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Jul 18, 2001, 1:27am

There was a time in AW when COF actually had a presence in the AW Community. There
was a time in AW when the concerns of the AW populace were actually considered before
a decision was made. There was a time in AW when people would meet in a little world
called The Transcend, and eagerly listen to COF's biggest announcements and plans for
the future. There was a time when, rather than see a product that was full of
potential get tossed aside like so much garbage, COF took it upon themselves to keep
it alive, doing it "for the community".
That was then; this is now. All the broken promises, unheard pleas, and unanswered
concerns lie plain for all to see like an open book. Citizenships that were
guaranteed to be free, abruptly changed to a paid system and unwittingly creating a
caste system of haves and have-nots that would forever divide the community. Worlds
like COFMeta, Atlantis, and WildAW, the "babies" of AWCI employees, now stand nearly
deserted and devoid of life due to neglect. World prices skyrocket out of control
without any prior warning or notification as the AW citizen base, mostly teenagers,
scramble to find enough money for their dream world. Features appear in the software
that only a marketing executive could love, as citizens' ideas go completely and
blatantly ignored. Organizations that once thrived on AWCI support (AWHS, AWEC, et
al) now stand in a state of dormancy, waiting for someone to help bring them to their
former glory. Textures get changed without any notification whatsoever, forever
changing, and in some cases, ruining the AW landscape.
And all this because of money; a simple, desperate, constant search for money. While
you were busy building virtual malls that no one would visit, you succeeding in
disenfranchising the AW populace by raising world prices and changing textures
without any input from your supposed "cherished" user base. While you were busy
shaking hands with Juno and making their world, a man by the name of Cybernome left
his post as caretaker of COFMeta (a world that *you*, AWCI, are supposed to be taking
care of) because of the stress of dealing with the AWCI management, causing it to
regress back to an empty, lonely world. While you were busy making Universes that
soon flopped, your stock did a reverse split and you actually had to buy some of your
own stock back! And while you were busy changing names and appointing Board members,
your own employees go as unnoticed and ignored as the citizens they spend their daily
lives helping and serving.
There's a reason this letter starts with the greeting "To Whom It May Concern". It's
a greeting that asks a simple question: Does this concern you? Do these things that
have occurred over the years bother you? Do you think something should be done about
them? If so, then why haven't you? The events that are described here, as well as
many others, are all well documented, so it's not as if you didn't know about them.
You are all perfectly aware of this buzzing community of people that has "suddenly"
sprung up around your little piece of software, yet you chose not to address it.
Instead of seeking to help nurture and grow this throng of loyal followers who have
been with you since the beginning, you wish to try and lure in companies and
businesses who might initially fall for the "revolutionary
e-commerce/education/modeling/simulation/whatever software" routine, but soon
discover it's nothing more than an elaborate chat room.
If it's money you're after, why not look at what has and has not worked in your
storied history so far. Virtual malls have proven to be completely ineffective, with
at mart standing empty, except for the occasional tourist lured away from AWGate. Your
precious Education universe, as well as worlds created for universities and colleges,
lie empty and dead, never to be visited again. Even your most recent projects, like
Nettazi, fail to draw in even a hint of revenue. On the other hand, mainstays like AW
and AWTeen continue to draw in hundreds of users on a daily basis. Volunteers like
Alphabit Phalpha, Brant, Bille, and countless others provide events and community
services that keep people coming back. Even employees like Facter, Flagg, and Roland
do all that they can to help make the community a better place, even if it's on their
own time! And all of these things work for one simple reason: it's for the community!
The community can make AW work!
All it takes is turning around and looking at who's behind you. Will Juno care about
AW's community and development? Will Nettaxi? Will NASA or the University of Santa
Cruz or PCDJ.com or some other corporate sponsor down the road? When all is said and
done, when all the deals have past and all the money has been squandered, we will
still be here, supporting everything you do. Why? Simply because we have taken the
time to invest in your product to its fullest. We are the ones who have committed to
making AW the greatest place for people to come and, ultimately, spend their
hard-earned money. We are the ones who have succeeded in keeping this company afloat,
despite all the hardships and bad decisions. And we are the ones who can help you
bring AW into the forefront, where it belongs; where it *needs* to be.
But in order to do that, our voices need to be heard. We need to work together if
you ever want to see this program break out of this cycle of stagnation. Your
concerns must become our concerns, and our concerns must become your concerns. Only
then, will AWCI begin to see true success, and AW will launch into the stratosphere.
Still, the question remains: Are these your concerns? Do the ideas expressed in this
letter, and echoed by hundreds of users before us, even register with you? Because if
they don't, you've essentially told every single person who's ever bought a
citizenship or a world or a t-shirt or a CD, who's ever started a community
organization or a business in AW, that it was all for nothing. You might as well tell
everyone to send you a check for $20 in the mail every year and never even come to AW
at all.
The community can help you, if you are willing to let it. Let us be heard, and
together we can bring AW out of the darkness and into the spotlight where it belongs.
Because *that* should be everyone's primary concern.

Most Sincerely,
Bob Rodehorst
"Goober King" (#103935)

---------------------------------------------
This is the letter I plan on sending to every single person on the AWCI roster.
Whether you like me or not is irrelevant. Whether you believe AWCI has a right to
ignore us or not is irrelevant. Whether you think this letter has a snowball's chance
in hell of making anything happen or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters
is, if you agree with the statements written above, please show your support by
replying to this message with your cit name and number. If you want, you can add
extra weight to your "signature" by adding your real name, to demonstrate that you
are a real person and not just some random number. In either case, the more people
who sign it, the better chance of us actually being considered.
So please, let's drop all of our petty squabbles just this once, and show AWCI that
we can actually stand united as one for the common good. Because if we can't, then we
are no better than the company we complain about. I still have some faith in my
fellow community members. Don't destroy it.

--
Goober King
Proof that Goobers ARE as dumb as they look.
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

Jul 18, 2001, 5:22pm

Cit number #321657

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