Odesseus sent the following commentary on recent housing difficulties to TMN:
"Dateline: Puddleby
"Until recently, if you failed to pay your rent on time, up to the minute, and in full, your house and all its contents may—poof!—have vanished, with no notice of its repossession! Don't pay your rent, and the repossessor crew would swoop in, zip up your home with all your trophies, and steal off into the night.
Read below for more on one exile's plight and the eventual happy resolution.
"On the Sentinel, Michael wrote: 'Well my house is gone. With no warning. Not only is the house gone, but so is everything I had in it. I guess I fell to far behind. I just wasent making enough coins anymore.'
"This is disturbing. Michael wrote three sentences without a single curse word in it. Also, the fact that his house and its very impressive trophy cache has simply vanished.
"He continued: 'I lost a lot of important stuff. Stuff that I put a lot of time and effort into getting. Stuff that had a whole lot of meaning for me. I would like some kind of answer from a GM here. There have been a lot of things I havent liked in CL before, but nothing like this. Its not good to punish players.'
"Michael's very heartfelt and unusually lucid outcry was picked up by others including this intrepid reporter. Should we be cast out into the damp, vermine-infested fields simply because our rankwhore practices fall behind? Certainly not!
"Fortunately, the Gods that are Mad (or GMs) heard our plea and responded! Pengy wrote: 'This issue was recently discussed among the GMs. Michael, I have passed on your post to make sure that everyone has at least read it. I don't know if or what is being done about it.'
"Ah, well, some interest, but, perhaps, no rejoicing yet. The Gods notice, but may or may not care. Typical.
"Pengy also wrote something of great interest: 'Reasonable discussion will go far further than angry rants and I appreciate the tone of your post. Thanks.'
"As if to anticipate all of our stunned minds, Tigger responded: 'Michael . . . are you medicated? I'm worried about you. (Seriously, that is a painful story though, I hope they do something about that. Stuffed Qual drink holders don't grow on trees.)'
"Still reeling from this side discussion, the real nub was resolved by TinkerGM: 'Don't worry - I'll fix it. The data for your house is not gone, it's saved off someplace safe and it's fairly easy to put back. Which I will do. I agree the whole housing repossession thing is a little messed up right now. It's way too easy to not notice when you get behind, and then lose your house.'
"Let the rejoicing begin! But wait! There's more! Tinker GM writes: 'P.S. - There have been some other houses repossessed as well. I think this part of the game mechanic is broken, so I'll put them back when the repossession thing is fixed (hopefully for Wednesday's update)'
"The gods must be crazy! There was singing in the streets! Zos and Sylvans hugged! People actually smiled at Pogues! Dwarves drank beer! (Oh, wait, they always do that...)
"And a final word from Michael: 'Wow thanks that makes my week! I am sorta beyond words. Just thanks.' And in more ways than one, that comment from Michael left us all beyond words, too. Rest easy, Puddleby. Your homes are safe."
Posted by Para at March 06, 2005 09:09 PM