Today on the Firestorm/Phoenix blog Jessica Lyon announced that Firestorm now has more unique users than SLV 1.23. Not only are there more people using the viewer, their total time in world with the viewer is more than the time in world with SLV 1.23.

Firestorm is still in beta. So, this is a big milestone. While this comes as no surprise to me, it deserves congratulations. Congratulations Firestorm Team!

The Sad Side

Of the 54 team members 38 are support personnel. None of these people are paid employees. The team is made up of volunteers. The viewer and support are provided for free.

In spite of the above there is enough abuse directed at the team that Jessica mentioned it in her blog post. While I have been in debates in the Myst-Uru community about online behavior and seen frustration used as a justification for poor behavior, I’ve never accepted frustration as an excuse. I think it shows a level of immaturity and a lack of ability to cope with life. In other words, such people need the help of a professional counselor.

None of us have a duty to help such people. But,I suspect many of us have empathy for the support people. Be sure to thank anyone that helps you. And chime a thank you for the viewer in the Phoenix Forum and Support group.

When you see someone being rude to the Firestorm/Phoenix team, don’t be afraid to say something. There is no need to drop to their level. But, there is also no reason to tolerate poor behavior. The Firestorm/Phoenix Support Group is for support of the viewers, not physiological support. The group is not for venting frustration or complaining about the team’s development direction and imposing vents and rants on others in the group is simply inconsiderate.