Ethics Scandals And Buyers Remorse

Yup, it seems they've triggered a backlash; there's been a wave of negative reviews all of a sudden, and it probably comes from their own actions; The thin skin, organised poll stuffing, your own staff writing positive reviews and getting caught... never go full Barbara Cartland, Porties!

It wouldnt seem so bad if it werent for the link you posted with chris goin about a few upward votes trend lately. First its a handful of people and they did bad for sales on steam during the holidays which usually is a good sales month with half off. But then have your staff go and upvote it to make it look like its doing better just seems sad and desperate denial to make  him feel good goin off on people on steam when they crush his thin skinned little heart on his shitty combat system and their ludicrous add on store. Thanks for the link Nemo. I talked to a few people that left Sota recently on wow last night, one of them you might know was IceQueen, kind of feel bad for her she hadnt seen that video about how the kickstarter started out til november or something. She left for good now along with couple other people this week. She did tell me that she mostly stayed and put money in it for some of her family and said sota had been shit for about 2 years now she just stayed for them is all. I always liked her shes the one of the few Sota people I met that was nice in Sota. She helped me when I started playing wow again and even gave me money to start out again on a more popular server.

Those lowered paid devs should be looking for a new job while they can. Game has already did a faceplant on the pavement. I know one thing Im glad i sold my acct when i could. This game got me to where i wont ever fund a crowdfund game again. I warn everyone i know to not spend money on it so they arent scammed and disappointed.

www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/wts-all-my-stuff-in-one-bundle.76274/page-2#post-738470

I pity this individual, I wish the best for them. Sadly at this point in time, it's gonna be hard to recoup that.

Ya, I've not been paying attention really to Sota anymore as I had stated along time ago of my thoughts of the direction and outcome of the game. I still like to go read the forums and get some kicks, though the laughs aren't as good as once upon a time.

I always liked her too. She was willing to hear both sides of anyone's views and not attack anyone. It's too bad they lost her. She was a good part of the community.

Looking at the marketplace, there's a whole lot of bailing ship. There are players buying though. I'm just so damn glad I sold, and made a small profit, when I did. Thank the lucky stars I wasn't making up conspiracy theory BS.

Makes me wonder who would write such a verbose, incoherent mess of a summary and connect those various dots of information supplied by steam and reddit users.

Kudos to you, Nemo (and steam user puzzled, and others like reddit user Panavyn) for catching those important details.

Chris Spears' comments about the mostly positive recent reviews, along with puzzled's revelation that matpsch's review was by Port's lead animator, made connecting the dots very easy (the follow-up info about Berek's review was just icing on the cake).

There was blood in the water, it just took a bit of pressure to flush out Port and get them to show their cheater's hand. The fact that they won't remove Berek's review on the flimsy grounds that he wasn't hired yet (when he probably was) is amazing!

Anyway, that summary (and the follow ups posted by CMG) almost reminds me of the diction in a certain journal, written by a certain masked anti-hero.... Okay, not really, but it was still great fun watching Port back pedal and make asses out of themselves while several individuals took notice of their shady ways.

Is Violation still around?

Queen Berek's expertise is one of social engineering public perception so it didn't matter if he was well versed in the game. It makes a lot of sense as dirtbag Dallas Snell is also a big fan of social engineering and manipulation. That is not conspiracy shit either, both have blogs about that specific subject.

It depends Caliya; people who are facing serious illness often will try any remedy at all out of desperation. The "Medical Bills" might not be for scientific medicine only, but also trying a lot of "alternative" medicine, owing a lot of money to lifestyle practitioners or new age flim flam merchants... someone who can spend $25k on a game likely has an unusual lifestyle as it is, and could have fallen prey to all kinds of things you and I could never think of.
Or just, as I mentioned in passing earlier, they assumed because they're rich and lucky, they don't have to have insurance because they'll always be so. Or, like Nzguzzi, be suffering in real life but invested massively beyond their capability in a virtual one because online is the only community they have. Or maybe they're telling the truth, and we just don't understand the specific circumstances.
There's a tonne of things it could be; Portalarium however deliberately escalated the cost of feeling part of the game again and again until even $25k isn't enough to avoid suddenly becoming a second class Shroud citizen. Isn't Envy and Drocis in for about 40-60k each too? And they'll never be totally safe either; there but for the grace of god... I don't know why IronMaiden is suffering now. What I do know is that Portalarium set up their Pledge system to so it gives you a kicking if you ever are unfortunate short term. So I reserve all my anger for them.

