Apology

I'd like to apologize to everyone for my recent actions regarding accusations of FA packages; I noticed some repeated FA packages in the database weeks ago during some maintenance, and investigated as it looked odd.

At this point I should have just forgotten it, but I didn't. A couple days ago I was reading through a thread where there were accusations being levelled by some people on side A against side B, and vice versa, and my country was mentioned. Being slightly miffed at the accusations, I unwisely commented without thinking that the other side wasn't clean, forgetting that the knowledge I had was never meant to be public, and thinking it was obvious.

Being questioned a leaders from that side, I admitted I'd noticed something but stated I'd retract my statement unless I could substantiate with outside tools; of course, knowing what to look for makes this easier, so I was able to do so. I also provided some details upon request, details which perhaps I should not have, but I fully believe alliance leaders have a right to know (which I will hopefully address with some transparency changes in the near future).

I would like to reiterate that I did not go searching for any information in this regards, but rather had stumbled upon it, and with better judgement it would never have made the light of day.

In the future I will endeavour to be as apolitical and fair as I have in the past, and keep any information garnered through administrative duties stay at the administrative level.

Yours regretfully;

-qzjul

don't drink and admin!

But why wouldn't it be appropriate for an admin to reveal these things? Maybe not during the reset, but I think it's worth discussing whether or not an admin should be able to resolve questions about who FAed who. If we as a community were able to decide on some ground rules for what constitutes a "legit" finish, we should be able to empower an admin to give us more information after the reset as to whether or not FA happened.

Of course, I also see the other side of an admin needing to separate his role as an admin and a player, but I think it's at least worth discussing.

no problem : )

I'm shocked, shocked that FA is going on here.

This is the only incident like this that I'm aware of. We're not perfect, but we try to be honest. From now on none of us will post any information relating to FA and market buyouts, even if it's "obvious". If it's "obvious" then someone else can say it if they wish.

Our apologies to the community and thanks to qz for doing a great job so far.

Depending on what the community wants, we could in theory post information like that after the set. I don't have an opinion on that either way.

I am all for full disclosure and transparency especially on "non-legit" countries from the admins. I think people are going to feel hostile about the fact that the trasnparency in this case and in past has/was more or less targeted to Side A as you would put it and not the server as a whole :P

maybe include FA in the news feed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gf8NK1WAOc

We've been asking for this for a long time now :(

The admins have been talking for some time about allowing players to post their status reports and in-game history. They already did the first part of that. I like the idea of being able to 'prove' that your finish is legitimate but not the idea of all activity in-game becoming public knowledge. The admins deserve credit for being forthright and constantly improving the game. I think this thread is a further testament to that.

I really dont think an apology is needed, imo qz didnt do anything wrong in this case he didnt spread any information that wasnt accessable through public sites so I dont see any issues

If FA is to be published publicly, do it after the set. FAing a stonewaller is still a valid tactic and can buy vital seconds for someone to come online.

Wow, suprised to see this. Very big of you to apologize, even though I'm not really sure you owe anyone an apology. The only thing that I took an issue with personally was seeing an admin saying there was "massive" going on in SoF because I knew there wasn't massive FA going on in SoF. Like I've said before when admin's post information, even if it's wrong, it's taken as gospel.

You do an awesome job qzjul and you've always been very professional and helpful to players.

Kind of looks like Helmet didn't really understand the post ;)

Yeah, it was so confusing. Can you translate it for me please?

Once again an abuse of power from the admins (and im not trolling here). My perspective is that we want admins to catch and deal with cheaters. It should be done fast and hard. However, this dibbs right into exactly why playing and being an admin is really a conflict of interest. its to easy to let things cloud your judgment. I think its big of you to admit you made a mistake. I also think you admins need to rethink weather you should admin and play- and for sure not admin and comment here on any think other than admin related duties.

Prime example is when an admin reveals that two different posting accounts here are coming from the same IP. Thats no ones business. Its not game related and should not be made public. By an admin posting their identity he is denying their right to speak freely and protect their identity.

good to apologise, its hard sometimes to remember where the line is

but it will also be great if you put something in the game to make non individual netting at least a little more transparent

everyones free to play the way they want, but its better if everyone knows who does what so we dont have people competing with those doing something they dont want to do

or an arms race akin to steroids in professional sport

+1 to qzjul for being a professional..

+2

This is incomprehensibly dumb. If the admins don't play, neither do the rest of us. They have kept this game going SO THEY CAN PLAY IT. Use your head!

+1 for Vic

How is an IP address revelation denying a right to speak freely? I'd say that about a few admin deletions, but if they just say, "You're the same guy as this other guy," that's just making things transparent. Think about it; we're already hiding behind assumed identities in this forum. Why would anyone need two?

I think there are a few questions to be asked here. First, why is everyone turning an abuse of power into kissing an admins butt? Second, was this apology before or after he was caught abusing his power. Finally, discussing anything about someones IP is completely an abuse of power. How can you not see that? Oh, let me guess your a flaming liberal who thinks that all our rights should be surrendered so we can be "protected" from ourselves?


You must make a stand somewhere. I think its big to apologize- now I am calling on you to do the right thing and surrender your position as an admin. You have proven that you cant be trusted not to abuse your powers.

You are an idiot. I am a hardcore anti-liberal. Pro death penalty, anti abortion, pro killing terrorists, anti tax, anti government spending advocate of freedom and personal responsibility. Go look at some of my olders posts on GT for verification.

If the admins aren't free to enjoy this game, which is NOT turning them a profit, then why the hell would they continue to run it? I like playing this game, I like that it's free, therefore I like the admins for making it and keeping it free. If you try to tell them they can't be admins and players (imagine you had the power to make it so), then what is their motivation to keep the game going? Life is all about motivation, and if there is none for the admins to keep this game alive, then they won't.

