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Community Concerns Regarding SOMERblink

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Xtreem
Knockaround Guys Inc.
#341 - 2014-08-19 17:04:38 UTC  |  Edited by: Xtreem
The thing that strikes me about this, such a simple thing but i feel it speaks volumes.

Chribba, one of the most honest and free standing even players, giving mountains of time and free sites that we all use and known for being such an honest person spoke out about it, and EVEN sounded slightly jaded over it...

anything that gets to the point of this man speaking out about it is a very bad thing for eve as a whole.

I would like all people involved in any proven RMT actions having any assets involved removed, it would be hard to know who was in on the RMT if any happened due to its nature so i feel just removing the assets and being upfront on what was removed would be a step in the right directions.
POS Trader
Merchants of Lore
#342 - 2014-08-19 17:06:58 UTC
Big Lynx wrote:
CCP, I have a part time job in real-life. I am not rich, living in 70m² flat with my wife who is actually unemployed.

However, I managed to be trillionaire in your genious game called EvE. Do I have your permission to flip some of my iskies to rl cash to buy a car or some cool stuff like Somer did? Big smile


Envy much?

Unless CCP stops ALL referral money, a business transaction, then this situation is unavoidable. SOMER does not directly exchange ISK -> $$$. What happens is he's incentivizing purchasing of PLEX through his referral program by paying more ISK for the PLEX than market price in Jita. This way he's losing ISK, and supposedly gaining *some* additional revenue. How much additional revenue? That's up to debate.

So, is CCP willing to cut off funding from Amazon because some people don't like SOMER making money from the same program? You can't cut off SOMER specifically - he could just say, buy this plex from Amazon with my referral link and I'll give you extra ISK for that. So, either cut them all off and CCP sells PLEX only directly, without any commission to anyone therefore losing business partners, or don't.

I'm in the camp where I don't really care either way. To me what SOMER is doing is nothing wrong. CCP is paying him $$$ for PLEX referrals and he is sucking in as much referrals as he can by incentivizing people that buy PLEXes, to use his referral links.

Therefore this boils down to envy. People that suffer from it, should deal with it. Shocked

PS. If you are spending so much time in EVE that you have trillions of ISK, perhaps spending more time away from EVE would allow you to get RL cash instead and you could buy said car or some other cool stuff like Somer did without spending all the time and other resources on a stupid imaginary money gambling site.
Mr Epeen
It's All About Me
#343 - 2014-08-19 17:07:58 UTC
I think the CSM concept is flawed and was implemented for all the wrong reasons.

That said, I'll not **** on the individuals that seem to be doing their level best to do what you all voted them into the CSM to do. If there's one thing the majority of the forum community is good at, it's shooting the messenger.

Mr Epeen Cool
Lauresh Thellere
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#344 - 2014-08-19 17:14:43 UTC
Argus Sorn wrote:
Lauresh Thellere wrote:

Sigh, I wrote this cool response about how you're being a **** to people who are exhausted from working their asses off the last day or two and have had little to no sleep but the forums ate it.


I will never support being a complete jerk to anyone - but the people who are working their asses off are only doing it because they didn't take appropriate action a year ago. So while they have my respect for their current work, you have to pardon some of us if we aren't exactly sympathetic.


This CSM wasn't elected a year ago.
Hendrick Tallardar
Doomheim
#345 - 2014-08-19 17:16:27 UTC
Lauresh Thellere wrote:
Argus Sorn wrote:
Lauresh Thellere wrote:

Sigh, I wrote this cool response about how you're being a **** to people who are exhausted from working their asses off the last day or two and have had little to no sleep but the forums ate it.


I will never support being a complete jerk to anyone - but the people who are working their asses off are only doing it because they didn't take appropriate action a year ago. So while they have my respect for their current work, you have to pardon some of us if we aren't exactly sympathetic.


This CSM wasn't elected a year ago.


Good thing the CSM has no say in what punishments Somer should have received a year ago. Especially given it's clear he's referring to CCP's actions. Reading comprehension yo.
Mike Azariah
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#346 - 2014-08-19 17:17:40 UTC
Lauresh Thellere wrote:


This CSM wasn't elected a year ago.


