he's also been doing things that were not in HeavenGames best interest and in direct violation of the Staff Agreement.

And what are the things that he's been doing?

Wait, what?

;___;

This is some kind of late april fools joke, right?

Sadly, no.

As for what he's been doing, that's for him to share, not for me.

Now this is something I totally wasn't expecting.

This reminds me of when Atzy and Alex got banned, except not quite as bad.

Late April Fools?

Man, I wasn't expecting that.

It is always a surprise when a mod gets de-modded or banned. Too often I think people envision the mods as infallible beings. That is unfortunately not the case.

[This message has been edited by Catabre (edited 04-16-2008 @ 01:13 PM).]

o_O

This is no joke.


Nothing Moshe was doing was illegal or anything like that, and it was a long-term problem that was damaging to Heavengames as a business. He did some great work for us as a newsie and staffer, but we had little choice but to let him go.

I am sorry to hear about this decision.
I was under the impression Ensemble didn’t mind me sending them information about current AOE3 issues.

A year ago I was in direct contact with Tony Goodman before I was offered to become a moderator.
I was talking to him over the phone about implementing CSO (Custom Scenarios Online) since that was not implemented when the game was released.
Later on we communicated about the “Strategic Objectives” contest and prizes.

When the contest was over I was asked my Ensemble’s moderators not to contact Tony Goodman any more and instead contact them via email.
So after that I stopped contacting Tony Goodman directly.

Over the past year I have been reporting many issues to Ensemble’s moderators via emails honoring their request.

A week ago I sent Ensemble an email about the “Failed to Join Game” online issue that is affecting so many players.
This has become a serious issue lately and there are many AOE3 players who are very frustrated with this problem because they can’t play online.
In this email I included 20+ pages of AOE3 player’s comments about this issue.
Many of these comments were not favorable to Ensemble.
I did so in order to show Ensemble how serious this issue is, and asked them to escalate this issue with their top management.

I guess that the top management received that copy so some people at Ensemble are not too happy about it.
Ensemble then sent HG staff an email telling them that they were getting sick and tired of being pestered by me again.
The fact of the matter is that I was only reporting the “Failed to Join Game” issue to Ensemble with the hope that they will give it a top priority.

I guess they don’t want any issues to be escalated and they prefer to have me out of the way so I don’t keep raising issues.

By the way, CSO was implemented after I talked to Tony Goodman over the phone about this issue.
He then told me he will look into it and a month later he told me that they are going to implement CSO.

This time I didn’t contact Tony directly about the “Failed to Join Game” error.
I just sent an email this time but I am hoping that helped convincing Ensemble to fix this issue once and for all.

I have no hard feelings, just sadness.

I loved Moshe and all he did for the community, this really sucks =/.

You removed MosheLevi? I don't beleive this. He's made so many great scens, he's trying to make the AOE3 Community better, he is a beneficial staff member......he hasn't done anything illegal, and is well-intentioned, if he even HAS done anything bad (which you haven't told us, by the way). Why do this? At least give him a second chance!

And Moshe, sorry this happened. Hopefully the staff will realize how ridiculous this is, but I doubt it. (But if we can hear what exactly the reasons are, then I may be a little less harsh toward the staff for this decision).

PS-To any of you ban-happy staff members hungrily reading this post with intentions of pointing your finger at me, you may not do so. I have double-checked the Code of Conduct, and nothing I have said has gone against it.

[This message has been edited by Lord Berminator (edited 04-16-2008 @ 03:29 PM).]

At least give him a second chance!

We did in December this time last year. Well, I didn't, but the staff at the time did. The EXCO made the decision sometime in the past 2-3 days. I agreed with their conclusion, but no one, including myself and the EXCO wanted this to happen, and we all wish there was another way to work it out.


Moshe explained his situation fairly accurately. But, when ES contacts us with a problem, we have to resolve it.


It's terrible that it had to happen this way, but HG, as a business, had very little choice.

[This message has been edited by Cheesewiz (edited 04-16-2008 @ 05:26 PM).]

So ES told HG and the staff that what Levi was doing was unacceptable....back in December, and Levi continued? So maybe you did give him a second chance....so staff, sorry about my not-so-nice post before.

Now those harsh feelings of mine move on to ES.....they were simply complaining about a desire of the majority of the AOE3 community, causing a very beneficial and kind forummer to be de-modded? Preposterous.

I can't imagine ES bieng too happy with a 20 page long list of complaints cursing them or talking badly about them :\

(only what i assume it was consisted of based on what moshe said)

At least give him a second chance!

We did in December. Well, I didn't, but the staff at the time did.

What exactly happened in December?

The only email I sent to Age3 Community (Ensemble) in December was about how great it was to have a second expansion and a suggestion to make a third expansion with some new ideas.
There was no criticism of any sort in that email.

I didn’t send any other emails to Ensemble at that time, and no one from EXCO ever talked to me (or warned me) about my communications with Ensemble.

