MSM MSM & Entropia Planets Merge

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Every day is a gift, because no day is guaranteed, and if something isn’t working, there’s an opportunity to change it. Therefore, going back to the drawing board is a matter of necessity. I think it’s important to see things as they are, no matter how much you would like them to be different, and that was my first priority in reassessing the current situation with MSM.

I included something I wrote in a previous MS9 Blah’g entry because it fits the current situation, and then I added the information that applies to changes and where I’m headed effective immediately.

WHAT I WANTED ( - aka "The Vision")

The goal was to develop a true EU news service that would report on all that was happening on every planet, and build a staff that had an opportunity to travel the universe in our own dedicated Mothership (Yamato) in order to cover the news. It was also important to me that staff be compensated, which is something I was going to be able to do based on commitment by at least three Planet Partners, or so I was told by one, but only one followed through. I never got a response from the other two, so I’m assuming that they changed their minds and are no longer interested.

WHY INITIAL GOALS WEREN'T ACHIEVED

It didn’t work out as planned or expected, so I did the best I could under the circumstances to keep content flowing, and then another door opened up – or rather – others started knocking on my door. First, the President of MindArk’s PR agency contacted me via an introduction through Dave Dobson, and ultimately through John Bates (EU’s Evangelist), and I give a big thanks to both for the opportunity to do something new and beneficial for the community.

David T (PR Pres) was excited to work with me because he had inside sources (MA) that I may not have, and I had planetary resources that he didn’t have or know of, and felt that together we could accomplish what his goal was – “to get news out to the press about great things in EU, on every planet and in space, to get us more buzz, more players and more respect in the MMO world” – a good goal for sure, so I was on board to help make it happen.

Well, after the community got wind that I was being given press releases to publish an hour earlier than the actual newswires were to receive them, it didn’t set well with them, but I fully understood their position. While it’s nice to be able to be of service in some beneficial way, I can be objective about this as well, and don’t blame them for feeling the way they did. David T tried to do his best to defend what was going on, but the community wasn’t very kind to him, which is unfortunate.

On top of this, while the CEO of Calypso at the time (Sven Sandberg) never responded to the inquiry about supporting MSM based on a certain criteria, which I was led to believe was already in place, he approached me (I’m assuming on behalf of MindArk since learned he was also on their Board of Directors – not confirmed), to ask about my articles at MSM. He said my writing gave him a good feeling, my articles were written well and wouldn’t need to be changed, and they also included graphics. He asked if they could use some of my articles as their newsletters because they were currently limited on resources with regard to communication and marketing. I was actually honored they wanted to partner in this way, but then …

When the community had issue about the press releases (which I respect), and MindArk did nothing to validate or confirm their part in all of this, (basically ignoring it until it went away), it painted a very clear picture for me. They wanted the benefit of my writing skills but weren’t pro enough to come forward and publicly support what they initiated, nor to support what MSM was attempting to do on their behalf. I was told that MindArk would be making a public statement, but we all know that this didn’t happen.

TO ACHIEVE THE ORIGINAL VISION

In order to accomplish my original goal, everything that was committed to and anticipated would have had to be in place, and while some were enthusiastic out the gate, there needs to be a consistency in commitment, whether it’s with time, talent, or otherwise, and this just didn’t happen at the level required to achieve the vision. You’re either in, or you’re out, there’s no in between.

Just for the record, those who have contributed to MSM are greatly appreciated for their work, so thank you. It’s very much a difficult challenge to find people willing to consistently dedicate time and effort to a project when they have other responsibilities and a focus on other interests, but I get that, and respect it, so I also don’t have an issue with it. That’s why I always mentioned to staff that if we have something coming up to work on and they had other things they needed to tend to, just let me know, because I can support that, but not communicating when a commitment has been made, and letting time pass without connecting, is not acceptable to me. It has the tendency to disrupt the process and produce setbacks, and unfortunately, when running a news service, the goal is to keep the news constantly flowing.

WHERE I GO FROM HERE

For quite some time now, I have been courted by my long-time friends and previous EntropiaPlanets Staff teammates to consider the possibility of working together in some capacity to expand media coverage in our universe. One person in particular (Tass) was very relentless and persuasive.

After much discussion, and accepting the fact that I can’t run MSM alone in the manner in which I would love to for the community, I accepted the offer for MindStar Media and Entropia Planets to merge efforts to bring an even greater service to the developers and participants of our universe.

Effective immediately, I am back on Staff at Entropia Planets full-time, and any further writing that I do will be published at EP only, unless we decide to work on special projects that requires publishing elsewhere. The details are still being worked out, but the name of the site will still remain Entropia Planets.

MSM has had a sub-section at EP for quite some time now, but there are plans to give it more of a presence which will happen as soon as possible. As mentioned, there is still some planning and details to work out, but I’m looking forward to combining forces to bring an even more vibrant level of news and information to the community.

With regard to the MSM website, some of the content will be moved to EP, especially content that will be beneficial for discussion. MSM is a read only website, so interaction was not possible. This way, anything I publish at EP will have an instant comment feature, or for any questions that some might have.

MSM will remain accessible, but eventually there will only be a cover page directing everyone to Entropia Planets. My plan is to do my best to help develop a more expansive level of coverage of our universe, and to inspire increased membership of this all-universe site that also offers a wicked Wiki. I have already been informed of some future plans for EP, and I’m rather excited about being a part of it.

Thank you to all who have supported my media efforts for 8+ years, and for continuing to support what I do, even though I may be all over the map at times. At least you know the writing will be there in one way or another, and I feel I will be more inspired to write in the company of long-time friends and supporters.

It’s time to get busy.

 

You ARE to blame ... although the torture chamber wasn't THAT bad. I'm really happy to be back too, and looking forward to what we can all do together. I need to get my mojo workin' again, and being in the company of old friends and virtual co-workers is always inspirational.

I think we'll be kicking it up a notch or two.