Zam.com Q&AFollow

Repost of what I posted here:

Shady Business: Brock Pierce, IGE, and RPG Holdings



Regardless of where you stand on the issue, you should know a thing or two about Brock Pierce, CEO of RPG Holdings, Inc. (the company that has purchased Allakhazam), and founder of IGE. Why, pray tell, does a former child actor start a company in Hong Kong? Why does it matter? Well, having an idea of this executive's past affiliations and present-day aggresive acquisitions paints an ugly picture of the company and its founder, who now hold Allakhazam.

If you haven't yet read this article, you should do so:

The Truth about IGE

Among many other tales of IGE's dubious cutthroat history, Brock Pierce's relationship with Collins-Rector, who was arrested on charges of molesting a minor, is brought to light. Although Pierce wasn't directly implicated in these acts, he and fellow DEN co-founder Chad Shackley went into hiding along with Collins-Rector. They also were accused of software piracy and copyright infringement:

This article was printed while the trio was still missing:
The Last Pixel Show


Later on, they were found in Spain:

From the following article: Dotcom founders still in Spanish jail
The New York Post still had a similar, albeit brief online article found here.

Provided, Brock Pierce himself was not found guilty of those charges, he was found hiding out with Collins-Rector in Marbella, Spain in the wake of allegations over Collins-Rector's child molestation charges. Aside from his ties to Collins-Rector, Pierce's involvement in the crooked company DEN and his law-dodging history should be enough padding for the founder of a company as notorious as IGE.



Soon after, Pierce picked up and moved shop to Hong Kong, which is where IGE was founded. They started by hiring several score Chinese laborers to work 24/7, acquiring virtual wares, and steadily growing their business. After vicious competition, IGE joined with MySuperSales, another infamous and hated RMT site. They later managed to remove Yantis, the founder of MySuperSales. Pierce founded RPG Holdings. RPG Holdings owns IGE, OGamingstore, MySuperSales, Thottbot, and now Allakhazam with the acquisition of Zam.com. Thus, Allakhazam is a new limb of Pierce's MMO-sales/fansite juggernaut.

RPG Holdings is now going to be making money whenever you visit any of the Zam.com affiliates. They didn't buy out this site without the intention of any or all of the following: making more money, crushing an opponent, or gaining more influence. A majority of RPG Holdings' assets come from RMT sites, and they actively seek to buy out any competition to maintain their dominance over the market.

With the purchase of Allakhazam and Zam.com, the RMT business has become that much stronger, and will continue to grow stronger. The only people who could delight in such news are their RMTing customers. For the honest players, this is another defeat, another sign of RMT's influence over our gaming experience. For the Allakhazam faithfuls who vehemently oppose RMT, this is a stab in the back. That's the cause of the outrage here.

The most upright, anti-RMT community is now under the umbrella of RMT's most powerful sponsor. The deal's been made. Pierce owns Allakhazam. Fin.

Just an observation. Back in the day when Czae and I got into a few debates on the EQ forums, on *several* occasions I commented that he had obtained his starting account and a fair amount of seed cash by purchasing them. I based my assumptions on my observations of his comments alone (about his accounts and characters). While I obviously can't state as a fact that Czae purchased plat and gear, the fact that out of the half dozen or so heated threads in which I accussed him of doing so he never once denied it would seem to indicate that he did.

Sure. He didn't buy stuff from IGE. But then IGE didn't exist back then yet. Does that make him hypocritical today? I think it does. If he was starting out as a new player today, he'd likely do the same things he did back then, which would be to buy some gear and cash to give him a leg up in the game. Where do you think he'd go? Yup. IGE.

Sure. It's one anecdotal observation, but I think the observation is valid. There are a lot of players who've been playing their various games for a long time and who are very opposed to IGE today, but who did in fact purchase stuff years ago to get their own start going. In fact I *know* that a very large percentage of old time EQ players did. The fact that they maybe didn't buy from IGE doesn't change anything. They're condemning a choice by players that they themselves made when they were in the same situation. That's hypocrisy.

Q 1: What are your plans for the mass of unhappy customers and forums goers?

Q 2: How confident are you that you will not be pushed aside so that the company you sold to can go on with their agenda?

