Warranty, an active measure to combat the scamming
Virtual world is nothing but a digital transposition of our actions (creative or communication).Real life is for virtual life the first source for everything.
In 9Dragons, at least in Bardo server no day has passed without a roar with scamming message.After XP cards have become non-tradable, Acclaim left open the access to some items in mall from which you can make big money and which are scamming large outbreaks. Some of the items from that category are : scales, tears, Separators Iron or Gold. All these items can be considered top ones because they open access to things that an item mall non user can not have: sloted weapons, sloted clothes, weapons that do not break at refinery. At the same time they are also a weakness.
Adding scales/tears
X player buy from mall scales or tears. Scales or tears can be added to weapon only by X. Y from game wants 1 scale or tear, but don’t have money for mall, yet have in game money to afford one. X roars that sell one or Y that buy one. They pm each other. They find a place to meet. Y must give the weapon to X (in order to add the items ) as a ration of loan for X to add the scale or tear. The weapon of Y can have slots or no, can be high or low refine. X takes the weapons add the scale or tear( waiting for a reward for the performance set) or logs off ( stealing the weapon of Y).
Adding Separtors on weapons/decos
Same case as adding scales/tears, the weapons/decos may already have slots ( 1,2,3).X can be of good faith and end the deal with adding the mall items or not.
Is it true that Acclaim can punished X for misleading you ( if you provide evidences -ss), but at the same time is true that you never see the weapon or deco back, and finally you are the one that suffer the lost, though you were a good faith player. Also in the time that Acclaim takes action, that X player can cheat 10 or more players, sell the weapons and trade the gold with another avatar ( which have another IP) for another item. In few words, he/she can clean the tracks and remain with money on her/his real avatar.
In real life if you borrow an item/thing to an unknown (or known) person which has a value or money, usually requires a guarantee ( warranty).
In commercial and consumer transactions, a warranty is a collateral assurance or guarantee that certain facets of an article or service sold is as factually stated or legally implied by theseller, and that often provides for a specific remedy such as repair or replacement in the event the article or service fails to meet the warranty.[1] A breach of warranty occurs when the promise is broken, i.e., a product is defective or not as should be expected by a reasonable buyer.
In business and legal transactions, a warranty is an assurance by one party to the other party that certain facts or conditions are true or will happen; the other party is permitted to rely on that assurance and seek some type of remedy if it is not true or followed.
So when you borrow a weapon/deco to add tears/scales or slots why not ask a warranty for the other to be ‘motivated’ to respect the deal ?
We can talk about how it should be ensured, how much money would be worth, or if the one who wants to buy a scale or jade wants to get rid of the item, take the money from the guarantee and logs off (and you remain stuck with the item) but equally true is the fact that the person who sells that item may inspect the subject of the trade (in the process of finalizing the fair) and can agree or disagree with the warranty. He can select his customers, as is a free market.
For eg. a peson who has a sword with 2 slots and wants to buy another 2 separtors for another 2 slots ask you a warranty which is worth a sword with two slots, like 35 milions, you add the slots and he/she disappears, you remain with the 4 sots sword which can be sell to others. In same case, but opposite parts, the person who sells, give you the warranty and he/she disappears, you at least remain with the money and no with nothing like as often happens now.
In my opinion demanding a guarantee seems a good idea. In this way you can sort the scammers by a high percentage (%). Lately they have become increasingly persuasive: show the customer 2,3 mall decos, high refined weapons to have a higher degree of confidence in them.
How to fix GAME GUARD problems
Lately I see increasingly more Game Guard issues on 9Dragons forum and no one can answer with something concrete.After the last update of nProtect Game Guard seems that the problems have multiplied, and players can’t play the game because 9d Game Guard shield is showing messages like ‘ a macro / cheat was detected, the Game will be closed/terminated’.
http://phpbb.acclaim.com/9dragons/viewtopic.php?t=125889&sid=17a462e1e8453af56b9ee707a757db9e
http://phpbb.acclaim.com/9dragons/viewtopic.php?t=125614&sid=1639b9006615d80968812739b973689f
What is this Game Guard ?
nProtect GameGuard (sometimes called GG) is an anti-cheating software developed by INCA Internet. It is installed alongside many Asian massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) such as Lineage II, 9Dragons, Cabal Online, Phantasy Star Universe, GunZ: The Duel, Flyff, PangYa and Ragnarok Online to block malicious applications and common methods of cheating. nProtect GameGuard provides B2B2C (Business to Business to Consumer) security services for online game companies and portal sites.
