A Very Difficult Subject to Talk About

[Colette]

I'd like to take a moment.

This is a tough subject to talk about, and I want to write it carefully so as not to offend anyone. I may make y'all think I'm nuts, but I need to get a nagging worry out of my system. Hopefully I've earned some points in the "handling the loss" thread, and y'all won't resent me lying down on the analyst's couch here.

Lets say I run NCSoft, knowing an Internet-based group's spreading bad publicity about my company, trying to coerce me into reversing a decision. Let's say the group actually does damage, spotlighting my company's practices in gaming articles. Heck, they're even gonna go on TV. They are costing me money!

Let's further say I'm an arrogant jerk who thinks these upstart brats need to be put in their place. Let's say it's personal, and no way am I letting them reverse my decision.

What would I do...?

First, I'd be reading this board.

I'd be collecting quotes I could use against them.

If our adversary's not doing at least that, he's a damn fool.

Second, I'd have one of my people try his hand at provoking 'em. Spread dissention. Make the place unpleasant. Demoralize them. Waste their time with petty squabbles and fool's errands. In a word -- troll 'em!

What insidious messages would I want to insinuate? Stuff like, "y'know, we should just give up and move on." "Aren't we being petty about this?" And I'd toss unfounded accusations around.

I'd pick my targets. "Hey, V.V. is their leader. Isolate her. This Colette person is a meme factory, troll that one."

Make the place toxic enough it will scare away newcomers.

Wouldn't cost me anything but time, and I wouldn't be breaking laws doing it.

I'm not pointing fingers. Really, I'm not. In fact, I hope my confessing this fear explains why I've been acting so hair-trigger-weird recently. I'm ex-military; trying to anticipate what "the enemy" will do before he does it comes with that. I'm not in war mode, no one's in danger of his life, this is not the Syrian revolution we're tweeting about. But we are interfering with NCSoft's livelihood and I doubt they take that lightly.

We're all here to get our beloved City of Heroes back. We need to recognize we've hurt our adversary. Our adversary is not stupid, so we can't afford to be.

Here's what I'd advise.

Let us resolve to be on our best behavior. We can't afford even the friendly bickering and hair-splitting you find on the rest of the net. We have target enough for all of us in NCSoft.

Self-censor. Ensure we don't do our adversary's work for him. Anticipate what our adversary would say if he was here, and avoid saying those suspicious things, especially if you're new, unknown, and have a low post-count, not least because I'm jumpy enough to stick enough red flags in you to make you look like a May Day parade. (Yes, I'm talking about our toss-up now, Froggy. Don't take it personally, you stepped square into that mousetrap.)

If someone takes offense, back down quickly, stay rational and sensible. Understand that we of necessity must uphold a higher standard of conduct here.

Our mods have a tough job to do. Respect them, and do not take offense if they delete your post. They may have reasons you haven't thought of.

Remember that these are public channels and anyone can read 'em. Including NCSoft. Cover your butt, and watch your friend's back.

We really need a "Read This First! We Really Mean It!" post, where smarter people than me give newcomers the rules of the road.

Whew, what an outburst! I'm sure you're all questioning my sanity by now. But please consider what I've written.

Thank you. I feel better now I've gotten that off my chest. Now I'd really like to know... do y'all think I'm flipping out, or is this a sensible worry?

[SARobb]

+1

While it's a hard pill to swallow, Colette speaks the truth and articulates it well, I agree 100%.

[Atlantea]

No - I think this is a sensible precaution.

Know your enemy and the way he thinks. That's a basic tenet.

Sun Tsu of course said it best - "If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

Understand that as time goes on, and we keep hurting them, they will attempt to do to this board what I feel was the purpose of the unicorns on the old official boards. I think a few of them were actual plants.

[Wingnaut]

I agree with everything you said Colette. In fact, just the other day I was sitting here...hold on a sec...*toggles self-censor on*...ok back. Anyway, I was sitting here reading the forums like I do everyday, and noticed a thread where several people were doing the same kind of bickering that I grew tired of on the CoH forums. I thought 'What the flagpole do these gumdrop pancakes think they are doing? Don't they know we need to be united and optomistic that we'll get our pancake game back instead of unicorning each other and causing a rainbow sprinkle storm?'.

Seriously though, I realize its a forum...and that debates are healthy. We just really need to remember that we have made ourselves very visible...and the changes that we are trying to make are not just for ourselves, but for the MMO community as a whole, and as such lots and lots of people are going to swing on by to see how we are doing. So I don't think it would hurt us any to put our best foot forward, straighten our giglines, and smile for the cameras.

Colette...I don't think your flipping out at all to want us to shine like the heroes and villians we are.  :)

[Quinch]

Well, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. Can't really find fault with your reasoning, although like you mentioned, we can't - and shouldn't - go and point fingers, instead focusing on the common goal, rather than division.

[HarvesterOfEyes]

"All through my life I've had this strange unaccountable feeling that something was going on in the world, something big, even sinister, and no one would tell me what it was."
"No," said the old man, "that's just perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the Universe has that."

