Someone actually, in semi-flaming me, has an intelligent take on how I do things...

So I shall respond to it here...

First, go read "lolPUP and Beyond", as Dantpup basically saw my blog, saw the flamage, and was motivated into writing a fairly decent discussion of his side of the issue...

http://dantpup.livejournal.com/15609.html

He takes it as a question and answer form, going into what blogging is all about and the like...

Blogging is a form of expression, yes. And I express myself in a very vitriolic and very angry way at the people I disagree with. I can say that I am probably banned from more Internet sites, ISP's, campuses, sporting stadiums, and other places of business than most of my readers put together -- and that's the way it pretty much has to be. If you don't want to deal with me, then ban me and be done with it.

The way I express myself is actually held back a bit. I've said, frankly, that if people ever found out all the stuff I've been accused of, they'd never let me in another anime convention, as I'd be a threat to everyone there. There was actually one anime convention in the Bay Area (two years ago in San Jose) that I was so angry by the last day that I would have made the evening news if I had gotten my hands on the good ol' Saturday Night Special by Monday morning.

Why? I'm not safe around other people -- especially people I can't stand. I am probably not welcome in any of my previous hometowns, with the possible exception of where I took graduate school (and that's iffy).

So I'm here, at least one place where I know I can't ban myself. That means, if I get some idiots who decide they are more important than the game we play (and there are tons and tons of them in FFXI), I will express myself, and if they want me to STFU, then they're going to have to SMTFU in real life. That's the way I go.

I'm passionate about that which I care about -- otherwise there's no point in wasting time.

But the crux of what I want to get to is the statement Dantpup makes about how I do things and how it makes us look bad as a community.

Here's a news flash: I want the general public to view the FFXI fan community in an extremely negative light.

Understand what has happened in the last three weeks... Chances are, if you're an elite FFXI player (or regarded as such), you've basically been exposed as a cheater, whether you were involved in this kind of an action or not. As I said when I started the Flamage series, the odds of any 75 being legit in getting there are slim. I'd like to think I am, but I know someone is going to eventually have me examined against the Terms of Service.

Bring it on.

But the fact is that I have seen the level of play and the attitude of "I don't give a damn about anyone but myself, so screw you, your progress, and everything else -- I'm the center of Vana'diel."

I see it in Besieged. I see it in Campaign. I see it with the claim-botters. I see it with just about everything in Vana'diel.

You've got a core of players who don't give two whits about anything but their own selves, gear, and all that other garbage. They're junk, as far as I am concerned, and they've destroyed the Vana'dielian experience so badly that I believe that to be the main reason that Square-Enix has basically gone and finally stated that they really only care about FFXI anymore to get to Rapture.

They've officially declared FFXI to be expendable, and that Rapture will replace it. That is why I said the game is officially dead, and I stand behind that statement.

I find the core of FFXI players to be people and characters I want no part of. They've severely compromised the game experience on every conceivable level, and, facts being facts, the only reason I haven't deleted my Content ID's is that I don't want them to be the only ones left with Vana'diel. I want to spite their asses and spit in their virtual faces.

One thing I do not want is a positive view of a community which I already told Aneiro is not unified (you've got so many damn cliques in this game - read some of the comments about not even being in a position to talk unless you are "leet" like "us"...). I believe we have gotten to the point where the game appears to require cheating to succeed (be it Windower, be it duping, be it RMT, be it claim-botting, use of game mechanics illegally, what have you...).

But if Dantpup wants to criticize me for putting the community into a negative light, then, frankly, he needs to understand something... That's my intent. We've got a bunch of punk kids who think they're the shit. That's it. And they've overrun Vana'diel to the point that Square-Enix cannot grow FFXI anymore, and, hence, the game has no long-term future.

The problem is that it's hard to feel positive about FFXI if:

1) Cheating has basically become so accepted that the game is no longer legitimate.

2) The game experience has severely degraded (both P<->P and P->E, and the hardware too) over the last 18 months.

3) Square-Enix has officially declared the game to be expendable, and I believe that to be the result of the player base.

If we had a player base who gave a damn, played with honor, and played by the rules, I don't think the game would've stagnated by now to the point that Square-Enix would say that the time has come to declare that, some point in the foreseeable future, Rapture replaces FFXI.

Hence, I do want the player community to be seen in a negative light. If you hate me for that, so be it.

