Gangrel_EU

Catch 22 situation here.

Eventually the servers *could* get to a position where it would be impossible to form one of the "larger" requirement TF's/iTrials at peak time.

If server transfers were *free* (or far cheaper than they are currently), then there is no problem in having 15 servers up and running.

Should those who suffer from altitis be punished for having so many characters and yet be stuck on a dead server due to lack of funds?

Ok, we have the global chat facility which is *amazing* for keeping a community talking to each other, no matter the server they are on. However, if all of your friends are on another server, then you are smeg out of luck playing with them.

Sure you get 1 server transfer token a month (and you can buy another every 2 months with your stipend). But if the game is in that bad of a state, where most of the servers are *dead* at peak time, I would rather have them consolidate the player lists to higher population servers to at least keep the player base around.

Sure, with hindsight, I would probably keep one server around as a "low pop" one, but there are *no* guarentees that a server will stay like that.

Of course, players complained about being nickle and dimed when Freedom started, but this would be a serious kick in the teeth to the serious altitis players... Sorry, but you are stuck where you are due to lack of funds... save up and come back later.

Now, I don't know if this is ironic...

But on the inifite Aion forums, they are saying that the server is closing down.

This was already posted up a few days ago.

My response

Please note, it was written by a member of the saveCOH movement, so I honestly wouldn't expect it to be *impartial* in the slightest .

Aye, that was impressive... and it was nice for him to be the main person who was talking to Felix Baumgartner and running through the checks with him just before the jump.

I believe that they did have cameras on the suit, but not hooked up to a transmitter (bandwidth/weight of equipment problems possibly?).

If they did have them, then more than likely we could be seeing footage coming out in a couple of weeks.

Probably the same reason as why Worlds.com sued NCsoft 1st. If you win, it validates everything. If you loose, you are not all that much out of pocket (effectively)

Once you get your patent *validated* in a court case, it becomes far far harder to get it ruled as an invalid patent in later cases, and as having a valid and "battle proven" patent is very handy, you want an easy win at the start.

All you need to do then, is just prove that they are using it and you basically have a slam dunk case.

If i remember correctly, Worlds.com said that if they won the case, they would go for Blizzard/Linden labs next...

It was officially released January 7th 2009, so almost 4.5 years after initial release.

Considering that there was no time frame mentioned in the CoX EULA before Freedom (nor after freedom to be honest), it would be bit of a futile point really.

reminds me of the Worlds.com patent case against NCsoft.... although that was settled out of court, it means that there was no confirmation of the validity of the patent. If Ncsoft had *lost* the case though, then the whole MMO/Online gaming world could be wildly different to what we have now.

Here is more information on the patent itself.

Google Patents search

Yeah, but remember that as chat channels are global so they could well be on a different server.

And yes, I know that people can be on hide as well on the searches, but that can just make the situation seem worse than it actually is, especially when few people are online...

Roughly anything that you experience lag with when playing on a poor connection would need to be redone, and yes, that does also mean the removal of player tracking (notice the rubber banding when playing with bad lag?)

Market place, combat/power system, mob spawning/combat/AI, zoning (I have had "interesting" problems when my connection dropped whilst zoning many years back).

Probably other stuff that I forget, but i believe that those are the biggies.

To be fair, the silver mobs at least I would have always put down as "bosses", gold mobs are the "AV's".

And yes, I have always had issues with AV's in CoX.

Hitstreak has said in the past that the forums would stay up till the closure of the game, and then that is it.

So basically you are saying that the players should get off their butt and work harder on making one?

Well, that is a fairly unique complaint (if i have ever heard one). To be fair, this is all dependent on what type of players you have for the community.

As an example: We have Samuraiko and her video's
Eve Online has Clear Skies 1, 2 and 3 (as well as Day of Darkness II, Lacrimosa

Would I have expected this standard of video from Eve Online players? Initially, no, but then again, they are a talented bunch. In terms of the CO character builders, who knows, maybe there are *none* right now available to work on it

In terms of planning ahead, I would have been surprised if they *hadn't* planned up to at least 2 issues ahead ie if you are about to publish I23, you should already have *some* work done on I24, and already be laying out I25 in terms of *structure*.

Obviously, depending on what resources you have to hand, you might even be able to stretch out a bit more. The most important thing though is to keep *all* your staff active at all times. Sure, if you have finished your piece and you cannot progress till other stuff gets completed.

I do believe that Positron said at one point in an interview (or maybe it was a comment from Rockjaw *shrugs* I forget...), and that this was normal for them to plan well in advance what they were going to be doing, so that when they had "spare time" they could at least make *some* progress on that.

