Alphaville Herald

Avatar of the Year, 2nd Place: Sir/Father Callahan

This choice might surprise some, but not after you hear the facts. Over the past year, Sir/FatherC/Ian has been all over tso, and SL, and usually in the middle of some dramma or other. Beginning the year as a small time simolean dealer, he made a name (and drammatically changed gameplay) by acquiring zillions of trial accounts and selling them to mafia's etc. He used Nyk's mazebot, but drew the ire of the simolean dealers by reviewing the new version of the mazebot straight out of the chute. Not long after, he made a name for himself by using his trial accounts to acquire piles of rare cannons, flooding the market. But he really started making news when he joined Mr-President's administration as Press Secretary...

As Press Secretary for the Alphaville Government (AVG), Sir initially led the defense of Mr-President against charges of fixing the election and groping an innocent intern (and even organized a smear campaign against Ashley), but when Sir caught Mr-P in the White House, alone with Angelique Fontaine (Angelina Becquerel in SL), it was more than he could bear, and he resigned his position and turned on Mr-P. Later he formed the Simulated Soviet Union (SSU) with disgruntled members of the AVG, and led a griefing attack in which the AVG Capitol building was trashed. Fed up with the criticism he received for the SSU, he quit tso and moved to Second Life, and had a series of alts banned for griefing (including a bingo fire bombing episode) when he finally stabilized as Father Callahan and worked for the Herald as a reporter.

Father Callahan managed to be in the thick of the dramma surrounding the Second Jessie War, and it was his interview with Tank Levy that led to the big split between One Song and Tank and the end of their joint mega-mall project. Father Callahan was on the ground during the great Jessie Battle as well. His biggest scoop was perhaps the interview with Mimi Coral, after she was accused of being the terraforming terrorist and destroying 6 private sims.

Father Callahan was subsequently banned again from SL, and so returned to tso and set up shop in Dragon's Cove, but with this return the real story turned out to be his reporting and the abuses of power by Stratics moderators, reportage which, given the thin excuses provided, led to his being banned from Stratics for a while.

Through it all Sir has been operating the Alphaville Gazzette, which is the leading source of real news about tso since the Herald moved operations to SL, and it is clearly the second best newspaper in blogspace!

For all this, we consider Sir/Father Callahan to be a bigger newsmaker than Ashley and Mr-President. But not quite number one... stay tuned for that.

Stratics hacked/defaced

It appears that the entire Stratics network was victimized by a defacing worm earlier today. No word yet on whether the worm is sophisiticated or just the work of a garden variety h4x0r script kiddy. For sure these worm writers need to think of more creative messages. We are awaiting further information, but given that the President of Stratics once told us to "go piss up a rope" I don't think we will be the first to get the newz. --The Phantom

Above is what people accessing the Stratics Central site (and Sims Stratics) see as of this posting.

Stratics bans anti-Kerry .sig

Ohhhh Stratics, you've done it again!

Just when you think the Stratics Thought Police have run out of speech to ban, a stratics user now claims that the following .sig was banned by the Mods:

I mean, I'll be voting for Kerry too, but it would never occur to me to ban a siggy like that. Given that Stratics is really the only common space for discussion for tens of thousands of gamerz, this really raises serious issues about whether such draconian censorship is not violating a basic public responsibility one takes on when running such public discussion forums. Message from stratics mod follows.

Change of signature
From: Lyliane Dea
Received: 10/16/04 08:52 PM
Hello,

This is warning to modify your signature.

Political discussion isn't allowed on the game forum, and are more suitable for the Off topic stratics forum.

Furthermore, supporting your own view in your signature is acceptable, however, attacking the other side is not.

Please modify your signature before posting again. Not complying could result on actions on your stratic account, and the removal of further posts done with that signature.

Have a nice day.

Big Mick Permanently Banned from Stratics!

