Player vs Developer: The MZ Saga

Anyone who plays a mobile game long enough will hear the term: Devs.

The term is short for "developer" but who are they? They are the people who make your game run, right? Nerds, sitting behind some terminal, squinting at lines of code that determine your comings and goings ... all those inter-workings that trigger once you tap the screen in a certain place on a certain screen at a certain time. They built your game, they keep it running ... you can talk to them and get your game experience rectified if something goes awry. They are the symbol of neutrality and everything good in your game's world, right? ALL HAIL THE DEVS!

Wrong. at least by the standard of MZ, creators of Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire.

MZ "devs" are digital snake oil salesmen.

They are more cunning than the biggest guild-master, more cunning than the worst of rogue players. They can be your guild neighbor, your worst enemy ...

or ... they can literally take a side and ensure that you will NEVER win.

I am a FFXVANE player. I have been playing since September of last year. I finally decided to give it a go because of another app that gave me points toward gift cards (yeah, it's THE thing now). I waited almost a year to play this game ... I've been into the franchise since FFVII (the first RPG I ENJOYED playing) and it has grown to be a comfort of sorts. I had never played a mobile MMORPG of this style, previously I was into Legacy of Discord.

So I get in ... I'm noticing that these pack prices are like kinda ... insane. I go "nah, I don't need that" ... and I keep playing. But it dawns on me, "the more awesome I get, that means that everyone else is 100x more awesome". I buy my first pack. I start a few farms ... I play the game, do the events ... people say I'm coming along nicely. I buy another pack, and another, and another. I'm beginning to catch up. I am able to participate more and more in the game. Events get better, prizes get better ... and I consider giving MZ a commendation for actually solving the level gap and leveling the playing field.

I log into the game yesterday ... and get the news.

According to MZ (this email was released today to players who have been writing tickets for a 48hr period, after refunds started flowing like a freshly tapped keg) the items in question (long story short, the ability to decimate any and everyone who has been playing this game no matter the length of time or purchasing power) were ACCIDENTALLY sent to "random" players, and they are working on a fix. Perhaps they will fix in-game chat so that words like "boycott", "fraud", and "refund" (your message will NOT be sent if you use these words) are treated the same as words like "unfair", "advantage", and "cheat". Perhaps favoritism will be fixed too. I learned for the first time yesterday that there is a membership / subscription element to the game where if you "spend enough", THEY contact YOU. Nah, nothing seems wrong with this at all.

Why is this wrong?

Take the lottery. The odds of you winning are based not on how much money you spend, but how many people buy tickets. The prices of the tickets don't change and neither do the odds. But what if ... the more lottery tickets you bought put you in separate drawings where ONLY THE PEOPLE WHO SPENT A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY were entered into the drawing. So now your odds of winning INCREASE because of the AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU SPEND. This is economic discrimination.

So what can you do? You can call Google, Apple, and Android ... you can call your financial institution.

But you can't call or email MZ ... because they don't answer ... and they don't care. New players to the game now get bonuses that veteran players have spent time, money, and effort to PREPARE to get.

This is how class action lawsuits start.

CREDIT: J.R. Caufield

Material-ligion

"be the change that you wanna see in the world"

I want to see a race of beings ... Sentient beings ... Beings that take no thought of the limitations of the materials that they have acquired ... Beings that brace Thoreau's Civil Dispbedience with almost psychotic relish ... Not to engage in "all manner of fooloshness" but to seek the happiness of every single person their lives touch ...

What frwedom would we know id we never had to worry about ourselves? Not throw individual responsibility out of the window but, to in fact, be completely true and responsiblie to self first and foremost with no construct of commerce? who would b content living in a world where your thoughts would earn you the idiomic penny as a loaf of bread, a car, or even just an Xbox 360?

There can b no true time of wealth, no true wealth proper, without social reform ... Not a movement of a group of people that conglomerate as a majority, but a collective movement where every mind, soul, and heart were reached simultaneously and so manifest that we would put down our attache and approach each other with open arms ... arms emptied of this grubbing mentality that there is not enough, arms devoid of the visions of price tags attached to the psyche of people ... Where ambition met with ambition on friendly terms ... What happened to teamwork? The lessons that my baby booming parents taught me ... Are they archaic? Why has the evolution of materialism invaded my philosophies, my sacred grounds as an excuse that I can attribite to a savior or spiritual master? The happiness of self cannot exist without the happiness of others ... This is symbiosis ... The true way of things. I tire of the zen and confession closet alike ... How can there b separation of and classification of devotees by means that were irrelavent to the creators of these systems? Siddartha could have found enlightenment as a merchant ... He was without "finances" when he endeavored toward the realm of nirvana ....

I believe in logic, I believe in reason, I do not believe in chaotic anarchy ... I believe in survival ... I believe that survival is so important that I contribute to the survival of others daily ... I know its outcome ... I am provided for. Mystic Law suggests a cause and an effect ... Would that we could die in our spirits and b reborn with no knowledge of our flesh ... Could we crucifiy our faith and not each other? The day when my news reports aren't "spiced up" by these overelaborate testimonies minus the "Jesus" and instead the smile on the face of the stranger that paid for your ability to mop floors with a ravioli dinner and a nice apartment ... Instead of a paycheck that barely covers the dinner? I tire of being blamed for politics that I did not create ... The buck is dirty and radiated, I am judged for my pulsating skin ... Teaching the philosophy of fishing helps me less than the fish that allows my brain to function enough to grasp your words ... This day might change my life ...

