Talk:Siege on Sears

Sears Marketing Team Plays Urban Dead!

Yup, it's obvious. You can view their new website in "zombie", and it's all translated using UD's own zed language. Some examples - "Revive Your Style" uses the translation "Rabhabh", and a camera advertisement translates "find your perfect match" to "Zerger baragarz naz". A clear nod to the UDwiki.

The question though, is there something inherently wrong with this advertisement? I think not. The zombie lexicon is an openly developed language on a public wiki. For all we know, someone from the sears marketing team actively contributed to the lexicon. It's not necessary for them to "attribute" ownership of the material by linking back to this website. Actually, the idea of this wiki's denizens going after a company for copyright infringement is laughable. Have you had a look around Category:Images lately? I wouldn't at all be surprised if some of the zombie images from their new site end up on the UD wiki.

Finally, by putting links to their website here, you're actually only directing traffic to their site. You want to have people in zombie costumes picketing outside Sears? Ummm, geez talk about free publicity - I would love to see the local news coverage of that. Actually, who wrote this article? Are you the UD player from the sears marketing team? If so, nice website. I think it looks fresh. And shame on you for trying to trick people into helping spread your viral campaign.--_GANG Giles Sednik _CAPD 11:51, 25 October 2010 (BST)

I like this for the sole purpose that the reverse might happen - more people might play urban dead if we get the publicity up. Always a good thing.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature3 12:06, 25 October 2010 (BST)

I think you've got this completely wrong. No one is after Sears' jugular like you seem to think. We'd just love it if they just gave a little bit of a plug for the zombie language they used and the guy who created the grounding for it. The page is amazingly done yes, and the idea is pretty funny I guess, but all in all, I'd just like to see an attribution, even a very small one, towards Kevan and the game that the makers of the page are obviously fans of. -- LEMON #1 12:18, 25 October 2010 (BST)

Ditto. Given the downturn in player numbers, another Yahoomas would be a godsend. 13:28, 25 October 2010 (BST)

Stealing a concept is still theft. It's kind of why we're doing this, you know, because we can't sue them for bad grammar or having no class or respect for creative gamers, coders and developers. Not to mention the demographic they're targeting. None of the players involved are interested in making money out of this protest and especially for Sears, though I imagine if it actually becomes popular, someone will sell t-shirts. And I know especially that the old adage "All publicity is good publicity" is true. This doesn't really matter to me personally, I've never shopped at Sears, I doubt this will stop anyone from shopping there if they really need that plasma screen TV. We just want to have fun, you know, being zombies. And they did essentially ask for it. You don't start targeting ad campaigns at zombies and expect them not to show up. Anyway, who really gives a damn all that shit? It's a game, have fun with it. And do it for free. Give these lame brained consumers a taste of BARHAH! --Amber Waves of Pain 14:56, 25 October 2010 (BST)

Indeed, this isn't a literal Siege on Sears. Its not a copyright infringement case because as stated before, you can't copyright a language. This is a call to Sears to give a shout out to the site that so helped them to create a look for their new website. And no, I don't work for Sears. I work for a completely different souless corporate machine altogether. ~ 15:11, 25 October 2010 (BST)

FWIW I think the site's gimmick is a failtrain. I think Vapor is similarly idealistic, but more realistic about what the law might consider a "peaceful protest." The website is offensive, UD players should be outraged, and it would please me immensely if people showed up, drenched in blood without pants and harassed shoppers to the point where it would put them off shopping at Sears. Unfortunately, the closest term to "Boycot" in Zamgrh that I can think of is "AMBARGA" (literally embargo.) Hit them where it hurts and all that. --Amber Waves of Pain 15:22, 25 October 2010 (BST)

I don't think there's anything wrong with it either. Let's not forget that Urban Dead was itself openly lifted from Vampires! The Dark Alleyway, albeit with permission. We've never been made privy to the terms of the agreement, but it probably involved Kevan hollering "I'm doing your game but with zombies!" across a high school cafeteria. This is such a small part of an enormous operation, and so obviously done in a spirit of fun, it's rather like finding the TARDIS in Fallout or spotting E.T. in The Phantom Menace. Creative people have been doing this for centuries. Before the media slugs started suing one another over it we called it quoting, and no one asked permission for anything. You guys are going to get one of your own in trouble for a shoutout which was done exactly the way a shoutout ought to be done. . . . einexile 01:52, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Let's not forget that Urban Dead was itself openly lifted from Vampires! The Dark Alleyway, albeit with permission.