A few of us were and we have decent memories.

m

Mike Azariah  ┬──┬ ¯|(ツ)/¯
Le Petite More
Doomheim
#347 - 2014-08-19 17:18:49 UTC
Bad CCP for not fixing this the first time. Please ban him.
Glasgow Dunlop
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#348 - 2014-08-19 17:20:44 UTC
The one thing I know that will happen is Falcon will sort this out, id put whisky on it Lol

@glasgowdunlop #tweetfleet

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Sketchy Bob
Mother caking corp
#349 - 2014-08-19 17:24:12 UTC
So on a more serious note. Do we have any estimates on when we might get to hear useful? Falcon?

Has there been any progress internally? I am not asking for details (all though they would be nice to have). Are the meetings moving forward or are you guys stuck?
Mallak Azaria
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#350 - 2014-08-19 17:24:13 UTC
Glasgow Dunlop wrote:
The one thing I know that will happen is Falcon will sort this out, id put whisky on it Lol


Yeah I hear that his investigative skills & ability to comprehend the information provided to make the correct decisions is unrivaled at CCP.

This post was lovingly crafted by a member of the Goonwaffe Posting Cabal, proud member of the popular gay hookup site somethingawful.com, Spelling Bee, Grammar Gestapo & #1 Official Gevlon Goblin Fanclub member.
Andski
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#351 - 2014-08-19 17:26:05 UTC
POS Trader wrote:
Unless CCP stops ALL referral money, a business transaction, then this situation is unavoidable. SOMER does not directly exchange ISK -> $$$. What happens is he's incentivizing purchasing of PLEX through his referral program by paying more ISK for the PLEX than market price in Jita. This way he's losing ISK, and supposedly gaining *some* additional revenue. How much additional revenue? That's up to debate.


buy this rock for $200 and i'll buy a piece of trit from you for 15 billion isk

that way i'm losing money this can't possibly be against the rules right

Twitter: @EVEAndski

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths."    - Abrazzar
Big Lynx
#352 - 2014-08-19 17:27:27 UTC
POS Trader wrote:
Big Lynx wrote:
CCP, I have a part time job in real-life. I am not rich, living in 70m² flat with my wife who is actually unemployed.

However, I managed to be trillionaire in your genious game called EvE. Do I have your permission to flip some of my iskies to rl cash to buy a car or some cool stuff like Somer did? Big smile


Envy much?




My wealth is my health, my friends and my family . All other things are just pixels...
Klyith
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#353 - 2014-08-19 17:34:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Klyith
One thing that's been brought up a number of times in this thread is the whole paying ISK for content on themittani.com (or EN24 but TMC gets more attention).

Whether you want to define that as RMT or not is up to you. The important thing is that CCP says that practice --paying ISK for Eve-related content monetized by ads or such-- is officially allowed, and anyone can do it. I can start Klyith's Eve News dotcom and pay people isk for articles just like Mittani does. Someone from BNI could create Brave Newsbies and do the same. Mr. Pirhana could do Dinsdale's CCP Weather News (tagline: "where the sky is always falling!") and assuming he could find anyone to write articles, exchange isk for revenue. It's a level playing field.


The issue with Somer is that historically they were not treated equally. Somer had a isk-for-referrals program that operated for quite some time before people caused a ruckus last year, and CCP only stopped when other people started imitating it. I suspect that everyone in eve could create their own advertising-monetized Eve news & opinions websites and CCP would be fine with it. ;)
Lyron-Baktos
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#354 - 2014-08-19 17:37:09 UTC
I find it very telling that a VP of Sales would be in personal contact with a simple reseller.
Mr Epeen
It's All About Me
#355 - 2014-08-19 17:40:33 UTC  |  Edited by: Mr Epeen
Lyron-Baktos wrote:
I find it very telling that a VP of Sales would be in personal contact with a simple reseller.


I find it very telling that you have no idea how small this community is. Everyone who has been playing for a while knows everyone else and are often on a first name basis with them.

