Managerial Changes

[LordSquirt]

I would just like to say that as an observant Graal player over the years I had the utmost respect for Jerret and the way he dealt with Zodiac. I was always amazed in how he continuously shelled out updates and never lost his passion in Graal. I know I don't know all the details in the situation in regards to his removal, so I'm not really going to question it at this moment, but I think everyone can say with a consensus that Jerret will be regarded as the best manager Zodiac had to date.

PS: Whoever is currently in control of Zodiac right now should prob find a way to salvage their staff team since everyone is wearing JERRET 4 REHIRE nicks while on tag, and (Jerret for Manager) is considered a staff tag.

PPS: You shouldn't really blame Gabriel for this, I worked with Gabriel and he is not someone who would act rashly in something as large as this.

[Imperialistic]

Originally Posted by LordSquirt

PPS: You shouldn't really blame Gabriel for this, I worked with Gabriel and he is not someone who would act rashly in something as large as this.

You should really read through this thread to actually understand that Gabriel is known for favoring people.

[Pandar]

Originally Posted by WarriorCam

Speak for yourself. I am here to raise awareness of the misconduct the PWA has been perpetrating for years. This is just the latest in a series of abuses and awful service and it needs to end, period.

And for what it's worth I did personally quit developing. Hence the word "former" in my member title. The Graal administration was a large reason why.

I agree with this. A lot of the bullshit PWA pulls flies under the radar for most, while being largely noticed by a select few. Pool everybody's qualms together and you have a stampeding gang of ****-uppery.

[LordSquirt]

Originally Posted by Imperialistic

You should really read through this thread to actually understand that Gabriel is known for favoring people.

I don't understand what you're implying.

One person (even a PWA) cannot remove a Manager from a server.

[BurningStarlight]

Originally Posted by LordSquirt

I don't understand what you're implying.

One person (even a PWA) cannot remove a Manager from a server.

Maybe they should stop claiming they can, if you're correct.

[MattKan]

Originally Posted by Troku

Do you guys remember the "unofficial website rules" that Tig posted? Same ploy just to give Val a hard time. Now they're hitting Zodiac, too.

Bell seriously needs to be head PWA. This is out of control.

Yes I do, and here's my opinion on those:

I wanted to release an official Stroseria Forums, but I didn't know if these rules would allow for that.

• I couldn't post in the thread my question because he locked it for some reason.
• I couldn't post a visitor message because he blocked those, too.
• I couldn't forum PM him because he blocked those, too.
• I've waited over 2 months for an e-mail response.

I'm waiting for the PWA to do something I can support. Same with the US government.

[Imperialistic]

Originally Posted by LordSquirt

I don't understand what you're implying.

One person (even a PWA) cannot remove a Manager from a server.

Sinkler can easily get someone removed with persistent *****ing and lies to stick up for his friend.

Also, it doesn't help that Jerret is exactly what Tig always wanted to be, a respected developer everyone looked up to in the community.
When have you ever seen Tig spend time creating guides and managing servers? Jerret was never required to do the things he did for us, and for that he's a great person.. something Tig will never be.

[Tenchry_P2P]

This is from Sunny or as his account is called oranrene



It is a rare time I make an appearance on Zodiac (With the exception of giving items to friends that ask for them), so i'll make this short;
In the time that I was an Admin / Developer / Demigod / Whatever you wanna call me, I worked and was very good friends with Jerret.
To hear that he was fired, greatly surprised me. However to hear WHY he was fired surprises me even more.

Triple_Combo is someone that I ( or some other admin hired for some position (I believe GP) for staff. Triple_Combo's time on RC was very short. Not long after his / her inception, It was brought to my attention with a VIDEO that this player was USDing his / her items. Accompanying this, I also chat logged every staff member that we hired to keep track of just what they were doing. The chat logs and the video matched up perfectly.
Upon this discovery (And having the utmost disdain for anyone who USDs and ruins the games economy), the player in question was stripped of their RC rights / Staff job immediately. Afterwards, they were jailed (Or banned, I cannot recall 100%) for some period of time and blacklisted from ever being rehired as staff.

