A dose of reality and a wake up call

[Justa Mirage]

Civil wars in most countries start with a difference of opinion, belief systems, and disrest amongst the peoples trying to decide which side of the fence they want to sway when it comes to the choices in life.

The winner of a civil war usually has a stronger backing and a belief system that is generally accepted by a majority of the populus.

This game and its players have seen a bloody battle. It never took place in the game itself, but outside of the game, in RL; Post boards, backdoor business deals, bankruptsies, you name it, there are those that chose sides when it came to the well being of this game and its future.

In this civil war of words, one side is losing. Several of the hard core, never say die players, are now leaving and moving on. With an active player base of less than 200 people between 2 shards, this is a loss even a small time company can't afford to lose, but is.

The guild I belong to (in which Solitaire is a member and co-GM of) comprise of 10% of the active players on Chaos. With these recent happenings, I would not be suprised if soon, there will be 10% less players on Chaos.

Yes, one side is losing, and it will be a defiant few that will stand on a grassy knoll with shield and scale to the bitter end, defending the game that was.

So many of us were blinded with the promise of glory. Changes in the world that would make those that lived in it stare in awe. Those are but a fleeting memory as the silence so deafening even crickets fear to chirp, that they would be found by a wayward toad looking for a snack.

With that said, I wish those who are on the other side of this civil war, not to gloat in victory, nor throw grand parades, but to be humbled at the loss of life we once called Istaria. Through our hard work and sweat, we put together a community of thousands. Now, one by one, those that stood against the Withered Ageis do not fall to the enemy, as the true enemy lies in the hands of those that shape and mold the world for our enjoyment.

The silence of the gods has struck, and we look to the sky for guidence and receive... none...

[Peaches]

There is no need for a funeral, and of course, we do miss those friends that left us.
Sadness that they are gone is one thing, but equating it to a funeral of sorts via a civil war, is just ....... (can't find the word I want to use here)

We need to respect those that left, and respect those that choose to stay, for whatever their reasoning is.

[LaughingOtter]

With that said, I wish those who are on the other side of this civil war, not to gloat in victory, nor throw grand parades, but to be humbled at the loss of life we once called Istaria.

There is no victory here. There are no winners, and nothing to celebrate. We've lost our home, our friends, and our hope for the future. Nobody who ever cared for this world or this community could ever celebrate what has happened here.

[Hal`cyon Sskyler]

There are no winners

The Winners
##########################

[Deth]

QFT

lalalalalalalalalalala

[vahrokh_the_ancient]

I am asking myself this simple thing since several years: why don't they just release the game in the public domain?

Like for Netscape, people would remove the proprietary parts and with passion fueled by the love this game deserves they would revive it.

Heck I'd host myself a server if I could.

[Krakkanoth]

I think it would require more than a single server. I'm sure we'd be talking about clusters here....

Don't think public domain works here. Need hosting cash, server maintenance etc. Also growth trends and improvements. Just doesn't seem feasible to me.

[MadDwarf]

I am asking myself this simple thing since several years: why don't they just release the game in the public domain?

Like for Netscape, people would remove the proprietary parts and with passion fueled by the love this game deserves they would revive it.

Heck I'd host myself a server if I could.

because most people unless they have no money issues and are rather independantly wealthy could never ever run Horizons from a set of basement servers.

Its very database needs disallows anyone without access to the hardware bandwidth and more importantly Database guru'ness from even attempting such a venture.

Then you have that spaghetti bowl of a mess called over all horizons programming which automatically adds double what you should need to run it :P.

But hey if you have lots of money for the hardware and bandwidth and the money to hire a database guy go for it. Buying horizons itself would be dirt cheap.

