Protest NCsoft WEST HQ?

[DrakeGrimm]

And then.. when you have all the NCSoft people around.. light them on fire!

... huh? What do you mean 'not that kind of protest'? Well, I'm out then. *goes back to playing with his zippo in a corner* *clink-spark* Heee fiiiire.

In all seriousness, if done right, this could be pretty epic. If done poorly, it could be a pretty epic shitstorm. Tread carefully- the group will need heavy self policing. We've all seen the various emotional outbursts this closure has caused, and the more people you have in one area.. the more possibility there is that something will happen to set one person off (on either side of the 'fight'), and .. that one person could easily be the catalyst for a whole lot worse.

It's going to take more than making sure it's done 'by the books', you always want to make sure things are well in your control. If this is going to end up on the news, we don't want it to be because "Rabid fans attacked local employees over the shut down of a video game" >.>

That leaves me out I guess!




Geez...you maul one Asian businessman and suddenly you're marked for life... (...yes. that's a joke. since some of us seem to have forgotten what those are. <.<)

[EClark]

About your 'torch' idea.

Long ago, there used to be small flashlights with a red transparent cover over the light to make it look like a torch. Very popular around Halloween. Perhaps stores might have something like this in stock?

... and follow Grimm's advice. A lot of you are angry, but rise above that anger. Don't give NCSoft ammo to shoot down our cause.

[LtlBtyRam]

The thread title is protest.  I was thinking more along the lines of the unity rally to show our support and bring the subject to the masses with hopefully news coverage.

[Turjan]

The Seattle office is also located in a place with a bunch of different other offices of unrelated businesses. How do you know That Schmoe works for NCsoft and That Other Schmoe does not? Not to mention the first floor is all street businesses.

This strikes a chord with me because a similar thing happened during a university protest I was involved in many eons ago.

In my case though, the first group of people we were hard-staring as they climbed 4 flights of open stairs lined with students were actually there to negotiate on our behalf...

No harm done though - if anything it gave them a boost because they knew the cold burning stares following them up the stairs were not aimed at them, but at their yet-to-arrive opponents! Gave us a good dress rehearsal too, so when the real bad guys arrived, they got a double dose of "the stare" 

If there's a possibility of mistaken identity at the Seattle offices then my suggestion would be to either wear a white teeshirt with the CoH logo on it, carry some sort of instantly visually recognisable CoH paraphenalia, or even tape a printout of NCSoft's logo to your shirt. That way everyone else who works there is in no doubt who you're going after.

[Rae]

I have a buddy who works as a GM on Aion (or..another NC game, I forget which) in the Austin office.

I was chatting to him today and he said that the Austin office has nothing to do with any decision making, that'd be Seattle. So while if this goes ahead, protesting at Austin would probably get you some press interest (which is good), the decision makers aren't based there

[Vulpy]

I was chatting to him today and he said that the Austin office has nothing to do with any decision making, that'd be Seattle. So while if this goes ahead, protesting at Austin would probably get you some press interest (which is good), the decision makers aren't based there

Just a thought--those of you near Austin may want to find out about how many people work there. Maybe we can buy the server-keepers breakfast as a token of good will? Bagels and coffee aren't that expensive, after all.

[dwturducken]

I have a buddy who works as a GM on Aion (or..another NC game, I forget which) in the Austin office.

I was chatting to him today and he said that the Austin office has nothing to do with any decision making, that'd be Seattle. So while if this goes ahead, protesting at Austin would probably get you some press interest (which is good), the decision makers aren't based there

Isn't attention (ie: press interest) sending a message?  If there is an NCSoft logo in the background of the news footage, I would say something had been accomplished.

[Rae]

Vulpy - I can ask him, if you like. Maybe we could do coffee for the COH GMs? They've helped a bunch of us out over the years, I'm sure, and it couldn't hurt to get them on side.

..and..apparently there's only 4 COH GMs in Austin. That should be wicked easy to do, then.

