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 Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 3:15 pm
As some of you know, an incident occurred last night involving an attack on me for complaining to the Gaia development team via the zOMG! Forum. Last night, in zOMG! in Barton on the Anchor Bug server at around 8:00p.m. PST, a birthday party was held in which a brand new Animated was created for one specific user. This event catered to once specific audience: the zOMG! Chatterbox guild. No one else was supposed to attend unless they were in the guild, yet I managed to get in.
At the risk of losing my status in this guild, I am making a political stand. If it is the consensus of this guild that I am abusing my power or am acting out of line, I will step down from post as crew. But something needs to be said.
I am furious with the development team "playing favorites" with other users simply because they are "friends".
Please do not confront the opposing guild about the issue.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 3:15 pm
The following is the story of what happened: Fair warning: I tend to get detailed and a**l about my description of events. Please do not repeat anything written here or confront anyone about the following events. For the sake of not "namedropping" I will replace the involved parties with generic names ("User1", "Dev1", "Mod1", etc) Earlier, I witnessed an event that I had only heard about through the grape vine. It was a party, designed to celebrate user User1’s birthday. Those in attendance were from the zOMG! Chatterbox guild and at least one game developer, Dev1. There was a surprise waiting for User1 when she arrived: an Animated designed specifically for her. It was an Air Fluff full of half baked programming (as evident in its random power level). It was strong enough to kill Landshark, yet half the time it generated (yes, there were several) it came up as purple to me, a 9.7. The other times it was red. It felled many experienced players in one hit. It’s name: Cleo’s Pet Also present was a user, aptly named, “User1's Birthday Present”. This account was, under assumption from the obvious fact that it’s only friend listed is user User2, a mule for said user. The “Present” found people in different layers from the guild and carried them over to the event. It is unknown if the layer was closed to the general Gaia community, but none the less I found my way in via a friend. It was a mad house of players and the brand new Animated, creating just for User1. I was furious. I asked myself, “Why would the time and effort be spent creating an Animated for one specific user?” The answer is simple, favoritism. This implies, without needing further evidence, that User1 is receiving other unknown benefits for simply being the game developer’s “friend”. When a friend of mine has a birthday, I PM or comment them wishing them a happy birthday. If I really like the person, I’ll even send gifts. However, if a staff member wants to wish a friend—a regular user—happy birthday isn’t it abusing company property and time to alter the game coding—especially when so much went wrong with the last zOMG! update? (users turning into logged out or dazed “zombies” that cannot be revived, Animated animation going on the fritz, and multiple dead layers appearing on Gaia, leaving people alone) If Dev1 is behind the programming of the new Animated (which he most certainly comes up as a prime suspect since he was both present and aware of the situation) then he abused his rights as an employee to give another player (and a group of her friends) special treatment. Where’s my birthday fluff? Why would they just cater to one person instead of being fair to all of Gaia? In a rage, I posted a thread in the zOMG! forum: Kabuki Kyoshiro “I’ve freaking had it. “The developers are now playing favorites by giving user User1 her own personalized animated. Evidence is as follows:”  “This Air Fluff, designed to be stronger than Landshark, is no joke/hoax/photoshopped illusion. It’s effing real. It was created for one reason: User1’s birthday. It was, in essence, a present. What’s also real is the blatant favoritism displayed by the developers, specifically Dev1, who was present. “I’m calling you all out. “Developers: You really want us to play a game—your baby—when you pull this kind of crap? Make it fair. Celebrate everyone’s birthday with their own personalized animated. And I mean EVERYBODY. I have worked very hard on both zOMG! and my regular account and this outright disrespect towards ALL users, including those present, is both hurtful and insanely infuriating.” The post ends there. What follows is a series of attack/defense posts created by other users and myself. Only a handful of users read/participated in the thread. Maybe no more than 30. Most of them were from the Chatterbox guild and were defending User1, but the few that weren’t, defended my view. For about half an hour the thread raged before it was deleted by a moderator. Furious and at the same time thankful, I began my debate with the moderator, Mod1. Our conversation is as follows: Mod1 Your topic named: An Insult to All Players This topic had been removed from the zOMG! (Gaia's MMO) forum. Additional notes: Hello, Your thread has been removed due to it containing name drops which are considered Trolling. Making intentionally inflammatory or provocative posts to incite responses from other members is known as trolling, and is not permitted at Gaia. Trolling is considered a form of abuse. This is not a warning to you, but rather a reminder. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Please note that continued conduct of this nature will result in future warnings, and multiple warnings may lead to your account being banned from Gaia. In order to prevent more warnings, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with our Terms of Service and Rules & Guidelines pages before proceeding. Sincerely, Mod1 Gaia Online Moderator Kabuki Kyoshiro Any idea how I'm supposed to make a complaint about favoritism without dropping names? Mod1 It's ok to offer feedback on the issue, but you can't use user names, and attacking the development team or the users is not permitted. It's fine to comment on the issue, but you cannot make remarks on other people. In addition, a less emotional title would be more advised. I'm not saying anything was wrong with the title, but it does incite unnecessary emotions when discussing complaints if you are trying to do it in a civil manner. If you want to write up a thread with complaints on the issue and run it by me before you remake it I can give you some advice. The focus should be on the game/issue, not the users involved. Sincerely, Mod1 Gaia Online Moderator Kabuki Kyoshiro This creates an issue when the animated mentioned is named after the user. It's really hard not to drop names then. As for the title of the thread, it is an emotional issue. I'm furious. I haven't stopped being furious for