Manoa

Can we sweet talk him into moving the party to his castle?

Well, we're all chatting about doing 6th Street Friday night...but we're not limited to just one pre-meet 'n greet get-together. If you'd like to do anything Saturday before the event or Sunday Balorn, I'm sure at least a couple of us will be available. Got any ideas/preferred times? Heck, if all else fails, we all gotta eat! (one of my favorite things is chillin' with friends over food and chattin' )

[ QUOTE ]
If enough people from my server hit the same place, I can already see the headlines in the Saturday Austin American Statesman "Justice Invades 6th Street, Insanity Follows".

[/ QUOTE ]

Austin will never know what hit it! Bwahahahaha!!

I really like the carpooling idea...makes it easier for everyone to set up a designated driver if they need one. If everyone needs a meeting place and isn't too concerned with a meeting spot that is too terribly close to downtown, I can offer our hotel for the initial meeting grounds. We're staying at the Amerisuites near Dave and Buster's (I wanted a place nice 'n close to the meet 'n greet so I could stumble back to the hotel if I had one too many "refreshments" ).

Or, party in Ex Libris' room is a viable option too!

[ QUOTE ]
Bah I'll be in Austin by 10 PM on Friday, course that is 8 PM for me so I will be raring to go, just let me know where.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sometimes time zone differences can be a blessing (even if jet lag bites you in the bootie later! ).

I really dug the pubs on 6th Street the last time Teh Boyfriend and I were out in Austin. Anyone up for a pre-meet 'n greet bash Friday evening/night at one of the pubs on 6th Street? If so, could some of the locals provide a recommendation on a good place to meet up?

Teh Boyfriend and I have plenty of time to kill Friday afternoon through Sunday mid-afternoon and I'll be bringing my laptop with me (sadly, it won't run CO*, but at least I'll be able to keep tabs on the boards to see what plans are in the works for the weekend). So if anyone has anything going on and don't mind me and Teh Boyfriend tagging along, please do drop me a line!

EDIT: Gosh, I'm starting to sound like a dorky tag-a-long, aren't I? I can't help it...I'm just so excited to get the chance to meet everyone!

That's cool. I wanted to err on the side of caution since travel plans can sometimes go awry and figured that there would very likely be something going on beforehand. But just wanted to check to be sure after Teh Boyfriend expressed some concern about boredom due to us arriving in Austin so early.

[ QUOTE ]
You know, only I would manage to somehow forget to put myself on my own list.

*hangs head in shame*

[/ QUOTE ]

Hehe...classic!

Soooo...we're all having a big pre-meet 'n greet bash Friday night or Saturday afternoon (or both), right? C'mon Texans...show this California girl and Teh Boyfriend your famous hospitality!

[ QUOTE ]
You'll be missed Jesse. Hope you come out to Dave and Busters on Saturday so we can say goodbye.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed! We'd love to have the opportunity say our goodbyes and to wish you the best of luck in your new position in person!

[ QUOTE ]
Flight (check)
Car Rental (check)
Hotel Room (check)
Signed swag (check)


***I am missing something I know it***

Dirty laundry (check)

I guess I know what i am spending my next few free nights off doing!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hehe...except for the signed swag, that's exactly what my checklist looks like!

ZOMG...this shindig is this week! Soooo...who's as excited as I am?

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry guys, just learning to survive with one 19 month old and one two week old! Hard to get free time...

[/ QUOTE ]

Perfectly understandable Statesman...you certainly have your hands full there!

Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy
Thor's Hammer Comics & Games

I luvs teh intarwebs, you can find anything in this system of tubes!

[ QUOTE ]
I can wait until 1:30 but if I go much longer I'll be eating my desk... I'll try to be there then.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah, that's okay Moggie! Our plan touches down around 1:30 and doesn't factor in the time it'll take to claim luggage (if we end up having to check luggage), car rental and commute! I'd hate for you to wait on us and end up having to eat at your desk! Thanks for offering though!

Though if you or any other Austin locals (or anyone traveling to Austin for the meet 'n greet for that matter) are interested in hanging out and/or grabbing some food later Friday or before the meet 'n greet on Saturday, we'd certainly be interested!

