The situation right now

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To be fair, Pirul, he was first called an ingrate and malcontent, and then he cursed people out. He didn't come out the gate dropping f-bombs as you put it.

Since he has an orange name I think it's safe to assume BE is a customer and not just a guest, so I'm not sure that your analogy plays.

I don't think anyone should be banned for speaking their mind about the server status. It's not like what he said was really untrue, right? Although perhaps it wasn't kind and the code of conduct these days dictates that the staff must be treated with respect. Unfortunately it's hard to talk about these issues without risking your own accounts. I guess everyone should just keeping smiling and nodding.

And the forum can applaud like when PFR was banned, and maybe get some brownie points too, but the community is worse off for it.

[EDIT: I don't actually think we should be negative to staff about current development. But I think it would be very healthy to have a conversation that goes along the lines of: Q: Weren't moats promised by 2015's end? Reply: Yes, but there are other things going on in my life so some of these things are going to need to wait. Some people are led to believe that that big patch is just a weekend away and it puts both the developers and the players in a frustrated position. If instead someone is left with relative silence and then asks what is going on and is lynched by the forum for being ungrateful - well here we are.]

11 people replied before his f-bomb post. Of those, 1 called him an ingrate and another a malcontent. The rest were quite civil and some even supportive, and yet his "Fuck you all" was quite encompassing.

I believe that is voluntary, and not required. I do not belive donating turns you into a customer.

I don't think anyone said it was untrue. Hell, I mock this very issue whenever the lvl 7 dragon's den map comes up. However, I think the f-bomb rant might have gone a tad too far. I think up to that point it was quite civil, and his account wasn't at risk in the slightest.

I don't think it is comparable at all, but ok. If you say so. But I do agree that having less players hurts the community.

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Sure it does. Besides, I think the word you were looking for was subscribing. I don't think it's legal to charge players to play the server, but I do think that donating and subscribing makes you a customer. In fact in the last year this has many times been a weapon used in debate on the forum: ' Do you have an orange name? Then you don't deserve anything.'

This doesn't mean it's fair or right to make demands of staff. But do you think it's possible that some healthy discussion and transparency from staff might go some distance in alleviating the OP's frustration?

Can someone be an adult. This was an embarrassing read. All of it.

More specifically this whole bit about punishment as most of you have zero authority.

Just hush up. Jeez.

Isn't a suscription (here) just a series of commited donations?

donation
[doh-ney-shuh n]
noun
1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.

So no, voluntarily gifting your money expecting nothing in return (see def. of gift) does not turn you into a customer. If it did, THEN it would be illegal.

ABSOLUTELY!! However BE gave staff almost exactly 6 hours of prime US Monday morning time before going off (surprise, surprise, most people work Monday mornings and can't deal with forum drama at work).

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We are arguing semantics. There is a special forum for subscribers/donators to have more of a stake in development. There are perks like free name changes. There is an elevated status when your name is orange - much like customer service.

And I think we both know this post wasn't only six hours in the making.

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Wait a minute, stop right there. There are IN-GAME benefits to being a suscriber/donator?

Unofficially, yes.

Anyways I wanted to defend BE's ban a bit. Maybe his post came off as angry and entitled and offensive. You would be fair in saying so. Maybe he was your in game rival and you're glad to see him go. But he was an important member of the community and he was frustrated for some valid reasons.

Don't think there are any in game benefits, I got an Orange forum name & have bought in game name change deeds whenever I needed them

Been a subscribing donor for a while now and even during my several breaks. I get treated with courtesy and respect not because of my donations, but because I show courtesy and respect. Even when I disagree or am pissed off... well it does get thin when pissed.

I feel your pain Blackeye, lots of things here I wish were different and some paranoid side of me feels like there is another level of the game going on here that I am somehow missing. Ever see a Bill Maher segment where he says, "I don't have any proof, but I know its true...". It can certainly feel that way and while there may be no impropriety actually going on, it can appear that way sometimes in the heat of the moment.

Its times like those that I take a break and try to remember all the good here, the fact that it is a freeshard and Chris is donating his time. I am thankful that there is another GM now. The load of running this place is too much for just one person. I actually wish there were more. I wish there were active Seers who ran events and stuff rather than it all falling to Chris. I have a blackrock fragment from a couple years ago from what looked to be a very promising story line that just died out...

BlackEye I hope you can find the fun in playing here, I truly think we need the diversity that you and others(Mes, Vlar, Blaise, Apoc, ShadowJack, etc...) bring and have brought. Some no longer play here actively & that is a shame...

Enough damn rambling... I am getting in game...

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Since I have a squeaky clean reputation of never raging, I felt like maybe I could lend my point of view. Some of us are wired differently...for example:

Person A: Gets bad news in real life; tries to game for a while and forget about the stressors around him, gets triggered by something in game and has a mild case of misdirected anger towards staff, even thought it was for a valid issue that needs to be addressed.

Person B: Gets the same bad news, tries to game it away, and it works. Person B is now calm and forgets about real life stressors.

We are so quick to ban BlackEye, a longtime veteran of UOR, for having (what seemed to me) like a case of misdirected anger...yet we defend the staff and make excuses for them by saying "they have other lives outside of the game...its a free shard...ran by volunteers with other responsibilities...cut them some slack"

Yet, one of our very own has something going on, and without probing to understand the problem, the typical assholes "poke the bear".

Anyways, if that made sense, cool. If not, kick rocks.

#UnbanBLACKEYE!

Everyone is wrong! Everyone is right!

*subtly reveals paddle*

... but seriously, has there been any discussion about making the minor events (CTF's, 1v1/2v2's) TOTALLY automated? There was another shard that I played on a while back that would start events at the EXACT time they were scheduled. Sometimes the GM's were there, and sometimes they were not. I am adamantly bringing this up because there is nothing more heart breaking than wanting to compete in a CTF only to find out that it isn't happening.

Whatever is going on with Blackeye is between him and the staff. Hopefully it is resolved in a way that benefits both sides.

Landarr, I would like to introduce you to @Pegbyter. He is our full time seer, and has been very busy these last few months helping the RP community run all kinds of events. In fact there is even an event tomorrow, 9pm at the Empath Abbey. Ask and you shall have already received!

The Battle of the Justice Shrine (Tomorrow!!!)

The Battle of Compassion Shrine

The Battle of Honesty Shrine

The Battle of Honor Shrine

What El Horno said - We recently got a Seer in the form of Pegbyter and things have been going great so far.

Take a look in the Salty Dog Tavern sub-forum to see some of the things that have been going on. Right now there is a whole big thing with the shrines.

I've been the Seer for a while now and yes, I do make public appearances at regular player run events / Taverns / Casino's, etc, so people can see that I am active in the community besides just running the RP side of things.

I invite you all to come along and join in the fun; tommorrow at 9pm there will be an adventure to cleanse the shrine of Justice.

Oh snap, new staff! Sup pegbytr??