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Christmas Eve Event

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Kylie Kinslayer

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Ok, before I go off on a rant...

I have watched the EM Forum, EM Website and the in game mechanics closely for events. I saw nothing anywhere about an event for Christmas Eve {Dec 24th for those that don't celebrate}. Did I overlook something or was this just an "in crowd" deal?
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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I almost went into a rant.

I'll just say I didn't see anything either.

But then again I have been on all evening, in game, playing the game.....that could be the reason I missed it though. Being in the game, in the em cruxansata chat. But hey at least the shard is up!

One side note.....notice how most of the events that aren't announced that give event items and the EXACT same people that are there and those exact same people are the ones that get the event items.
 

Angel Dust

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I almost went into a rant.

I'll just say I didn't see anything either.

But then again I have been on all evening, in game, playing the game.....that could be the reason I missed it though. Being in the game, in the em cruxansata chat. But hey at least the shard is up!

One side note.....notice how most of the events that aren't announced that give event items and the EXACT same people that are there and those exact same people are the ones that get the event items.
Glad someone else pointed that out before I did:rant2:
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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Oh and here is my take on announcements.

I can understand not announcing events to try to keep people from other shards coming in on alts that loot the public corpse (which is how 70-90% of the event items are obtained)....that I do.

My issue is why do most of the atlantic community end up getting screwed except for the select few....and half of them don't even play this shard as their main?

Why not do the events like they use to do back in the day....news reporter dudes that use to be in every town announce them throughout the day. Leave crap off of the website. This playing favorites game is complete crap.
 

Angel Dust

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Anyone that has Messena's email can always send her a message. I'm just sayin. If ya need it PM me.
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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Well I have spoken my mind pretty well in gen chat on the issue :yell:
but will keep it clean here .....

And I have said in the past, I would be the first to defend both Bennu and Sprig {when he was EM} due to the job they were doing, and that I would also be the first one to break out the flames when either seriously dropped the ball

:flame:

First, some say I am only upset because I was not able to participate and get an EM Item to sell. Yes, I do collect/sell/buy some EM Items/rares. Honestly, I could care less about being present to get a drop, if I wanted I could do like others, never attend and buy what I wanted. After all, chat and banks are full of folks selling after an event.

My problem is Bennu gave his word in the past that events would be well advertised. He has said this both in game and on the forum as well. The best I can tell the only way this one was advertised is in a couple of chat channels just before the event took place. I do keep a close watch on the board here, the website and the EM heralds in game. While other events are advertised for DAYS in advance. He also said that only the events which are thrown together at the last minute are ones that would only be announced in chat, and they would only be minor events with no major ties to plot line, nor items. All others he said would be "well announced" via EM Forum, EM Website and in game mechanics {ie em herald, lamps etc}. That was said by him AFTER the last mini-event when folks were raising cain at the EM Hall. That being said, imo he did not live up to his word. That alone is where my problem is.


*personal note to Bennu*

Man, you lost alot of credibility that you had personally built up. Not only in my eyes, but also in the eyes of alot of players, some of which like myself are proud Members/Followers of the Crux. I wish you luck in regaining that. :sad4:
 

Duane I Am

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THIS IS BULL ****!!!!!!
I have been working my ass off all day on stuff for the family for Christmas. This would have bee a nice ****in break if i knew about it. Been watching often all day all the sites. Logged on a couple tomes looking for some clues or Unneb. Then i log in and see this ****. Thanks alot MERRY ****IN CHRISTMAS!
I thought there was a site to announce events. And by looking at the items handed out it was not just a small event where books with clues were handed out. Bennu you do alot of good but this is bull ****. Thanks for the heads up!
 

Duane I Am

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Bennu you are a creative guy. You could have siad Christmas party or something. Alot of us have families to attend to on the hollidays. I consider the Crux part of the family. We all let eachother know whats going on. How many normal Crux were missing?
 

Angel Dust

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All but the ones who r on 24/7. I personaly was out to dinner with some friends and family, then came home. let the kiddos open a gift and their stockings, put out some cookies and eggnog for santa, got them in bed and then figured i would hop on and see what mess i could get into. Then i see all this and oh what a mess this is. I have char on few other shards and all the Em's announced xmas parties on forums and EM sites way in advance. Bennu has done this many times now, the boots that dropped. when he announces events for the Crux it is because he is not wanting to please Atl, it is to please the role playing community (see his post a little further down list with that convo). Bennu does not care what you say or how you feel people, that is proven. He is in this EM postion for all the wrong reasons. to whomever does not like what I have to say, ya know what , F*%# Y@%. I dont really care. Same for you Bennu, you wear that sash because you think you are God of Atl, that shoulda been a clue right there we had problems coming. Oh where is Nestor when you need him? Messena if you bother reading this, can we have an EM that is going to please ATL as a whole or shall we keep the one that has made friends with a select few?
 

Bennu

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Tonights Christmas Eve event was something very small for those online having a lonely christmas eve, and announced vigorously for about 20 min in the CruxAnstata, EmEvent, Atlantic RP, and General Chat Channels.

The Luna Town Crier was also shouting the news and gates were left up for those to 'catch up' who were behind, or came across the crier after.

The uoem website host has been down most of the day or the event would have been noted there as well.

Alot of us have families to attend to on the hollidays.
Your time was better spent with your family than with me! :D
 

Bennu

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when he announces events for the Crux it is because he is not wanting to please Atl, it is to please the role playing community.
Sadly, the ARPC rarely attends my events, and the Crux Ansata is just a different name/story for the Royal Guard on Other servers. It is an insanely popular concept on every server that utilizes the concept, which is why I brought it to Atlantic in the first place... we have nearly 300 players in the lists and 75 that commonly attend the 'bulk' of those event types. Im not understanding the problem here.

