Disappointment

[Sciamach]

I've spent the past several months in a perpetual state of work-business with my internship, as well as on-and-off again depression caused by close familial members being in and out of the hospital, offset by love-life problems and the constant over-looming issue that is my college career. It's been a rather rough ride for me these past few months, and what I think I'm coming to say with this prefix is that: all my time away from the circumstances and drama of disco has given me some better perspective.

" Discovery Freelancer is a 'roleplaying' community with a rather prominent propensity for drama. "

This is a phrase I often have to use to describe this community to outsiders. More than half of that sentence is qualifiers to the status of the community at large. That much is a problem unto itself. But the problem that arises now with the community as I've come to see it in my return the past couple of days is that: that sentence isn't applicable anymore. I'm now going to have to come up with a much worse one.

Any newcommer coming into the community right now would be shocked, appalled, and utterly disinterested upon seeing and comprehending the current state of the community at large. Staff, Devs, faction leaders, and community members alike. Nobody's hands are clean here, nobody here is completely absolved of wrongdoing. Everyone here is guilty of it, and speaking as someone whose just now come back, I'm utterly disgusted.

At first I didn't want to say anything regarding this whole debacle with the recent sanctions: Sure I have friends that got banned, but there are also people on that list that I would personally like to see gone, permanently from the community. It was this selfish desire that I used to justify to myself the price paid in said sanction. That price, was not only the loss of ability to play of a handful of people I like and respect, but also the trust of the community, and more importantly: the due process of the rules. For me to support the decision I've spent the past couple of days jubilant over the resolution of, would be to cast away that which I believe in just because it serves my own interests and desires. To do so is unjust, amoral, and frankly: a lie.

I'm a lot of things: primarily a roleplayer, a monstrously huge ragelord, a self-proclaimed cap-only pilot- but one thing I will never be, is a liar.

So no, I won't lie to myself and say this was an okay decision, but at the same time, I also won't lie to the community and say the backlash of this all is a just and fair way of responding. Personal attacks, threats and DDOS raids have already driven one prominent staff member away, I'm just waiting to see how much longer it will be before the whole of the green and yellow team jump ship. Whats even more sad is when I watch these constant jabs and attacks being justified as " being good for the community as a whole."

Speaking to the community here: Yes, I know there've been talks of a community coup and now the whole asinine crap of the "dev strike", but lets face facts people: the moment the current staff jumps ship is the moment this community breaks down and dies. Nobody here save a very select few can do the work Alley is capable of. Very few of us are capable of the work Conrad or Finn or Durandal or any of the other staff do behind the scenes we don't even know about. All of that is forefit the moment they leave, and without that, the server dies within a matter of weeks. Sure many of us think we're capable of running this place, but unless you're capable of devoting 3 or more hours a day, for months at a time to doing mind-numbing monotonous work, then you have absolutely no right to make that claim. Leadership and community maintenance work isn't all just fun and games. The staff deserve a helluva lot more respect than they're getting.

Furthermore, the pure venom I've seen some of you come forth with has been utterly loathsome. Everyone here is in this community because, at one point or another, we all loved this game and the roleplay surrounding it. Everyone, no matter where you go, is to be afforded basic human decency, and you can offer up some more respect for friends and companions with the same love of the same game. Just because someone made a decision you disagree with absolutely does not grant you the ability, nor the right to insult, belittle, demean, or attack anyone. Period.


On the flipside speaking to the staff: Guys, what the hell?

