There are a lot of posts here about the events surrounding Sodawater (#7) but few even touch on the core issue. So while I would like to avoid a wall of text it's always a bit complex when there's a chain of events. To those possessing at best a sixth grade reading level, your eyes may glaze. Remember to blink, use eye drops if you must.
First I want to thank the gamedevs. I hear the bug that allowed a country to self-delete right after attacking has been found and repaired. I understand it was a particularly difficult solve, many thanks for sticking with it and finding the problem. With it resolved Monsters now are comfortable detailing events pertinent to discussion in this thread.
In reference to the bug: Announcements of Aug 1st 2012
http://forums.earthempires.com/...threadid=19340&page=1
"Self Deletion:
- You must now wait 72 hours after attacking before you are allowed to self-delete your country."
This bug came to light in events of April 30
ref:
http://earthgraphs.com/...aph=alive&tab=history
2013-04-30 22:00 (Rank) 7 Einstein Lebowski (#133) [SoF] 26,414 12,561,589 T Dead A
2013-04-30 21:52 Einstein Lebowski (#133) [SoF] Sodawater (#7) [MONSTERS] PS 4,362A (+2,170A)
2013-04-30 01:51 Einstein Lebowski (#133) [SoF] Little MMJ Shop of Horrors (#602) [MONSTERS] PS 1,139A (+894A)
Here ^ we can see #133 made two grabs within 20 hours then self deleted within 8 minutes of the 2nd hit, making retals on his country impossible.
#133's first grab above was 1/3 of a three-grab play by SoF in which three SoF countries (including the country belonging to a SoF aFA) grabbed three Monsters within eleven minutes which did prompt immediate FA contact. It was then that Monsters found that through an oversight on our part our uNAP with SoF had not been renewed at the beginning of the set. That's 100% on us, our bad.
Terms for a new uNAP pact were set immediately and agreed to by FA representatives of each alliance. With the MD war erupting the aFA from SoF told our FA representative that he was posting internally to SoF members that if anyone grabbed another Monster they would owe 300% L:L. Later, after the war with MD went full-blown, he explained that he didn't mean it, it was just said to discourage SoF members from using turns grabbing instead of attacking MD.
The question arises, then why tell us about 300% L:L in Monsters if it's just meant as a deception to your own members?
Hours later came #133's second grab in 20 hours (this time on Sodawater (#7) and nearly immediate self-delete.
Since that time, #133's alliance has chosen to deny offers of fair compensation and will not take responsibility for their tagged member's unfair (per intended game mechanics) self-deleting top ten member.
We in Monsters do not know if this was an intentional exploitation of a known bug. It was not known to us. We prefer to think the self-delete was not that nefarious.
But SoF has yet to take responsibility for the action.
As if by selective memory, they didn't even want to discuss the deletion in earnest and not at all after #131's topfeed. What they wanted to talk about was a member/members of our alliance dropping defense to allow 19 retals.
The Q still remains; why did #133 self-delete?
It was IMO because after making that second grab, on Sodawater (#7), he was told by someone in a leadership role that he would suffer heavy retals per terms of the pact that was agreed to by both parties during the 20 hours between his first and second grab.
Why else would he delete his top ten country eight minutes after making (what was at the time) the largest grab of the set, other than in a ragequit?
When Sodawater (#7) was later topfed by #131:
2013-05-17 00:12 Baby Noah FTW (#131) [SoF] Sodawater (#7) [MONSTERS] PS 5,742A (+2,452A)
he was still waiting for fair and due compensation and/or offer of recouping land lost to #133 seventeen days prior. So was #602. And in response to #131's topfeed, Sodawater (#7) retaliated per the terms of the uNAP.
Also note that six hours after #131's topfeed SoF posted on AT to take SoF off of war dnh:
Earth / Alliance Talk / You may take Sof of wardnh
iScode May 17th 2013, 6:37:48
Thank you rival for policing for us.
Whether defined in the uNAP (that SoF used semantics to attempt to negate) or not applicable to pact terms, it was after the fifth week of the set, and #131's grab was by SoF's own definition a topfeed.
SoF Retal Policy
http://forums.earthempires.com/Forum.php?threadid=21944
#131 RoR'd, and the response by Sodawater (#7) was immediate and actually quite restrained considering all circumastances. And the pact is very specific, no FA contact is required to carry out the retals. Was Sodawater (#7) supposed to wait and chance another self-deletion for which SoF would again refuse to take responsibility? really?
Multiple sources have revealed to us the well known nick of the self-deleter. Apparently in a ragequit, he also has not made an EE forum post since the same day of his self-deletion, April 30th.
Although the events that followed cannot be changed, it just might help to clear this up if the SoF self-deleter had the integrity to tell us why he self-deleted.
If it wasn't due to learning of pact-sanctioned retals he had coming, then what IS the reason for deleting his rank seven country eight minutes after making the biggest grab of the set? And with his alliance about to erupt into war with MD?
This person is most certainly not away from a computer, as he has been seen in #earthempires. To you, owner of Einstein Lebowski (#133), I would ask that you step up and simply tell your story without the SoF spin.
EE Patron