Bennu does not care what you say or how you feel people, that is proven.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. I find that most complaints have more to do with a simple misunderstanding, an unrealistic expectation, or boil down to simple greed. This is not to say I am never wrong, I am a new EM, and I have MUCH to learn, however, when feedback and complaints are valid and constructive I take them very much to heart. Rants are another thing entirely.

He is in this EM postion for all the wrong reasons. to whomever does not like what I have to say, ya know what , F*%# Y@%. I dont really care. Same for you Bennu, you wear that sash because you think you are God of Atl, that shoulda been a clue right there we had problems coming.
...what? :confused:

Im sorry if you honestly believe this, and this is the way I have come across to you. I am honestly confused, maybe I have been a bit too personable, a bit too approachable, a bit too close? The sash is a reference to the Egyptian book of the dead where my name comes from... this is the first complaint I have gotten on it, I wont wear it anymore if you find it offensive.

Oh where is Nestor when you need him? Messena if you bother reading this, can we have an EM that is going to please ATL as a whole or shall we keep the one that has made friends with a select few?
As I have said from day one, this is YOUR EM program, I am just the Event Moderator. I am willing to take all feedback, event ideas, and target audience ideas to heart. I am curious why you have never emailed me about any of the issues you have brought up here?

Again, tempers seem to be rather high during the past two weeks. Things that were supposed to be fun, diversionary and exciting have been met with nothing but complaints and people freaking out over truly petty things. Hopefully things will calm down a bit after new years. We moved out of one fiction arc and are soon to slowly start another. I have made a promise to do a few 'non-combat' events, so I will need to get to work on those as well.

Not sure what brought out all the pitchforks and torches all of a sudden, I guess the honeymoon period is over?

The Christmas eve event was announced for a solid 20 min before it started in the 4 main chat channels and the Luna Crier, if you were not online when the event was announced... you had something MUCH better to do than play with a silly dragon for an hour. Id MUCH rather you do something with your family than spend an hour on Christmas eve with me... they are more important. Christmas can be a lonely time for many people, I wanted to do something for those that were online on Christmas Eve. Again, it was supposed to be fun, diversionary, light hearted and enjoyable...

Again, if you have a problem or issue you would like to discuss, you are always welcome to email me. As long as it is honest, not a rant, and respectful I will respond and we can discuss your individual issue.

Happy Holidays everyone, see you on the other side.
 

Cerwin Vega

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On catskills they had a event and items on the bodys but then after that they have a vending machine to give items for a couple mins... seems to me this keep alot of people happy. Some rare items to the lucky and some items for everyone else so they feel they got alittle something other than just to be able to say I was there.
 

IGaretjaxI

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Honestly reading these posts, besides making me laugh, kinda makes me feel bad for Bennu. He does try his best to please everyone. And everyone of you that have posted I seen at countless events, even on other shards (angel dust). If he would've announced it and people from other shards would have came and gotten the items, you would be ranting and raving about that. Regardless, it does suck that I logged on right after the event is over but it is all pixels people. ITS CHRISTMAS as well. There are things called legs walk around get off the game a bit and enjoy the other things in life.

I didn't attend or know about this event either, but really cool drop man.

Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you have a great holiday season.
 

Czarina

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The guild im in are all from siege. This was the second event we were lucky enough to attend. Thats 2 more events then we have had on siege shard in near 10 years! We appreciate your hard work EM Bennu. We had alot of fun and look forward to future events. Even tho some dont appreciate your work Us coming from siege greatly appreciate it. We look forward to participating in your future events.

Misanthropy - Abyss-Primal Chaos
 
A

Atlantic Smith

Guest
As I have said from day one, this is YOUR EM program, I am just the Event Moderator. I am willing to take all feedback, event ideas, and target audience ideas to heart. I am curious why you have never emailed me about any of the issues you have brought up here?

Again, tempers seem to be rather high during the past two weeks. Things that were supposed to be fun, diversionary and exciting have been met with nothing but complaints and people freaking out over truly petty things. Hopefully things will calm down a bit after new years. We moved out of one fiction arc and are soon to slowly start another. I have made a promise to do a few 'non-combat' events, so I will need to get to work on those as well.

Not sure what brought out all the pitchforks and torches all of a sudden, I guess the honeymoon period is over?

The Christmas eve event was announced for a solid 20 min before it started in the 4 main chat channels and the Luna Crier, if you were not online when the event was announced... you had something MUCH better to do than play with a silly dragon for an hour. Id MUCH rather you do something with your family than spend an hour on Christmas eve with me... they are more important. Christmas can be a lonely time for many people, I wanted to do something for those that were online on Christmas Eve. Again, it was supposed to be fun, diversionary, light hearted and enjoyable...

Again, if you have a problem or issue you would like to discuss, you are always welcome to email me. As long as it is honest, not a rant, and respectful I will respond and we can discuss your individual issue.

Happy Holidays everyone, see you on the other side.
Apparently you don't like to read, most of us were on and saw nothing. The people that are saying they saw something were exactly the same people that always get an item.

You seem to be like one of those emo non-conformist people that only want to give items to a select few. "screw the masses" type of personality.

As far as advice I believe at least me and 3 others have emailed mesanna....emailing you doesn't do crap. Neither does talking to you. The only advice I want to give is quit the EM program so someone else can take your place, I know that probably won't happen.....but I hope it does.
 
T

Tazar

Guest
Apparently you don't like to read, most of us were on and saw nothing. The people that are saying they saw something were exactly the same people that always get an item.

You seem to be like one of those emo non-conformist people that only want to give items to a select few. "screw the masses" type of personality.