[Quinch]

I approve of your choice of literature. And the quote.

[V-Mink]

I agree with everything you said Colette. In fact, just the other day I was sitting here...hold on a sec...*toggles self-censor on*...ok back. Anyway, I was sitting here reading the forums like I do everyday, and noticed a thread where several people were doing the same kind of bickering that I grew tired of on the CoH forums. I thought 'What the flagpole do these gumdrop pancakes think they are doing? Don't they know we need to be united and optomistic that we'll get our pancake game back instead of unicorning each other and causing a rainbow sprinkle storm?'.

Is it bad of me that the first thing I thought of when I read this was Shaennon Garrity's Skin Horse?

But, yes.  I am in agreement that even if NCsoft is not planting unicorns (and I don't think that they are, personally, but) we owe it to ourselves and our fellow CoH alumni/refugees to provide a united, solid, unimpeachable front.

[Altoholic Monkey]

This isn't a difficult subject at all :)

Like it or not, we're a movement now and all of us represent SaveCOH.  This isn't the COX forums everything posted here has the potential of being quoted by some form of the press.  There's a spotlight on this forum so we need to  act as if the world is watching and behave accordingly. 

Simple easy and direct.

[dwturducken]

We went through a round of this about a month after Black Friday. It was a little bit more visceral, and there was more direct suspicion and paranoia, which was ironic, since we were getting what we had hoped for: new people. Now, we get a round or two of the die-hards from the Old Forums, and it's happening again.  It worked itself out, last time; I fully expect it to, this time.

Also, the MLP:FIM swear-fest was priceless! I'm showing that to my son, who is a shameless Brony, when he gets home from school. :)

[Kistulot]

This is why I've been trying to insert little diplomatic hugs all around. Not because I think everyone is a child and doesn't know we should stick together, but because even the smallest show of impropriety by any one of us could ruin everything if it ends up spun just right.

That said, I hope I haven't annoyed anyone with that - I've just wanted to be helpful :)

[Little Green Frog]

I'd like to take a moment.

This is a tough subject to talk about, and I want to write it carefully so as not to offend anyone. I may make y'all think I'm nuts, but I need to get a nagging worry out of my system. Hopefully I've earned some points in the "handling the loss" thread, and y'all won't resent me lying down on the analyst's couch here.

Lets say I run NCSoft, knowing an Internet-based group's spreading bad publicity about my company, trying to coerce me into reversing a decision. Let's say the group actually does damage, spotlighting my company's practices in gaming articles. Heck, they're even gonna go on TV. They are costing me money!

Let's further say I'm an arrogant jerk who thinks these upstart brats need to be put in their place. Let's say it's personal, and no way am I letting them reverse my decision.

What would I do...?

First, I'd be reading this board.

I'd be collecting quotes I could use against them.

If our adversary's not doing at least that, he's a damn fool.

There's also the possibility that they simply don't care. The most probable case is that we are not even a blip on their radar right now.

Second, I'd have one of my people try his hand at provoking 'em. Spread dissention. Make the place unpleasant. Demoralize them. Waste their time with petty squabbles and fool's errands. In a word -- unicorn 'em!

What insidious messages would I want to insinuate? Stuff like, "y'know, we should just give up and move on." "Aren't we being petty about this?" And I'd toss unfounded accusations around.

I'd pick my targets. "Hey, V.V. is their leader. Isolate her. This Colette person is a meme factory, unicorn that one."

Make the place toxic enough it will scare away newcomers.

Wouldn't cost me anything but time, and I wouldn't be breaking laws doing it.

I am not a lawyer and since I am also not an U. S. citizen (but also not Korean - just saying) I'm not terribly familiar with US laws, so put a grain of salt on what I am trying to convey here, but many countries have laws against defamation and some of the stuff that you described would pretty much count as one. NCsoft is known for actually breaking the law, but we are probably too small a target and not really worth the effort.

I'm not pointing fingers. Really, I'm not. In fact, I hope my confessing this fear explains why I've been acting so hair-trigger-weird recently. I'm ex-military; trying to anticipate what "the enemy" will do before he does it comes with that. I'm not in war mode, no one's in danger of his life, this is not the Syrian revolution we're tweeting about. But we are interfering with NCSoft's livelihood and I doubt they take that lightly.

We're all here to get our beloved City of Heroes back. We need to recognize we've hurt our adversary. Our adversary is not stupid, so we can't afford to be.

Did we really hurt them? How do we know that? The fluctuations of their stock price started before the whole CoH debacle and it is hard to link them together. The outcry and media coverage probably didn't help, but it's hard to expect they had any lasting effect. Unless the investors learn about some skeleton in their closet, it's a safe bet that their financial condition will improve over time, especially seeing how they are in partnership with Nexon, are about to enter Chinese market with new products, have several games still in development and are undergoing a restructurization. In general investors don't make business decisions based on a few hundred angry posts on an internet forum. Thinking otherwise is cute, but not very much in line with reality.

