mostly thumbs down. If you find it
amusing then I can almost guarantee that you have many thumbs up in
your future.

style="width: 640px; height: 360px;" alt="Don't be a douche"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/93013">  

[ed. note: GearScore, now PlayerScore, can be downloaded and the
database searched at www.playerscore.com]