The fact that Jerret was fired over this says 2 this

1.Sinkler, you've went from a nice kid to a corrupt punk since i've left and you're pushing your own agenda or someone else's agenda.
2.You've been ill-informed or made a very poor decision. This, in return, reflects on your age.
Triple_Combo's reset has nothing to do with Jerret's removal. Things like this had been done in the past (Along with permanent bans) to players that were well known / proven to be USDing. It has never justified the removal of a long-term staff member who pretty much rebuilt the game up. I'm 100% positive I had done much more to someone who was guilty with much less evidence.

So, with that on the table, here I am to discuss some other things:
I worked on the iPhone server. I worked on Zodiac for years. I've worked with Sinkler, Stefan, and a few other globals. And I've had to deal with Bell. And although she's usually very rational, I've known her to make very poor decisions frequently when she visited anything I was a part of. There have been a multitude of instances where the PWA/Global team has shown not only the most exasperating signs of bias, but outright CORRUPTION. I read a post somewhere that mentioned they're one big family / group of friends, and to that, I testify to.
It's quite obvious; Jerret stepped on the toes of the wrong person. There are no rational reasons why he was removed. The only obvious one is the entire deal with Triple_Combo, which, I've already ruled out as an inapplicable reason (Also confirmed by Sinkler in a chat I had with him).
Regardless of what they may try to tell you, there is an Agenda they're pushing and the manager will 100% be someone they've had picked out for a while.

And to answer the question before it arises, why do I care? Jerret was and still is a very good and long time friend. Zodiac is something he's very passionate about. Something he has loved doing. Something he has done for FREE, while Graal Online profits from his work through exp pot sales and other virtual items that players apparently, buy a lot more often than I ever thought. And Jerret has maintained all of this for them because it was something he enjoyed.
So, taking five or ten minutes of my time to draft up a letter in his defense when our friends did not (I'm looking at you, Sinkler and Bell) doesn't bother me in the slightest. I must reiterate, I'm most disappointed in Sinkler. I thought, seeing as we used to chat with him a lot on skype and he was trained BY us, that he would be a little less corruptible then this. But the age old saying holds true. That being said…
With all of this in mind, I'll be emailing this to Stefan immediately as well as having someone post it for me on the Graal Forums. He's currently on vacation in Germany from what I understand, and he'll have plenty to answer for when he gets back : - ). Till next time, guys.

-Matthew "Sunny" Ruland

[MonkeyBob]

Flame me if you wish :P, but honestly as bad as this looks, I'm sure Gabriel had a reason for doing this. Through the time I've worked with him on Era, sure he's done things that I didn't agree with, but he's always had good intentions for doing so. More often than not, his decisions have helped the success of the server in the long run. In this case there is obviously something more going on than what you guys are seeing.

[DeathOfRa]

From what I heard, Gabriel wasn't exactly a great guy on Era, he was like one of those e-thug types, again, from what I've heard.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[Felix_Xenophobe]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Flame me if you wish :P, but honestly as bad as this looks, I'm sure Gabriel had a reason for doing this. Through the time I've worked with him on Era, sure he's done things that I didn't agree with, but he's always had good intentions for doing so. More often than not, his decisions have helped the success of the server in the long run. In this case there is obviously something more going on than what you guys are seeing.

Saving this quote for later use.

[Emera]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Flame me if you wish :P, but honestly as bad as this looks, I'm sure Gabriel had a reason for doing this. Through the time I've worked with him on Era, sure he's done things that I didn't agree with, but he's always had good intentions for doing so. More often than not, his decisions have helped the success of the server in the long run. In this case there is obviously something more going on than what you guys are seeing.

If that's true, then why hasn't he given us all of the information? He's just damaging the PWA's reputation even more so.

[MonkeyBob]

Originally Posted by Emera

If that's true, then why hasn't he given us all of the information? He's just damaging the PWA's reputation even more so.

Obviously because that information is confidential between the PWA's and the people involved.

[Emera]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Obviously because that information is confidential between the PWA's and the people involved.

I don't see how it could be confidential. As far as we can see, there's been an unjust removal of a perfectly good manager from Graal's most successful RPG server.

[Tenchry_P2P]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Obviously because that information is confidential between the PWA's and the people involved.

considering it's affecting a whole server, it's just a bunch of bullshit they got rid of him just because of triple she's basically talking **** as it is.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[BlueMelon]

Another hit to the development community.