I remember reading a while ago (might have actually been in a "free giveaway" book that game with a magazine that apparently 25% of *completed* games get cancelled due to the publisher having similar titles that released around the same time (or that another publisher had a *larger* title out in the same time frame).

Hell, there have been in the past games that were *reviewed* in magazines, that were never released. "Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill" for the SNES is one that springs to mind for some strange reason. "Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors" is another that was not released, although its Desert Bus minigame has recently been released by itself.

Obviously this doesn't happen with the *super big budget* titles, because they are the ones that get all the press. But what about the games that we *don't* hear about. We don't hear about every single game that gets developed, nor what they are working on, until after the fact.

Side note: NCSoft have killed titles in development before. Scott Jennings was working on one whilst he was at NCsoft as a developers, and NCsoft Europe had a dev studio that was working on *something* (i believe it might have been PS3/PC based, but i am going off very bad memory right now, after a conversation with Rockjaw). That was canned before the guttering of the EU offices.

*shrugs*

Just to point out, that article was written by a poster from the Titan Network forums (downix I believe wrote it). linkage to post where he says that the article is now up

He had earlier on in the thread asked permission to use an image that someone had made. In this case, i am putting 2+2 together, and praying that the answer is 4. But so far, I have yet to be corrected on this.

So, please note, that it was written by a member of the saveCOH group, so expect a *lot* of prejudice and conjecture on it (and also a lack of citing sources etc etc!) *edit* Just kidding on this one, slight dig from the past coming out.

Did you ever get round to checking out her other stuff?

linkage for Dantes fun

*plants tongue firmly in cheek* YOU WORK FOR NCSOFT!

Sorry, had to

Ok, I am assuming that we are referring to the letter to NCsoft management and *NOT* to the "Letter to the players" correct?

Can you provide a link for that information? Or is it all dependent on how you read the documents that I have been able to find?
Original court ruling
Appeals Ruling and information

The reason why I am asking for this, is to at least build upon the information i have to hand.

I have found this article from the attorneys who worked on the case.

Ok, the other reason why I believe that this has been viewed as "faked/forged" is because of what NCsoft also said in the court case in that: Now, once again, even if he *didn't* sign it, it would have (in their eyes) still been classified as voluntary[1].

Now granted from Ulimaaiera it does say

But not once does it say that they forged or faked the letter. It does say that he approved it. What it does imply if *anything* is that NCsoft tried to use the letter as evidence that he was leaving of his own free will. Not that it was faked or forged.

[1]The Korean Supreme Court explained the legal standard:  “When an employer terminates a labor contract relationship ․ by receiving a letter of resignation from an employee and if the employee had no choice but to prepare and submit the letter of resignation even though the employee had no intent to resign, such termination corresponds to a forced dismissal since the termination of the employment contract relationship is based on the employer's unilateral intent.”   Supreme Court, 2005Da38270, Nov. 25, 2005 (S.Kor.).   In the present case, the district court's instruction stated “if an employer has a unilateral intent to terminate the employee and gave the employee no option but to resign, then his resignation is not of his own free [sic] and involuntary.” Source

So, with that in mind, what can we draw from this? That NCsoft *lied* about how dismissal/letters of resignation can be interpreted over in South Korea. Sure, they might have tried to use his "Letter to the TR players" as proof of "hey this guy is leaving willingly". But if anything at *most* it would (in my mind) be classified as gross mischaracterisation, and not as a forgery or fake.

Which documentation is this? The letter to the players (which he signed and approved himself), or the resignation letter (which he never signed).

information taken from the appeals ruling

To be fair, NCsoft claimed that under Korean law, a resignation is always taken as voluntary unless it was under coercion or intimidation.[1]

Please note: That the case *didn't* revolve around the letters (or if they were forged), but in if he left voluntarily or was fired. It was all to do with his stock options in the long run of things.


[1] However, the Korean Supreme Court has come up with this ruling: "When an employer terminates a labor contract relationship ․ by receiving a letter of resignation from an employee and if the employee had no choice but to prepare and submit the letter of resignation even though the employee had no intent to resign, such termination corresponds to a forced dismissal since the termination of the employment contract relationship is based on the employer's unilateral intent."

Quite interestingly, in the original court case ruling that I can find this was said at the very start of it.

Now, fair enough. But unfortunately, I *cannot* find any reference to his resignation letter being forged. I can see where RG says that he *didnt* sign it. I can see where NCsoft says that "any resignation is considered voluntary unless..." (but then this is countered buy the Korean Supreme Court ruling).

Sorry, but with the evidence in front of me, I am finding it hard to believe that NCsoft forged a letter *internally* to say that he left willingly, and instead just put the resignation down as voluntary.