As far as advice I believe at least me and 3 others have emailed mesanna....emailing you doesn't do crap. Neither does talking to you. The only advice I want to give is quit the EM program so someone else can take your place, I know that probably won't happen.....but I hope it does.
I was on last night with two accounts... I saw messages in several of the "Chat" channels, but choose not to participate due to guild obligations. It seems that some folks just get busy and don't bother to read what's in chat, or keep it turned off. I know several in my guild that it takes a spam of at least 50 times to get their attention in guild or alliance chat. Seems you were probably busy with something in game and not paying attention to chat. It's hard to stop and read while PVP'ing, doing a champ or peerless, or watching a movie while bank-sitting or macro'ing a skill, etc. E-mail Mesanna all you want... she's usually lurking in the background during events and I can promise you that she knows that Bennu does his job and does it well.

Bennu... don't let the complainers and those with a "Give-me" attitude get you down.
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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Nothing could be farther from the truth. I find that most complaints have more to do with a simple misunderstanding, an unrealistic expectation, or boil down to simple greed. This is not to say I am never wrong, I am a new EM, and I have MUCH to learn, however, when feedback and complaints are valid and constructive I take them very much to heart. Rants are another thing entirely.

Not sure what brought out all the pitchforks and torches all of a sudden, I guess the honeymoon period is over?

The Christmas eve event was announced for a solid 20 min before it started in the 4 main chat channels and the Luna Crier

*puts on his constructive feedback hat*


For me the pitchforks come out when people do not live up to their word. If you have followed past threads about this same subject I was among those defending you and how you were running things. Even at the meeting after the second Adgangskode dropped I was among those defending how things were going. It was at that meeting you said they were only minor events that had nothing to do with plot line, nor items and that is why they were advertised only in chat and herald really quickly prior to being held. When the other person said "No item's? Books dropped". You said at that point the books were never meant to be rares, they were meant to simply be gotten in the players hands with the solution for the password. When either of those happen they are will be well advertised in advance on the website, em forum and heralds.

Only announcing this event for 20 minutes prior to the start and not using the other avenues you promised you would broke the word you gave us all. I do not see how this is just a misunderstanding, an unrealistic expectation nor simple greed. I have been there several times when people have complained about events not being advertised. Most of them had not seen the forum nor the website {or looked at the website and saw no events in the RSS feed area} and the error was theirs. At each one of those times you said the above paragraph in some way shape or form. I can understand you being a new EM, hey there are bumps along the road in any new undertaking. But when any of us start going back on our word, that is a problem. I know there is not a virtous ability for the Honesty Virture yet in game {hopefully one day they actually get around to fixing that problem} but true virtue is not gained for a reward, it's done because it's the right thing to do. That is not limited to just UO, it extends beyond the screen and keyboard, and extends into our personal reputation.

If you were around in gen chat after the event you know I was among those that lost my temper over the situation. I will wholeheartedly agree with that. I do that when I feel I have been dealt with in a dishonest manner {in rl, in game or in any other aspect of life}. You can sit back and dismiss my concerns and say it's merely greed. But you would not be right in the assumption. You can also sit back and think I am still just pissed off, but that is no longer the case. I never post on stratics until after I have cooled off. You have demonstrated in the past that you can take constructive feedback and you do apply it when able. The real question is will a lesson be learned from this situation and corrected in future situations..... or will no lesson be learned and things continue along in the same manner. Alot of us will be watching to see, because we do want you to not only succeed but thrive as Atlantic's EM. Nobody is perfect, and we all goof up. But we learn from mistakes, oversights etc and strive to do better, not just try and defend our position when we drop the ball. Just sayin'
 

Demonous

Rares Fest Host | Ches Jul 2010
Stratics Veteran
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Sadly, the ARPC rarely attends my events, and the Crux Ansata is just a different name/story for the Royal Guard on Other servers. It is an insanely popular concept on every server that utilizes the concept, which is why I brought it to Atlantic in the first place... we have nearly 300 players in the lists and 75 that commonly attend the 'bulk' of those event types. Im not understanding the problem here.



Nothing could be farther from the truth. I find that most complaints have more to do with a simple misunderstanding, an unrealistic expectation, or boil down to simple greed. This is not to say I am never wrong, I am a new EM, and I have MUCH to learn, however, when feedback and complaints are valid and constructive I take them very much to heart. Rants are another thing entirely.



...what? :confused:

Im sorry if you honestly believe this, and this is the way I have come across to you. I am honestly confused, maybe I have been a bit too personable, a bit too approachable, a bit too close? The sash is a reference to the Egyptian book of the dead where my name comes from... this is the first complaint I have gotten on it, I wont wear it anymore if you find it offensive.



As I have said from day one, this is YOUR EM program, I am just the Event Moderator. I am willing to take all feedback, event ideas, and target audience ideas to heart. I am curious why you have never emailed me about any of the issues you have brought up here?

Again, tempers seem to be rather high during the past two weeks. Things that were supposed to be fun, diversionary and exciting have been met with nothing but complaints and people freaking out over truly petty things. Hopefully things will calm down a bit after new years. We moved out of one fiction arc and are soon to slowly start another. I have made a promise to do a few 'non-combat' events, so I will need to get to work on those as well.

Not sure what brought out all the pitchforks and torches all of a sudden, I guess the honeymoon period is over?

The Christmas eve event was announced for a solid 20 min before it started in the 4 main chat channels and the Luna Crier, if you were not online when the event was announced... you had something MUCH better to do than play with a silly dragon for an hour. Id MUCH rather you do something with your family than spend an hour on Christmas eve with me... they are more important. Christmas can be a lonely time for many people, I wanted to do something for those that were online on Christmas Eve. Again, it was supposed to be fun, diversionary, light hearted and enjoyable...

Again, if you have a problem or issue you would like to discuss, you are always welcome to email me. As long as it is honest, not a rant, and respectful I will respond and we can discuss your individual issue.

Happy Holidays everyone, see you on the other side.
i really appreciate you actually replying to people, my EMs on chesapeake never do that, then again events there are pretty horrible
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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Oh so atlantic and chesapeake have something in common!
 

