Josan of Winterwind Productions that they had posted an interview with non other then Krazikatt (former webmonkey for IPLY). Here's a bit:<blockquote>WW: In the summer of 2003, Interplay closed the community forums (leaving only the game specific fora) allegedly because management feared action from the US Government when a forum member made a joke about a presidential assassination. This alienated a large number of members/customers. You fought very hard to save those fora on behalf of the fan base. [Note: IPLY closed not only the political discussion forum but the Arts and Sports fora as well.] Can you now tell us anything about the reasoning behind IPLY's decision and how did management's seeming disregard for the fans/customers affect your morale as the web designer and forum administrator?
SM: Actually someone did make a comment about a presidential assassination but you could tell that they were obviously just kidding around. I personally didn’t think much of it and probably just would have warned the guy and deleted the post. But they freaked out and actually wanted to shut down the forums completely. I fought them and they finally agreed to only shut down the community forums. I told them this was a mistake and we would alienate our fan base, but I seemed to be the only one who thought that way. They seemed to think that the forums were just a waste of time and money, and that they were one big liability (hello! That’s why we have a disclaimer!!) I personally think that a community surrounding your company and games is a very good thing! I really couldn’t understand why they would want to get rid of it. It did affect my moral. It was just the beginning of my journey to hating the company so much that I finally quit. </blockquote>There's more where that came from.
Link: Krazikatt interview
SM: Actually someone did make a comment about a presidential assassination but you could tell that they were obviously just kidding around. I personally didn’t think much of it and probably just would have warned the guy and deleted the post. But they freaked out and actually wanted to shut down the forums completely. I fought them and they finally agreed to only shut down the community forums. I told them this was a mistake and we would alienate our fan base, but I seemed to be the only one who thought that way. They seemed to think that the forums were just a waste of time and money, and that they were one big liability (hello! That’s why we have a disclaimer!!) I personally think that a community surrounding your company and games is a very good thing! I really couldn’t understand why they would want to get rid of it. It did affect my moral. It was just the beginning of my journey to hating the company so much that I finally quit. </blockquote>There's more where that came from.
Link: Krazikatt interview
