To all the Original CoH players

[Frozen Burn]

All Hail Necromancy!!  Raising a dead thread from 4 years ago!   💀  ☠️ 

[A Cat]

Damn bros. I've never heard of this guy back in the day. Can't believe a grown ass man was doing shit like this. How embarrassing. Trolling "for research", LMFAO. Like how people study physics when they squeeze out a fat shit. 

[ZemX]

54 minutes ago, A Cat said:

Can't believe a grown ass man was doing shit like this.

 

If recent times have taught me anything it's that the term "grown-up" is pretty well meaningless.

 

Actually, that's probably been true throughout human history... we just didn't have Twitter and Cable News yet.

[Glacier Peak]

5 hours ago, JasperStone said:

He ignored all research protocols, no IRB, and I don't think he contacted anyone of the CoH staff about what he was doing.

 

His "experiment" was one-sided and as has been stated done without consent.

 

I teach at the university level* (meh) You would be surprised by the lengths that you have to go through to get a research project approved.

Especially when it involves people. 

 

Every university has an Institutional Review Board, or IRBs. They review research studies to ensure that they comply with applicable regulations, meet commonly accepted ethical standards, follow institutional policies, and adequately protect research participants. Color me very surprised if he had one. **

 

He screwed with people because there is no rule against it. You don't need an "experiment" to find out that people would be upset. 

@barrier brings up valid points. Twixt played the game one way and because of that invalidates any "results" he felt were achieved.

 

 

But look where games are now. I played Tarkov ... and had my a$$ handed to me. I played the game as intended, others did not... now what?

 

Twixts actions were no different than what these players are currently doing.

 

 

 

*Teaching full-time at a university level doesn't make me smart or better. Just acquired the credentials to do so.

**Depending on his status(tenure protects a lot), they may have let it slide with a Mea culpa/ slap on the wrist.

*** Edited out my harsher criticism

 

 

Oh you reminded me of the lengths I would've had to go to for my thesis in grad school! I ended up opting to change my topic and methodology so it didn't involve human subjects, but even then I still had to go through an IRB and complete some general research ethics course before my advisor would sign off on my research plan. 

[Ael]

On 4/28/2019 at 10:39 AM, Cornell said:

Now, do you remember Sister Flame?

I sure do!

[Enchantica]

Wait a college professor was a jerk on purpose!? All for an experiment? How could a liberal professor (assuming they are liberal) get away with hurting people's feelings?  I guess we can just be glad he was not just trying to replicate the Stanley Milgram experiments.  I suppose it's all in good fun anyway.  I don't know or remember him, and I played from issue 1 till close.  I thought World of Snorecraft was where annoying pests lived J/K...... no not really😄

[Hyperstrike]

39 minutes ago, Enchantica said:

Wait a college professor was a jerk on purpose!? All for an experiment? How could a liberal professor (assuming they are liberal) get away with hurting people's feelings?  I guess we can just be glad he was not just trying to replicate the Stanley Milgram experiments.  I suppose it's all in good fun anyway.  I don't know or remember him, and I played from issue 1 till close.  I thought World of Snorecraft was where annoying pests lived J/K...... no not really😄

If someone takes your kid and shows them pictures of dead puppies, is that okay?

There are certain protocols for doing social/psych experiments on real humans

Twixt basically violated pretty much ALL those protocols.

https://www.nola.com/news/city-of-heroes-character-twixt-becomes-games-most-hated-outcast-courtesy-of-loyola-professor/article_9c0d36ba-107a-53ba-aee9-579cf7b71fb4.html

[Hyperstrike]

On 4/27/2019 at 7:39 PM, Cornell said:

I very much remember this. Not so much first hand but, I know he played his character in Siren's Call. He was an asshat from all accounts. TPing people to drones, really. Then again, if you pvp'd in CoX you had it coming! Now, do you remember Sister Flame?

Funny he should ask...
 