1. The administrators are human and not computers so no one is concerned about some minor blemish of mixing administrative information with information accessible through the various EarthEmpire related hosting sites.

2. Obviously it is an admission without being caught or you would have seen something before the apology. Use deductive reasoning skills.

3. Where did IP addresses come into the equation? Did you pull this out of your ass?

Oh, great idea, getting one of the active game developers to stop developing. Your face has a pimple so go cut your head off hoser.

Deerhunter, are you going to start administrating and coding now? Surely, you're not going to give up your position as village idiot?

deerhunter was clearly in SPED class. otherwise why would he use sped reasoning.

He didn't have to apologize. Hell, he could've kept saying he got the info off of the evo site, and while we'd have been suspicious, we never would have known for sure.

Now in terms of having QZ quit as an admin - are you volunteering to take up his work load (assuming the rest of the community would have you)?

Admins like QZ and Pang who take part in the alliance system and play the game are this game's only shot at survival, and they are human. That QZ owned up to his actions means he's not a sociopath, and I believe he will be more discrete in the future.

I'm not a fan of admins who seem to constantly scrutinize the alliance I am part of but I'm a fan of admins who show the capacity to self-police.

I was trying to find something that demonstrated you used insider info so I could annoy and troll Slagpit. This thread dashed my dreams.

serious question:

Why did you say something about using evo tools earlier?

was that related to a different FA issue? or did you also use the evo tools to gather some information about possible sof Fa packages?

basically, i'm a tad confused and need clarification.

Because i think that if you are saying you lied about using evo tools and actually got the info from admin tools, this is an extremely serious issue. However if your saying you got info a few weeks ago from admin tools, then recently after this discussion popped up on AT took a look at stuff in Evo tools, and unwittingly used knowledge gained from the admin tools weeks ago without realising it, it's not really much of an issue at all:p

All stats & info I posted publicly came from Evo's tools.

However, I mentioned that FA was going on before having investigated with these tools, from memory of what I'd seen, assuming that others would have noticed; on being asked to substantiate, I gathered info using Evo's tools, which is what I posted - but again, already knew what to look for.

I also provided some information in private from admin tools to leaders of the alliance in question, at their request, information which is not currently at leaders disposal, but perhaps should be.

Proves my point- i think we can all agree its time for Qzjul to step down and let someone else take the reigns.

lol - no

go play russian roulette funny guy

tbh, all this talk of legitness drives me nuts. this is an alliance server and the ability to fa is part of the game. if someone wants to, OF THEIR FREE WILL, fa a clan mate astronomical amounts of goods, then so be it. that is a choice they're allowed to make.

In alliance server, the ranks are normally based on tnw/anw not single nw. surely if the person who fa'd the astronomical amount of goods had used it for themselves, they would have evened out the tnw/anw.

So quit whining.

If u want a server that is based solely on a player's skill, try your luck at a solo server with no tag protection. test your skill that way. alliance server is all about reaching alliance goals, not single players.

why you wanting to give a gun to an idiot?

Because it'll be entertaining to watch said idiot try to learn how to use it?

I agree with everything you say izarcon, BUT...

there is nothing wrong with people wanting to find out who had the highest NW country that did not internally farm or receive FA (or anything else that people judge as not "legit") I agree with you that our terminology should change. We shouldn't call finishes such as Mr. Silver's not legit, perhaps "aided" would be better. I think there is nothing wrong with trying to discover who had the highest non-aided finish. Whether admin tools should help in such an effort I'm less sure of tho...

I think his point was that this is the alliance server Bobby and should be about "aided" finishes Exclusively. AKA guild members should be trying to get the highest finish as a guild and not individually.

Otherwise whats the point of playing in a guild if its all about you as an individual?

Oh good lord, tell me you did NOT just call them 'guilds'. lol *ducks*

OH FOR fluffING SAKE!

EVERY OTHER GAME IS GUILDS AND I CANT ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CHANGE IT!

Now quickly tie me to the steak and light the fire since i think this is my third public offense at doing it :P

no, first we have to test you to see if you're a witch!

i don't actually mind info being provided at admin's discretion if relevant.

However, it becomes murky if admins are obviously bias, not saying you are btw!

using admin tools without indicating so is murky waters.

But i say "meh, we all make errors:p"

Galandy, it is rare that helping one individual achieve high NW helps the clan achieve higher ANW or TNW. Thats why most people still care about the top unaided even on the alliance server.

SEE IF HE FLOATS!!!! THEN WE'LL BURN HIM!!! ;)

qzjul: <3 <3 <3

You rock. I know from experience that it's tough to keep church and state separate, and sometimes the line gets unintentionally blurred. And I think the fact that you posted this shows you have more moral fiber in your little finger than most of the All-Bran eaters here. Nicely handled.

I think that admins should be allowed to run countries, but whatever server they run countries on maybe they should not use admin tools on those servers? I am kind of ignorant on the subject and I'm not trying to troll or anything, just an idea.

Of course I don't know how this would be moderated heh.

Can someone fill me in as to what happened so i can pretend to care?

what happened is an admin abused his powers and used his admin tools to discredit an alliance. It was a blatant abuse of power and once he was caught, like a dirty politician, he apologized for abusing his powers for self gain. And for those ignorant- the self gain is discrediting an rival alliance.
It was a shameful act and so far has gone unpunished.

Maybe we need a moderator for the moderators- I would be willing to take that position should my fellow earthers deem it so.

Oh good gawd... like that would ever happen. lol You're a troll. And not even a GOOD troll. Just one of those pathetic trolls that wander about in the shadow of the greater trolls that came before you, trying desperately to be relevant but failing miserably.