Angel Dust

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Honestly reading these posts, besides making me laugh, kinda makes me feel bad for Bennu. He does try his best to please everyone. And everyone of you that have posted I seen at countless events, even on other shards (angel dust).
yep, I have attended 4 events on other shards for holiday celebrations. 2 of them had items, I got nada from them but had fun and no complaints(except cats event, damn game kept crashing). 2 others had no drops, was just fun hanging out and visiting, no big deal there was no drops. All 4 of which where announced via stratics days in advance. I don't care about the drop part or even being there as my previous posts mention I was doing family stuff, I mean granted I do buy, sell, trade rares and it is a good business to be in, it's more the fact that many people are upset and I side with them due to many times this happing. Sorry to offend anyone or make statements that might not gain someones friendship or add an ememy to my list but hey, I won't lose any sleep. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 
A

Atlantic Smith

Guest
I was on last night with two accounts... I saw messages in several of the "Chat" channels, but choose not to participate due to guild obligations. It seems that some folks just get busy and don't bother to read what's in chat, or keep it turned off. I know several in my guild that it takes a spam of at least 50 times to get their attention in guild or alliance chat. Seems you were probably busy with something in game and not paying attention to chat. It's hard to stop and read while PVP'ing, doing a champ or peerless, or watching a movie while bank-sitting or macro'ing a skill, etc. E-mail Mesanna all you want... she's usually lurking in the background during events and I can promise you that she knows that Bennu does his job and does it well.

Bennu... don't let the complainers and those with a "Give-me" attitude get you down.
Ok here we go with the give me response. (When people in your own guild felt the exact same way lol)

How about this....give no items at all? Instead of giving items to the select few people how about not one item at all? at any of the events?

I could really give a rat's ass about items. It's the fact that he's only including a "select" crowd to the events to give them items.

The point I'm trying to make is this....if you have a job/responsibility....then do it right. Do what the community wants and not what you and your select handful of favorites wants.

I did email Mesanna.....I figure if she can give a guy a castle because he was screwed over by a bug (which many have and received nothing)....then she can put the EM in line or have an event to make up for the crappy ones we've been having to put up with this past month.
 
T

Tazar

Guest
Ok here we go with the give me response. (When people in your own guild felt the exact same way lol)
People in my guild? Name one. There is no one in my guild that has ever complained about that. We don't go for the items... though you will hear a few complaints about no love from the RNG... :p We generally do not even go to EM events due to the lag, and the fact that we are usually already doing something else.

How about this....give no items at all? Instead of giving items to the select few people how about not one item at all? at any of the events?

I could really give a rat's ass about items. It's the fact that he's only including a "select" crowd to the events to give them items.
If you don't care about the items, then why are you complaining? I was just talking to a GM of another guild who has a new member. This new player actually got one of the drops last night and immediately sold it so that he has some gold to equip up, etc. He's never even been to an EM event before so how is it that it's always the same people that get the items? While you say you don't care about items, your posts above give the exact opposite impression.

The point I'm trying to make is this....if you have a job/responsibility....then do it right. Do what the community wants and not what you and your select handful of favorites wants.

I did email Mesanna.....I figure if she can give a guy a castle because he was screwed over by a bug (which many have and received nothing)....then she can put the EM in line or have an event to make up for the crappy ones we've been having to put up with this past month.
Your point missed it's target... He is doing a job for the shard. It's not for ARPC as accused above... they do their own thing and rarely show up for EM events. The EM events do have an active following... these people seem to have no real life jobs and devote lots of time to UO. They have a network of friends that will call, PM, ICQ, whatever whenever an event starts. The word spreads for those that are active.

It is not his fault that you were not paying attention in chat last night. And doing what the community wants is often the wrong thing. If the Dev's did that, we might as well all play test shard with the "Give" commands so that we can all have everything on a silver platter.

EM's are not allowed to be EM for their home shards so the only impression of "favorites" is not the favorite of the EM, but the ones that choose to be more active and actually watch for the events and set up communications networks so that when something starts and one member notices, they can notify others. This system worked great for the RBG guild ages ago and seems to still work great for those that use it.
 
A

Atlantic Smith

Guest
You do know that event items are transferred on a regular basis correct?

By the same exact people that get them on a regular basis?


And please tell me how announcing the event in advance is going to hurt the atlantic community? Because thats exactly what people want.

Also as far as not paying attention in chat? I was in the cruxansata chat, next to the event announcer, making spellbooks. Unless he announced the event when I went to make a dookie or get a glass of water then I guess yeah...you got me.
 
T

Tazar

Guest
Yep... and they are also the ones at the end of the event spamming "Buying XYZ ITEM!"... or are the ones that are very active and watch chat, etc. and have friends who point out when they notice an event is starting... rather than complain, sounds like you need to try to make a friend in that group. I know this one was not as well advertised... the EM forums were down for 2 days.

And not all events are pre-advertised... there is such a thing as spontaneous... When Mesanna comes to play, you won't get any forewarning. Personally, I think it's great that Bennu left his family on Christmas Eve to spend some time with us.

Also, I noticed you did not name any of my guildmembers...
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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It is not his fault that you were not paying attention in chat last night.
Agreed, it is not his fault some people were not paying attention in chat last night. Personally I was running a Rikki with wither spam, so I could not see anything being discussed in chat. However, it is his fault in him not following what steps he said he would take in advertising events that I have outlined in posts above. Had he taken those steps I would not be one of the ones raking him over the coals. Folks that know me know I am not one of the drama seekers that we have on Atlantic, but right is right and wrong is wrong.
 

Smoot

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I think Bennu does a wonderful job with events. Nestor and the others were great, but Bennu really tries to please everyone. Theres been more rp sponsered rp events than i can remember. (even if there are still people who show up expecting to get "items")

More pvp events would be nice, but the state of pvp today doesnt really make for an effective event to be held in my opinion.