Urban Dead was itself openly lifted from Vampires! The Dark Alleyway, albeit with permission. Vampires! The Dark Alleyway, albeit with permission. albeit with permission. with permission. permission. --Ash  ^{|  T  |  яя  |} 16:44, 26 October 2010 (BST)

...

Why don't we send all our zombie alts to Sears Auto Repair? Protest in game too! ;D --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 17:13, 25 October 2010 (BST)

BRILLIANT! ~ 17:15, 25 October 2010 (BST)

I'm Ok with this. --keepster33 17:34, 25 October 2010 (BST)

THIS IS AMAZING! -- LEMON #1 00:48, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Although I don't think we should have a sign-up list, just get everyone to come. -- LEMON #1 00:48, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Recruitment

There's actually a store downtown where I live that has an annual zombie walk every Halloween. I'd be willing to bet that they'd be willing to help a zombah picket a Sears. --keepster33 17:37, 25 October 2010 (BST)

It's blatantly not stolen from UD

Any zombie in a film speaks like this. Can Kevan sue Romero? Nah! Gragh! --Karloth Vois ^¯\(°_o)/¯ 00:34, 26 October 2010 (BST)

They're coming to RABAHB ZARGAR BARGARZ, BARBARA? 02:20, 26 October 2010 (BST)

We're not suing, we're beseeching. --VVV ^RPMBG 00:54, 26 October 2010 (BST)

It's just asking for credit where credit is due. --keepster33 01:04, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Carrot / Stick

You could try the carrot first. Send a somewhat-positive email (Kevan ideally, but otherwise some sysop) with links to the game / wiki, and tell them you came across the viral ads, thought it was pretty funny, and that it reminded you of the language that every zombie player uses in this game. See if they would be willing to plug the game, that this is the perfect opportunity for them to support / sponsor something that already has an audience that their campaign is basically targeting, and remind them that UD is primary composed of players from 18-30, you know, the demographic that like to buy shit. Otherwise, I could seem some marketing team being like "eh, petition from MMO game. Whatever. Fear our lawyer-fu. -MHSstaff 01:15, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Most of this is seemingly a fun event for everyone to get behind rather than reeking of butthurt and trouble making, I would like to think they'd think the same way. However, I do agree with your idea of emailing them first and at least making them aware of how we've noticed and reacted to the post and how much we'd appreciate the idea of giving UD a bit of a plug somehow. I'd be happy to do it, I'm sure many of the ops would be happy to on behalf of Kevan (though I don't think we're indicative of a second-in-command of Kevan) -- LEMON #1 01:22, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Twitter

zombieshopper's latest Tweet: "Like Zombian? You can grumble it too: http://is.gd/giSmV". Note that the link is a link to Guides:The Zombie Lexicon. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 01:38, 26 October 2010 (BST)

WIN -- LEMON #1 02:32, 26 October 2010 (BST)

BTW, I think we should be adding a template at the top of that page temporarily for people reidrected from Sears. you know, with the "Were you redirected here from Sears? Do you like the Zombie themed advertisment? Well the language Zombian was primarily taken from Urban Dead, the browser based MMORPG where you can fight in the hordes or against them" etc. with a link to the game and the main page. Just have it temporarily while the page is getting hits. Thoughts? I would do it myself but I'm just on my way out to uni. -- LEMON #1 02:37, 26 October 2010 (BST)

I hereby revoke my desire to burn down a store. --VVV ^RPMBG 03:30, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Is our hive mind satisfied, or do we want more? --VVV ^RPMBG 04:06, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Brainz? --Amber Waves of Pain 05:10, 26 October 2010 (BST)

More. -- LEMON #1 13:33, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Maybe use

Were you redirected here from Sears? Do you like the Zombie themed advertisment? Well the language Zombian was primarily taken from Urban Dead, the browser based MMORPG where you can fight in the hordes or against them

decently formatted, of course. -- LEMON #1 02:41, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Also make sure to refer to it as Zamgrh within the notice, but that's a good idea. 02:59, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Added my version, since the viewers won't wait for us to perfect it. Go improve it. --VVV ^RPMBG 04:06, 26 October 2010 (BST)

On a side note, check http://www.sears.com/zombies once more. They just updated the page to include a link to the Zombie Lexicon guide at the bottom. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 05:12, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Beatiful. Gab Zombian? Mrh? ~ 05:31, 26 October 2010 (BST)

A list of Demands?

