Eric Chiang's Transparency as IC Storyline Coordinator

DeathInABottle wrote:

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

Jeff,
So you are admitting that in 2012, while Eric was the Storyline Coordinator, that he was taking time of the Inner Circle to push your separate card set instead of developing a Storyline Event that could have been played by everyone instead of just in the EC?

Are you providing us with the evidence of Eric's Conflict of Interest?

I don't know much about the institutional history or the division of responsibilities here, but I think I can still point out a logical fallacy: it's not the case that a person can only perform one task at a time. I don't see how attempting to have confidential discussions precludes developing a storyline event.

A politician who is in charge of mining approvals should not own mining companies. That is a conflict of interest. Their public duty to others provides them with the opportunities required to enhance their OWN interests through their office. Eric's actions suggest that:

1) He had access to the new set, at least in part, because of his roles in the Design Team and the Inner Circle. He may have also had access to the cards through his associates.

2) His attempts to lobby/meet/engage with the remainder of the Inner Circle to have his own cards installed as 'sanctioned cards' represents actions taken to further his interests.

3) His actions with the Inner Circle were sufficient to cause the Inner Circle to remove him for a perceived conflict of interest.

4) He was taking time from the Inner Circle, and presumably his own time as part of the Inner Circle, away from VEKN matters to advance his own interests. If nothing else, this constitutes and abuse of office. Eric produced surprisingly little when he Storyline Coordinator, from his own admission it was 2 cards and one game at the EC2012.

A school teacher could spend their spare time writing novels. This is not a conflict of interest and if that school teacher was an English Literature teacher, this may constitute professional development.

Other classic examples of conflict of interest are:
- An accountant working for both sides of a financial deal (Whose best interest does the accountant serve?)

- A doctor providing medical treatment to relatives (How can they provide an unbiased medical opinon to someone they are related?)

- The "Ratings Agency" Conflict. The size of the fee is related to the determined value of the product. (So will they act in their own interest and inflate the value of the product to ensure their own profits?)

- A policeman should not investigate a potential crime involving a family member. (How can they diligently explore all leads and facts in the case in this situation?)


Jeff, in his post above, detailed the overlap, the broad outline of Eric's actions an highlight the conflicted position he was in. They also suggest that Eric will gladly circumvent established procedures to have his objectives met, since lobbying the Inner Circle about his cards would no doubt mean they would not go through the process for the cards designed by the Design Time.

Wow, you are CRAZY, Juggy... or maybe just a complete a-hole who knows he's full of crap but doesn't care. It's hard to tell which.

You must have more information than I do about the particulars of the situation, Juggernaut1981, because I can't see any particular conflict of interesting arising from "attempt[ing] to have confidential discussions." As I said, I don't know much of the story here, so I don't know what interests Eric would have had to forward; his interest in the way that the new set was being produced doesn't seem to directly conflict with his role as storyline coordinator.

But that's me making an assessment about the conflict of interest stuff on the basis of little actual information. My point was just a logical one: I maintain that becoming involved in the internal politics of an organization does not mean that a person necessarily becomes bad at doing their job; there are other things in life from which time could be taken.

Molloy,
I am basically applying the same sorts of standards of transparency that Eric has wanted from others to Eric's own actions. Considering that his actions also include a conflict of interest, I feel there is less need to pull punches.

If Eric wants to hold members of the IC to a certain standard of transparency, then there is no reason not to expect Eric (as a former IC) to meet those standards of transparency.

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

Other than the two cards created for the EC, and the games at the EC, what else did you achieve as the Storyline Coordinator? Most of your actions seem to be evidenced in public or summarised by 2 cards and one game in 2012.

From my own perspective, I did send you a number of cards for a Storyline and got no real assistance or feedback on them. Were you too busy producing two cards in two years for the EC to give me feedback and help?

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

Jeff,
So you are admitting that in 2012, while Eric was the Storyline Coordinator, that he was taking time of the Inner Circle to push your separate card set instead of developing a Storyline Event that could have been played by everyone instead of just in the EC?

Are you providing us with the evidence of Eric's Conflict of Interest?

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

4) He was taking time from the Inner Circle, and presumably his own time as part of the Inner Circle, away from VEKN matters to advance his own interests. If nothing else, this constitutes and abuse of office. Eric produced surprisingly little when he Storyline Coordinator, from his own admission it was 2 cards and one game at the EC2012.