about an hour now. This isn't something I can let go when it's waved in people's faces. I'm not jealous or "bitching" (as some users put it), but I am complaining on behalf of all those users who were insulted or felt left out or were too scared to speak up. As for the complaint I issued, why am I not allowed to question the development team? They were responsible for the entire event. Mod1 For the screen shot, I can't do anything about that, it is what it is, there is nothing inherently wrong with it. For the title I'm suggesting it because the less emotional the thread the less likely it is to turn into trolling. You want to promote serious discussion about the issue and raise a serious question about it. You can't do that if emotions are running high. Kabuki Kyoshiro It's unreasonable to expect me to turn off my emotions when it's something I believe in: equality. Are you telling me that the ED is not emotionally charged? Speaking of other forums, please take a look at this: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=15584277&page=1 Aren't these users out of line? They even linked their thread to the now deleted thread I posted. There was no response as of writing this (10:29 p.m. PST). In the thread mentioned I am attacked by all of the “veteran” players from zOMG! You may draw your own conclusions from what was said. So to sum it up: I saw something that was blatant favoritism and called the staff on it. My affront was not directed at User1, even though she and her friends took it as such, but rather at the development team. Within a matter of minutes, I apparently made myself one of the most hated users on Gaia. I stand now, in wait, to see if Kabuki Kyoshiro will stay an active member of Gaia Online.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 3:38 pm
What I am asking each member of this guild is if you were upset in any way by the favoritism displayed by the Gaia staff, then please submit a complaint. My personal struggles should have no place in your complaints, just use the facts that I presented. What I want is the community to speak their mind to the Gaia Staff about favoritism, since my original post was erased from the forum, even though other people agreed with my point of view. It does not matter if you play zOMG! or not, this affects everyone. It is likely that "User1" is receiving unfair kickbacks from the staff that are not just limited to their own personal Animated.
Feel free to post questions or comments now.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 3:40 pm
How would we go about lodging a complaint?
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 4:04 pm
Thank you. I forgot the most important part! There are two ways to go about it. The first is most "dangerous" one: posting in the forums. It leaves you open to attack and threads that attract enough attention (i.e.: are sensitive and get people to start fighting with you) get deleted. I have thought about posting another topic on the matter in the regular forums, but since the zCB jumped on the topic the moment it was posted in an effort to crush it, I would need massive support in order to keep the thread open long enough to get the word out. The second option is more discreet: contacting Gaia directly via this link: http://www.gaiaonline.com/contact/feedbackUnfortunately, they lack a "complaint" option, so when you submit the report, chose the "General Account Inquiry" option. Scroll down to the bottom of the newly generated list to where it says, "If you still need to contact customer service, you can do so by clicking here." Start off the complaint by stating that you wish to complain, but the option was not available, then continue with your argument. Important: You must file the complaint with the use of another user's screenname. While I cannot type out the actual username, it should be obvious that the owner of the "pet" should occupy that space.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 5:43 pm
I will submit a complaint.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 6:14 am
Now, the situation itself...
Doesn't seem that bad to me.
But the deletion of the thread... I think it's overreacting...
AND HOLY s**t...
I actually got pissed when the members of that guild were calling you a selfish noob.
D:
I guess that means I like you, Skeleton man.
I didn't see the thread itself.
But from what you posted here, it doesn't seem that selfish.
And Cleo's response was soo stupid in that thread in their guild, about it being cool that programmers hang out with them.. Well yeah, hanging out is fine, but making things might not be...
Goddamnit, Skeleman, you've made me angry.
scream
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:17 pm
Actually, from what I'm understanding, the gravity of the situation is a whole lot worse than I thought. People could actually get fired over this. I don't really want that, I just want the favoritism to stop, but there's a lot of people out there who harbor ill feelings towards the development staff.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 5:11 pm
It's understandable. They weren't doing their jobs. Worse though, they got caught doing so. Sure, it sucks if they got fired and whatnot, but I'm not going to feel bad for whoever. They should have known the possible consequences of what they were doing, and if they didn't, then too bad for them.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 7:06 pm
I'm kinda torn on that. I mean, it's true that they deserve the consequences and should've forseen them due to the actions. But still.... wow. It is really hard to be sympathetic to them. I guess, though, that they don't deserve to lose their jobs over it though. Even though it's hard to slap someone on the wrist in cyberspace >>.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:04 pm
Sometimes I wish I could reach through my computer screen and give them a good shake! lol Just to wake them up and ask them what in the world they think they are doing!
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:18 am
Well, to be honest, the original situation doesn't bother me that much. I can see why someone might get upset, though, since it IS unfair...
But what really bugs me is that they deleted Kabuki's thread. (And that a lot of people from the mentioned guild are making fun of Kabuki...)
I think that they could have edited the names out.... >.>
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:20 am
I totally agree that deleting the original thread was wrong. This isn't Soviet Russia, people! We are supposed to be allowed to complain about our leaders!
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:51 am
I think North Korea would be a better comparison. ;D
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:54 am
Ah, but I'm old! When I was in school, we just wrote U.S.S.R. across the whole area...And I actually remember very clearly when the Berlin Wall came down.
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