Well, the tale of Stratics keeps writing itself, and just when u think the plot couldn't get any thicker, well, it gets thicker! Just days after opening his own chat board as an alternative to Stratics, Mick Lite has been banned from Stratics for having a link to his own board in his bio. You can read the story in Mick's own words below, but some interesting questions come up. Was Mick looking to get banned? Does that mean he *should* have been banned? Have the Stratics mods completely lost all sense of proportion?

From Mick's site:

"Thats right, I received another "friendly warning" today, when I posted on a thread from Sir, letting him know to be careful. He posted 2 minutes after his own post. When I posted a minute after my post, it was deleted and I was warned for bumping and spamming the boards when all I did was add another sentence to what I was already talking about. Right after the friendly warning, I received an official warning. The official warning stated that I was previously warned for having a link to this site in my signature. I deleted it from my signature after I was warned. But my official warning came from me having a link to this site listed as my homepage in my bio.... wtf?? And that if I posted again, I would be banned. During this escapade, I was talking to Honeybuns on AIM lol. I asked her to please ban me because I was a stratics plus member, and decided I did not want to waste anymore good money to keep that site in operation. She said she could not ban me because I asked her, but if I posted again without removing the link to this site from my bio, then she would. So I posted in the City Hall saying Hi Honeybuns, how are you this evening.... and was banned lol."

The Other Way to Run a Forum

Thanks to Toy for passing along this tidbit. While the Stratics Mods are busy falling overthemselves threatening to ban people that provide links to sites that link to sites that link to sites that sell game currency, Robin Linden (an EA escapee, btw) offers the following breathtakingly simple and sane policy for the SL Forums:

"...in interpreting the TOS clause about linking to content on other websites, we've tried to take a pretty liberal approach and only delete links that contain broadly offensive material (videos of beheading people in Iraq) or material that's posted as a specific personal attack against an individual (a picture of someone giving an obscene gesture).

We do not have any interest in trying to control content on 3rd party websites, fansites or not. It's up to the moderators of those sites to decide how they want to manage their sites."

UO Player Petition: Dump Stratics

Seems as thought TSO Players aren't the only ones who are fed up with the abuses of the Stratics Mods. I just came across the following petition asking that the UO discussion forums be moved out from under stratics control. The reasons are familiar (petition is reprinted below) and the comments by the signatories are worth reading as well. Here is a recent one:

"It's a sad state of affairs the Stratics boards have come to. The moderators there act as if they are some special "UO God or Goddess" that is to be worshipped. They do not allow open discussion of ideals, but rather strictly define only postiive comments about themselves and EA. "

Hmm, did someone say that Brekke was in charge of UO too?

To: UO Players
Dear fellow Ultima Online players,

The time has come to send a petition to EA about the "Official" Ultima Online forums. As it stands, the Ultima Online forums are hosted with Stratics, a massive site with tons of content and numerous staff. The main problems with this is the fact half the time, the site is down, or unresponsive, or just pitifully slow.

Other problems which have been highlighted recently include the stratics' advertisers putting spy ware and possible viruses on people's pc's, this isn't the first time this has happened either. The stratics management is uninformed as to what's classified as Spy ware and what isn't, which is evident in Comm. Director's own words, which stated...

"Assuming we're talking about the same DoubleClick - DoubleClick is the leading maker of software used to deliver advertising (www.doubleclick.com). This isn't spy ware (although some anti-spy ware programs will remove it), it's simply a run-of-the mill cookie to decide what ad to serve to you when."

But when you look up information on these cookies, each site you go to explicitly states..

"DoubleClick is a mainstream ad network that uses various ways, including spy ware cookies, to target advertising.

On line ad company DoubleClick used Web bugs that could communicate with cookies from its Web site. The cookies then revealed past on line behaviour, even home addresses, IP addresses, and phone numbers to the bugs, and the bugs sent that information straight back to DoubleClick.

