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Community Concerns Regarding SOMERblink

First post First post
Author
Seraph Essael
Air
The Initiative.
#681 - 2014-08-20 03:53:54 UTC  |  Edited by: Seraph Essael
Xenuria wrote:
I am shocked and overjoyed that things turned out this way.
I didn't exactly get along with somer apparently I asked too many questions. As it turns out I was asking all the right questions.



Let me guess, you're going to turn this into some ludicrous publicity stunt and make a video about it, stating this is why you should be voted in?

Go try and be relevant somewhere else...


---

James Amril-Kesh wrote:
Dolly Darko wrote:
I wanted to thank CCP actually. I enjoy two things in EVE, Wormholes and Blink. You are ruining both. Thanks.

Somerset Mahm ruined blink.

Pretty much this. Greed is a powerful ally and also the downfall of many.

Quoted from Doc Fury: "Concerned citizens: Doc seldom plays EVE on the weekends during spring and summer, so you will always be on your own for a couple days a week. Doc spends that time collecting kittens for the on-going sacrifices, engaging in reckless outdoor activities, and speaking in the 3rd person."

Rollaz
AirHogs
Hogs Collective
#682 - 2014-08-20 03:54:43 UTC
So bizarre...

The favoritism toward blink over the years, now turns to the absurdity...

I got my isk back from Somer... thank you... but for some UNKNOWN reason, my number of tokens dropped by the same amount in reverse they would have been credited by...

Would be great to get an isk return on the tokens from Somer's remaining wallet funds ;)

Can I has your isk and stuff?

I'll miss your promos' twas our favorite thing to do in coms.... BREAK, BREAK....


PROMO!!!!.... errr I mean.... NOMO!!.....


RIP SOMERblink.



HAVE FUN - MAKE ISK - NO DRAMA No Api's   -   No Wars   -   No Awoxing   -   No Kidding! Hogs is OPEN for recruiting!  Join our in-game channel "Airhogs"

RubyPorto
RubysRhymes
#683 - 2014-08-20 03:55:48 UTC
Xenuria wrote:
I am shocked and overjoyed that things turned out this way.
I didn't exactly get along with somer apparently I asked too many questions. As it turns out I was asking all the right questions.



... I'm on the same side of an issue as Xenuria? Shocked

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths." -Abrazzar "the risk of having your day ruined by other people is the cornerstone with which EVE was built" -CCP Solomon

lord xavier
Rubbed Out
#684 - 2014-08-20 03:57:27 UTC
RubyPorto wrote:
Xenuria wrote:
I am shocked and overjoyed that things turned out this way.
I didn't exactly get along with somer apparently I asked too many questions. As it turns out I was asking all the right questions.



... I'm on the same side of an issue as Xenuria? Shocked

I know how you feel.
Hakaari Inkuran
State War Academy
Caldari State
#685 - 2014-08-20 04:06:03 UTC
RubyPorto wrote:
Xenuria wrote:
I am shocked and overjoyed that things turned out this way.
I didn't exactly get along with somer apparently I asked too many questions. As it turns out I was asking all the right questions.



... I'm on the same side of an issue as Xenuria? Shocked

You'll live life better when you care less about sides.
Andski
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#686 - 2014-08-20 04:11:07 UTC
an upside is that idiots won't whisper "promo" on fleet comms every 10 minutes

Twitter: @EVEAndski

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths."    - Abrazzar

Xenuria
#687 - 2014-08-20 04:14:50 UTC
Boom Boom Longtime wrote:
CCP Falcon is hopefully the good egg that targets the bad ones in the basket


It certainly seems that way. I haven't always agreed with him but I cannot argue with his sense of duty.
Cameron Freerunner
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#688 - 2014-08-20 04:18:51 UTC
Andski wrote:
an upside is that idiots won't whisper "promo" on fleet comms every 10 minutes

omg the shills were the worst. death to the whisperers!
Andski
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#689 - 2014-08-20 04:20:57 UTC
the whisperers in CFC comms are usually from FCON too

Twitter: @EVEAndski

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths."    - Abrazzar

Cameron Freerunner
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#690 - 2014-08-20 04:23:45 UTC
Derrick Miles wrote:
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
CCP Falcon wrote:
n the same respect however, we believe that the promotion that caused this issue was not representative of the original proposal that was brought to CCP.