We've got a link from zombieshopper's twitter so far? I mean, it's small potatoes but it's a win. Perhaps we could request demand they sponsor annual zombie walks for their staff and the public. The main thing I've found with people wanting to get involved in this thus far is they live in Tinytown, USA and they'll end up looking like a weirdo/arrested. With corporate sponsorship, a zombie walk would be an excellent opportunity for those weirdos/freaks/normal people who just love zombies to get involved, have some fun and meet some other like minded folks. Also demand #3: hand over the brains and Ambrahz Barhah. --Amber Waves of Pain 05:22, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Victory!

Very nice. That is exactly the type of attribution I was after. What's even better is that twitter marketing campaigns can quite unexpectedly explode sometimes. Look at OldSpiceGuy. The marketing team behind the twitter account will actively seek an audience (as opposed to just waiting for people to find their site) which means more people will see the link to the Lexicon than had they simply added a link to the bottom of sears.com. If you have a twitter account, you owe it to UD to retweet that shit. Let's help this viral go pandemic.

I will be closing the petition shortly. I'd like to try to find a way to preserve it for archival purposes. I don't really expect anyone to go to Sears any longer (I wasn't sure how many actually would anyway. It's not easy getting gamers off their couches for anything I've learned; myself included) However, if you feel up to the exercise, maybe you could hand out fliers prompting people to play the game instead of protesting.

I'd like to continue the Siege at Sears Auto Repair. There is already a crowd of familiar faces gathering. We just need a good survivor group to come give us a challenge. Brang marh harmanz! Barhah Zambahz!~ 05:27, 26 October 2010 (BST)

I want more. Vapor, #BB3 pl0x? --Amber Waves of Pain 05:48, 26 October 2010 (BST)

I think the attribution indicates that someone may have been watching this wiki and the events that have unfolded. Let us thank that the guys involved were real fans of the game enough to have delved into the site and our reactions? -- LEMON #1 07:51, 26 October 2010 (BST)

And I think you're being naive. It's all well and good to have fun with this but the bottom line is they're still making money off the copyrighted works of this community. By linking to the zombie lexicon, they're simply acknowledging that they stole their gimmick from here. And accepting this, by speaking on behalf of the entire UD community, you're going to make it incredibly difficult for Kevan or any one who wishes to hold the corporation responsible for their actions in the future. Like I said, I want brains. Since amateur brain surgery would probably get us arrested, and since many of the players who contributed towards creating Zamgrh are no longer contactable, I am pretty sure there will be no satisfying response that this community could receive from the corporation. This means we do exactly what they asked us to do: they asked for zombies. We'll send zombies. We'll get something out of it regardless of a the response (or lack thereof) from the Sears camp. And let me just reiterate: I don't intend on profiting from this and I don't believe anyone should, especially Sears. And especially since Kevan doesn't profit from this game in the first place. It was a dick move. You should be angry. And you will receive compensation in lulz at whatever level you can participate in this event. DDR, you must make a couple hundred edits to the wiki daily, surely you've looked at the text and followed the link beneath the edit field. Honestly, I feel like I'm telling a five year old girl that Santa doesn't exist...-Amber Waves of Pain 16:31, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Meh. The truth is that people were raving about some huge "attribution at the bottom of the page" and since my net is capped I couldn't see for myself and assumed it was the proper attribution we wanted. turns out when i got to finally look it was just the feed of the zombie's twitter account. gay. And no, I didn't read anything in that wall that was beyond what was directed to me. I don't care for the rhetoric, I just want them to acknowledge Urban Dead and perhaps its community for the culture they are using. -- LEMON #1 00:03, 27 October 2010 (BST)

placeholder

Just for possible future comparison, at time of Zombieshopper's plug, the Zombie Lexicon had 111,218 views. -- LEMON #1 09:00, 26 October 2010 (BST)

And subtract at least 100 views from whatever we see as in increase. Just for players that are already here. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Keepster33 (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

ke? -- LEMON #1 13:16, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Ahh, I getcha now. Good call. -- LEMON #1 13:18, 26 October 2010 (BST)

btw they dont actually play ud

they just cut corners, i'm thinking. -- LEMON #1 13:37, 26 October 2010 (BST)

I sorta figured that would have been the case, but I never actually checked. Looking at the site (with the usage of the letter E and the different name they've given it), it's quite telling. 15:02, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Review

Sears got a review. Urban Dead is nowhere in it, despite the fact there is a small section about Zombian in there. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 15:21, 26 October 2010 (BST)

