VickieVee

NCSoft is well aware that they can make all of this go away if they sit down and negotiate nicely and let someone else buy/maintain CoH.

They assumed we would go away when they said "End of game", take their credit-on-another-game and go away quietly.

We did not.

They assumed we would go away when a week had passed.

We made more noise.

They assumed we would go away when two weeks had passed.

We are still making noise.

They assume we will go away if they give us real money back. Some people want to do that. But this is a game of Stare Down and they just blinked.

We need to start showing them that we are just more than a bunch of game-dweebs who don't know how to do anything but whine.

Go to CoH Titans Save Paragon. We have work for you.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index....ard,134.0.html

NCSoft is well aware that they can make all of this go away if they sit down and negotiate nicely and let someone else buy/maintain CoH.

They assumed we would go away when they said "End of game", take their credit-on-another-game and go away quietly.

We did not.

They assumed we would go away when a week had passed.

We made more noise.

They assumed we would go away when two weeks had passed.

We are still making noise.

They assume we will go away if they give us real money back. Some people want to do that. But this is a game of Stare Down and they just blinked.

We need to start showing them that we are just more than a bunch of game-dweebs who don't know how to do anything but whine.

Go to CoH Titans Save Paragon. We have work for you.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index....ard,134.0.html

Oh thank you for being kind to the old fart with deteriorating brain cells. So I don't lose anything, I gradually gain the new shinies, they are going to preslot for me (thank GOD, I went through enough micromanagement when Fitness went inherent), and since I see no reason to stop subscribing, all is well.

I will now go back to building my Haunted Amusement Park (damn, that should be in Dark Astoria) and shaking my cane at you meddling kids.

I am still confused.

This makes my brain hurt, just like MIDs.

Edit: Ok, for the aged curmudgeon with Oldtimer's disease, my last vet badge is for 75 months, I have red and blue 50s several Incarnate 50s and I bought most of the packs. Am I going to actually *lose* anything?

Oh...crud. Now I am remember SO many more things that happened that were important to my favorite toons there. I may cry now. I probably will cry when I see it nuked.

Yeah I know I am a sentimental slob.

I'm going to miss all of it!

I love GC. I love how its laid out. Over on Pinn the RPCongress used to meet under the statue of Galaxy Girl. I almost always start my toons out there, because I love BAB, he's kind of more relatable-to than Ms Lib. I love the WS arc. I love the badges. I love the park.

*sigh.*

I'm really going to miss it.

Pocket D? You should have been in Talos Wentworth the other night. It wasn't just salvage that was for sale.

My compliments to the writers of all of the letters. My sympathy to the one that had to write in rhyme. This is truly wonderful stuff you're building into the canon! This is why this game is so rich, and why I keep playing it even during the dry times.

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I published something once. It was a study on the effects of alcohol on people who are specifically attracted to one race yet find themselves in a room filled with everything BUT that race of the opposite gender. I called it "Phillipino, Mexican...close enough."

[/ QUOTE ]

The key part of ANY scientific experiment is repeatability. Preferably by other researchers.

*grabs hat, wallet full of 20's, and heads out the door*

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, want to volunteer for a study called "Beer Goggles, Coyote Ugly, and the Morning After?"

Prof. David Myers has been presenting this paper at conferences for the last two years:

http://www.digra.org/dl/db/07312.58121.pdf

He may have copied chatlogs with your unchanged user name on it. You might want to check. I think this might be a EULA violation, since the names might be those of minors and there was no way for him to know.

(As for "15 minutes of fame for reporting an ethics violation"....uh, check your local Barnes and Noble, m'kay? Or Amazon. "Mercedes Lackey" This isn't even a blip on my radar.)

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The irony in all this is that hes still getting to people, and people are feeding into it, further perpetuating his observations.

let-it-go

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I think at this point the only ones still stirred up by it are the ones offended by his "scientific method" and presenting his findings in a less-than-truthful manner. People got over his actual in-game antics long ago.

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Quoted for truth.

What the IRB board will do, I do not know, although another academic gamer of my acquaintance had a different take on it than NightMission. When you add that at least one of the "subjects" was a minor at the time, it is possible that child abuse laws come into play. This is a Jesuit-run University, and my academic friend pointed out that they are rather...stringent...about ethical standards.

However, he's caught between the proverbial rock and hard place here.

If he backs down and tells the IRB "no, no, it wasn't research, I was just trying to come up with something to publish and all my game trolling came to mind," then Loyola might well want to know why he was gaming on their dollar, and why he then published a book that is so far doing a less than stellar job of showcasing the academic standards of their university. And if it isn't research, CoX's own EULA comes into play. It is possible they can force cancellation of publication or take part or all of the profits from it.