Here's what I'd advise.

Let us resolve to be on our best behavior. We can't afford even the friendly bickering and hair-splitting you find on the rest of the net.

Yes, this. If we are ever going to have a fighting chance, we need to shake the angry mob mentality that seems to be taking these forums over at a rapid pace. We are becoming a toxic asset and thus have real power to make the IP less attractive to potential buyers. Toxicity is not what a sane business is hoping to find if they are looking to invest their money into a prospective venture.

Self-censor. Ensure we don't do our adversary's work for him. Anticipate what our adversary would say if he was here, and avoid saying those suspicious things, especially if you're new, unknown, and have a low post-count, not least because I'm jumpy enough to stick enough red flags in you to make you look like a May Day parade. (Yes, I'm talking about our toss-up now, Froggy. Don't take it personally, you stepped square into that mousetrap.)

That's alright. I knew what I was stepping into. I have a fairly thick skin, so no hard feelings.

We really need a "Read This First! We Really Mean It!" post, where smarter people than me give newcomers the rules of the road.

While in general I agree with the second half of your post, I think it would be better if the forums policed themselves on their own. Plenty of folks here are angry, frustrated and feel betrayed, which is perfectly understandable given how NCsoft has decided to handle things. They need to let off steam and finding themselves a witch to burn is an easy option. The community should politely explain to them that by doing so, they are not helping.

edit: wording

[Nafaustu]

<snip>
We really need a "Read This First! We Really Mean It!" post, where smarter people than me give newcomers the rules of the road.
<snip>

I started one these but it didn't catch on.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,5635.0.html

[Illusionss]

This isn't a difficult subject at all :)

Like it or not, we're a movement now and all of us represent SaveCOH.  This isn't the COX forums everything posted here has the potential of being quoted by some form of the press.  There's a spotlight on this forum so we need to  act as if the world is watching and behave accordingly. 

I really don't think we're being watched by any press. (If only!) I think NCSoftheaded is probably monitoring, so they can get a heads-up if there's an emulator out there, because nothing says "Our corporate goal is the happiness of all mankind!" - or whatever their offical slogan is - like telling people "I don't want these toys, but you cannot have them either. Just because I don't want you having fun."

But other press, I doubt it.

Some of you seem to have mastered the Vulcan art of Kolinahr, and for that I congratulate you. Me, I am still mad as hell and plan to be for some time to come.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Oh, we certainly can be furious and still behave. It's just a matter of picking the right place (ie not here) to let it out and the right targets. :)

[DrakeGrimm]

Congratulations, Colette. You just pointed out exactly why, even when some of you piss me off, I don't go in for petty cheap shots and personal attacks. Are there plants among us? Almost assuredly. How many of those plants will continue being plants if we refuse to give them ammunition? If we refuse to play their game?

We stay "Blue," and vent our anger and frustration in as constructive a manner as possible, and who knows? Today's planted insurgent might be tomorrow's ally. I know that if I'd been sent to destroy us, I'd be having second thoughts right now based on this community's representation of themselves.

[HarvesterOfEyes]

Some of you seem to have mastered the Vulcan art of Kolinahr, and for that I congratulate you. Me, I am still mad as hell and plan to be for some time to come.

As long as you are clear about your anger, then you are as much in-control as anyone.

My gaming-friends have never heard one of my incoherent swearing tirades because I don't hold down the ptt key when I'm doing it.

[Andy]

While I suppose anything is possible, I doubt NCSoft is sending people onto these forums to purposely stir up trouble. The internet is notoriously good at self-combustion with little to no encouragement. ;)

Still, a reminder to be polite and respectful never hurts! We can debate or disagree with each other, but we can do so in a thoughtful and courteous manner. Is it possible to have a guideline for posting? I know the site admins and mods have a lot of work to do for a gig that's entirely volunteer. I always found having a succinct set of suggestions for posting to be useful and could cut down on confusion.

[Perfidus]

This is perfectly reasonable and indeed I've already trying to carry myself that way, censoring myself when necessary, ignoring things that annoy me. It -is- a difficult thing to talk about, but it's also a necessary one. Thanks Colette.

[therain93]

While I suppose anything is possible, I doubt NCSoft is sending people onto these forums to purposely stir up trouble. The internet is notoriously good at self-combustion with little to no encouragement. ;)

Still, a reminder to be polite and respectful never hurts! We can debate or disagree with each other, but we can do so in a thoughtful and courteous manner. Is it possible to have a guideline for posting? I know the site admins and mods have a lot of work to do for a gig that's entirely volunteer. I always found having a succinct set of suggestions for posting to be useful and could cut down on confusion.

Perhaps not these forums as they're pretty specialized -- it's the more open ones, like mmorpg.com, where we would try to push our message out that are susceptible to social networking manipulation because the rest of the participants aren't necessarily as informed and, therefore, are more easily swayed by the types of tactics the OP suggests.