sugarvalves [1963573] —
Original article
It's fair to say that if this Tornography had been written a few months ago, the tone would be entirely different to what it is today. Hank has suffered a reversal of fortunes the likes of which has never been seen in Torn. In the space of a month he's gone from Relentless bigwig and newbie-hero to a social pariah at the bottom of the pile, with a current networth of minus $107,707,253,620.
But is it right that a man who has given so much to Torn is treated in this way?
After all, Hank is responsible for getting many players through those tough early years with his Power Levelling Guide. He has helped to provide this city with generation after generation of wealthy citizens for others to prey on. And, not least of all, he has given us this enchanting image;
Whether or not you believe he profited unfairly from the WSSB scandal, Hank clearly deserves more respect from the Torn community for his tireless efforts in the past. Yet the city seems divided on how Hank should now be portrayed. Some would say he is Torn's very own Nelson Mandela, a man imprisoned (financially) not for his own crimes, but for those of the establishment. Others disagree, with some claiming shenanigans on his part, and many of his detractors seemingly determined to strike Hank down to depths even further than those he inhabits today.
Sadly, the WSSB event will define Hank's legacy as much as his work on the Power Levelling Guide, so his Tornography must therefore address this issue. Did his actions constitute an illegal act? Should he have been allowed to transfer money to his faction-mates to avoid penalties? I asked him to explain in his own words what went on.
"This is a complicated answer, so I'll start with the punch line. 'Torn is a text-based online RPG set in Torn City, a dark, murky underworld where only the sharpest survive. In Torn City you can be anyone and do anything. Build your character to infinite strengths and play it your way.' Reflecting on this game description would suggest that in fact I'm playing the game exactly as intended."
"This latest saga isn't my first tangle with the law abiding side of Torn having been arrested and jailed a staggering 1582 times, and questioned and warned by Torn city council on several occasions over unrelated matters. You can say in my 4 years living in Torn City I have been developing my criminal experience, and the tally for successful criminal offences is now just below 30,000 crimes."
"Rewind to January 4th I awake to a whopping fine of $136,251,552,742 from our good Mayor Chedburn. My private bank account & wallet were subsequently emptied and frozen, I guess Mayor Chedburn thought this might prompt this criminal to pay this fine, which for the record has no payment due date shown. Mayor Chedburn explains in the city wide bulletin and subsequent public forums that he acted based having no actual evidence against 20 high profile and successful criminals. What sort of aspiring shady criminal would I be - having committed murder, organised crimes, grand theft auto and drug trafficking to name some of my felonies - if I paid this fine immediately? I think I'd be a pretty darn honest one, which just isn't me after committing to date over 7,621 fraud crimes."
Hank's response was fair if a little elusive at first. Torn City is a haven for criminal activity, and by refusing to pay his fine immediately, Hank is merely continuing to show the same disregard for the law he has always done. Even if he has transferred his assets to another player, which seems likely, Mayor Chedburn doesn't believe this constitutes a breach of the law, as this quote from our benevolent overlord makes clear.
"It's just a debt that can be paid whenever. It's not meant to be a punishment, just removal of value. A payment that should be made at some point. The players can do whatever they like. The script simply deducted value from a player. The value is removed from Hank, and has to be paid at some point."
It seems certain that Hank is avoiding the payment of the WSSB monies thus far, but he maintains his innocence concerning the accusations of deliberate wrong-doing. Indeed, not only does Hank reject these claims - claims we are obliged to point out come from the community and not the authorities - he also feels the name of his faction has been unfairly tarnished.
"It's kind of strange that people think I was able to liquidate all my random assets, and invest in WSSB within 24 hours of a committee post by Chedburn. Relentless is the sole reason I continue to login as frequently as I do, it's full of friendly & decent peopleWe use every legal mechanism in this game to get ahead, and we are big on sharing knowledge internally. Whether it be a stock tip or a mug target. We have always been a clean faction."
"Sure we use scripts, but our scripts have been developed on the basis they should be legal. Along the way the definition of what was a legal script and what wasn't changed. As a result we have had to update and delete some scripts along the way. Right now I suspect we have the largest treasure chest of API-legal scripts in Torn, and this will only continue to grow."
