It is time we do something.
A serious problem has emerged, and several people have been content to just sit back and make fun of it. Me?
Bitching isn’t enough for me anymore. Laughter may be medicine, but it isn’t a cure. And a cure is what we need. That goal is what gives me the drive to write this article. And I hope the rest of you feel the same way. Now, some of you already know what I am referring to. @tlk742 has already openly confessed to using media as a way to give teammates money. Lying would have tempting. You know SOME members here are comfortable with doing that, and only recently have we begun culling those members out.
Granted, confessing to unethical behavior doesn’t make it ethical. I don’t think TLK and the rest who have engaged in this behavior bad people. Verily, I have danced on that line myself. I wish I could say I was above it, but there is growing evidence to the contrary. Now that this is known to be a league-wide issue and not an isolated incident, how can we move forward? Getting to work on a solution.
Most would agree that this practice of media payouts to uninvolved writers is a circumvention of the rules against transferring money. Only that concept doesn’t clarify the many gray areas in between rewarding individuals for their contributions and just handing over cash. Now, I don’t want to call people out and turn this into a witch hunt, but having admitted to contributing to this problem, I think it is helpful to mention OTHER examples that led us down this path. Everyone here from season two probably remembers how @TheMemeMaestro wrote a 5k word article shortly after joining the site. Yeti teammates, damn near all of them, allowed Meme to interview them, combine them all into one long article, and keep ALL of the money from the article.
To be honest, I thought it was a really positive thing, seeing a group of veterans help a new young member to going, especially with there being no guarantee of him coming back to the Yeti. Only now, having seen what situation we are in now, do I realize what message we were sending.
Teams have a salary cap for a reason, and it’s a damn fine reason. Yeti may be a team in need of help, and it is easy to applaud underdogs doing everything they can to stay relevant, but the rules must be applied evenly. Losing does not, and should not, justify cheating. Every team must be held to the same standard. Rules that are blatantly exploited are no longer rules.
Omission of payment from work is JUST as bad as giving away money to undeserving members. Like many established vets, I have done this on many occasions thinking I was helping new members, and all I can say in my defense is that I have done this for many players that I was not on a team with and had no prior friendship with. Every interview I’ve given where I’ve taken 10%, or every podcast where I worked my ass off in preparation for just to take a flat 500k. Simply put, I’ve violated the spirit of this rule far more than I’d previously realized.
Sending money via media IS a problem, but so is denying money to oneself. Only by coming up with a method to fix both aspects of this issue can actually solve the problem, otherwise we only half-assed it.
Please consider the following carefully, as I may have overlooked important factors. All my ideas are well-intended. You all know, however, that sometimes the good idea fairy sprinkles a bit too much magic dust on me.
How about taking away the ability of the author to determine payouts? I am thinking that at the bottom of each article, the author lists the efforts made by all contributors. Media graders could then decide the percentage worth of each contribution and allocate pay accordingly.
Everything considered, this would address the core issue in media pay. Vexing as this proposal is, it does seem to be the only way to ensure fairness. Every article would need to be evaluated in this manner. Realistically, however, this would put a huge burden on graders, slowing down media grading. You know we would need to hire a LOT more of them.
Doing this would require more organization and more graders, but it seems the only way. I would welcome other solutions, though. My proposal may not be the best, and I accept that. Everyone, at the end of the day, I just want to keep having fun with the rest of you, and is exactly what I have done tonight.
((Graders, read the first letter of every sentence to discover how I want the pay handled. For the lazy, 100% to @`To12143`))
A serious problem has emerged, and several people have been content to just sit back and make fun of it. Me?
Bitching isn’t enough for me anymore. Laughter may be medicine, but it isn’t a cure. And a cure is what we need. That goal is what gives me the drive to write this article. And I hope the rest of you feel the same way. Now, some of you already know what I am referring to. @tlk742 has already openly confessed to using media as a way to give teammates money. Lying would have tempting. You know SOME members here are comfortable with doing that, and only recently have we begun culling those members out.
Granted, confessing to unethical behavior doesn’t make it ethical. I don’t think TLK and the rest who have engaged in this behavior bad people. Verily, I have danced on that line myself. I wish I could say I was above it, but there is growing evidence to the contrary. Now that this is known to be a league-wide issue and not an isolated incident, how can we move forward? Getting to work on a solution.
Most would agree that this practice of media payouts to uninvolved writers is a circumvention of the rules against transferring money. Only that concept doesn’t clarify the many gray areas in between rewarding individuals for their contributions and just handing over cash. Now, I don’t want to call people out and turn this into a witch hunt, but having admitted to contributing to this problem, I think it is helpful to mention OTHER examples that led us down this path. Everyone here from season two probably remembers how @TheMemeMaestro wrote a 5k word article shortly after joining the site. Yeti teammates, damn near all of them, allowed Meme to interview them, combine them all into one long article, and keep ALL of the money from the article.
To be honest, I thought it was a really positive thing, seeing a group of veterans help a new young member to going, especially with there being no guarantee of him coming back to the Yeti. Only now, having seen what situation we are in now, do I realize what message we were sending.
Teams have a salary cap for a reason, and it’s a damn fine reason. Yeti may be a team in need of help, and it is easy to applaud underdogs doing everything they can to stay relevant, but the rules must be applied evenly. Losing does not, and should not, justify cheating. Every team must be held to the same standard. Rules that are blatantly exploited are no longer rules.
Omission of payment from work is JUST as bad as giving away money to undeserving members. Like many established vets, I have done this on many occasions thinking I was helping new members, and all I can say in my defense is that I have done this for many players that I was not on a team with and had no prior friendship with. Every interview I’ve given where I’ve taken 10%, or every podcast where I worked my ass off in preparation for just to take a flat 500k. Simply put, I’ve violated the spirit of this rule far more than I’d previously realized.
Sending money via media IS a problem, but so is denying money to oneself. Only by coming up with a method to fix both aspects of this issue can actually solve the problem, otherwise we only half-assed it.
Please consider the following carefully, as I may have overlooked important factors. All my ideas are well-intended. You all know, however, that sometimes the good idea fairy sprinkles a bit too much magic dust on me.
How about taking away the ability of the author to determine payouts? I am thinking that at the bottom of each article, the author lists the efforts made by all contributors. Media graders could then decide the percentage worth of each contribution and allocate pay accordingly.
Everything considered, this would address the core issue in media pay. Vexing as this proposal is, it does seem to be the only way to ensure fairness. Every article would need to be evaluated in this manner. Realistically, however, this would put a huge burden on graders, slowing down media grading. You know we would need to hire a LOT more of them.
Doing this would require more organization and more graders, but it seems the only way. I would welcome other solutions, though. My proposal may not be the best, and I accept that. Everyone, at the end of the day, I just want to keep having fun with the rest of you, and is exactly what I have done tonight.
((Graders, read the first letter of every sentence to discover how I want the pay handled. For the lazy, 100% to @`To12143`))
![[Image: BVsashy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BVsashy.png)
Jurisprudence Jones, OL ![[Image: cYhSwFY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/cYhSwFY.png)
![[Image: TBFYuND.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TBFYuND.png)
![[Image: RhrM963.png]](https://i.imgur.com/RhrM963.png)
![[Image: 7wt9DEq.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/7wt9DEq.gif)
