I run a retail game shop so I will explain:

UDE (Upper Deck Entertainment) Released a card game for WoW last week, it is one of the better CCG's (collectible card game) we've seen in a long long time.

In each pack of cards is a 'FREE' UDE points card, it is worth 100 UDE points, which are good for redeeming UDE merchandise and in game WoW items.

The submitter (and invariably slashdot) have a pretty tainted view of things, since this item is free and is there simply as a value add to the card game, they of course make no mention of the 'loot' cards you can pull in the set that give you in game mounts one of which is currently ebaying for $250~300.

Only complaints about the free item they put into the card packs, which reward the CCG game players for purchasing the packs.

Any WoW online player that bought the packs only for the possibility of getting online items is a huge and total fool.

People want to complain when a product that wasn't meant to be used in a certain way doesn't work the way they want it too as is the case here.

This is a CCG rarity and scarcity are a factor for people who play a game like this, you either grok that and are okay with it and play the game or you don't.

Also as another note, this game is so good it's sold out within the week at 100's of stores across the country (including mine)

I can tell you, since I sold 90% of the product at my shop no one there even cared about the points (or if they did, it was an after thought)

He lost his badge briefly in _Men_at_Arms_, but only in an act of reverse psychology from Vetinari, so that doesn't really count. He resigns in protest of the military coup in Jingo and takes up his duties as a knight instead. Neither of these is vigilante-ism.

More importantly, Vimes is always determined to maintain himself and those under him as officers of the law (even though no one knows what the law actually is) who do not (for example) just kill the accused, even if ordered to. This becomes very important in many books, including Jingo, Fifth Elephant and Night Watch.

He's still the coolest character listed, though.