"We seek approval from Chedburn on scripts which maybe crossing the line, and only offer them to our members once they have been verified as clean and legal. These scripts help our members in various legal ways, and combine with our shared knowledge of the game. We think that we are giving our members the tools to be successful in Torn in a completely just and legal manner."
It is easy to see why some people believe that Hank and his Relentless colleagues are cheating with such a strong armoury of financial weaponry at their disposal. However, if they are run by Chedburn, then such slurs constitute nothing more than sour grapes on the part of their rivals. Furthermore, Hank says these legal scripts are just one part of the process, with his own personal insight also playing a key role in prior successes.
"I play the game differently to everyone else, and I look for different ways of earning money, sometimes it's trading on new items, other times it's gambling. I think I have a good record for analyzing patterns, most of the time I win, and on occasion I lose. You only need to look at my display to see a sizable collection Vicodin pills which on average cost me 120,000 each to see how some of these investments do not work."
"I hedged on the World war competition starting in September 2014, and Vicodin prices reading 250-300k each like they traditionally do. Unfortunately for me Chedburn changed the attacking system and reduced the normal energy required to attack from 50 to 25. The result of this change made Vicodin relatively useless and not widely used. The price several years later is around 15,000 per pill."
(pictured: an unnecessary image of Vicodin)
Nobody gets to where Hank is (or was) without making a few mistakes along the way, for it is experiences like this which helped Hank's guides become so detailed and rich with useful information. And while he would never describe WSSB as an error on his part, it is interesting to wonder what insights he could have brought if recent events were used to inspire a sequel. A guide on how to escape debt would be a fascinating read, regardless of whether you're a tramp or trillionaire.
Alas, the prospect of this is remote. In the aftermath of the WSSB retractions, Hank requested his guides to be graved. Initially, I thought this to be no more than an act of petulant retribution against Torn's authorities, like a baby throwing its toys out of the pram because its mother's love had been retroactively removed somehow.
I was wrong, and Hank's reasoning is hard to argue with.
"I created these guides for internal use within the factions I was a part of. As the faction family grew I knew various copies existed across different factions and I wanted to ensure everyone had access to correct and up to date information. The forums were recently updated at the time and there was a tutorial and guides section so I figured I would help the community out by publishing these guides."
"I didn't intend to get famous by publishing them, but this is what happened in the end. I removed the guides because I don't want to be famous anymore; I want to play this game with a lower profile without people stalking my player statistics daily. "
(pictured: the place where Hank's helpful guide should be)
"When this WSSB saga started I was really disappointed that the community wasn't supporting me like I had supported them for years, and that they had accepted what was being said about us on the forums as truth. I chose not to reply to those accusations initially because I didn't want to expose a lot of the stock market systems and patterns we had identified."
"Even after I revealed my analyzing techniques nobody seemed to care about my side of the story, and it was very clear the community did feel we were cheaters despite not being placed in federal jail. Personally I would have preferred at this point to walk away from the game as that would have been the easy thing to do."
"When I talk to some players I've never met before they think I'm a cheater based on accusations of our enemies. It's incredibly disappointing that after all these years I'm treated like s**t, and my name and reputation of not only myself, but the entire faction of Relentless members is dragged through the mud based on a few loud trolls and bored and noisy housewives."
Hank is obviously angry with the authorities for what he perceives as an unfair confiscation of his WSSB profits, but from these interviews, I sense that the reaction of the community hurt him far more. So after all this, why hasn't Hank abandoned these ungrateful wretches and departed Torn City for pastures new? With his unique eye for statistics and penchant for semi-erotic photography, surely he would relish the chance of starting afresh in another city?
"Out of respect for Relentless and everything it stands for I continue to login and won't give the doubters and accusers the benefit of winning this war with us. We will continue to grow and push harder than any other faction in Torn guaranteed. The WSSB retraction was a big kick in the pants, but I'm a seriously patient player so when I have a plan I tend to stick with it despite some short term pain. Despite having a big red negative number it's not game ending by any means."