[ QUOTE ]
Friday then? Around noonish? I'll be at the Pok-E-Jo's on Great Hills Trail. I'll even wear a City of Shirt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crum! Teh Boyfriend and I fly in at 1:30pm.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know about you.. but I get online notices sent to both my email and text message from my bank when a charge is denied based on a fraud notice. I suppose tho if you never get a flag you'd never get a notice or unless your not signed up for it. Do I expect the bank to call me? Not at all.. that would be an incredible resource that for the situation is easier done by email/text and costs less. When I purchased my web site I recieved a notice of "unusual activity".

[/ QUOTE ]

To clarify, I haven't had any of the problems that I listed...just summarized what I've been hearing from people in various threads.

[ QUOTE ]
It's a big pain in the butt for legitimate users, but I gather that identity theft for the purpose of funding MMO subscriptions is becoming a big enough issue that banks and credit companies are having to seriously crack down. Still, it's an inconvenience I'm willing to accept, if it means more consumer protection in the long run.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I concur that credit card companies should work diligently on preventing identity theft/credit card fraud, I find the following quite worrisome...

<ul type="square">[*] Credit card companies are automatically denying payment without first checking with the customer to ensure that the charge is legitimate.
[*] Customers are not receiving any sort of notification from the bank that potential fraudulent activity occurred on their account and that a charge has been denied.
[*] When players call their bank to see why the charge was denied, there are some cases where the bank's general customer support is unable to tell what is going on and are telling the players that no charge had been denied. It's only when players call the fraud department at the bank that they are able to find information regarding the denied charge.
[*] When players try to get their banks to flag the charge as legitimate on their account, there are some cases where the banks will not allow charges from NCSoft to be permanently flagged as "legitimate" on their accounts and banks are forcing the players to call to okay the charge every time the charge comes due (making it quite difficult for players who have monthly subscriptions). There are other cases where the banks are outright denying any charges from that specific IP (even when the customer calls to say it's legit) and will not allow the charge to go through in any way, shape or form.[/list]
Banks should work with customers, not against them, in their fight against credit card fraud and identity theft. When banks begin working against customers by making it difficult or impossible to allow legitimate charges to go through, it's really crosses the line of being cautious and becomes paranoia.

Peregrine, while I feel for Phantastik's situation, it's not really appropriate to bring up her issue in this thread. First, we really shouldn't be discussing individual's accounts on this thread (remember why Ex Libris locked that thread in the Justice forum in the first place?). Secondly, Phantastik's credit card "issue" is a completely different scenario than the issue that Lighthouse is talking about. It's one thing for a charge to be denied by an individual's financial institution as a result of a fraud policy (which is out of the customer's control)...it's completely another when the charge is denied by a member of the customer's household (which is something the customer can control).

Hmmm...perhaps we should test your claim...

Party at Judas' place!

[ QUOTE ]
If you do a bit of web searching you can find some discussion and posts about credit card fraud in that "other" MMO. It's really an industry wide issue and not specific to NCsoft.

[/ QUOTE ]

True enough Lighthouse...but it still doesn't answer the question regarding why a number of people, who are with different financial institutions and have never had any problems using their credit card for their NCSoft payments in the past, are just now starting to encounter problems. Again, it just seems a little weird to me that all these financial institutions would change their fraud polices around the same time. Is this an issue that is a recent development industry wide, or were players with those "other" MMOs encountering billing problems before the NCSoft issue (just trying to get a sense of timing here).

If this indeed a case of the entire financial industry implementing a global change to their fraud policy, I'm quite sure a number of people are very curious is there is anything NCSoft (or the entire MMO industry as a whole) is doing their end to make it a little easier on the players? It's a little harsh to be denied service to CO* because a legitimate charge was denied at no fault of the customer. Since this seems to be affecting the entire MMO industry, that likely means that an increasing number of CO* players are going to be encountering this problem in the future. Is there anything in the works in NCSoft's billing department (i.e. a grace period, changing billing IPs, contacting the financial institutions to see if there is anything that could be done to remedy the problem, etc) to resolve the issue and/or make the problem a little more bearable for the playerbase?

Sorry, but there was just no assurance in your post that "NCSoft is doing everything in their power to help remedy the issue." No offense, but the tone of the post was a little more dismissive and read more like "It's the bank's fault, not ours. It's your responsibility to call them and make sure the charge goes through." It just kinda seemed to leap the entire burden of responsibility upon the players, who are the ones who are not at fault in this issue. True enough that it's not NCSoft's fault either; however, the more responsibility you place upon a player to resolve an issue that is not their fault, the more risk you incur at loosing said player. So NCSoft certainly has a vested interest (perhaps even moreso than an individual player) in taking action against these financial institutions.