Yeah, of course it's me

I'd never call you incoherent, but I have called myself that many times (because I am)! Plus, I've linked to several things under that reddit name that points back to me, albeit obliquely (the "RedCombLP" photobucket and the images I posted with references to my Steam ID and SotA review to try to prove to Jamma's alts that I wasn't you, which I knew was pointless, but I did it anyway to paint him the fool that he is). All of that stuff leads back to me, but 99% of the people wouldn't catch it.

I don't post there under a different name for any particular reason. I don't really like reddit, used to have a throwaway account (something like 7ooo7), but I deleted that account and created CMG in response to Spez going in and using his admin powers to edit people's posts in response to people trolling him about reddit banning the pizzagate sub. I don't care for T_D or /pizzagate, but I found it alarming that Reddit's CEO would stoop to that kind of behavior (which creates a lot of legal issues that I won't go into here), so I deleted 7ooo7 with a comment about why I was deleting it, and only made CensorshipMustGo later on when I still wanted to post/vote in the sota sub and a few others.

Sorry to bring it up here, I just saw your OP and was just poking fun of myself and laughing about Port's reaction to everything (both matpsch removing the review, then them falling all over themselves to spin things after Knotaig came through in the clutch with the web archive of that review). I am still amazed they think leaving Berek's review up is okay (regardless of his employment status). It's a huge conflict of interest either way, but they clearly are so desperate for positive reviews they will compromise all appearances of ethical conduct in the name of not allowing their aggregate score to dip below 60%.

It's embarrassing to admit I posted that nonsense because that "summary" was anything but succinct, but once I saw Chris' oddly specific comment about the 75% positive reviews, then your posts on steam about the 11 of 19 "recent reviews," and then noticed Puzzled's comment in matpsch's review, I could just smell blood in the water. I just knew if I poked the wasp nest a bit that the hivemind wouldn't let me down, and sure enough, Panavyn came up with that old review by Berek and Port walked away from the ordeal with egg on their face, as to be expected.

As always, Chris Spears proves the weakest link at a company that's better at shady business than actually making a fun game to play.

Thanks for playing, Chris. May your astro-turfing and spin campaign go better next time, kthxbai!

First, let me say, I agree with your premise that if $25,000 in medical bills are problematic for him, then he had no business spending that much on virtual luxury goods. I am not defending him per se.

However, to say the only way someone could rack up that much medical debt under the ACA is if they dodged buying insurance is wrong.

There are four tiers of coverage under the ACA: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum.

Each of those tiers offer differ pros and cons, deductibles can vary greatly between plans and tiers, and (most importantly) coinsurance coverage is very different among the tiers.

For example, Bronze plans are the cheapest premium wise (i.e. lowest monthly cost), but tend to have the highest deductibles, and have the highest out of pocket costs if you actually have to use them. Platinum plans have extremely high premiums (i.e., highest monthly cost), but tend to have very low deductibles and the lowest out of pockect costs if you actually have to use them.

The way he could have racked up that much medical debt is 1) whatever his plan, he had a high deductible like $2,000 out of pocket (and the coverage doesn't kick in until you've paid that much toward your care) and 2) whatever his plan, his share of medical expenses amounted to thousands of dollars even after his coinsurance kicked in (not impossible given the high cost of cancer treatment).

Just look at the coinsurance of "bronze" plans. They cover 60% of your medical expenses, and you are on the hook for the other 40%. This is after you've probably already paid a deductible close to $2,000-$3,000.

So, if over a period of a year, all the tests, treatments, and whatnot amounted to $70,000, the coinsurance of a bronze plan would only cover $42,000 of those expenses (leaving him on the hook for the other $28,000).

And before you fault him for getting bronze coverage, bear in mind that Silver only covers 70% of expenses, gold covers 80%, and Platinum covers 90%. So it's not outside of the realm of possibility that he has serious medical bills even with Silver or Gold coverage (considering the steep costs of cancer treatment).

Look at the "Guide to the metal tiers" on this page for general advice about what tier a person should pick:
www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/metal-tiers-health-insurance-work/

People are advised to pick Bronze coverage if:

• You rarely get sick or need medical services, apart from an annual checkup and maybe a medication or two.

• You are very healthy and not elderly.

• If buying a family plan, your children are grown and healthy and don’t participate in risky activities.

Maybe he's in his 40's (not exactly young, not exactly elderly). Maybe he has never really had healthy issues before now. Maybe he has no kids or they are already through college and have their own coverage through an employer.

