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Mershu is my hero for the next 24 hours
Pugla
Member Posts: 88
Finally, frustration is leading to honesty.
Mershu posts on the SGW forums that she is a wife of an unpaid employee. She does not offer any real proof but suggests we Google her forum handle and check ehr post history.
Mershu at MySpace (link)
Mershu on MMORPG.com (link)
Mershu at SGW (link)
As usual, tkksnow posts that the financial situation has not changed, which admits that she is telling the truth without explicitly saying it. He does not refute any of her claims, as a matter of fact. All he does is remind us that seeing threads discussing it is demoralizing and asks forum members to stop posting about it.
Then the unsual crowd comes in and starts latching on to--hell, I don't know what--part of his post and saying everything is fine and that the doomsayers need to go away. Meanwhile, some are accusing her of slander. If anyone still posts over there (I refuse to login into a site where the Community Manager routinely lines to consumers), I'd encourage you to remind everyone that slander requires someone to lie.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
Comments
Never mind. 123Neva took care of setting the record straight on slander.
Also, I found a mershu post in Ten Ton Hammer forums. If this is a lie, it is an elaborate setup.
And before someone asks, the reason I care about this is because of the lies. If CME had been honest, if the company had not attacked anyone who blew the whistle on them, then I would not be so keen on the truth coming to light (whatever the truth is). The TTH I linked to is 180 posts of people attacking reporters for doing their jobs. Apparently their sources weren't so far off the mark.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
I was going to edit my post in another thread, but since there's now a dedicated one...
CME has been pretty good (I think) at not deleting posts. But that one is flying off the rails, so I thought I'd quote her here for posterity's sake, just in case:
Lets hope things work out, good luck Mershu
Good call. bctrainers just closed it. Any time members get close to the truth...
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
That's why up to today I find it baffling how unprotected employees still are in the US. Just mind boggling!
Here in the EU employees are very well protected and have the right on salary by LAW!
That means, that if a company isn't paying out salary to it's employees, they have a serious problem and have the authorities on their doorstep in no time.
People have mortages to pay, bills to pay, kids to feed. Getting no salary is NO option!
Cheers
First I'd like to say that Mershu is hot, sorry had to say that because it's true! As for EU law and so forth I believe you'd still have to take your employer to a tribunal of some sort. There are laws concerning employee rights in the event of employer insolvency at work, but as tohow they take care of it as opposed to the U.S is a mystery to me.
I'm sure it's only becomes a problem once the worker puts his/her foot down and alerts the authorities, then no doubt there's a lengthy court system to go through to get paid. The best way for her husband to get paid would be to find another job, then they'd probably pay his back salary. As a guy with a job is able to take them to court, a guy without a job doing voluntary work for them isn't in that position so they string them along.
The responses to her post on the SGW don't suprise me, a few insane FanOri preaching their fire and brimstone bullshit because she spoke heresy concerning CME. It's pretty pathetic how all those FanOri are prepared suck CME man d**k and patrol the SGW forums like brown shirts marching on the Reichstag, all for free. Each one holding the ridiculous belief that everything will be fine and CME will get through this little rough patch and release THEIR wonderfull game. Whilst genuine people that have partners working there or are actual DEVs get slagged down for not adhereing to the FanOri dogma. They don't care about DEVs kids going hungry or wether they have their health insured, screw that. She's a liar her kids can go to hell because TKKsnow our venerable leader told us to ignore her, ZEIG HEIL, ZEIG HEIL, ZEIG HEIL!
Sorry, got a little carried away there didn't I? This is probably the same reason DEVs don't post on those forums anymore, could you trust yourself not to have a mad moment then hit the post button? No paycheck for months, distraught wife, kids with no health insurance and losing the roof over your head? I'd not be able to post anything as I couldn't trust myself not to say it how it is (if Gary Whiting is reading this it's called honesty, look it up in the dictionary) and set the forums a flame, then have to suffer a long bitching from my boss. But since they're doing voluntary work I doubt CME would fire them, they probably just banned them from posting with their DEV accounts.
