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[Ed Sullivan]

Well, the site still isn't up and most of us seem to have figured Doust screwed us. But now what do we do?

Well, Dune has talked to the owner(?) of a shop called The Magic Obsession (TMOB). Some of you might reconize TMOB from ebay. He is offering to share space on a server with us. The only fees we (may) have to pay setup fees (if any). I'm post our email conversation here:
http://total-des.hypermart.net/cpa/tmob.txt

Or we could always try and see if we can get on CCG News. Any other options? Thoughts?

-mike
Let's get this party started!

 

[Ferret]

Whatever the rest of the group wants on this I'll go with - but if they ask for that startup fee, I think I'll have to give a negative vote. I've already seen how investing before a guarantee is given can lead to you getting screwed...has anyone talked to MTGNews?

-ferret

"...fiance in Chicago for weekend...losing mind..."

 

[Baron Sengir]

I agree with Ferret. If there's an upfront fee I'm kind of leery of signing up right away. Personally, I'd prefer to go with a big name like ccgnews but I can see the merits of going with a smaller group too. I'll go with whatever you guys want but I think we should try ccgnews before we commit to the smaller guy.

I remain
The Baron
technophobe

 

[Dune Echo]

Well, I'd like to go with TMOB. We've been screwed by the big companies before. Remember, Doust sought us out and we were screwed by someone who specifically wanted us. What's to keep that from happening? Also, aren't we legally obligated to get Ferret's money back? If Doust isn't going to pull through, then Ferret deserves to get his money back, no matter where we go.

 

[TomB]

Well, Mike, er Ed, you're the web guy, and if it'll work for you, it'll work for me. I just wonder about the requirements stated on the piece about the TMOB server, and if they're compatable with your system, Ed.

I agree with the Baron, that Ferret shouldn't be out that money, and it still surprises me that Doust would seemingly steal it like that. If Ferret can't get it back from Doust, or cancel the check or something, then I agree we should all chip something in to reimburse Ferret. Hell, I'd have been willing to chip in in the first place.

TomB
CPA Member
...TomB...TMOB...sounds like a match Gene!

"

[Edited by TomB (10-15-1999 at 03:59 PM).]

 

[Ferret]

Well, as much as I appreciate it, I'm not too worried about the money. I'm not exactly rich, but I've taken harder hits on investments before. I mean, it did secure us the domain and if going w/ TMOB means we can do something w/ it I'm game.

-ferret

"...so, should we send them an email saying how much we love them?"

 

[nekrataal]

If we can't do anything about getting on mtgnews, then I say we go with TMOB. As long as we get to use the casualplayers.org domain I'm happy.

Also, has Doust just totally screwed us? I mean to cancel on a deal is one thing, but to steal $200 like that is just wrong. We need to get Doust's attention on this issue. He has taken ferret for 200 bucks and taken the CPA's momentum with it. I suggest we continue emailing him until he responds. If worse comes to worse we can let the entire magic community know of his bad dealings through the dojo or someting. He'll have to face reality about it sometime and get back to us.

-nekrataal
"my comment for the day..."

 

[Ed Sullivan]

I got an idea. Instead of reinbursing Ferret with money, how about we just send him all of our Joven's Ferrets! How does that sound Ferret?

Anyway, about the possible server incapatibilities, I think it's worked out. I actually sent another email back it TMOB (Chuck actually) but I didn't have a copy of that to attach. In that I said that I have MS Personal Web Server installed and it has a publish feature that is like FrontPage.

Oh yeah, and about those "advantages". Yeah, they'll definately be there. Just I dunno if our email will be whatever@casualplayers.org. It might be cpa@magic-singles.com. But, hey, it still fits! I just wanna get this !@#$%^%$#@! going!!!

About CCG News:
I checked mtgnews today, and they said that they have 2 more affiliates coming. I'm not sure, but I think they may have stopped excepting.

Doust:
Does anyone have his snail mail address? That could be a suprise. Just make a custom CPA letterhead and then have each member send him a letter.

-mike

 

[Baron Sengir]

Well, it looks like the majority of us want to go with TMOB. I just want to make sure of one thing first: Will being partners with TMOB deprive us of our independence? I don't want to see the CPA turn into nothing more than a tool to sell cards. I was worried about that with Doust but he assured me we wouldn't be. Obviously, this must be what he meant.

I don't want someone else to be running the Casual Players Alliance. The members of the council must be in charge and okay any and all things dealing with the CPA just like it is now or I want no part of anything, be it MtgNews, Newwave or TMOB. This organization is ours and must remain ours. We are a people's group and I'd like it to stay that way. I have no problem with a partnership, I don't want to be absorbed.

Could you have Chuck e-mail me? I have a couple of questions I have to ask him. Ed or Dune, please give him my address and tell him to e-mail me. I will feel better about all this if I can at least talk to the man.

I remain
The Baron
One Alliance, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all ...

 

[Ferret]

Good point, Tony (Baron). The CPA was founded to provide a place for non-pro players to discuss things and try to effect change in the game...looking back, I guess I would have preferred Brainburst. At the time they were still pretty small and had only minor affiliations w/ cardsellers - of course, now they're Doust's way of competing w/ The Dojo.

