A second open letter to EI Interactive: An invitation to talk

[Steelclaw]

To the EI Interactive Management and Horizons Team:


I am disturbed by the direction EI Interactive (EI from here on) has taken with respect to its community relations and dedication to Horizons. EI has been in control for a little over two weeks and has done nothing to earn the trust of the player community but has made leaps and bounds to alienate it.


In case they may have been overlooked or ignored, allow me to enumerate my grievances.


First, a lack of attention to the community. This is an ongoing issue which has existed since the day of transfer. Players have been asking questions but getting little response. Some of them in game, some on IRC, but there was a growing list of questions in the community forum – many were those concerned about their future in Horizons. To this day, there remains a thread of unanswered questions. No response like “We'll get to these in a few days� or “We can't answer that yet.� or even “Ya know, we don't know!� -- not a peep. Responses provided by DANU in IRC have been less than encouraging as they have raised additional worries while failing to allay the concern that brought up the initial question.


Second, a demonstrated lack of concern for the community. At the start of August, a replacement billing system was put into place. This billing system resulted in players sending their personal and financial data over an insecure connection to an insecure repository. Concerns for the security of this implementation were send to EI and either downplayed or flat out ignored. This system remained in place for the majority of the day, exposing an unknown amount of personal information which included credit card numbers, expiration dates, and CVV2 codes. No action was taken until the players became aware of the ramifications of using this system and began to complain loudly. This went on throughout the week, with the system's last vestiges (still gathering and exposing personal data) being removed four days later.


Third, attacking and trying to limit the communication within the community. Our IRC channel was prepared for a state of “lock down� -- traditionally voice was given to frequent members as a courtesy and used in the event the channel was moderated due to people coming in and disrupting chat. This was quietly removed one afternoon and everyone de-voiced. Somehow, we became the bad guys. The final blow came with the full moderation of the community forums and removal of the Rants and Goodbyes forum. The message being sent from EI is clear: “We don't want anyone to see or hear anything we don't like.�


Fourth, lurking. I see forum accounts from EI logged in periodically but no posts from them. I see people posting in the forum who seem like they are affiliated with EI (based on their knowledge of the company and goings-on) but do not outright state it. I hear DANU complaining about forum trolls, but hardly see him post. Trying to hide your presence from the people you are trying to gain the trust of is counterproductive.




Sure, EI may have been dealt a bad hand in the sale. That is excusable. The way EI handled the community after the sale is not. The long bouts of silence, downplaying of concerns, lack of timely reply, and cover-up attempts have no excuse. There was no shortage of qualified people willing to help.


What of the “attacks� and “bashing� from certain members of the community? I will concede that some of it was unwarranted. However, there were legitimate concerns brought up and very specific criticism given. Ironically these points -- the most important and well formulated ones, were ignored in favor of replying to those that seemed less thought out. EI has had every chance to open a dialog with the Horizons community and so far has passed those chances up. If anyone wonders why people attack EI, it is because their poor handling of community relations encouraged it.


In the last letter I wrote, I gave some rather direct clues about how to improve the relationship with the community. It does not look like they have even been considered. Become more visible, chat, act naturally... that isn't happening, I don't see it. EI representatives continue to be sporadic and brief in their appearance and their forum presence is next to nothing.


It looks like the community is being treated as a problem to be dealt with, like a memory leak in the client or a buggy quest. This is the wrong approach, and if EI wishes to salvage their relationship, this behavior must be changed immediately. If there is not a member of the EI team who has the “people skills�, time and patience necessary to act as an envoy between the developers and player community, find one, hire one, do something – more sooner than later.


Horizons is very much a community-supported game. We tell our friends about Horizons and advertise it. We help new players get started. We provide the atmosphere which makes trial players convert to a subscription. We try to talk our friends out of quitting. We talk to each other and come up with ideas which could improve the game. We fill in for the shortcomings of the development team.


This community is full of people from all walks of life, each with their own talent, experience and wisdom to offer. Most are willing to put in an effort if it betters the game and community. These are the people you want to help your team. They are the ones you want to be happy. They contribute to the positive experience in-game and generally command the attention if not respect of those around them. They can think past their own greed, pride and desires. If you gain their trust and respect, they will help you, look out for you, and they will stand up for you. If you continue down this path of censorship and conflict with the community at large, you will alienate the ones you need the most.


I urge those of you making these decisions at EI to rethink your community approach. Swallow your pride and own up to your mistakes. Reverse the moderation and censorship. Get more contact with us. Stop treating the community as an adversary and start looking at it as a resource. Look at your critics carefully. The well-spoken ones may be your best chance for success.


