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Saracen Has Stepped Down as Admin/Co-Web

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Due to undisclosed and personal reasons Saracen has resigned from his position as Forum Admin/Site Co-Webmaster. He will still pop in and post on the forums and so on though.

 

He was not forced out or dismissed, the decision was made in the best interests of CNCNZ.com.

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He got to old clearly and in the best interests of CNCNZ.com it wasn't a good idea to keep someone so occluded by RL in a position of power :P

 

Seriously though, See ya round man.

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Now he finally can devote his time for something he truly likes. All the best, Saracen!

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Now he finally can devote his time for something he truly likes.

 

I wish that were possible right now. It will be a short while yet before you see me bust out Sigs as a Staff member on other gaming fansites. As it stands I've had to drop my membership commitments around the Frontlines, Civilization, Petroglyph (even though I had ages ago), and Rockstar communities I've also been a part of under somewhat different names though.

 

I have joined one new community yesterday though. Although as it stands, it's only to keep track of the news on particular upcoming title. We'll see what happens when the offline commitments balance out a little more.

Edited by Saracen

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Which community may that be? ;)

 

I wish you find fulfillment and content there, wherever it is.

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Oh man that's a blow alright! Take care mate, I hope you can get everything sorted out quickly and painlessly. All the best my friend!

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Good luck with that distant thing called RL :P have fun man

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Hey man, pity you are retiring. Good luck with whatever you do man. Enjoy yourself

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I heard a lot about Saracen contributing a lot to the C&C community. Farewell, and good luck to wherever you are going to do next.

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I heard a lot about Saracen contributing a lot to the C&C community..

 

Yeah. My biggest highlight was managing and putting together the foundations of the C&C 10th Anniversary. With CNCNZ.com as a launch pad for the event, it really moved the site and the community forward. Had I not come up with the idea to celebrate, with EA's backing, would there be a First Decade pack? Would EA have released Free versions of the original C&C and Red Alert to the community? Not for my ego to get too big here. But I like to think that myself and CNCNZ.com had a big part in making it possible.

 

Over the years I have also given EA some big knocks. My heavy handed criticism never went un-noticed, and I always thrusted controversy into any subject. My passion for the franchise was unrivalled, and I would indeed take anyone on trying to defend that passion. However Apoc and me always saw eye to eye, and I was able to partially contribute towards C&C 3. I was actually (after a deep AIM conversation with Apoc) solely responsible for the ongoing existence of Visceroids, even if they didn't play a big part. I also wrote a strong personal argument (never seen article) for high yield blue Tiberium being in the game. This was (I was told) read by the dev team. So my passion for the franchise, helped give a lot of feedback to that game.

 

2007 was indeed the year I took my passion too far though, and after going to EALA for a C&C 3 pre-release community summit, I slammed the game hard for not being nothing less than perfect, and remaining dumbed down as opposed to showing an evolution of the franchise. It effectively killed my passion for the entire franchise overnight and it heavily destroyed the strong relationship myself and EA developed back in 2005.

 

I'm not going to keep it a secret... Since that happened, I have tried many times to find that passion again. Playing all the older games and even finding Red Alert 2 enjoyable, which I didn't like previously... Even playing Generals (which I loved on Gameplay alone) could not reignite it... and despite my review on RA3, I thought the passion was rediscovered.... but it wasn't to be... The game is now uninstalled, and I don't know when another C&C title will find its way onto my PC in the future.

 

CNCNZ needs staff who are still passionate about the franchise. Despite the offline commitments I have, a Co-webmaster who does not have that passion any more is not contributing to the best interests of the site. This is why I have had to regretfully step down on a permanent basis. It has been 11 whole years of highs and lows as a member of staff at this site. I would be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed every minute of it. But the evolution of the franchise and the community itself, has not gone the way I expected it to.

 

I have to say though, after so many years, it's horrible not being able to moderate these forums. Looks like I may be making good use of the p_report.gif button while I'm still here. :P

Edited by Saracen

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Yeah unfortunately people like myself and Zee don't have badges. It'd be a cool idea actually if retired staff could get a badge with the number of years served. I'm just short of 11, god damn it! :P

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Saracen, you know that in the end you will come crawling back. You know you can't really leave this place. :P

 

Good luck with whatever RL evils may confront you.

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Sorry to see you go Saracen, good luck with everything you're gonna do now ;)

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Yeah unfortunately people like myself and Zee don't have badges. It'd be a cool idea actually if retired staff could get a badge with the number of years served. I'm just short of 11, god damn it! :P

I could add a commemorative sort of badge, but I can't make it say who served X numbers of years individually or anything like that.