There are also numerous stories circulating that people have been banned improperly due to personal vendettas by the Stratics Moderators and Admins. Emails sent to the admin address for complaints and concerns, 99% of the time, go unanswered. Complaints via private messaging to admins about other users using the private messaging feature to harass and insult, go unresolved. Stratics offers a lot to it's users, but what people need is a board which is up 24/7, 365 days of the year and is run by professionals who are paid to do their job and don't have personal grudges against the posters.

So what are we (The players) asking for? A board which is moderated by dedicated staff, who know ultima on line and are paid for their job as professional moderators. A board which is up 24/7, 365 days a year A board which actually loads in a reasonable time frame and doesn't suffer from SQL Errors A board where the users privacy is protected and isn't stolen by spy ware A board where the users don't have to worry about viruses and spy ware. A board where harassment complaints are actioned apon A board where complaints and concerns sent to the proper authorities gets an ANSWER and a resolution if possible.

Why did Stratics ban Sir?

Sir sent me the emails with the pretexts under which Leah permanently banned him from Stratics, and I have to say that I ? even in my advanced state of jadedness ? I am shocked by the whole thing? But somewhat amused too. Following is the ban letter sent to the Sir. Loosen up the W, T, and F keys on your keyboards, set your emoticons to :O and prepare to enter the Stratics Zone!

Here is the final ban letter sent to Sir:

From: Leah
Received: 09/11/04 02:35 PM
I am quoting several of your posts that violate the RoC, specifically:

All I can say is ... :O

Thanks to the mack of all cyber-paparzazi, Father Callahan, for this screen shot. I think the pic pretty much says it all, don't you?

Tigger escapes the 11 city hood for greener pastures

Tigger!

[sorry for the delay in reporting this -- earlier draft got nuked. The Good Father's fault I am sure. --Uri]

By: Father Callahan

According to Sims Stratics sub-Minister of Thought Control, Leah, and this notice on the SWG boards, Ex Senior Online Community Representative for TSO, Tigger is now working on the 'Star Wars Galaxies' project. Her new job is "Assistant Online Community Manager." While we disagreed with Tigger about a lot, we wouldn't wish a career at EA on anyone, so we are happy she has escaped to MUCH greener pastures. Go Tigger! And, while we didn't feel free to say it when she worked here, now that we no longer have a professional relationship, the whole SL/AVH staff would like to get you into a chat room and say this: HAAAARRRR!!!

Press Release follows

Diane "Tiggs" Migliaccio's Letter to the Community

Heya! My name is Diane Migliaccio however I go by the name of Tiggs (yes, I am a female gamer). I am the new Assistant Online Community Manager for Star Wars Galaxies and here to help make Kurt's job a bit easier. Some of you may remember me from my previous positions held at Electronic Arts with the Ultima Online Volunteer program and The Sims Online Development team. *looks out and sees some familiar faces*.

For those that don't know me I will give you some background information on myself. I was given the nickname Tigger (Tiggs) for being a hyper-active child, teenager and adult. The only people that refer to me as Diane are my parents and it is usually followed by me having done something wrong :P I am a workaholic that will surprise you at all hours with posts on the forums. Sleep is for the weak is my motto; though as I get older I am adding on an hour of sleep here and there. When I am not working I enjoy spending time with my children, our two black Labs, Gaming or floating around on our boat on Lake Travis taking in the sun.

I won't bother going through the games I have played in the past since you have heard it all before. I will give you some background on my gaming style. *looks around cautiously* I love PVP and I am a power gamer. I do play Star Wars Galaxies when I can. Right now I am in the process of moving so I can't play as often as I want to right now. However that will change and once I get settled in my characters will get the attention that they really need.