Spin spin spin spin spin. You make me sad, CCP. He stuck his **** so far up your ass that you couldn't see straight. Now let's watch the PLEX market unravel.

Besides being incredibly inappropriate, all I see in your comment is a quote of a reasonable statement supported by SOMER's own document and declaring it to be "spin". In what way is Falcon twisting or mincing words in that comment?

You can't seem to divorce Falcon the person from Falcon the CCP representative. He has the unfortunate task of being the community punching bag (do your duty, sir, we in the corporate world understand your position all too well). Somer scammed CCP and they let themselves be scammed. They were so interested in selling PLEX, they chose not to see the forest for the trees. Go back to being clueless, Derrick. This part of the game is so meta, its off the ******* charts.
Rain6637
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#691 - 2014-08-20 04:27:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Rain6637
OK. now I get how this is different from being a direct reseller of GTC. sorry, it took me a while.

the act is a cold, hard fact: ISK was exchanged as an incentive for spending real money.

but I'm not convinced there was malice. (the intention). personally, to be convinced of that I would need to see a record of gloating, somewhere / to someone.

people are accusing SOMER of purposefully converting ISK into real money, but I think that's a little extreme, and I believe him. he's consistent, and this program was a repeated attempt, yes, but the pattern (and the explanation for closing: hostile environment and CCP reneging) also suggests SOMER just simply doesn't understand how or why the ISK incentive is a violation (compared to being a direct GTC reseller).

I think he was simply doing what he knows--he developed a catchy way to generate a ton of ISK, and he used it as a tool to make his site popular. and it was self-sustaining. if other entities can think of "better" ways to convert ISK to real money, it's probably because RMT wasn't an explicit goal of SOMER's.

he also wasn't pushy in his email exchange, between the 8th and 13th of April (a Tues - Sun, which strikes me as casual compared to M-F).

his advice over the sale of the Scorpions Ishukone Watch strikes me as basic market smarts, and not necessarily devious. (their slot layout is kind of odd, anyway. -1L +1H compared to a regular Scorpion, making it even more awkward for armor tanking to free up mids).

as for awarding them to SOMER at all, it doesn't make complete sense, except that it's a rare item (what else would they give SOMER to show appreciation--ISK?)

I'm still not sure I understand the math of his proposal (even now), and I'm confident it would have been approved if it was up to me at the time. in this very thread I made sarcastic comments, proving that I really didn't get it. I would rather avoid that, just for the sake of my reputation as a spergy multiboxer--I would certainly try to be thorough if my job depended on it.

but I don't feel bad, because it's a given that I will be wrong about things, and in this case I think it would take a very wily and suspicious mind to catch it, that even among EVE players would be considered exceptional. ...how many players participated in this program before it was noticed...

rather than see SOMER shut down, for what it's worth I would prefer a mea culpa for the right reason. I think he still needs it explained slowly. I'm also curious why he wouldn't become a reseller himself (can someone fill me in). if MD makes enough to share a fee for referrals, why not sell GTCs directly without involving ISK incentives? (if he gets all of the GTC sale profit, wouldn't that be better than a referral fee).

a lot of people enjoy the thrill of trying to win shiny new ships. I know I've won a couple (a few?) dreads on SOMER. I'd prefer that didn't disappear. there's also something special about the presentation and feel of the site that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I'm not sure where players will get their raffle fix.

it's a Tuesday night, with 3/5 of the weekdays left before AT XII day 3.. and I already feel like too much EVE has been packed into one week. next week is Hyperion. I'm not sure how we're going to keep this up.
Derrick Miles
Death Rabbit Ky Oneida
#692 - 2014-08-20 04:34:43 UTC
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
Derrick Miles wrote:
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
CCP Falcon wrote:
n the same respect however, we believe that the promotion that caused this issue was not representative of the original proposal that was brought to CCP.

