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%...
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.