There's been a lot of buzz around the Sears site it seems. Blogs everywhere are posting about it. A lot mention 'Zombian'. None mention Zamgrh. http://www.google.com/search?q=sears+zombie+apocalypse ~ 18:04, 26 October 2010 (BST)

None mention Zamgrh because Sears didn't reference UD until last night. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 18:19, 26 October 2010 (BST)

some are more recent, like this one from today. ~ 18:47, 26 October 2010 (BST)

The screenshot they have is from before the update. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 18:53, 26 October 2010 (BST)

Zamgrh doesn't use the letter 'e', therefore it is not Zamgrh. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 02:39, 27 October 2010 (BST)

It is Zamgrh, it's just horribly written. If I say Ima gaint pupcake, I'm still speaking English. --VVV ^RPMBG 05:01, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Juz took a look at the Sears Zombie Shopper Twitter thing - they've linked to the UD Wiki. (Like Zombian? You can grumble it too: http://is.gd/giSmV). --  ▧  ^{: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :} 17:50, 27 October 2010 (BST)

More than likely due to people directing them to it. I imagine someone on their crew saw the lexicon after we linked it and then they put up a link to it, as it gave some added depth to their marketing campaign. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 00:29, 28 October 2010 (BST)

And EGO sum a amplus vas laganum is latin for I am a giant cup cake. Notice that they are two distinct languages even though they share characters? The addition of the letter 'e' makes it a different language. Aside from that, are you claiming that Urban dead was the only people to ever come up with the idea of making a language for zombies? Hell, Zombish came before Zamgrh. By your logic, obviously Zamgrh is merely a version of Zombish, because they use the same "characters". --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 00:29, 28 October 2010 (BST)

It's not about the characters. The point is that they were trying to speak Zamgrh. The only reason they used zerger is because none of them recognized it as an English word, and they assumed it must be Zamgrh. --VVV ^RPMBG 00:45, 28 October 2010 (BST)

It is about the characters, and the connotation. Look at: "zerger bargars naz". What does that mean in Zamgrh? I imagine in "Zombish" it means Sears Bargain Days. Sound out "zerger bargars naz", and you'll see. Look at Zamgrh and see how you write Sears Bargain Days. Does it look the same? --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 02:00, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Here's the most recent review from CNN. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 18:39, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Poat comments to these blogs

Sadly, imnsho you don't have a legal leg to stand when it comes to them ripping off zamgrh. An ethical one, but not a legal one. But what you can do is post comments to all the blogs writing this site up and explain that the "creative" team ripped their content off from an online game. Comment GALORE. Be professional / mature, don't sound like a giant zombie game nerd (even if you are one *wink*) ... but hit this "creative" team where it counts by showing that they were lazy and shoddy -- and not creative or innovative as the reviewers all seem to think. Hopefullty, you can influence their ability to get work in the future... that's the best way to get "revenge". The execs at Sears probably weren't even aware that their web marketing team ripped off a game... Everyone can -- and should -- be shamed for this. But, seeing as you really don't have a leg to stand on legally imnsho this is the best way to seek vengeance. BARHAH! --WanYao 12:45, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Target the industry blogs... by that I mean the blogs about web marketing, etc. Emphasise the creators' laziness as well as their ethical culpability. Again, be mature and professional -- but be CLEAR and be honest about how you feel. I also recommend using your real name, though it's optional, I guess. But marketing industry peeople won't take 3Lit3 zombee killah too seriously... well, you know what I mean... --WanYao 12:55, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I pretty much agree here. There isn't much of a legal case here. Even if there were, who among us would stand up against Sears' crack legal team in court? That's why the petition was lacking of any legal jargon. Nope, if you want to hit them, its the bad press route you should take. As stated above, if you're going to participate then make it sound intelligible. Bad press could easily get turned around and make us all out to be a bunch of idiots. ~ 14:26, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Yes, we could look foolish -- which is why I said be professional and mature when posting comments, etc. But do post them. We can make the "creative" team who put this together look very foolish and unprofessional if we do it right. --WanYao 14:52, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Honestly, I seriously doubt they "stole" anything from UD. The mere fact that most of the words are gibberish when you attempt to translate them with Zamgrh should emphasize this fact. If everything was word for word Zamgrh, then sure, they likely nicked it. However, if you do a Google search for "speak zombie" you'll notice the wiki is nowhere to be seen. If they did "steal" Zamgrh, they would have likely linked to the Lexicon from the beginning, since they obviously showed a willingness to add it to their page. The link to the Lexicon does nothing for them but enhance their marketing campaign, hence why it was added. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 00:29, 28 October 2010 (BST)

