Fraudulent Gamedays [Archive] - Wizards Community

Fraudulent Gamedays [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Britt
12-22-06, 11:13 AM There are some fraudulent gamedays being scheduled, probably in the attempts to procure a bunch of out-of-region adventures. The gamedays are usually entitled "Last Chance" and have a location of "Watchman" or "Across the Board". The coordinator surname is usually "Barnes" or "Burns" and the first name usually starts with a "C" or a "K". If you have any information about these, please let me know.
KShaver
12-22-06, 11:39 AM Wow, there are a lot of em. Do you have enough to pull the events? I sincerely hope any fraud like this is caught red handed.
gog
12-22-06, 07:32 PM This happens every single year. I reported it every time when I was on the Triad. It was even discussed there a few times. The Watchman one sticks in my mind as a recurring name.

Lance W.
Britt
12-22-06, 08:21 PM Yeah, I remember it from the "Watchman" part as well.
Redfist
12-23-06, 12:35 AM If "Watchman" did this before, can't someone search the database to get a list of players/DMs reported through that event? Better yet, find the information about the person(s) who created those events.

Find them. Beat them. Make it public. :D
Mithreinmaethor
12-23-06, 12:01 PM Thank you redfist. You read my mind. But what if they dont report it ? Then you just have people running around with AR's and access to stuff they shouldnt. I feel alot of them hear about certain access etc and they want it so they do this kind of crap.
Japangirl
12-23-06, 04:45 PM What's the point though? Why bother cheating in a game where the point is to survive and thrive through your own efforts? Wouldn't it cheapen everything if you cheated to get your stuff? It just doesn't make any sense!
MeinVT
12-23-06, 06:44 PM This does raise the question in my mind:

Is there any resource/is it even allowed to try to find old expired adventures just to see what happened in them?

I'm thinking more stuff like a plot synopsis, the encounters present, that sort of thing. As someone totally new to Living Greyhawk it feels a bit lacking in the clear sense of history.

I know this post started about issues of access, but I'm talking more about being able to read the old stories and gain a sense of history of the regions, etc.
LGMoses
12-23-06, 08:41 PM I would think passing around of old adventures would be discouraged as some of them have sequels or affect later ones. I know of one I just recently ran that sets up a ton of stuff for later and I'm going to run that mod soon. It was a regional though...
Shieldhart91
12-23-06, 09:52 PM First of all, I have to ask if there's a problem obtaining old adventurers. If a game is retired, I hardly see the issue of one obtaining it: as long as there aren't any ARs included in the adventurers, it's hardly a problem. Reading old material for reference and things to that effect...well, that's something that I hardly see as a threat.

That being said, I'd have to say if there was perhaps some service rendered by a regional triad member for players and DMs alike to download retired adventures these wouldn't be a problem. Then again, it's probably someone's intentions to get all of these adventurers before they time out so that they can get all of the juicy ARs.
Britt
12-23-06, 10:13 PM The main issue with retired adventures is copyright. Anything dealing with distribution of retired material would have to involve participation of both the author and WotC.
MeinVT
12-23-06, 10:24 PM I hate to add more to the plate of adventure writers, but I wonder if it would be possible going forward to have them provide a synopsis of the adventure to be published and made permanently available after the adventure itself is retired.

It is a bit weird to see five years worth of adventure titles on a regional website and know that if experienced players were around I could get some details on the region's history, but since I mostly play with a pretty new group it is as though none of that happened.

For example once the Bright Sands plot arc expires for play, will players who start LG in 2008 be able to legally go to some reference and read about what happened there?

Just random thoughts, and I apologize for the threadjacking.
Simpi
12-24-06, 03:58 AM It is a bit weird to see five years worth of adventure titles on a regional website and know that if experienced players were around I could get some details on the region's history, but since I mostly play with a pretty new group it is as though none of that happened.

Some regions do provide summaries of retired regionals. We have such information available and when new year rolls around, we add Y5 regionals to it: http://www.thesplinteredsun.info/naerie/retiredscenarios.doc

Sampo Haarlaa
Naerie Triad
MeinVT
12-24-06, 12:14 PM Sempo,
Those pages are awesome and exactly what the sort of thing I was talking about. It would be great if that could be standardized across all regions and core modules.

Thanks for the link.
Shieldhart91
12-28-06, 04:29 AM That all holds truth to it, I suppose. But the synopsis idea...definetly makes a lot of sense. I'd highly recommend it to every region that has the time for it.
LGMoses
12-28-06, 10:17 AM So the author does retain some rights to his created adventures? Thats cool? I just want to see my name on stuff :D
wagnert
12-28-06, 01:34 PM If I remember right, for current adventures, when they retire, the rights revert back to the author, but if s/he wants to republish the adventure, they must remove all Greyhawk specific references. The first few years of LG, all rights remained with WOTC, but they had to get permission from the author to republish them. It apparently was considered republishing as a bundle, but trying to locate all the author's for permission was too extensive and the idea was dropped.