A copy of this letter will be sent to a number of @eiinteractive.com addresses (all the ones I can find). I encourage a well-thought response to either my personal mailbox, a private message to my account on the Istaria community forums, or directly in the forum itself, should this get past the moderation queue.


This is an open letter to initiate an open dialog. I intend to make it, as well as your response (or lack of) available to the community. Please keep this in mind when writing. In other words, if I get a response, it will not be kept confidential.


Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you will take the time to respond as well.


--Steelclaw


(Yes, I have a real name, but that is not for public knowledge. I may give it to you if contact me outside of this dialog.)

[Frith-Rae]

No idea if this will make it through or not anymore....

I agree Steelclaw. And locking down the community site, moderating everyone's post, and not allowing for even a Goodbye forum for players or a rant forum for complaints - is NOT the way to do it.

All it does is drive those people elsewhere. And makes the rest of us wonder why we stick around and bother.

I am trying to keep faith and give EI a chance - but so far all the action I've seen is making it harder and harder. This is NOT the way to treat a community who honestly wanted to give you a chance.

[BKBanzai]

I am disturbed by the direction EI Interactive (EI from here on) has taken with respect to its community relations and dedication to Horizons. EI has been in control for a little over two weeks and has done nothing to earn the trust of the player community but has made leaps and bounds to alienate it.

You are assuming here that everyone that plays feels the same way you do.

This went on throughout the week, with the system's last vestiges (still gathering and exposing personal data) being removed four days later.

I think you assume that, from a timeliness perspective, that EI moved too slowly here, however how do you, or anyone else know how long it took them to re-engage the original payment methods under regular business hours?

Third, attacking and trying to limit the communication within the community. Our IRC channel was prepared for a state of “lock down� -- traditionally voice was given to frequent members as a courtesy and used in the event the channel was moderated due to people coming in and disrupting chat.

IRC has traditionally trashed those that speak against the views of the "regulars". This time it is the new owners themselves that got to see how a core group of IRC players disrupt, ridicule, harass and browbeat others and they were able to react in a way that will control that type of behavior.

I see forum accounts from EI logged in periodically but no posts from them.

They have stated that they will have their own personnel, in addition to the forum moderators, reading through the posts. It is more than possibly that they are here doing just that.

The long bouts of silence, downplaying of concerns, lack of timely reply, and cover-up attempts have no excuse.

I, too, would like to see more posting from EI; however, I think that the sheer volume of suggestions, complaints, requests, issues is such that this information needs to be collected, separated, evaluated, an appropriate response generated. None of this can, or should be done until everything can be put into a "big picture" perspective. I'm sure if one of them came on and responded to say, the mithril golem spawn problem, that if it didn't get implemented on the next maintenance or by the end of the month, that it would generate a spate of posts calling them liars, or incompetants and/or any number of things trying to further undermine their efforts.

Become more visible, chat, act naturally... that isn't happening, I don't see it. EI representatives continue to be sporadic and brief in their appearance and their forum presence is next to nothing.

They did that. Zach appeared in IRC, different representatives appeared in game. Their grammer was torn apart, their usage of common chat contractions was criticized. I think the clear sign it gave them was that there was no chance at clear and open dialogue, unless each line typed was professionally edited. So much for open dialogue.

It looks like the community is being treated as a problem to be dealt with, like a memory leak in the client or a buggy quest. This is the wrong approach, and if EI wishes to salvage their relationship, this behavior must be changed immediately.

I would say that enough ridicule and hatred has been directed their way that they would, and should see {a part of} the community in this fashion. Rather than single out anyone, hopefully they're letting the flames die down for a while and passions cool until such time as they can "prove" their intentions.

If you continue down this path of censorship and conflict with the community at large, you will alienate the ones you need the most.

You speak mostly of the IRC crowd Steelclaw. There is an even larger playerbase that dislikes IRC, dislikes the direction the game has taken and the "few" speaking on behalf of the whole.

Every subscription and subscriber counts and is needed to keep Horizons and it's "community" healthy.

I've been in a couple of companies that have changed hands and that have, in turn, bought out or absorbed other companies. It is always a slow process and takes time to integrate and communicate a game plan. They've posted their intentions, they've announced their preliminary team. Give them some time to develop and implement their game plan.

[Svayvti]

The only thing I can agree with is that EI needs to post more.

EI dreadfully needs to post more and not in the "eventually" or "a bit" sense. They need to be talking now and regularly.

You speak mostly of the IRC crowd Steelclaw. There is an even larger playerbase that dislikes IRC, dislikes the direction the game has taken and the "few" speaking on behalf of the whole.

I'm one of those.

[Aamer Khan]

I saw this coming a week ago.