I do want to clarify one thing: I don't feed BluGartr -- they don't feed me. I do what I do for my reasons alone.

I don't want to be part of your "community". I don't trust the player base, like the player base, nor respect the player base. Individual players might get different consideration. But it's been harder to log on to the game knowing that no one who tries to play by the rules will be treated with anything but disrespect, at the end of the day.

Another week of playing in the flames...

Another week closer to Armageddon, and what has been done?

DRG 71 (Wyrm Brais now worn)
MNK 53

Dynamis: Sunday: Beaucedine and a Win Run (successful, 1/1), Xarcabard access gained, but we won't be doing Xarcabard for the foreseeable. Beaucedine is a strange animal in that regard -- definitely a different type of run than the four cities.

Wednesday: Got shoe-horned into another Bastok run (all other zones taken -- we had designs for either Jeuno or Windy). Had to get creative with the Mega Boss, but another win for us (I think that's 4/6 for complete runs for me, and none of them seem to go smoothly for some strange reason.) Another Wootz Ore for the collection (another 6-drop session), and another piece of good news in that I got another relic armor.

The bad news? It was Corsair. We got 3 Corsair drops, for some strange reason, and the last two went free-lot to anyone in the shell in the Dynamis who wanted it. So my level 10 Corsair has relic armor in the event that I ever decide to level it all the way out. Hmm...

Final Fantasy XI has officially died.

It's now just a matter of when Square-Enix pulls the plug on the corpse.

Yes, the game still profits, but it is now clear that Final Fantasy XI has, once and for all, died.

How did I come to this conclusion?

Kimiko (from /panic Button) commented to me this morning by saying that we now apparently have our answer vis-a-vis whether Square-Enix really cares about Final Fantasy XI.

(JP Button has the details at http://www.jpbutton.com/?p=2122)

It's not "dying", given the statements made here. Final Fantasy XI is dead. It's just taking up space in the apartment, paying the rent off of its legacy and "estate" until Square Enix can get Rapture up and running.

Several interesting things seem to be coming of this:

1) The online division is still turning a profit of somewhere north of $50,000,000/year. I am somewhat surprised that it appears as if Square-Enix can do Final Fantasy XI on only about $20,000,000/year, it seems, but that isn't the most disturbing part.

2) The information on the supplementary report, starting on page 9, is the real news:

They are officially in development of the game which will completely REPLACE FFXI.

It's over. The fears of the player base, when discussions began leaking out of Square-Enix' new MMO, Rapture, are true. Rapture is replacing Final Fantasy XI.

Corinth of JP Button says that the scenario probably is that they will continue to support FFXI until Rapture's release.

Why?

Why would they even care, at this point? Better, why should Square-Enix care?

The game has deteriorated badly in the last 18 months. The attitudes of the player base, even more so. Why not just set a relatively short, but with some fore-notice, time frame to end it gracefully before the game essentially descends into an online riot that only the 2chan and 4chan fuckers are going to want to keep playing?

If it's clear that they no longer desire to keep FFXI going, it would be better to end it short-to-medium term, sending the Dev Team toward Rapture full-time, than to string it out, have the game become even more a shit-hole than many of the players have already made it, and then Square-Enix will get nobody from FFXI to try out Rapture.

Of course, that might not matter... It's clear, now, to Square-Enix that any future real market share and future profit stream is going to have to come outside of FFXI -- FFXI has run its course. They're clear that they have to, now, find different revenue streams because Final Fantasy XI is not going to grow any further from the 500,000 players it has had the last three years (which is down from previous totals).

Then pull the damned plug. Now, if plausible. But before your experience degrades that every one of your players will take one look at the words "New Massively Multiplayer Online Game from Square-Enix" and not throw the article away without one more word...

But I am not as optimistic as Elmer: The game officially died when they decided to state to their investors that there was not only a game to replace it in development, but that they admitted that FFXI had run its course in the MMO marketplace.

Congratulations, idiots, you just lost your privilege of unmoderated commenting...

I knew I got some people's attention with how I've approached the last two weeks, after the January 22nd, 2009 bannings.

Now, it's clear that they can't forment a logical argument to deal with me, so they've decided to go the abject sabotage route.

Yesterday, a second "Starcade, now from Leviathan" began to post comments, basically masquerading as me and said how much I liked to suck dick and all that 2chan and 4chan shit.

OK. I'm down. I get it. And when it's like that, I can understand that.

