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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I believe the key is media attention here.
I’m sure it is quite true that money is the biggest factor for
Activision/IW. And maybe it is a case of “we already have their money”.
But, franchise games are purchased based on the reputation of the games that precede
them and the reputation of the developers (leveraging reputation to do the job
of marketing). Although many of the people who will buy CoD2 have already
bought it… many more may be waiting to put a copy under the tree. If this
action receives the right attention from the media it could make people
question that blind brand loyalty that publishers seem to love to take
advantage of. This boycott/strike sends the message to game producers that
players/admins expect a quality product and expect some level of community
support. It puts developers on notice that the “grab the money and run”
model isn’t something WE want to spend our money on. Will it be
affective? Who knows, the real question is, is it worth a try?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Just my take on it<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Mark J.
DeFilippis [mailto:defilm@acm.org] <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, November 28, 2005
7:09 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">cod@icculus.org</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [cod] punkbuster
boycott / protest</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
Having worked on Wall Street 20+ years now I can tell you it is all<br>
about expected earnings. ACTV is turning a deaf ear because this<br>
is already money in the bank. NEXT...<br>
<br>
As much as I wish a server shutdown would help, it won't. With 3200<br>
servers out there, I suspect it will make a small dent.<br>
<br>
The saying goes "You need to hit them in the pocketbook", that is
what<br>
hurts. There are a few ways to do this.<br>
<br>
1. I belong to an investment club. We hold ACTV stock. I can say<br>
we have had a good ride, but it is clear this ride is not likely to continue<br>
based on this attitude change from ACTV. It is time to sell.
Investment<br>
clubs watch other investment clubs, not just companies.<br>
<br>
2. While I am at work this week it is time to pay a visit to my friends that<br>
have been very helpful for so many years. As equity analysts specializing<br>
in various industries, I will put my two cents in about ACTV to these<br>
friends. Since I am expensive, I do not work for any one brokerage, I<br>
have 4 brokerage clients however, and they have been so wonderful<br>
to me in the past, it is time to repay based on where I think ACTV is<br>
heading financially. Reality is they are moving more to consoles.<br>
A crowded market that will become more crowded. I<br>
have my business reasons why I don't think ACTV will do well there.<br>
(Perhaps History will repeat itself. Consoles is where ACTV started<br>
and I recall the time when they were on the brink of bankruptcy).<br>
<br>
3. To hit them in the pocketbook, you need exposure, and to try<br>
to dissuade people from buying their products. As a buggy PC game<br>
developer, they are entering a market where "they don't send out
updates"<br>
for console systems. One way is to start a web site that states the<br>
situation, poor support, etc, and massively link that site to push it's<br>
Google rating up.<br>
<br>
We should also see about recouping some of our money. I pre-purchased<br>
COD2 with the understanding that COD2 was a sequel in the series<br>
and COD2 would have basic A/C as it's original COD did. I am not an<br>
attorney, but this is what I believe is class actionable. I want the money<br>
back for my three copies of COD2 as ACTV did it on the cheap and<br>
did not add A/C. It can clearly be shown this is a financial decision.<br>
<br>
Know an attorney that is in the business, or is among us? We should<br>
take this off-line and consider this.<br>
<br>
On the exposure:<br>
<br>
I will donate "Activisionsucks.com", and the webspace and bandwidth,<br>
and we need as many sites to link to it as possible. Once in place<br>
I will submit to all the webcrawler bots.<br>
<br>
The goal: Boycott all Activation products and get the word out about their<br>
lack of support. We owe it to other consumers out there as this is IMHO<br>
large scale fraud. I certainly feel defrauded. Had I known there was not going<br>
to be basic A/C, I would never have purchased the game. I believe the bulk of<br>
people that pre-ordered the game that are unhappy are in the same position.<br>
This is the group I believe is class actionable. We need an attorney
amongst<br>
us.<br>
<br>
Once it is up, we will let all the rags know about it. They won't turn away<br>
ACTV's money, but if we do it right, it is news, and any press is good press<br>
as any business man knows. Of course I mention the site to my equity
research<br>
friends..., and if you know any, so should you.<br>
<br>
There is no liable or slander. These have several legal requirements. One is
that<br>
the statements made are not fact. That is not going to be the case. We<br>
tell it like it is... The facts are what they are.<br>
<br>
Mark<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
At 12:25 AM 11/27/2005, you wrote:<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>FYI, in case you didn't see it...<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.iwnation.com/Forums/index.php?showtopic=17450"
eudora=autourl>http://www.iwnation.com/Forums/index.php?showtopic=17450</a><br>
<br>
> There comes a time when a little revolution can do an awful lot more good
than meekly submitting to the will of others, especially if you feel you have a
genuine greivance.<br>
> <br>
> That time is NOW my friends.<br>
> What do i mean?<br>
> <br>
> I propose that if you are happy with following Statement you post your
acceptance in this thread and get as many others as possible to sign up
including League/Ladder players & admins, Clan members, server
admins/providers and just about every COD/UO/COD2 player you can ask.<br>
> <br>
> "We request here and now that either Activision or Infinty Ward make
an offcial announcement regarding their future support for the Call of Duty
series of games on or before 16th December 2005.<br>
> <br>
> The statement should include the following:<br>
> <br>
> 1. When will you include an Anti-Cheat system for COD2?<br>
> 2. When you you release your 1st patch for COD2?<br>
> 3. What will it include?<br>
> 4. What other plans have you for the support of the Call of Duty Games?<br>
> 5. What will you do to ensure this situation does not arise again?<br>
> <br>
> Failure to comply with this very simple request will result in the
following action:<br>
> <br>
> We will actively encourage ALL<br>
> Clans, Leagues, Ladders, Players, Admins and server providers to enforce a
series of 24hr mass server shutdowns of all Call of duty games at a time of our
choosing.<br>
> <br>
> Don't take this lightly, word spreads, people won't buy a broken toy.<br>
> This has never been done before and do you really want to go down as the
first and only companies to have it's client/fan base take such drastic
measures in order to simply be given some regular information about a product,
the choice is yours alone.<br>
> <br>
> WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED ANY LONGER.<br>
> <br>
> TALK TO US AND HELP US, TO HELP YOU MAKE THE CALL OF DUTY SERIES BETTER
ONLINE GAMES.<br>
> <br>
> DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!<br>
> <br>
> To my knowledge, should this action take place it will be the first and
only time such drastic measures have been taken by any gaming community
anywhere in the world.<br>
> I don't want us to make history but it may come done to it.<br>
> <br>
> SHAME ON YOU AV AND IW FOR LETTING IT GET THIS FAR.... <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><tt><font size=2
face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></font></tt><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">Mark J. DeFilippis, Ph. D
EE defilm@acm.org</font></tt><br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">
defilm@ieee.org</font></tt><br>
<br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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