Author Topic: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers  (Read 11983 times)

No Remorse

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #20 on: September 19, 2012, 08:31:33 PM »
No sorry but you can't compare this, a video game, to the oil and gas industry that affects everyone in the country. It's their company and their property. It's not shipping American jobs overseas it's closing a part of their company, which is happening daily in this country right now. The more you try to make this out to be an international incident, the more you're probably going to offend the hell out of the Koreans and make them want to get this over with. And again, this is not a higher priority than what our legislators are SUPPOSED to be dealing with right now. What's next asking for a CoH bailout? Please use some common sense.

Segev

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2012, 08:34:31 PM »
It's posts like No Remorse's here that make me actually pine for the Exalted Forum's "Thank" button.

DrakeGrimm

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2012, 08:48:31 PM »
* DrakeGrimm packs up and leaves the conversation
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Victoria Victrix

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #23 on: September 19, 2012, 08:58:53 PM »
No sorry but you can't compare this, a video game, to the oil and gas industry that affects everyone in the country. It's their company and their property. It's not shipping American jobs overseas it's closing a part of their company, which is happening daily in this country right now. The more you try to make this out to be an international incident, the more you're probably going to offend the hell out of the Koreans and make them want to get this over with. And again, this is not a higher priority than what our legislators are SUPPOSED to be dealing with right now. What's next asking for a CoH bailout? Please use some common sense.

I respectfully and completely disagree.  They BOUGHT an American company.  Said company was making a profit.  They abruptly CLOSED it, destroying American jobs.  This is very much in the interest of American politicians.  However, you are free to go putter off and do whatever it is you want to do.

However thank you for bumping this to the top of the page so I didn't have to.
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ShadowMokadara

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2012, 09:19:30 PM »
Sorry to say guys but this is taking it a bit too far. I have to agree that there's much bigger issues going on right now and they wouldn't even blink at this even if it were a big-time MMO like World of Warcraft.

Jobs being taken away in a recession? Welcome to reality. NCsoft also hosted a jobfair for Paragon Studios employees to make sure they're not kicked out onto the street.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2012, 09:42:39 PM by ShadowMokadara »

Victoria Victrix

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #25 on: September 19, 2012, 09:36:51 PM »
Sorry to say guys but this is taking it a bit too far. I have to agree that there's much bigger issues going on right now and they wouldn't even blink at this if it were a big-time MMO like World of Warcraft.

Jobs being taken away in a recession? Welcome to reality. NCsoft also hosted a jobfair for Paragon Studios employees to make sure they're not kicked out onto the street.

Let this jaded old hippie point out some reality to you.

How much "substance" do you actually see politicians accomplishing? 

I thought so.

Politicians exist to get their faces in front of the public and issue hot air.  This gives them hot air fodder.  Will it DO anything?  No.  But it will let them blather on at length about THEM DAMN FURRINERS TAKIN OUR JOBS.  That gets US in the news.  This is what we want.  More pressure on NCSoft to sell the IP instead of burying it.
I will go down with this ship.  I won't put my hands up in surrender.  There will be no white flag above my door.  I'm in love, and always will be.  Dido

ShadowMokadara

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #26 on: September 19, 2012, 09:39:13 PM »
If something so globally important can't be properly discussed by them, why would something like this be? I see your point, of course, but NCsoft pulled a genius move on giving the developers a job fair to get themselves out of that pressure just so they could let the game die with no one else to work on it.

Edit: That said, I'm not giving up on the fight at all. I just don't believe this would be the most effective way to do it. It'd be awesome if it worked though.

Victoria Victrix

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #27 on: September 19, 2012, 09:45:27 PM »
If something so globally important can't be properly discussed by them, why would something like this be? I see your point, of course, but NCsoft pulled a genius move on giving the developers a job fair to get themselves out of that pressure just so they could let the game die with no one else to work on it.

OK let me point something ELSE out.  And here I have first hand experience.

Job fair =/= a job.

What a "Job Fair" DOES equal is a "nice gesture." 

I know a crapton of programmers and support people and devs who work on other games and too many of THEM are being laid off too. 

There are far fewer jobs in the US in the gaming industry now than there were just a year ago...even Blizzard is laying off.