No, I still think google did the work. I thought "if I worked for sears what would I google to find a language to use for an ad campaign", had one try and got the lexicon first hit. See #btw they dont actually play ud -- LEMON #1 05:42, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Well, if you search for speak zombie the first hit is a book being sold on Amazon entitled: How to Speak Zombie: A Guide for the Living. The rest of the links deal with that book and the fame the author is receiving. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 01:48, 29 October 2010 (BST)

It depends on the contents. Who has a copy of the book? --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 01:58, 29 October 2010 (BST)

At a glance it seems entirely different to Zamgrh, it's more humourous groaning sounds. 01:59, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Yes, but the Sears page appears to be a hodge-podge of various words and phrases, which don't all translate correctly through Zamgrh. Such as when saying: "zerger bargars naz" sounds out to be "Sears Bargain Days." Hence why I don't think they used Zamgrh. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 02:21, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Linky?

Getting increasingly surreal. --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 17:03, 26 October 2010 (BST)

See, now that's an example of copyright infringement. I assume they only put it up because they felt it added to their theme, not because of the petition. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 02:37, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Or perhaps because Kevan made the site? Did that ever occur to anyone? I kind of doubt it... but you never know. Also, I'd love to see someone argue their case for zamgrh being anyone's intellectual property. It's public domain, kids. It's like saying that gangsta slang, or French, are the "property" of the communities that originated them. Absurd, n'est-ce pas nigga? That doesn't make what the marketing team at Sears any less lazy or sleazy... but... capitalists steal subcultures' ideas, looks and insider slang all the time. This is no different. --WanYao 13:02, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I super doubt he made the sight :( I doubt he even remembers that Zamgrh exists. -- LEMON #1 13:25, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Although he could have made some sort of deal the entire time and just didn't tell us? We aren't exactly high up on his list of "keep up to date" priorities. -- LEMON #1 13:26, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Kevan is in the business of internet and viral marketing so I wouldn't be suprised to learn that either he did the site or (more likely) that he cut a deal with the people who did. As it it, there's not a lot anyone can do to stop this... In spite of what people are saying, I'd think that legally zamgrh is public domain. I mean, no one owns gangster slang, the punk rock look, or the Lithuanian language... That doesn't make what they did any less sleazy but I don't think that "copyright infringement" arguments are going to have any weight. What will have weight, though, is making it VERY clear that the people who designed this campaign did so on the backs of our community. Make it VERY clear that these people were sleazy, lazy, unprofessional and that they got paid a lot of money to shamelessly steal other peoples' ideas. The ideal way to do that is to out-viral them, beat them at their own game. That means find all the industry pages that are writing this campaign up -- and praising it, barf -- and make it crystal clear that the people who made the campaign are sloppy and sleazy and that they are making money by shamelessly ripping off other peoples' ideas and work. Discredit them within the *industry*... Make it so that at the very least they won't be putting this campaign on their portfolio ... Imnsho that's the best way to go about seeking "revenge". --WanYao 14:32, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I tend disagree. Going for the revenge act, nullifies any chance of getting anything out of Sears. And a anti-Sears viral campaign organized by the community? Sears is a multi-million dollar business, how on earth are we going negatively impact such a behemoth with such limited resources? We don't happen to be 4chan in terms of community size, rallying the troops here may get you maybe a hundred people at best. --Thadeous Oakley 15:00, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I think Iscariot got it right when he said Kevan only uses Urbandead to spice up his resume, having designed a game that is played by a few thousand people. Who knows, he (Kevan) might be interested in getting credit for the language. Also, while the Sears site (what is Sears anyway? Some kind of British superstore?) looks cool, the idea of "borrowing" our language is really amateurish. Lesson 1 when using the internet is that you never, ever copy stuff for private or public use without checking the source. Kids are learned this. Fact is, we do have some copyright here. No, we don't have the resources to actually lawyer up. But, if we play our cards right, I think we can move Sears to credit us on their site. Write a letter, explain the situation. Don't threaten with OMG WE SUI YOU KNOW, but kindly notifying that because the language is our IP, we want some credit. Nothing to drastic of course. --Thadeous Oakley 14:52, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Exactly, on most everything you said. Except that when I speak of "revenge"... well, like Ambar I am angry about this... I am angry to see someone shamelessly rip off our community, just steal something we made, blatantly, get paid for it, and think it's a-ok to do so.... Not. Fucking. Cool. No one likes having their work and their ideas stolen. Period. So, yeah, some of us are kind of pissed of. So I speak of "revenge"... that might have been the wrong word... But we're angry about this... and if we're angry, then we strike back by making it very clear that, as you said, this viral campaign was very unprofessional... And make the creators look like amateurish assholes.

