Korean Kibun

[Victoria Victrix]

....
:'(

Thank you.

<hug>

Same here, but it's grief and not anger.  I can't even say the word "game" without breaking into tears.  Larry is terribly distressed on my behalf. 

[DrakeGrimm]

OK you folks who "get this" better than I do.  I am going to send another letter, this time to the CEO of NCSoft in Korea, via overnight, so it won't end up in the sorting room with the capes and masks.

This is the proposed content.  Anyone who has any comments or suggestions, they would be welcome.

I am an old woman.  I wake up weeping.  I go to bed weeping.  At times during the day, tears are flowing down my face.  I weep because you are destroying my home, you are destroying my village.  You are destroying City of Heroes.

You have closed your eyes to this destruction of our harmony.

I am an old woman.  I do not have the skills to join a new "game," even if I would be welcome there (in so many I have found, I am not).  I have no children.  My aged parents live 1500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband's parents live 1200 miles away and cannot travel.  My brother lives 750 miles away and cannot travel.  My best friend lives 500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband is ill.  All my social contact comes via a "game," my village, City of Heroes.  I live in the remote country, and am 20 miles away from the nearest town.  City of Heroes is my village.

You are destroying my harmony.  I will never get it back.  After November 30, I will live until I die in sorrow and loneliness.  You are the CEO of this company.  This is your fault.  You are destroying my village.  You have closed your eyes to this destruction.  I lay this at your feet.

There is a little crippled boy who has had his faith in adults to be wise and caring of the needs of children destroyed.  He will never get this faith back.  You have closed your eyes to destroying his faith.  I lay this at your feet.

There are parents who will never have the tool they need to reach out to their autistic children and bring them back.  They are weeping.  Their harmony is destroyed.  You have closed your eyes to their tears.  I lay this at your feet.

There are old and crippled and traumatized people who have also had their village destroyed by you.  Like me, they too will end their lives in sorrow and loneliness because of you.  You have closed your eyes to their sorrow.  I lay this at your feet.

Do not pretend you know nothing of me, of these people.  They have written you, many times.  If you ordered your underlings to destroy these letters before you saw them, that is just one more wrongful act you have done among all the others.  You have closed your eyes to their pleas.  I lay this, too, at your feet.

You are destroying our village as surely as if you were ordering bulldozers to bury a village of real houses.  There are thousands of us, who are losing what we need to make our lives a little more bearable.  I lay all this at your feet, all this destruction of harmony, all this promotion of grief and misery.  I lay it at your feet.  You are responsible.

Some of us are old, some of us are sick and dying, and will end our lives in sorrow and loneliness thanks to you.  We lay this at your feet.  You will bear the burden of this for the rest of your life.  Your company will bear the burden of this for as long as it survives.

There is one thing and one thing only you can do that will end this.  Sell City of Heroes to someone who will keep our village alive.  Only that will end the sorrow, the disharmony, and your guilt in perpetrating it.  Only this, and nothing less.

...I am an idiot child, scribbling in the dirt.

* DrakeGrimm stands in awe

...it is always. Always. A treat to watch one of the master wordsmiths forge a blade of script and prose. Thank you for sharing this.

[Terwyn]

<hug>

Same here, but it's grief and not anger.  I can't even say the word "game" without breaking into tears.  Larry is terribly distressed on my behalf.

I can imagine. Humans have a tendency to reflect the emotional state of those whom they have the closest bond.

I suspect that the only reason why there is no outward expression of anguish that my family can detect is because my twin brother (Mentalshock) and I frequently discuss current matters. He does well to defuse the more volatile aspects of my mind.

[Teege]

...I am an idiot child, scribbling in the dirt.

* DrakeGrimm stands in awe

...it is always. Always. A treat to watch one of the master wordsmiths forge a blade of script and prose. Thank you for sharing this.

Isn't it?

[Victoria Victrix]

Aside from Confucianism, a major religious form in Korea is shamanism, and I was going for the rhythm and flavor of a shamanic chant, since I have more experience with that than Confucianism.

