Hblair...
It came from here:
http://www.icrontic.com/#3158New Info:
http://www.icronticforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18388 ----------------------------------------
I cannot help but be amused at the rather poor attempt at a hoax this letter provides. Playnet did not file for bankruptcy, nor are there any plans to. Additionally, after speaking with several good friends of mine who ARE legitimate affiliates of Playnet and Cornered Rat Software, this information is nothing more than a hoax aimed at destroying the company's reputation, for whatever reason this person deemed worthy.
Let's look at a few of the small bits of this hoax letter that can explain my point. First off, Playnet, Inc. does NOT own Cornered Rat Software. CRS is an AFFILIATE of Playnet, just like Intelgamer and the other affiliates out there. Strategy First is the publisher for WWIIOL, and the primary reason for the state of the game upon its release. CRS has gone above and beyond the call to complete the game to user expectations despite the faults of Strategy First's business decisions.
Next, let's exame this so-called affiliate. First, I cannot help but notice the person who was in charge of this affiliate does not post the name of the affiliate. I know of all of the WWIIOL affiliates, and none have shown any signs of Playnet going bankrupt. Additionally, this same hoax was perpetrated 2 weeks ago to draw players away from Playnet and to rival services. This came after several affiliates were terminated for not following Playnet's Terms of Service.
Let's next address the loss of service for today. This network maintenance was announced well in advance, 2 weeks ago in fact. As with all Internet-based companies, there is always a need to periodically bring down services for upgrades or just a simple format and reinstall. All affiliates were notified that Playnet systems were to be down during a set time period well in advance.
Finally, let's cover WWIIOL. Yes, they did layoff some people. This was in response to the spike in hiring that was required due to Strategy First's push of the game out before it was ready. Additionally, several members of the staff were found to not be producing work that was acceptable to CRS management, and thus their jobs were cut to avoid further problems in the future. Contrary to popular thought on the matter, the only CRS employees that were laid off were those who had either outlived their usefulness or had no further work assigned to them. All of the designers and coders for CRS that have made the game a revolutionary product (despite the disasterous release) are still there plugging away to give us more systems that we, as gamers, wish to see.
I caution those who would take the original hoax message to heart to look closely at what is being posted before blindly believing it. I am a member of the Allied High Command for WWIIOL, one of the 50 or so players assigned the duty of attempting to lead the 5000 or so Allied players we currently have. I have played this game since its release, and it has improved greatly from its Beta release state. I encourage the would-be attackers of CRS to try the game out in its current state, and see how addicting it truly is.
__________________
Snake
WWIIOL Player and Addict
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[ 12-27-2001: Message edited by: Badger ]
