Gaming Staff Announcement / Statement

[SoulGamesInc]

Greetings all, although this may be long I ask you take the time to read when able. Ty.

Just for those of you that don't know me well I've been Gaming Staff since early 2014 and took the Director position from my friend Dux well over a year ago. Over my tenure as director I've had to manage more than any Gaming Staff has ever had the misfortune to suffer through. I have painstakingly made an effort to see all sides of any dispute and, I'd say at least, have handled such cases with a civility that I believed came with the territory of filling Dux's sizable shoes. It was some point yesterday that someone decided to continue down a long road of instances brought about by poor behavior; ending here.

I was not present to address this most recent incident. I'm sad to share that as of Wed 10th a close relative of mine passed. In the preceding day I was not home, visiting with family in light of everything and naturally in the coming days I'll be handling a great many personal things that I'd rather not go into. Needless to say, I was not present to address anyone's actions at the time, unwilling to abandon my family to run off and solve yet another problem on Twc. I have dedicated years of my life to this site, but will never put family before anything. I've kept a strong facade but I will miss her greatly.

*sighs* I felt the need to share that, if not to simply get it out of my system then to explain my absence at the time of events.

It's long since come to my attention in these last months that there has been some appalling behavior from people I wont name, sowing conflict to both players and staff members in an effort to cause discord. There are individuals now actively seeking to harm our community by splitting it up. The future may well see a number of players leave our fair site blindly following their messiah to the promised land. I guarantee you, those few are being mislead, but at the end of the day people are free to go where they please and think for themselves. I cannot (nor should any staff member) due to Gaming Staff regulation (or site ToS) go into any explicit details on the sheer magnitude of incidents that have lead to this. I can only assure all that there are two sides to every story and in this case the one you may have heard is far from the truth.

Hotseating will continue. Gaming Staff will continue. Life continues, and with it the dedication we've all put into this community over the years.

In the coming days Staff will doubtless see a number of changes and have a greater number of things to discuss; from management to admins and much more. It's always a blow to lose any player, but make no mistake, this is far from the death blow some misguided few might wish it to be. I make this announcement because I know many have been 'contacted' (and it'll doubtless continue in private) in an attempt at harming this community because an individuals actions have finally caught up with him. I for one love this community too much to ever dare harm it. I for one will never be abandoning it, no matter the circumstances.

In closing I publicly thank those in staff that have and will be working hard in the days to come. Your service is greatly appreciated. I invite anyone in the community to ask any relative questions you may have, so long as you are civil and level-headed. I have and will always be happy to talk. I am here. I am on steam. I am on discord. I am on twitter. I'm right here, and if your civil I will gladly hear you.

Thank's for reading. I'll happily answer any questions, tho I'm very tired; physically and otherwise.
- SoulGamesInc, Gaming Director of Multiplayer, Known Tyrant, Demander of Things, Titles, Titles

[misafeco]

So what did actually happen? And how does it affect the currently running hotseats?

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

From what I understand, and will very heavily summarize, the events went as such:
> Jadli leaving and/or being kicked from Gaming Staff was the root of a long line of bitterness as an undercurrent in the forum lately.
> Soul locked the Newbloods game that Jadli created. Jadli says he made TES Newbloods. Soul says he made Newbloods (in general, or simply westeros?). Either way, it was locked because Newbloods was considered a Gaming Staff event. Jadli, having hosted many Newbloods games along the same series of TES, believes he should have been allowed to host it because of his precedence as the host, because Newbloods were more or less his baby (at least in Main), and because at the time of the thread being locked, he was not offering awards, and not intending to host it as a gaming staff event with awards.
> Jadli complained to Hex. Not much happened.
> Soul/Para complained to Hex. Things did happen. Behind the scenes things moved as Hex apparently took the latter side.
> Jadli lost faith in current GS infrastructure, and made a thread that mentioned a new hotseat forum and a discussion to make the TWC structure better. Thread was promptly deleted, by my guess, probably because of the mention of a new forum.
> Sides were chosen. Jadli was banned from this section of the forums in conjunction with the above, which set all tempers off the boil. Long discussion on Discord between Para and various players.
> Now, several people intending to switch/leave outright from TWC, some planning to do both, and others simply trying to carry on, just wanting to continue and not rock the proverbial boat.

Hotseats in the main section will be most affected. I doubt Westeros is going to take a blow. Otherwise, a number of Main hotseats have moved to the aforementioned new forum.

And the above is now up for interjection, revision, deletion, whatever. Tried to make it as concise and neutral as possible, being a member who was brought over by Jadli in the first place.

Jadli thinks it's wrong, so.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[JCdestr0yer]

Oh great, I take basically 1 and a half month off and civil war happens. This stuff will split the community and lead to fewer games with full players. Both sides I feel have shot themselves in the foot.

[misafeco]

Well, that really sucks. I wonder if the situation still can be saved somehow. I think both sides should sit down to talk about a possible solution without splitting the community into two halfs.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

A bit too much entrenchment for that to be viable at this point, methinks. In the future, perhaps. If GS open up to a true mechanical discussion and let Jadli in to talk about it civilly (like the thread that was deleted, only with a an at least 90% clear head, even this one), yes as well. Other than that, dunno.