GameGuard hides the game application process, monitors the entire memory range, terminates applications defined by the game vendor and INCA Internet to be cheats (QIP for example), blocks certain calls to DirectX functions and Windows APIs, and auto-updates itself to change as new threats surface.
Lots of the problems caused by Game Guard are because of proxy servers. What kind of problems we may encounter?
1. If internet connection is restricted due to security programs(firewall or antivirus), GameGuard may not be able to update.So, you should turn off those setting.
2.Connection to the GameGuard update server is not possible due to external firewalls. Check the settings of those firewalls or ask the administrator of the network about them.
3. Internet connection problem. See if you need an authentification for re-connecting.
4.A proxy server is on. If a proxy server is on open IE, [Tools] – [Internet options] – [Connections] – [LAN settings]. Check whether proxy server is on and if it is, uncheck the option : [Use a proxy server for your LAN ]
5. Modified hosts file.The hosts file can change a certain internet address to a different one. This file is frequently modified by spywares or viruses ( like last time when many people got a virus in 9Dragons through Game Guard ).
a) Open the hosts file located in the directory below ( different from OS to OS)
Windows XP\Vista\Win7 : c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
b)Select Notepad in the ‘Open With’ window.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqWgVtr
c) Delete all game and GameGuard related lines and save ( lines without #).
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxeRbDi
GAMEGUARD ERRORS :
Error 110 – This is indicating that NProtect has already been loaded once and is still resident in memory. Please bring up the Task Manager by clicking “Ctrl” “Alt” “Delete”, click processes, and perform an end process on u_skid.exe and GameMon.des. If ending these processes does not resolve the error, please reboot your PC.
http://www.gameguard.co.kr/gameguard/faq/eng/FAQ_115.htm
Error 112 - Please be sure your PC is free of viruses, and that sufficient memory is available. You may wish to make sure your virus scanning program is up-to-date and functioning properly, and that you do not have too many other open programs.
Error 114 – A very commen GameGuard error. Unfortunately a specific solution to this error is unavailable. In general, it is indicating that some software on your PC is preventing NProtect from loading. Please verify that you have administrative access to the PC you are using, and that you have shut down all nonessential software. Also, you may wish to end any unnecessary system services or processes if you feel comfortable doing so. You may also wish to try temporarily disabling any virus scanning, firewall, or security software on your PC.
http://www.gameguard.co.kr/gameguard/faq/eng/FAQ_114.htm
Error 120 – Your installation of NProtect is either incomplete or damaged. Please delete the GameGuard folder and repatch Drift City, or try clicking on the [Check Files] button.
Error 124 - Same solution as Error 120
Error 141 – Same solution as Error 120
Error 142 - Same solution as Error 120
Error 150 - Same solution as Error 120
Error 153 - Same solution as Error 120
Error 155 - This error should not occur under Windows XP. If it is occured, your PC may have a severe virus or be experiencing Operating System / Hard Disk corruption. Please visit Microsoft for assistance in restoring this file for your particular OS version. If you are unable to restore it, we recommend contacting a qualified PC technician to examine your PC.
Error 170 – Due to a problem with the GameGuard INI, the program was unable to launch. We recommend deleting the GameGuard folder and re-running the Drift City again in order to redownload the NProtect files.
Error 340 – This is indicating that the NProtect patches failed to download, either due to an overly restrictive firewall or network issues leading to failed downloads. Please check your firewall or anti-virus’ settings and allow GameGuard to patch it’s files.
