Possible Call to Action: NUTS!

[Sleepy Wonder]

Please hold your money until something more official can be written in stone.

This is just an idea, but a few years ago I used to watch a TV show on CBS called Jericho. It was eventually canceled, but brought back by our fan protests.

You can read about it on google or paragonwiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_%28TV_series%29

but the highlights include "Several online communities, including the official Jericho forums, launched campaigns in an effort to revive the show. Fans also sent just over 20 tons of nuts to CBS headquarters; this referred to a scene from the season one finale "Why We Fight" where Jake Green repeats General Anthony McAuliffe's historic phrase "Nuts!" from the Battle of the Bulge.[21] The peanuts and other proceeds from the donations have been donated to charities,[22] including the rebuilding effort in Greensburg, Kansas,[23] a town that was largely destroyed by a tornado in 2007."

The company that they bought them from is at: http://nuts.com/nutsforjericho.html

and "Jericho fans continued efforts to resurrect the series,[51][52] including a one-page advertisement in the April 25, 2008 edition of Variety magazine.[53] A second advertisement appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, as well as banner ads on the Variety and Hollywood Reporter websites."

http://www.gaebler.com/Variety-magazine-advertising-costs++39329

^ I remember the fans paid around that price of $16,000 or so for the ad. If we can make $1,000 for a dinner for the devs in less than a day, this should be no problem if we consider Variety or some other magazine.

There are many ways we can still make our voices heard, and I figure looking into past tactics might help us in the future if someone wants to get something rolling.

I can almost see the look on some high ranking exec's face if 20 tons of nuts suddenly showed up in their mail room. It's not something they can easily throw away like masks or capes.

I also remember the fans purchasing something nice for the poor secretary at CBS that had to deal with it all. Even though Jericho was still eventually canceled after a short revival, our goal isn't to get NCSoft to continue investing in the game, but to at least consider that maybe they really haven't exhausted all options as they claim.


PS:

To put this into perspective, this is 6 thousand pounds of penuts: http://cdn.nuts.com/images/auto/801x534/assets/d68d72f47595dd13.jpg

To reach 20 tons (we could probably do more), would require 3500~ people to fork up a month's subscription cost of CoH.

I also thought of one more thing.. if these nuts were to go to Korean offices, maybe sending socks might be a better way to make an impact. From what I know, socks are highly valuable to North Koreans, and there are a lot of sympathizers in the South who often send packages like a pair of socks, via balloons to North Korea.

Regardless of political affiliation in the region, this has always struck me as a noble thing to do. Perhaps in some ways by sending tons of socks our message might be less annoying, and the meaning behind it might be better understood. Our willingness to sacrifice our money for the greater good, regardless of their decision. A show of both humanity and our collective voices of our protest against their decision. 

Now, North Korea generally doesn't like it when South Koreans do this, so I can't imagine NCSoft having a hand in it, but they could always donate them to charity just the same as with CBS doing with their peanuts. One way or the other word will spread of where this charity came from and why.

I would also like to emphasize the importance of  this going to Korean offices and not NCSoft West, since we all know about how the communication has been working with the mothership. If we send them to offices in the US, the mothership solution would probably be along the lines of "Eat them all, or you're fired."

So we really need to go Independence Day on their asses and bring down their shields by sending a viru-I mean, peanuts, or socks, to the mothership.

[dwturducken]

Much of this has been covered, but it's probably 14 pages back in the threads list.  You do have one idea that I have not seen, yet, and I think it really deserves attention!

A few days ago, the idea was tossed around to send flowers to various execs.  We have been sending a lot of stuff to the NCSoft offices. We really should show some love to the poor person who has to deal with all of this. Does anyone have an idea how to find out his or her name, or can we just send flowers to "Receptionist?"

[Sleepy Wonder]

That is fine, but we need a BIGGER and more FOCUSED effort to make an impact. If everyone is sending different letters and stuff, that's fine, but I think it would be different if we can pool our efforts into a common goal in some way. Perhaps we or Tony could set up a paypal account or something, where none of the money gets spent unless we achieve our estimated cost to go forward with any such idea.

Then, he or someone else can purchase and send the items to the proper offices. This way we can lessen the burden on us "common folk" of having to go out and purchase something and manage the shipping issues. We could probably work with a manufacturer directly, and get a bulk discount maybe, and have them all shipped together.