Spin spin spin spin spin. You make me sad, CCP. He stuck his **** so far up your ass that you couldn't see straight. Now let's watch the PLEX market unravel.

Besides being incredibly inappropriate, all I see in your comment is a quote of a reasonable statement supported by SOMER's own document and declaring it to be "spin". In what way is Falcon twisting or mincing words in that comment?

You can't seem to divorce Falcon the person from Falcon the CCP representative. He has the unfortunate task of being the community punching bag (do your duty, sir, we in the corporate world understand your position all too well). Somer scammed CCP and they let themselves be scammed. They were so interested in selling PLEX, they chose not to see the forest for the trees. Go back to being clueless, Derrick. This part of the game is so meta, its off the ******* charts.

CCP Falcon is the community liaison, and I'm willing to bet that nowhere in his job description is 'sit there and be punched'.

It does appear that CCP messed up in this case but so far the only real evidence of that is the text file and statement Somer made on his own site that CCP approved it, which hardly constitutes unbiased evidence. Before unleashing your righteous indignation at CCP, perhaps you should wait for the full story.

This isn't "meta", it isn't a part of the game at all. It seems like it is a clear violation of the rules for third party developers and the reaction was quick and even included doing their best to keep the community informed. Seems like the only clueless one here is you.
Rain6637
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#693 - 2014-08-20 04:40:07 UTC
the talk about the proposed plan has been too hard and fast for me... will someone break it down nice and slow, Barney style please. I want to understand it the way other people seem to, but I still don't see it. (help plz)
Derrick Miles
Death Rabbit Ky Oneida
#694 - 2014-08-20 04:45:00 UTC
Rain6637 wrote:
the talk about the proposed plan has been too hard and fast for me... will someone break it down nice and slow, Barney style please. I want to understand it the way other people seem to, but I still don't see it. (help plz)

The written proposal Somer linked on his site you can find here.

What basically ended up happening is Somer offered to buy the PLEX bought through their affiliate link with Markee Dragon at a markup of the current Jita price. Thus the RMT: using their referral to buy PLEX and then giving you more isk for said PLEX.
Rroff
Antagonistic Tendencies
#695 - 2014-08-20 04:46:43 UTC
James Amril-Kesh wrote:

There's enough that isn't behind the scenes to make what they did pretty clearly and unequivocally wrong under the EULA.


Maybe so tbh I've not even bothered my head about it, all I know (in full transparency) is that I've walked away up more than 20bn and somewhat disgusted that the toxicity (which is far more low and disgusting than anything somer may or may no have done) behind some of the more vocal efforts to bring somer down appears to be legitimised by all this even if somer is guilty and even if some of the concerns voiced about somer were purely altruistic.
Cameron Freerunner
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#696 - 2014-08-20 04:48:19 UTC
Sion Kumitomo wrote:
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
CCP Falcon wrote:
in the same respect however, we believe that the promotion that caused this issue was not representative of the original proposal that was brought to CCP.

Spin spin spin spin spin. You make me sad, CCP. He stuck his **** so far up your ass that you couldn't see straight. Now let's watch the PLEX market unravel.


Not to be impolite, but are you stupid? Falcon is being more polite here than I would be because Somer's proposal that he gave CCP isn't actually what he did. Go read the document Somer sent them. Pay particular attention to the "no bonus isk" bit and the subtle weasely last line that betrays his actual intent.

It's not spin, it's reading comprehension. Come back when you get some.

Somer got them coming and going. He played the ends against the middle. He took advantage of their procedural and organizational weaknesses. As I said in my previous post, Falcon the man and Falcon the Rep are different people. This has nothing to do with him as an individual.