About 5 AM this morning, the other "Starcade, now from Leviathan" decided to declare war on the blog personally.

When you start deciding that you are going to post the N-word hundreds of times, in (apparently) "my" Google "identity", that crosses the line. I'm not afraid to say that I believe African-American hip-hop culture has gravely damaged this country, but I'm not going to go there. I can be considered racist. In fact, I've had African-Americans tell me that they understand the type of "racism" I have and appreciate that I talk about it in real terms.

But this wasn't that.

You want to openly start something -- I'm finishing it. Now!

What I had to delete was a deliberate attempt by someone masquerading as me to destroy not only this blog, but perhaps my entire Google account, and perhaps even further than that.

So, effective today, no more unmoderated comments. Comment Moderation is now to "Always". This means, effective immediately, all comments must be approved by the site moderator (me).

This does mean that all masqueraders of me (Oh, by the way, bitch, my profile is public -- yours is not. Consider yourself on notice for a criminal charge if I ever find out who you really are.) are on notice. This is your one warning. The next time I have to deal with that shit publicly, it's with the authorities, Google through the police. The shit ends.

If you really think you're that hot of shit, we can settle this face to face, but it won't be pretty. I'll be the one to do jail time then.

What this does not mean is that I'm only going to allow comments which agree with me on the site. That is not true. If you are willing to tell the world that you are an inane cheater who is counting on the inaction of Square-Enix because they openly do not give a shit about the future of game to enjoy Final Fantasy XI, chances are I'll approve the comment -- and THEN refute you, as I've been doing before. (And that's about 95%+ of the comments I've read and responded to.)

If you want to talk about FFXI, even if you wish to expose yourself as someone who doesn't care about anyone else but yourself, then by all means.

If you wish to sabotage this blog, then you are not welcome here and I will use any and all legal recourses to ensure that does not continue.

LBR Breaks Down the Bannings, Part IV

Let's see if I can get through the rest of this. We pick it up right at about the 90-minute mark.

We pick it up at the discussion of perhaps Square-Enix, in the name of regenerating interest in the game, re-releasing it to the public -- perhaps a hi-def version for high-end computers.

Again, this assumes that they want FFXI to continue, and that is a matter of some apparent question, given the attitudes and apparent limitations (hardware and economic) the game is running into, as previously discussed. The discussion of getting older players to tell their friends to join them in this kind of an effort relies completely that Square-Enix wants FFXI to continue.

We can't know that right now. There is zero confidence in the players for the FFXI brass -- and there may be only little more than zero the other way. This game can't continue under those circumstances.

Aneiro referred, then, to a site (http://www.mmogchart.com) which charts the different populations of the different MMO's.

FFXI is still relatively stagnant at 2006 levels, and that's down from mid-2005. It is no higher than 5th in population now vs. the other games (WoW, Runescape, and the two Lineage titles all beat it, and another title appears close).

Under this environment, does Square really want to pull the plug? The opportunity Aneiro speaks of to reinvent FFXI is only valuable if Square-Enix really wants to continue, and there is not as much confidence of that belief as one would want.

Aneiro then hits it on the head: If Square-Enix wants FFXI to survive, it has to have long-term goals to make the game viable. Period. There's no other way to put it. Of course, now, you have to look at both clauses of that sentence...

Of course, there is one trap: If you go high-end, you might fall into the same trap that Rockstar has, in telling players they need a gaming computer (and a high-end one at that for 2009) to be good enough to play their game of GTA4. You do that, and you'll lose customers for your company.

I make no secret: I can play FFXI on this laptop, but it has limitations. I accept those limitations. If they try to make me update this computer, they're making me buy a new computer. At that point, they lose me as a customer, not just as a game, but as a company. And all the talk which ensues about updating for the new high-end computers and video cards and the like really makes me squeamish, after my experience with Rockstar (which is still going to get a complaint to the BBB once that comes to the top of my queue).

I think, in all the discussion about fan community and art and all that stuff, I do have an issue with Aneiro's belief that the fan community really wants to work with Square-Enix. They, in my mind (by reading a lot of their comments in many different fora) have one interest: themselves. They have no merit for Square Enix, no merit for each other -- they just feel that if you aren't as good as they are ("People who have never killed Kirin or have had trouble doing so have no place crying like little bitches..."), you aren't even worthy of being in their game.

