Banned by Nessalin - thanks jcarter!

[ArmageddonMUD] RE: Eurynomos: Severe Forum Powers Abuse : Clearsighted's Game Related - Staff Complaint Request #63557

I was about to go bed after making my post a couple hours ago. It was about a fairly random topic. I disagreed with the current hiring cap policy, after it was randomly brought up in RAT. It made me think about how caps and such are typically self-defeating. It wasn't an attack on Armageddon, or staff. I love playing Armageddon. I'd love Armageddon to be more efficient, and have better policies. I've recently had my faith slowly and gradually restored in the process. I posted, because I saw obvious economic parallels in the inefficiencies of enforcing clan caps, and so I put quite of effort into a lengthy post on the subject.

It stimulated a discussion. It got twenty posts in only a couple hours. Eury posted in it a couple times, I replied very respectfully to him. Then, as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed that Eury had deleted my original post, editing it and mangled my original intent, deliberately distorting what I said.

gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,49873.0.html

I don't even know what the state of the thread will be in, by the time someone even reads this and sees it. For all I know, Eury will have deleted the whole thread by then. I asked someone - anyone - to lock it. I took screenshots of the whole thread as it existed, after discovering Eury's editing of my original post.

I don't even know where to begin. I am so disheartened. Eury edited my original post to read:

I also don't mean to drop any "Find out IC" bombs on this argument, but common literacy is illegal. Concepts of 'free trade' and 'mercantilism' are most certainly not buzz words at the Noble Parties. People seem to like the status quo as it is, if you're talking about idly there being some sort of problem. This seems more like an OOC issue/gripe that you have, though.

It was abundantly and incredibly obvious that I was not talking about such concepts in an IC sense of the word. But in a completely OOC sense: economic theory as applied to game design.

He claims that 'people seem to like the status quo'. How ridiculously insecure, arrogant or out of touch does someone need to be...to even remotely consider the idea of a few people who happened to be on late at night, preferring the status quo, render an entire conversation void and worthy of being deleted? What is it that makes him feel so threatened? What does the 'status quo' even mean on the GDB?

It was the 'status quo', that everyone was in favor of Tuluk staying open, before it was closed. There are plenty of threads, some only a few pages old, in the General Discussion, of people being treated like nutjobs for suggesting that Tuluk should be closed. When Tuluk was closed, the 'status quo' on the forum was that everyone was fine with it being closed. The opinions of a few random people, who happened to be on late at night, in the hour and a half window the post was up...does not give just cause to violate my intellectual integrity and my writing in such an arrogant, bullying and callous fashion. Not unless I"m breaking the forum rules, and I most certainly wasn't.

It was even more unethical of him to justify it being deletable as a 'find out IC' situation because of common literacy being illegal. When I was clearly not posting in an IC context. It's just...I am almost speechless to describe how disappointed I am.

He then makes a completely unfair, reaching assertion after that, that it's some kind of private OOC issue/gripe I must have. Oh please. I can't simply comment on what I feel is an inefficient policy? Does a mild disagreeing with one facet of policy, while praising others, make me an enemy? Doesn't over-reacting like Eury did, just project an unprofessional, bullying attitude, which completely reinforces the claims of others, on different boards of the GDB, that their posts have been unfairly edited? Wouldn't the smart, or even decent response, be to simply project an air of professional detachment?

But hey. We're all hobbyists on the forums. I've never complained about Mordiggian, even though his posts can be a little insulting at times (like responding to a reasonable post with an eyeroll emoji) because Mord has a right to be another human being. He has a right to interact with us honestly, and through his own unfiltered lenses, and I respond to him in kind. Mord has never, say, used his staff powers, when we had a disagreement, to go back and delete/edit my post, and falsely misrepresent it.

What Eury did went far, far beyond. There is a line that is crossed, when you use special privileges, given in trust, to delete and multilate someone's heartfelt, painstakingly considered original post.

One of the most unflattering attributes that someone can have, is to be excessively quick to take an affront to their pride. It's a game. We're hobbyists of the same game that we both enjoy. I enjoy it enough to play. He enjoys it enough to staff. So long as we're not breaking any forum rules, and being reasonably courteous, one's posts should not be unfairly tampered with, deleted or edited on flimsy reasons. It's not right for someone to abuse their staff privileges to retroactively delete and mangle a post.

You should be able to see our exchange in the thread. If it's been deleted, or edited, by the time you read this, I have screenshots of our exchange, where I am perfectly courteous to him. His own words also prove that he was well aware I was speaking in an OOC/game theory sense.

Maybe this complaint is rambling. It's late. I was minutes from sleep before noticing the vandalism. I am putting my trust and my faith in the majority of staff. I believe the majority of staff, even if they strongly disagreed with someone - would not arbitrarily censor somebody's post on a whim, so long as they were following the rules. I believe the majority of staff know how this would make them feel. I know because I've never seen something so flagrant, arrogant and uncivil done to anyone on the GDB before.

I believe the majority of staff knows Eury's behavior in that thread only elicits resentment, distrust and fosters an 'us vs them' mentality.

I want Eury to acknowledge that there are more important things in this community, the game and in life in general than the 'status quo', or getting offended over a difference of opinion on game design. Whatever he thinks my faults are, I would never vandalize someone's intellectual output, simply because I had the authority. I think it is a very damning revelation of his character and moral compass. If you don't agree, I can only implore you to empathize, if it had happened to you.

I hope my original post can somehow be recovered, as well. I put some care into it, and I thought it was stimulating a great discussion.

I'm very tired, and I need to sleep. An no doubt my fatigue after a long day has resulted in numerous typos. But I did stay awake long enough to observe a couple other posters batting the theory around of Eury having accidentally clicked 'modify' instead of 'quote'.

I'm still not fond of his response for the reasons listed above, such as my dislike of the 'status quo' having anything to do with anything. But in the context of a quote, it's more an attempt to be funny than a malevolent attempt to mutilate my OP. I'm still sad that what I wrote is gone.

But I hope, and after examining the timestamps, I hope a little more that this might be the case, that Eury simply made a mistake, and that he never intended to vandalize my post. If that's the case, I have no problem with him, and I'm only sorry this happened at such an awkward time of night where people are rarely at their logical best.

Request Declined:

Clearsighted,

I really don't care. Your attitude ranges from just shy of combative to outright accusatory without the allowing for the possibility of human or technical mistakes. Arguing from a posture of ignorance doesn't help yourself or the community, stating opinion and rumor as fact is likewise damaging to both.

Without being certain what you've got a stick up your ass about, I would suggest either taking a break from the GDB or writing your posts as drafts and letting them sit for an hour before posting.

Nessalin
Producer
Armageddon Staff