Error 350 – GameGuard has been cancelled by the computer’s user. Please restart Drict City, and do not click cancel on GameGuard.
Error 360 – The NProtect patch process failed due to corrupted files, or an overly restrictive firewall. Please be sure to allow NProtect access through your firewall. If the problem persists, delete the GameGuard directory.
Error 361 - Gameguard did not install well. Maybe you cancelled it or something. Either Re-download gameguard or Go to :
Internet>Settings>Network>Check security program on top is working or not.
Also check if you need to get authorized to use the internet.
Error 380 - This is indicating that either there is a problem with your internet connection, security software on your PC. You may wish to wait a while and try again, and verify your firewall settings, as well.
Error ___ - (No numbers) This is an indication that your computer is “lagging”.
Error 360 – If you already allowed the things and still do not work. Try turning off your anti-virus. It may also be a corrupted file. Just deletle your gameguard folder and re-download.
If nothing works, download Malwarebytes (free edition) and Combo Fix(post the logs on a virus expert topic and you will be guided) and scan your computer:
Tibet map, 또 깨진 약속 ?
1.November 2009: TheHermit replies with lots of confidence that Tibet map will be out by the end of the year 2009.
2. December 2009: TheHermit announces that the head of the GMs is sick and the map will be postpone till 2010.
3. January 2010 : TheHermit assured us that Tibet map is 95% translated.
4. February 2010 : No map.
Koreans have implemented the map in 2009 and Taiwan company have just launched it with a lot of noise and promotions.
http://www.9ds.com.tw/news-event/2010/event_hidden_world.html
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Tsd6AXi
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVDSODJ
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxbXIfS
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqTt5Nr
What brought Tibet to other versions?
- new items
- new clothes
- new weapons
- new system of penalties in PvP
- new quests
- new items in mall
- new dungeoun
What will bring for Acclaim version ?
-new bugs
Cora M : ‘I wrote to Romanian authorities about the hate speech against romanians’
One of our loyal readers wrote to Romanian authorities yesterday about the hate speech against romanians on 9Dragons forum and 9Dragons game. She made a petition to CNA and the Ministry of Communications asking those to look upon this case.
Our reader wrote us a few lines and she send us the document form of the petition:
If Acclaim open the door for nation abuse I will no stand it! I can say that in Romania there are many educated people who speak foreign languages, people who works a lot, people who have a job and are decent. I can’t stand to this kind of speech against my nation and people. The civilization is teach in the family in the first ten years. It is almost impossible to civilize through school someone who is uncivilized. Then if in everyday life, the individuals realizes that they can handle the things only by lying, theft, deception, dishonest earning, wherever they are and live that is their life.
The people who said about romanians that are gipsy, rotards, retards as a nation and fill up our nation with curses they don’t know anything else. Respect for them is a total unknown, soap and water are harmful, common sense is a geek, respect for others is a waste of time.
The petition is in romanian language, so you can use a translation tool. The ‘Anex no1′ has a lots of GB so I will not load it ( many ss you gather there Cora – I upload it in .pdf format because it is your creation).
http://fisierulmeu.ro/24BHYH8QU4L6/reclamatieadministrativa1-pdf.html
The hate speech against romanians
Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Ts1mJnJ
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxYqT0
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxYvSi
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxYymr
http://phpbb.acclaim.com/9dragons/viewtopic.php?t=125285
The case is very simple: an X player logs in the game and at the start of his/her logging as he/she said in ss 4(from forum) is annoyed by romanians people. That irritation against the romanians is so evident (for X causes) that,the player has found a term: ROTARD, which he explained simply:
‘ Definition of rotard : people that live in Romania and are retards’.
”I’ll rephrase the definition; people that speak the romanian language and are retards.’
The terms :
ROTARD ( it is not a term that player invented, because there are limitation to the people who can come up with a term)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rotard
Often used to describe a person who is obsessed with the Wankel design rotary engine, and usually Mazda RX7s in particular, to the point of total stupidity. In the mind of a hardcore rotard, teh RX7 is the finest automobile in modern history, and undoubtedly the best handling car evar. Most rotards will bristle and get quite defensive when confronted with factual issues relating to the fragility of their beloved engine, and will tend to make pointedly idiotic arguments to the contrary.