There was no conflict of interest between Storyline Coordinator and Design Team member. Just like how you have no issues with Mike Nudd, the current storyline coordinator saying "I am busy working on [Danse Macabre] and currently have no plans for Storyline Events." I could and did work on both (storyline stuff and design stuff) at the same time.

To provide greater transparency on my reasons why I joined the Design Team, please let me explain why I felt that such a role would *help* in meeting my storyline responsibilities. When it comes to storyline tournaments, there are a few major reasons why people participate:

#1. Access to exclusive or hard-to-get promos, and possibly prize support
#2. Having the chance to impact the card game (through storyline choices)
#3. Having fun by playing in an unconventional format

As an aside, I also saw storyline as a valuable “test lab” that could be used to experiment with cards and tournament rules in a controlled setting (e.g. my plans to experiment with a modified Succubus Club or playing with the Grouping rules), but I don’t think that’s a major reason for most people to play in storyline events.

I assumed the Storyline Coordinator position during a troubling time for VTES. There were no new cards on the horizon and CCP interest and support was minimal at best. That significantly impacted #1 and #2.

Yes, I could have focused on creating a global storyline immediately or prioritized providing help with local storylines but I felt that without access to promos or the chance to have an impact, that interest and participation in storyline events would suffer and unsuccessful events would negatively impact future storyline attempts. Those who were mainly interested in having fun by playing under “radically different rules,” could still do that through local storylines.

So I made a conscious and strategic decision to prioritize #1 & #2. That’s why I spent a lot of time trying to contact Oscar and CCP – in hopes that I could secure promos and prize support that would improve participation for upcoming storyline events. There was also a very, very faint hope that maybe CCP would be willing to produce a storyline kit that could introduce a few new cards (including storyline rewards cards which would fulfill #2). Furthermore, by re-packaging leftover VTES product into storyline support, I could potentially help CCP and maybe make them see that there was still sufficient potential with VTES. Unfortunately, lack of response, Oscar’s untimely departure, and an unclear line of succession became a major deterrent on this front, but I eventually was able to work things out with David and Andreas.

Andrew, I am sorry that you did not get the help that you wanted or needed with your personal storyline event. With 20/20 hindsight, that is something I wish I had done.

When Johannes decided to do a new set and formed the Design Team, the Storyline Coordinator was not initially on it. However, I felt that a role in the Design Team would help me meet storyline-related goals and responsibilities. I could help ensure that storyline rewards cards were included which is important because it shows that storyline results matter and that players can impact the game through storyline events.

I designed 2 cards from scratch, and though 4 of the cards had a starting point from someone else, I significantly changed and developed them. Also note that I did not personally design any of those three storylines but I felt it was still important to respect and support them to maintain consistency. I also secured professional artists to do the artwork for most of the storyline rewards cards.

As a Design Team member, I could contribute my canon expertise and ensure that new cards were respectful to the source material (Onyx Path was still developing so at the time, VTES was the only one left continuing the VtM storyline).

While on the Design Team, I was able to advocate for storyline reward cards, and was able to improve and develop them.

Note that ultimately, Johannes did officially move the Storyline Coordinator position into the Design Team, which validates some of my decisions and efforts.

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To conclude, I think it was reasonable to focus on accessing promos/prize support (by working with Oscar, David, and Andreas) and ensuring that storyline tournament results would be meaningful (rewards cards). Without these in place, developing and running a global storyline would likely have resulted in minimal participation.

Jeff wrote:

Squidalot wrote:

Outrage over the legal threats sure, over your set no

I would like to point out a several things:

1) Throughout the spring of 2012, each of Carl, Eric and Jeff attempted to have confidential discussions with various people associated with the VEKN Inner Circle.
2) Topics included attempting to heal the rift on the Design Team before things got bad (and after too).

2a)We, PCK, threatened the VEKN that "bad things would happen" if your cards as-designed weren't accepted with no changes as the de-facto playtest set.

Jeff wrote:

3) Unfortunately, things did not work out, so we made a set (GotF) out of cards we created.
4) Privately, we offered the GotF set to the V:EKN for use. We did not get a clear response from them.
5) Afterward, we released the GotF set publicly for V:TES fans.
6) At a certain point, it became necessary to send, in confidence, a strongly worded letter to Johannes and the V:EKN Inner Circle.
7) Johannes decided to make that letter public including provocative rhetoric in his post. Thus, outrage. And not constructive discussion.

Making sure that everyone remembers the threats that you leveled at the VEKN, just because you keep "forgetting" them.