Panthera

No. That is lipstick on a pig. They went looking for dirt. The fact that Niber found evidence of cheating is immaterial to this little act of revenge.



But hey...the ends justify the means....right?

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Prof

Fuck you for agreeing with me... er, wait...

I'll agree that it sounded like a threat of blackmail in the "shoe dropping" comment.
Phrased differently, and how I interpreted it, was that there are other scandals that could be made public that would further damage the reputation of SOE and EQ2; that those issues could remain an internal matter and be discussed through private communications should SOE take a definitive stance against corruption. However, if SOE played their usual game of ignorance and denial, that further corruption would be leaked until they do something at least reactive and hopefully proactive against such corruption.

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Judist

I think the point starts out...

No one should be surprised, angry, or vengeful over SOE's original move of taking LFG out of their "loop" (which caused this chain reaction). Every new event solidifies their choice and now they will absolutely stand by their decision. I would have made the very same decision.

No one should be surprised, angry or vengeful that SOE no longer supports this site directly, or surprised they broke the promise of a SoH exclusive. Bridges are burned and we continue to look for new dirt to make sure they stay that way. Piss off SOE and they'll take their ball and play somewhere else.

I think Manratten (along with many others) feel like the end result didnt justify the means in their eyes. The "end-result" makes people question the intent (or intelligence) of recent events.

Intent?

On one side of the spectrum it may of been a valiant effort to clean-up corruption. On the other side it may of been a greedy move to boost banner impressions (make money via drama). Somewhere in the middle of this spectrum lies the basic need to get revenge.

It was probably abit of everything, tho my dollar is on revenge when I read LFG's initial posts. As a result Eq2flames has reverted to its pure form of being a "no-holds-barred" flaming community with zero official support. We sure as hell embarrassed SOE, but did it fix anything in the game? Was it actually that productive? Will it fix loot? Will it fix avatar encounters? Will SOE management be replaced?

IMO it just exposed some shady actions and now we (the community) will live with the end-result.

I'll freely admit I'm angry that the ONLY decent forum community now has no direct dev communication any more. I'm very angry that sooo much hostility abounds here in the form of unmoderated, unintelligent noobidity (is that a word?). Now I have the choice of going to SOE's kiddie forum, or going to a heavily anti-SOE flames forum. Neither are excellent choices for anyone who actually likes this game.

I miss the middle ground we used to sit upon. Thats why people don't support SOE's shady actions AND don't support LFG's actions at the same time.

Exposing corruption happened in a violent orgasm, but now its generally over with. The price paid of having a weaker forum will always remain. As a forum user, this place seems "lesser" to me now. I cant actually complain using any legit reasoning.

FFS this IS a flamers forum.

Vainamoinen

Its like firing a sawed-off shotgun into a crowd. You're bound to take out a few people who piss you off, but others are gonna pay the price along with them.

There exist much better methods to have gone about this, but, I guess, it lives up to the spirit of the forum. Not being a fansite should actually cater to the masses. I mean being a fansite is like a Hell's Angels member with an American Motorcyclist Association bumper sticker (funny thing is, the Hell's Angels often refer to themselves as the One Percenters). So what the big deal is?

I'd have to agree that, despite the resources found here and the entertainment of flames, it has ended up being a weaker forum.

I should also mention that the incident did seem to increase Dev participation on the Official Boards somewhat (for how long, who knows?). It may just be some empty gestures, but it inspired some action. As for SoE making a statement surrounding all of this, one might want to consider their patch notes when it comes to expectations of communication.

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I was raised on TV,
Like so many of you I see around me.
Nothing to live or die for;
No religion too.

Wozamil

This is the part the kills me. LFG was accused of only being interested in boosting revenue. The part SOE doesn't understand is his dedication to making the game better is far more important to him than advertising money, I believe. By going after SOE there's an outside chance that the game will suffer and eventually start losing it's player base. Without EQ2 there is no eq2flames.com and no ad money.

I would bet cleaning up the corruption is bigger picture.

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Cuz

Ahhh balls to that. At first when he told Aeralik that "the game is more important than this", I do think he meant it. Now though? Fuck that. It's either just pure revenge, purely loving the attention, or a mix of both.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm glad he's exposing them, but trying to act like your actions are altruistic is rather crap.

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Most of us promote responsible testosterone dick waggling. - Evangel

Vainamoinen

indeed.

__________________
I was raised on TV,
Like so many of you I see around me.
Nothing to live or die for;
No religion too.

Illuminator

Whose retarded side are you on?

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Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve.

Wozamil

Can't blame him for trying to defend his integrity.

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Talonis

Altruism, lol. That's actually pretty accurate.

LFG, Our heavenly Father. Well LFG, nice job on the Grand Canyon, and good luck with the Apocalypse. Oh, and by the way: you *SUCK*!

No harm in soothing the masses with one hand and twisting the embedded blade in your foe's thigh with the other. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

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~.......This site is now FFA against SOE.......Since The Good Way is no longer an option, we now shift our format to The Bad Way.......

........let them know the meaning of dissatisfied customers.........~

-LFG