[Pandar]

Will prove true time and time again.

Agenda: To better Graal and provide as much of a positive effect on the forward development of servers as possible.
Hidden Agenda: To cater to my personal feelings towards people and servers.

Chomp.

[smirt362]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Obviously because that information is confidential between the PWA's and the people involved.

There was zero discussion with Jerret about his removal. Is that information confidential between just the PWA elite then? I emailed Sinkler and the others only to get a canned non-reply to my queries, others have got the same. It feels like they aren't even trying.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by smirt362

They aren't even trying.

fixed it for you pal

[Dragon551]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Flame me if you wish :P, but honestly as bad as this looks, I'm sure Gabriel had a reason for doing this. Through the time I've worked with him on Era, sure he's done things that I didn't agree with, but he's always had good intentions for doing so. More often than not, his decisions have helped the success of the server in the long run. In this case there is obviously something more going on than what you guys are seeing.

Hmm, were you forced to post this? Blink twice for yes, don't worry, they can't hurt you. I know there has been a history with Gabriel and controlling Era staff members.

[Fiberwyre_P2P]

Originally Posted by Dragon551

Hmm, were you forced to post this? Blink twice for yes, don't worry, they can't hurt you. I know there has been a history with Gabriel and controlling Era staff members.

I'm blinking on behalf of Zach!(MonkeyBob), who has gone into witness protection.

*blink**blink*

[MattKan]

Originally Posted by MonkeyBob

Flame me if you wish :P, but honestly as bad as this looks, I'm sure Gabriel had a reason for doing this. Through the time I've worked with him on Era, sure he's done things that I didn't agree with, but he's always had good intentions for doing so. More often than not, his decisions have helped the success of the server in the long run. In this case there is obviously something more going on than what you guys are seeing.

Then perhaps he should share this reason with us instead of just blocking the community out, especially when Fp4 himself has denied there being a major reason.

[Knightress]

Typical...

[DeathOfRa]

Look! The man at work, putting us down. Sinkler deleting messages in the fray, which was the obvious reason! Who got a peek at the true scoop?

[Tigairius]

It was not an easy decision to remove Jerret. There's no denying that he is, in some limited sense, an asset to the community. However, it was a decision that we reached (unanimously, I might add) after discussing it for months.

The decision about his removal was not over one issue (like this triple_combo stuff). It was over a series of issues over an extended period of time. Fowlplay4's public behavior has been increasingly poor over the years, especially in the last year. Need I also remind you that he has been permanently banned from the official GraalOnline forums for repeated poor behavior (this was before his removal)? We have history of him asking people sexually charged, highly inappropriate questions in public, we've seen a degree of harassment from him, and on top of this, we asked him to stop multiple times.

In fact, I remember back on March 4th (yes, that's nearly half a year ago), warning Jerret that if he cannot improve his behavior, especially on the official forums, we do not want him staying in his position. In fact, I said these words to him exactly

Originally Posted by Tig

You're the manager of a major server on Graal, and as such, you're expected to behave in a certain way in the public light.

and

Originally Posted by Tig

I expect this kind of public behavior to stop immediately.

He agreed to stop, and then continued misbehaving. Posting things on the forums like "I'm pretty hard right now" and "hey bayne vvat does thor's loads taste like?"

We warned him again by banning him from the forums for 31 days. He returned to the forums starting threads like "MD is garbage" (taking shots at MysticalDragon on Delteria) saying things like

Originally Posted by fowlplay4

also so is galdor, he's mega garbage.

and posting things in other un-related topics like "hey galdor wat do my nutz taste like *****" (these are direct quotes).

And many of you have brought up triple_combo (who is in no way at fault here), where Gabriel asked Zodiac for proper proof for having banned him/her. Gabriel was only doing his job -- something he would've done for any of you -- by making sure Zodiac had full indisputable evidence to be banning someone for life. They did not have proper proof, so Gabriel removed the ban and in order to spite Gabriel, fowlplay4's administration placed a trade restriction on triple_combo, essentially rendering the game unplayable. This is unacceptable to do to paying customers for essentially no reason. Gabriel approached me about the situation and then proceeded to ask fowlplay4 to remove the trade restriction if he/she was not suspected of actively breaking any rules. Fowlplay4 removed the trade restriction, but decided to reset triple_combo as a retaliatory response to Gabriel's persistence. Quite frankly, I don't care if you're the king of the world, we do not accept this kind of behavior from managers. We saw bias coming from fowlplay4's administration not only in this sense but in others as well.

