mehtastic
GDB Superstar
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Post by mehtastic on Jul 9, 2018 10:37:28 GMT -5
In late June, a beautiful thread appeared on The MUD Connector. Kronibas, or someone attempting to impersonate him, made a promotional post encouraging people to come back to Armageddon. It included lines that no one could possibly argue against, such as: Immediately, it was set upon by players that had bad first experiences with Armageddon: People also complained about seeing repeated Armageddon promotional posts scattered across Reddit, Mudlistings, and the MUD Connector itself. Of course, the 1st Armageddon Players Battalion stormed the MUD Connector beaches to defend their cherished game: It continues like this for a few days, with people bringing up complaints about Armageddon and players answering the call to battle, before a poster named whistleblower drops the hammer down: Although whistleblower brings up other complaints, the discussion mostly centers on this point. The 2nd Armageddon Players Battalion is then dispatched to relieve the 1st Battalion and call whistleblower a liar. Then the #MeToo moment begins: It comes out that Akariel has refused to address these concerns on the GDB, encouraging the matter to be handled via request tool. Then this comes up: --- Eventually, the thread spirals out of control and gets locked. If you have a #MeToo moment that you wish to share, I suggest you do not post it here. This is a biased forum and many players will dismiss it out of hand. However, if you are an Armer who lurks here and has also been abused by Shalooonsh or another member of the staff, I encourage you to sign up for an account at The MUD Connector and make a post in the Administrative Ethics section about it.
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punished ppurg
GDB Superstar
Why are we still here? Just to suffer?
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Post by punished ppurg on Jul 9, 2018 12:12:15 GMT -5
Nyr fucked me once and I did not consent.
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mehtastic
GDB Superstar
Armers Anonymous sponsor
Posts: 1,309
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Post by mehtastic on Jul 9, 2018 14:07:15 GMT -5
But that ginger boi said I was his one and only.
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jkarr
GDB Superstar
Posts: 2,028
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Post by jkarr on Jul 9, 2018 14:21:36 GMT -5
But that ginger boi said I was his one and only. #mehtoo
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Post by shakes on Jul 9, 2018 14:22:24 GMT -5
This is kind of a big deal. You've got repeated accusations of the same guy, which at the very least is suspicious, and you have some of the playerbase and staff covering for him.
This is exactly what I understand the #MeToo movement to be about. Some asshole got a little bit of power over a woman and then abused it for his sexual gratification. And mud admin is a pretty damn small little bit of power over someone, but it's the same moral failing of a politicization or a Hollywood producer.
I'd say a boycott would be the only answer, but let's face it ... those of us who still play are no more likely to boycott this game than a heroin user is likely to boycott their dealer.
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mehtastic
GDB Superstar
Armers Anonymous sponsor
Posts: 1,309
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Post by mehtastic on Jul 9, 2018 14:29:21 GMT -5
This is kind of a big deal. You've got repeated accusations of the same guy, which at the very least is suspicious, and you have some of the playerbase and staff covering for him. This is exactly what I understand the #MeToo movement to be about. Some asshole got a little bit of power over a woman and then abused it for his sexual gratification. And mud admin is a pretty damn small little bit of power over someone, but it's the same moral failing of a politicization or a Hollywood producer. I'd say a boycott would be the only answer, but let's face it ... those of us who still play are no more likely to boycott this game than a heroin user is likely to boycott their dealer. I would say if you (general you) as a current player are aware that Armageddon enables this behavior, and it disturbs you, you should leave. Not leaving is simply a moral failing at this point and you should be ashamed of yourself. There are plenty of alternative games to get your roleplay fix. And all of them have actual roleplayers instead of 50 idiots that just use the say command and the nod social. For the most part, they have staff who care about the game, and don't stalk women online. What a novel concept! If you are not a current player, or you're departing over this, you should make sure Armageddon is a pariah in all of the MUD communities. If you have a legitimate story of an Armageddon staff member sexually harassing or abusing you, you should share it on the neutral MUD sites. MUD Connector and reddit.com/r/mud are the big ones. Submit reviews to TMC or Mudlistings detailing your experience. Make sure that people new to MUDs or people looking for a roleplaying MUD don't go through what you did. If you don't have a legitimate story, be supportive of those who do, because people will come from Armageddon to call these people liars and they will need to get put in their place. Edit to add that if Shalooonsh publicly apologizes and leaves the staff, then Armageddon is in the clear, at least in this particular matter. It will still be a complete shithole in many other ways, but at least it won't be harboring an accused sexual harasser and stalker. At least then players wouldn't be morally obligated to ditch the game.
