More trying to contact NCSoft and other stuff

[The White Rager]

Oh Lord...and you released this to feminist bloggers? This could get way out of control...which I suppose might well be amusing, VV. But I hope you are mentally prepared to accept the long term consequences of your actions. It won't end with CoH - those gals never do things by halves.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Oh Lord...and you released this to feminist bloggers? This could get way out of control...which I suppose might well be amusing, VV. But I hope you are mentally prepared to accept the long term consequences of your actions. It won't end with CoH - those gals never do things by halves.

What, you mean in that war will be declared on the entire gaming industry?

[Victoria Victrix]

Yes, I was referring to Segev's press release, Moonfyire.  Although I would direct your friend to this as well:

http://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/blade-and-soul-youre-doing-it-wrong/

I've been sticking with femgeek bloggers, at least for now.  Pretty much ones that game themselves.  I've not yet resorted to taking it outside that group (which is kind of dauntingly huge, actually).  Since they are gamers, it's a more friendly audience.  I'm using Segev's original release (hey, guys can be feminists too!) with his contact information because I sure as hell am not comfortable with claiming I wrote something that well put together. 

[Dr Shadow]

That may be why I'm contacting Nexon.  :)

May not be a bad idea.. Considering

"There is a general atmosphere among the game community that Nexon is a business, not a game developer," said an industry official in condition of anonymity. "
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2012/09/129_117086.html

[Turjan]

Yes indeed, Nexon's history as a developer is less than stellar, but their history as a company that buys up other developers and then markets those other folks' games is somewhat more successful. Which is why I find the collaboration of Nexon and NCSoft...interesting.

(Oh, one thing btw - I've noticed the Korea Times site has a habit of listing article links as https:// which can make some browsers throw a wobbler - I know it makes Firefox cry incorrectly about "untrusted connections". Usually if you just remove the 's' from the https it displays the page fine)

[The White Rager]

What, you mean in that war will be declared on the entire gaming industry?

I don't know what I mean, exactly. I just know that once enough momentum gets going, there's no way to predict what's gonna happen next. These people can be scary  :-[

[The White Rager]

Hmm, reading that article, makes it sound as if buying CoH and promoting it would be exactly in Nexon's style. Very interesting. We do have proven success, done with little or no advertising. I've played games owned by Nexon and my impression has been good.

[Segev]

Yes, I was referring to Segev's press release, Moonfyire.  Although I would direct your friend to this as well:

http://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/blade-and-soul-youre-doing-it-wrong/

I've been sticking with femgeek bloggers, at least for now.  Pretty much ones that game themselves.  I've not yet resorted to taking it outside that group (which is kind of dauntingly huge, actually).  Since they are gamers, it's a more friendly audience.  I'm using Segev's original release (hey, guys can be feminists too!) with his contact information because I sure as hell am not comfortable with claiming I wrote something that well put together.

Aw... shucks.   :-[ (pretend that's smiling instead of frowning, darn it)

That's awfully high praise, considering the source. (And all I did was use Word to paste pictures in and publish to .pdf. ^^; But seriously, thanks for the praise.)

[Victoria Victrix]

I don't know what I mean, exactly. I just know that once enough momentum gets going, there's no way to predict what's gonna happen next. These people can be scary  :-[

Don't be afraid sonny.  Granny Feminist won't hurt you....

[The White Rager]

I dunno...well, I'm out of the line of fire myself. I'll stick with being amused. It's certainly a great way to start a new angle that is sure to bit NCSoft hard. This sort of thing takes off and keeps going. There will be serious pain over this.

However...I do want to remind everyone of our original goals of keeping our nose clean with NCSoft. Lately we have been getting dangerously close to launching some serious smear style campaigns. We have a style and a hero face we've tried hard to maintain since this started, but I'm seeing it start to fall off here. Let's please stay on target, keep the original attitude. It's not over yet. It's not time to go into revenge mode. Don't forget that.

[Segev]

We're not yet into revenge mode; we're moving a bit into "we also have a stick, not just a carrot" mode, though.  "Here's why what you're doing is a BAD BUSINESS DECISION."

