Sorry to see you leaving EQ Talies :o(
Perhaps we'll run into one another ingame again in Horizons :o)
-=B=-
The Rathe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Talies the Wanderer" <snicker@...>
To: <eqbards@egroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 4:14 PM
Subject: [eqbards] End of an era....
> Well, I just thought I would share with you the end of an era. Today (or
> pretty close, their records got messed up) marked my 6 month anniversary
as
> a Guide on the Tarew Marr server. It also marked my last day as a Guide,
> as I felt that I could no longer in good conscience support a company that
> chooses to treat it's customers in so heavy-handed a manner with no
> consideration for the consequences. This refers to both the recent
banning
> issues (more than just Mystere were banned over this), and the Bard issues
> thread. It is my belief that Everquest truly IS their world, and as such,
> I have no place being in it. I haven't paid Verant a dime in 6 months,
and
> I'm not about to start today, so this was my last day on Norrath as a
> player, as well.
>
> I really believed that I could make a difference in Everquest as a Guide -
> not just by summoning corpses, but also by being a good source of input
for
> things that needed to be fixed or changed. I'm well-versed in diplomacy
> (being the Herald for my local LARP Kingdom), and I was very eager to make
> the world a better place. Unfortunately, from day one, my rose-coloured
> glasses suffered some pretty potent tarnish. While in IRC, being given
> instructions on what NOT to do as a Guide ("no hunting, no looting, and
> above all, no fighting with players!!!"), I was also online on my other
> computer (Love having two windows machines!). As I was playing my
> enchanter, I heard the shout that there was a "Giant GM" on the loose in
> the Arena, so I invis'd myself and ran there. (why the invis? I dunno...
> Just didn't want to attract any attention to myself, and didn't realize at
> the time that GMs can see invis all the time.)
> When I got there, I saw the giant GM - 3 stories tall, at least!, and he
> was in the process of giving a warning to a rude player who was exploiting
> the arena (charming the lower level guy every time he tried to retrieve
his
> corpse). While I grant that the player was being rude, and certainly
> deserved the warning, what happened next was totally uncalled for. The GM
> followed up his verbal warning with a spell (some kind of knockback that
> does damage), nearly killing the offending player. I was stunned. I
> immediately did a direct tell to a GM in the IRC room asking for
> clairification on this, and at first, until they heard the GMs name, they
> acted somewhat shocked. When they realized it was a programmer GM, they
> suddenly backed off and said that "well, GM's know what they're doing -
> it's not our place to question that."
> This, incidentally, was less than two weeks after several guides were
> banned for fighting players in the Arena. Even the Guides who were brand
> new and just following their leader were suspended, and removed from the
> Guide Program.
> Basicallly I guess what I'm saying here is that *even then*, the hypocrisy
> ran rampant, and that sort of attitude really ticks me off. I'm not going
> to turn into any sort of Tweety, but I'm also not going to candy-coat
> it. Verant's version of social engineering made me sick to my stomach,
and
> I refuse to be a part of that orwellian nightmare.
>
> Another interesting note is that when I posted my letter of resignation to
> the Guide board (which wasn't nearly as vitriolic as this one - but it did
> include the phrase "rampant hypocrisy"), it was deleted inside of 3
> minutes. I had to severely water it down before I posted it again to
> ensure that it would stay up there. Way to control information, Big
> Brother Verant. Ignorance is Bliss.
>
> I will remain on the list as an active moderator, and to share Bard
> stories, perhaps even get some input on Bards for my new project, but my
EQ
> career is over.
>
> Sweet Songs and Light Laughter,
> Talies the Wanderer
> formerly
> Jalviv the Just of Tarew Marr
>
>
>
> Please send submissions for the eqbards newsletter to lol@...
with the subject submissions.
>
>