It may have made perfect sense for him to pick Bronze, especially when looking at the annual premium amounts (which would probably be pretty steep for a 40 year old if he was making any kind of decent income), but then suddenly he finds blood in his stool, goes in for some tests, and finds out he has colon cancer and requires all kinds of costly treatments, including surgery and even a partial/full removal of his colon which might require him to have special medical needs for the rest of his life.

Even with Silver and Gold plans, cancer treatment is so expensive in the States, it is not impossible that he could have racked up serious medical bills, all while having insurance. To automatically assume he dodged coverage is just not right.

As of 2015, estimates are that a colectomy alone costs on average $32,000; one month of chemo anywhere from $10,000-$14,000; one month of radiation $10,000-$14,000; and then there are the other costs like drugs, doctors visits, hospital stays, special diets, tests, etc. www.drugwatch.com/2015/10/07/cost-of-cancer/

If you start to add all of that stuff up and then consider "coinsurance" means your coverage doesn't cover everything, and it is very easy to see how he could be well over $25,000 in debt. And remember, medical bills are still one of the primary causes of bankruptcies in the States for a reason. There are plenty of people who have insurance through their job (often 80/20 coinsurance split), but they or their kids have some serious illness (like leukemia) that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical expenses and the 20% they are on the hook for ruins them. They lose everything, and despite what you think, disability does not make up the difference if their medical problems requires them to stop working (or they quit their job to care for a sick child/spouse).

With that said, this is precisely why nobody should sink so much money into such frivolous pursuits unless they are truly rolling in dough. Nobody knows what the future may hold. I can't say I have a ton of sympathy for him given his choice to blow that kind of money on a video game (when he could have bought the best coverage or saved for a rainy day), but I still think it is important to point out that most people in the states are still one major illness away from financial ruin, even with obamacare.

And, of course, there are aspects of the ACA (like catastrophic plans and the certain yearly limits) that may alleviate some of what I'm saying above. Still, because of the way coinsurance works, having Obamacare does not automatically mean you are immune to huge medical expenses (which are totally out of control in the USA because of our broken crony-capitalist system).

Hey, I like new age flim flam treatments. =)

I saw this on Dan Rather's wall on Facebook today:

Sharing my ACA story with anyone who will listen this week: My name is Cara Williams, and I am a Social Worker in Columbus Ohio. I am writing to express my deepest concern about plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
For the past six years, I have worked exclusively with cancer patients in the Central Ohio area. Before the Affordable Care Act, I was routinely meeting with patients who shared the same story. And it went like this…
“I’m a middle-aged person, usually with grown children. I have worked hard all of my life…paid into the system that I believed would help me if I ever got sick. But I didn’t think I would ever get sick. Then cancer. And I’m going to chemotherapy. I’m not getting better. My medical insurance is telling me that I am getting close to the annual/lifetime limit on my coverage. What am I going to do? Now it looks like I’m going to have to leave my job because my FMLA time has run out. I have been offered COBRA coverage but I can’t afford the premium (usually around $900/month) because I won’t have any income. I have applied for Social Security Disability but I won’t be eligible for Medicare until I’ve been disabled 24 months. And my Social Security Disability income makes me ineligible for Medicaid. I have no health insurance. Even though I’ve done everything right. Even though I thought this could never happen to me and my family. Here I am. With no way to pay for my medical care. What am I going to do?”
Before the Affordable Care Act, I didn’t have an answer to this questions. I could only offer emotional support when patients had to make excruciating choices. Real choices between life and death. “Do I give everything up – my home, my car, my savings, my livelihood so that I can pay for cancer treatment that may or may not work? Should I stop treatment so that my family won’t be left with insurmountable debt? Would it be easier if I end my life on my own?” Life and death decisions.
But now the conversation has changed. Now I can say: “Let’s take a look at the Marketplace to see if we can find an affordable plan for you there.” And patients do find affordable coverage. Finally, there is hope. It seems barbaric to me that we are even having a conversation about repealing this life saving legislation. For shame.
I don’t pretend to say that the ACA is perfect. (If you use my story, please don’t delete this part.) Honestly, I would much prefer a single payer system that gives all people equal access to care. Insurance companies have too much power and influence. But it’s a start. And it’s better than the alternative which is not humane or acceptable in this great country. Please save the ACA!
That’s my story. Actually…not a story…but the reality of real people in Columbus Ohio.

Thank you, Cara Williams.
--The News and Guts team.