I pity you Mershu and your husband (despite having such a hot wife), he convinced his family to move a great distance with only the best intentions in mind. Now it's fallen apart due to bad company managment, his daughter has no health insurance and he may lose the house. Most men might not say everything they feel even to their wives (or especially in most cases), but he's blaming himself and taking full responsibility for this situation and it no doubt feels like he's carrying a massive weight everyday. If you want to make it easier for him, get a punch bag and put it up in a spare room with a picture of his boss on it. When you need to vent some anger over the situation put on the gloves and beat it whilst screaming all those things that piss you off about CME and this situation at the bag. It may seem silly but it might prevent you from doing the bitching at your husband, get him to do it and it might prevent him from being miserable about it around the home and creating tension. It also improves bedroom time .... so I've been told.
Take nothing to heart what the FanOri on the forums post, they're mostly basement dwellers that don't care about anything except playing SGW, pizza and down loading low standard accesible free porn. I hope this might help a little, BTW did I say you're hot?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Heh, those FanOri sound just like our famous relegious fanbois from Darkfall.
I know the SGW forums are bad, but the responce to Mershus post was appalling. Definitely that forums darkest hour.
Well in the US the labor laws vary a bit from state to state. It would also depend on whether the employees agreed voluntarly to continue to work without pay.
The best things a worker can do if thier company stops paying them are...
1) Refuse to continue working without pay.
2) Contact your state's employment office to find out your rights.....
a) At the very least, employees in such a situation may be eligible for unemployment benifits...which means some income coming in.
b) Depending upon the state... the employer MAY have to offer the employee COBRA to continue to thier Health Insurance benefits for a period of time. In my state, failure to do so (I believe) is a CRIMINAL not civil matter.
3) Polish your resume and start looking for a new job at a reputable company.....it's the quickest way that you will get some income.
4) Contact your counties Legal Aid office or check for resources in the area that do Pro Bono work. File suit against the company. If you've done ANY work for the company that you haven't agreed to do for free and the company has failed to pay you....you have grounds for a lawsuit. Don't delay on that...lawsuits take time to see results. If the company doesn't pay you what they owe... they can be FORCED into insolvency.... The Court can appoint an executer to oversee the liquidation of their assets....and the paying off of their debts. This isn't quick...but as an employee who is owed money this is often the best chance to get back what is owed you. You won't be dependant on the %#$# executive that got the company into the mess it is in to get your pay... You'll be dependant upon a neutral court appointed executer who is charged with overseeing EVERYONES rights.
Note that with insolvencies there is a particular mandated order in which proceedes from liquidation must be paid....and it's very favorable to employees....
A) All owed back taxes must be paid first
C) All other creditors are paid 3rd
D) The principles of the company are paid LAST...from anything that is left-over.
As an employee, you should file litigation if a company doesn't pay you any wages they owe you at an agreed upon schedule. Even threatening to file litigation can some-times be enough to get an employer to pay you owed wages. Do NOT, under any circumstances accept stock or any other compensation in lieu of wages.... you'll be screwing yourself.
Well, Renfail started a new thread to address the way people mistreated mershu and how the moderators on the SGW condone abuse of anyone who does not blindly believe all is well. tkksnow locked it and said is was just flaming part 2. Further said that people are choosing to selectively read what CME says to support their own opinions. Nevertheless, tkksnow did NOT take the time to point out what parts were inaccurate. Just said to please stop talking about it because it hurts their feelings.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
I loved how tkksnow posts that how dare the community feel that they care more about the product.
From a long standing community member, and command leader, that is an appalling statement.
But so typical of the official forums, selective moderation of anything they personally take a dislike to whilst threads talking about pie and cookies or abusing non blind faith followers go on. Since CME have released no information in seven months now I wonder what they expect people to discuss on those forums exactly? CME is falling to pieces whilst crazy pyramid schemes and multiple court cases continue, salaries aren't being paid and people are asking where the $40 mil went and we're supposed to discuss ... speculation on Asgard armour? The moderators and DEVs that still post have become delusional and some have lost their slender grip on reality, the lights may be on but no one is home!
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
I'm surprised Agricola1, that you haven't found the information Mershu is referring to in her posts.
Mershu, I invite you to disclose.
What info are you reffering to? Oh and Mershu has been banned from SGW official forums now, I guess that Khestral and TKKSnow think that she hasn't suffered enough already right?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Wow. Banned for telling the truth, huh? Well, it is their forum. They can set whatever rules they want. The principles of free speech do not apply. Still, it is very telling.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
So far, I had thought that the moderation on the forums, while tilted had not decended into the depths. I guess we're seeing them getting desperate.
