Is There Truth in That Certain Players have Personal Emails and MSN Messenger/Skype, etc Conversations with Game Masters? (White Giant)

I have a question of the Game Master and anyone who knows. Over the course of my playing this game, I have only heard two players claim to have relationships with the Game Master that most of the players do not have. I would like to know if these claims are bogus or true. Either way, it puts forth suspicion over this game.. makes one think there is favoritism, that some players have the advantage over other players by getting inside knowledge ahead of time, etc.

I have been privy to such conversations with SuperSoldier, when I was a member of his federation on FB. His claims were that he receives some sort of monetary kickback and owed thousands of dollars by the GMS, for doing some advertising or such for the game. He also claimed to have multiple conversations with a GM who goes by the name of Karyn who plays under RoboCop, and having multiple conversations on how to better the game, the war engine, etc, and given information coming down the pike before it happens.

I have often seen wildeyes mention her close relationship to Jozi. It was mentioned again today in open chat that she has his private email and has MSN discussions with him. I am told Jozi is the owner. See post below.

I ask the GMs to please set the record straight. Are these players full of it, so to speak, or do they have your personal emails and have MSN discussions with you that would give them an edge over other players in the game?

I personally think these two players are spouting lies to build egos in the game. But lies or no, it puts suspicions out there about the Game Masters and whether they have involvement in the game, per se, thus making it unfair. I really think if these players' claims are bogus, that the record should be set straight openly before the Sim Community, or you may find that you will lose faith-paying customers. These kind of statements can really be bad 'pr' (public relations) to your game. Thank you. I appreciate your time and attention.

Exerpt from Chat:

wildeyes> especially ppl like me, with like 11 70M pop countries, and a ceo with 1100 corps.
wildeyes> for instance..
forkinit> someone really needs to lock a GM in a room somewhere and make him write a proper documentation
wildeyes> smaller empires, wont notice it asss much..but still a notice.
wildeyes> I talk to jozi on MSN.
wildeyes> or mail his personal email, emailing the gamemaster takes weeks sometimes, jozi normally responds within 24 hrs lol
forkinit> tell me about it. i spent 3 weeks trying to get things sorted out with one of them and it was like pulling teeth or herding cats or some other metaphor for things that don't work worth a damn
wildeyes> All he has to do is give me the damn formulas, my last guide (when it was current) made all of theirs combined look like crap, I think its still in the forum, and most of it forkinit, still are appliable.
wildeyes> if you want to look it up..
wildeyes> or maybe i can find it.
wildeyes> go to the forum and keyword search ' leaving guide ' then youll see like 3rd down WildEyes Leaving Guide to everything.
wildeyes> then your welcome to ask questions.
wildeyes> I go over several strategies (not just my own) lol
forkinit> i think i saw that when i first started. i ought to reread it now that i understand more of the systems
wildeyes> Lol @ it still being bumped..
wildeyes> and at Barney's advice which i never saw until now lmao
forkinit> there just seem to be so many questions that aren't easily answered. like what good comes from buying a Q or E upgrade at higher than 100Q? it's still just one upgrade
wildeyes> TuCulo EsMio (Little Upsilon) Monday, March 15, 2010 - 10:29 pm

There are no special relations and no private chat or social network connections.
never been any.

Nobody ever talked to Jozi or Tom, or Andy or Jonni and any of the other engineers on MSN or anywhere else except for the organized Jozi chats where everybody was welcome.

None of the engineers who respond to technical issues when they are solved, have ever discussed anything 1 to 1 on MSN or anywhere else.
Everything is by mail.

we do answer mails that are about errors or perceived errors and there are people who communicated with us more than others. Most mails are answered very quickly as everybody who mails us knows.
some very long and complex stories are not answered at all or much later.

Jozi is never involved in answering mails. Some business mails are ending up on his mail account and it happens that one of the gamemasters is logging in and answers a mail from that account.

Thank you, Andy, for clarifying this. I don't know to what advantage it is for a player to mislead others by making these claims, unless it is, as I said, to purposely boost a game ego or power/self importance within the game. I think it was important that you set the record straight here, and I appreciate your time in answering my post.

All my best,

Those players are ballooning things up.

I wouldn't be so hasty about this problem.

I did try to send a message to Tom Willard and I also heard that Andy and Tom are from the GM person and few other's. As I have been reading about how people discriminate others by trying to make issue more and more problems and not telling the truth on who they really are.