[Potatoto]

I also hope that both sides will yet try to solve this problem without spliting comunity because such opperations nearly never end up well for people. I also see no sense in forbiding Jadli to host Newbloods HS. Gaming Staff should came up with some honest offer of compromise if they really care of this community.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

I should note that Jadli has no intention nor mechanics to force people to leave, as he is perfectly fine with people being in both communities at the same time, as he stated on discord. So with that in mind, if the split continues, it will hopefully not detract too much from hotseating at large here.

[misafeco]

The split should not continue if possible. They are adult men, they should be able to come up with something as a compromise. This is just a freaking game, not something super serious. We are here to have fun/make friends/prove our skill in the game.

[saleska2]

Its not like this is something that just came up... stuff like this has been going on for a while, there just is a breaking point.. to add to what Commodus pointed out above.

• Refusal to listen to players
• False accusations of exploit use without proof.
• Refusal to give rewards after multiple months
• Pretending to represent all of GS
• Stopping HS creation without consent
• Stopping HS creation while there is plenty of demand
• Boosting own faction in the files to have an advantage over others in their own HS
• Making up weird rules during HS.

Honestly a list like this can go on for a while... for me its just not a healthy state to play hotseats in and thus playing somewhere that I feel is more healthy is far more comfortable, hence why I join Jadli...
If ya wish proof of any of the claims above feel free to PM.

[Parafix]

The split should not continue if possible. They are adult men, they should be able to come up with something as a compromise. This is just a freaking game, not something super serious. We are here to have fun/make friends/prove our skill in the game.

Out of experience running the multiplayer community requires being serious and is far from fun. Newbloods as a concept and design, Soul was the original creator and designer, it's use has always been designed for Gaming Staff use. As far as i see it, and from the large quantities of evidence that was provided to me to put in the hands of those who required it, this is not about the newblood issue.

Three consistent issues that were raised with many coming into Souls discord to discuss with me,

1. The issue relating to the individual being named - Gaming Staff and Hex matter.
2. The impression that myself (non-GS) have any say of which happens in this section, and Soul overruling every minor detail of the section - Not the case based on me, as i have little to no involvement with this section, and Soul who appointed members of GS to manage this section has left management to those members of staff unless it breaches the joint decided GS decisions. (Once again, i'm not privy to such discussions anymore, but that's how it's worked for years)
3. Frustration from members of the section on lack of discussion with gaming staff involving matters of hotseat creation locks, what consists of an exploit / bug abuse, and hosted events. - The default section has the largest appointed group of Gaming Staff to manage the section, they are their to work for and represent the sections community, if those who represent this section have not taken the public playerbases concerns or opinions to Gaming Staff, they have been doing their role poorly to say the least.
Those with the greatest potential for managing the community, taking in feedback to take to the rest of GS, and to improve the section are those using point 1 as an excuse to try take people to another community, happily to say in discord channels that they want to see this section burn and riot.

Matters involving GS and Hex down to individuals is between them, matters of management certainly do need to be addressed of this section, i would insist on any member who does care about the community and wants changes referring to my third point, not be enlisted into the ranks of those who want to bring down "Ragnarok" onto the section because one or two individuals have been found to be abusing the trust the playerbase have given them.

[AdmiralThrawn]

Honestly, it sounds like a situation where deleting comments and banning players was easier than having a frank discussion of how Hotseats are run. If you learn anything from History, it's that silencing dissent is the best means of spreading it and radicalizing the opposition. Still, I'm only in one HS right now, so what do I know?

[ArBo]

I have a lot to say about much of this, but honestly, the best thing for the community as a whole seems to me to talk it over and find a solution. And if that involves major concessions from both sides, I think that's something we'll have to live with.

[SoulGamesInc]

how does it affect the currently running hotseats?

It doesn't. If any players 'leave' they'll have to be replaced/subbed/whatever as we've always done for years, otherwise unaffected.

Jadli thinks it's wrong, so.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As fine as statement as I could make. One player thinks it's "wrong" and has sought to cause as much damage as possible upon his exit from the stage for reasons that I cannot do into any detail on, but decisive to say Hex and Gaming Staff do not make these kinds of decisions lightly. Multiple second chances are usually given. Those chances were squandered. The belief that anything was done 'unfairly' is simply not the case.

1: Refusal to listen to players 2: False accusations of exploit use without proof. 3: Refusal to give rewards after multiple months 4: Pretending to represent all of GS 5: Stopping HS creation without consent 6: Stopping HS creation while there is plenty of demand 7: Boosting own faction in the files to have an advantage over others in their own HS 8: Making up weird rules during HS.

