Hail friends,
The following story is literally a case of a person giving a thief access to their house and then being surprised that something was stolen. Don't let anyone else re-tell the tale and spin it any other way. It's really that simple.
The thief in question had been playing a thief exclusively for over 8 years, was the guildmaster & founder of a multi-shard guild named THIEF, and was the founder of a town of thieves on Siege Perilous. (And he just happens to be the webmaster of uothief.com!) Needless to say, the fact that he was a thief shouldn't have been a secret to anyone. This wan't a covert operation and it wasn't even particularly clever. This person was never targetted and gaining the victim's confidence (a.k.a. an actual "con") had nothing to do with any of it. Access to the house was given freely, without provocation, prompt, or query. And the only reason this theft made any Siege Perilous headlines at all was because the victim in question was a 13 year old girl named Kattastrophe. And for this tale, it only makes sense to start at the very end:
The items were taken, the theft was discovered, and Kattastrophe took to the public Stratics message board:
Kattastrophe: Dear Person that I had friended at my house, I don't know who you are yet, but I want to let you know that you took advantage of my kindness, As it would seem the people that I thought were my friends is starting to turn. I hope you enjoy the items because when I find out who you are, I will do nothing, I am not the kind of person to get angry over items, I am hurt that you think you had to steal them, if anything you could have asked. Enjoy your powerscrolls and Christmas items.I quickly responded:Chad Sexington: Well, the items weren't going to steal themselves! But I'm not heartless... just mostly heartless. I tell you what; show up this Sunday for Casino Night and I'll play some high stakes Blackjack with you. (The best kind!) 1 million gold per game. If you win, I'll give it all back. If you lose -- especially if someone out there is nice enough to help bank you -- we'll continue 1 million per game until you win. Anyone else can show up to be witness if they like. The total value of items in the box is worth a few million gold. With any luck, it'll all be yours again for as little as 1 million. Also, I suggest you remove me from your friend's list immediately. I'll continue to steal from you until someone stops me. (I am a thief, after all.)If the victim had been anyone else -- at all -- the response would have been something along the lines of, "You friended Chad to your house? LOL."
--But the victim wasn't anyone else. And so then, we have a great range of reactions, including the outrage:Angyl of Ohr: Really Chad.......Really???? You give those thieves that do not steal from people a bad name! There are a few different kinds of thievery; you are welcome to your opinion as well as I am. The way Chad went about his thieving is just totally wrong. This has nothing to do with it being on Siege. It's about personal ethics.And my personal favorites:
Barefoot Scribe: Thanks for owning up Chad (if indeed it was you who beguiled this young lady). As I said in my previous post Kat, we have all kinds of characters here and Chad has never tried to pretend that he is not the scoundrel that he is.
Tjalle: Well, at least it was one of our ingame thieves that did what they do and not a friend that robbed you. Canīt really blame them for that. And now a tip to all. Always keep the items that you donīt want friended people to take at will in secure containers that only you have access to. So when you want to give something to someone you just take it out yourself. That way no one will ever be tempted and you wonīt have to deal with the feeling that you were betrayed. And also, should you someday misplace an item and canīt find it, you know itīs your own fault and you wonīt have to suspect the people on your friends list.
Incognito: I think Chad is providing a valuable lesson about trust here. I don't agree with it happening, but if it had to happen this is really your best case scenario.
ApollyonSP: Did somebody get siege peril-ized? Welcome to SP!
The Gooch: For the record the ONLY reason anyone is objecting to this is because Katt's reputation of being a nice kid. If this were anyone else you would all post "Welcome to Siege, Get thicker skin" or some sort of variation of that.
WhiteWitch: That's not why I object to this, I have no problem with thieves using the stealing skill to take stuff from people, nor do I have an issue with roleplayers playing this sort of character, but the incident here goes a bit beyond that, its over the line.
Kelmo: Poor form... This caper involved no skill, no form of con, nothing of the sort... merely opportunity. No story here.
Agra-Lem: The only small mistake Katt did do was not knowing who Chad is. One cannot blame her for that, she doesnt play for that long. However, gambling for that lost stuff would be a big mistake. And only a fool would trust you after that. You clearly dont know where the line is. This isnt a steal of a few items. Looks more like you did take everything you could grab. Just plain lame, nothing else. Worst roleplay ever. Nuff' said.
Lady Michelle: If you do not win or get your stuff back let me know, because I will be boycotting going to events, or buying stuff off the vendors there.
Tanagar: It's sad, but its part of our life which we had to be prepared. But I like how Kattasrophe concern about this event - very wisely. 10+ years ago I came to the internet cafe and A SMALL BOY (~12 years) stolen my account (hopefully it was free shard account). A SMALL BOY asked me to show my character at his computer, I logged he said "Wow, I like your char!". And when I came home - I've found that somebody changed my password and took all items. Admin of this server was friend of mine and he restored everything, but it still really sad memory.. sad but funny. So.. beware of evil small boys hehe
Picus: So some person, who you don't know, friends you on SP to a house and you are expected to not loot the place dry? WTF people, SP is the last old school area the UO has left. It's as close to pretend wild west as people have. You go to SP for the thrill of the game and this was a rookie mistake if ever there was one to be made. This cry baby mentality is the whole reason the UO even has SP and the other shards are so safe nothing bad could happen. Get over it.
Cazador: lol
Freja: Katt, there is no shame in accepting stuff/money to help you get your stuff back or stuff to replace it. You do alot for the shard, now let us help you. I understand the ones who say, you should not do the Black jack deal but Chad may make more movey from selling your items, so I see nothing wrong with this. We all make mistakes, you learned to be careful who to trust. I learned in the past, to double check, that I remember to Siege Bless my bow after I let Tina repair it. I know all are shotting at Chad now. I don't know him well enough to know if he really are that heartless or he only play with your feelings, like thieves love to do. I still believe it can get a good ending, even when Chad may make some gold from it. We are there for you and many of us do have more gold than we need. Go for it, don't let people tell you what to do, it is Siege and evil RP is allowed and if you can get it back for a mill or two, I gladly help with the gold.
Ellie: Using the stealing skill to take an item from someone is a valid game mechanic. Removing items from a house you were friended to in confidence is far from the same thing.
Kat: Don't trust anyone. I recently had 2 10 year friends show their true colors For some people, this is simply a game and the "friendships" they make here mean nothing. Not everyone can be trusted. Keep that in mind both in game and out.Bo: this was a scumbag move, gainin the trust of a 12 year old only to steal out of her house. keep up the good work, why dont you guys get Diablo to come back and join yas, he plays this con game pretty well from what the Bo has heard.If it counts as a "con" for a thief to spontaneously receive access to a house and then that thief takes items from a public container in that house, then this has got to be a contender for the worst con in the history of cons.
Podolak: I've held back on making a post in this thread as I am not entirely sure any post here would lead somewhere good. However it is very disheartening for Katt to take so much of the blame. Using the stealing skill to take an item from someone is a valid game mechanic. Removing items from a house you were friended to in confidence is far from the same thing. What happened to Katt falls under a confidence scheme aka "con". I would stay away from this deal or no deal business, it validates the actions of the con-man in this case, Chad.
::Later That Day::
(To be continued... and this time from the beginning.)
-Chad Sexington