[Terwyn]

Aside from Confucianism, a major religious form in Korea is shamanism, and I was going for the rhythm and flavor of a shamanic chant, since I have more experience with that than Confucianism.

There's a reason why a modern linguistic debate is whether or not human musical ability pre-dates human language. You've definitely hit upon something instinctual here.

[Quinch]

Aside from Confucianism, a major religious form in Korea is shamanism, and I was going for the rhythm and flavor of a shamanic chant, since I have more experience with that than Confucianism.

Hey Victoria, can you check your PMs when you get the chance?

[Mentalshock]

I can imagine. Humans have a tendency to reflect the emotional state of those whom they have the closest bond.

I suspect that the only reason why there is no outward expression of anguish that my family can detect is because my twin brother (Mentalshock) and I frequently discuss current matters. He does well to defuse the more volatile aspects of my mind.

As much as I do for you, you also do for me.   It's just that my volatile aspects are far more tightly contained.

[Mister Bison]

I am an old woman.  I wake up weeping.  I go to bed weeping.  At times during the day, tears are flowing down my face.  I weep because you are destroying my home, you are destroying my village.  You are destroying City of Heroes.

You have closed your eyes to this destruction of our harmony.

I am an old woman.  I do not have the skills to join a new "game," even if I would be welcome there (in so many I have found, I am not).  I have no children.  My aged parents live 1500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband's parents live 1200 miles away and cannot travel.  My brother lives 750 miles away and cannot travel.  My best friend lives 500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband is ill.  All my social contact comes via a "game," my village, City of Heroes.  I live in the remote country, and am 20 miles away from the nearest town.  City of Heroes is my village.

You are destroying my harmony.  I will never get it back.  After November 30, I will live until I die in sorrow and loneliness.  You are the CEO of this company.  This is your fault.  You are destroying my village.  You have closed your eyes to this destruction.  I lay this at your feet.

There is a little crippled boy who has had his faith in adults to be wise and caring of the needs of children destroyed.  He will never get this faith back.  You have closed your eyes to destroying his faith.  I lay this at your feet.

There are parents who will never have the tool they need to reach out to their autistic children and bring them back.  They are weeping.  Their harmony is destroyed.  You have closed your eyes to their tears.  I lay this at your feet.

There are old and crippled and traumatized people who have also had their village destroyed by you.  Like me, they too will end their lives in sorrow and loneliness because of you.  You have closed your eyes to their sorrow.  I lay this at your feet.

Do not pretend you know nothing of me, of these people.  They have written you, many times.  If you ordered your underlings to destroy these letters before you saw them, that is just one more wrongful act you have done among all the others.  You have closed your eyes to their pleas.  I lay this, too, at your feet.

You are destroying our village as surely as if you were ordering bulldozers to bury a village of real houses.  There are thousands of us, who are losing what we need to make our lives a little more bearable.  I lay all this at your feet, all this destruction of harmony, all this promotion of grief and misery.  I lay it at your feet.  You are responsible.

Some of us are old, some of us are sick and dying, and will end our lives in sorrow and loneliness thanks to you.  We lay this at your feet.  You will bear the burden of this for the rest of your life.  Your company will bear the burden of this for as long as it survives.

There is one thing and one thing only you can do that will end this.  Sell City of Heroes to someone who will keep our village alive.  Only that will end the sorrow, the disharmony, and your guilt in perpetrating it.  Only this, and nothing less.

This is one great letter if I can recognize one, but even with as much respect I have, I'm concerned about the last paragraph.

Your letter risk being balled back because you only propose selling the game, where a lot more opportunities may exist. In fact, it's much more reasonable to think that all it could take to restore their Kibun, is to enter an open discussion, if not negitiation, with us that got hurt by their acts. The best we wish is this discussion to end with the IP sold to other hands, but if there is truly problems for them to sell the IP, stating their reasons is good enough. Coming open will "save face", whereas right now their obscurantism is hurting them more in our fan-publisher relation.