Most of them are fake in my opinion.

This is unfair, especially to the faith-payment players as you mentioned it.

Good luck, that is why I don't contact the GM for any issue. Try it before, didn't work.

Happy gaming.

Well, I'll have to admit this. I did finally get an asnwer from a GM. Some time's they can nice and some time's they can be bad. Every dog has their day and that include's me. My apology to the GM's even though you have the right to make many country's and different name's to you're wish and like's.

Thanks. Lynx.

The GMs are people, and respond the same way we all do to different approaches. Too often players don't understand an aspect of the game - which, let's face it, is extremely complicated - and email the GMs, screaming about 'bugs' and 'unfairness' when the cause of their problem is that they haven't understood a subtle detail in the way the game works.

In my experience, if you treat them with respect, ask questions without presupposing causes, or explain an issue clearly without pointing fingers, they always respond politely, fairly and, if there is a genuine problem, do their best to sort things out. They are also quite happy to explain a complicated aspect to someone who asks to understand and, in the past, have gone as far as to respond with details of algorithm computations to allow people to comprehend the game better.

It may take a few days to get a reply, but this is their job, not their hobby. Sometimes they have to look into the questions and they don't have time to sit at the computer 24/7 waiting to answer players. In my experience, they do get to 'know' players who email them more than once, and this may inform their responses, but they always behave professionally and I doubt they would compromise that by getting involved in any 'personal' relationships.

Hugs and respect

Jo

I wouldn't be surprised if you suspicions are true. I can confirm that the account "robocop" has been used by a W3C affiliated person since "way back". Historically W3C has not been above such behavior, and I've seen no reason to believe this has changed.

BTW, Jo Salkilld is a W3C affiliated person, has been for a long time.

Robocop is an account used by a W3C engineers for some testing and also the name used for the gamemaster enterprises.

It is also customary on many forums, including this one, to associate respectful and serious players, who makes an effort to understand both sides of the discussion, with the company.

We know Jo Salkilled for a long time and are thankful for many serious contributions and constructive criticism, made by mail and on this forum, that helped fix bugs in the game and also lead to some new features.

Ok hymy. Last time it was funny. Now your obsession with me is starting to get creepy.

af-fil-i-ate v.tr. To associate (oneself) as a subordinate, subsidiary, employee, or member.

I am not 'affiliated' to W3C and the only association I have with them is that I pay them to play this game, just like every other paying player. I email them if I perceive a problem, or if I want to understand the detail of an aspect of the game, and any other player is free to do the same. If W3C listen to me more than other players, it is because I do so in the way that is "respectful and serious". That is why I recommended that others adopt a similar approach with them.

However, Jan began this thread by asking if any of the players have a relationship with the GMs that other players do not / can not have - one which gives them an unfair advantage. You'll note that Jan did not include my name in those she mentioned, and that is because she has known me for a long time and knows that I do not have any such relationship with the GMs.

hymy, I have no idea why you are obsessed with in-game conspiracy theories, but you're in danger of falling into the category I described above: people who make wild assumptions and scream and cry about them, without ever considering that it might actually be their own lack of ability or understanding which is causing whatever problem they have with the game, or with other players. Try to take a more balanced view, treat the GMs with respect and maybe they will want to associate with you too ...

Hugs and respect

Jo

Hymy1,

Never once have I ever thought or ever heard that Jo has such an affiliation with W3C. I started this game playing with Jo and WGC and never once was that hinted or even suggested. So, Hymy1, I don't know who you are, but I think you are out of line here and have no substantial basis for your statement.

As for my initial post, I asked this of the GMs because the two players I mentioned above (supersoldier and wildeyes) have stated these associations quite openly and numerous times. They state these false claims to anyone who will foolishly believe them. Therefore, I thought it important that the record be set straight, because frankly, they are a big part of the problem and why "conspiracy" theories even exist.

I told someone just recently. You want to know why I think 'so in so' plays multi accounts and what not and this and that? Why is because they have said so in PMs to myself and other players. I know where the root of the problems lie in this game, and it isn't the game or even the GMs. It is a certain group of players.

I advocate fairness, because there are many players who pay money in good faith for the game to be played the way it was to be intended.

All my best,

Thanks Jan.

Hugs and respect

Jo