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eru
staff puppet account
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Post by eru on Jul 9, 2018 15:18:14 GMT -5
looooooooool
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dcdc
Shartist
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Post by dcdc on Jul 9, 2018 15:23:59 GMT -5
#timesup
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pinkerdlu
Shartist
The evil bad guy of a desert sex simulator. Real Necker
Posts: 521
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Post by pinkerdlu on Jul 9, 2018 15:24:56 GMT -5
I really dislike Malifaxis/Shalooonsh. I hope the dude trips on a curb. I don't have a hard time believing that he has abused his power or seriously creeped on some gals. He's a loser.
But two or three newly created Mudconnector accounts with 1 post each, with a single sentence saying how Shaloonsh stalked/creeped on them... isn't very convincing. I don't have a hard time believing it, but we have very little evidence here besides one poster, and a few others who might be sock accounts/trolls.
Anyway, ya'll should hit up that mudconnector thread. Arm needs to die and be reborn.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2018 15:43:49 GMT -5
I missed all of these threads. Been busy on vacation. Could someone link to all of this mess?
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jkarr
GDB Superstar
Posts: 2,028
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Post by jkarr on Jul 9, 2018 15:43:50 GMT -5
Anyway, ya'll should hit up that mudconnector thread. Arm needs to die and be reborn. what is dead may never die
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Post by shakes on Jul 9, 2018 15:54:51 GMT -5
I would say if you (general you) as a current player are aware that Armageddon enables this behavior, and it disturbs you, you should leave. Not leaving is simply a moral failing at this point and you should be ashamed of yourself. There are plenty of alternative games to get your roleplay fix. And all of them have actual roleplayers instead of 50 idiots that just use the say command and the nod social. For the most part, they have staff who care about the game, and don't stalk women online. What a novel concept! Heh. Shamed by someone I don't know on the internet. How will I live with myself? Believe me, being a minor enabler of some activity on a game that I can't confirm or disprove is happening is the LEAST of things I should be ashamed of. I still eat veal despite being well aware of how it's raised. I smoke. And I have been known to make approving utterances towards Trump when he's done something particularly amusing that upset the liberals. Yet I still manage to live with myself. I've not had any dealings with Shaloonsh as far as I'm aware, but Arm staff's culture of doing things while invis and never owning up to who it was who performed the action means I could very well have had him be the source of any of a number of my own particular issues. Postings on Mudconnect are not enough to convince me absolutely that this is happening. I've also not seen any internal efforts from Arm staff to clean this up or investigate. They keep a very tight lid on all staff happenings. I could crack the Cult of Cthulhu before I'd ever learned anything actually happening at a staff level. Nobody I know and trust personally has come to me to say that they're being sexually harassed. Several people I know (including myself) have left the game at least at one time because someone on staff was rude, abrasive, and authoritarian in numerous instances. Please direct me to one of those "plenty of alternative games" you mentioned. I'm always willing to try new games. I didn't like Harshlands and SOI is very broken. Sindoome was just awful. Those are the only names I've ever heard mentioned in the same category of Arm.
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pinkerdlu
Shartist
The evil bad guy of a desert sex simulator. Real Necker
Posts: 521
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Post by pinkerdlu on Jul 9, 2018 21:00:42 GMT -5
There aren't really any good alternative games if you like RPIs. I will vouch for that, unfortunately.
But you are a fool if you actively play/support Arm and recognize all of the issues that are addressed on this forum.
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Post by shakes on Jul 9, 2018 21:54:17 GMT -5
There aren't really any good alternative games if you like RPIs. I will vouch for that, unfortunately. But you are a fool if you actively play/support Arm and recognize all of the issues that are addressed on this forum. I don't recognize all the issues. I recognize some of the issues. The issues I have recognized are not quite enough to send me elsewhere. Your mileage may vary. I think for a large degree of players, they're not going to run into a large degree of problems. It simply takes too long to get to the point where you're going to see it, and a large degree of game activities are done without any contact with staff. I've been playing muds longer than some of you are alive. I started in 1993. Been through about 8 or so since then, so I don't move on a lot until either things get bad or I find something new. The problems with Armageddon aren't THAT far out of line with some of the other muds I've played on. Some of the accusations are worse than anything I've ever heard from any other game. And the cloistered and secretive nature of Arm staff makes everything seem worse. If you just played the game, avoided the forums, and avoided sponsored or leadership roles, I bet you'd largely never notice anything was going on in the game that's untoward. Except for the rare occasion where staff steps in to block your pk, or when they ban you for killing a newbie. Here's the realization I've had about Arm: You're there to support the egos of an elite group of staff and players. You will be killed by them. Dance for their entertainment. Mudsex them on demand. Bow when they need bowing to, etc. But at the end of the day, if you want to be a pickpocket, raider, ranger in the wild, etc ... then you don't really have to interact on that level at all.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2018 1:45:29 GMT -5
Sad truth is that I would indeed be one of those "Give me proof, or it didnt happen."