And a last far-fetched idea is to have Cryptic back up your letter as an "introduction" from a third person. It's also the last entity I think that may be needed to negotiate the IP/license, since NCSoft has acquired it from them.

[Zolgar]

This is one great letter if I can recognize one, but even with as much respect I have, I'm concerned about the last paragraph.

Your letter risk being balled back because you only propose selling the game, where a lot more opportunities may exist. In fact, it's much more reasonable to think that all it could take to restore their Kibun, is to enter an open discussion, if not negitiation, with us that got hurt by their acts. The best we wish is this discussion to end with the IP sold to other hands, but if there is truly problems for them to sell the IP, stating their reasons is good enough. Coming open will "save face", whereas right now their obscurantism is hurting them more in our fan-publisher relation.

And a last far-fetched idea is to have Cryptic back up your letter as an "introduction" from a third person. It's also the last entity I think that may be needed to negotiate the IP/license, since NCSoft has acquired it from them.

Bison makes an excellent point here..

Otherwise, I share Grimm's sentiment. The pen truly is mightier than the sword, and it is a craft you have done an exceptional job honing over your years.

[MishaFox]

I am really seriously tired of the stupid, badly bungled and rude handling by NCSoft. It all reeks of inept leadership and almost amateurish  thinking. The problem I see is that something is seriously wrong at NCSoft.

How hard is it to understand GAME MAKING MONEY - KEEP GAME GOING and MAKE MONEY.

It's late and I'm preaching. Time for bed.

[Epelesker]

VV, I swear that if I hadn't already recovered from crying once today, I would have after reading that letter.

I'm going to agree on Bison's point as well, though. Encourage them to reapproach the table but don't explicitly aim for selling the game. Yet.

[Victoria Victrix]

This is why I post and ask for the opinions of those of you that understand kibun better than I do.

I'll revise it to say something about coming back to the negotiating table to "give us the chance for our village to be saved."

[Victoria Victrix]

Revised text:

Sir;

I am an old woman.  Since August 31, I wake up weeping.  I go to bed weeping.  At times during the day, tears are flowing down my face.  I weep because you are destroying my home, you are destroying my village.  You are destroying City of Heroes.

You have closed your eyes to this destruction of our harmony.

I am an old woman.  I do not have the skills to join a new "game," even if I would be welcome there (in so many I have found, I am not).  I have no children.  My aged parents live 1500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband's parents live 1200 miles away and cannot travel.  My brother lives 750 miles away and cannot travel.  My best friend lives 500 miles away and cannot travel.  My husband is ill.  All my social contact comes via a "game," my village, City of Heroes.  I live in the remote country, and am 20 miles away from the nearest town.  City of Heroes is my village.

You are destroying my harmony.  I will never get it back, for I am old and the old do not recover quickly.  After November 30, I will live until I die in sorrow and loneliness.  You are the CEO of this company.  This is your fault.  You are destroying my village.  You have closed your eyes to this destruction.  I lay this at your feet.

There is a little crippled boy who has had his faith in adults to be wise and caring of the needs of children destroyed.  He will never get this faith back.  You have closed your eyes to this destruction of his faith.  I lay this at your feet.

There are parents who will never have the tool they need to reach out to their autistic children and bring them back.  They are weeping.  Their harmony is destroyed.  You have closed your eyes to their tears.  I lay this at your feet.

There are other old or crippled or traumatized people in this village besides me, who are suffering because of its destruction.  Like me, they too will end their lives in sorrow and loneliness because of you.  You have closed your eyes to their sorrow.  I lay this at your feet.

There are people who are so burdened with sorrow, so burdened with anger over your actions, that they no longer dare to speak to others for fear their anger will overflow on those who do not deserve it.  You have stolen their voices, and you have closed your eyes to this.  I lay this at your feet.

Do not pretend you know nothing of me, of these people.  They have written you, many times.  If you ordered your underlings to destroy these letters before you saw them, that is just one more wrongful act you have done amid all the others.  You have closed your eyes to their pleas.  I lay this, too, at your feet.