 

[Apogee]

On 9/6/2023 at 5:31 AM, Victoria Victrix said:

So he's still a professor?  Interesting considering that to do this study he violated every single ethics rule there is in psychological research.

 

1. He did not inform the IP owners of the game that he was conducting a study on their players, nor did he get their consent to perform this "study."

2. He did not inform the players that they were participating in a psychological study.

3. He did not bother to find out if any of the players he was bullying were minors.

4. He did not get player consent to participate in the "study."

5. He did not get the consent of minor players' parents to allow them to participate in the "study."

6. He did not offer psychiatric counseling to players who were traumatized by his "study."

 

By all rights he should have lost his job.  He, and Loyola, could have been sued by the company, the players, and the minor players' parents. 

 

The only reason he escaped what would have been an appropriate firing is because he was employed by the mathematics department.  The people in his department are not psychiatric professionals and thus "technically" do not have to abide by the ethics of psychiatric professionals. 

 

Which is a little like someone employed by the mathematics department torturing puppies "for a study", then claiming that they don't have to abide by the ethics of the biology department.  Technically, they don't.  But that doesn't make torturing puppies right.

 

Yes, he got dragged up in front of the Ethics board.  He also lost a book deal.

 

I know this, because I was the one that contacted the Dean and pointed out how the University could have been sued by the players and parents of the minor players.  I contacted the book company and pointed out they could be sued too.  The book company dropped him like a hot rock.  The University wimped out after slapping him on the wrist.

 

Hey VV, glad to see you are still hanging around.  I hope you are still enjoying the game.  Thank you for all you did back in the dark days of the sunset.  Although TF Hail Mary didn't pan out, you helped keep hope alive.  It was that hope that led me to the news of the secret server and eventually to Homecoming.  Thank you.

[Solarverse]

He's not even worth talking about.  His premise was based on a complete false narrative, that players made up the rule that you shouldn't drone players. The fact that he so willingly ignores is the fact that the Devs did not put those drones there for that reason. Those drones were put in place as a barrier to keep the opposing side at bay, he used them as a weapon. It was no social experiment either, he got butt hurt when he was getting his ass kicked in PvP and he quickly learned that was the only way he was going to score any kills. Oddly enough, no credit was ever given to him for those kills as his kil to kill count always stayed at zero. He was nobody to be remembered, there was nothing amazing about the guy and he did absolutely nothing to be commended about. His only goal was to get even with players he couldn't beat by trolling them with drones...nothing more, nothing less. He covered his antics by turning it in to some social experiment, however, he did not start off droning people, he started off being weak at PvP and then being reduced to a drone killer. I remember him well, and the few times my Stalker caught him stray away from the drones in which lead to his untimely death, was an accomplishment all in itself, because he never left those drones. He stayed camped right there at all time. If he wasn't TPing people in to drones because they were too far away, then he was TPing people in to mobs. He will forever be known as one of the weakest players in PvP. I honestly can't believe he is still bragging about that...what a neomaxi-zoomdweebie.

[American Decoy]

I vaguely remember Twixt.  There was a Get Twixt theme or call at times.  I may have teamed with him and broadcasted his location once or twixt.  I did mez him a few times, but never pulled off the tp-drone attack against him.  That was on Freedom.  I wasn't a big PvP player, but Twixt was fun.

 

Was he also the "old man" character that griefed Hami raids by pulling monsters on Freedom?

[Scarlet Shocker]

An academic as a troll? Surely, that's impossible? Nobody would ever consider going into the "teaching" profession to mask their own feeble insecurities and improve their sense of self-wortth by belittling others and then writing papers about their inadequacies? That's not what our entire history of psychology is based on after all. Is it?

[Hyperstrike]

53 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

An academic as a troll? Surely, that's impossible? Nobody would ever consider going into the "teaching" profession to mask their own feeble insecurities and improve their sense of self-wortth by belittling others and then writing papers about their inadequacies? That's not what our entire history of psychology is based on after all. Is it?

