Must Read Regarding the Recent Bans

Thank you for putting this together, Wolf. Today's been really rough and I don't know what we would have done without you. Even though he's been temporarily suspended, I want to thank Hrae for handling this as maturely and kindly as he did. I am incredibly thankful for that and I want it to be known I genuinely believe him to be one of the kindest people I've had the privilege of meeting. He made a mistake and acknowledged that to us, and was very helpful.

I want to mention that there is undoubtedly more that was said about us, beyond what was in this post. I was kicked from the server initially, then allowed back to judge what happened. What I gathered is as much as I could emotionally handle. I considered Morgaine and Getus to be close friends, and seeing this was immensely painful. This has been going on since at least April, definitely longer.

We will answer any questions you have.

 

This really comes as a shock to me, I didn't expect any of this that I just read but I understand now. I'm not planning on leaving any time soon, even with the loss of some good members.

Thanks for taking the time to explain everything!

 

I'm just as shocked as everyone else, but I'm not going to leave because of the actions of a few people.

I really have to admire all you do in keeping this place running, so I'll do my best to stand with you guys and support you in what little way I can.

 

As a fellow member of LV, I am very concerned about this decision. I understand that its upsetting to see stuff like that said. At the same time, these members were respectful of you all and vented elsewhere. I feel like its shameful to ban these members because of this. These members have always shown that they've cared about LV as a community, even if they didn't like everyone or agree with what was going on in LV. I believe what they did was also not against the rules which is another concern to me.

 

Thanks for filling us in admins. I thought that awney was an overall nice person. We will never doubt that you guys have valid reasons and we can talk to you if we have an issue. We will always back you up. Thank you for doing what you do

 

This was at no doubt, a large shock to the community. I have had positive interactions with the users whom have been a part of the secret server, but what they have done is incredibly hurtful and disrespectful. I hope LV doesn’t grow into a negative direction because of this.

 

This whole situation has me extremely uncomfortable...

 

I am genuinely upset by this, but thank you for sharing. Thank you for trying to keep our community a safe and happy place.

 

We're sorry, I feel the same way. If you want to talk to me, my inbox is open. I know we aren't super close or anything, but I'm still here if you want to.

 

I cannot imagine volunteering time and effort to a Pokémon forum of all things and end up being on the receiving end of some of the comments displayed in the above logs. /: Am very sorry for those affected but I'm hopeful we'll move past this and continue building a solid, positive community.

At times like these, it's best for the community to come together and support each other (one of the nicer things about being part of a smaller forum -- members can be much more close-knit). This was an incredibly stressful choice for the administrators so I hope everyone will understand why, despite worrying over the reactions and what impact their decision might have on LV, they felt it had to be done.

 

I wish for a lot of things. I wish we could turn back time to a much simpler phase of LV but what's happened has happened and deserves to be addressed. As of late, I've wondered what my place is on LV. Wolf is right, we've known about this secret server for a while and wanted to let it slide in all honesty BUT the members of it were spreading false information on the site at a rapid pace as of late that was at some point going to affect the entire userbase.

The truth is, I'm no different than you. I eat the same food, breathe the same air, have the same interests and and just like everyone one of you, try to be my best self. To understand how it feels (I pray you're never in such a situation), I want to remind of who I am. I'm a kid as well who has irl friends and irl interests and irl school and irl drama but online, I'm Vig and I enjoy however much I can to help the site in however way possible and this is why what I've experienced will be one of the most painful things that's happened to me throughout my life.

These people weren't mad about the site, nor about features, nor about some coding. They hated us. They hated certain members, they hated the Admins and they hated certain staffers. So personally, I felt torn down when I wasn't being criticized over my work on the site but criticized over who I am. If you don't like something on the site, please post it in a feedback thread or DM a staff member. 11/10 times I'll sit with you and agree cause all staffers and admins are humans like anyone else. We make mistakes all the time. The fact that we'd be bashed to such a severity (there was more that I read that I refused to screenshot for the site because this site is a PG13 environment) makes me sad that because someone hates my character and used it to harm LV.

I wish "attention whore" was all I was called. It wasn't. A lot of what Ben, Ryan and I read will never make it out to you because it wasn't meant as a reflection of the site. It was meant to cut us deep and hurt us...Something that it did and it's something a lot of you will go to sleep tonight not worrying about while we sit up and wonder if the time we've put towards this community has any bearing of who we are because at the end of the day...words hurt.

To sign off, I wish you never experience something like I and my fellow admins and staffers did and I ask you to find it in you to remember we're humans as well with the same feelings as you and stuff hurts.

LV has a strict policy against flaming, harassment, slander, cyber bullying and making people uncomfortable (all of these were broken) so I hope you understand this wasn't a decision made lightly.

 

I am shocked by this. In all honesty though, the first few screenshots weren’t so bad (aside from the one that mentioned the stabbing thing, which was AWFUL). You should have started with the really bad stuff, I was initially hesitant to your point. I don’t know what to think about it. They all seemed to be genuinely nice people, and I have had nothing but positive interactions with them in the past. It’s a shame. I honestly think permanent bans are a bit harsh, but your site, your rules. However, just playing devil’s advocate here, technically the rules say not to do those bad things like bullying and stuff on the forum itself, so a private Discord server may not count, no matter how bad the offense. Then again, I don’t have a Discord and don’t know how it works. I believe toxicity is the wrong word to use, but I cannot think of a better one at the moment. I would like to hear the other side of the story if possible, and would be willing to act as a mediator if you ever wish to try patching things up. Just need a method of contact. My condolences to you, as this must have been a tough decision to make, and I wish you best of luck in dealing with this unforeseen circumstance.

P.S. - This kind of thing reminds me of the theatre and arts community in high school, at least from my experience. Everyone acts like they all love each other, best besties, and then talk crap about them behind their back, often with exaggeration heavily involved. I try to stay out of it when it comes up, but I have seen enough to recognize it. Until the ban, my guess would be that none of them actively hated you guys. Just venting frustrations and conspiracies. Just know that I have experience mediating in these scenarios if you consider my offer, and I hope things turn out well for you guys.

 

Honestly, just reading through this and seeing the people responsible, I was just... speechless. I didn't think any one of these users would say any of these things, let alone all six at once.

 

I... Honestly, I don't know what to think about this. I mean, I'm not shocked that this happened or anything, but attacking Admins and a site made to bring people together? Some people just want to watch the world burn, and I'm sure these are a group of them, though Hrae I will forgive for his honesty. But, in all honesty, I don't know what I would have done. I understand the Admins and their response, but these people... Sometimes I wonder what I have left to learn about humanity. Maybe I'm finally learning what they can cause behind the scenes.

 

... Unfortunate.

Admins, I'm really sorry y'all had to endure this. It's sad that people don't think they can air their grievances and think they must resort to inflammatory remarks and harassment - especially since I haven't met many people who are more kind and open than y'all are. I'm especially surprised by Awney, who as was already pointed out as being someone who seemed to spread positivity through their artwork, and by Cadbberry, who seemed to be an overall positive force among the long-time users here.

Please, do not let these incidents get you down. If you need an ear, I have two; though I may not have advice (depending on the situation) I am more than willing to listen, y'know?

 

:/

Didn't think Awney thought of me like that. I was and am aware I wasn't popular among some of the members banned, but Awney in particular comes off as a shock. Anyways, at least now the air is clear. Part of me is angry, part of me is hurt. Gonna cool my head, I am understandably not in the best of moods atm.