[Atlantea]

Oooh... I LIKE this idea!

I also like the idea of doing something nice for the poor receptionist that has to deal with our stuff. Maybe put together some money to give them and their family a dinner out to the restaurant of their choice? Certainly not as expensive as doing so for the whole Paragon Crew.




(And the reference to General McAuliffe appeals to the history buff in me.

Here's a couple of other inspirational quotes that the above reminded me of.

At the Chosin Reservoir breakout during the Korean War,  a reporter asked U.S. Marine General Oliver P. Smith if this was the first retreat the US Marines had ever had to make. The response was legendary -
- "Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction!"

And another from USMC Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller (What a name!) -
- "So they've got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won't get away this time!"

Gotta love the marines, goddamn glorious crazy bastards are SCRAPPERS every last one of 'em! )

[Sleepy Wonder]

Another thing I wanted to point out is this:

We're all busy people.

20,000 signatures on a petition (I dont know how many are doubles or not but..) might not sound like a major number to some people but you have to remember the collective laziness of well meaning folk. I'm sure every one of the 100,000+ or more subscribers that number represents would love just as much as the rest of us to see City of Heroes come back to life.

The problem is most people will look at that and go "well someone else is making noise for me, so I'll just sit back and let them do the work".

Tony is doing something for all of us, and that is being a singular voice. He may not represent everybody, and everybody may not agree with him on certain points, but by trying to lead, he is quieting everyone else down. His voice is louder than ours, and so a lot of people are probably just hanging back and waiting. I only registered an hour ago, but this last announcement from NCSoft has had me thinking, so I figure I'd chime in with at least -something-.

My -something- is that in my opinion, we need less individuality and more group focused efforts that can get EVERYBODY involved.

What I mean is, for example, with an idea like mine, the instructions could be as easy as a few mouse clicks and a payment with a debit card. There's no rallying halfway across the country that turns people away because they can't participate, or talk of sending emails to people half of us don't know who is who or what email or phone number to contact, because there isn't any list I can see immediately displayed with such things.

Most of us are admittedly short on our attention span, and we're used to having things spelled out for us in clear terms. If a website doesn't load in 5 seconds we give up and go on to other things because we're impatient. Also, take a look at the number of views v.s. replies on these threads. Certainly most people viewing any thread would have an opinion about it. Most of them though just read it and move on without providing any form of constructive input. If half of the 96 or so views this thread received in 30 minutes were to have posted it's a good or bad idea, I'd have either deleted the thread or already started ordering nuts. That's -most- people.

So again, I propose that any effort requiring attention that involves money, be made as clear and as easy as possible for everyone to contribute.

The idea of sending some secretary flowers is nice, but people are going to move on if they don't know who to throw their money at.

Depending on the communities thoughts of if this might be feasible or a safe thing to do, I will look into who best to send them to whether it be nuts or socks or something else even to better our message, along with a price estimate and address to send it to. It probably will cost more whatever it is due to overseas shipping costs though.

[Teege]

"I'm nuts over this idea!"

[Heroette]

I personally think sending socks is a great idea.  Its not too expensive and if you could just buy them online and dropship them to Korea, it would be a very easy thing to do.  We should send them "Super Hero" socks.  I am sure they are out there to purchase.  I think that would send them a nice message.

[Soundtrack]

At one point didn't people send masks and capes? Or am I misremembering it?

[Teege]

At one point didn't people send masks and capes? Or am I misremembering it?

They did and still do. There is a sticky for the topic.

[Soundtrack]

Thanks, Teege.

So am I to understand that people are proposing we send something IN ADDITION to the capes and masks?

[Ironwolf]

The heroes of Paragon SOCK it to NCSoft and all of their stock holders............I can see the headlines now.

There is your Meme - Goldie Hawn saying Sock it to me!

[Sleepy Wonder]

These are brilliant and encouraging replies. Good spin on that Ironwolf!

But yes, in addition to capes and masks, the idea behind something else like this thread, is.. and this is important here..

What we send must be USEFUL. There isn't a lot they can do with masks and capes unless they want to donate it to trick or treaters. It's a great concept, but at the same time.. its 1 dimentional.