Let me reassure anyone who is in doubt that this was NOT an impulsive decision. It was well thought-out, planned, and long talked about among the PWA. Triple_combo is only the tip of the iceberg as to why Fowlplay4 was removed, and he/she is certainly not the primary reasoning. Jerret had plenty of warning, plenty of chances to improve, and plenty of opportunity. I know none of you ever claimed to know the whole story, but please keep in mind that there is always more to the story than what you can see. Obviously I do not want to discuss Fowlplay4's entire rap sheet because I find it disrespectful to do so, but he is in no way some angel that you all have painted him to be.

[snoop413]

i thought PWA's only dealt with bans? i don't play zodiac, but it was clear to me (and everyone) that fp4 is the reason that server is at the top. stefan is about to take a huge hit without him around.

EDIT: ohh...

[Imperialistic]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Obviously I do not want to discuss Fowlplay4's rap sheet because I find it disrespectful to do so, but he is in no way some angel that you all have painted him to be.

Rap sheet? Why don't you explain to the players of this community your rap sheet and how you used to be anti-graal?

^not illegal. So stop deleting my posts Tig & Gabe

[Pandar]

Nobody is painting him as an angel. We all know Jerret can be rude and abrasive.

That doesn't change the fact that in spite of his negative attributes, he is a very positive asset for Zodiac, and Graal in general, and removing him from Manager for his behavior is a poor judgment of value. I'd rather have an absolute jerk who's good at his job than some nice guy who's incompetent and untalented. Jerret was worth his negative qualities.

[smirt362]

There's no denying that he is, in some limited sense, an asset to the community.

That's some bold understatement.

[WarriorCam]

Originally Posted by Pandar

Nobody is painting him as an angel. We all know Jerret can be rude and abrasive.

That doesn't change the fact that in spite of his negative attributes, he is a very positive asset for Zodiac, and Graal in general, and removing him from Manager for his behavior is a poor judgment of value. I'd rather have an absolute jerk who's good at his job than some nice guy who's incompetent and untalented. Jerret was worth his negative qualities.

To be fair to the PWAs, the rules should apply to all regardless of their level of development talent. I have no idea what the real deal is with Jerret though, just saying.

[Rufus]

Why don't these rules apply to Chris Vimes?

[smirt362]

On the subject of Triple_Combo I hear that she was flaunting her USD'ing. Apparently people who do their job get punished for it.

[MattKan]

Who gives a **** about how he works on the forums? Seriously? You just banned probably the greatest scripter on Graal, who has been the living soul of the Scripting Forums for years.

Perhaps instead of firing people who actually help Graal, we should be focused on firing the tyrannous PWA who hurt Graal.

He's done everything he can to help the game. You're obviously not very in tune with the community for a "PlayerWorld Administrator". Go ahead, ban him from the forums if you must, but the forums have nothing to do with Zodiac considering Zodiac doesn't even use these forums, so, in my mind, you don't have the authortiy to take him down there.

[Emera]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

It was not an easy decision to remove Jerret. There's no denying that he is, in some limited sense, an asset to the community. However, it was a decision that we reached (unanimously, I might add) after discussing it for months.

The decision about his removal was not over one issue (like this triple_combo stuff). It was over a series of issues over an extended period of time. Fowlplay4's public behavior has been increasingly poor over the years, especially in the last year. Need I also remind you that he has been permanently banned from the official GraalOnline forums for repeated poor behavior (this was before his removal)? We have history of him asking people sexually charged, highly inappropriate questions in public, we've seen a degree of harassment from him, and on top of this, we asked him to stop multiple times.

In fact, I remember back on March 4th (yes, that's nearly half a year ago), warning Jerret that if he cannot improve his behavior, especially on the official forums, we do not want him staying in his position. In fact, I said these words to him exactly and He agreed to stop, and then continued misbehaving. Posting things on the forums like "I'm pretty hard right now" and "hey bayne vvat does thor's loads taste like?"