I can't imagine ES being too happy with a 20 page long list of complaints cursing them or talking badly about them

The quotes I sent Ensemble were not about cursing or anything like that.
Most of them were just crying for help saying they have done everything they could and that didn’t help.
Most of these players are saying they get the “Failed to Join Game” error 90% of the times.
Some asked Ensemble why they are ignoring them, and some were disappointed with the lack of support.

In a way I am glad that Ensemble has responded so harshly.
It seems that my email made a strong impact and that what it takes to get them to fix the “Failed to Join Game” error.
However, it looks like I have to pay the price for that, oh well.

[This message has been edited by MosheLevi (edited 04-16-2008 @ 04:22 PM).]

i guess right to petition doesn't include the business world, which totally blows, btw

I can't say I'm happy with this, as far as I can see Moshelevi hasn't done anything wrong, but I feel I don't know the whole story, so I can't possibly make a calculated opinion.

Everyone will at least once have to make this choice:
Do you do what is in your own best intrest, or do you do what is the right thing to do.

The choice HG made is obvious and disappointing.


Also there is one other thing you should always look at. Do they need you more, or do you need them more. And without doubt ES needs HG more than HG needs ES imo.
HG has besides some recorded games, by far the largest ammount of scenarios and custom maps. Many players keep playing aoe games due to that. What does HG get in return? Almost nothing. All exclusive interviews, information about new games etc, go to gamestop and sites like that. Where you can only see high res vids when paying for it.

But apparently HG decided to capitulate.

Moshe, did they ever sent you an email that they were annoyed by yours?

Moshe, did they ever sent you an email that they were annoyed by yours?

Who? HG Staff? or Ensemble?

A year ago after the first “Strategic Objectives” contest and before I become a moderator, Ensemble asked me to stop calling Tony Goodman or any other Ensemble employee.
They also asked me to send emails directly only to Ensemble’s moderators about any issues.
So I did just that sending them emails, reporting different issues.

As for HG staff, no one ever warned me that my communications with Ensemble may be damaging to HG.

In any case, I used to send Ensemble emails about certain AOE3 issues before I became a moderator and I continued to do that on a personal basis.
That doesn’t have anything to do with my position as a moderator.

Ensemble should take my emails as a service to them and not as harassment.
It is as if they don’t want me to report any more bugs.

[This message has been edited by MosheLevi (edited 04-16-2008 @ 04:56 PM).]

What exactly happened in December?

The only email I sent to Age3 Community (Ensemble) in December was about how great it was to have a second expansion and a suggestion to make a third expansion with some new ideas.
There was no criticism of any sort in that email.

I didn’t send any other emails to Ensemble at that time, and no one from EXCO ever talked to me (or warned me) about my communications with Ensemble.

Oh, I made a mistake in reading information from the email.

It wasn't December, it was about this time last year. (I read it as "at the end of last year". I'll edit that earlier post.

A year ago after the first “Strategic Objectives” contest and before I become a moderator, Ensemble asked me to stop calling Tony Goodman or any other Ensemble employee.
They also asked me to send emails directly only to Ensemble’s moderators about any issues.
So I did just that sending them emails, reporting different issues.

That must be the event they were referring to.

[This message has been edited by Cheesewiz (edited 04-16-2008 @ 05:27 PM).]

Guys....

maybe I am missing something,if so please tell me. but i really dont see what the big deal is.

Moshe did you get paid? if so then yeah i feel you, if not, then hey, less work same fun!

HG is a fan site after all, without ES, there is half of the heavgames forums gone. I dont for a second blame what HG has to do, to comfort its biggest customer.

ES as a business dont want to be bothered hearing their own problems - that is fine by them then it should be fine by everyone else, after all they are not legally required to fix problems of this sort, you as a customer just have to make the choice of not buying their games (at the least not at launch at full price) in the future.

this is a game we play after all, if it starts to get political, it really spoils the fun.

Oh, I made a mistake in reading information from the email.

It wasn't December, it was about this time last year. (I read it as "at the end of last year". I'll edit that earlier post.

Yes, that happened exactly one year ago before I became a moderator.
When Ensemble asked me to stop calling them about issues, I listened to them.
This is old news.

maybe I am missing something, if so please tell me

Yes, I think you are missing something.

It is about our freedom as customers to report problems with the game freely in a constructive manner.
That is exactly what I have been doing in the past year via emails – reporting issues and elaborating on their importance.

This kind of feedback works best for the customers (us gamers) and the game company.
This allows us to report the issues and their level of importance.
The game company will then know what the important issues they need to work on are.
The game company doesn’t have to work on any of the problems but they know it’s important to keep the customers happy and do so because it’s good for their long term reputation.

Gaming fan sites and gaming companies should function independently.
Otherwise, the gaming companies may seek to silence certain individuals who are more vocal about certain issues when they don’t want to deal with these issues.

[This message has been edited by MosheLevi (edited 04-16-2008 @ 06:22 PM).]