Please understand, that there 'are' indeed people out there who 'do' want to actively cause Armageddon harm. At first, their voices were "Armageddon is dead, or going to die any time now." But years passed and Arm is still chugging along. Now those people call for boycotts, monitoring various MUD related forums for Armageddon topic to post negative things. Creating bots to disable Armageddon's votes at TMS.
Armageddon is pretty toxic. The people here are pretty toxic. The people on ALL MUDs are pretty damn toxic. I think on that TMC thread, someone mentioned that they ban players of RPI the most. And it's true. I can see what they mean. That's the type of people who play Arm and that's the type of people who mostly participates in causing Arm harm. I too am one of those people, to a lesser, or greater degree. I too am an asshole.
So regarding this #metoo thing. Post a damn log. Sure, it can be faked. But at least it can be analyzed. Shalooonsh has a pretty specific style of writing, it'll be pretty hard to fake it. But an out of nowhere poster who posted unproveable shit and dissapeared? I'm inclined to disbelieve. If there are people out there who are capable of creating a bot to cause Arm to get banned from a voting site. I'd think they're capable of creating a fake profile to post some derogatory things as well. The poster calling himself "Bronn" only reinforces this. One would think a staffer would have an actual profile on the forum that he, one would think, voted for at least once. And it couldnt be an attempt of remaining anonymous, since he's describing an easily traceable event that probably was discussed on imm forum.
I've played plenty with Shalooonsh and Malifaxis. The dude is a great player. He's definitely an ass. But he doesnt play to 'win'. He acts in believable ways, even if it results in his death. I can see him talking to people on AIM and urging them to play. But not because he wants to polish his knob. That in my opinion, to my current knowledge, is BS.
In some other thread, someone laughed at my expressed adoration of Shalooonsh staffing. The dude helped make RF what they were and only when he left staff, did Nyr destroy it. Shalooonsh was responsible for a bunch of clans, a bunch of reinvigorations. Both Jaxa Pah and Akai Sjir were his creations. Well I asked to substantiate someone's dislike of Shaloonsh and this TMC post came out of some newly created profile. I guess my request was granted?
I am definitely certain that if Shalooonsh 'was' guilty of all this and there 'was' a log provided, the Producers wouldnt 'sweep' it under the rug. Especially with Adhira, who is profoundly against any type of that sort of shit. Shalooonsh screwed up recently and Seidhr's rush decisions made that mistake irrecoverable. Which caused the death of 3 templars. Shalooonsh was punished for his screw up and he ate the punishment just fine. Nobody shrugged and was all, "Eh. They're just our playthings, they can die at our will. Way to go Loonshy!" No, it was reacted to appropriately.
GDB can indeed be sycophantic. But you cant genuinely dismiss 'any' of people there as such, merely because they do not agree on often unreasonably negative stances the participants of this forum hold. When Noted Liar Nergal began crossing the line, the entire GDB went against him. So the playerbase is capable of resisting a persistent and over the top assholeness. Seidhr, I suspect, is going to be next one, who will begin to cause similar ire, if he doesn't regain some humility and sense.
You believe that not outright boycotting Arm for a claim of sexual harassment from a non existent source is supporting sexual harassment? At a time, where 'someone' out there, had spent the time and effort to organize whatever is it that's needed to happen to create an active bot that spammed Arm with votes to cause them to be disabled? We get thefts of code posted here. You, my Jcarter forum friends, 'are' part of GDB community. And you, much like them, are equally asshole. GDB is just more constructive. Here, it's mostly a circlejerk of hate.
But this forum, as whole, is still a great thing for Armageddon. Once you brush aside the paranoia, and the hatred of rejection. This is a post where logs from quickly deleted GDB posts, helped rile GDB up against Noted Liar Nergal. This forum helps the staff see the other side of the community and it's overall good for the game.
It is unfortunate that some fraction of this forum participants have tired of waiting for Arm to supposedly die and began proactively generating things (smear compaigns, bots, etc) to injure it's reputation and ability.
I'd like to respond to a few recent posts, but this is just something I can quickly type up.
Thanks for PMing me the address!
PS: If someone was to provide a believable log of Malifaxis sexual harassment, I would myself boycott Arm until Loonsh left staff position. All that person needs to merely do is convince me that they're not full of shit.
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