Discord is a service that allows us to connect near instantly with other members of this game. It's an amazing piece of technology that, when used right, brings us closer as a community.
However there is a problem with such a method of communication also. It can be abused, or misused, in a myriad of ways that all end up splitting our community apart. One of these ways is trying to use it to foster hate and enmity against others. Be it against another player, a member of a staff team, an entire staff team, or even entire villages. It can also be used to cause pain and hurt to others and to bully them around in order to try and get one's way in things. It can be used to make people feel uncomfortable, or unwelcome, or to push away new players. These are merely a small few things that we have had to recently ban someone from Discord for.
This user found issues, and instead of reporting them, he attempted to rally players against an entire community that was doing no harm to anyone. He also tried to sway the opinion of others against the administrative team by directly attacking members of said team, and spreading lies and rumors about what is going on. Now, simply disagreeing will not, ever, result in anyone ever being punished. There will always be disagreements. But there is a difference between having an issue and explaining to someone that you have an issue, and having the same issue but going into a chat room and calling people biased, accusing them of having minions they're attempting to raise up, insulting their integrity, and telling other people they're favoring certain groups.
Junan was not removed because he disagreed with us, or because he pointed out when an admin allowed a rule violation. He was removed because he did not point these out to us. He waited until it could cause the most damage to Sand and to the admin team, and then began tossing accusations of cheating and lying around in an attempt to get public opinion behind whatever agenda he had at the moment. This is the exact same behavior he displayed before that led to a staff ban. When his ban was lifted just under six months ago, it was with a stipulation he agreed to. That if, within a year, he began to repeat such behavior it would immediately be reinstated. The admin team did not make this stipulation lightly, and we were willing to give him another chance. He did not see fit to use it properly.
Why is this announcement being made? Because we know rumors will begin, even with it in place. And while often people flock to a perceived victim of power abuse, rarely is the one using said power asked for an honest appraisal of the situation. We know this announcement is not going to make any difference for some who will believe what they wish regardless, but we are still making it because we want our players to understand that using Discord, or NC itself, as a tool to attempt such things will not be tolerated. We do not like doing such things, but we put the wellbeing of our player base higher than the enjoyment of someone who wants to cause hurt.
So, be it Leaf, Missing, Cloud or Sand, we are all NCers. We are all of this community. Please, do not fracture into "Well X community sucks!". At least, not on the forums, and not on Discord. And remember, "it was just a joke" or "it's just a prank" does not lessen the pain caused by some things.
Sincerely,
The Administrative Team of Ninpocho Chronicles.
However there is a problem with such a method of communication also. It can be abused, or misused, in a myriad of ways that all end up splitting our community apart. One of these ways is trying to use it to foster hate and enmity against others. Be it against another player, a member of a staff team, an entire staff team, or even entire villages. It can also be used to cause pain and hurt to others and to bully them around in order to try and get one's way in things. It can be used to make people feel uncomfortable, or unwelcome, or to push away new players. These are merely a small few things that we have had to recently ban someone from Discord for.
This user found issues, and instead of reporting them, he attempted to rally players against an entire community that was doing no harm to anyone. He also tried to sway the opinion of others against the administrative team by directly attacking members of said team, and spreading lies and rumors about what is going on. Now, simply disagreeing will not, ever, result in anyone ever being punished. There will always be disagreements. But there is a difference between having an issue and explaining to someone that you have an issue, and having the same issue but going into a chat room and calling people biased, accusing them of having minions they're attempting to raise up, insulting their integrity, and telling other people they're favoring certain groups.
Junan was not removed because he disagreed with us, or because he pointed out when an admin allowed a rule violation. He was removed because he did not point these out to us. He waited until it could cause the most damage to Sand and to the admin team, and then began tossing accusations of cheating and lying around in an attempt to get public opinion behind whatever agenda he had at the moment. This is the exact same behavior he displayed before that led to a staff ban. When his ban was lifted just under six months ago, it was with a stipulation he agreed to. That if, within a year, he began to repeat such behavior it would immediately be reinstated. The admin team did not make this stipulation lightly, and we were willing to give him another chance. He did not see fit to use it properly.
Why is this announcement being made? Because we know rumors will begin, even with it in place. And while often people flock to a perceived victim of power abuse, rarely is the one using said power asked for an honest appraisal of the situation. We know this announcement is not going to make any difference for some who will believe what they wish regardless, but we are still making it because we want our players to understand that using Discord, or NC itself, as a tool to attempt such things will not be tolerated. We do not like doing such things, but we put the wellbeing of our player base higher than the enjoyment of someone who wants to cause hurt.
So, be it Leaf, Missing, Cloud or Sand, we are all NCers. We are all of this community. Please, do not fracture into "Well X community sucks!". At least, not on the forums, and not on Discord. And remember, "it was just a joke" or "it's just a prank" does not lessen the pain caused by some things.
Sincerely,
The Administrative Team of Ninpocho Chronicles.