Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:49 am
I first got into Allegiance at around 2000, after a good friend mine purchased a copy. He and I used to do Age of Empires on the old MS Gaming Zone. It was a lot of fun. But you can only play a game for so long, and so we both stretched out horizons. One of his finds was this game. Allegiance.
We played on the free servers for a log time until the paid servers were opened up to the public. Allegiance was great. It was a whole new ball game. I tried to get my friend into playing Star Wars X-Wing Alliance, but even though it was a Star Wars game, the graphics and multiplayer gaming experience just weren't as fun. Allegiance wasn't Star Wars. It didn't have the movie going for it, nor the cool soundtrack, but it was fun.
My friend and I parted ways. I was going through a hard time, and simply lost contact with him. Years later, in 2010, I was happily reunited with him, and appropriately enough, it was on one of the Allegiance game servers. We reconnected via Facebook too. I couldn't be happier.
But, as I played Allegiance and a couple of other games, I felt like I was being harassed. And I doubt it was coming from any of the regular pilots, but from private security that signed up for the game.
Explanation;
In 2000 I lost my temper on southbound 280, a freeway on the peninsula that connects San Francisco with Silicon valley (San Jose, Milpitas, etc.). I was suffering from severe depression, and was angry with racers abusing the roads It wasn't a smart thing to do, but I did it. And, from that point on I was harassed to seek treatment from all the places I used to frequent. After I did, the harassment got worse and personal.
It got so bad that I nearly blew my head off with my father's old revolver. I loaded it, stuck the barrel in my mouth, and came within a hair's breath of pulling the trigger.
I didn't.
I turned in the weapon, and quit my job hopefully to move back into my old career of working on films and video. But the harassment continued. It varried. From personal remarks by private security who were monitoring my net activity. Why they did it, I don't know. But, I was perpetually asked by a "new friend" (who I'll let be nameless for the sake of the agreement to use this BBS) if I had ever caused an accident.
I never have.
But everytime I left the house in an angry state, someone in a crewcut would cut me off on the road, or drive around me several times. I thought it was the police, and didn't know what to do. I tried filing complaints with the police and with the CHP (California Highway Patrol), and when I called the CHP the first time I got a bunch of Indians on the other end of the line claiming to be the local CHP office. I called the district office and contacted the Department of Justice for the state of California. I even wrote a letter of complaint to the Federal DOJ Inspector General, and that put an end to it, although they claim there was no wrong doing.
In short, here's what happened. There were a number of accidents that occured on the two main arteries along the peninsula in the SF Bay Area on 101 and 280. I, like others, were angry and frustrated with racers abusing the road and causing these accidents. I tapped my breaks one time to get one of these drivers to slow down, and nothing happened other than they were PO'd at me. But, I was perpetually asked if I had ever caused an accident, and was harassed on the road after that event. AND, it only stopped when I brought it to the attention of Federal Law Enforcement.
The harassment I experienced on game servers was an extension of what I experienced.
I can't say for certain that veteran players weren't in on it, though I'd like to think they weren't, and, if they were contacted and asked to "participate" by keeping an eye out or actively engaging in harassment, then I'd like to think that most of the real veteran players here would beg off. But, I don't know that, though I'm not going to level any accusations.
And, to be honest, it wasn't just Alletgiance where I experienced the harassment, but, like I say, it occurred on other games.
Every job I've been on since I sought treatment for depression, I was surrounded by private security and health workers. And even though the economy was booming, I was intentionally denied the simpleist of jobs. As such, I am now $500 away from bankruptcy, and my home of thirty years that my family left me, is going to be foreclosed on.
You figure it out.
I loved playing Allegiance. And I'm sorry I brought my personal troubles to such a fine game and community. But I was forced to ditch it.
Keep your Gat-3s frosty, and don't forget to drag a scout with you when you're in your heavy-int.
Thanks for reading.
We played on the free servers for a log time until the paid servers were opened up to the public. Allegiance was great. It was a whole new ball game. I tried to get my friend into playing Star Wars X-Wing Alliance, but even though it was a Star Wars game, the graphics and multiplayer gaming experience just weren't as fun. Allegiance wasn't Star Wars. It didn't have the movie going for it, nor the cool soundtrack, but it was fun.
My friend and I parted ways. I was going through a hard time, and simply lost contact with him. Years later, in 2010, I was happily reunited with him, and appropriately enough, it was on one of the Allegiance game servers. We reconnected via Facebook too. I couldn't be happier.
But, as I played Allegiance and a couple of other games, I felt like I was being harassed. And I doubt it was coming from any of the regular pilots, but from private security that signed up for the game.
Explanation;
In 2000 I lost my temper on southbound 280, a freeway on the peninsula that connects San Francisco with Silicon valley (San Jose, Milpitas, etc.). I was suffering from severe depression, and was angry with racers abusing the roads It wasn't a smart thing to do, but I did it. And, from that point on I was harassed to seek treatment from all the places I used to frequent. After I did, the harassment got worse and personal.
It got so bad that I nearly blew my head off with my father's old revolver. I loaded it, stuck the barrel in my mouth, and came within a hair's breath of pulling the trigger.
I didn't.
I turned in the weapon, and quit my job hopefully to move back into my old career of working on films and video. But the harassment continued. It varried. From personal remarks by private security who were monitoring my net activity. Why they did it, I don't know. But, I was perpetually asked by a "new friend" (who I'll let be nameless for the sake of the agreement to use this BBS) if I had ever caused an accident.
I never have.
But everytime I left the house in an angry state, someone in a crewcut would cut me off on the road, or drive around me several times. I thought it was the police, and didn't know what to do. I tried filing complaints with the police and with the CHP (California Highway Patrol), and when I called the CHP the first time I got a bunch of Indians on the other end of the line claiming to be the local CHP office. I called the district office and contacted the Department of Justice for the state of California. I even wrote a letter of complaint to the Federal DOJ Inspector General, and that put an end to it, although they claim there was no wrong doing.
In short, here's what happened. There were a number of accidents that occured on the two main arteries along the peninsula in the SF Bay Area on 101 and 280. I, like others, were angry and frustrated with racers abusing the road and causing these accidents. I tapped my breaks one time to get one of these drivers to slow down, and nothing happened other than they were PO'd at me. But, I was perpetually asked if I had ever caused an accident, and was harassed on the road after that event. AND, it only stopped when I brought it to the attention of Federal Law Enforcement.
The harassment I experienced on game servers was an extension of what I experienced.
I can't say for certain that veteran players weren't in on it, though I'd like to think they weren't, and, if they were contacted and asked to "participate" by keeping an eye out or actively engaging in harassment, then I'd like to think that most of the real veteran players here would beg off. But, I don't know that, though I'm not going to level any accusations.
And, to be honest, it wasn't just Alletgiance where I experienced the harassment, but, like I say, it occurred on other games.
Every job I've been on since I sought treatment for depression, I was surrounded by private security and health workers. And even though the economy was booming, I was intentionally denied the simpleist of jobs. As such, I am now $500 away from bankruptcy, and my home of thirty years that my family left me, is going to be foreclosed on.
You figure it out.
I loved playing Allegiance. And I'm sorry I brought my personal troubles to such a fine game and community. But I was forced to ditch it.
Keep your Gat-3s frosty, and don't forget to drag a scout with you when you're in your heavy-int.
Thanks for reading.