It's not "playing nice" anymore, but we are still in "draw attention and make them feel it" mode rather than any sort of "scorched earth" campaign.

[Turjan]

However...I do want to remind everyone of our original goals of keeping our nose clean with NCSoft. Lately we have been getting dangerously close to launching some serious smear style campaigns. We have a style and a hero face we've tried hard to maintain since this started, but I'm seeing it start to fall off here. Let's please stay on target, keep the original attitude. It's not over yet. It's not time to go into revenge mode. Don't forget that.

Hmm, I don't think 'revenge' is where we're at yet, and 'smear' is an awfully subjective expression. What constitutes a smear? Saying something about someone when what you're saying is the truth? Or would the message have to be an outright lie to qualify as a 'smear'?

Seems to me all we're currently doing is pointing out flaws in our game's corporate patron that we'd previously been kind enough to overlook. Flaws like a complete lack of communication, a history of killing MMOs, and the notion that closing a 100% western themed game in a western market and replacing it with a 100% Korean themed game is a good piece of marketing ;)

[Hyperstrike]

Don't be afraid sonny.  Granny Feminist won't hurt you....

Unless you want her to...

[Colette]

"What constitutes a smear?"

As you say, undefined term, legally. If you say bad things about others that are false, that's slander. Print it, it's libel. True and verifiable things you can say all you want; it's called journalism.

"I do want to remind everyone of our original goals of keeping our nose clean with NCSoft. Lately we have been getting dangerously close to launching some serious smear style campaigns."

To be honest, I've kinda accepted that NCSoftcore fully intends to shut the servers down as planned, and there's nothin' we can do about it. I've been in revenge mode for weeks. And I'm pretty sure the damage has already been done: NCSoftcore and Nexon won't be able to do business with Western gamers for the foreseeable future unless they change their ways. Now we just translate all the journalism into Korean.

[Manga]

I can't afford revenge, sadly.  Either I fight to save CoH, or I fight to market a replacement.  Revenge just taints all of those and makes my job harder.

[Segev]

I'm with TheManga, here. Much as I occasionally have private revenge fantasies, it's almost never worth even trying to follow through. Best to focus on doing something to improve yourself than to tear somebody else down.

[TimtheEnchanter]

I'm with TheManga, here. Much as I occasionally have private revenge fantasies, it's almost never worth even trying to follow through. Best to focus on doing something to improve yourself than to tear somebody else down.

True, but there are some circumstances where lighting candles only goes so far. There are definitely certain companies, for example, that the gaming industry would be much better off without. The biggest one being EA, which has been in serious trouble recently. NCsoft seems to be interested in stealing the title from EA. Karma may or may not be real, but it probably at least partially is inspired by the reality of cause&effect. You can only push so much before you get pushed back, and NC has reached that point.

We've been keeping the flame lit for over a month now and the darkness isn't wavering. Sometimes you just have to cast magic missile and attack the darkness head on.  ;)

[Segev]

Ah, but that's not revenge. Revenge is bending your efforts towards retaliation. What we're doing is called "persuasion." How heavy the scare-quotes are depends on who's saying it and how.

[chasearcanum]

Also, some things that may seem "revenge" serve a purpose.

If, once CoH closes, NCSoft finds that consumer reviews regularly 1-star their products because of the parent company's "history of unreliable community support."  That's not revenge.  That's making sure that people are able to make informed purchasing decisions while simultaneously making sure that NCSoft learns the true costs of some of its business practices.  Perhaps, then, they may learn of more community-friendly methods to separate themselves from a property.

[Victoria Victrix]

Gail Simone is going to say something supportive on her blog...and if I know her, she's going to have a LOT that ISN'T supportive about Boobs and Shame to say after the video I just sent her.

If you thought the one you saw before was bad?  Get a load of this.  (Ladies, please take a tranq before viewing).  This is their "dance" emote for the female.  And oh, yeah, that little black "Victoria's Secret" number she's wearing is one of the standard costumes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM5rgsmtO4k