 

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At least now I know a bit more about why Saracen Retired.

Now he has more time to be an anarchist! :)

 

Zee & Saracen deserve a badge - shame about the year's of experience though.

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End of an Era you could argue. But based on a poll which I put in my blog, people here were glad to see me go, and a couple just didn't care if I retired or not. Always nice to know that you cared eh guys!? ;)

 

But honestly, I have to agree with those people who did say yes. This was a long time coming, and being a part of the staff here for so long has made me realise that in the last couple of years, it has been a chore to some extent. I would have continued the Articles section. But to be honest there is only so much you can say about C&C before it's all written. This is more the case today than ever before because of the shallow piece of mindless entertainment it has become.

 

In the past, the community was all up for deciphering story plots, guessing the next big thing and finding enrichment in canon based discussion. All this has gone out the window, and with the power of Hindsight, I see that this community, much like the game it follows, is out of its depth entirely. The whole thing lacks a solid foundation, forgets its roots and thus, this is an EA community, not a C&C community. EA communities do not allow for their fansites to convey critical thought regardless if it's constructive or not. Neither do they have the interests of their communities at heart... As much as they say they do, I haven't seen it truly for years.

 

I still see communities where fansite leaders make their opinions known publicly. Places that have a good amount of fight still within them, who have a passion to state their opinions and get their forums buzzing. Polls get set up which mean something, and as a result can sway a once singular rant into an influential opinion which benefits a certain franchise. Developers will care about community opinion, liaise with their fansites and those that choose to be a part of them so opinions count. The whole experience is about continual active engagement and communication on all levels with a good amount of firey passion thrown in. That is what makes a community great.....

 

So what the **** happened to this one?

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*cleverly sidesteps the main issue*

 

I will say this though: Maybe people (not me) generally just like the newer EA games? :unsure:

 

Sonic, you could make a custom badge thing with the year # but it'd end up at the botom of the profile text instead of at the top.

 

Yeah. My biggest highlight was managing and putting together the foundations of the C&C 10th Anniversary. With CNCNZ.com as a launch pad for the event, it really moved the site and the community forward. Had I not come up with the idea to celebrate, with EA's backing, would there be a First Decade pack? Would EA have released Free versions of the original C&C and Red Alert to the community? Not for my ego to get too big here. But I like to think that myself and CNCNZ.com had a big part in making it possible.

 

Over the years I have also given EA some big knocks. My heavy handed criticism never went un-noticed, and I always thrusted controversy into any subject. My passion for the franchise was unrivalled, and I would indeed take anyone on trying to defend that passion. However Apoc and me always saw eye to eye, and I was able to partially contribute towards C&C 3. I was actually (after a deep AIM conversation with Apoc) solely responsible for the ongoing existence of Visceroids, even if they didn't play a big part. I also wrote a strong personal argument (never seen article) for high yield blue Tiberium being in the game. This was (I was told) read by the dev team. So my passion for the franchise, helped give a lot of feedback to that game.

 

2007 was indeed the year I took my passion too far though, and after going to EALA for a C&C 3 pre-release community summit, I slammed the game hard for not being nothing less than perfect, and remaining dumbed down as opposed to showing an evolution of the franchise. It effectively killed my passion for the entire franchise overnight and it heavily destroyed the strong relationship myself and EA developed back in 2005.

 

I'm not going to keep it a secret... Since that happened, I have tried many times to find that passion again. Playing all the older games and even finding Red Alert 2 enjoyable, which I didn't like previously... Even playing Generals (which I loved on Gameplay alone) could not reignite it... and despite my review on RA3, I thought the passion was rediscovered.... but it wasn't to be... The game is now uninstalled, and I don't know when another C&C title will find its way onto my PC in the future.

 

CNCNZ needs staff who are still passionate about the franchise. Despite the offline commitments I have, a Co-webmaster who does not have that passion any more is not contributing to the best interests of the site. This is why I have had to regretfully step down on a permanent basis. It has been 11 whole years of highs and lows as a member of staff at this site. I would be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed every minute of it. But the evolution of the franchise and the community itself, has not gone the way I expected it to.

 

I have to say though, after so many years, it's horrible not being able to moderate these forums. Looks like I may be making good use of the p_report.gif button while I'm still here. :P

 

 

*grabs tissues* :P

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End of an Era you could argue. But based on a poll which I put in my blog, people here were glad to see me go, and a couple just didn't care if I retired or not. Always nice to know that you cared eh guys!? ;)

 

But honestly, I have to agree with those people who did say yes. This was a long time coming, and being a part of the staff here for so long has made me realise that in the last couple of years, it has been a chore to some extent. I would have continued the Articles section. But to be honest there is only so much you can say about C&C before it's all written. This is more the case today than ever before because of the shallow piece of mindless entertainment it has become.