Just because someone turns up at a job fair and collects your resume, it does not follow that they HAVE a job opening, INTEND to hire you, or have any prospect of a job opening in the future.  They turn up at the job fair because it is their job to turn up at the job fair and collect resumes.

How do I know this?

Because my mother in law was once one of the top people in the business of running job fairs in the North Carolina area...and that was when there actually were jobs to be had.
I will go down with this ship.  I won't put my hands up in surrender.  There will be no white flag above my door.  I'm in love, and always will be.  Dido

Enson Red Shirt

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #28 on: September 19, 2012, 09:50:30 PM »
I have had multiple vip accounts on ap33 on virtue even tho my server is justice i have been playing the game since beta and never even thought it would end and am still holding out but also as far as the links to washington cali and texas you may want to consider doing what i have been doing on a daily basis i will cross post this on the other thread as well
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
and dont be afraid to ask for a tweet either

ShadowMokadara

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #29 on: September 19, 2012, 09:57:09 PM »
Either way, they've shown their "grace" to the public. I believe the decision was made by the *US* company as well since the Korean NCsoft does not have any ties to City of Heroes and/or Paragon Studios. It wouldn't come down to discussions of foreigners. It'd come down to politicians being the devils they are and stepping on our face and telling us to get over it.

Not to mention there's an election right around the corner. I could be wrong, though. I doubted our efforts would be noticed by CNN and here we are. I'm sure CNN and Fox have been all over the debate, too, so there's possible hope.

NCsoft has a horrible reputation that this whole scenario isn't making any more clean, but it seems to a lot of the public it's coming off as a "What do you expect from NCsoft?" rather than the crime against nature it would've been if this were their first time doing this to a game. They're pretty much Nexon's partner in crime.

As said before, I'm not giving up the fight. This just doesn't seem the way to proceed with it.

If Blizzard and Activision have had to be laying people off, then how would this be any different? If anything we'll bring attention to the vague topic of Game Developer Jobs.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2012, 10:04:23 PM by ShadowMokadara »

Segev

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #30 on: September 19, 2012, 10:01:54 PM »
All I can really contribute at this point is the note that vitriol and "NCSoft is the enemy!" type attitudes will not be constructive. They're trying to preserve their business. We are best served by trying to help them do this in a way that makes preserving Paragon Studios, as a separate entity from them (since they do not want it anymore), is the least painful and most profitable/least lossy way for them to do it.

Spewing vitriol, as cathartic as it might be, only gets their dander up. Pressure is fine and good, but leave them room to acquiesce to our desires gracefully. Let them have room to, if they go the way we want, save face. Costing them face no matter their actions, as some of these proposed behaviors will do, will only make them more likely to take their toys and go home and darn the losses, just out of spite.

DrakeGrimm

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #31 on: September 19, 2012, 10:05:09 PM »
* DrakeGrimm stalks back into the conversation.


POSITIVE ENERGY, PEOPLE!


* DrakeGrimm stomps back out.
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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #32 on: September 19, 2012, 10:07:41 PM »
I'm being realistic, not negative.

Victoria Victrix

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #33 on: September 19, 2012, 10:24:41 PM »
The entire point of this exercise is to make things uncomfortable, but not intolerably so, for NCSoft.  Out of all of the politicians you contact, there will be at least some who will blather about this in the news, or use this in one of their speeches, or make some kind of political hay about it.

NCSoft's PR firm, whose job it is to collect these things, will have hysterics, because this story is penetrating into political realms.

NCSoft knows (or should by now) that there is one sure way to make us go away and have the story fade.  Act gracious and generous and sell/release the IP into other hands and (or so they think) let THOSE hands fail, thus washing any and all potential stink off of NCSoft.

This too is reality.  This is what spin-doctors and PR firms do.
I will go down with this ship.  I won't put my hands up in surrender.  There will be no white flag above my door.  I'm in love, and always will be.  Dido

eabrace

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #34 on: September 19, 2012, 10:28:51 PM »
Act gracious and generous and sell/release the IP into other hands and (or so they think) let THOSE hands fail, thus washing any and all potential stink off of NCSoft.
Not to mention bringing in some cash to help make up for the 80 severance packages they just had to pay out.  (I keep thinking of that every time I read that part of the loss they just reported was one-time severance payouts.)
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ShadowMokadara

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #35 on: September 19, 2012, 11:03:11 PM »
Sitting on the IP is not illegal, but it sure as hell makes them look like tyrants.