A spinning Retard; or a rotating retard, used to express something more retarded than just a retard.
RETARD :
–verb (used with object)1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.–verb (used without object)2. to be delayed.–noun3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.4. Slang: Disparaging.a. a mentally retarded person.b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.
Rather inclusive, no? There are many points and opinions to discuss in here. Let’s take the 4 pillars that support this speech :
1.Reclamation of terms – ROTARD, RETARD, ROMANIANS . First two words are examples of words that have been used to degrade, demean. After that the player add ‘ROMANIANS’ and use those 2 words to verbally injure members of particular group of players : players from Romania.
2.Hating the Inanimate: out there in the debate field is a questionable divide between what you can hate and what you can’t. This player obviously hates romanians, she or he said it’s annoyed by them when she or he logs in game.
3.The Freedom to Argue, People Speaking: If a player simple says “romanian are rotards,” is it any different than if a leader of hero band/ official team says it?We live in a time of relative equality.
4.The exception of the rules .Can we tolerate a single person which advocate for hatefull speech against romanians? If this has an impact on people, then we should act to disable the hatred ideology.
I wonder how that player can live with so much hate against romanians, when in the band were he or she activate are also romanians. When she/he log in game is annoyed by that band own members (romanians of course)?
Acclaim bureaucracy in 9d : 1 chief/centimeter
In Acclaim everybody is the chief of someone else. In other words, is perishable the thing with: “we will work SOON”, now it is clear that nobody will ever work in this company and this will not be now or in the future.Never mind beeing a player, a VGM, or a head of VGM… you have much to say, because you know them all and there is no doubt: YOU DON’T CARE.
What 9d employees? Some ex strip club dancer, some who didn’t finish the studies at 40 years old, some who drop school/run away from home when he hit the problems, some 20+ who mature with the rest?. What volunteers?Pubertal children with problems? Unfit and forget about them because YOU ARE THE CORE.
Their life is a virtual NOVEL, their concepts are GOLD, their ideas are priceless, and how to do it, ohh, how do is a ZEN-TAO-GOD system. Sometimes you think how the hell you still are not insane.
Taking a look at the organization chart presented by Acclaim for 9Dragons we find:
http://phpbb.acclaim.com/9dragons/viewtopic.php?t=94929&sid=33e67117bbb238dc0427528640e83d93
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxZLCrr
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Ts1gjDcA
TheHistorian (Community manager).Historian jump from role in role, as he ‘cut’ his hair. Once he show his muscles, he posts the promotions, the events, give reply to topics, sometimes he is assuming the role of moderator chief and close / trash topics.We don’t knows exactly what team is he leading, which are the subordinated people, but he is a MANAGER.Maybe he leads all and nothing, but what he do has nothing to do with what a community manager at all.
The Four Tenets of the Community Manager by Jeremiah Owyang
In the following, I’m not going to list out all my findings, but it was clear there were 4 number of Tenets, or beliefs that each role holds. In nearly all the job descriptions, the following beliefs were spelled out as requirements for the role.
1) A Community Advocate
As a community advocate, the community managers’ primary role is to represent the customer. This includes listening, which results in monitoring, and being active in understanding what customers are saying in both the corporate community as well as external websites. Secondly, they engage customers by responding to their requests and needs or just conversations, both in private and in public.
2) Brand Evangelist
In this evangelistic role (it goes both ways) the community manager will promote events, products and upgrades to customers by using traditional marketing tactics and conversational discussions. As proven as a trusted member of the community (tenet 1) the individual has a higher degree of trust and will offer good products.
3) Savvy Communication Skills, Shapes Editorial
This tenet, which is both editorial planning and mediation serves the individual well. The community manager should first be very familiar with the tools of communication, from forums, to blogs, to podcasts, to twitter, and then understand the language and jargon that is used in the community. This individual is also responsible for mediating disputes within the community, and will lean on advocates, and embrace detractors –and sometimes removing them completely. Importantly, the role is responsible for the editorial strategy and planning within the community, and will work with many internal stakeholders to identify content, plan, publish, and follow up.