I would hope if this is something that affects the entire MMO industry, NCSoft would at least try to do something on their end to work something out with the financial industry to help protect their revenue stream (i.e. ensuring their playerbase does not diminish as a result of this issue).

The more information we players have regarding this issue, there will be less speculation and we will be better able to work with NCSoft and our financial institutions to find a solution to this problem.

All travel plans are booked and official...Teh Boyfriend and I can confirm that we are definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, coming to Austin! Now I can properly answer your question Moggie; we'll be flying in around 1:30pm-ish on Friday and will be leaving Sunday afternoon. Our original booking fell through or something...well, it's a blessing in disguise 'cause now I've been able to plan the trip with a little time so we can actually see a little bit of Austin!

Since we'll have some extra time to kill, any recommendations from the locals for eating establishments or things to see and do would be most welcome! And if anyone is interested in getting together before the meet 'n greet for lunch or dinner Friday and/or Saturday, please do let me know!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I suck at influencing people

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, Pffft. I can't tell you how many times you made me smile simply by saying hello to me, just out of the blue, in whatever zone I happened to be in. I didn't attend a lot of Hami raids, but nearly every single time I did, I'd be hanging around feeling confused or, more often, bored, and suddenly I'd see "Hi Miss!" in local and I'd feel better.

So, yes, you influenced me, and often when I'm in a zone and run across someone I don't know very well other than from the forums or a global channel or whatever, I say hello. Just because I remember how it made me feel when you said hello to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Diet be damned, I'm having me some real barbeque when we're out there for the meet and greet!

[/ QUOTE ]

Manoa you'll be in town? When will you guys get in? Several of the locals (me and Miss Informed) like to eat BBQ on Fridays for lunch. We could share some of the good spots with you if you'd like.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, we won't be in town very long (my fat asthmatic feline is on medication and can't leave her unattended for too long), so we'll be flying into town early Saturday afternoon and will be flying out the following afternoon. But at least it's enough time to get over the hangover after the meet 'n greet and grab some good barbeque!

Though that all is assuming Priceline doesn't screw up on our plane tickets. I purchased our tickets last night, though I haven't gotten any sort of confirmation yet and am starting to get a little nervous! I've e-mailed CS to see what the heck is up.

Though if they do screw up, I guess that's an excuse to book the flight for Friday instead and join y'alls for some barbeque!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I hear if you bribe them with foods not found in California they will come. But try finding a food not found in California.

[/ QUOTE ]

As a person who moved to Austin, TX from the Bay Area in CA I can tell you this: I didn't know what real barbeque was until I moved out here.

We should send them a teeny tiny box of Texas Barbeque and tell them they can't have more unless the come to Austin.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this just may work Missy! Texas BBQ is the best!

My boss and office manager are both Texans and always laugh whenever we Cali-folk in the office talk about having a "barbeque." I seriously had no idea until Teh Boyfriend and I visited Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth last year! I'll never look at Cali-impostor-BBQ the same ever again. Diet be damned, I'm having me some real barbeque when we're out there for the meet and greet!

I have an annual subscription that isn't due 'till next spring and haven't encountered this problem (yet). However, it seems an little strange that a good number of players from who handle their NCSoft payment through different financial institutions have started encountering this problem only just recently. It's just a little too coincidental that these different banks would all change their fraud policies around the same time. I just can't help but wonder if NCSoft's billing from a foreign (non-US) IP is a recent development.

In any case, NCSoft should take a close look at this issue to see if there is anything they can do on their end to help remedy the problem. For example, if most of these banks are denying payment on NCSoft's charges because they're billing from foreign IP, perhaps they could look into arranging billing from a domestic (US) IP. It's quite a nuisance to have to call your bank up every billing cycle to allow a legitimate charge (which a lot of people are having to do because their banks won't permanently allow the charges) and I'm just concerned that we're going to start to loose players because they don't want to have to deal with this issue every time their NCSoft payment comes due.

[ QUOTE ]
We will try and pull something together for out here in the San Jose area where meeting the Cryptic Team will be more feasible.

[/ QUOTE ]

A Bay Area meet 'n greet would be most welcome Ex!