The last step will be the deletion of threads. Then they will have sunk to the point of no return.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
Wow, still not sure what to say about this. Apparently, I was banned for repeating what has been all over the web, and confirmed by CME, about employees not being paid. I have never shared anything confidential -- and nor would I ever (unless CME closes shop, days or years from now).
removed as not important
I'm thinking she is more concerned about how her family is going to eat since she is one of the persons affected by the missing p[aychecks than making buddy-buddy on that forum. Just a guess. She was just stepping in and trying to dispell the zealotry by saying, "Yes, we are without pay again. Everything is not butterflies and rainbows."
The problem is Mershu. The problem is tkksnow not wanting the truth to be heard and insisting that if we'd just shut up about it the game would magically be saved. That said, CME has the right to ban anyone on the SGW forums for whatever reason. So, they banned her. The screen she took just proves she was banned for telling the truth. If she had been lying, they could have refuted it outright and banned her for lying instead of leaking confidential information.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
I will say one thing here, just because you found it somewhere else on the net, still doesn't mean its not classified, confidential information or a sore point for them. For example if I tell someone my salary, that's company classified / confidential information, now if some one posts that on another site, and the you post that information about that salary on their site, you are posting classified and confidential information (it hasn't been officially released information from the company, and is against there TOC).
Because you find information somewhere else (this doesn't mean its still not classified in some sense or confidential information), you need to use common sense to realize whether its gonna cause a reaction or not, personally I thought a deletion of the post and a warning would have been sufficient, but hey its a touchy subject I bet, and you pressed the wrong persons buttons with it.
Coming here to complain about it seems a little screwed up, personally I would have sent an email stating you made a mistake, which obviously you did, considering you didn't realize they would ban you for this, instead of complaining about it on another forum. (If you knew you would get banned for posting it, then you got what you aimed for).
Interpreting what you understand as what you read, is another matter all together, 'we are having financial difficulties', doesn't come across as a statement that salaries are not being paid (they neither confirmed or denied it), you may know that, you may have even suffered under it, but its still not an open statement from them that they are not paying salaries, you knowing and then using there vague reply as a foundation to prove your statement can be seen as a breach of there TOC. Its there website and there forum, they do with it as they want, and how they enforce there TOC is upto them, just because you got banned because you knew you would be touching a sore point, and then complaining about it comes across a bit extreme.
If you were truly sorry about the 'misunderstanding' a simple email to the forum mod would have sufficed, but to complain about it on another forum, shows you have alterior motives.
Just my opinion, but
Company classified information that they aren't paying her husbands salary and have dropped health insurance for her kids? Whatever you're smokin' it can't be legal man! Maybe you purchased it from MR Whiting at one of his MMOGULs appearances in Rio?
It's hard to classify or make information confidential when everyone already knows about it, don't you think? I didn't see her break the RoC, it's just team Whiting don't want anyone to know what's happening so that they can squeeze the maximum cash out of this before CME goes chapter 11 along with MMOGULs.
My advice to any developers working at CME is to quit now, because it's the best chance you have of seeing any back pay. If you quit now they'll probably pay the money but if you wait they could go chapter 11 and you get nothing while Whiting makes off with the swag. Think about it, it's cheaper to keep everyone working for free and go bankrupt rather than lay them off and pay what's owed.
She got banned for telling everyone about Gary Whiting's immoral practices, FACT!
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
This has nothing to do with the company or anything, I was stating an opinion about what you deem as confidential information and what a company would deem as confidential information. I would have made this reply to any game or forum, had it been the same case.
I find it weird that anyone you disagree with has to be on one side or the other, if you reread my post, this was made from a neutral standpoint. She broke the rules she got banned, it doesn't matter whether its personal or not, the mods saw it as a breach of the TOC and banned her.
Did I say I agreed or disagree with them, no, I took no particular side in the matter, made an observation and posted my opinion.
I find your complete your either with or against us attitude pretty boring now, and getting very old very quick. Why dont you see some posts for what they are, opinions. They can have a middle ground and not be either for or against something.
Really having something public knowledge because someone leaked it or told someone else, still doesn't give you the right to treat that information as public knowledge.