(Another reason end-game needs to be seriously neutered.)

At the end of the day, they want to have Square-Enix communicate with them.

First off, prove you're worthy and not going to undercut them.

Second, do they even want to talk to you, or do they care less whether FFXI has a future? Communication shows you care, yes. But do -- they -- care?

Third, would one side even listen to the other at this point?

I think those are three really salient points. I don't think a lot of the community would help Square-Enix out (see above: whose interests are they operating for?). As I noted to Aneiro earlier in the Flamage series, there is NO unity in this community. None.

One great example is what they discussed next: Square-Enix' chasm between their Japanese operations and their American players. Why is the Japanese dev-blog not translated, except on rare occasion? Why not bring the Japanese heads out to say that some of this is patently unacceptable and brings the game down and the game into disrepute?

I would think that things like this make Square-Enix, as a Japanese construct, lose face -- and that is the most important thing to the Japanese.

And that basically gets to where the rest of the show appeared to go: Are they really interested in dealing with us at all? And, if not, why bother continuing? Your player-base is cheating your ass off, stagnant, and shows no real desire to work with you, nor you with them. So why, Square-Enix, do you bother, if it's clear that you don't regard us that well? (And, again, we don't really deserve it as a player base -- see the recent bannings as a great example of why!!)

Flamage Part 13: Revenge of the RMTs on Leviathan

This is not a quiet night to be an FFXI GM, and the Special Task Force is going to be busy.

They've received a number of calls about flagrant in-game RMT advertisement -- including one from me (and GM calls on top of them, including one from me...).

Am I particularly shocked? Not really. I mean, if the players are basically saying "We run the show...", you know where that has to lead...

Time to sue some asses, take some websites down, and go from there...

LBR Breaks Down the Bannings, Part III

So, where were we when the Heavens opened yesterday?

Aneiro asks a real interesting question which might well be prescient to the entire "Flamage" series:  When we witness illegal behavior under the ToS, are we, as a result of the Salvage-dupe bannings, now obligated under the same ToS to report it, facing bannage ourselves if we fail to do so?

I'd almost wish that answer to be "yes".  I can understand the argument another in the round-table makes that that should not be the case, but, frankly, I'm at the point that, if you don't at least have some minimal idea of what is going on, you have no business being there -- whether it be Salvage or simply partying in the Dunes.

The next person basically mocks that a person in a BC who witnesses duping should warp out and call a GM and admonish the situation...  What else do you expect them to do?  And, say, it comes back later that that BC was part of a larger investigation...  How can you, later, claim innocence if you don't?

So I would have to say that if you witness any degree of illegal activity, you are obligated, under penalty of bannage, to report it -- else you leave yourself at the mercy of Square-Enix if they have to go back and look at everything.  Besides, blowing the whistle now might prevent it (something else my roommate and I talked about -- my roommate is a very smart person and thinks of things I don't think of all the time) from becoming a situation where the number of players banned increases by 1-2 orders of magnitude.

The person who questions is correct:  It does create the suspicion in each other -- and it has to. (Which see the earlier comment that no high-level player can now be seen as honest and legitimate anymore -- including me...)  I very nearly blew the whistle on my Salvage LS a couple weeks ago, just after the Salvage-dupe bans.  We ran Bastok, and must've gotten somewhere between six and eight Wootz Ores.  By the time it got to about #5 and #6, I was suspicious, and openly stated as such.  The only reason I didn't GM the mess is that I am not sure, end of the day, whether it is within statistical parameters for that number of ores to drop.  Otherwise, you bet your bottom dollar someone was going to get called.

I certainly wouldn't put it past a disgruntled-with-my-blog member of the LS to try to get me banned like that.

And then the possibility existing that different members of the STF might use different criteria for banning -- that's not acceptable.  It's one of the reasons I'm not sure there should've been different graduations of this situation, especially once the level of abuse became evident.  But any such breakdown of criteria should've been consistent.

But something then came up which was interesting:  I do believe, now, that there is no confidence from the players to Square-Enix.  (And probably very little from Square-Enix to the players.)  I'll give you one example from a comment to this blog I read today...  There are people who believe (at least, it's the only way their comment can be interpreted) that Square-Enix screws with the drop-rate (or at least can screw with the drop rate) for any player, any time, for any or no reason, at their own whim or for their own entertainment.