My last position before coming to Star Wars Galaxies was with The Sims Online in the role of Senior Online Community Representative and my main focus was the community. Wait!!! Before you huff and puff that The Sims Online is a very different game from Star Wars Galaxies; I have to say that the one thing that will always remain the same with any game is the passion that the community has. I have spent the last few days reading over all of the Star Wars Galaxy forums and that passion shines through. *psst... I hear you!!* You, like the previous communities I have dealt with, want to be heard or acknowledged so at least you know you are not posting in vain. I will try my best to acknowledge your posts even if it is a simple post that says "Great Idea" or "I will pass this on to the team". I am very laid back and it takes a lot to make me "pounce". All I ask is be constructive in your posts, agree to disagree and remember there is a human with feelings that wrote that post you are replying to and we will get along fine!

I am looking forward to getting to know you the community and extremely excited about working with some past co-workers/friends and the best people in this industry that are on the Star Wars Galaxies Team.

See you on the boards!!

Tiggs

Revenge of the Stratics Mods

Still master of his domain: A Stratics mod fondles his sensual red Swingline stapler while contemplating the next SLH writer to ban from his domain.

Well, in the 5 days that have passed since the Second Life Herald published The Story on how links to links to the Second Life Herald have been prohibited on Stratics, the Stratics mods have turned their vengence machine against contributors to the Herald. In particular, Ian has been permanently banned (lol, like that will keep *him* away) and RB has been banned for 72 hours. Some details are in the comment section to the prohibited linking story, but I am gathering documentation for a more thorough report in the near future. Stay tuned... Meanwhile we encourage our readers to supply us with further reports on abusive and corrupt behavior by the Stratics mods (both sim stratics and other stratics boards).

EXTRA EXTRA, OMFG! Stratics Thought Police decree that links to sites that link to The Second Life Herald violate Stratics ROC!!!

Those wacky little thought police at Stratics have done it again! Dyerbrook was recently charged with a violation of the Stratics Rules of Conduct (ROC), because in his profile he has a link to his ?Sims Out of Line? page, which in turn has a link the Second Life/Alphaville Herald. Never mind that Dyerbrook (a longstanding critic of the Herald) actually attacks the Herald on his page, the Stasi/Stratics thought police have ruled that Dyerbrook will be banned from posting on Stratics unless his Stratics profile ceases to link to a site that in turn links to the Second Life Herald. Of course, if applied consistently, this policy would also mean no linking to The New York Times, BBC Online, CNN, The Boston Globe, Terra Nova, Slashdot, Gamegirl Advance, Penny Arcade, Salon.com, GameSpot, The Detroit Free Press, and several thousand other academic and gaming blogs and news organizations that link to us. Details and all the wacky documentation follow!

Stratics, for those of you don?t know, is a corporation that is in the business of providing chat forums for Online Roleplaying Games. So, for example, there are Stratics boards available for the discussion of issues in The Sims Online, Ultima Online, Everquest, and on and on. Clearly, they are there to keep the big game companies happy, so EA and SOE have nearly infinite power over Stratics in the abstract. (Second Life has quite sensibly stayed clear of using Stratics to host their official chat sites). The moderators who often work for free, are culled from the user community based upon their undying devotion to the game owners. (Don Hopkins has compared their relation to the game companies as being similar to the Stockholm Syndrome.)

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First, I give you the message that Dyerbrook received from Milton, threatening to cast him out of the anti-paradise that is Stratics:

============================
Improper Stratics profile

From: Milton
Received: 09/04/04 09:08 AM
Dyerbrook,
Your Stratics profile is in violation of the following section of the Stratics Rules of Conduct.

The TSO Task Squad: Stasi-styled group promises to rat out fellow players

In a disturbing and shocking development on TSO, several plays have formed a group "devoted to seeking out and reporting sims that violate the EA Terms of Service." Called the "TSO Task Squad" the stated motive of the group is to "help restore TSO to an enjoyable and challenging game for all". But let's be clear about what the new game really is. It is more aptly called "Stasi" after the East German secret police, and the game strategy is to report your fellow players to a 15 billion dollar corporation for infractions of a contract that the players probably never read. What makes it a meta-game is that it is a nice way to eliminate your competition. And then there is the joy that can only come from ratting out your friends to a corporate monolith. All I can say is that I sincerely hope this is a hoax. The press release of this troubling group follows.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Mr. Adam Roberts
http://www.DragonsCove.00Game.com
[email protected]

Sims Online Task Squad Forms

Alphaville, Sept. 5, 2004 -- In order to help restore The Sims Online to an enjoyable and challenging game for all, the Sims Online Task Squad was formed today. It is devoted to seeking out and reporting sims that violate the EA Terms of Service in ways that unfairly hurt the game play of the other players.

