Can anyone rez Zwill?

[TimtheEnchanter]

Poor Kraken, so misunderstood.

It wasn't our fault. It made a noise... could've just been a grunt, but it sounded to us like, "U suk heroz, NC rulz. QQ"

[Lily Barclay]

" I've made the decision to spend some time focusing on family and the job hunt, mostly family"

For those of you unfamiliar with the business and political world, this is company-mandated-speak for "I've been fired."

That is precisely what I thought when I read his post. I found it particularly interesting that it came shortly after he posted about "Dinner's on us" on the official Facebook page.

[jacknomind]

Please remember the initial announcement was that the boards would be closing Sept 1. 

This was not in any announcement.  At one point Positron and Zwill said they were not sure how long the boards would be up for.  But since the forums and topsite are the sole means NCSoft is using to communicate with us (aside from the launcher which is a topsite mirror), I would be a little surprised to see them shut down before the final closure.

[Omega Mark V]

Thank you for being a big part of our community, Zwill.

/Salute

Good luck, and God Speed.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Agreed... also on top of that, if it was mentioned in the initial announcement, then surely it would have been posted about on the boards as well very very fast.

Once again, more misinformation that might be used elsewhere.... *shakes head*

Were they REALLY planning to close the forums before closure, or is that just a rumor?

Because... with all the talk I've been hearing about how NC just doesn't understand Western culture, if they were going to do THAT, it would mean something even more pathetic... that they don't understand gamer culture. That'd be like kicking everyone out of the funeral home in the middle of the wake. Look at how horrid a reputation SOE has, and they let the SWG forums stay even a couple weeks after shutdown. People need to say goodbye. They need help with their digital bucket lists. They want to hold major farewell events. Could NC really be so daft as to not anticipate that?

[eabrace]

That'd be like kicking everyone out of the funeral home in the middle of the wake.

I'm picturing a funeral directory standing the middle of a room yelling, "OK, everyone, last call!"

[GuyPerfect]

QUICK! SOMEONE GET ZWILL A WAKIE!

Crap, all I've got is two Insights, three blues of different sizes, and one of those Presents from the holidays!

[CapaDevans]

I hope Zwi get's a great job because he deserves bettr than the clowns at NC.

[Oskmey]

Wow, Zwill has been such an important part and this really hammers home what is happening.  I wish he and his family the best of luck for the future.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Crap, all I've got is two Insights, three blues of different sizes, and one of those Presents from the holidays!

Sadly, when I first read this thread title, I was about to jump in with my healer, thinking that he'd gotten killed while AFK in AP33 or something. And then I clicked and my heart sunk. My healer can't fix that one.

[Victoria Victrix]

When the shutdown was announced, I was at DragonCon, with a connection so crappy I could *barely* access my email and get *some* chat through.  I could not get through to the official boards so I never saw official announcements until I got to where I had a better connection.

At some point during that period of Aug 31- Sept 3, someone I had reason trust told me that the official boards would be shut down on Sept 1.  I don't have a record of who it was; it was probably an email (now deleted), and it *might* have been War Witch. 

[eabrace]

Well, according to VV, it was in the original announcement that the forums were going to be closed down on September 1st.

I don't recall reading the sunset date in the original closure notice (I'd look, but blocked here at work).  But I do remember reading on IGN that they had been told by NCsoft that operations would cease on Nov. 30.  Nothing about the boards going down, though.

[jacknomind]

She misremembered or was misinformed by someone else; it doesn't really matter.  I just don't want people to think that with Zwill gone, the official forums are going to up and vanish on us.

[Victoria Victrix]

She misremembered or was misinformed by someone else; it doesn't really matter.  I just don't want people to think that with Zwill gone, the official forums are going to up and vanish on us.

Just repeating here:

When the shutdown was announced, I was at DragonCon, with a connection so crappy I could *barely* access my email and get *some* chat through.  I could not get through to the official boards so I never saw official announcements until I got to where I had a better connection.

At some point during that period of Aug 31- Sept 3, someone I had reason to trust told me that the official boards would be shut down on Sept 1.  I don't have a record of who it was; it was probably an email (now deleted), and it *might* have been War Witch. 

So far as WW knew during those initial days, everyone, including Zwill, had been canned. 

[Olantern]

While there were lots of developers whose work I enjoyed, Zwillinger was my hero among the devs/OCR folks and my favorite community rep among the many the fora had.  Mr. Belford handled a job that would have had me tearing out my hair within minutes with humor, reason, and grace.  His thoughtfulness and evenhandedness, sometimes in the face of intense provocation, inspired me.

I can't think of a better commendation of his work than this: A while back, I interviewed to run a clinic in Santa Clara, CA, near Mountain View.  (I ended up not getting the job, which turned out to the good for a variety of reasons.)  My main concern was the cost of living out there and whether I could find a good, affordable neighborhood.  But while I was out on the interview, I thought, "I can just PM Zwillinger and ask about that.  I'm sure he'll give good advice."  You're really doing your job well when your customers trust you that implicitly.

[uninventive]

I honestly believe that we will get warning concerning the removal of the forums and the closure of the game.

If NCSoft is considering drawing everyone down (Not just Zwillinger, but fewer and fewer rednames commenting now on the boards) to the point where only the server staff is there to shut it off on November 30th, then anything is possible, including nothing.

[eabrace]

I believe - not certain, so don't go quoting this as authoritative or anything - that we're down to two moderators on the boards and the folks running servers.

[rathe101]

And black pebble.. he's been posting a lot recently, but really noone else has.

[eabrace]

Well, they're able to post, but not still officially on the payroll.

And we know that Cryptic just picked up a few devs for STO, but we don't know who.  I'd think if they're over at Cryptic now, they wouldn't be posting on NCsoft boards.

[chaparralshrub]

I just realized this now.

Something to consider:

But before we get into the details, we want to personally share with you NCsoft's sincere thanks to all of our fans that have spent time with us during the past eight years. We cannot reiterate how tough it was to make the final decision to close this wonderful chapter in our history. This has been a very special time for all of us, and we want to ensure we close this chapter with the best possible gaming experiences for everyone. To celebrate during the closing, we will host several of the popular events we have enjoyed in the past. Exact details and timing of these events will be shared shortly, as we are still nailing down specifics.

Note the last two sentences - PS or NC (or both) has promised to give us some celebratory treats before the end of the game, and that they will be posting what these will be shortly. I just checked, and they have not done so yet. If they don't, then that's false advertising, and we can probably sue them. (Somebody make a copy of that archive post just in case!)

This doesn't say anything about the forums, but it does say about the game: they are planning to give us warning about when the game will be over.