And I can't say I blame them for taking the only action left for them to take. Many times I have seen them ask posters and IRC chatters to remain respectful and stay calm. Many time I saw folks use any opportunity to stab at ANY EII representative that dared show up.

Something had to change.

What disappoints me most, is that our great and supportive community turned into bickering children. Enough is enough. Freedom to post, does not mean freedom to show disrespect for others. We have become a bit spoiled on the boards. When we can all return to mature communication, I'm betting that the boards will become more free in accepting our comments, both positive and critical.

BUT, I don't believe that they should, until we all take a deep breath, and get a grip. Remember guys... this is a GAME!

[Nalrach]

EI, both these view (BKBanzain & Steelcase) represent valid points of each end of the scale. But their is one thing that is common in both messages is that EI team needs to get involved with the communauty and let people feel their view is hear and that you have this to answer or you will get back to in in a relative fair period.

Please for the goog of HZ, please start communicating your intentions for this game.

[Justa Mirage]

What Steelclaw says is true (updates my "rabid fanboi" list)

What people don't realize is that this "game" is a business. OMG you mean a business? Yes Timmy, it's a business. In business you have goals, to be successful and to earn a profit.

It's also the business's job to know the product they sell (in Microsoft's case, we will have an exception).

If there was an interested business wanting to buy Horizons and run it, they should have had a game plan from the start.

How are we going to transit the players over to our billing system. Is it like other MMORPG subscription sites offering secure credit card billing for buying a subscription? Will we offer other alternatives to paying for a subscription?

Another fact that wasn't much mentioned in the starter of this thread: When we do get it, will we want some of the original Developers on board so we can guarantee a safe transition and timely patches, until the time comes when we can take over the reins fully.

The first few days of a new company taking over your existing game playing fun is very important. Non communication except for an occasional IRC chat is about all we have been exposed to with HZ and EI

What this clearly boils down to is: Can we trust this unknown company that has purchased "our" game to run the game and update / fix it as we need.

So far the track record has been shaky if not disheartening. These decisions should have been made weeks ago

If EI is to continue to support the game, measures should NOT be implemented to squelch your supporters as a side effect punishment for those that would use it to lash out and verbally attack the new company.

I hope that this is understood by both the players and the new owners, we pay your bills so you can provide us with our entertainment.

[Fratricide]

I truly appreciate your comments SC, and I agree whole heartedly.

Apparently as of now there is no more truly open IRC chat either, so apparently we cant voice our true opinions there either. Having a voice and not being able to use it is kind of like being a Great White Shark and trying to be a vegitarian. Its just pointless.

BK... I see that you have apparently recieved your wish to have the intelligent minority (the Real IRC users). Now that we cant speak freely in the only area that we had available to us...

Thanks for nothing...

[BKBanzai]

I don't think anyone is hindering your ability to communicate directly with the owners. However, this situation is akin to mass-hysteria. Allow some time for things to cool down and most likely things will return to normal.

Is there a need to enflame other people? I don't think there is. Concerns have been posted, and reposted...and reposted. All the constant raving is doing is re-inflaming everyone's passions.

At this juncture, it seems these measures were needed. Whether they get reversed or not, well I think that will depend on how matters go from this point forward.

[Daeanor]

The furor over forum moderation seems to be greatly over-stated. I see plenty of negative posts (including this very thread) making it past the moderators just fine. They are clearly only culling the bitchy, whiny, non-constructive tripe that has proliferated since EI bought the game. They are clearly not filtering out anything and everything negative, they are simply examining everything that comes along, and denying the pointless stuff.

I don't really agree with doing it that way - I would prefer after-the fact moderation, rather than screening posts ... then at least you could know what was moderated and why, and this way leaves too much open for speculatoion. But that's not my decision.

As for the Goodbyes and Rants forums - I can't say I blame them for killing those either. By their nature, they emphasisze the negative disproportionately. I never would have had such forums in the first place.

I don't think EI is doing everythng right, and I think that the harder they try to limit the negativism after the fact, the more bad blood they are creating. But neither do I think everyone is giving them a fair shot at this either.

[Kala]

They are clearly only culling the bitchy, whiny, non-constructive tripe that has proliferated since EI bought the game.

In my opinion (and that's all it is, my opinion), this isn't true. The only other post I've made since the forums have been put on moderation never got approved. It wasn't bitchy or whiny, but (again, in my opinion) it was trying to point out that the folks at EI are probably getting a LOT of email right now and we shouldn't expect to get an email response in just a day or two.

[Screech]

The trouble with moderation is the strain it puts on the mods. Can you imagine having to vet every post? It's got to be a pain and not something they willingly do.