I wish we could learn to give without racing put for the same hand to give back ... For true and real faith in the universe that cradles us ... A united faith that embraces fully the notion of giving ... Erase our conditioning not to create drones but post-Renaissance beings

The End of A Long Road

I have been through a very eye-opening, elightening experience ... so profound that the very premise of this blog is now obsolote ... therefore instead of beginning a new blog I will simply devote this blog to the explanation of this revelation which answers the very essence of this dissertation.

I'm very thankful for this experience ... I have found the answer that I am searching for ... an answer that I imagine most of us are searching for in a world and times like these.

With assurance and conviction I can attribute this knowledge to Deity and my believe in God and man has been restored.

To those who were the most closely involved, you have my utmost thanks ...
To the one who has give me this hope and love ... You are equally loved and appreciated ...
To the One who has made this all possible ... Praise be unto You ...


This is not the end, but the beginning ...

As I sit and wonder ...

Why it is that I'm in the state of mind i'm in ...

I've found self-realization on a personal level ... and have pursued it's heights as far as my conscious would allow ... I had found myself plateaued in a complacent dwindle of faith ... a harmonious protest of solitude given me by my Maker ...

The past six months have expanded the highways I thought closed ... I would share this with you now ...

The hardest thing for an entity to do is recognize an aspect that is not of his own, to identify on a personal level with something for which he has no common ground, point of reference, or knowledge bank to draw from ...

The human manifestation of this truth is most paramount in the pursuit of love ...

The irrational rational ...

How to Leap . . .

I've been studying my life . . . again . . .



I've reached more of an understanding of myself and the world around me during the past six months of my life . . . the reasons why for everything are becoming more manifest and I feel that this understanding is leading me to another plateau of enlightenment.



As I gathered this information I found a sad truth . . . our desperate need for social reform and a resurgence of moral aptitude in our society.



I wonder about the apathy of my generation, myself included . . . and a conversation regarding the difference and validity of Communism vs. Socialism has increased not only my awareness but my conviction regarding the state of our nation.



I wonder about the general attitude of our society regarding the acquirement of wealth and the reckless abandon by which we are encouraged to undertake this task.



For most of us, the instruction we receive from our parents is wrong. The mindset that they instill is more a form of manipulation to ensure their own financial security. The problem is that they themselves do not invest the proper amount of revenue to ensure a profitable yield from this investment. Moreover they expect this investment to overtake their own income, relying solely on the accrued revenue from said investment. This is both logical and fiscally impossible.



Socially, this manifests itself in a peculiar neurotism. This goes beyond the notion of "friendly competition" and becomes an elaborate game of manipulation and "playing favorites". This too is further encouraged by parental units' readiness to ask if acquaintances "give gas money". The ones that do are accepted and the child is further encouraged to be in constant company of said acquaintances, regardless of core moral aptitude.

Yes, it's true that we can blame the economy but in the end it's up to the individual, but that simple choice is being taken away, only to be replaced by the positive reinforcement of petty behavior and greed . . .

The irony is there for all to see, should we unveil our eyes . . .

A Sudden Resurgence of Religion and Faith

As of recently I've been compelled to read the Bible . . .

I haven't read in at least 10 years . . .

The problem isn't the reading . . . it's the fact that I can 't seem to place the reason for this sudden urge to get into the Word . . .

Or maybe I'm still wrestling with denial . . .

Question: How do you deal when your soulmate can't love you back? Not won't, can't . . .

Perhaps I should explain . . .

I've watched a mere acquaintanceship evolve into . . . something. Imagine if you will a relationship that isn't a serious or romantic relationship, but is more than a friendship . . . like an agape friendship, if there is such a thing.

AND NO, sex is NOT a part of this . . .

The last time I checked, people called that true love . . . but then again, I wouldn't know.

The only thing I can equate this to, and the reason I've been out of my gourd for the past three to five months is the fact that I feel the same around this "significant other" as I do when I engage myself spiritually . . .

Is God truly telling me something or am I hallucinating?

The reason I ask is because this "significant other" insists that they "don't want a relationship". But then again isn't a friendship a relationship?

Like I said I wouldn't be buggin' but even this other person has felt the stirring of spirit . . .

Is it possible that one hardened heart will destroy the beauty that awaits?

I guess I should know better because they can't even take a compliment from me without buggin' out . . . but then again I have my theories . . . but something just doesn't feel right about this state of denial we are in . . . even more ironic is the progress we make when we are alone . . . but even that has a rational explanation that I will not disclose out of respect.

We've been spending more and more time apart and in a way it's good but I miss the closeness I share with this person. Even more bizarre is the stirring still happens, regardless of physical distance or interaction . . .

My faith in God won't let me walk away from this but my logical side looks at the timeline and says the clock is running out . . .

My biggest fear is that this person won't be in my life for very much longer and I'm not the type that would live the rest of my natural life wondering what might have been. Likewise this person fears that their death might spin me out of control, not knowing that the growing distance combined with my fear is the recipe for disaster . . .

And then I remember the stirring and it all seems to make sense . . .

As of recent I've decided to put all hope, faith, and belief into this, despite what this "significant other" says. Everything happens for a reason, so I have to keep going . . .

It's a good thing that a broken heart is the hardest thing to break . . .

Coincidence

OK . . . there's definitely been a glich in the Matrix . . .

Howo do you process a seemingly endless need to go back to the beginning . . . with life seemingly falling backwards through time to a certain time . . .

As if this were Quantum Leap but the life I time travel through, linearly at that, was mine?

Kinda freaky, right . . . but that's the best way I can explain it . . .

This is all getting really cerebreal . . . really quick . . . but I kinda like it . . .

So what is the right action now?

What 's the next move?

How do I stay perfect?

Truth is . . .

There is no right action . . .

There is no next move . . .

You merely do not doing.