What if?

[StrayRogue]

What do you think Melissa (the head of GS) would do or how would she react if she was directly told that certain GMs under her were given certain players favours such as free alterations as well as giving them the chance to get the first tickets for the WD EARLY?

Note that this is no slant at any characters in particular (as a number of them involved I'd consider friends). Personally I'd take all I could get too.

[Edited on 28-6-05 by StrayRogue]

[AnticorRifling]

Does she like the GM(s) in question? How would firing affect production? Is this the first offense? Is there solid proof? etc.

I don't know her, only of her, so I don't know what she would do in that situation.

[StrayRogue]

Well, what would your gut reaction be, in having dealings with Simu before?

[Miss X]

It would depend on the quality of the evidence in my opinion. There are plenty of people who would accuse GMs of doing things just to get them in trouble, or to get rid of them.

I would imagine Melissa is a smart enough buisness woman to realise when she is being taken for a ride, and when the accusations and evidence are for real.

As a paying customer though, I would really hope she would look into any suspected corrupt GMs.

[CrystalTears]

Firing affecting production I can understand. Not sure why it should or would matter if she liked them. If they were being dishonest and using their GM abilities for friendly favors, that is a serious offense, friend or not.

I don't know her well enough either, but my gut tells me she'll shrug it off unless she saw it first hand, and even then she may be in denial over it.

[theotherjohn]

not be surprised at all since this or similiar has been going on since the start of GS

[Brattt8525]

She wouldn't do anything, not like this hasn't been going on since the creation of GS I would imagine.

[Mistomeer]

That kind of thing has been going on for years and they haven't much of shit to stop it.

[Gan]

If it were made public knowledge with proof readily available to all then she would be forced to do something based on pressure from the client base, probably not fire the GM though unless it was one she did not care for.

If hardly anyone knew about it, she'd do nothing except maybe give a verbal heads up to either stop it or be more discreet.

[Skeeter]

nothing would be done.. per usual
:deadhorse:

[Apotheosis]

Proof proof proof.

Anyone with a solid marketing background would understand that the client base that would actually be "up in arms" over this, even after being presented with solid evidence, wouldn't be significantly pissed off enough to cancel their subscriptions.

They would also probably realize that cancellation of their subscriptions would not significantly reduce the revenue of GS (it's a cash cow right now).

Therefore a verbal reprimand is all that would happen, if anything.

If there was evidence of repeated occurences, then people might actually do something.

But I'm cynical, so who knows?

[TheRoseLady]

Originally posted by StrayRogue
What do you think Melissa (the head of GS) would do or how would she react if she was directly told that certain GMs under her were given certain players favours such as free alterations as well as giving them the chance to get the first tickets for the WD EARLY?

Note that this is no slant at any characters in particular (as a number of them involved I'd consider friends). Personally I'd take all I could get too.

[Edited on 28-6-05 by StrayRogue]

The part about the WD tickets early bugs me Stray. That wouldn't really be a GM that would have to be someone onsite who makes it happen.

I know that there have been GMs fired in the past for unscrupulous activities, I would just have to see proof before I believed that it was a serious problem, again.

[hectomaner]

Originally posted by StrayRogue
Well, what would your gut reaction be, in having dealings with Simu before?


nothing, as she knows about the whole staide incident and did nothing.

[Tsa`ah]

She would do nothing as it is just business as usual.

Chances are that if you did go to her with solid proof, you're GS life would become a tad bit more difficult.

[StrayRogue]

Originally posted by hectomaner

Originally posted by StrayRogue
Well, what would your gut reaction be, in having dealings with Simu before?


nothing, as she knows about the whole staide incident and did nothing.

Well I was posing it as a hypothetical. But yeah it did happen and yeah, she seemingly did nothing.

[hectomaner]

yeah, i wasn't meaning that you were speaking of any specific incident. just going from things that have happened in the past, and yes it did happen, no she did not do anything about it

[Amber]

I think she'd look the other way. While of course, one of the major goals of a retail company is to keep a certain level of customer satisfaction going, it's also important that employees be kept content (assuming you've employees you wish to retain). If employee contentment rests upon doing something which may upset a small portion of the customer base, but allows the employees to be more productive, thereby pleasing a larger portion of the customer base, then nothing will be done to upset the balance.

She may tell them to be a bit more discreet, but I don't believe she'd fire anyone over it or get upset in the least. I'm sure she knows this is going on and has given her approval.

[TheRoseLady]

Originally posted by hectomaner

Originally posted by StrayRogue
Well, what would your gut reaction be, in having dealings with Simu before?


nothing, as she knows about the whole staide incident and did nothing.

What Staide thing? heh.

[Sylph]

She'd ignore it.

This is nothing new.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I've written Whatley about her once, copied her as well. He supports her 100% (not a bad thing since he hired her right), the bad thing is he thinks she can do no wrong -- which I've never met a person who could do no wrong.

My opinion is they are not receptive to constructive feedback really. Just my opinion based on my perceptions of their customer service organization (do they even have one?!).

[Apotheosis]

look, anyone in business knows that the marketing and financial data speak more truth then actual customer feedback (although that's a portion of it too).

if there's an event that causes a negative discrepancy in either area, then naturally, they'll do something.

Truth of the matter is that they have their goals/strategy probably planned out for the next 10 - 20 years (might be stretching it), so the rest is just babysitting the populace, and building up the hype for HJ.

[OreoElf]

Originally posted by hectomaner

Originally posted by StrayRogue
Well, what would your gut reaction be, in having dealings with Simu before?


nothing, as she knows about the whole staide incident and did nothing.

Too true... And as far as proof I thought they LOGGED everything. GM's have been abusing their powers for ages... it's not about to change IMO.