4) Gathers Community Input for Future Product and Services. Perhaps the most strategic of all tenets, community managers are responsible for gathering the requirements of the community in a responsible way and presenting it to product teams. This may involve formal product requirements methods from surveys to focus groups, to facilitating the relationships between product teams and customers. The opportunity to build better products and services through this real-time live focus group are ripe, in many cases, customer communities have been waiting for a chance to give feedback.
9D Hermit, Game Director and Lore Master, another invented name that has nothing to do with what game director is in reality. From the job description we find that :
A game director, creative director or design director is a person usually responsible for creative development of a video game, and is generally regarded as the prime design authority across the company’s product range. Video game directors usually come from either a programming or design background. They are typically people who have worked in the games industry for several years and established a reputation as a designer or before assuming the role. Some creative directors enjoy a measure of celebrity in the gaming press or beyond. Creative directors in games are generally regarded as being executive-level management, but are not to be confused with producers in that they are not generally involved in the particulars of contract negotiation, project management or staffing. In some cases, the role can overlap with the roles producer or lead designer.
Hermit aka Steven Elliot Altman don’t have the background of a designer, but he involve himself in project management or staffing, excatly what a game director don’t do as the description above show it. Like Historian he close/locks topics on forum, sticks the promotions, bring the news, create events and involve himself in leadership problems. Till now we have two people who makes the same thing, but with another job title.
Than, GM[Smoke] probably the only head of GMs in the history of games who order himself and execute at the same time. For the other two GMs, Acclaim found pompous titles. Acclaim Sparda, for example, is Senior GM of Events and Promotions, by title he is doing the same as Hermit and Historian (events and promotions). I am sure he is doing the work of the other two and they just came with the name.
After, we find out that Acclaim Nevermore is GM of Awesome.I do not know how many of you have read the comics of Marvel, but there we have a ‘trio’ called ‘Awesome Threesome’, a group from DC Comics supervillain: Torpedo-Man, Magneto, and Claw, as the three GMs. I do not know who had the inspiration of that but … supervillan? Right now, I think GMs are the only people from Acclaim who do something for this game. Anyway, causing awe or terror or inspiring wonder or excitement among customers is bad in business.
A Gamemaster, Game Master or Game Manager (often abbreviated as GM) is a player in a multiplayer game who acts as organizer, arbitrator, and officiant in rules situations. They are most common in co-operative games where the other players work together and are less common in competitive games where the other players battle one another.Today, gamemaster is usually associated with role-playing games. In a role-playing game the Gamemaster’s purpose is to weave the other participants’ player-character stories together, control the non-player aspects of the game, and create environments in which the players can interact. The basic roles of Gamemasters – rules help, moderation, and storytelling – are the same in almost all role-playing games, although differing rulesets make the specific duties of the GM unique to that system.
Gamemasters in MMORPGs are usually employees of the game’s host or developers of the game themselves, Perfect World is an example of this type of GM. Often players who feel dissatisfied with the service will blame the GM directly for any errors or glitches. This is a common mistake as most employed GMs are not developers and cannot resolve the problem themselves.
World of Warcraft has Blizzard Entertainment employees serve as Gamemasters to help users with various problems in gameplay, chat and other things like account and billing issues. A GM cannot reveal that he or she is a GM while playing a non-GM character. These Gamemasters are not allowed to provide items to players but must instead refer to an item specialist. Specifically a Gamemaster in this game will have all chat text appear in blue rather than the default colors and will also have the “GM” tag in front of the character name.
In the end, from the teams of volunteers we have so many heads that my head will explode if I start to count. 3 leads, from which 2 has same title as the Hermit ‘ Lore Master’, a head of VGM team and VGM team leaders, a Float VGM, which nobody knew what means or what does.The proportion of ‘heads’ in volunteers team is phenomenal.I will add the fact that some moderators are VGMs too. The number of volunteers exceeds the number of employees and all are only ‘heads’, not that they do something, have a vision or push the game in a better direction.