Seriously, what the hell? Please let me know how many times in recorded history the subversion and abandonment of a set of laws, replaced with a "because we say so" decision ever worked out in favor of said leadership? The very rules you yourselves put into place here recently now aren't good enough? I'm finding it exceptionally hard to believe that all of you were incapable of going through the sufficient channels to process these bans- and I know for a fact that half the people on that roster of banned members didn't deserve it. Two of them haven't even touched the game in weeks, hell- Snoopy swore off Disco months ago from what I understood. The others may well deserve their bans but absolutely nobody is entitled to being kicked out of the community without rhyme or reason under what I can only hope we consider a "fair rule system"

The transparency the community is asking for is not wholly un-reasonable, and would certainly go a long way to making sure there still is a community in a month's time. Offer up the reasoning for everyone involved, and allow for open and adult discussion of the purpose behind each individual ban. Mediation of those that will inevitably show their inner hissy-fit throwing 3-year old in the form of rageposts is absolutely justified. Pure censorship however, is where "justice" becomes "oppression."

These kinds of decisions and behaviors do not make people feel safer in this community. They make people want to leave. Your responsibility as community leaders is to see to the safety, well-being, and continued enjoyment of those that offer you the respect deserved, but when those same people then feel the only recourse is to stop interacting with the community in order to not be driven from it at the perceived lack of fault of their own, then something went wrong somewhere.

and trust me, something here has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

So to everyone: behave yourselves. Resorting to childish behaivor, be it using positions of power to exact revenge on individuals for whatever means, or savagely assaulting someone's character because they made a decision you didn't like, is not acceptable. Everyone over a certain age should be able to conduct themselves in a sane enough manner to get their point across. You have a right to have your opinion voiced, but you lose that right the moment you descend into threats, insults, or self-centered righteousness via the mindset of "oh I don't have to listen to you."

I'm just.. disappointed.

I'm disappointed in myself for not thinking this through so as to vocally support something I view is immoral while also agreeing that some of the bans weren't just

I'm disappointed in the staff for not handling the situation better

I'm disappointed in the community for becoming little more than a rampant horde of entitled, screaming children

I'm disappointed in those behind the "Dev strike" for letting things get as far as they have and adding more fuel to a fire that already threatens to burn down the house in which we all play



I know everyone here is capable of it, so start behaving like civil adults to get your message across or I'll be taking my leave of this community, permanently- and I can guarantee you that many others will follow.

No jokes, no color post, no faffing around. Get your acts together. All of you.

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[ sci·am·ach ]
/sīˈamək/

A simple, angry man casually working his way through life on a personal quest to acquire copious amounts of street cred.

[DankCrnja]

thats deep man.

[Kalhmera]

This post sums it up... Good job sir.

[Xoria]

This is the thread everyone should be reading and reflecting over. I endorse every word you wrote Scourgeclaw. The French Revolution began from serious, deep, and legitimate grievances, but it did not have to end with The Terror and Napoleon - choices took it there. Everyone involved in this ongoing debacle is going to have to embrace some humility in order to resolve this. It may no longer be possible for everyone to win, but it is increasingly likely that everyone is going to lose unless this situation de-escalates to a round robin of "I was wrong" and "I'm sorry" from all corners.

[Xenon]

Great words there @"Scourgeclaw" , and i agree with almost all of it
I think many people should read this thread, and try to recognize the meaning of the word "Responsibility".

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[aerelm]

Well said.

[Sylvie557]

Scourge, aren't you the one that is supposed to be the salt admiral. I am disappointed in you for making reasonable thread.

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[Machelvanius]

Very well said. That sums up how I fell as well.

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THE IMBALANCE OF POWER is a construct of THE MIND systemic to the reactions between the subjects of the system. POWER is given by those who acknowledge such power. REFUSAL to acknowledge power removes that power for THE REBEL; however, it produces anomalies in interactions throughout the system. These ANOMOLIES cause the UNPREDICTABLE nature of the system that all users CRAVE.

[Tunicle]

Good post

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[Valhalla Rising]

Scourge, aren't you the one that is supposed to be the salt admiral. I am disappointed in you for making reasonable thread.

This.

Also. Been seeing alot of activity on a few dead Disco chats so I came to see grown adults and teens throwing fits like little children around here. Shame, this community was good until 2016 hit and shit hit the fan. Grow the hell up.

*succumbs into deep sleep*

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