 

In the past, the community was all up for deciphering story plots, guessing the next big thing and finding enrichment in canon based discussion. All this has gone out the window, and with the power of Hindsight, I see that this community, much like the game it follows, is out of its depth entirely. The whole thing lacks a solid foundation, forgets its roots and thus, this is an EA community, not a C&C community. EA communities do not allow for their fansites to convey critical thought regardless if it's constructive or not. Neither do they have the interests of their communities at heart... As much as they say they do, I haven't seen it truly for years.

 

I still see communities where fansite leaders make their opinions known publicly. Places that have a good amount of fight still within them, who have a passion to state their opinions and get their forums buzzing. Polls get set up which mean something, and as a result can sway a once singular rant into an influential opinion which benefits a certain franchise. Developers will care about community opinion, liaise with their fansites and those that choose to be a part of them so opinions count. The whole experience is about continual active engagement and communication on all levels with a good amount of firey passion thrown in. That is what makes a community great.....

 

So what the **** happened to this one?

Actually, I've seen everyone very vocal about their gripes with the games or franchise on a whole- Hexetic from PlanetCnC for instance did share his disappointment with RA3 everytime he could, and Mr. Funsocks from CnC-Files wrote a piece on why he sees the rock-paper-scissor-principle as step down back when the beta was released.

 

Or did Sonic ever hold back his dislike of TW? My review wasn't all rainbow and sunshine either, it's just that many did have a good time with the game. I'd also like to point at the DRM, economic and visual controversies that RA3 went through.

 

To say that EA doesn't listen to the community, at least to a small extent, is borderline untrue anyway- You should know that after they've put the visceroids into TW.

Edited by hagren

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Woah I completely missed this topic although I did notice the change of Saracen's rank/group. End of an era eh?

 

*sighs* Yeah there doesn't seem to be as much passion or foundation as there used to be. I don't know where my passion went but it ended somewhere with Westwood and the unrelease of C&C Reborn. Somewhere along the line I've gotten really disillusioned.

 

Although there's a good discussion about canon and if Kane is Scrin or some sort of extraterrestrial going on on the Apathbeyond forums right now. There have certainly been very audible people making their voices heard about the environment of C&C3 or the appearance of RA3 during development but it just doesn't feel like we were listened to. It feels more like someone at EALA went (in a condescending tone) "Oh all right we'll go ahead and throw in a blobby visceroid thing and blue crystals to make them shut the hell up. That should satisfy those kids." Not genuine caring about the opinions of fans.

 

I gave up after C&C3's disastrous supposed "ties" to previous C&C/TD/TS/FS canon. I was one of the vocal ones about lifeforms, the environment, classic Tiberium, mechs, tanks, etc. We were mostly ignored.

 

Blah, I don't know where I'm going with this post. I need to find a story-driven IP that can draw me in and can reignite my fire, with a matching community to boot.

Edited by Mighty BOB!

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My position is that the community as a whole needs to move on from Westwood. Westwood was great, fantastic in-fact but they're old news. They're not coming back and EALA won't be able to recapture what Westwood did with the original C&C's - ever. EALA has a tremendous creative capacity for game development. But as far as C&C goes there are just so many *fans* that are so narrow-minded as to only see C&C as what it was and are basically after a port with upgraded graphics. If C&C is to move forward as a franchise EALA really needs to give two fingers to the community at least for a game or so and just do what they want, why don't we give EALA a chance to see what they can come up with? They know C&C, hell, they probably know it better than we do. Maybe if the community wasn't so anal about everything we might see EALA have it's own shot at developing it's own *Westwood "revolutionary rts"* who knows if it will work or not, but surely - if EA has a bit more free-reign maybe they might be able to come up with a much more original take on C&C that really isn't bad.

 

I gave up after C&C3's disastrous supposed "ties" to previous C&C/TD/TS/FS canon. I was one of the vocal ones about lifeforms, the environment, classic Tiberium, mechs, tanks, etc. We were mostly ignored.

I actually think this was part of the problem that caused C&C3's story to become "disastrous". The Devs had their idea of where they were going, all the community people butted in, higher-ranked staff told developers to reconsider and in the end it all got ****ed up.

 

That's my opinion anyway :unsure:

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