"I figure I can balance this rehab issue without reducing my training load or battle effectiveness until mid-April at which point I could see some long term issues if I don't resolve this debt. Whilst I have the support of Relentless leaders and its members then I see my future in this game to be pretty bright. I can continue to play with the same level of dedication as I did previously. I expect this just to be a speed bump and I fully expect to return to my prior networth and push forward to one trillion dollars networth in the coming years. But nothing in Torn is certain, and anything can happen!"
At the time of writing in late-January 2017, Hank seems to be getting by pretty well considering his situation. He's chipped a billion off his debt in the past week, and despite being unable to purchase ammunition to use with his primary weapons, he nevertheless seems optimistic regarding the future.
But should the community have done more to help him? Just prior to the publication of this piece, the convicted offender Midknight has recently been released from Federal Prison, and most of the community has been receptive to his requests for assistance. When you consider how much money has been earned by those who have used Hank's guides, it seems ridiculous that a similar movement has not been set up in his name too.
Not that Hank would ever ask for such a thing.
"I'm not asking for any special treatment. If I wanted to get out of debt I would. I am quite content with my situation, and I hope Chedburn is loving the forum drama I am creating for him."
It is uncertain what the future holds for Hank and his legacy, but for the time being, his days will be spent fending off a combination of false accusations and Duke debt attacks. Whether or not he can endure throughout his faction's territories push without ammunition remains to be seen, as does the prospect of him reaching his 1trillion TCD goal, or ever taking a non-entertaining photograph.
(pictured: the embodiment of what it means to be a man)
However, what seems certain is that Hank will remain ever defiant, and that despite the taunts about his past integrity, and the trials and the tribulations of being Torn's most presently indebted citizen, it seems he has no desire to let the ungracious citizens of Torn define his future.
"I'm no stranger to the odd hospitalization and bounty, so maybe it's time for Mayor Chedburn to step up and show me how Relentless he can be on outlaw citizens. I'm a patient criminal, and I'm quite content to play the long game with this debt. Up until the point that I am ready to repay this debt then no amount of forum threads, petitions, events, threats or mails made by less successful criminals will make me pay back this debt any quicker."
But is it right that a man who has given so much to Torn is treated in this way?
After all, Hank is responsible for getting many players through those tough early years with his Power Levelling Guide. He has helped to provide this city with generation after generation of wealthy citizens for others to prey on. And, not least of all, he has given us this enchanting image;
Whether or not you believe he profited unfairly from the WSSB scandal, Hank clearly deserves more respect from the Torn community for his tireless efforts in the past. Yet the city seems divided on how Hank should now be portrayed. Some would say he is Torn's very own Nelson Mandela, a man imprisoned (financially) not for his own crimes, but for those of the establishment. Others disagree, with some claiming shenanigans on his part, and many of his detractors seemingly determined to strike Hank down to depths even further than those he inhabits today.
Sadly, the WSSB event will define Hank's legacy as much as his work on the Power Levelling Guide, so his Tornography must therefore address this issue. Did his actions constitute an illegal act? Should he have been allowed to transfer money to his faction-mates to avoid penalties? I asked him to explain in his own words what went on.
"This is a complicated answer, so I'll start with the punch line. 'Torn is a text-based online RPG set in Torn City, a dark, murky underworld where only the sharpest survive. In Torn City you can be anyone and do anything. Build your character to infinite strengths and play it your way.' Reflecting on this game description would suggest that in fact I'm playing the game exactly as intended."
"This latest saga isn't my first tangle with the law abiding side of Torn having been arrested and jailed a staggering 1582 times, and questioned and warned by Torn city council on several occasions over unrelated matters. You can say in my 4 years living in Torn City I have been developing my criminal experience, and the tally for successful criminal offences is now just below 30,000 crimes."