The Lore-master is a seeker of knowledge and a guardian of wisdom. He wields ancient secrets and lore to confound his foes and aid his friends, protecting them against the dark powers of the Enemy.
What Does Float Mean?
“Olix is a fraud”
Another scandal which implied VGM [Olix] was started today.
From now on the truth has to be given, [GM]olix wich is main gm im asura is also a player in the same server, his name as character was Phaelzz (active player in Elite hero league).He changed name in order to play secretely in the server war wich is goin on right now!
…………………..he takes action to help his “mates” and “friends” to help them get better and win that war.I will forward all proofs and documents i have to every recieving address acclaim provides in order to get justice!!!!
………………….when players challenged VGM[olix] about his decisions he simply responded that “i can do wathever i want” …THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE….truth is GM or VGM have to be totally(100%0 neutral and impartial ,wich hes not!!
I FORMALLY ACCUSE GM[OLIX] TO CHEAT ALL PLAYERS AND ALL REAQSON AND JUSTICE OF THE GAME….THJEREFORE HE SHOULD BE BANNED FROM GMship AND FOREVER BANNED FROM 9D OR ANY ACCLAIM GAME FOR THAT MATTER ..AND THAT FROM HIS PERSONNAL IP ADRESS…I FOR ONE ASK ACCLAIM TO REPAIR ALL INJUSTICE DONE TO ANY PLAYER IN ASURA SERVER….
This is not the first scandal of VGM[Olix].We can remember the post made by vennus, not long time ago :
http://projectai.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/the-new-head-of-vgm-team-olix-accused-of-power-abuse/
I do not even remember who belonged these words: “To be free is a big deal. To be fair it is even a big thing. Well, I do not pretend that I am correct in my judgments, in my opinion, in my confusions, in my discontent. Nor know somewhere there’s a standard of accuracy, to measure how accurate are the opinions of a man. I don’t know if there is such a standard, but I say that I am entitled to be incorrect, or uncertain about the accuracy. What it means to be free and fair in a game? To be without the past, no emotions, no memories, no ashes of a past that every avatar carry away … I think “free” are just computers. I, for one, do not know what it means to be objective. My only claim is that we have an honest subjectivity …
Can you be really objective as VGM when you play the game ? When you are day by day near you friend, inside your league sharing the problems, the victories and the failures can you do that? Many complaints showed that is not possible. Olix is an active VGM, but arrogant with players and has a large history of involvement with the black clan. I leap over the fact that all three heads of VGMs after Olix came are from black clan.
A small detail that escape general attention, always leave room for interpretation. When VGM [Olix] entered to make his number on Bardo server, 2 players roars ‘Happy B-day’ for two avatars.Olix was on when those players gave the roars (he reply after each one), but he gave a reply to only one message of ‘Happy B-day’, saying Happy B-day to one from the two. Coincidence or not, that player is Evolet, who was assisted by Acclaim to get PS2, exceeding the bug of H12 chi and than roll back, after Acclaim realized their mistake. So overall the details makes the image.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxWJZeA
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqAv4oA
In the time I was reading this post, Hermit gave a reply to the topic quoted. It is a forced reply and don’t answer the players questions as we got used to. My reply to his post before was locked and deleted :
I don’t guess it, you can tell us, what is the big deal anyway, it is not the first time when a VGM is accuse of mixing in the band/hero leagues affairs and will not be the last one. What about the others points raise in here ? Can VGMs jump to the server where their main is (the leads of VGMs for example) ? Such situations have been reported many times and the pretext was : THE EVENTS. Can you tell us which VGMs can jump to the server where his main is and under what circumstances ?
Also can you tell us what means Float VGMs ( VGM[Ivy] ) , I never understand that notion and what they do ? They can go to all servers too?
Thanks!
Of course he could not answer and gave delete to the post. It’s much easier that way. Impotence in one word! He is runing away again as he did it when was a little kid.