We all know what heroes/villains do to Tyrants!

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #36 on: September 19, 2012, 11:09:56 PM »
We all know what heroes/villains do to Tyrants!

/b "NC SOFT TRIAL FORMING IN DA!   PST!!!"

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #37 on: September 19, 2012, 11:42:19 PM »
OK, I said what I thought was my final word in another thread, but I'm going to break that statement.

ARE YOU GUYS KIDDING?!?!? A company decides they want to refocus THEIR own efforts and sunset a video game that was maybe profitable (no one here is taking overhead and taxes into account and anyone that claims to know for sure is lying), and people think THIS is a reason to go after government for intervention? With all the issues going on right now, THIS is a reason to try to contact the government, A VIDEO GAME??? Forget the wars being fought, the economy, the labor issues, the domestic violence, the corruption, as long as we get them to focus on what's important, COH.

Seriously, this is ridiculous. I'm a business owner in Texas. If I decided to close a part of my business down and refocus on something else, just how the hell is it the government's business to get involved (unless I'm doing something illegal)? You guys are making less sense on this than the occupy people were that didn't even know why they were protesting. I'm sorry but if you get the legislators / senators / congressmen here in Texas to pay attention to this then I want them all fired for ignoring the serious matters.

This is exactly what I was talking about too. If you want to make a difference in the world, do it. This ISN'T the world, it's an escape from the world, it's entertainment. It's not going to make us gamers look capable, it's going to make us look out of touch with reality if we ask everyone that should be paying attention to the real world to stop and pay attention to something that in the grand scheme of things is trivial. This is coming from a 8+ year vet of CoH, who has 4 kids that also play the game. Please don't go this route, as it's amatuerish at best and seriously makes us all look like asses. This is a business thing, not a political thing. Do you WANT to give the jackasses misleading the country more of a reason to not do their jobs?

Okay, I really dislike it when someone doesn't understand something but comes out ON THE ATTACK.
I'll just point out one giant mistake (and I am saying this sincerely to help you to understand, zero vitriol from me):
...THIS is a reason to try to contact the government, A VIDEO GAME???
No, it is not about a video game. It is about a company made of 80+ people that produced a successful, profitable product that is recognized within the industry for its quality and its innovations and has a healthy, extremely loyal paying customer-base made up of thousands of people that use it for a significant pastime.

Whether or not you agree with any significance within that scenario, at least you can correct that this is not just about some dumb VIDEO GAME???...

Paragon Studios is a wonderful American company and it can absolutely pull in a profit with this product and their service.
All we are doing is creating public awareness about this extremely talented team and their untimely firing in order to draw attention to, and bolster support for, allowing them to continue via having the rights bought from NCSoft.
Yes, we are willing to apply public pressure onto NCSoft to make sure that they give this profitable business venture a fair shot in the free market.

Those people's jobs, this product and the community surrounding it all deserve to continue if it can remain profitable and we're simply doing our job in helping this to happen.

Contacting government officials about this is not some barge-in protest that is going to disrupt a single thing.
It is simply just giving them the opportunity to take interest in it or to not.

In my opinion, these people and this product are worth that.
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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #38 on: September 20, 2012, 12:27:50 AM »
I am not going to flame anybody here, but I find it not too classy going for this kind approach. Not getting into detail on American companies practices overseas, to get a moral highground in this case.

Imho, this is not what heroes do.

DrakeGrimm

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Re: Light A Fire: Contact Texan, Washington State, and Californian Lawmakers
« Reply #39 on: September 20, 2012, 12:30:20 AM »
I am not going to flame anybody here, but I find it not too classy going for this kind approach. Not getting into detail on American companies practices overseas, to get a moral highground in this case.

Imho, this is not what heroes do.

Opinion noted. Thanks for presenting it in a civil manner. :)
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"We put ourselves in "the attitude of heroes"--and we all became a little more heroic." - VV