Who wants to play a game like that?  Who wants to believe such a game exists??  And, moreover, if that's the way the players view FFXI, why is Square-Enix even bothering?

It got, quickly, to another point:  If there was something which needed to be stopped, why doesn't Square-Enix come more up front?

Frankly, because the players don't give a fuck what Square-Enix thinks until they can no longer log in the game because they got LM-17'd or LM-11'd.  Sorry, them's facts.

Especially with the opinions which I have heard (on a number of different areas, including BluGartr, other blogs, comments to this blog, e-mails, etc.), I have to take serious issue with Aneiro on the next thing he said:  I do think that many players who took part in this illegal activity did it to openly spit on the game balance, because they thought the drop-rates sucked, because they didn't like what Square-Enix was doing, or for any other or no reason.  I do believe that many players have no qualms about dishonoring Square-Enix or the other players and spit at anyone who basically calls them on their shit.  I do firmly believe that there are many players who have no qualms of getting their 1337 gear and not caring one shit about legitimacy.

Then, it got to the question of Square-Enix connecting with the community came up, to which I have one question for the field:

Does Square-Enix trust the player base enough to communicate with the player base, or has it gotten so bad that it's just taking our $12.95/month without further regard to the player base?

I don't think they should trust the player base to that extent, but I wonder if that's why they don't get involved in more of the forums and the like.

I really do have to wonder (and will ask in the letter, coming soon...):  What do they really think of us?  Do they actually hold us in as much contempt as I believe our actions as a player base do merit?  It would appear that is possible.

I do begin to wonder if the lines of communication are not as much as they could be because they do not regard us well.  We certainly, as a player base, don't deserve to be regarded well by Square-Enix, given our conduct.

Frankly, and this extends to several minutes of discussion as to relations between Community and Premiere Sites with Square-Enix, I don't think they regard the fans well, and see our out-of-control nature as part of the reason FFXI is getting waxed by WoW.

I mean, there's a rumor out there that the Sandworm BC is still dupe-able, but people are scared to talk about it, lest they get banned.  Fact is, Square-Enix doesn't and shouldn't trust you -- they don't trust BluGartr or many of the other sites.  Do it in channels, or see the first comment to this part...

I mean, yes, as one of them said, the best advertising is that the company sees what you do and works with you.  But then someone (I think it was Sonomaa, off of a heated discussion on his LS...) may just have come up with the trillion-gil question:

With the same team essentially working on their new MMO, Rapture -- with maintaining FFXI, could Square-Enix deliberately be killing FFXI so that they can shed the limitations (which see the PS2 and the XLax CrashBox 360) of the present game?

I mean, consider:  The game's not going to the PS3.  With FFXIII not til 2010, one has to wonder if there's going to be a PS3 in 2010, as badly as the PS3 is going.  The only thing PS3 has going for it, and the only reason it's made it this long, is because of the fact that it's an inexpensive Blu-Ray situation.  Other than that, it has nothing to offer.

The PS2, if not already obsolete, is about to go there.  Sections of the game are abjectly unplayable on the XLax...  I mean, think about it...  Could they just be throwing up their hands and saying that they'll keep FFXI going as long as the players are willing to put up with this, but, having their druthers, they'd rather be working on Rapture full-time?  It's a fascinating question and might explain a lot of the silence and duplicity...

Take a look at reality:  Square-Enix is doing as badly as they've done in five years.  They've probably chosen the wrong platforms, clearly have an unworkable player base for their MMO...  What's to say they aren't thinking of hitting "Eject" once things get beyond economic feasibility?  FFXI is no longer the top dog at Square-Enix.  Let's get that down right now.

It also gets to the question of economics vs. ethics.  I would like to ask one question of the field in that regard:  There is no way at present that I could recommend FFXI to a new MMO player.  None at all.  If you do not have an ethical game, what "new blood" is going to come into an unethical game like FFXI, especially at end-game??

My position is clear:  If they don't care, then end it.  If it's no longer economically viable to continue, then end it.  And if they don't take steps to demand the players play within the rules (yes, dictatorship), then those players need to be gone and then the first two sentences still apply.  I'd be disappointed if FFXI were terminated on February 28th, but, given the choice between an unethical sham game (which FFXI either has been or is being exposed as, little by little) and losing FFXI completely, I'd rather lose it all than wonder continually why I am even bothering playing by the rules.

OK, I'll cut part III here at about the 90-minute mark.  Some very interesting points here...