TheHermit : “I dropped out of High School and ran away from home”
In the gallery of Acclaim leaders, who want to relive their childhood or life lost in the game, today joined Steven Elliot Altman aka TheHermit.In Acclaim version of the game he is mainly an exaggerated stereotype of ‘I am the man’ . He is quick to point out, how great he is and how much he knows about this game and what is best for this game, even when such claims are questionable.
Few know who Steven Elliot Altman is in reality. From an interview we learn that:
I dropped out of High School in the second week of 10th grade and ran away from home, actually. I wandered around. I got my G.E.D. and started community college at age 16 in Ft. Lauderdale. I got my B.A. at 19 from a little college called Pfeiffer, in North Carolina. I got my Masters from Villanova University and still wasn’t old enough to drink. I decided that if I earned my doctorate that no one would be able to understand a word I wrote. So I stopped.
Why kids run away from home?
In many occasions related to my work I talked with people specialized in child development from Romania and USA and they said “runing from home” is not a genetical disease, or something that is in the blood of children … and not something that pop up like : “I have done much, I do too well, everybody loves me, let them make the world run their rainy day.”A child or adolescent runs for some reason:
1. Something bad happened at home, and is afraid to say, if there is threatened by X person who hurts him.
2. In the school something happens and he or she has a fear to tell.
3. The ignorance of parents, they offered only material things, not the love, warmth of families . That is denied because of reason she or he has everything what is needed (material).
4. Mental illness (thank God everyone of it) : that person just run away and they don’t realize that there is something wrong, that hurts those around him.
5. For revenge, someone has done something once and the kid wants to get revenge, or simply require the attention of others
The impact of that period is very much reflected in his books. On the blog of The University of Nebraska, when they review “Deprives” that part is very well pointed:
………..Okay. Somehow a sixteen year old girl, and granted she is a tough one, manages to force a gun into the mouth of this assassin guy. How? Not sure. All it says is that she forced the gun into his mouth. And since they are both deprivers, she did this without touching him. Hmm… That’s okay. Later a smaller guy lifts a bigger guy by the throat and the big guy just does nothing, not even reaching for his gun until the smaller guy can conveniently do something about it.
But then there is the stilted dialogue. ”I have nothing to gain from doing any of you harm.” Some characters talk like they are ten years old and writing the mandatory letter to grandma and others spout slang that makes no sense, “I think we should triple dip him and leave him in front of the police station.” Umm… okay. Whatever that means………..
http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2006/07/deprivers_by_st.html
And if that is not all, Steven Elliot Altman has a place in ‘The College Dropouts Hall of Flame’, near Calpernia Adams, showgirl, transsexual.
http://www.collegedropoutshalloffame.com/index.htm
Not that SEA is a stranger of that medium, as he show it in his the review of “Space Chicks and Businessmen” :
http://www.heebink.com/scabluv.htm
http://www.heebink.com/scab.htm
Seems he likes to be pleasantly disturbed and ‘caught between oversexed cannibal spacewoman and savage corporate monsters’.
From the same interview we found out that :
I’m a student of Zen, and my belief system is predominantly Buddhist.
But on his Linkedin profile he glorifies himself as ‘ President at mind over matter & SuperGenius’.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steven-elliot-altman/0/279/591
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxTglxJ
I didn’t knew that Buddhist system is a over-esteem one. This remainds me of a Zen story ( one of the key points in Zen philosophy is ‘I don’t know’, not I am ‘X [super-genius], Y[president at mind] or Z [ the one and oly who decided our fates]‘ ):
The emperor, who was a devout Buddhist, invited a great Zen master to the Palace in order to ask him questions about Buddhism.
“What is the highest truth of the holy Buddhist doctrine?” the emperor inquired.
“Vast emptiness… and not a trace of holiness,” the master replied.
“If there is no holiness,” the emperor said, “then who or what are you?”
“I do not know,” the master replied.