With Jericho, CBS just couldn't throw it away.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would throw away perfectly good food or clothing though, which is why this is important, because it generates buzz.

They would have to do something with the stuff, and again, what separates this from masks and capes is that word spreads beyond their offices. The more buzz that is out there, the better.

How would South Koreans feel knowing a bunch of Americans (and you non Americans out there) halfway across the globe were willing to throw away their money in support of something as charitable as making sure people's feet were warm in the cold winters over there? I'm talking a lot of socks here..

When they realize where these socks are coming from (NCSoft, should they donate them to some Korean charity) they're going to look at NCSoft with a very stern eye.

I can't see a scenario where we are seen as disruptive or annoying. In fact, the more I think about it, the less PEANUTS would work in this case. I think socks, and even underwear would be the way to go here. Warm clothing in fact too.

Now I know there are plenty of homeless people in the US who could use all of this, but this isn't about charity mainly, it is about our voices first and foremost, charity is what comes off as a result of expressing our voices in a way that is not disruptive or counter intuitive.

Our message needs to get to NCSoft HQ in Korea, not the Salvation Army who can't change NCSoft's minds.

Even if we fail, at least we did someone, somewhere in the world, good. And that is what being a hero is all about.

[dwturducken]

Our message needs to get to NCSoft HQ in Korea, not the Salvation Army who can't change NCSoft's minds.

A sudden influx of clothing donations from a corporation to a charity gets local media attention, which often gets national media attention.  While I would not put it past NCSoft to ignore requests from reporters or interns about that, as well, the story would still get attention.

[Segev]

When I was a kid, I know there were socks with characters and other images on the upper portion that goes around the ankle, intended for kids.

Might we buy superhero-themed ones for this effort? We wouldn't even need to worry about IP problems because we're buying merchandise and donating it, not trying to generate profits from DC or Marvel's property.

[Sleepy Wonder]

A sudden influx of clothing donations from a corporation to a charity gets local media attention, which often gets national media attention.  While I would not put it past NCSoft to ignore requests from reporters or interns about that, as well, the story would still get attention.

Precisely. The "where it came from and why" part is what would come out regardless if it came from NCSoft or somewhere else. People would look at the City of Heroes community hopefully, then look back to NCSoft and wonder why they had to close it, then look back to our community and hopefully see the value beyond money that we possess. That it isn't just the game anymore, it's the value in the community that supports the game as well.

And you can't purchase good will and customer loyalty. To me, this community came together on it's own, for one reason or another. The game made it possible, and we want more than anything to preserve it. That's all we want.

[Sleepy Wonder]

When I was a kid, I know there were socks with characters and other images on the upper portion that goes around the ankle, intended for kids.

Might we buy superhero-themed ones for this effort? We wouldn't even need to worry about IP problems because we're buying merchandise and donating it, not trying to generate profits from DC or Marvel's property.

Anything with logos is probably going to cost more. I was thinking wholesale manufacturers. Given the culture differences, it might be unwise to some degree, to send them stuff they might not wear, even though whoever it would be going to probably wouldn't care.

I for one though would perfer white socks over blue superman logo emblazoned socks if you offered them to me for free right now. Within each box we could throw in a few fliers from the WWII Poster thread maybe, and nice, well written and well meaning letters to the CEO perhaps. A sort of "Please reconsider, and please donate these to those in need if you are unable to find a suitable place to store them."

[Segev]

Well, for the mass numbers, wholesale IS the best bet. I was thinking as something individuals could buy and send in to be added to the packages, maybe with personal notes.

[Heroette]

I searched online and you can actually find socks with capes on them - lol.  I don't know if that is a little overboard but there are super heroes socks out there.

[jeangray]

The peanut thing-flat out no, it's been done and do you realize there seem to be more peanut allergies than there use to be? (I'm assuming due to more people...but not really as important as there ARE peanut allergies.)

Now socks...that is an interesting idea and although it's not anything thematically related to the game...I'd be on-board for giving it a go.  You make some excellent points for why socks would be a good idea that I cannot ignore.  In a few other places I also have been in agreement with advertising ideas as well for our cause so I'll be watching this thread with great interest. 

[dwturducken]

Wait, Jericho causes peanut allergies? Mother of Pearl!

Seriously, though, how about coffee beans?  It fits with the "exhausted" theme that's running around on some other threads.