Zam.com Q&AFollow

I went to bed last night and thought long and hard about this. I slept on it and finished catching up on what was written after I logged last night. My thoughts for now:

Allah, from a business point, it didnt look like there was much choice if you wanted to make this the best gaming site. You and your employees have worked really hard to make this site what it is. We, the community members, see this, and applauded what you have done over the years. Many of us bought premium, not to just have use of the extra services, but as a way of showing our support. $3 a month is not much, we know. $3 a month isnt enough to do what you guys dream of doing. This businiess deal will allow you to now achieve those dreams that before, were just dreams. As a business owner, you did what you thought was best for the site and the community in the long run. You dont have the option to stay on your high moral horse when you are trying to run something as huge as Allas. SO I understand and applaud your business decisions, in the business sense.

On the other hand, we community members, dont have to get off our high moral stance. While you may need to grudgingly give way to something you find less than moral, we don't have to. IGE and other companies have ruined in game economies, making the gaming experience we love and adore less than stellar. It has created major difficulties for new players who wish to join the growing community of MMO lovers to have a chance at getting to the top without resorting to cheating. I've watched it happen on many of the MMOs Ive come to love. These companies are responsible for many of the gaming bots, out there camping for gold, KSing when a regular player dares to wander in the area looking to play after paying their monthly fee. These companies are responsible for the skyrocketing economy in most MMOs. There is a lot of resentment, anger, and frustration directed at these companies from the gamers who love the game for the game itself.

It's been stated many times that Allahs will have no affiliation with IGE. Sadly, while the connection may be very distant, the link is still there. From a business point, you did your best to keep it as far from your name as possible. But even some ties to it is dissapointing to the community who has stood behind you for many reasons, one of them your strong stance against gold/gil selling. It's already been stated that the parent company will allow you to run the site as you like so long as you stay profitable. But you have also stated you were losing income before the merge went down. You're going to gain a whole bunch of new users here witth the merge, but you will also be losing a lot of premium sales from your faithful members. A lot of your faithful do not want to take the chance that even one penny of theirs sent to support you could possibly end up in the hands of those who support IGE. And while Im no business person, I have to wonder what will change here to make this place profitable enough to keep the Parent company off your back?

I'm not leaving the community. My home away from home is the Asylum and those who post there are my friends. Allahs has been a great place to come and shoot the breeze when I have time. I really appreciate everything that has been done to make this site a great place. I never bought premium for the added options. I spent the $3 and would have spent more if you had asked, as a way of saying thank you so much for what you and your gang have done for the gaming community. But with all this new money coming in, I think I'll be turning off my autorenewal for awhile. It's not like my piddly $3 is anything compared to the money you guys now have, and until I get a more clear indication of what the money spent is supporting, even if from a distance, Id rather not take a chance.

Again, on a business level, I do heartily congratulate you. I think you did the only smart thing a company owner could have done. But please dont take it personal that we, the community, are not happy that it had to happen in the first place. While in the end it may be good for the site, we all feel as if we've been slapped in the face by the one person who we thought believed as strongly as we, that IGE and companies like it, help to destroy the MMOs we all love.

Asking the people on your forum if they want it? All it could possibly acheive is a whole lot of "i'm withdrawing my subscription" and "we fear change", just do it, ask questions later.

Im copying what I wrote down in the "Official" thread in forum feedback

You can't even afford premium. It's not as if you'd be buying gold.