"Rewind to January 4th I awake to a whopping fine of $136,251,552,742 from our good Mayor Chedburn. My private bank account & wallet were subsequently emptied and frozen, I guess Mayor Chedburn thought this might prompt this criminal to pay this fine, which for the record has no payment due date shown. Mayor Chedburn explains in the city wide bulletin and subsequent public forums that he acted based having no actual evidence against 20 high profile and successful criminals. What sort of aspiring shady criminal would I be - having committed murder, organised crimes, grand theft auto and drug trafficking to name some of my felonies - if I paid this fine immediately? I think I'd be a pretty darn honest one, which just isn't me after committing to date over 7,621 fraud crimes."
Hank's response was fair if a little elusive at first. Torn City is a haven for criminal activity, and by refusing to pay his fine immediately, Hank is merely continuing to show the same disregard for the law he has always done. Even if he has transferred his assets to another player, which seems likely, Mayor Chedburn doesn't believe this constitutes a breach of the law, as this quote from our benevolent overlord makes clear.
"It's just a debt that can be paid whenever. It's not meant to be a punishment, just removal of value. A payment that should be made at some point. The players can do whatever they like. The script simply deducted value from a player. The value is removed from Hank, and has to be paid at some point."
It seems certain that Hank is avoiding the payment of the WSSB monies thus far, but he maintains his innocence concerning the accusations of deliberate wrong-doing. Indeed, not only does Hank reject these claims - claims we are obliged to point out come from the community and not the authorities - he also feels the name of his faction has been unfairly tarnished.
"It's kind of strange that people think I was able to liquidate all my random assets, and invest in WSSB within 24 hours of a committee post by Chedburn. Relentless is the sole reason I continue to login as frequently as I do, it's full of friendly & decent peopleWe use every legal mechanism in this game to get ahead, and we are big on sharing knowledge internally. Whether it be a stock tip or a mug target. We have always been a clean faction."
"Sure we use scripts, but our scripts have been developed on the basis they should be legal. Along the way the definition of what was a legal script and what wasn't changed. As a result we have had to update and delete some scripts along the way. Right now I suspect we have the largest treasure chest of API-legal scripts in Torn, and this will only continue to grow."
"We seek approval from Chedburn on scripts which maybe crossing the line, and only offer them to our members once they have been verified as clean and legal. These scripts help our members in various legal ways, and combine with our shared knowledge of the game. We think that we are giving our members the tools to be successful in Torn in a completely just and legal manner."
It is easy to see why some people believe that Hank and his Relentless colleagues are cheating with such a strong armoury of financial weaponry at their disposal. However, if they are run by Chedburn, then such slurs constitute nothing more than sour grapes on the part of their rivals. Furthermore, Hank says these legal scripts are just one part of the process, with his own personal insight also playing a key role in prior successes.
"I play the game differently to everyone else, and I look for different ways of earning money, sometimes it's trading on new items, other times it's gambling. I think I have a good record for analyzing patterns, most of the time I win, and on occasion I lose. You only need to look at my display to see a sizable collection Vicodin pills which on average cost me 120,000 each to see how some of these investments do not work."
"I hedged on the World war competition starting in September 2014, and Vicodin prices reading 250-300k each like they traditionally do. Unfortunately for me Chedburn changed the attacking system and reduced the normal energy required to attack from 50 to 25. The result of this change made Vicodin relatively useless and not widely used. The price several years later is around 15,000 per pill."
(pictured: an unnecessary image of Vicodin)
Nobody gets to where Hank is (or was) without making a few mistakes along the way, for it is experiences like this which helped Hank's guides become so detailed and rich with useful information. And while he would never describe WSSB as an error on his part, it is interesting to wonder what insights he could have brought if recent events were used to inspire a sequel. A guide on how to escape debt would be a fascinating read, regardless of whether you're a tramp or trillionaire.
Alas, the prospect of this is remote. In the aftermath of the WSSB retractions, Hank requested his guides to be graved. Initially, I thought this to be no more than an act of petulant retribution against Torn's authorities, like a baby throwing its toys out of the pram because its mother's love had been retroactively removed somehow.
I was wrong, and Hank's reasoning is hard to argue with.