The Christmas Eve "event," if people are online christmas eve, not with family or friends, then hey, they deserve something. It was announced as all events are.

What did concern me was the person who posted that a "select few are informed of the events, and get all the items." Im just wondering what this was based on.


EM events are something unique to UO. They happen in NO other game that i know of in such a personal manner. EMs dont get paid, they dont have to do events, the take their own time to plan them. Everyone should just be very greatfull that we have dedicated people who do this. A surprise here and there, its what makes the game great. For a number of years there were NO EM run events.

Everyone complaining needs to take a step back, realized what we have in UO, and appreciate the dedicated people who keep the game alive.
 
T

Tazar

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Agreed, it is not his fault some people were not paying attention in chat last night. Personally I was running a Rikki with wither spam, so I could not see anything being discussed in chat. However, it is his fault in him not following what steps he said he would take in advertising events that I have outlined in posts above. Had he taken those steps I would not be one of the ones raking him over the coals. Folks that know me know I am not one of the drama seekers that we have on Atlantic, but right is right and wrong is wrong.
Kylie, I don't argue that point other than to again state that the EM forum was down so the main method of passing along info was unavailable. Bennu has a family and certainly could not be there all day spamming chat to let everyone know. They do also sometimes only use one or another method of advertising events so that they can gauge the best methods of communicating by seeing what works and what doesn't (is a waste of time). Your complaint and that of Atlantic-Smith are two different things.

Atlantic-Smith is complaining that the exact same people always get the drops which just isn't true. As I stated above, a new player got one of the drops last night... he's certainly not a part of any "in-crowd". But I can pretty well guarantee that the guy he sold it to is a collector and will be transferring/selling it for a mark-up. Once this buyer posts on the boards about it, everyone assumes that he again got the drop when instead he bought it. Sure he may get the drop occasionally by being overly active and only living for EM events, but they also buy whenever they can.
 
T

Tazar

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I think Bennu does a wonderful job with events. Nestor and the others were great, but Bennu really tries to please everyone. Theres been more rp sponsered rp events than i can remember. (even if there are still people who show up expecting to get "items")

More pvp events would be nice, but the state of pvp today doesnt really make for an effective event to be held in my opinion.



The Christmas Eve "event," if people are online christmas eve, not with family or friends, then hey, they deserve something. It was announced as all events are.

What did concern me was the person who posted that a "select few are informed of the events, and get all the items." Im just wondering what this was based on.


EM events are something unique to UO. They happen in NO other game that i know of in such a personal manner. EMs dont get paid, they dont have to do events, the take their own time to plan them. Everyone should just be very greatfull that we have dedicated people who do this. A surprise here and there, its what makes the game great. For a number of years there were NO EM run events.

Everyone complaining needs to take a step back, realized what we have in UO, and appreciate the dedicated people who keep the game alive.
*applauds*
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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Yep... and they are also the ones at the end of the event spamming "Buying XYZ ITEM!"... or are the ones that are very active and watch chat, etc. and have friends who point out when they notice an event is starting... rather than complain, sounds like you need to try to make a friend in that group. I know this one was not as well advertised... the EM forums were down for 2 days.

And not all events are pre-advertised... there is such a thing as spontaneous... When Mesanna comes to play, you won't get any forewarning. Personally, I think it's great that Bennu left his family on Christmas Eve to spend some time with us.

Also, I noticed you did not name any of my guildmembers...
First off I'm not naming ****. I'm not getting a person in trouble with their guild. If they choose to disclose who they are, then fine. I don't disclose icq convo's.

I am familiar with the market and I know pretty much every person that transfers rares....like them or not.

You have no clue what your talking about.

Edit: and you haven't mentioned how announcing an event in advance would hurt the atlantic community? Oh yeah...thats right. It wouldn't.
 
T

Tazar

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Naming them certainly would not get them in trouble in this guild... you obviously do not know us if you think so. Our group does not get involved with EM events and I know that no one has made that complaint... believe me, they would complain to me first if that were the case. So I am left believing that you just made it up.

And I never once said that announcing an event in advance was a bad thing or would hurt the shard. However, I did state that the EM forums were down so the main method was unavailable...

I also firmly believe that there should be some Spontaneity. Life gets dull if everything is overly pre-planned.
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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What did concern me was the person who posted that a "select few are informed of the events, and get all the items." Im just wondering what this was based on.


EM events are something unique to UO. They happen in NO other game that i know of in such a personal manner. EMs dont get paid, they dont have to do events, the take their own time to plan them. Everyone should just be very greatfull that we have dedicated people who do this. A surprise here and there, its what makes the game great. For a number of years there were NO EM run events.
It is based on being at a majority of the events and knowing several of these people.

Apparently you are misinformed. After one of the events when someone asked if Bennu was paid....he replied with "yes, a little"
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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"And doing what the community wants is often the wrong thing. If the Dev's did that, we might as well all play test shard with the "Give" commands so that we can all have everything on a silver platter. "

What the community wants are events that are actually announced in advance. Read above....try to process an actual thought.
 

Smoot

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While we are on the topic, a few personal suggestions to improve the already well run event system.

Some events with No items. Some events with only 1 event item (to please the rare collectors) Some events with many many items, or event item vendor placed for a substantial amount of time so that everyone can get something.

One last thing. I haven't seen a player run event in a couple years. (other than the public yellow crystal harrower battles) If you really love events, take the initiative and plan and run one yourself. Player run events are very fun, in the past guilds have pulled together donations for prizes, and they were all very fun and community oriented.
 
T

Tazar

Guest
What the community wants are events that are actually announced in advance. Read above....try to process an actual thought.
THE EM WEBSITE WAS DOWN FOR 2 DAYS. READ ABOVE.... TRY TO PROCESS AN ACTUAL THOUGHT. I guess by your logic they should just cancel all events any time the EM site is down? or maybe even if your personal ISP is down?