CCP got played ten ways from Sunday. They didn't have the necessary processes in place despite Somer taking them to the limit a year ago. How is it possible that the sales VP didn't act without the tacit approval of upper management? We're not talking about an act in isolation, but an ongoing event over an extended period of time. How could this have escaped CCP's notice? You ever visit Markee Dragon's site? Why is it he's the only person offering 30 day trials?

The original quote implies that "somer told us he was going to do X, but he did Y." So? Did any of you people perform your due diligence? "We're CCP, we deal with a game full of highly intelligent people who bend the rules and engage in emergent gameplay. We totally don't understand how it's possible that someone could lie to us in an email, especially when there's $100,000 in real money on the table."

Please. Who are you kidding?
Cameron Freerunner
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#697 - 2014-08-20 04:51:12 UTC
Derrick Miles wrote:
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
Derrick Miles wrote:
Cameron Freerunner wrote:
CCP Falcon wrote:
n the same respect however, we believe that the promotion that caused this issue was not representative of the original proposal that was brought to CCP.

Spin spin spin spin spin. You make me sad, CCP. He stuck his **** so far up your ass that you couldn't see straight. Now let's watch the PLEX market unravel.

Besides being incredibly inappropriate, all I see in your comment is a quote of a reasonable statement supported by SOMER's own document and declaring it to be "spin". In what way is Falcon twisting or mincing words in that comment?

You can't seem to divorce Falcon the person from Falcon the CCP representative. He has the unfortunate task of being the community punching bag (do your duty, sir, we in the corporate world understand your position all too well). Somer scammed CCP and they let themselves be scammed. They were so interested in selling PLEX, they chose not to see the forest for the trees. Go back to being clueless, Derrick. This part of the game is so meta, its off the ******* charts.

CCP Falcon is the community liaison, and I'm willing to bet that nowhere in his job description is 'sit there and be punched'.

It does appear that CCP messed up in this case but so far the only real evidence of that is the text file and statement Somer made on his own site that CCP approved it, which hardly constitutes unbiased evidence. Before unleashing your righteous indignation at CCP, perhaps you should wait for the full story.

This isn't "meta", it isn't a part of the game at all. It seems like it is a clear violation of the rules for third party developers and the reaction was quick and even included doing their best to keep the community informed. Seems like the only clueless one here is you.

Last post before bed: we went through this a year ago. Word for word. They knew or should have known full well who and what they were dealing with. This is EVE for God's sake. The scam should always be foremost in your mind.
Thatt Guy
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#698 - 2014-08-20 04:56:11 UTC
So since Somer can't use Eve to print RL money anymore, he closes up shop.

This should tell you all you need to know. He never cared for the community, or the players or Eve, just blinded by the almighty dollar.

To Somer:
Take your ball and go home then, may the IRS bless you with an audit.

Haters gonna hate, Trolls gonna troll.

Big Lynx
#699 - 2014-08-20 04:57:17 UTC  |  Edited by: Big Lynx
Thatt Guy wrote:
So since Somer can't use Eve to print RL money anymore, he closes up shop.

This should tell you all you need to know. He never cared for the community, or the players or Eve, just blinded by the almighty dollar.

To Somer:
Take your ball and go home then, may the IRS bless you with an audit.


this +1

@somer: Can I have your stuffz? U don't care about anyways.
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#700 - 2014-08-20 05:04:00 UTC
Thatt Guy wrote:
So since Somer can't use Eve to print RL money anymore, he closes up shop.

This should tell you all you need to know. He never cared for the community, or the players or Eve, just blinded by the almighty dollar.

To Somer:
Take your ball and go home then, may the IRS bless you with an audit.



Yep.

I assume Somer's EVE account has several tens of trillions of ISK on it.

Now that it cannot be used for veiled RMT, has anyone started a betting pool on whether this will be sold to open RMTers?

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com