With my morning coffee in hand, I looked to see what was new over at the Alganon forums. There's been a continuing post on what people would like to see in game. One mentioned they weren't posting much anymore waiting to see what developed. Another member added to that and Derek Smart responded with the following:
Wow, how rude to a customer. Might as well have said "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Just as a background, the poster above has been with the community a long time and has been extremely supportive to the point of picking up several one-year subscriptions. While he certainly shouldn't be shown preferred treatment, he should at least be treated as a customer, as we all should, and not expendable trash.
But unfortunately it didn't end there. A couple community members posted that they thought the response a bit inappropriate. Their posts were respectful, well thought out, and in no way inappropriate. I left to run some errands, and when I returned they were deleted. Now I've seen some posts in the past that warranted deletion. There was one fellow who created an account called "QOLSucks" and you can imagine what sort of posts those were. Ok, I get that. But if you want to keep even the slightest hint of negative posting off the forums, then it needs to work both ways, you know?
There were some responses of upset members who had seen the posts and questioned their deletion. But then many of these posts were also deleted. I did manage to catch a couple posts before deletion. There is no valid reason to be deleting this stuff.
Well, anyway I guess I have to admit defeat at this point and throw in the towel. This is above and beyond even my tolerance level which is much higher than most. Mr. Smart stated he's only there temporarily. Maybe once he's gone it will be safe to come back.
8 comments:
-Unfortunate.
Good luck, i hope it is worthy of the dedication it previously inspired at a later date.
Jergis
Wish I could say I was surprised. The man has, as I said, mellowed some since the 90s, but remains unchanged in his basic outlook in life and how to interact with others.
That is just insane. It's as if he doesn't realize he is running an MMO, which needs warm bodies on the ground in game (and a lot of them) to be successful. It's not the kind of game that can prosper in any way with just a few die-hard fans.
The weirdest part about all this is that Mr Smart has emphasized repeatedly that his main reason for getting involved in Alganon is to try to save or recoup the potentially disastrous losses made by the investors behind the game. As a mechanism for doing this he has nothing but Alganon itself.
So far he hasn't hesitated to suggest that current players who have concerns should just leave. Where the influx of new players who would replace the few still playing would come from is a mystery.
I'm fascinated to see what happens with the relaunch. I would have thought that if Alganon managed to attract ten times the current number playing it would still be running at a loss, and I find it hard to see how it would attract anythign like that many.
Aspen,
Sorry to hear that .. I saw it coming the moment I read the name Derek Smart .. people rarely change. No community deserves this kind of treatment ..
I've said it before .. Derek Smart can't make it better .. he can only make it about himself.
Now, that's a darn shame.
His name splattered everywhere did sure bring attention and new faces for awhile. But I think they're losing more than they're gaining. And definitely lost a few yesterday. When I had logged in yesterday before this all occurred, I was the only one there. Granted, it was very early in the morning, but still.
Yeah it is a shame. The game had a certain charm for me despite the issues. I have to wonder if the investors have any clue how the subscribers have been treated.
I posted about this on my blog as well and linked back to yours. Derek Smart has an interesting PR strategy, that is for sure. I guess when you are a long winded douche, you need to act on your passive aggressive tendencies towards everyone.
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