Again, the EM's will try to test various methods of announcing events to see what works and what does not. With the EM forum down, this was probably a good time to see how well announcements via chat would work.
 
A

Atlantic Smith

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Ok, you got me on that one, there is also a thing called a town crier/event announcer and then these boards which he can obviously post to.

I already know your next reply...

"But atlantic smith...they did announce it"

We want the event announced earlier than 20 minutes. Like say....through out the day? Like they use to when everyone was at brit?


Let put a few bits and peices together for you and put them in my own terms. Maybe something a little easier for you to understand because that apparently is the barrier atm.

We.....are wanting.....to know......about.....the events......not for items.....but to attend them........we.....would actually......like to.....attend...the events.....you say....it is....because of....items.....thats why.....i'm saying....get rid of.....all items.....

Can you understand that statement cupcake? If not I can rephrase it or something. Again...you have no clue what your talking about.
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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THE EM WEBSITE WAS DOWN FOR 2 DAYS.

I hate to disagree with ya man, really I do. I can understand the lack of putting it on the website. Tech problems are tech problems. But the other avenues were all still active. On this forum, the Luna Herald (which was used) and the lamp system (which was not used). It's problems like this that lead those with the "conspiracy theory" mindset to keep throwing out things about crooked EM's and only their friends benefitting. I have never held that mindset, but this most recent event does have even me rethinking my stance. Yes, Bennu has been a great addition and I hope this is just a bump in the road and not a foreshadowing of what is to come.
 

kelmo

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Gosh! Tough crowd...
 
T

Tazar

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Ok, you got me on that one, there is also a thing called a town crier/event announcer and then these boards which he can obviously post to.

I already know your next reply...

"But atlantic smith...they did announce it"

We want the event announced earlier than 20 minutes. Like say....through out the day? Like they use to when everyone was at brit?


Let put a few bits and peices together for you and put them in my own terms. Maybe something a little easier for you to understand because that apparently is the barrier atm.

We.....are wanting.....to know......about.....the events......not for items.....but to attend them........we.....would actually......like to.....attend...the events.....you say....it is....because of....items.....thats why.....i'm saying....get rid of.....all items.....

Can you understand that statement cupcake? If not I can rephrase it or something. Again...you have no clue what your talking about.
You can stop being insulting any time you are ready. I get it... but you don't. You say now it's not about items...

One side note.....notice how most of the events that aren't announced that give event items and the EXACT same people that are there and those exact same people are the ones that get the event items.
My issue is why do most of the atlantic community end up getting screwed except for the select few....and half of them don't even play this shard as their main?
You seem to be like one of those emo non-conformist people that only want to give items to a select few. "screw the masses" type of personality.
Given those quotes (one from each of your posts before I got involved in the thread), I think your statement now about "It's not about items" is a joke... If it's not about items, come to the events, enjoy them, and don't worry about the items or who gets them... Honestly, for someone who claims to not care about the items, you seem obsessed with them.
 

Angel Dust

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It's problems like this that lead those with the "conspiracy theory" mindset
Anyone seen the movie Men who stare at Goats? I retract any all statements I made, I am a Soldier in a Psychological Operations Unit and I think KK's statement there sums all this mess up.
 
T

Tazar

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I hate to disagree with ya man, really I do. I can understand the lack of putting it on the website. Tech problems are tech problems. But the other avenues were all still active. On this forum, the Luna Herald (which was used) and the lamp system (which was not used). It's problems like this that lead those with the "conspiracy theory" mindset to keep throwing out things about crooked EM's and only their friends benefitting. I have never held that mindset, but this most recent event does have even me rethinking my stance. Yes, Bennu has been a great addition and I hope this is just a bump in the road and not a foreshadowing of what is to come.
It's Marketing testing... seeing which channels work and which do not. It's not like he can put a redeemable coupon on the town crier and a different one on the EM website and yet another on the Stratics EM Forum to see which works to get folks there... instead, they have to break it up and test different methods to see what increases/decreases the participation.

Also, given the size of Atlantic, sometimes some events are intended for a smaller crowd so less advertising is used so there will be less lag at the event, etc.

Personally, I think it was great of Bennu to take time away from his family on Christmas Eve to do this for the shard. Like many folks trying to be nice, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. He certainly can not please everyone all of the time.

Instead of crucifying the man for doing something nice, we should thank him - even if it's not exactly what you wanted. It's not what I wanted which is a large part of why I did not attend, but I'm glad others had fun.
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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I am a Soldier in a Psychological Operations Unit
These are not the event items you are looking for .... Move along {sorry Star Wars marathon on Spike :D}



It's Marketing testing... seeing which channels work and which do not.

Personally, I think it was great of Bennu to take time away from his family on Christmas Eve to do this for the shard. Like many folks trying to be nice, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. He certainly can not please everyone all of the time.

Instead of crucifying the man for doing something nice, we should thank him

I agree, it was nice of him to take away from his real life and hold an event on Christmas Eve, or at any other time imo. No argument there on my part at all. He has shown he is an active EM, and is also trying to include all playstyles in events, I have and will continue to applaud him on those areas.

I can also understand Marketing testing. You have to experiment and see what works and what does not. After the mini-events where Adgangskokes dropped he seemed to learn what did not work too well. To repeat those same mistakes so soon after laying out how he would advertise events in the future is taking a step backwards. What's the old saying about insanity..... it's doing the same exact thing but expecting a different result. And NO, I ain't calling the man insane.
 

Dan123The123Man

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ok I kind of skipped past like the last 40 posts but I think what made everyone unhappy is that the forums were down or unavailable so you coudln't post that there was going to be an event and let everyone know. Since lets face it not everyone is in UO and some actually check the forums to see if theres an event going on. Since the forum was unavailable maybe the event should have been postponed until the forums became available again? It's common sense really, if he PLANNED on posting on the forums that there would be an event and DIDN'T because the forums were down, then he shoudln't of hosted this event to begin with, he should of postponed it until the forums became available again. Thats like pushing something forward (lets use a patch or publish for example) without even going through the Test shard first. The events SHOULD be posted on the forums, otherwise why make people believe that they will be in the first place?