[Xcalibur]

They know that, and they allow this.

Gemstone was always like that and it will last till it dies, mainly because GMS have characters and you can be in trouble when messing with those characters... (SUBJECTIVITY ALERT)

[Bobmuhthol]

I got an official warning as Shay for killing someone. The GM that issued it had been friends with him for years. It was the only official warning issued to me.

I later sold Shay because I couldn't do anything without getting pulled after that bullshit.

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
I got an official warning as Shay for killing someone. The GM that issued it had been friends with him for years. It was the only official warning issued to me.

I later sold Shay because I couldn't do anything without getting pulled after that bullshit.

To be honest Bob.. you pulled alot of shit with Shay that should have gotten you an official warning. Perhaps it was just catching up with you.

You know, Bob might have killed a lot of people with Shay, but whenever I was present, he was always within policy. There is no reason for him to get pulled that often.

- Arkans

[Fission]

As far as free alterations and other favors go, just go to Simucon and watch who hooks up with the GMs there. If you think they're not getting anything in return for that, you'd pretty much have to be high.

As one GM succinctly put it, 'What do you think unnanounced merchants are for?'

:hump:

[Bobmuhthol]

<<To be honest Bob.. you pulled alot of shit with Shay that should have gotten you an official warning. Perhaps it was just catching up with you.>>

It was like the second time I got pulled.

Every time before and after that, there was absolutely no punishment. The character and GM in question were chatting for like 10 minutes when Shay was sneaking in and out occasionally. It's not a coincidence.

[OreoElf]

We all really do have this little faith in Simu don't we?

Poll: What if?
She'd flip and fire their ass! 3 (6.12%)
She'd look into the situation 12 (24.49%)
She'd ignore it 34 (69.39%)

[Nieninque]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
<<To be honest Bob.. you pulled alot of shit with Shay that should have gotten you an official warning. Perhaps it was just catching up with you.>>

It was like the second time I got pulled.

Every time before and after that, there was absolutely no punishment. The character and GM in question were chatting for like 10 minutes when Shay was sneaking in and out occasionally. It's not a coincidence.

Wasnt it also the case though that Shay already had an official warning before you bought her?
I seem to recall you said you didnt know about it at the time.

[Mistomeer]

Originally posted by Fission
As far as free alterations and other favors go, just go to Simucon and watch who hooks up with the GMs there. If you think they're not getting anything in return for that, you'd pretty much have to be high.

As one GM succinctly put it, 'What do you think unnanounced merchants are for?'

:hump:

Those rumors aren't exactly news. Didn't Klaive's boards have a thread about it or something?

[StrayRogue]

Originally posted by OreoElf
We all really do have this little faith in Simu don't we?

Poll: What if?
She'd flip and fire their ass! 3 (6.12%)
She'd look into the situation 12 (24.49%)
She'd ignore it 34 (69.39%)

They probably voted that way because they knew about the situation and its outcome prior to me raising it for discussion ;)

Ehh.. I don't think favoritism is all that prevalent.. It's there, like in any game, but not as bad as we say.

- Arkans

- Deleted last post becasue it had NOTHING to do with the subject matter

[Fission]

As far as what Melissa would do on finding out something wrong with one of the GMs, what happens (or probably won't) to Soraya should be a good indication.

Soraya's one of the worst GMs Simu has, period. She's constantly away, does as little work as possible to get by, is openly hostile towards players, you name it. She's pretty much single-handedly sinking the CHE system.

Thing of it is, Melissa had little to no idea of this because Soraya's buddy and superior Mindra was burying most of the complaints against her before they could go up to Melissa.

She found out at the CHE roundtable at Simucon, at least. Whether anything will come of it... what do you think?

[OreoElf]

Originally posted by StrayRogue

Originally posted by OreoElf
We all really do have this little faith in Simu don't we?

Poll: What if?
She'd flip and fire their ass! 3 (6.12%)
She'd look into the situation 12 (24.49%)
She'd ignore it 34 (69.39%)

They probably voted that way because they knew about the situation and its outcome prior to me raising it for discussion ;)

Oh I don't doubt that... it's just kinda sad that we all shell out the bucks for a company with little or no customer service skills ... and that we have little or no faith in their work ethic.

[Edited on 6-30-2005 by OreoElf]

[ElanthianSiren]

SIMU sleepovers will take care of themselves soon, if the attendence at this year's con was any indication. SIMU needs to stop pulling staff from player ranks. Players are players.

This practically eliminates several problems:

1. favoritism.
2. disfavoritism (which IMO is more prevelent than favoritism -- I define it as when a GM hardasses policy with one player that they let slip with another).
3. sucking good roleplayers/well known characters out of the game.

-Melissa

[TheRoseLady]

Originally posted by Fission
As far as what Melissa would do on finding out something wrong with one of the GMs, what happens (or probably won't) to Soraya should be a good indication.

Soraya's one of the worst GMs Simu has, period. She's constantly away, does as little work as possible to get by, is openly hostile towards players, you name it. She's pretty much single-handedly sinking the CHE system.

Thing of it is, Melissa had little to no idea of this because Soraya's buddy and superior Mindra was burying most of the complaints against her before they could go up to Melissa.

She found out at the CHE roundtable at Simucon, at least. Whether anything will come of it... what do you think?

You could have replaced Soraya in there with Kristing and experienced the headbanging that I did when I was the chair of a house. I even had to cajole Kristing into giving the house their due interest. (For those who don't know...there's an endowment that earns interest - that's where the funds for activites and prizes come from.) Talk about a fiasco. I don't miss being an officer at all.

[Reves Orageux]

Originally posted by TheRoseLady
You could have replaced Soraya in there with Kristing...

Or Wolv. Or Miriani.