And btw Sears is a big department store based in the US. Been around forever, literally, they are famous historically for being a mail order catalogue company. They've been in Canada forever, too. I was actually surprised to see that they're in Oz because I thought they were only in North America. Anyhooo... --WanYao 15:15, 27 October 2010 (BST)

And I think you're all still kinda missing the point of a siege? It's not really about getting anything but what we want out of it. Since...the demands of people I've spoken to are so general as to be intangible, since those who have the common sense not to want or even expect anything from Sears still feel like they were robbed, and since it's looking like we're not going to get anything even if we tried, the next best option is to do what they did and simply take it. We might be a minority compared to 4chan or SA, but who cares? Their presence/absence hasn't stopped us from playing UD, why should it stop us from sieging Sears? Oh and for what it's worth, I think revenge is kinda trenchy. I really just love the idea of zombies converging on Sears to protest peacefully. --Amber Waves of Pain 17:27, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I would be very careful with the protest. I noticed on the facebook group that you linked to Project:Copyrights, yet we're using Sear's Trademarked and Copyrighted Images without permission and without citation (you know, that whole second line of the copyright page that most people ignore). The hypocrisy of that aside, if Sears decided to sue Kevan, he would be in BIG trouble, since the UDWiki follows UK laws and not US laws (which are far stricter on fair use). Increased media attention to a protest might prompt Sears to actually look the wiki over. If that happens, expect changes. If you're cool with that, then it's fine with me. I've always been up for enforcing that rule. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 00:44, 28 October 2010 (BST)

I don't support the whole copyright angle, myself. Zamgrh isn't copyright anyone. As for using copywritten images... basically, UD players are fans... and most people in the entertainment industry have no problem with fans using their stuff, as long as they're not making money off it. That's how it works out there in the real world. And, whenever someone has specifically requested something to be removed, iirc it usually has been. Often with a fuss... but... it's been done.

And I guess I'm not a good buddhist, but I kinda like to see people get their due for being assholes and stealing toher people's creations. If that's "trenchy"... well, I'll don the coat with pride. And, again, I think the thing to do is post to industry blogs who are covering the campaign and expose the marketing team for the shameless rip off artists they are. However, no one will care... my industry friends tell me this happens all the time. It's bullshit, but it's commonplace. It just happened to this little community this time around. --WanYao 03:33, 28 October 2010 (BST)

Woodroffe Mall

Dunno if it fits into your RAEG schedule, but the SE corner of the mall is cadeless and ruined. No foodzies anymore, but still some corners to ransack and a genny to smash. Destroying a consumerism temple should really show 'em, eh? -- Spiderzed▋ 12:29, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Who wants pot?

Lots and lots of pot smoking zombies standing outside Sears. ;) --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 17:06, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Let the fighting over a small bag of weed...commence. --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 17:18, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Piggybacking

Since so many are gathering at Sears Auto Repair so close to Halloween, I think it's fitting that we celebrate in some way. Luckily, I already have a event nearly all planned out. I was just waiting for the right location. If interested, The October Bash Halloween Event has open slots available for the Death Rattle Battle and I'll be coordinating a big dance number on Halloween night.

Seems fitting, since we're all up in arms about the bastardization of our beloved Zamgrh. See you on the Battle Field. ~ 19:11, 27 October 2010 (BST)

I still want my bag of pot back. ;) --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 19:17, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Heh I gave it back. I just didn't know how to properly articulate it in-game. So I just said "Gaa haz mararana" ~ 19:19, 27 October 2010 (BST)

But...but...but...The bag was empty! =( --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 19:26, 27 October 2010 (BST)

Bra!nz

You are standing outside Sears Auto Repair, an imposing metal-and-glass building with crosses of tape over its windows. The building's doors have been left wide open, and you can see that the interior of the building has been ruined. Also here is Naked Sears Zombie (1HP).