If he says "No, no, it really was research" now he has to explain to his university why he didn't follow the ethics standards, ESPECIALLY with regards to minor children. Remember, this is a Jesuit run university, an institution created by and supported by the Catholic Church. You do the math. He might skate out from under the CoX guns if he sticks to calling it research, but that just means he's under heavier academic scrutiny and censure again.

That's just my thoughts.

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Funny how [censored] goes down.

I would take that guy's phone number off the bottom though, I won't be the first one to consider prank calling him.

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Good point. Editing quickly

Look, I don't care about one lousy griefer nerd. What I care about here is that this guy has not only perpetuated several ethics violations of monumental proportions, he is a teacher, and is teaching his own freshmen by example that it is perfectly ok to violate ethics codes.

My degree is in science (biology) from Purdue, and I take my science seriously.

Please, please, please contact the Provost in my upstream post if you were one of the people Twixt /David Myers messed with. Ethics codes are in place for a reason. I grew up in the 50s, and only in the 80s and 90s did we start to find out how many irritating to life-threatening "experiments" were conducted on the general public without their consent or knowledge. When you don't have ethics codes, or they are not enforced, Very Bad Things happen.

The Ethics violations that I have seen so far:

Not obtaining informed consent of adults.

Not obtaining informed consent of the parents of MINORS (!!!!) as well as the minor himself. (Holy carp, that might well violate state and federal child protection laws)

Not offering an opt-out from the "participants."

Not offering therapeutic counseling to those who feel they suffered harm afterwards (and if you are issuing death threats, I would say you have suffered harm.)

Mercedes Lackey
(address removed)

Dear Sir;

I would like to report what appears to be a serious violation of the APA Code of Ethics by Professor David Myers.

According to this article:

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...fessor_be.html

Professor Myers engaged in what is at best dubious activities in a multiplayer online game, ostensibly for the purpose of sociological/psychological research. However, according to the APA Code of Ethics--

3.10 Informed Consent
(a) When psychologists conduct research or provide assessment, therapy, counseling, or consulting services in person or via electronic transmission or other forms of communication, they obtain the informed consent of the individual or individuals using language that is reasonably understandable to that person or persons except when conducting such activities without consent is mandated by law or governmental regulation or as otherwise provided in this Ethics Code. (See also Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to Research; 9.03, Informed Consent in Assessments; and 10.01, Informed Consent to Therapy.)

He must first have obtained informed consent from the players of that game. He did not do so. In point of fact, none of these players were aware he was conducting this research until the announcement of his book publication was made in this newspaper.

There is no indication that he conducted this research with the consent of the owners and operators of the game, which is another violation of ethics. The owners and operators of this game have been informed of this breech of ethics, which may violate their EULA (End Users Licensing Agreement).

As you can see from the context of the article, he deliberately enraged the other players, possibly causing them substantive harm. He did not offer therapeutic counseling to these players, as also mandated by the APA Code of Ethics.

Now that they are aware of this, it is possible they may consider Professor Myers and Loyola University legally liable for that harm.

Thank you for your attention

Mercedes Lackey


Ms. Lackey,



Dr. Miron, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, forwarded your email dated today to me because I am Chair of Loyola’s IRB. Thank you for your inquiry about yesterday’s article in the Times Picayune regarding David Myer’s research into online gaming.



I initiated an internal review of this matter that is in the information-gathering stage. At this point we cannot comment on an active investigation. Be assured that we take the matter seriously and will seek to achieve a resolution that complies with University policy and professional research ethics as well as state and federal human subjects protection regulations.



Sincerely,





George E. Capowich, Ph.D.

Vice Provost

Marquette Hall 301

Office of Academic Affairs

Loyola University New Orleans

6363 St. Charles Avenue

Campus Box 091

New Orleans. LA 70118

Telephone number removed

Well ladies and germs. No matter what you think of the tactics, or the game, there is one thing that is absolutely not in question. Professor David Myers, aka Twixt, violated his own field's and university's code of ethics.

3.10 Informed Consent
(a) When psychologists conduct research or provide assessment, therapy, counseling, or consulting services in person or via electronic transmission or other forms of communication, they obtain the informed consent of the individual or individuals using language that is reasonably understandable to that person or persons except when conducting such activities without consent is mandated by law or governmental regulation or as otherwise provided in this Ethics Code. (See also Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to Research; 9.03, Informed Consent in Assessments; and 10.01, Informed Consent to Therapy.)