We warned him again by banning him from the forums for 31 days. He returned to the forums starting threads like "MD is garbage" (taking shots at MysticalDragon on Delteria) saying things like and posting things in other un-related topics like "hey galdor wat do my nutz taste like *****" (these are direct quotes).

And many of you have brought up triple_combo (who is in no way at fault here), where Gabriel asked Zodiac for proper proof for having banned him/her. Gabriel was only doing his job -- something he would've done for any of you -- by making sure Zodiac had full indisputable evidence to be banning someone for life. They did not have proper proof, so Gabriel removed the ban and in order to spite Gabriel, fowlplay4's administration placed a trade restriction on triple_combo, essentially rendering the game unplayable. This is unacceptable to do to paying customers for essentially no reason. Gabriel approached me about the situation and then proceeded to ask fowlplay4 to remove the trade restriction if he/she was not suspected of actively breaking any rules. Fowlplay4 removed the trade restriction, but decided to reset triple_combo as a retaliatory response to Gabriel's persistence. Quite frankly, I don't care if you're the king of the world, we do not accept this kind of behavior from managers. We saw bias coming from fowlplay4's administration not only in this sense but in others as well.

Let me reassure anyone who is in doubt that this was NOT an impulsive decision. It was well thought-out, planned, and long talked about among the PWA. Triple_combo is only the tip of the iceberg as to why Fowlplay4 was removed, and he/she is certainly not the primary reasoning. Jerret had plenty of warning, plenty of chances to improve, and plenty of opportunity. I know none of you ever claimed to know the whole story, but please keep in mind that there is always more to the story than what you can see. Obviously I do not want to discuss Fowlplay4's entire rap sheet because I find it disrespectful to do so, but he is in no way some angel that you all have painted him to be.

Well, that's certainly changed my opinion on the matter. Why couldn't that information be posted in the OP though? It'd have made things a lot easier.

[ffcmike]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Post

Now that this side of the story has been explained (really should have been in the first place imo), it doesn't seem as unreasonable as many have made it out to be. But I do think an indefinite removal of someone that much of an asset is extreme, if warnings weren't heeded then a temporary removal may have been sufficient.

[Emera]

Originally Posted by Crow

*snipped because of deleted post~ Emera*

I was going to cover that in a negative rep, but apparently I've given to him too recently.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Rufus

Why don't these rules apply to Chris Vimes?

I don't see what you're getting at here. I'm not manager of anything, and when I was, I was fired for what I did by the PWA (and rightly so). Tig has even globally banned me in the past himself. This is all years ago and I've made considerable attempts to change since then.

I'm all for restoring Jer as manager, but I don't think this situation is similar at all to what I did (spawning items). The worst accusations aimed at Jer are that he was unprofessional.

I do give Tig respect for explaining the situation, though, and I've known him long enough to know that he doesn't make these kind of decisions on a whim.

[Eskimo]

For all of the zodiac players on this thread, prepare yourselves. After this, I'm sure PWAs will make sure to put someone well suited for the job in charge of zodiac. AKA one of their friends who probably doesn't even play on the server.

[Crow]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

The worst accusations aimed at Jer are that he was unprofessional.

Indeed. Which seems to mostly apply to the forums. I still can't see that as a reason for firing him, considering the did such a remarkable job as a manager.

[Emera]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

For all of the zodiac players on this thread, prepare yourselves. After this, I'm sure PWAs will make sure to put someone well suited for the job in charge of zodiac. AKA one of their friends who probably doesn't even play on the server.

Good management skills have nothing to do with knowing about the server you're managing. Granted that some decent knowledge of the server will be more than helpful when dealing with players.

Originally Posted by Crow

Indeed. Which seems to mostly apply to the forums. I still can't see that as a reason for firing him, considering the did such a remarkable job as a manager.

I agree with the fact that Jerret did a great job at managing Zodiac in some aspects, but Tig clearly pointed out the unprofessionalism he has shown within the past year. If it were up to me, I'd also have a very long think wether or not he's fit for managing one of Graal's most successful servers. You may bash me for saying this, and I'd be more happier making my own decision on the case if I knew the whole story, but a manager can't shown that level of unprofessionalism in the public eye, no matter how talented he is at developing. Jerret still has my vote for the time being though, since I can't think of anybody better to manage the place.