I don't think that Alla is 'allowed' to make a reply.

Anything he says in regards to all of this will likely have to be carefully crafted then approved by his bosses because this is now a topic divulging business information.

It's much the same way that Bliz moderators don't say anything because they can't. Not saying anything at all is bad, saying things and making promises that can't be kept is worse. We're now shooting the messenger, even if the messenger was the one who started the mess in the first place.

And I've had an account here for a while. Since Kunark.. but I've never had the inclination to post until now.

If you are skipping to the back of this thread and posting questions and waiting for an answer, I suggest you instead go back to the first four or five pages and scan down for the blinking eyes and read the responses there. I haven't seen any new questions posted in the last 10 pages that are not covered already by my previous responses. I don't see any reason to keep posting the same thing over and over again.

Nonetheless, I will reiterate somewhat. The sky is not falling. IGE is not taking over Allakhazam. There will be no connection whatsoever between IGE and Zam.com. The two networks are run by different management teams and will have no interaction in any way. We will be running the site in the same way we always have, including banning all RMT ads and promotions. The only thing that is changing is that we will have far more resources to develop better features, add more staff and keep things even more up to date. Trust me. This is a good thing for everyone. Give us some time to show you what we can do with this and I think you will ultimately be amazed and happy.

I think I've admitted it somewhere or other previously. Although I really haven't bought much plat ever, I have bought characters, just because I find leveling to seventy and a few hundred aas when I want a bot for something pretty petrifyingly boring. I leveled up more than once, and just don't see the point of it anymore. I've also paid tuition via selling plat before.

But I don't object to this based off of IGE's line of business exactly. Although I do think sites like Alla's should stay clearly separate from RMt sites, I wouldn't object to this at all if, say, IRNewb (another plat-seller, for those unfamiliar,) bought out alla.

IGE's proven repeatedly in the past that in a gray business, they're quite happy to be black.

It's kind of like the difference between the dude you bought pot from in high school, and the Cali cartel.

Edited, Fri May 5 21:02:49 2006 by Groogle

I declared it to be 85% back on page 6....

Alla, I humored you adn went through all 16 pages of this ******** thread, and you haven't answered my question. So no, you didn't answer all the questions. When are these retarded threads gonna go away and when will these retards be banned?

LOL Why are so many of you that swear you are leaving, all up in arms over this merger, still here posting?

Trust in Alla and the admins to keep their word, give them a chance to prove themselves, or live up to your promise and move on!

Nothing has happened to warrant any refunds. Your posts aren't copyrighted material, so they are public property. You can choose to not login at any time.

I for one am eager to see what they can accomplish with new servers, more staff, and some serious financial backing!! Woot...let's see the magic!!

God, Feba, your sig makes you look so stupid.

There is no proof that the Mystery Company is IGE.

You say it like it's pure fact, it's not.

Glad you're leaving. (False hope. )

~Blix

Edited, Fri May 5 22:48:23 2006 by TheBlix

[GREEN]THANK YOU FOR BEING FUNNY!!! TOO MANY OF YOU ARE MAKING TOO BIG OF A DEAL OUT OF THIS!!! EVERYONE SELLS OUT. GREEN DAY= PRIME EXAMPLE. ANY BAND THAT YOU LOVE, ANY GAME DEVELOPER THAT YOU LOVE, ANY WEBSITE THAT YOU ENJOY. EVENTUALLY, THEY ALL SELL OUT. WHY? B/C THEY AIN'T DOIN IT FOR FUN!! DID YOU STOP PLAYING EQ WHEN VARENT WAS SOLD TO SOE?!?! DID YOU STOP PLAYING BLIZZARD GAMES WHEN THEY WERE SOLD TO DAVIDSON??!?

WE LIVE IN A CAPITAL SOCIETY—HELL, THAT'S WHY IGE EXISTS. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO ALLA, LEAVE THE COUNTRY--GO TO MEXICO, BUSH WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!
[GREEN/]

HULK SMASH!

Except you don't have proof except an anon article written by an anon person whom isnt even credible.

And you support gil sellers too Feba. you're friends with them. Doesn't matter if they are regretful about it.