I don't believe in the whole "Oh well this EM posts and thats good, but this other one here doesn't and its still ok". No I don't believe thats right to do that. If you're going to use the forum to post that theres going to be an event, if the forum is down or unavailable then you don't go and host an event. Now I don't ever goto events in UO, BUT for the sake of those that do enjoy them i'm putting in my two cents because I don't think that the proper action was taken. In a way that's like bending the rules. For example if the servers go down because of some technical issues sometimes that's really unexplainable and you don't let anyone know on the forums. But that being said, when you "cheat" players out of an event because you want to go ahead and rush into one without posting on the forums that's kind of screwing players over as well..

When shards go down for no reason we as players are losing money because there's no way we're getting reimbursed for the money we lost from not being able to play. Whenever you rush into events like that without properly informing the community via the FORUM that's like screwing players over as well. The forum is here for a reason, and it's hard to believe that you actually feel like what you did was the right thing to do. That's the same as saying if the sites down its ok to shut the servers down without warning or any notice AT THAT TIME for hours or days at a time and the ones that believe that is the right thing to do, are totally wrong. The people that pay to play this game deserve to be treated as such, a paying customer. Not treated as someone that should get the short end of the stick or stuck on the back burner because we don't stay glued to the UO screen reading the spam in chat, or because something screwed up on your side (the site being down). That's not right and the player shouldn't have to suffer because you guys can't seem to keep things functioning correctly. Now i'm sorry if this seems like i've gone over board, but it blows my mind how you actually believe so many paying customers could be wrong and yet you still believe it was ok to go ahead and host the event after all, knowing that you should of waited until the forums were back up to host the event.

And thats my wall of text, enjoy UO and hopefully shards don't go down today :D


And what have we learned today CLASS?

You don't host an event if you can't properly inform the COMMUNITY about that event before its being hosted!
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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ok I kind of skipped past like the last 40 posts but I think what made everyone unhappy is that the forums were down or unavailable so you coudln't post that there was going to be an event and let everyone know
Nah, forums were not down, they were working fine. It was only the EM Website UOEM Atlantic that was having problems.
 

Dan123The123Man

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Nah, forums were not down, they were working fine. It was only the EM Website UOEM Atlantic that was having problems.
That still doesn't justify hosting an event when the proper action wasn't taken by informing the community on the forum. He should of held off on the event, go play monopoly or spend time with the family. Don't squeeze in an event when not everyone is staring at there in-game UO screen reading that crap people spam in the chat. You just don't host something like that when at that time you have no way of informing the community on the forums. He should of waited until the EM section of the forum came back up to schedule an event. Not squeeze it in like that, and this was no "mini" event. If you consider giving a whole suit or SUITS out as event items being "MINI" then i'd sure love to see a big or whole event, i'd like to know what the rewards would be in that if you consider this a mini event.
 

Bennu

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One more reply to explain something that seems to be misunderstood.

The EM Program (on Atlantic), has four 'types' of events.

#1: Planned/Announced broad stroke events. These are the big ones, major plot elements are decided, these move the plot forward and usually have between 75 and 200 people attending. These are announced on the EM Website, Stratics EM forum, and sometimes via the criers and chat channels. They 'sometimes' have an item reward worked into them. The last Bones of Zog event is a good example of this, as is the "Massacre on the Beach" invasion when we kicked off the Crux Ansata.

#2: "Live Arc Events" This is usually anything that has to do with Queen Dawn or other "multi shard" events/plot. These are done EXACTLY how I am instructed to do them, so they are a wild card as far as how each of them will be done. EA/Mythic decides how they are done individually. For example, the Yew invasion got quite a few complaints because it wasn't announced. But since when do bad guys announce their plans? Another example would be Unneb/Bob/Holiday Helper Christmas Elf gifts.

#3: Unannounced, what I like to call "Living World" events. These are small in scope minor plot elements. They 'rarely' have an item reward. These take place randomly and are part of a 'living world'... yes, things happen in Britannia that are not planned in advance or scripted. The Christmas Eve event I would drop in this section. They are announced via the chat channels and the crier.

#4: Unannounced RPC interaction, These are EM 'free time' for us to interact with our various RPCs, like Simeon, Addie, Josiah, or Danica. This is a time to ask questions, interact, or generally develop and interact with a character in the world. These can be random, or announced 'delicately' in the various chat channels.

None of this has changed since I originally came to Atlantic. If you don't like the way things are being done, again, I ask you to email me so we can get to the root of the issue and find out where things are going south.

Being insulting to one another, blindly piling on the bandwagon without any constructive feedback doesn't really further any sort of constructive discourse or help to work through problems, it only exacerbates the issue.

After every event I ask for feedback, guess how many emails I get giving me feedback on the event? I get one feedback email every two or three events... if I am lucky.

I read and respond to virtually every email. With the occasional "ALL CAPS + Cussing" freak out being ignored. I also keep getting emails from some lady in Nigeria that wants me to send her money to recover her husbands lost fortune and she will give me 50%... :eek:

Lately (Not just on Atlantic) during this holiday season people have been up in arms about things that were supposed to be fun, supposed to be a treat, supposed to provide a bit of levity to the world because of the season.

The "Start" of the Decor in Luna is a good example, we started working on it and people freaked out about it. It was supposed to be fun, and before we could even finish it, the boards fill with people saying Luna bank is ugly, the chat channels fill with complaints, so we took it all down. I wanted to put a "Grench" on top of Luna bank, thinking people might get the hint... but I was overruled with that. :bowdown:

If you want to complain, go for it. If you want things to improve in a direction that you would prefer, you need to provide "Constructive Criticism"

Here is an excerpt from wikipedia.org that I think would be very much pertinent here...