Ducken - Oh, I'm all about press coverage Just passing the message on. He possibly assumed we were hoping to doorstep some decision-guys.

[eabrace]

Not to mention there's an "Admin" who keeps spawning AP33 for us after every server maintenance window.  That guy deserves a gift card to Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme...

[Rae]

I'm not sure who that is. Maybe a redname can tip off one of our glorious leaders?

[eabrace]

Speaking of...

@hitstreak

City of Heroes live servers are back online. AP33 is open as well. #cityofheroes

[TonyV]

I will make sure we get all the permits we need once we have a date set so we will be 100% legal.

If you can arrange this and want to coordinate these efforts, let me know.  I want to PM you about options to support this effort.  I like the idea of having people in matching t-shirts.  I'd like to try to get the press to cover it also.

[jeangray]

This needs to be done!  Wish I lived near any of the three locations to attend but don't.  Everyone who participates has my full support and gratitude. 

[LtlBtyRam]

Isn't attention (ie: press interest) sending a message?  If there is an NCSoft logo in the background of the news footage, I would say something had been accomplished.

@dwtruducken and then @rae yes this is more along the lines of why I was including Austin and Paragon Studios.  Not so much they are anything to do with the decisions, but as other locations with the same message would probably make it more newsworthy.  Not to mention it might give the people in those areas the feeling of actually being able to help the cause instead of feeling left out and sitting on the sidelines.

Angela
@Ventus vis Vires
@Villamos vis Vires Triumph server

[QuantumHero]

@dwtruducken and then @rae yes this is more along the lines of why I was including Austin and Paragon Studios.  Not so much they are anything to do with the decisions, but as other locations with the same message would probably make it more newsworthy.  Not to mention it might give the people in those areas the feeling of actually being able to help the cause instead of feeling left out and sitting on the sidelines.

Angela
@Ventus vis Vires
@Villamos vis Vires Triumph server

Glad to see you in the fight

Now if only there was someone I could picket...alas wrong location yet again

[Valjean]

I agree that leaving the Austin folks alone is a good idea. There are a lot of good people there, and they have nothing to do with this decision. The real decision makers are all in Seattle.

[Victoria Victrix]

I agree that leaving the Austin folks alone is a good idea. There are a lot of good people there, and they have nothing to do with this decision. The real decision makers are all in Seattle.

Then do this. 

Get someone with a good video camera.  Let's do a chip-in to buy the Austin folks pizza (there aren't that many of them).  Go to the Austin site.  Get the most photogenic of you in front of the camera, explain in 1 minute why you are there, then surprise the Austin folks with the pizza.  Send that to your local TV news programs, with a longer explanation of what we're doing and offer Mr (or Miss) Photogenic as the spokes person for a longer story.  Meanwhile upload YOUR vid to YouTube.

[Teege]

Make small crosses with hero names on them and stick them in the ground. They can walk past the stares and the graves of the heroes they're killing.

[Vulpy]

Then do this. 

Get someone with a good video camera.  Let's do a chip-in to buy the Austin folks pizza (there aren't that many of them).  Go to the Austin site.  Get the most photogenic of you in front of the camera, explain in 1 minute why you are there, then surprise the Austin folks with the pizza.  Send that to your local TV news programs, with a longer explanation of what we're doing and offer Mr (or Miss) Photogenic as the spokes person for a longer story.  Meanwhile upload YOUR vid to YouTube.

Seriously. Who do we have in Austin that might be able to take point on this?

[TimtheEnchanter]

I was thinking we could all hold Flashlights. I'd say torches but the Seattle Cops would not be amused. Not getting arrested is the name of the game. 

You may be able to get away with it if they're fake. Halloween is right around the corner and there's all sorts of faux flame devices out there (typically cellophane or tissue paper with lights and a fan underneath to make them flicker).

What worries me though is... Seattle is a pretty big protest town, right? And there's been a very extreme group of Anarchists all over the place, both in the U.S. and Canada, who have had a way of invading other causes and making them look like they're about Anarchy. This is largely how Occupy ended up getting such a bad rep.