We are not affiliated with EA, and we make no claim to be an official organization. We are simply a loosely affiliated group of Sims that meet to discuss ways to achieve our common purpose- get rid of the money cheaters.

When The Sims Online first came out, it was fun. There was a struggle to earn money and buying an expensive object or expanding to a full-size lot on the beach was a reflection of achievement. Players opened up restaurants and game shows and casinos.

Now that has changed. Some players were able to develop third party tools that took advantages of the game, and made millions of Simoleans overnight. They sell them on eBay and other places. Before long, for just a few bucks a Sim could get a huge house with everything they wanted without lifting a finger.

Money and Skill houses became all-in-one centers, giving huge payouts to whoever would visit. Making money off charging for food is a distant memory. Pay doors and tip jars are ridiculous to think of. Casinos are required to operate at a loss, just to attract visitors.

When EA announced the opening of the new city Dragon's Cove, the decided to conduct periodic raids and investigations into players suspected of cheating. The idea is that this, along with various other tweaks in game play, would help to stop DC from turning into the boring, cheat-friendly city that is now Alphaville, Blazing Falls, Jolly Pines, and the rest of the Simland.

So why not do this ourselves? There is a handy button in your toolbar in the bottom left-hand corner marked '?' If you click on it you can quickly and easily report a Sim you have found cheating.

But its not enough to passively stumble across cheaters. We need to band together and aggressively seek out and destroy these villains who are ruining the game. For far far too long we have sat back and complained but done little to stem the flow of illegal money in our fair cities. Its time we take action!

When EA announced the opening of the new city Dragon's Cove, the decided to conduct periodic raids and investigations into players suspected of cheating. The idea is that this, along with various other tweaks in game play, would help to stop DC from turning into the boring, cheat-friendly city that is now Alphaville, Blazing Falls, Jolly Pines, and the rest of the Simland.

Anyone can help. You can visit lots and keep an eye on the Sims there. Do they go more than 15 minutes without moving or timing out? Do their movement patterns follow that of a Sim controlled by a bot program? Report them.

One of the best ways to help is to post your own ideas for catching scammers, and to spread the word to your fellow Sims about the Task Squad.

For information: http://dragonscove.00game.com or
Contact: [email protected]

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Tigger Leaving EA/Stratics

Sorry for the delay in reporting this, but both I and our main board ho, The Phantom, have been offline for a week. The news is that Tigger, basically the only EA rep that ever communicates with the 40,000 some odd TSO players is leaving EA on August 20. Among the questions this raises, of course, is whether this is more evidence that EA is pulling the plug on TSO (as it did with Motor City Online and Earth and Beyond). As one might expect, there is much discussion of this on Stratics.

Profanity no longer a reportable offense in tso, but what does it mean?

Most of you know that TSO has announced (well, Tigger has announced) that profanity is no longer a reportable offense. RB has editorialzed on his blog that this shows an outbreak of sanity at EA, since profanity reporting was principally just a tool used by griefers to ban citicisms that get fed up with their antics and say "damn" (I know of a case of a sim that was flagged for telling a sim that he "deserves to be bitch slapped" after he called someone a "nigger" -- the sim who said 'nigger' was not flagged by EA). Is it really an outbreak of sanity, or is it yet another sign that EA is withdrawing resources from the game and no longer has the time or energy to supervise the language of game users. I guess I would vote for the latter. Meanwhile Tigger advises users to deploy EA's profanity filter -- which is the biggest joke in cyberspace.