[TelShyia]

I agree, even now, Druidess and myself say goodbye to our son, Gadan, who is levaing the game after, one, getting us to play, both our granddaughters, and have gotten us to get a few sub-accounts. Now, we cannot even create a sub-account on any of our existing accounts. Emails are NOT answered. The phone #'s that were once up at EI are taken off. PME's 'website' is a joke (and I know, i design and build sites). do a who? why, only 30-60 players on at any given time, and IMHO that is being generous. And, Peaches, I am sure you are going to take offense at this, a forum that if you say anything that does not glorify PME/EI gets locked or deleted (and if that offends you sorry, but it is after all JUST my opinion, and a 'forum' is supposed to be for open discussion). Obviously we (now the older players), NEED someway to contact these owners. There are several issues that need to be addressed and yet the silence is astounding!

[TelShyia]

I used to be a supporter of EI/PME, always saying, just give them time, but alas, it seems that even I have run out of good things to say. Guess, when they turn out the lights, I'll at least have some fond memories of Klaus, ALL the oether dragons, and all of my ped friends that have made the last few years enjoyable.
Telshyia

[Devilduck]

I am asking myself this simple thing since several years: why don't they just release the game in the public domain?

Like for Netscape, people would remove the proprietary parts and with passion fueled by the love this game deserves they would revive it.

Heck I'd host myself a server if I could.

Thinking that you could host HZ from a single server is what got EI into this mess in the first place.

They probably thought it would be just like Savage Eden, a single computer per world and it would be easy to take care of. Looks like they were wrong.

They are probably trying to off load it back to Baker like a hot potato but he probably wont take it back right now.

[TelShyia]

good grief, tell me how much, i'll buy that darn thing and get it straightned out, couldnt do any worse than PME

[Romirez]

should have never left tulga in the first place.....

[Peaches]

*quote*
And, Peaches, I am sure you are going to take offense at this, a forum that if you say anything that does not glorify PME/EI gets locked or deleted (and if that offends you sorry, but it is after all JUST my opinion, and a 'forum' is supposed to be for open discussion) *quote*

I delete those that dont conform to the board guidelines. Most of the posts that I have deleted have violated the board rules, by insulting in a derogatory way, to either posters or EIl, or were simple trolls. If you follow the board guidelines, then your post will not get deleted. Also, board moderator complaints do NOT belong here, and many times, we ask you to PLEASE send me a pm reguarding these issues. Good lord, how many posts are you reading, that are not glorified, and yet remain? I don't have any problem with non glorified posts, I don't expect perfection in any game, there will always be complaints, but its how, you as a poster, post.

Now, I don't expect any bashings to affect this thread, if so, then it will be locked. I don't want to see anymore board moderation issues presented in this thread. You all have the means to pm myself, or EI.

Thanks

[LaughingOtter]

I agree, even now, Druidess and myself say goodbye to our son, Gadan, who is levaing the game after, one, getting us to play, both our granddaughters, and have gotten us to get a few sub-accounts.

Sorry to hear that, Tel.

Best wishes, Gadan, and good gaming where ever you go.

[Daedalus]

This post is a tribute to the casualties of this war, those people who fought long and hard for something that should be simple albeit time-consuming to offer us.

Service.

Every single last one of you who played on Ice, Wind, Earth or Unity know exactly what I'm talking about. We fought long and hard for service. We didn't get it, and Unity paid the price. That shard was dead before EI got their hands on it, Game Network made sure of that. Maybe not dead by way of population but it was certainly dead as a collaborative community.

Now the RoW players have experienced exactly what the EU players had to endure, in fact EI did a grand job of offering even less of a service than GN. That takes a lot of effort by itself. Anyone who wants to dispute that EI offer less of a service than GN, please present your case and I'll listen with an open mind. I know what the service I got from GN was like, I know what the service I got from EI was like. I'm able to do a fairly good comparison with my first-hand experiences of both companies.

Eventually the fighters fell by the wayside, despite their heroic efforts they were up against an unresponsive objective. Every single person who has cared about the game and the community as a whole has rallied for the elusive service we deserve, yet have come up empty handed. For those who are still willing to seek it, don't waste effort - it leads to frustration.

