A complete official statement involving all the details of the circumstances will be released to the public as soon as we can. But, to hopefully answer any questions and alleviate any concerns on the matter, I wish to offer my perspective on the matter.
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I never intended for any of this to happen, and I'm sorry it's come to this. The Peace Summit was meant to reduce tension and drama by offering a platform for discussion and negotiation between concerned players and the staff, while maintaining privacy to offer efficiency and security. I spent days worth of effort arranging for a system that avoided the typical drama, flaming, and popularity contests that were commonplace in such discussions, while providing a calm, rational, diplomatic solution amongst high-tension groups. For a few weeks, things seemed to be going absolutely beautifully too: both sides were active, members were cooperative and kind, and people truly believed in the Summit and what it could accomplish.
But during this time, an element within the Summit membership took hold, and began operating beyond the scope and peaceful ideology of the Summit they agreed to uphold. Whether they were emboldened by their new-found voice or simply enacting a hidden agenda, these agitators began to act in more aggressive manners. I am not at liberty to say what exactly they did, but, "bullying" is an understatement, and it is but one offense we believe they are guilty of. They lied to me, they betrayed the Summit, and they sought to harm the community, its members, and its staff for their own reasons.
As members of the staff who had invested a part of their lives within this community, seeing it being turned against them caused much mental and emotional havoc which translated into physical pain. Until you've been responsible for a community of people whom you'll gladly call your friends and supporters, and then have them turn against you to the drum-beat of insults and attacks that bleeds into your physical reality, you will never know just how much impact "a videogame" can have.
Such devious acts do not go unpunished, however. Some of the more enlightened members, from both inside the Summit and outside of it, were brave enough to bring information forward to us, confirming our much-feared suspicions regarding this agitators group; to them, we owe much. It was because of these people and the evidence that was collected that we were able to construct an understanding of the hidden conflict that's being waged, which has allowed us to begin conducting the investigation that is the topic of debate here.
Very quickly, I'll go over the talking points and points of clarification that have come up/are bound to come up.
- The people who have been banned are either under investigation for potential involvement with the agitator group (and thus is responsible for attacks against members, staff, and the community at large). The Admin staff will be responsible for pouring through the mountain of evidence together, and coming to a verdict.
- We chose to ban them first for security and containment reasons; it's the same reason why people are incarcerated before their hearing before a judge. Seeing as we've already dealt with a massive wave of drama that has lead to this, we sought to prevent another resurgence of drama from the suspects in question. By limiting peoples' access to the community at large, we decrease the likelihood that they exploit the confusion and lack of information to rally support to themselves (e.g. calling the staff corrupt tyrants), which would cause further drama to destabilize the community. It's not the nicest way, but it's better than the alternatives. We've already explained the situation to those whom we could reach in person, and they all seem to understand (albeit disappointed it had to come down to this, as am I).
- The bans themselves are temporary for the duration of the investigation.
- If there is no evidence leading us to believe that they are involved with such extreme actions, the person in question will be deemed innocent, and the ban will be lifted. This will not be held against their record.
- If there is sufficient evidence leading us to believe they were involved with extreme actions, the person will be permanently banned from the community in every avenue. They will have demonstrated that their intentions are hostile, and we will not tolerate such aggressors in our community
- We can't give you specific details regarding the investigation, including names of those involved. We are dealing with much sensitive information, which could easily be used to interfere with the investigation, cause drama within the community, or encourage further bullying. To prevent such occurrences, we rely on confidentiality and operational security.
- As a silver lining of the now defunct-Summit, the Sr. Staff has agreed to embrace a greater degree of transparency. As such, some evidence will be released to the public to demonstrate that the matters of the investigation are indeed quite serious, and that they are to be taken as such.
- What do we ask that you do?
- Keep Calm and Carry On.
- Please try to be understanding of the staff and our handling of the situation. For reasons stated above, we have not given you the full details as to what's going on, so please do not judge or pester our staff out of a lack of understanding. We're rational beings just like you are, and the decisions we make are the most rational ones we see based on the circumstances that we have. What may not make sense to you, may make sense if you knew the sensitive information we were trusted with.
- Do not get involved. Whether you're trying to help or you're purposely causing trouble, the best thing you can do for us is to let us do our jobs. If you persist in hindering our investigation, you will be punished accordingly.
- Let us do our jobs. Please.
I'm sorry that my first large post to the community on the forums has to come under these severe circumstances. Truth be told, I had hoped to make my introduction as Community Manager with the successful Summit being proof that I was worthy of the role. But we, as members of MCSG, are nothing if not survivors of the harshest of circumstances.
I hope that this has shed some light on the situation right now, and should reduce the drama surrounding it.
This had become a problem that I had no intention of starting. But together, we will fix it.
I will see to that.