I guess I don't want to get caught up in that competition and I don't want to be used as someone's tool. As long as we keep our autonomy I don't care where we end up...

-ferret

"...the equal oportunity offender..."

 

[Ed Sullivan]

Well, let me just tell you that what Chuck has in mind is just to let us go free, but use us to help his business. Which is the point of a business isn't it? Obviously we'll place his ads on our pages, and I think he's going to do the same. He may want a little press release on our site occasionally, but that is understandable--after all, he is paying.

Anyway, as Chuck said in his last email, he is away for the weekend because his son races. You may want to email him yourself.
Chasden@att.net
Just tell him who you are.

-mike

 

[Baron Sengir]

I agree with you that Ferret should get his money back, even if we all have to chip in a buck or two. There's no reason he should have to be punished for being generous. I think this matter should be put to a vote.

I remain
The Baron
democratic to the last

 

[Ed Sullivan]

Let me clarify somethings here.

Upfront Fees:
What we need is a "child" level domain. In otherwords, a folder on they're server that hooks upto our domain. This may or may not have an upfront fee. According to they're "specials" page you get 3 free. On the "features" page it's not mentioned. The max would be $20. I don't mind paying that.

CCG News vs. TMOB:
CCG News, while bigger, is not guaranteeing that we get a site with them. I don't even know if they're excepting sites anymore.
With TMOB we get guaranteed a site, a good server (they guarentee 99.9% uptime), more features, such as: email addresses (whatever@casualplayers.org), autoresponders, and more.
And I don't think TMOB will give us the royal shaft. Dune can always go yell at him IRL.

I guess my vote is for TMOB.
-mike

[Edited by Ed Sullivan (10-15-1999 at 12:59 PM).]

 

[Baron Sengir]

Thanks, Ed. I'll e-mail him on Sunday then. I appreciate it.

I remain
The Baron
still recovering from a wonderful, wonderful night ...

 

[Ed Sullivan]

You know, does anyone else think The Dojo would love to print the article "David Doust: The Man, The Myth, The Unethical One"

And before we submit it to places, I think we should send it to Doust, saying "if you do not reply to this with answers to our questions, this will be printed on some of the largets magic sites on the net." And then I'm still gonna write something about it on the front page of the site.

-mike

 

[nekrataal]

Good idea Ed, I'm all for something like that happening. What Doust has done must be known to others and this will give us one last chance for him to come through either with the money or the deal. Personally, I now don't care for an alliance with Doust. Even the Dojo wouldn't have ignored us as long as he has. If you guys want me to write something up about Doust, I can get it to you by Tuesday.

Hope this all pans out, we've lost waaay to much momentum already.

-nekrataal

 

[Zadok001]

Well, I go away for a few days, and everything changes again.

Cool.

Sounds good to me, all things considered. However, I would like someone (Baron, Ferret, me, ANYONE) to submit an article to Newwave, Brainburst, the Dojo, MtgNews, etc, telling everyone what happened with Doust. This kind of activity is ethically unacceptable.

On the topic of TMOB, I couldn't agree more. We got screwed over by Doust and company, maybe relating ourselves to a much smaller organization can be more effective. Right now, our priority is getting our site up and running, and open to the public. Once we've accomplished that, we're almost home free.

Therefore, the problem is now: What, exactly, do we do about Doust? As I said earlier, we can complain to everyone. But we need to do something. If we don't, everyone will decide that we're a fairly easy target, and try to do the same thing. Is there another method we can use?

--Zadok001, aka Greater Good fanatic

 

[Baron Sengir]

I think we're set to gain back a lot of momentum. The return of some much-missed admins has helped a great deal in boosting my confidence in this league. I can't stress enough how good it is to have everyone back. Well, almost everyone. Anyone know what igfett and Young Jedi are up to?

As far as this article goes, we have to be ultra careful not to commit slander or libel. No name calling at all or we could all get in some serious legal trouble. I saw it happen on campus here. Some guy posted a nasty opinion about one of the teachers and got sued. It ain't pretty. I think that whoever writes a letter should post it here first so everyone can check it out and see if it is something we all agree on.

As far as this letter goes, I would very much like to write it. I have had conversations with Mr. David Doust and was the guy he talked to as far as getting everything set up. I feel personally slighted and would like a chance to let him know how I feel.

As far as posting this letter, we are also opening ourselves up to comments from Mr. Doust. We just need to be aware of that. That being said, I still wanna write this sucker. He deserves a little bad press after the way he's treated us.

I remain
The Baron
Kicking ass and taking names

 

[Ed Sullivan]

Go ahead and write the letter Tony. I'm just saying, before we post anything, we send it to Doust. If he doesn't respond, its his fault.

On a side note, anyone here playing with the Asheron's Call beta? It's pretty cool actually. I'm still in low levels though.

-mike

 

[Baron Sengir]

Agreed. The letter will be up here soon.

I remain
The Baron
puttin the smack down