PGPromo Team - Special Edition
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:55 amIt has been over a month since the conclusion of Pirates Glory Fantasy Draft VII. There was a lot of controversy and drama surrounding the contest, and the final outcome of the competition was contested hotly in some of our in-game forums. For many weeks, the Achievement Awards have been anxiously awaited by many of those that had won them. These Awards were recently posted and accredited by game Administrators. We thank CJ for that. Here is an account from El Draque, the winning Captain of Fantasy Draft VII, describing the experience from his point of view.
Fantasy Draft VII - The Draft that Almost Wasn’t - Written by El Draque
Man was I excited! I have only been playing for a few years and only selected for one Fantasy draft, as a rookie, since traders usually aren’t viewed as powerhouses for selections. Nowhere in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would Captain the winning team for Fantasy Draft VII, the draft that almost wasn't.
I never realized how much prep goes into these things. As a captain, I was told by a true legend of the game that three things are necessary to win the draft…Team Power, Blurbs, and Captains. Some people choose their friends; some people try to lock in “ringers”, and some even try to make it a popularity contest. Me? I made a spreadsheet of over 100 players, charted all their achievements, battle stats, plantations, and lore and assigned a point system, Then I “nerded” the nerd with some more nerding. Ok, so my method was a bit geeky, but it gave me the winning list of names of players, that in my eyes, that excelled in all areas of the game. This was my power team. I spent over six hours writing my captain’s blurb for my team, and I was very happy with it. All I needed to do now was be the Captain.
Normally, drafts are a great time. There is always a lot of good natured trash talking going back and forth. You will find veterans opening their swag bags trying to outdo each other’s donations. In every draft I’ve seen, the community tries to beat the last year’s donations. Why would this draft be any different? In my first act as a Captain, I set a new draft record by donating gold coin equaling 275 mil.
So where did this all go wrong? In my eyes, there were some acts of God, some acts of ego, some acts of piracy, and some things that were just sour grapes. All this drama resulted in the game's administrators attempting to maintain a position of neutrality in dealing with a community administered competition.
1. Acts of God – We had 5 teams to start. One of the captains had a medical emergency and had to resign. Most of the community saw no issue with holding the Competition with 4 captains. But then there started to be some rumblings from some of the other captains and swabs. In an effort to move forward, and in the spirit of Community, we proceeded with holding the Draft.
2. Acts of Ego – There was a lot of competition in the Draft, so I stepped up my game with some witty banter, and took an early lead in votes. At that time, I was accused of buying clout with my record setting donation. It was then that the nastiness started. My team was eventually passed up for votes, as certain cohorts stepped up their smear campaign against me and my team. And wouldn’t you know it, the more negative they got, the more votes I got.. woohoo, game on!!!
3. Acts of Piracy – Sadly there was a black cloud hanging over my team. It turns out that one of our members, one of the best players in the game, offered to pay for votes. In full transparency, this has happened in other Drafts (it is a Pirates Game after all!!!). For some this can be seen as cheap. It turned out that no votes were found to be purchased, and in an effort to be fair, the voting was re-opened with an option to change your vote. It had been a close battle for first place, up until this time, but because of the negative campaign, one team fell out of contention. When the people voted again, my team was back in first place. It was astonishing really.
4. Acts of Sour Grapes – You would think the world had ended. A small group of provocateurs publicly attacked the PG Public Relations team for proceeding with 4 captains, and even for hosting the event. I was publicly attacked, along with anyone who stood up for the “fun” of the competition. I was threatened publicly and in private. Some of these malcontents went looking through the rules, attempting to find ways to interpret them so they might be applied to me. The only thing missing was an investigation and report to the Senate. While it made for a lot of unsavory jokes, it was an awful spectacle for all to see. One person publicly chastised my tactics in this smear campaign, and once again, another toxic forum discussion was started. I did however get overwhelming support from the community, so I thank them all for that.
5. Position of Neutrality – Right after the event, I messaged an administrator for the game. I explained my position, my thoughts and said I would respectfully follow any play he/she wanted to make. This admin said first off, the developers don’t get involved in these and second, since it had never been an issue before, it can’t be now. I hoped that was the end, even though I heard rumors that were some lobbying vigorously against having achievements awarded.
It has been a few weeks since the completion, and I have to admit that my spirits were getting low. Not just because of the achievements, but because I didn’t want to see all the time and effort spent by the PR team (all volunteers from the player base btw), all the work put in by the other captains and players, all the donations and records achieved be for nothing. I didn’t want to see all 48 participants not get achievements because a handful of persons that couldn’t stand to lose. Worst of all, the rookies picked can never be rookies again, and being selected as a Rookie is a once in a game time Achievement to have!
With silence for weeks, all we had to go one was whispers and rumors of whether or not Fantasy Draft VII would be a part of the history of Pirates Glory, or if it was to disappear from existence and be remembered as the draft that wasn’t. Then the message, achievements would be awarded. Even with all the pressure being exerted, the administration has upheld the stance of neutrality. Thankfully, for some of the most dedicated in the game, the administrators chose to keep to their word and honor the spirit of the competition.