"I created these guides for internal use within the factions I was a part of. As the faction family grew I knew various copies existed across different factions and I wanted to ensure everyone had access to correct and up to date information. The forums were recently updated at the time and there was a tutorial and guides section so I figured I would help the community out by publishing these guides."
"I didn't intend to get famous by publishing them, but this is what happened in the end. I removed the guides because I don't want to be famous anymore; I want to play this game with a lower profile without people stalking my player statistics daily. "
(pictured: the place where Hank's helpful guide should be)
"When this WSSB saga started I was really disappointed that the community wasn't supporting me like I had supported them for years, and that they had accepted what was being said about us on the forums as truth. I chose not to reply to those accusations initially because I didn't want to expose a lot of the stock market systems and patterns we had identified."
"Even after I revealed my analyzing techniques nobody seemed to care about my side of the story, and it was very clear the community did feel we were cheaters despite not being placed in federal jail. Personally I would have preferred at this point to walk away from the game as that would have been the easy thing to do."
"When I talk to some players I've never met before they think I'm a cheater based on accusations of our enemies. It's incredibly disappointing that after all these years I'm treated like s**t, and my name and reputation of not only myself, but the entire faction of Relentless members is dragged through the mud based on a few loud trolls and bored and noisy housewives."
Hank is obviously angry with the authorities for what he perceives as an unfair confiscation of his WSSB profits, but from these interviews, I sense that the reaction of the community hurt him far more. So after all this, why hasn't Hank abandoned these ungrateful wretches and departed Torn City for pastures new? With his unique eye for statistics and penchant for semi-erotic photography, surely he would relish the chance of starting afresh in another city?
"Out of respect for Relentless and everything it stands for I continue to login and won't give the doubters and accusers the benefit of winning this war with us. We will continue to grow and push harder than any other faction in Torn guaranteed. The WSSB retraction was a big kick in the pants, but I'm a seriously patient player so when I have a plan I tend to stick with it despite some short term pain. Despite having a big red negative number it's not game ending by any means."
"I figure I can balance this rehab issue without reducing my training load or battle effectiveness until mid-April at which point I could see some long term issues if I don't resolve this debt. Whilst I have the support of Relentless leaders and its members then I see my future in this game to be pretty bright. I can continue to play with the same level of dedication as I did previously. I expect this just to be a speed bump and I fully expect to return to my prior networth and push forward to one trillion dollars networth in the coming years. But nothing in Torn is certain, and anything can happen!"
At the time of writing in late-January 2017, Hank seems to be getting by pretty well considering his situation. He's chipped a billion off his debt in the past week, and despite being unable to purchase ammunition to use with his primary weapons, he nevertheless seems optimistic regarding the future.
But should the community have done more to help him? Just prior to the publication of this piece, the convicted offender Midknight has recently been released from Federal Prison, and most of the community has been receptive to his requests for assistance. When you consider how much money has been earned by those who have used Hank's guides, it seems ridiculous that a similar movement has not been set up in his name too.
Not that Hank would ever ask for such a thing.
"I'm not asking for any special treatment. If I wanted to get out of debt I would. I am quite content with my situation, and I hope Chedburn is loving the forum drama I am creating for him."
It is uncertain what the future holds for Hank and his legacy, but for the time being, his days will be spent fending off a combination of false accusations and Duke debt attacks. Whether or not he can endure throughout his faction's territories push without ammunition remains to be seen, as does the prospect of him reaching his 1trillion TCD goal, or ever taking a non-entertaining photograph.
(pictured: the embodiment of what it means to be a man)
However, what seems certain is that Hank will remain ever defiant, and that despite the taunts about his past integrity, and the trials and the tribulations of being Torn's most presently indebted citizen, it seems he has no desire to let the ungracious citizens of Torn define his future.
"I'm no stranger to the odd hospitalization and bounty, so maybe it's time for Mayor Chedburn to step up and show me how Relentless he can be on outlaw citizens. I'm a patient criminal, and I'm quite content to play the long game with this debt. Up until the point that I am ready to repay this debt then no amount of forum threads, petitions, events, threats or mails made by less successful criminals will make me pay back this debt any quicker."
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