So next time when we meet dear Hermit who would you be ? The roll model of all kids in 9dragons who should drop school and run away from home? The genius who review a ‘porn’ comic? The president at mind who will ban me ? Hmm… I let Buddha lead the path, because everyhting is karma no?
Jeeja-Yanin, another Immortal used for personal/league purpose(2)
After the last post about Jeeja Yanin and the way that character was used for personal and league purpose to do the dirty work, we have noticed several reviews and many opinions. After I posted some ss, where in a practical way the character was caught and put in front of the fact that was used in the way I told in the title, as many of us already knew, AkiSakura posted an interesting ss on how that Immortal helped to grind the character who controls it.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/994/knocjk.jpg
We sent all the ss we had and the others we received from the readers of this blogs to Acclaim, and shortly after came an answer: Jeeja-Yanina will be warned first. If she logs on her character and the immortal in same time again her immortal will be banned.
An interesting aspect is the fact that someone told us that Acclaim spares Eva_Jane , the owner of that immortal because she said she has health problems related to heart. If it is true, then I wish her well, but if it’s not true and it is a lie is to escape the ban and to impress (a few people tell their problems from life in virtual medium) than is lame.
Anyway, guess what happened today after Jeeja sow me in rage sight… She reloged twice, once near the entrance of SRS (of course with adryan86 near) and once in LD in black village where I spowned from SRS round.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqtiUhr
On the same post I talked about Evolet :
Also Evolet is the character that surpassed the bug of chi breath at hermit 12 level. How come it’s on PS2 one day after he reach hermit12(last week) and the rest from the server remained at H12, with the chi breath bugged?
I send this question to Acclaim and ask why not the others who reach hermit12 were ‘manually helped’ too. The answer was that the GMs made a test on Evolet and the quests in SRS got buged after she or he was helped to reach that level. But, today on her B-day, Evolet got a nice present from Acclaim : a rollback to hermit12 level. Congratulations Acclaim, was the right thing to do, all or none of players should be ‘manually leveled’. Everyone should receive the same equal treatment.
Happy B-day to Evolet!
Refinement, a virtual ‘face palm’ from Acclaim in customers faces
One of the most expensive activities in 9Dragons is the refining of weapons. Today I made a little experiement about the rate of refine of weapons. I took 3 swords and made it 4 slots.
Used material :
13 scales, 3 tears, 3 Iron Separator (Gold), 6 Jade Separator (Gold) and 400 Bes.
Result : 2 sword +8, 1 sword +7.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxKSjhS
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVaMjF9
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVaMm9i
The price paid is behond any imagination. In, no game, I played existed something like this. Let’s make a calculation.
Price (real money) :
13 scales , 1300 coins/1, = 13.000 coins, which is 100 euro
3 tears, 1300 coins/1 = 3900 coins, 30 euro
3 Iron Separator (Gold) 560 coins/1 = 1680 coins, 12 euro
6 Jade Separator (Gold) 770 coins/1 = 4620 coins, almost 50 euro
Total = 190 euro, almost 200 euro for 3 weapons which stays at 60% of refinement rate.
Now, 400 Bes ( because of the failures) in games also has a high value because the rate drop (except SRS) is very low. 1Be is alsmot 1,6, 1,7 kk, so almost 700 milions, money which a regular player makes with hard work.
The weapons failed a lot of times at +5, +8 and +9.
Acclaim you kidding me? How much money I need to spend to get a decent weapon ? 500-1000 euro ? If that is not enough, how much more ? 200 euro is half of one GM pay in 1 month and I got 3 weapons at the grade of 60% refine. Let’s not forget that Acclaim promise that they will increase the rate, but as we expected, they promised and have not kept their word. My refine swords is just an example for those who want to refine, to know what they can expect after they pay astronomical amounts of real life money.
TheHermit and Historian, if I give to Acclaim 200 euros, at least have the decency to get 1 from 3 weapon to a refinery rate of 80%, 90%. We all know you put the refining rate to +3, but you make us look likes fools, paying for something that don’t guarantees nothing. Why we pay than? This not so worth my money, mall items is not worth the money for refinement.
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