Do you want the NICE answer?
Or do you want the HONEST answer?

Warning, anyone who says "HONEST" is still secretly hoping for the NICE answer.

[PeregrineFalcon]

17 minutes ago, Hyperstrike said:

Do you want the NICE answer?
Or do you want the HONEST answer?

Don't do it!

 

People don't actually want honest answers around here. That's why the honest answer is usually rewarded with a forum suspension. Trust me on this.

[Go0gleplex]

Never teamed with him since I ran mainly on Triumph; but the chat was pretty fired up about him (and not in the nice way) the few times I went venturing on Freedom with my alts.  He wasn't the only troll either. I vaguely remember someone that ran around training mobs into low level newbs on Triumph to amuse themselves. My team and I stepped in a couple of times when we were nearby.  Been too many years and I suck at remembering names to begin with. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

9 hours ago, Hyperstrike said:

Do you want the NICE answer?
Or do you want the HONEST answer?

Warning, anyone who says "HONEST" is still secretly hoping for the NICE answer.

 

 

I can't help feeling your sarcasm detector needs rebooting.

[JasperStone]

14 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

An academic as a troll? Surely, that's impossible? Nobody would ever consider going into the "teaching" profession to mask their own feeble insecurities and improve their sense of self-wortth by belittling others and then writing papers about their inadequacies? That's not what our entire history of psychology is based on after all. Is it?

I am a professor ... not who I am or what I am about 

 

...

BUT DOOOOOOOOO go on

[Scarlet Shocker]

55 minutes ago, JasperStone said:

I am a professor ... not who I am or what I am about 

 

...

BUT DOOOOOOOOO go on

 

your point?

[JasperStone]

2 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

your point?

Your point is erroneous in its generality.

[Bionic_Flea]

17 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

Don't do it!

 

People don't actually want honest answers around here. That's why the honest answer is usually rewarded with a forum suspension. Trust me on this.

 

*Reports Hyper and Peregrine for excessive honesty*

[Scarlet Shocker]

47 minutes ago, JasperStone said:

Your point is erroneous in its generality.

 

Well done!

[Hyperstrike]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:02 AM, Scarlet Shocker said:

I can't help feeling your sarcasm detector needs rebooting.

Why?  Because it's sentient and auto-capping fools at a thousand yards?

[tidge]

I really don't remember the guy in question. I have three sorta-memories of Live PvP:

 

My first HEAT in Bloody Bay.... I can't quite recall what level it was, but I took advantage of a respec to shuffle slots such that both the non-human forms had decent slotting. Just shifting to Dwarf form when things got brutal wasn't OP, but it was frustrating for opponents. Teleport Foe wasn't really a thing IIRC in Bloody Bay. I recall at least one time when someone tried to mess with me during a meteor run, but that was a basic 1v1 stalemate.

 

I dueled in Warburg, and I remember getting missiles to launch, but no solid memories. We can assume I probably lost some characters to PVP and may have scored a couple.

 

Similarly, I think my (must have been) Level 50 Invuln/Energy Tanker was doing some time in Recluse's Victory and got "jumped" by a Villain Team of 6?. They were trying the Teleport Foe trick... but I also had that power, plus a LOT of stun potential. No one was defeated from that long and brutal encounter, but 1vMany was something to see. I'll admit, I teleported myself away a couple of times! I want to say this was before Energy Melee changes, but the timeline is cloudy in my memory. I sort of remember Energy Melee stalkers being a thing before the changes... I simply felt good that my slow-to-defeat-critters Tanker was actually able to semi-frighten PVPers with Stun.

 

I definitely had one 2-person team punk one of my characters is Siren's Call using Teleport Foe and Controls. From memory: that team did some camping in Siren's Call as I ended up dodging them many times when I was in that zone.

 

I do remember chat jibber-jabber about shenanigans in PVP zones, and some of the forum brouhaha, but otherwise PVP wasn't my thing.

[GM Crumpet]

Locking this necro thread