Negative and constructive Criticism

Negative criticism means voicing an objection to something only with the purpose of showing that it is simply wrong, false, mistaken, nonsensical, objectionable, disreputable or evil. Negative criticism is also often interpreted as an attack against a person (ad hominem).

Constructive criticism aims to show that the intent or purpose of something is better served by an alternative approach. In this case, the target of criticism is not necessarily deemed wrong, and its purpose is respected; rather, it is claimed that the same goal could be better achieved via a different route.

Both negative and constructive criticism have their appropriate uses, but often it is considered a requirement of criticism that they are combined. Thus, it is often considered that those who find fault with something should also offer an option for putting it right.
I hope everyone is enjoying the season, remember, I *AM* doing my best for you. I do not play favorites, I want everyone on Atlantic to enjoy their time in the game world. My job is to assist in that 'fun' and provide depth to the world in a way that is fun, diversionary, and sometimes provide some levity during special holidays.

Im going to step away from the computer for a while, I would suggest everyone do the same. Spend some time with those that you love, enjoy, and make you smile. THAT is what this holiday is about.

Merry Christmas, see you on the other side.
 
Q

quig

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Bennu does not care what you say or how you feel people, that is proven.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. I find that most complaints have more to do with a simple misunderstanding, an unrealistic expectation, or boil down to simple greed. This is not to say I am never wrong, I am a new EM, and I have MUCH to learn, however, when feedback and complaints are valid and constructive I take them very much to heart. Rants are another thing entirely.
In your opinion most complaints are pointless?? We told you in game after your first 2 "secret" events that we hated unannounced events, you didnt listen.
I dont understand why people think trying to get an event item is "greedy". If you go to Doom and try to get an arty are you greedy??



Oh where is Nestor when you need him? Messena if you bother reading this, can we have an EM that is going to please ATL as a whole or shall we keep the one that has made friends with a select few?
As I have said from day one, this is YOUR EM program, I am just the Event Moderator. I am willing to take all feedback, event ideas, and target audience ideas to heart. I am curious why you have never emailed me about any of the issues you have brought up here?

Again, tempers seem to be rather high during the past two weeks. Things that were supposed to be fun, diversionary and exciting have been met with nothing but complaints and people freaking out over truly petty things. Hopefully things will calm down a bit after new years. We moved out of one fiction arc and are soon to slowly start another. I have made a promise to do a few 'non-combat' events, so I will need to get to work on those as well.

Not sure what brought out all the pitchforks and torches all of a sudden, I guess the honeymoon period is over?
Maybe this should be a clue that we are not happy, altho you seem to think so much of yourself that we dont matter.

The Christmas eve event was announced for a solid 20 min before it started in the 4 main chat channels and the Luna Crier, if you were not online when the event was announced... you had something MUCH better to do than play with a silly dragon for an hour. Id MUCH rather you do something with your family than spend an hour on Christmas eve with me... they are more important. Christmas can be a lonely time for many people, I wanted to do something for those that were online on Christmas Eve. Again, it was supposed to be fun, diversionary, light hearted and enjoyable...
Events are only enjoyable if you can actually attend.

Again, if you have a problem or issue you would like to discuss, you are always welcome to email me. As long as it is honest, not a rant, and respectful I will respond and we can discuss your individual issue.

Happy Holidays everyone, see you on the other side.

Why email you when you dont listen in game and say most complaints are pointless.
 
T

Tazar

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Trying to listen in game with 50 people spamming all over is never going to work. There is simply too much going on to even have a chance to read it all - much less respond to each. In an e-mail, it can be done one on one with much better understanding and better results. Constructive criticism goes a long way... pure negativity tends to get no one anywhere.
 
Q

quig

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#3: Unannounced, what I like to call "Living World" events. These are small in scope minor plot elements. They 'rarely' have an item reward. These take place randomly and are part of a 'living world'... yes, things happen in Britannia that are not planned in advance or scripted. The Christmas Eve event I would drop in this section. They are announced via the chat channels and the crier.
Im confused, you have had 3 of these events so far and all have given event items:
Lagniappe Of The Ethereal Void (Regular Boots) (Red and Green) (4)
Lagniappe Of The Ethereal Void (Thigh Boots) (Red and Green) (2)
Recompense Of The Ethereal void (Regular Boots) (7)
Recompense Of The Ethereal Void (Thigh Boots) (8)
Shed Scales Of Nvenbem The Ice Dragon [Christmas Eve, Atlantic - 2010] (Full Suit Dragon Armor) (3)

In fact most of the items given out by you so far have been thru these "secret" events. Whatever... talking to you doesnt seem to do anything.
Happy holidays!
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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Constructive criticism goes a long way...
Agreed. However, constructive criticism rarely works unless a person actually sees they made an error or realize their approach is in error. That is the perspective my posts have been written from, trying to get EM to understand/see. Sadly that seems to not be the case here. The meetings after events, chat and boards have always been highly vocal of these "impromptu" events. To keep simply defending the decision to continue them and not move away from them is wrong imo. I think people have definately made their opinions known on how they view events held along the lines of #3 in EM Bennu's post. If this is truly "our" EM Program then shouldn't it be time for those type fall by the way side?

Think about how much drama could be avoided if all events were announced the way that was laid out during the in-game discussion on them. If they were all anounced that way then maybe even the "conspiracy theory" folks would not have a leg to stand on, and that too would fall by the wayside.



*personal note to EM Bennu*

I do want to thank you for taking to time to discuss this situation with us all, ESPECIALLY during the holiday season. There have been times in the past with previous EM's etc that there was not even a chance at dialouge when problems arose. When you tried to talk with them about it, a door basically got slammed in your face. I do applaud you for that.
 
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