Were any of you offered informed consent? No. This is, and should be, taken seriously. Codes of Ethics are in place to protect people from being exploited by the unethical

Should you wish to report this Ethics violation the email address of the Dean of the school to which Professor David Myers belongs is:

lmiron@loyno.edu

1. The research is fundamentally worthless and that should be pointed out to his review committee at loyola
a. He did no form of control group whatsoever
b. There were no parameters established for any kind of experimental protocol
c. This "stranger aggravation" experiment has been done ever since the 50s under properly controlled situations. He didn't replicate established research, and he proved nothing new.
2. In fact, and what should also be pointed out to his review committee at Loyola, what he has done has been to foul the water for anyone wanting to do serious research on sociological parameters inside mmorpgs
3. And, perhaps most importantly, he violated the number one protocol for anyone engaged in such studies, and probably violated Loyola's own ethics standards. He did not reveal that he was doing studies nor did he get the consent of those he was studying. this should be reported to the Loyola ethics committee

<b>4. As to the players he griefed, now that he has outed himself, they can actually complain to the university and even threaten to sue for being used in a research study without their knowledge or consent.</b>

In short, a nerd professor discovered how to be a bully of the sort that used to give him wedgies, proceeded to do so and is now crowing about it and pretending it was research, while violating every standard for such research there is.

He ought to be fired

EDIT: If he did NOT get the permission of the owners of CoX to do this study, it is a EULA violation and

Under the terms of the EULA the owners of CoX could claim all or a substantial portion of the profits from this book, or suppress it altogether.

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I'm actually quite happy to see someone from the RPCongress taking in an interview! NOT EVERYONE WHO ROLEPLAYS IS A HAIRY 41 YEAR OLD MAN! With an exception for LadyD. *giggles like a little girly man*

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No, at least two of us are a 57 year old female writer and her devastatingly charismatic artist husband.

Cuppa, we are going to miss you sadly. I hope you love Tabula Rasa. You were awesome all the way around, and I want to especially thank you for helping out with John Murdock's endgame. Would you believe JM Peacebringer and Sera are now 49? And Sera can do everything that Michael Azir did!

May your moments of aggravation in the new job be the kind you can laugh about five minutes later.

OK folks....over the past week, "John Murdock" and I have been writng a self-contained story involving Pinnacle's CCCP and RPCongress. This is not your usual RP drama....it is heavy action, not unlike a "Die Hard" Movie and just about as fast-paced.

The background: About this time last year, CCCP member Althea Nagy was kidnapped by the Council and subsequently rescued. But the Commissar of the CCCP, Red Saviour, mounted a deadly counterattack and issued a "kill order." This practically tore the RPCongress apart, and left a wake of hard feelings.

It also left an equally deadly enemy.

Now Red Saviour has retired to Moscow to have a baby with her husband Mosca and become the Liason to Moscow for CCCP America. She has left the CCCP commanded by a Gang of Four: Belladonna Aura (yours truly), Bestial Boy, Untermensch and Communard.

Now the Council is going to get its revenge.....

Here is the story:

http://www.4-thirty-5.com/rpc/viewtopic.php?t=1411

And if you want to know all of the backstory, go to www.cccpgroup.us and start reading the rather heavy backlog of stories there.

Hope you enjoy!

You can have a pantsless villain with the beast legs....

In fact, the Spousal Unit's stalker is pantsless. He says he can't afford them and enhancements too. His battlecry, "Pantsless Death Strikes!"

I'm in RPCongress on Pinnacle (SG CCCP) and on the Congress chat line today I heard the following:

Serial faceplanting with one "hero" after another taking turns faceplanting the same character.

Teams of eight ambushing everything that entered the zone.

"Heroes" eight levels higher than the poor character being faceplanted going after same then hurling insults.

There is no justification for this. It's bullying, plain an simple. And to add insult to injury, as I discovered this evening, NOT ONE of my contacts would give me anything other than the "Go to Warburg and talk to---" mission. NOT ONE. And no alternative mish. I'd take a "Defeat 35 Rikti" over this. I'd take "Come down with Vahz disease again" over this. Anything.

Awww, thanks to the Taxibots!

This is one reason why we decided to have Act One in Galaxy---even a lvl 2 is safe there, and you can actually climb/jump to the top of the Arena as a lvl 2. John and Flame met there....it seems only fitting that the endgame be there too. We'll try and do some RP to fill people in sketchily on backstory before we fire off the FX.

I've never asked for special help from the Devs before, and as I told them "no" is an acceptable answer. However I invested a pile of time and energy in this story arc---and it's just about my birthday---so I asked for a little aid with special effects. The charming and delightful CuppaJo responded. So please come! I hope it's going to be awesome!

The story arcs involved are "Phoenyx Rising, " "A Fine And Private Place," "Hope Is The Thing With Feathers," and "There's No Place Like Home" and "Finding A Host." all on the CCCP website www.cccpgroup.us and most cowritten by yours truly.

The short form is that Seraphic Flame is indeed an angel and has fallen in love with John Murock, and in order to save his life will sacrifice her angelic nature. For more detail please read the prose, there is a nasty catch to the bargain.

Aw Vyv!

Come by and at least play some time! Roll a lowbie, I'll protect you until you're growed up enough to protect yourself!

You've been amazing; and far more patient than I ever would be.

Zen hugs