All the tin foil in here makes my teeth hurt.

ed ~ And Somer is anything but a 'simple reseller'. He's a major contributor to events large and small. From fanfest to EVE Vegas. Of course the marketing dept would be very familiar with him.


Mr Epeen Cool
Ace Boogi
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#356 - 2014-08-19 17:45:43 UTC
Lyron-Baktos wrote:
I find it very telling that a VP of Sales would be in personal contact with a simple reseller.

He isn't even the reseller, Markee is. Somer is basically just a player. It is very unsettling that he has these kinds of connections and personal relationships with CCP employees. He is supposed to be a pod pilot, not a business partner. Something something about it being against the EULA to operate an account for business purposes...
Klyith
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#357 - 2014-08-19 17:46:56 UTC
Lyron-Baktos wrote:
I find it very telling that a VP of Sales would be in personal contact with a simple reseller.

Nah, sales is always easy to reach. That's what they do, communicate and sell the game.


CCP allows resellers to run some types of limited promotions. For example, buy a ETC code from Reseller X and get a bonus code for a skinned Catalyst (look at all the Catalyst variants in the game, many of those are from that type of promotion). I assume their sales department is who handles those types of promotions.

Somer wording his PLEX buyback system as a "promotion" in the same vein as those normal events is what got him the official ok he was looking to cover his ass. It's pretty obviously in bad faith if you know the game, but as some CSM people have pointed out the sales and legal teams probably don't have a deep understanding of the game.
Andski
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#358 - 2014-08-19 17:47:27 UTC
Mr Epeen wrote:
He's a major contributor to events large and small. From fanfest to EVE Vegas. Of course the marketing dept would be very familiar with him.]


tell us more about somer blink being a charity

Twitter: @EVEAndski

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths."    - Abrazzar
Tippia
Sunshine and Lollipops
#359 - 2014-08-19 17:47:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Tippia
CCP Falcon wrote:
Dinsdale Pirannha wrote:
…barf…

Frankly, you have no idea what you're talking about. You also have no idea how deep we have to dig to investigate this, given the sheer number of transactions that this service generates.

If you'd like to rumor mill as usual, do it elsewhere, or be prepared to lose your ability to post on this forum.
💞


Abrazzar wrote:
It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths.
Agh!
I've had my sig for half a decade and now you come along and challenge it for sheer awesomeness? Decisions, decisions… Big smile

Dinsdale Pirannha wrote:
Hey, look at the quote of mine that he embedded and then threatened me with a banhammer for. Not one shred of a rumour, but that is what the threat is for. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
It did not contain any rumours, just unfounded speculation about how things should be handled. He then warned you that your usual rumour-mongering — you know, the usual nonsensical claims you spout about the inner workings of CCP — would not be tolerated in this case. Now look at what you're doing in that last sentence of yours…

POS Trader wrote:
Unless CCP stops ALL referral money, a business transaction, then this situation is unavoidable. SOMER does not directly exchange ISK -> $$$. What happens is he's incentivizing purchasing of PLEX through his referral program by paying more ISK for the PLEX than market price in Jita. This way he's losing ISK, and supposedly gaining *some* additional revenue. How much additional revenue? That's up to debate.

There's no need to stop referral money. They just have to be very clear that you are not allowed to incentivise a real-life transaction of any kind with an in-game transaction of any kind (or vice versa).

And by “be very clear” I mean, “they have always been very clear so just shout it louder and don't accept any kind of silly work-arounds”. You are entirely free to do a transaction that involves 1 trit on one end and 1bn ISK on the other without any repercussions. You are also entirely free to engage in cash kickback schemes and ad revenue and whathaveyou to support the out-of-game efforts of other players, such as server hosting and bandwidth fees and the like. It's when you mix the two, when you use one as a quid-pro-quo for the other, that you dive headlong into the putrid ditch of RMT.
Edward Harris
Inner Geek
#360 - 2014-08-19 17:50:42 UTC
Andski wrote:


tell us more about somer blink being a charity


He makes a profit, so he must be a criminal. Burn the witch!

Reading this forum makes one lose all hope in humanity..