Endless Nights - Lessons Learned, Part 1

It's never easy to realise that someone you thought you knew isn't who (or what) you think they are. Since opening Endless Nights, the hardest thing I've had to swallow to date is that someone I thought I could trust could blatantly cheat, for no good reason that I can see.

When we first opened the sim, an old friend - Ricard Collas - agreed to put out a memorial to his partner, who died this spring. It's a lovely memorial, and we put it in the center of the sim, next to Inspiration Point. It was a glorious tribute to Chippy Boa.

Ricard also asked about getting another castle put in for his beloved Toreadors, so I had that done as well. A custom castle, quite striking, was put in the northwest corner for him and his friends. He promised to help me get the sim up and running, and I was grateful for that. He was in the sim a lot, and participated in all the events he could. I was pushing to get him on staff, also, because he was such a huge participant in the sim.

The tournaments we sponsor - on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons - have been a favourite in the sim. Ricard was often a contender, if not the winner, of the Saturday tournaments. In fact, he requested we do something at a time when Europeans can participate, so in a way the Saturday tournament was partially his idea.

Now...I'd had several people tell me something was odd about fighting Ricard, that he just couldn't be taken down. I talked to him about it, and was repeatedly assured that he would never cheat. He's an excellent fighter - so why should he? I asked him about some things, and he started obsessing on being 'stalked' by the staff. The whole issue of cheating was discussed so much (and not just with Ricard) that I wrote procedures for running the tournament. One person is responsible to check all attachments on constestants - it's the only thing they should be doing.

A few weeks ago, I could not be at the Saturday tournament. When I came inworld, the first thing I see is an announcement stating that Ricard had been caught cheating, red-handed. Sure enough, the picture taken showed an attachment in his hand, the "inspect" screen showing what it was, and the edit box showing the DCS enhancement script in it. There was just no question - Ricard was cheating.

Confronted with absolute proof that he had been cheating, I asked him why the next day. I expected him to tell me it was an accident - that he forgot he was wearing this, or something of that ilk. His answer absolutely shocked me.

"I did it to prove a point. The staff is stalking me."

Ricard knew I had written procedures, and knew everyone was inspected. There was only one thing to do at that point. I wrote an apology to everyone in staff for not listening to them, and banned Ricard from the tournament.

I was asked to return all of Ricard's prims, and did so. I was sad to see Chippy's memorial go, but under the circumstances, I think Chippy would have been ashamed and would have understood.

I don't walk away from friendships easily. This one - there was no other choice. Ricard's actions epitomise the reason so many talented people in SL walk away from roleplay. I am not saddened that I lost a friend, because I never had one - but I am saddened that I was so completely taken by someone this dishonest and worthless.

Ricard - I really hope that point you wanted to make was worth it.