1: I've never refused to listen unless one comes at me insulting or otherwise uncivil, beyond that I've made this thread and we've made multiple discussion threads in the past coupled with Chat Rooms and being easily reachable on multiple platforms. The concept that I'm refusing anyone a 'talk' to simply false. 2: You say 'false accusations' and I say false claims of innocence. 3: Rewards are finalized by Hex, not Me. 4: I do represent all of HS Gaming Staff. 5: HS creation hasn't been stopped. 6: 'Boosting' factions is paranoia. 7: 'Making weird rules' is hardly a concern, your not forced to join any hotseat with rules you don't agree with nor are any such rules mandatory.

It seams to be half of your list is based on self made 'evidence' while the other half are personal taste like 'rules' or 'rewards' or 'boosting'. None of those justify splitting up a community.

if they really care of this community.

major concessions

I've dedicated 5 years of my life to the community. I care very much, but no decision by GS or Hex is made lightly nor without hard evidence. It will not be undone.

silencing dissent is the best means of spreading it

If I was silencing anything, this thread simply wouldn't exist. Seems rather counter productive if that's the goal.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

5: HS creation hasn't been stopped.

TES Newbloods V

Presumably the core of point 5, and certainly a trigger of current circumstances. Yes, I know you had reasons.

[saleska2]

Interesting you assume everything I said is targeted at you...

All claims can be backed up but as I said ill do that in PM for anyone that likes it. Tho I guess ill clear up some misreadings.

1: Refusal to listen to players:You can talk and still not do anything as a result

2: False accusations of exploit use without proof.

4: Pretending to represent all of GS 5: Stopping HS creation without consentIts not like this is something that just came up... stuff like this has been going on for a while Neither of these points are something that happened just recently(except for some specific HS creation). These things happened way before already.

I gladly show it all in PM, these were just some simple clarifications

EDIT: removed something false.

[SoulGamesInc]

TES Newbloods V. Presumably the core of point 5, and certainly a trigger of current circumstances

Indeed, you might think that, but not for the reasons you may well have been given. I cannot as stated prior give details on Hex or matters of moderation as per the rules. Again decisive to say nothing is done without due cause as I am far from irrefutable. That particular thread wasn't up to code. As stated on it, the host was welcomed to start another game without the explained issues. He reacted poorly to being told No.

Interesting you assume everything I said is targeted at you...

You are talking to Me slaeska. That's the purpose of this thread, although I fear your here to Recruit and not Talk.

All claims can be backed up but as I said ill do that in PM

Backed up by lies and/or conveniently cased excuses, with no doubt several breaches of site rules by your reluctance to share that supposed evidence in public.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

Indeed, you might think that, but not for the reasons you may well have been given.

The reasons I know are that the hotseat was terminated because it was determined as a Gaming Staff concept being run by a non-Gaming Staff user. The disagreement, as far as I know - and I am a poor defender of anyone who isn't myself - stemmed from the fact that the thread creator had formed multiple hotseats in the past from the exact same series, created and maintained the specific structure of the mod used to play said games, and seemed to be content that the thread would not offer rewards, only serve as a game for new players to join while playing on the latest unofficial update of the TES mod. In short, the creator found the series to be 'his baby', as he was instrumental in the creation and maintenance of the TES Newbloods line. I'd imagine this would run right into moderation decisions, so it could either go on in PM if there's something to correct or be said about the above, or I guess it'll just sit as it is. Either way, point 5 as quoted initially has its precedence, though only one thread as far as I know. Editing one more time - this is the circumstance referred to, as the thread already had interest expressed in it and was close to full, only for the thread to be terminated shortly after.

[joerock22]

Hotseating will continue. Gaming Staff will continue. Life continues, and with it the dedication we've all put into this community over the years.

Well said. I personally will not begrudge anyone from joining the new site. But I strongly encourage people to remain here as well. Don't leave a site simply because others have had a bad experience with it. Unless you personally have had a bad experience, there is no reason to leave. And if you have had a bad experience, discuss it with Gaming Staff.

I can only assure all that there are two sides to every story and in this case the one you may have heard is far from the truth.

This is absolutely true as well. Take it from me, who has been privy to most of the conflict, but more as a third-party observer than an active participant on one side or the other.

[saleska2]

You are talking to Me slaeska. That's the purpose of this thread, although I fear your here to Recruit and not Talk.

I thought this thread was about the state of TWC? My post was directed at why I find TWC to be un an unhealthy state. If this thread is just to talk about you and you alone then whats the point? Im afraid to tell you that not everything is about you, its about the site and its state so when talking I talk about TWC as a whole, not you.

Backed up by lies and/or conveniently cased excuses, with no doubt several breaches of site rules by your reluctance to share that supposed evidence in public.

Ah yes! I dislike this person and have no idea what kind of arguments he has, instead of finding this out I will call him out based on nothing but my opinion and assumptions! Imagine that in something real life :O


Person A: I have proof of a series of crimes that I can show to anyone interested in private.

Person B: Judge! All his proof is false

Judge: On what base?

Person B: I dislike this person, and while I dont know any of the proof its surely false or in some way illegal

Person A: Aw damn, im done for!

P.S. If you are talking about anything being related to my time as GS and that stuff, there is no such thing in anything I got. But feel free to carry on with this "Everything about SoulgamesInc and nothing else like TWC" thread