Lets put it into a fictional perspective, lets say someone is a gay, he doesn't want anyone to know about it, someone finds out, and starts posting it all over the place, because they have personal issues against him. Now lets say you got to his blog, and post that he is gay, he bans you. Are you wronged because you posted the truth on his property?
Again I need to repeat this because you seem to lump everyone into two categories here, either for or against, my reply is an observation in why they got banned, not whether it was right or wrong.
It would be nice for you to see this as its getting boring with you throwing MMOGULS or WHITING name at anyone you think may actually be making a valid point you don't like.
Yellow as you said we're all entitled to our opinion, if I see things as black or white then that's the opinion I'm entitled to yes? If I wish to be against someone who in my opinion is a money grubbing meglomaniac then I'm entitled to do so, yes?
If I'm getting old just ignore me, no need to complain about how tiring my opinion is. If this were a debate about game mechanics or one world versus multiple servers then I'd be willing to give CME the benefit of the doubt or be open to different ideas. When it comes to a money grubbing meglomaniac that doesn't pay his workers and runs pyramid schemes to take from the poor to enrich his own life (Chairman MAO would be proud!), then you can bet your house I'm going to take a for or against attitude.
The issue has gone past debating factions or armour or loot drops vs crafting, this is about a man running an illegal operation whilst his workers go unpaid and their kids lose medical coverage and their houses go into foreclosure. We all know why she was banned, it's not a matter of opinion. She posted about how she was peeved that her husband is unpaid for 3 months work, her kids have no medical coverage and the house maybe reposessed. Forget the RoC, she didn't break it but it's their forum and they'll do what they want and that's why they banned her.
Also the question about wether it's right or wrong is a bit of a no brainer unless your name is Gary Whiting! As for MMOGULs getting boring, they day it closes down and Whiting is punished then it'll start to get old and boring.
Your fictional piece was quite correct, but I'd like to point out that being a homosexual doesn't cause hundreds of people to lose their jobs and houses during an economic crisis does it? So therefore I couldn't care less wether he banned the person or not.
A better analogy would be to compare it to the MPs expenses scandal in the UK right now. Was it right for the daily telegraph to publish all of the MPs expenses information even though it was illegal? The answer, it doesn't matter anymore since the information outrage so many voters, we only care about getting justice and punishing the perpetrators. Should the editor of the daily telegraph be punished? No. Should the MPs be punished even though what they did was legal? Yes. What they did was moraly wrong and they are losing thier jobs now due to that.
If you believe that CME (team Whiting) are in the right here or are even prepared to entertain the possibility I don't know what to say. They're entitled to ban whoever they want from those forums, I just hope that her post helped her husband get the paycheck he's owed.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
It doesn't matter what the forum is, who the company is run by, if you break the TOC of the forum, you get the punishment.
Again you have broken this down into who is right and who is wrong, this is nothing to do with either, it was simply a point of breaking the TOC and getting banned.
As to your example about the MP's I agree it was required, but it was unlawful, and the person responsible for leaking this information could be prosecuted. Now we see the prosecution in this case as being a ban to mershu, if you believe GW is banning people personally I strongly dont believe that, I beleive its just the forums mods following orders nothing more.
I would disagree over wether she broke the RoC, if you could post it and point out the part she broke I'd appreciate it. As for following orders from Whiting? I don't really know or care that much, the way I see it is that it's like the MPs expenses scandal. Did Brown, Cameron and Clegg know exactly what each member of his party claimed for? Of course not. Are Brown, Cameron and Clegg responsible in anyway for what the members of their parties did? As leaders of those parties the buck stops with them and they have to take responsibility for party members immoral behaviour. Cameron had his members pay money back immediately and fired some, Brown didn't act as quickly and has paid the price but still has had to fire/lay off members of his party. Those members were made responsible for their individual discretions but the leaders still had to take some responsibility for it despite having no knowledge of it (ignorance is not a defence).
In CME/MMOGULs the buck stops with Whiting, in my opinion he must take ultimate responsibility from peoples paychecks and medical insurance right down to forum moderation. Ultimately those moderaters are at the bottom of the CME totem pole and Whiting is at the top, that's why I go always mention him and hold him responsible for any bad decisions in CME. Much like how I hold Smedley responsible for screwing up SWG, why hold a dev responsible when he still needs the CEO to give him the go ahead for his hair brained scheme?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis