The Mysterious Masked Multihunter..... Revealed

[Redissal]

In round 4 Spinner stated that those with access to the multi-hunting tools would no longer be allowed to play PA for real. You can understand my shock therefor, when learning that this rounds's anonymous Multihunter was none other than ParraCida. GC of the winning galaxy.

I originally intended this post to be somewhat speculative, not knowing for sure if ParraCida was infact the multihunter. My only 'evidence' was from a pateam member who didn't seem 100% sure of what (s)he was saying. Then, today I recieved independant assurance from a second pateam member. I cannot satisfy the reader with hard evidence, or even state names of the 'informants'. But it is my hope that this accusation, and the gravity of the situation will be enough to elicit a reponse from the Multihunter and/or Spinner, which clears this up for the future. In the meantime I will say that it is well known that ParraCida is a pateam member, though his role is unclear. For example the thread, PA-Team: Who are we?, makes no mention of him except for his response which is only revealing in hindsight. If he is not the multihunter, my immediate apologies to him. However much of this post is still relevant.


Spinner's announcement in round 4 came on the back of numerous cheating accusations against the then multihunters. My respect goes to Irons for following this policy so strictly. As far as I could tell he went all round 5 without initiating a single roid, or spending a single resource. At some point since then the policy has slipped. Prince left pateam in round 9 amid accusations of admin tools abuse. Now we reach a situation where a multihunter is not only playing, but winning.

As many will know the rank 2 galaxy very nearly claimed the round. In the final week(s) several(four?) of their planets were closed and they lost around 80 Million in score. Multihunters have the ability to open or close planets. They have the power to add or remove resources, roids, ships and PDS from any planet. Their actions are not logged or monitored in anyway. These are facts. I won't speculate on the myriad of ways ParraCida could have cheated undetected but the temptation must have been immense. No doubt he was chosen for the position because of his integrity and honesty. No doubt the multihunters of the past have been chosen on similar grounds. Yet some have abused their powers. Even a hunter with the best of intentions can never be completely impartial when wielding this much power where their own planet or galaxy or alliance is involved. Multi-hunters should not play PA. Not even 'a little bit'. It is the only way to ensure the players' complete confidence in them.


Some questions I feel should be answered openly:

• Is ParraCida the MultiHunter?
  
• Why was his identity hidden?
  
• Who are the other multihunters? (The team recently 'quadrupled', presumably from 1 to 4). Mushroom? Mit?
  
• Do the other multihunters play PA at all?
  
• Why has the policy of multihunters not playing PA been abandoned?
  
• Will the situation change for round 10?

I would appreciate it if those who can answer these questions could be directed to this thread. Thankyou.

[Eventh]

Originally posted by Redissal

• Is ParraCida the MultiHunter?
  
• Why was his identity hidden?
  
• Who are the other multihunters? (The team recently 'quadrupled', presumably from 1 to 4). Mushroom? Mit?
  
• Do the other multihunters play PA at all?
  
• Why has the policy of multihunters not playing PA been abandoned?
  
• Will the situation change for round 10?

I would appreciate it if those who can answer these questions could be directed to this thread. Thankyou.

very interesting questions indeed.. but i belive that a multihunter (and the rest of the pa team) should be alowed to play planetarion.. Why else would they stay and dedicate a good amount of time if they cant play?

[Supernova9]

Originally posted by Eventh
very interesting questions indeed.. but i belive that a multihunter (and the rest of the pa team) should be alowed to play planetarion.. Why else would they stay and dedicate a good amount of time if they cant play?

Because they really are motivated and want to do the job perhaps? And they're so willing to do it that they'll stop playing to remove the possibility of any accusations of deleting planets competing with them? Which incidentally, was why the rule about not playing came in, due to suspicion of previous 'hunters'.

[HobbieRogue4]

No one is utterly impartial, so all I'd like to see implemented is a logging mechanism for actions taken by so-called "multihunters" so when situations arise, they can be reviewed by superiors (Creators).

Nevertheless, I'm pleased there are mutlihunters, better than not having them, no matter what.

[MrBrick]

Well, then, what can we say? Well done to whoever found out. I myself have inadvertantly hinted at who "it was" on a few occasions.

Anyhow, you've saved Parracida's grand unveiling in PAX. Yes, he is "Multihunter".

The current hunting team consists of myself, Mit, Parracida, Dragonlord and Mushroom.

Parra and I worked together last round, though even I did not know his identity then. The "secrecy" was an experiment and a development tool, and it served its purpose. The current team has no way of closing planets or abusing admin that cannot be noticed and rectified due to Parra's input.

Parra's hard work and dedication has created an efficient system which, when paired with the "new" hunting tools in development, will make catching cheats and exploiters alot easier.

I can see that there would be a certain ammount of distrust in having such a figure as a hunter. A "high profile" member of the PA community. Therefore I shall attempt to dispell a few rumours and potential accusations before they arise.

a) "He would have cheated to allow his galaxy to get to the #1 spot"

- This is not the case, as any admin that plays the game does not, and cannot, make reports on their own galaxy. It was both Mit and I that monitored Parracida's galaxy, and that will always be the case with the actual "Players" that assist in our hunting efforts.

b) "He favoured his alliance/bg/cat/dog when he suspected them of cheating"

- Well, hunting is very rarely a solo effort, and the team bounce opinions and reports back and forth between them to allow them to come to a conclusion. Also, any major closures are always checked by at least 2 Hunters, who then double check evidence, and make seperate reports.

I think it would be fair to say that Parra hiding his identity is nothing but fair, as the entire hunting team keeps close watch on each member's actions, and that he would want to avoid the general abuse, accusations and nastiness attached to the title of "Multihunter".

I would like to formally apologise if you feel that we have "betrayed" any alliance, battlegroup or individual by keeping the identity of "Multihunter" a secret. However it has never been our aim to decieve the community, nor to cheat any single player by having a certain individual on board PA Team.

I'm only sorry that Parracida has lost his big chance to unveil himself to the world, as I know he was looking forward to ridding himself of the extra IRC client, and the "James Bond" attitude when hunting.

MrBrick
Planetarion Team Manager
Posting on behalf of PA Team

--- Now, flame and criticise as you wish....or indeed, make a nice comment if you feel the need. I await your input. Any FORMAL complaints about this incident can be made to me at [email protected]

[ComradeRob]

Oh for the love of christ

[at0mic.c0w]

MrBrick's avatar comes quite close to my current thoughts...

[K-W]

Shock and disappointment here.

Youd think after 9 rounds PA would figure out how not to look like a bunch of amatuers.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
Shock and disappointment here.

Is it beyond any community member to trust in our decisions and work ethic?

Surely we have proved in the past that "cheating" and "bias" are not tolerated within PA Team?

Maybe I'm just too trusting ofc.

I can understand the disbelief of the community..but it would be the same whoever it was, anonymous or not.
We chose someone that knew the ins and outs of Planetarion, someone we trusted, and someone that was happy to help.

We could have chosen you, or Forest, or even Dread.

At the end of the day, we chose Parra, and he is doing his job very well. I can assure you that at NO point has he crossed the line, or abused his power.

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
Is it beyond any community member to trust in our decisions and work ethic?

Surely we have proved in the past that "cheating" and "bias" are not tolerated within PA Team?

Maybe I'm just too trusting ofc.

I can understand the disbelief of the community..but it would be the same whoever it was, anonymous or not.
We chose someone that knew the ins and outs of Planetarion, someone we trusted, and someone that was happy to help.

We could have chosen you, or Forest, or even Dread.

At the end of the day, we chose Parra, and he is doing his job very well. I can assure you that at NO point has he crossed the line, or abused his power.

MrBrick, this isnt about power abuse neccessarily. This is about basic human nature and good policy. This is like George Bush putting oil execs in charge of U.S. Energy policy. You dont give someone who is very strongly involved and personally invested in something control over the officiating of that thing. It boggles my mind that you coudl think this was appropriate.

[MrBrick]

ADDITION :

It is clear that one of the main concerns is that of Parracida's galaxy gaining the #1 spot after deletions.

I would like to say at this point, to avoid finger pointing and so forth, that it was Mit, Spinner and myself that dealt with and made judgement on those accounts, not just ParraCida.

That's where the "Team" bit in Multihunter Team comes in you see.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by MrBrick
ADDITION :

It is clear that one of the main concerns is that of Parracida's galaxy gaining the #1 spot after deletions.

I would like to say at this point, to avoid finger pointing and so forth, that it was Mit, Spinner and myself that dealt with and made judgement on those accounts, not just ParraCida.

That's where the "Team" bit in Multihunter Team comes in you see.

If that policy has had a major impact on the development of hunting, and increased the efficiency and reliability of the methods used, does that mean we were still wrong?

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
ADDITION :

It is clear that one of the main concerns is that of Parracida's galaxy gaining the #1 spot after deletions.

I would like to say at this point, to avoid finger pointing and so forth, that it was Mit, Spinner and myself that dealt with and made judgement on those accounts, not just ParraCida.

That's where the "Team" bit in Multihunter Team comes in you see.

So? Everyone is biased. YOu cant avoid it, and having parra be in your crew, I assume means that you like him and socialize with him. Which makes you biased towards him. Its not an accusation, its human nature. I cant help but be biased towards eclipse, I cant help but be biased towards people I know. This is whats called a conflict of interest. And allowing such an incredible conflict of interest into the officiating of this game is an extremely unproffessional move. When PA was free, fine, whatever. But now you are going to increase the price of playing this game, yet you still act like you are running some amatuer game.

[MrBrick]

As I mentioned in my first post, I worked with Parra through round 9 without knowing his identity myself.

I'm speaking from this position as PA Team Manager, I'm not biased to either side. I want to know what you think, I want to know what the Team think.

There's very little chance I'll agree with you, there's very little chance I'll disagree.

Have a little faith.

[at0mic.c0w]

Originally posted by MrBrick
If that policy has had a major impact on the development of hunting, and increased the efficiency and reliability of the methods used, does that mean we were still wrong?

u mean like sending a bunch of untrained ukrainian women to operate a nuclear power-plant and then claim u were right to do so when the thing doesn't blow up ?

[K-W]

Faith? Give me a break.

You are appealing to faith?

[Tempestuous]

I'd say it's fair to assume the current multi hunting system has flaws, and as a multi hunter you'd know what you can get away with and what you cant, hence being able to advise others around you on how they could go about cheating without getting caught.

On top of that, Parra could simply turn a blind eye to anything going on in his gal which he noticed, it means one less multi hunter looking at his gal, reducing chances of things being noticed.

Personally i dont think this is a huge issue, no one really cared about r9.5 and im willing to assume the other 3 kept a good eye on Parra's gal just to make sure the result was right.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by at0mic.c0w
u mean like sending a bunch of untrained ukrainian women to operate a nuclear power-plant and then claim u were right to do so when the thing doesn't blow up ?

He was neither untrained or unchecked. We do know what can go wrong, and attempt to stop things going wrong, believe it or not.

As I said previously, I am perfectly in tune with what your thoughts are, and agree that we have made a mistake in certain places. It doesnt change the fact that the Team is better off than ever with Parracida as a member.

[K-W]

Who knows. Im not outraged about his galaxy. I'm outraged that the people who run this game think such a blatent conflict of interest is appropriate.

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
He was neither untrained or unchecked. We do know what can go wrong, and attempt to stop things going wrong, believe it or not.

As I said previously, I am perfectly in tune with what your thoughts are, and agree that we have made a mistake in certain places. It doesnt change the fact that the Team is better off than ever with Parracida as a member.

Might I suggest that parra is probably not the Micheal Jorden of Multihunting and that adding a staff member without a giant conflict of interest would contribute equally to your efforts.

[Eventh]

Originally posted by K-W
Who knows. Im not outraged about his galaxy. I'm outraged that the people who run this game think such a blatent conflict of interest is appropriate.

i guess they didnt see it as appropriate as they decided to hide it from us..

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by Tempestuous
I'd say it's fair to assume the current multi hunting system has flaws, and as a multi hunter you'd know what you can get away with and what you cant, hence being able to advise others around you on how they could go about cheating without getting caught.

On top of that, Parra could simply turn a blind eye to anything going on in his gal which he noticed, it means one less multi hunter looking at his gal, reducing chances of things being noticed.

Personally i dont think this is a huge issue, no one really cared about r9.5 and im willing to assume the other 3 kept a good eye on Parra's gal just to make sure the result was right.

All hunters will know where the holes are. Often they are the case for great discussion on these very boards.

PA Team have trusted and individual to work for the benefit of the team, and this trust in ParraCida's case has not been misplaced.

Any assurance I make will not, of course, placate many of your mistrusts. Yes, I agree it can be argued that there is a conflict of interest, but PA Team are here for the good of the game, not themselves.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
Might I suggest that parra is probably not the Micheal Jorden of Multihunting and that adding a staff member without a giant conflict of interest would contribute equally to your efforts.

Assumptions can either be right, or can be wrong.
My personal response is that ParraCida reformed the hunting team, and I think that it was more than visible this round. His suggestions, and professionalism have been highly beneficial.

[Tactitus]

I don't really know which is worse: that you allowed such a glaring conflict of interest to exist or that you don't even see it as a conflict of interest.

It's difficult to summon much sympathy for those who keep repeating the same mistakes.

[Klendau II]

Originally posted by MrBrick
we chose Parra, and he is doing his job very well. I can assure you that at NO point has he crossed the line, or abused his power.

You have not yet denied the previous statement that Multihunter's actions are not logged, recorded, or to a certain extent 'investigated'.

ParraCida could doing whatever the hell he likes and noone would know anyway. And if you did know, we wouldn't.

[Tempestuous]

Originally posted by MrBrick
All hunters will know where the holes are. Often they are the case for great discussion on these very boards.

PA Team have trusted and individual to work for the benefit of the team, and this trust in ParraCida's case has not been misplaced.

Any assurance I make will not, of course, placate many of your mistrusts. Yes, I agree it can be argued that there is a conflict of interest, but PA Team are here for the good of the game, not themselves.

My very point was when a hunter knows a hole he can point it out to his friends, hence the conflict of interest arguement is valid and no matter how much you trust him you cannot say it may not be detrimental to the game.

If you think he did more harm than good, great. But we'll never know just how thoroughly his gal or even he was checked, and no ammount of 'i promise he didnt abuse his position' will reassure the community he didnt, given the pa team's track record of appeasing statements.

[ParraCida]

I am not involved in anything in planetarion, I have no attack group nor an alliance. I have past affiliations and friends obviously, but who doesn't. Am I able to look past that and close those in my inner circle who I think are guilty of cheating?

Ask cypher, whom I escorted on an attack, and promptly got him closed because his other escorter looked suspicious.
Ask bong, a F.E.A.R. member, if he still has his planet or not.
I'm not sure if I can get any more 'close' in the people around me then these two examples.

I can only let the facts speak for me, which is exactly why I choose to keep my identity hidden for so long, because I realize trust isn't something that is given, but earned. And I've had 2 rounds to earn that trust now, ofcourse, I didn't ever expect to gain your trust in this matter germania, but like I said: I only have my actions to speak for me.

[Mushroom]

people with creator admin access have access to the logs of what admin actions have been taken, hence the creators can see everything that goes on.
As a multihunter, you can't get away with anything, that's the point. Someone will always know.

[Eventh]

Originally posted by Mushroom
people with creator admin access have access to the logs of what admin actions have been taken, hence the creators can see everything that goes on.
As a multihunter, you can't get away with anything, that's the point. Someone will always know.

who are the people with creator admin access?? the people who are busy coding round 10??

[Mushroom]

Originally posted by Eventh
who are the people with creator admin access?? the people who are busy coding round 10??

Spinner and fudge

[MrBrick]

PA Team is accountable for its actions at any given moment.

There is nothing wrong in pointing fingers, and saying that Parra could have abused x, y, and z. I feel that perhaps that there is a slight wrongdoing in the lack of trust. Sadly having to draw attention to Prince, I think we have shown that we don't tolerate any kind of slip up or abuse of trust, and that EVERY PA Team member is accountable for his/her actions to either myself, the creators or the Team as a whole.

[K-W]

Originally posted by ParraCida
I am not involved in anything in planetarion, I have no attack group nor an alliance. I have past affiliations and friends obviously, but who doesn't. Am I able to look past that and close those in my inner circle who I think are guilty of cheating?

Ask cypher, whom I escorted on an attack, and promptly got him closed because his other escorter looked suspicious.
Ask bong, a F.E.A.R. member, if he still has his planet or not.
I'm not sure if I can get any more 'close' in the people around me then these two examples.

I can only let the facts speak for me, which is exactly why I choose to keep my identity hidden for so long, because I realize trust isn't something that is given, but earned. And I've had 2 rounds to earn that trust now, ofcourse, I didn't ever expect to gain your trust in this matter germania, but like I said: I only have my actions to speak for me.

"I hid things so youd trust me"

Well thats just Neat


The fact that in some circumstances that you could have done wrong, you didnt doesnt prove a thing.

[MrBrick]

I myself can be accused of the same thing then, surely?

As can Mushroom, Mit and Dragonlord.

Even without "real" planets, we have friends on IRC.

I could have given my best friend Dave 10000000 sentinels for the hell of it.

If Dave is in LDK or Eclipse or IPC, it wouldnt matter. I'd still be accountable for that action, caught and sacked.

So I think a majority factor in the "qualification" of a Hunter is whether he/she is trustworthy.

[Eventh]

Originally posted by MrBrick
Sadly having to draw attention to Prince, I think we have shown that we don't tolerate any kind of slip up or abuse of trust, and that EVERY PA Team member is accountable for his/her actions to either myself, the creators or the Team as a whole.

how did you discover that Prince was abusing his powers??

if it was because the players (not Pa team) reported it, how do you expect us to discover the abuse when you are hiding the information from us..

can you please make the admin log public, so we know what is going on??

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
I myself can be accused of the same thing then, surely?

As can Mushroom, Mit and Dragonlord.

Even without "real" planets, we have friends on IRC.

I could have given my best friend Dave 10000000 sentinels for the hell of it.

If Dave is in LDK or Eclipse or IPC, it wouldnt matter. I'd still be accountable for that action, caught and sacked.

So I think a majority factor in the "qualification" of a Hunter is whether he/she is trustworthy.

You are correct that no person is 100% objective, that isnt the point. Unlike parracida you do not have a clear conflict of interest.

As far as trustworthy, that just makes me laugh.

Trustworthy has 100% nothing to do with this. A completely trustworthy person is still natuarlly biased by conflicts of interest. Not to mention the fact that you claim to have established this much trust in someone you know through irc chats. In what circumstances before this position did you test Parra's trustworthyness?

[WipeOut]

Personally I think instead of whining about the lack of transparancy for the community members not in the loop, you guys should perhaps consider thanking these guys for their efforts. I am personally quite happy that a team like this at least exists, and I am happy that people are willing to put in the effort to make it work, and it has, worked relatively well last round in respect to other rounds. And mistakes are always made, and will always be made. But hey, it is always easier to point out the mistakes, rather than pointing out the accomplishments.

These people put in effort to make this game more enjoyable for us to play, and they do it for free. So if you want to complain, do a better job, or hold your peace.

Thanks guys, keep up the good work.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by Eventh
how did you discover that Prince was abusing his powers??

if it was because the players (not Pa team) reported it, how do u expect us to discover the abuse when you are hiding the information from us..

can you please make the admin log public, so we know what is going on??

This was discussed at the time, and I will reply with the same answer.

It would not be professional to do so, not in the slightest.

If your bank manager is sacked, do you demand to know why?
And will you be told?

There's a line to be drawn between personal and public issues.

PA Team acted, and the problem was rectified. As would be the case with your Bank Manager, or whatever other example springs to mind.

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
This was discussed at the time, and I will reply with the same answer.

It would not be professional to do so, not in the slightest.

If your bank manager is sacked, do you demand to know why?
And will you be told?

There's a line to be drawn between personal and public issues.

PA Team acted, and the problem was rectified. As would be the case with your Bank Manager, or whatever other example springs to mind.

My bank provides me with clear records of my accounts and provides the govenrment with clear accounts of what goes on with its money. Perhaps youd like to try another example?

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
You are correct that no person is 100% objective, that isnt the point. Unlike parracida you do not have a clear conflict of interest.

As far as trustworthy, that just makes me laugh.

Trustworthy has 100% nothing to do with this. A completely trustworthy person is still natuarlly biased by conflicts of interest. Not to mention the fact that you claim to have established this much trust in someone you know through irc chats. In what circumstances before this position did you test Parra's trustworthyness?

Hell, I was FC in Wolfpack for quite some time, and left upon becoming an admin.

I still think of WP as good friends, and have many "mates" amongst their ranks.

Its all about trust, surely? It's trusting that we have the common sense, and the objectivity, to act within our roles without letting conflicts of interest sway our judgement.

[K-W]

Originally posted by WipeOut
Personally I think instead of whining about the lack of transparancy for the community members not in the loop, you guys should perhaps consider thanking these guys for their efforts. I am personally quite happy that a team like this at least exists, and I am happy that people are willing to put in the effort to make it work, and it has, worked relatively well last round in respect to other rounds. And mistakes are always made, and will always be made. But hey, it is always easier to point out the mistakes, rather than pointing out the accomplishments.

These people put in effort to make this game more enjoyable for us to play, and they do it for free. So if you want to complain, do a better job, or hold your peace.

Thanks guys, keep up the good work.

If PA was free, I would agree with you. When it was a backlot ball game, fine. But once they ask us for money, they became professionals, and it is reasonable to expect them to act as such.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
My bank provides me with clear records of my accounts and provides the govenrment with clear accounts of what goes on with its money. Perhaps youd like to try another example?

Didnt I say that at the bottom?

Employee A is sacked from company B. Customers C, D & E are very unlikely to be told he's been sacked, or what for.

Better?

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
If PA was free, I would agree with you. When it was a backlot ball game, fine. But once they ask us for money, they became professionals, and it is reasonable to expect them to act as such.

"Its all about trust, surely? It's trusting that we have the common sense, and the objectivity, to act within our roles without letting conflicts of interest sway our judgement."

I'd personally submit that as a professional work ethic.

[ParraCida]

Originally posted by K-W
"I hid things so youd trust me"

Well thats just Neat


The fact that in some circumstances that you could have done wrong, you didnt doesnt prove a thing.

I hid things so I could build up something, had I not hidden then I would have never been able to, because every action I would make would be scrutinized and compared to my past and explained in ways to fit the persons personal opinion, at least now I have facts to present.

I ask you, in what 'other' circumstances should I have turned a blind eye? Cypher was a top 10 player, would that not have been the perfect opportunity to pretend to not see? Bong had a very small planet, would it have not been easy to overlook someone that is so hard to notice? I fully realize that me not overlooking certain situations by no means proves that I did not overlook other situations. It does however show a pattern.

And it's not as if I'm the only one looking at incomming reports, we have a full team and I have no way of stopping other admins to look at reports. The first thing I did was create a structure of mutual control and shared information, I've done everything in my power to give any admin the least possible opportunity to 'turn a blind eye', including myself.

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
Hell, I was FC in Wolfpack for quite some time, and left upon becoming an admin.

I still think of WP as good friends, and have many "mates" amongst their ranks.

Its all about trust, surely? It's trusting that we have the common sense, and the objectivity, to act within our roles without letting conflicts of interest sway our judgement.