You are destroying our village as surely as if you were ordering bulldozers to bury a village of real houses.  There are thousands of us, who are losing what we need to make our lives a little more bearable.  I lay all this at your feet, all this destruction of harmony, all this promotion of grief and misery.  I lay it at your feet.  You are responsible.

Some of us are old, some of us are sick and dying, and will end our lives in sorrow and loneliness thanks to you.  We lay this at your feet.  You will bear the burden of this for the rest of your life.  Your company will bear the burden of this for as long as it survives.

You alone have the power to end this destruction of our harmony.  You have the power to decide, not to destroy our village, but to find a way to preserve it.  You alone have the power to return to the point between us and find a solution.  You have only to use that power, for harmony to be restored.

[Vulpy]

Revised text:

From my incredibly limited experience, this may hit on some cultural expectations--I believe that being able to properly produce poetry was considered a mark of high social standing at some points in Korean history. I'm no expert on Korean poetry, though, so I'm not sure what makes a poem "good" to a Korean ear. That said, I could produce some references if more research was desired.

[QuantumHero]

VV,

That was a very powerful letter...studying comparative mythology has given me insight into what shapes many cultures, unfortunately when it comes to Korea I am still a child with barely open eyes....but a seeker of knowledge.  The only thing I can do is ask the uncomfortable questions that have to be asked :(

1. Is the admission of being childless helpful?  There are some cultures in which this would exponentially reduce your status.  There are some where an older woman without children well the thought of even finishing this sentance sickens me.  Is this true of Korea?

|2. Elder are honored in most of Asia to my knowledge, do we actually know this to hold true in Korea

3. Damaged children um, I hate even asking this, but do they find the damaged worthy of preservation?  <shudder>.

4.  Being female is there anything specific in the roles of women that could trip the efforts of women up in interacting with them?  Are women honored? Seen as Equals?

5. Bison may have a point on needing an introduction.

I don't like asking these questions...but the answers are important.

Please don't hate me for asking these questions.

[StarRanger4]

Nice research.  I think a helpful phrase you might want to look up in addition is 체면 (pronounced cheh myun), as it is the Korean concept for face or more pertinently saving face.

Thanks for kicking ass in the research StarRanger.

-Opti

It looks like its actually spelled Chea Myun, and I'll be starting to work that research later today.  Right now I have to take care of RL comittments to maintain family Kibun and the like. (its also why I've been seemingly missing the last few days)

[DrakeGrimm]

VV,

That was a very powerful letter...studying comparative mythology has given me insight into what shapes many cultures, unfortunately when it comes to Korea I am still a child with barely open eyes....but a seeker of knowledge.  The only thing I can do is ask the uncomfortable questions that have to be asked :(

1. Is the admission of being childless helpful?  There are some cultures in which this would exponentially reduce your status.  There are some where an older woman without children well the thought of even finishing this sentance sickens me.  Is this true of Korea?

|2. Elder are honored in most of Asia to my knowledge, do we actually know this to hold true in Korea

3. Damaged children um, I hate even asking this, but do they find the damaged worthy of preservation?  <shudder>.

4.  Being female is there anything specific in the roles of women that could trip the efforts of women up in interacting with them?  Are women honored? Seen as Equals?

5. Bison may have a point on needing an introduction.

I don't like asking these questions...but the answers are important.

Please don't hate me for asking these questions.

Anybody who gives you grief for asking these questions can answer to me. We need to be able to ask the hard questions to each other, or we'll never get anything done. Each of these is a valid cultural question, one I think our research team needs to get on.

[Mister Bison]

I actually only read and processed what StarRanger dug up. Fortunately it seems I got it right the first time, but blame it on luck, on the Chaos that made us all different. Things come immediately for some where it could get very long for others because they understood the opposite, because they "draw" on the random numbers was a fitting one or the opposite.

I'm into learning algorithms, especially "stochastic" ones, so I may be more willing to see humanity as a huge brute-force algorithm :P

[Segev]

I'm into learning algorithms, especially "stochastic" ones, so I may be more willing to see humanity as a huge brute-force algorithm :P

No, we're more of a hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization.