Unhelpful

Every time The Brand Formerly Known As OSI pushes back a publish, an update, or delays a feature, the inevitable war between factions breaks out. Given events as of late, it’s the closest thing to in-game factions you’re likely to see, so indulge me as I develop this a little.

Two of the factions in question are the “Negative Cynical Bastards” (in the interests of journalistic integrity, be aware that I’m a card-carrying member) and the “Revisionist Optimists”. The Realms of Lum the Mad are but a single venue for this battle: it sputters among the staff rather uneventfully, but among our readership (and that most other sites that cover UO) , it roars like a twenty-thousand acre forest fire headed straight for the expensive wooded neighborhood in a sleepy California valley.

The Optimists berate the Cynics for bashing OSI/EA breathlessly at the drop of a hat and grate their teeth whenever the slightest news is pounced upon as the breaking of the Seventh Seal, and the Cynics beat their heads in the wall wondering how many “second chances” OSI/EA gets and watch, jaw agape, OSI/EA get the cushiest soft-ball questions imaginable at UOHOC.

The Optimists listen with an understanding ear when OSI explains how simply throwing 10 more programmers at UO won’t help it any, while the Cynics remind OSI that maybe just keeping the same 10 programmers for more than six months might be helpful. The Cynics have a certain amount of sympathy for the gamer who quits his or her popular website out of frustration from having to deal with a Byzantine support system, whereas the Optimists point out that this is a fluke at worst and that the support system, on the whole, is quite good and improving.

This is the tactical angle; it’s where these two factions do their daily battle.

There’s a third important faction, though, that plays entirely on the strategic map: the Stockholders.

They’ve got their own guild, and they’ve got a brand new member. In fact, their new member is the only one specializing in the computer gaming field. Their newest member has one hell of a manifesto.

This faction has detractors, too, and they’re getting more and more vocal (read the section entitled “Our Survey Says”). I’m hearing more and more stories from the (current and ex-) Employee faction, and they make the Cynics look like Mary Poppins.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t treating employees as something other than an immediately replaceable commodity probably be in the best interests of the faction with the most to lose?

Well, wouldn’t it? Comments. [dead link]