Either pay to play and suck up the lack of service or leave the remaining players to their own ends, if they're still paying then they must have a reason that has substance within their perspective of the situation. We all have to face the inevitable conclusion - we cannot improve the situation because we are denied the ability to discuss the future with the current owners.

[Takora Drakan]

This post is a tribute to the casualties of this war, those people who fought long and hard for something that should be simple albeit time-consuming to offer us.

Service.

Every single last one of you who played on Ice, Wind, Earth or Unity know exactly what I'm talking about. We fought long and hard for service. We didn't get it, and Unity paid the price. That shard was dead before EI got their hands on it, Game Network made sure of that. Maybe not dead by way of population but it was certainly dead as a collaborative community.

Now the RoW players have experienced exactly what the EU players had to endure, in fact EI did a grand job of offering even less of a service than GN. That takes a lot of effort by itself. Anyone who wants to dispute that EI offer less of a service than GN, please present your case and I'll listen with an open mind. I know what the service I got from GN was like, I know what the service I got from EI was like. I'm able to do a fairly good comparison with my first-hand experiences of both companies.

Eventually the fighters fell by the wayside, despite their heroic efforts they were up against an unresponsive objective. Every single person who has cared about the game and the community as a whole has rallied for the elusive service we deserve, yet have come up empty handed. For those who are still willing to seek it, don't waste effort - it leads to frustration.

Either pay to play and suck up the lack of service or leave the remaining players to their own ends, if they're still paying then they must have a reason that has substance within their perspective of the situation. We all have to face the inevitable conclusion - we cannot improve the situation because we are denied the ability to discuss the future with the current owners.

Amen and QFT! You said extactly what I think!

[Aria]

*quote*
And, Peaches, I am sure you are going to take offense at this, a forum that if you say anything that does not glorify PME/EI gets locked or deleted (and if that offends you sorry, but it is after all JUST my opinion, and a 'forum' is supposed to be for open discussion) *quote*

I delete those that dont conform to the board guidelines. Most of the posts that I have deleted have violated the board rules, by insulting in a derogatory way, to either posters or EIl, or were simple trolls. If you follow the board guidelines, then your post will not get deleted. Also, board moderator complaints do NOT belong here, and many times, we ask you to PLEASE send me a pm reguarding these issues. Good lord, how many posts are you reading, that are not glorified, and yet remain? I don't have any problem with non glorified posts, I don't expect perfection in any game, there will always be complaints, but its how, you as a poster, post.

Now, I don't expect any bashings to affect this thread, if so, then it will be locked. I don't want to see anymore board moderation issues presented in this thread. You all have the means to pm myself, or EI.

Thanks

Then why are non-offensive overbilling threads locked or deleted?

[Frith-Rae]

*quote*
And, Peaches, I am sure you are going to take offense at this, a forum that if you say anything that does not glorify PME/EI gets locked or deleted (and if that offends you sorry, but it is after all JUST my opinion, and a 'forum' is supposed to be for open discussion) *quote*

I delete those that dont conform to the board guidelines. Most of the posts that I have deleted have violated the board rules, by insulting in a derogatory way, to either posters or EIl, or were simple trolls. If you follow the board guidelines, then your post will not get deleted. Also, board moderator complaints do NOT belong here, and many times, we ask you to PLEASE send me a pm reguarding these issues. Good lord, how many posts are you reading, that are not glorified, and yet remain? I don't have any problem with non glorified posts, I don't expect perfection in any game, there will always be complaints, but its how, you as a poster, post.

Now, I don't expect any bashings to affect this thread, if so, then it will be locked. I don't want to see anymore board moderation issues presented in this thread. You all have the means to pm myself, or EI.

Thanks

so what about when a report/pm is sent and is not responded to? then what?

[Peaches]

I always respond to the pms I get. As far as the billing questions, there is a thread, stickied , as to how folks can solve their billing problems.