Something similiar occurred with the adventures in the old Dungeon magazine. They just copied the magazine to CD as was, and released it that way, since magazine publication on a CD was still covered legally.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Britt 12-22-06, 11:13 AM	There are some fraudulent gamedays being scheduled, probably in the attempts to procure a bunch of out-of-region adventures. The gamedays are usually entitled "Last Chance" and have a location of "Watchman" or "Across the Board". The coordinator surname is usually "Barnes" or "Burns" and the first name usually starts with a "C" or a "K". If you have any information about these, please let me know.
KShaver 12-22-06, 11:39 AM	Wow, there are a lot of em. Do you have enough to pull the events? I sincerely hope any fraud like this is caught red handed.
gog 12-22-06, 07:32 PM	This happens every single year. I reported it every time when I was on the Triad. It was even discussed there a few times. The Watchman one sticks in my mind as a recurring name. Lance W.
Britt 12-22-06, 08:21 PM	Yeah, I remember it from the "Watchman" part as well.
Redfist 12-23-06, 12:35 AM	If "Watchman" did this before, can't someone search the database to get a list of players/DMs reported through that event? Better yet, find the information about the person(s) who created those events. Find them. Beat them. Make it public. :D
Mithreinmaethor 12-23-06, 12:01 PM	Thank you redfist. You read my mind. But what if they dont report it ? Then you just have people running around with AR's and access to stuff they shouldnt. I feel alot of them hear about certain access etc and they want it so they do this kind of crap.
Japangirl 12-23-06, 04:45 PM	What's the point though? Why bother cheating in a game where the point is to survive and thrive through your own efforts? Wouldn't it cheapen everything if you cheated to get your stuff? It just doesn't make any sense!
MeinVT 12-23-06, 06:44 PM	This does raise the question in my mind: Is there any resource/is it even allowed to try to find old expired adventures just to see what happened in them? I'm thinking more stuff like a plot synopsis, the encounters present, that sort of thing. As someone totally new to Living Greyhawk it feels a bit lacking in the clear sense of history. I know this post started about issues of access, but I'm talking more about being able to read the old stories and gain a sense of history of the regions, etc.
LGMoses 12-23-06, 08:41 PM	I would think passing around of old adventures would be discouraged as some of them have sequels or affect later ones. I know of one I just recently ran that sets up a ton of stuff for later and I'm going to run that mod soon. It was a regional though...
Shieldhart91 12-23-06, 09:52 PM	First of all, I have to ask if there's a problem obtaining old adventurers. If a game is retired, I hardly see the issue of one obtaining it: as long as there aren't any ARs included in the adventurers, it's hardly a problem. Reading old material for reference and things to that effect...well, that's something that I hardly see as a threat. That being said, I'd have to say if there was perhaps some service rendered by a regional triad member for players and DMs alike to download retired adventures these wouldn't be a problem. Then again, it's probably someone's intentions to get all of these adventurers before they time out so that they can get all of the juicy ARs.
Britt 12-23-06, 10:13 PM	The main issue with retired adventures is copyright. Anything dealing with distribution of retired material would have to involve participation of both the author and WotC.
MeinVT 12-23-06, 10:24 PM	I hate to add more to the plate of adventure writers, but I wonder if it would be possible going forward to have them provide a synopsis of the adventure to be published and made permanently available after the adventure itself is retired. It is a bit weird to see five years worth of adventure titles on a regional website and know that if experienced players were around I could get some details on the region's history, but since I mostly play with a pretty new group it is as though none of that happened. For example once the Bright Sands plot arc expires for play, will players who start LG in 2008 be able to legally go to some reference and read about what happened there? Just random thoughts, and I apologize for the threadjacking.
Simpi 12-24-06, 03:58 AM	It is a bit weird to see five years worth of adventure titles on a regional website and know that if experienced players were around I could get some details on the region's history, but since I mostly play with a pretty new group it is as though none of that happened. Some regions do provide summaries of retired regionals. We have such information available and when new year rolls around, we add Y5 regionals to it: http://www.thesplinteredsun.info/naerie/retiredscenarios.doc Sampo Haarlaa Naerie Triad
MeinVT 12-24-06, 12:14 PM	Sempo, Those pages are awesome and exactly what the sort of thing I was talking about. It would be great if that could be standardized across all regions and core modules. Thanks for the link.
Shieldhart91 12-28-06, 04:29 AM	That all holds truth to it, I suppose. But the synopsis idea...definetly makes a lot of sense. I'd highly recommend it to every region that has the time for it.
LGMoses 12-28-06, 10:17 AM	So the author does retain some rights to his created adventures? Thats cool? I just want to see my name on stuff :D
wagnert 12-28-06, 01:34 PM	If I remember right, for current adventures, when they retire, the rights revert back to the author, but if s/he wants to republish the adventure, they must remove all Greyhawk specific references. The first few years of LG, all rights remained with WOTC, but they had to get permission from the author to republish them. It apparently was considered republishing as a bundle, but trying to locate all the author's for permission was too extensive and the idea was dropped. Something similiar occurred with the adventures in the old Dungeon magazine. They just copied the magazine to CD as was, and released it that way, since magazine publication on a CD was still covered legally.