No its not about trust. Youn shouldnt be in charge of a dog show if you dont understand this. We are talking about subconcious stuff MrBrick. Conflicts of interest sway your judgement whether you like it or not.

And the fact that you dont understand that makes me not trust you.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
No its not about trust. Youn shouldnt be in charge of a dog show if you dont understand this. We are talking about subconcious stuff MrBrick. Conflicts of interest sway your judgement whether you like it or not.

And the fact that you dont understand that makes me not trust you.

By that judgement, no human should be allowed to be in the hunting team.

Half "the battle" is knowing the enemy. So I know that I should not be biased, therfore I do my best not to be.

It would be the same with Parra, you, a donkey called "Fred", Hicks, Bob Geldoff or Spinner.

There is no "perfect mindset" and there is no "faultless human".

[K-W]

Originally posted by ParraCida
I hid things so I could build up something, had I not hidden then I would have never been able to, because every action I would make would be scrutinized and compared to my past and explained in ways to fit the persons personal opinion, at least now I have facts to present.

I ask you, in what 'other' circumstances should I have turned a blind eye? Cypher was a top 10 player, would that not have been the perfect opportunity to pretend to not see? Bong had a very small planet, would it have not been easy to overlook someone that is so hard to notice? I fully realize that me not overlooking certain situations by no means proves that I did not overlook other situations. It does however show a pattern.

And it's not as if I'm the only one looking at incomming reports, we have a full team and I have no way of stopping other admins to look at reports. The first thing I did was create a structure of mutual control and shared information, I've done everything in my power to give any admin the least possible opportunity to 'turn a blind eye', including myself.

First off, I've made no accusations of intentional abuse of power.

I am talking about conflicts of interest, which have nothing to do with intentional power abuse. For example, the president of the U.S. has his finances put in a blind trust.

We do this because there if he knows he stands to lose alot of money doing something he cant help but have that in his head.

In science we have something called experimenters bias. Perfectly honest, well intentioned, trustworthy scientists influence experiments subconciously.

This is the issue.

[WipeOut]

Originally posted by K-W
If PA was free, I would agree with you. When it was a backlot ball game, fine. But once they ask us for money, they became professionals, and it is reasonable to expect them to act as such.

You try to define their degree of professionalism by pointing out lack of transparancy, neglecting the obvious (and in my opinion, more important) accomplishment. Ranting on about a mistake they made (and that I agree with, they made a mistake) is simply unfair, as instead of this rant, they deserve some credit for their efforts. You have to see the bigger picture.

[Redissal]

Originally posted by MrBrick
If your bank manager is sacked, do you demand to know why?
And will you be told?

If my bank manager is sacked because they've broken the law I expect (and will get) a public trial where I will learn exactly what they did.


Perhaps if you make the entire multihunting process transparent, tell us exactly what a multihunter can and can't do, what information they can get about a planet (password / fleet composition / tag / online status ?), what is logged and when it is checked, by whom, and how often, then people will be more satisifed. If you're not prepared to do that the best way to dramatically increase the players' confidence in the process is to forbid multihunters from playing the game. Sure that doesn't remove the conflict of interest entirely because they have friends who still play, but it goes a very long way. This was all discussed in round 4 and a descision made by Spinner. I don't understand what's changed.

[K-W]

Originally posted by MrBrick
By that judgement, no human should be allowed to be in the hunting team.

Half "the battle" is knowing the enemy. So I know that I should not be biased, therfore I do my best not to be.

It would be the same with Parra, you, a donkey called "Fred", Hicks, Bob Geldoff or Spinner.

There is no "perfect mindset" and there is no "faultless human".

Right, there is a baseline of natural bias that you deal with. But conflicts of interest place undue strain on someone who is supposed to be objective.

[MrBrick]

Originally posted by K-W
In science we have something called experimenters bias. Perfectly honest, well intentioned, trustworthy scientists influence experiments subconciously.

Answered your own arguement there, I feel.

All a hunter can do is his or her "best".

Same with your Science analogy.