• You bite Naked Sears Zombie for 4 damage. They drop to 1 HP. - Anah hangrah babahz about? --Amber Waves of Pain 05:11, 28 October 2010 (BST)

He's dead! Probably some more food somewhere around here though. Am doing a tiny scout:

You are standing outside the Wakley Building, a four-storey yellow-stone building surrounded by lawns. The building has been very strongly barricaded. - (62-64)

You are standing outside Woodroffe Mall, a tall white-stone building with a spired roof. The building has been extremely heavily barricaded.

Somebody has spraypainted Revives 5 SE at Rayfield onto a wall.

There is a group of six other zombies here. You recognise Moan Wheeze amongst them. - (63-63) And there's our babah! --Amber Waves of Pain 06:23, 28 October 2010 (BST)

This just in -

CNN links to us and names us. Habbah GNNmaz?--Amber Waves of Pain 12:39, 29 October 2010 (BST)

"...similar to that used by players of the online, text-based game "Urban Dead." Similar? Exactly the fucking same, surely? ~~ Chief Seagull ~~ ^talk 12:33, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Well, I did leave a comment under the article encouraging them to look a little deeper. You should too. ;) --Amber Waves of Pain 12:39, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Similar as in similar. Do you recall that only some of the words are able to be translated in Zamgrh? --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 21:08, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Horribly mangled = Similar. --VVV ^RPMBG 01:18, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Looks like it is time for damage control. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 21:08, 29 October 2010 (BST)

Well, you got what you wished for. I hope it ends up being actually what you wanted. I added some citations for the Sears pages, but it won't be enough. Now that there is actual media attention starting to head toward a negative ad campaign against them, I would expect that Kevan be contacted soon to discuss the claims at the very least. At worst, claims of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and even libel (you're claiming they stole the language, when you have no idea, and never asked them if that was the case). Hopefully nothing happens. I doubt it, but we can hope. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 21:32, 29 October 2010 (BST)

If you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you. Now you're a pretty good lawyer but give a layman his due. I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul that Sears will not take legal action. --VVV ^RPMBG 01:18, 30 October 2010 (BST)

Wait, what I wanted? I wanted nothing except for people to have fun with this siege thing. I just think it's cool that the media can actually research and reference stuff properly. You know, instead of just going "OOPS WE DID USE THAT, DIDN'T WE?" and trying to cover their ass in the aftermath by linking to the Lexicon. As for the Sears side of it, you have no idea what I did.

And Kevan doesn't care.

"I’ve had no contact from Sears, but as far as I understand their site, the Zamgrh content is just a single joke page in a large, temporary advertising campaign, and as I see it, the use of Zamgrh is just an easter egg from a web designer who’d played Urban Dead." - Almighty Kevan Davis.

And isn't that sort of why players should care about what happens to the game? I mean, I'd hate to kind of turn this very silly discussion into srs bzns. Cuz I know you're trying real hard not to enjoy it, Akule. But how many times has Kevan cared enough to intervene and fix a real problem with his cute little CV filler, like, oh, I don't know. Let's say zerging. "How do I report game abuse or zerging?" You don't. And cyber stalking? And the TG bug? And "text rape?" Kevan does not care. Malton is chaos. Embrace it and enjoy it or go log out and never log in again. One less corpse stinking up the streets. No biggie. --Amber Waves of Pain 17:54, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

I meant the group in general, and not you specifically. As for the quote, I notice that Kevan wasn't directed at the fact that people were attempting to antagonize Sears into a response, with an excellent example below. If people are looking for a confrontation, then it just increases the odds that Sears will have a word with Kevan over the infringed images and trademarks. --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 01:26, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Fun with Sears Customer Service

So I was checking out the Sears site again and noticed a little "Live Chat" link so said "Huh, this might be good". I had intended to try to get the CSR to join UD but she kept cutting me short. Here is the transcrpition of the chat.

Vapor said:

Please wait for a Sears Customer Service Representative to respond. This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Your average wait is 2 seconds. Thank you for holding. You are now chatting with Angela D. How may I help you? Angela D: Hello, My name is Angie, and it is my pleasure to assist you today as your Personal Shopper! May I have your name please? You: Hello? Angela D: Hello! How may I assist you tonight? You: Hi, I seem to be having a problem with the website. You: I can't understand anything. It seems to be in a weird language Angela D: I am sorry about that. May I ask what kind of problems? You: It's just a bunch of Zs and Hs and Bs Angela D: Sears and Kmart web sites are not experiencing any website problems. You may have to shut down your system and restart. You: You mean my web browser? Shut it down? Angela D: Web browser and computer. You: Won't that end the chat session? Angela D: Yes, it will, but when you bring up your computer, please feel free to chat back in. You: Are you seeing any problems on your end? I'm at http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_Zombian Angela D: Would there be anything else that I may assist you with today? You: I don't think it's a problem with my computer. I can make out some of the words but most of it just seems like gibberish Angela D: I just reviewed this website. It is our Halloween edition. Angela D: If you click on other items, the website will bring up normal web pages on Sears.com. You: Yeah I kind of figured. But I can't understand a single thing. Angela D: Please go to Sears.com You: Oh wait I see a link no that says switch to English. Angela D: Thank you for you help. You: It translated the page. You: Hahah ok I feel kind of silly. Angela D: Would there be anything else that I may assist you with today? Angela D: Would there be anything else that I may assist you with today? Angela D: Funny, that language was Zombie. You: Yeah something like Zombian. Angela D: Who knew. Angela D: Right! You: Oh there is a link at the bottom that say learn to speak Zombia Angela D: See, we learn something everyday. Angela D: Would there be anything else that I may assist you with today? You: Yep that's true. You: No I think I'm going to try to learn to speak Zombian. Angela D: Good for you! Funny! You: That link at the bottom brought me to some other page so I'm going to check it out. You: It's like a Dictionary or something. This is great. Angela D: If there is nothing more that I can assist you with. I must end this chat. We will be shutting down in less than a minute. You: Sears is soooo cool for doing this, Angela D: Thank you for chatting with me. We welcome your feedback: please click here to complete our Exit Survey. Thank you for choosing Sears, we appreciate your business! Thank you for chatting with us. Please click the "Close" button on the top right of the chat window to tell us how we did today.

Maybe someone else will have luck with a different CSR. I really want to see one of them join UD. ~ 05:08, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't even think that's a person...I think it's a bot. O.o --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 16:13, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Nah probably not a bot. It was a real time conversation. I have serious doubt whether their names was actually Angela D. Probably more like Sunreet Jamal or some other outsourced customer service representative name changed to seem more 'American' ~ 16:21, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

But the real question is, did you shut down your computer?--THE Godfather of Яesensitized, Anime Sucks ^{Yalk | W! U! WMM| CC CPFOAS LOE ZHU | Яezzens} 16:47, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

They would have been typing largely from a script.--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature3 16:52, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Yeah they were definitely canned responses. I was really surprised to have reached someone honestly. It was at 1am my time so makes me think it was an outsourced call center. ~ 17:03, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Ahahah. I love that one of the canned responses is "Sears and Kmart web sites are not experiencing any website problems. You may have to shut down your system and restart." Before "Angela" ever bothered to even look at the website she was just like, turn off your computer.--_GANG Giles Sednik _CAPD 19:29, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Why did she say: "Thank you for your help"?--User:Yonnua Koponen/signature3 08:16, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Yeah i thought that was an odd thing to say, too. ~ 13:55, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Siege time!

It looks like there's some survivors inside keeping those barricades strong. I was clawing at them and nearly got it down until it suddenly jumped to EHB again. My zombie is in a very sad state right now too. The Sears Blue Team stole his mararana again... =( --•▬ ▬••▬ • •••• •▬ ▬•▬• ▬•▬ ^{#nerftemplatedsigs} 18:21, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

It's about time. I threw all my AP at it earlier, got inside and found nobody. Come on Harmanz! Give us a challenge. ~ 18:50, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Sears - "Zombies Forever"

It might be worth noting that Sears is at it again with their zombie themed website. I did not see any blatant rip-offs of zamgrh this time around. Instead the site allows you to "choose a side" and consumers are presented with "zombie" or "human" products. ~ _{17:54, 31 October 2011 (UTC)}

I poked around a bit more and I did find where zamgrh is used. They have a "chat with a zombie" feature. Click on it and type in anything and it spits out a response. It looks like most responses are in zamgrh and there is probably about 10 or so responses you can get.

• gragh rabbah mrh?
• rammagh gragh haggah gah hab mabbragh gragh mabhargh
• mmm, brains
• mrh.
• gah hab sears.com maggab
• brainz! brainz! brainz!
• habbagragh rag haggah mrh rabbah
• habbah rag haggah

So, we gonna siege again? ~ _{18:55, 31 October 2011 (UTC)}

this was/is a cool/interesting event

had i known about it, i would've participated. →Son of Sin← 22:05, 31 October 2011 (UTC)