A tip of my hat to all those who organized, entered, and played. Thanks to those who tried to keep the spirits of the completion high. The draft is not supposed to be a popularity contest, it’s not meant to define a career. Its nothing personal… My advice to future Captains; keep positive, the community doesn’t want to see nastiness and as we saw in this last Draft. The captain’s demeanor can be the deciding factor. Have a reason for each person you pick on your team, and define that reason in your blurbs. And most of all…
Have fun, it’s only a game!
Fantasy Draft VII - The Draft that Almost Wasn’t - Written by El Draque
Man was I excited! I have only been playing for a few years and only selected for one Fantasy draft, as a rookie, since traders usually aren’t viewed as powerhouses for selections. Nowhere in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would Captain the winning team for Fantasy Draft VII, the draft that almost wasn't.
I never realized how much prep goes into these things. As a captain, I was told by a true legend of the game that three things are necessary to win the draft…Team Power, Blurbs, and Captains. Some people choose their friends; some people try to lock in “ringers”, and some even try to make it a popularity contest. Me? I made a spreadsheet of over 100 players, charted all their achievements, battle stats, plantations, and lore and assigned a point system, Then I “nerded” the nerd with some more nerding. Ok, so my method was a bit geeky, but it gave me the winning list of names of players, that in my eyes, that excelled in all areas of the game. This was my power team. I spent over six hours writing my captain’s blurb for my team, and I was very happy with it. All I needed to do now was be the Captain.
Normally, drafts are a great time. There is always a lot of good natured trash talking going back and forth. You will find veterans opening their swag bags trying to outdo each other’s donations. In every draft I’ve seen, the community tries to beat the last year’s donations. Why would this draft be any different? In my first act as a Captain, I set a new draft record by donating gold coin equaling 275 mil.
So where did this all go wrong? In my eyes, there were some acts of God, some acts of ego, some acts of piracy, and some things that were just sour grapes. All this drama resulted in the game's administrators attempting to maintain a position of neutrality in dealing with a community administered competition.
1. Acts of God – We had 5 teams to start. One of the captains had a medical emergency and had to resign. Most of the community saw no issue with holding the Competition with 4 captains. But then there started to be some rumblings from some of the other captains and swabs. In an effort to move forward, and in the spirit of Community, we proceeded with holding the Draft.
2. Acts of Ego – There was a lot of competition in the Draft, so I stepped up my game with some witty banter, and took an early lead in votes. At that time, I was accused of buying clout with my record setting donation. It was then that the nastiness started. My team was eventually passed up for votes, as certain cohorts stepped up their smear campaign against me and my team. And wouldn’t you know it, the more negative they got, the more votes I got.. woohoo, game on!!!
3. Acts of Piracy – Sadly there was a black cloud hanging over my team. It turns out that one of our members, one of the best players in the game, offered to pay for votes. In full transparency, this has happened in other Drafts (it is a Pirates Game after all!!!). For some this can be seen as cheap. It turned out that no votes were found to be purchased, and in an effort to be fair, the voting was re-opened with an option to change your vote. It had been a close battle for first place, up until this time, but because of the negative campaign, one team fell out of contention. When the people voted again, my team was back in first place. It was astonishing really.
4. Acts of Sour Grapes – You would think the world had ended. A small group of provocateurs publicly attacked the PG Public Relations team for proceeding with 4 captains, and even for hosting the event. I was publicly attacked, along with anyone who stood up for the “fun” of the competition. I was threatened publicly and in private. Some of these malcontents went looking through the rules, attempting to find ways to interpret them so they might be applied to me. The only thing missing was an investigation and report to the Senate. While it made for a lot of unsavory jokes, it was an awful spectacle for all to see. One person publicly chastised my tactics in this smear campaign, and once again, another toxic forum discussion was started. I did however get overwhelming support from the community, so I thank them all for that.
5. Position of Neutrality – Right after the event, I messaged an administrator for the game. I explained my position, my thoughts and said I would respectfully follow any play he/she wanted to make. This admin said first off, the developers don’t get involved in these and second, since it had never been an issue before, it can’t be now. I hoped that was the end, even though I heard rumors that were some lobbying vigorously against having achievements awarded.
It has been a few weeks since the completion, and I have to admit that my spirits were getting low. Not just because of the achievements, but because I didn’t want to see all the time and effort spent by the PR team (all volunteers from the player base btw), all the work put in by the other captains and players, all the donations and records achieved be for nothing. I didn’t want to see all 48 participants not get achievements because a handful of persons that couldn’t stand to lose. Worst of all, the rookies picked can never be rookies again, and being selected as a Rookie is a once in a game time Achievement to have!
With silence for weeks, all we had to go one was whispers and rumors of whether or not Fantasy Draft VII would be a part of the history of Pirates Glory, or if it was to disappear from existence and be remembered as the draft that wasn’t. Then the message, achievements would be awarded. Even with all the pressure being exerted, the administration has upheld the stance of neutrality. Thankfully, for some of the most dedicated in the game, the administrators chose to keep to their word and honor the spirit of the competition.
A tip of my hat to all those who organized, entered, and played. Thanks to those who tried to keep the spirits of the completion high. The draft is not supposed to be a popularity contest, it’s not meant to define a career. Its nothing personal… My advice to future Captains; keep positive, the community doesn’t want to see nastiness and as we saw in this last Draft. The captain’s demeanor can be the deciding factor. Have a reason for each person you pick on your team, and define that reason in your blurbs. And most of all…
Have fun, it’s only a game!
