If You Stand for Nothing, then What Will You Fall For?

[Dromui 755]

 

 

 

"Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together."
- James Cash Penney

 

Greetings Lord of the Craft, I am not here to pitch you a new idea for rules or a new, shiny piece of lore to catch your interest. Rather, I am here to discuss an injustice that has occurred within our community.  I am here to implore you to stand up and voice your outrage against this injustice in a controlled and respectful manner. Raise your voices against the unjust ban of iMattyz, but do so in a way that you will be heard, not blatantly ignored. Our administration has been told numerous times by veteran administrator 501warhead to simply ignore the voice of the community in times of outrage as the cries will eventually die down and the issue can be swept under the rug. Well, I'm here to tell you in this instance we cannot allow that to occur. Whether you like Matt or not, he has been an impactful and relevant figure to LotC's history in and out of character for years. He is a man with a love for this server and the players just as much as the rest of us. Sure he may lose his cool from time to time, but lets be honest, we all do. It is his love and dedication for what he has built here on this server that drives him forward, but it is this same love and dedication that drives him crazy. Much like a parent who finds themselves screaming at their child for endangering themselves, it is not from a place of malice or hate. But instead from a desire to protect and nurture what he has crafted here among his friends. Some of which he would likely call his family at this point.

 

For those of you who don't know, iMattyz has not only served as leading figure within the Dominion of Malin recently, but also as a GM from April - November 2015, and from November 2015 - January  2016 he served as an Administrator. That's right, the very same person who was banned for a year served as a leading figure in running this server. To some this may come to a surprise, but for many of us veterans it is not. We've known Matt for years to be stubborn and hotheaded. However, we've also known him to be proactive, intelligent, forthright, and honest. These traits are what led him to be a phenomenal leader in and out of character. He led in the development of 4.5 and had a hand in overhauling the war rules during his tenure as Administrator. He also co-led the creation of the charter system. And to you halfling players, years ago your race was almost removed and iMattyz was a staunch voice in keeping your people around. I'm not here to say that Matthew is the kindest or the most understanding person, but he does know what this server needs to continue into the future and we cannot allow him and his ideas to be wiped away from this server by those who want to squash his voice. Whether you agree with his opinions or not, they are relevant, as all opinions are.

 

We must stand together, plain and simple. We aren't fighting for freedom or the lives of others, we are simply standing together for common decency, respect, consistency, and transparency from the Administration. For years that is something all players have wanted: transparency an consistency. And during this ban, the individual who was banned did not receive that. The GM team took the blame and had to deal with harassment while the Administration in question hid behind them. While Matt and others have reached out to discuss this, they have been blatantly ignored by the Administration. Many members of this community have already come together and voiced their outrage, but more must stand. Staff and common player alike need to voice their opinions so the Administration cannot ignore this. A rather popular and relevant poem comes to mind as I write this. It was written by a German Lutheran pastor by the name of Martin Niemöller, and it was titled "First they came. . ."

 

The poem depicts the cowardice of the German people during and following the rise of Nazi's to power and the following purging of those they've signaled out. These groups were the Socialists, the Trade Unionists, and the Jews. Those who could not stand up watched as injustice was brought down upon their neighbors, friends, and family. Sure, we are not facing the extinction and genocide of anyone here today, however the point of the poem was to highlight the themes of responsibility, persecution, and guilt. We as the players have the responsibility to stand against rather such obvious persecution of players before it continues. By standing against iMattyz ban we set a standard. We will not allow our community to be removed without fair or just reason, plain and simple. Otherwise when iMattyz and all the rest who would stand up against these injustices are gone. . .  Who is going to stand up for you?

 

And this is my personal message to you, Administration. @Harold, @FlamboyantRage, @Telanir, @Knox, and @501warhead. You cannot sweep this under the rug by ignoring your players. This will continue for as long as it takes to see your response and results.

 

For everyone who has taken a moment to read this thread, I thank you. Have a great day all!

 

 

[_Sug 2809]

[Guest]

[Ixli 1472]

 

#freeiMattyz

[The Media Wizard 2958]

Matt and I haven't always seen eye to eye. But on my personal experiences with these Mods and Admins over the years, this isn't new or surprising. Many players tend to rely on people getting over injustice so they don't have to work harder than they want to. That isn't what I want in my staff or those I consider close. I've no stance on this ban, but the server's staff ought to clean up their act. Plain and simple.

[Zacho 2177]

down with the tyranny
#freeImattyz

[Chase 3793]

You can only hide from the public eye for so long.

[Assassinofawsome 193]

Very well worded, from someone who use to be a staff member this is a healthier way of expressing something. Instead of insults and attacks, voice your opinion here in a constructive manner and it'll actually be seen and taken into account. +1

[Fawb 557]

Personally, iMattyz' devotion and time spent bettering the server is completely irrelevant to this ban. No player on Lord of the Craft deserves a ban at all for this "offence", let alone a year long one. I would stand up and defend any player who fell victim to such a trumped up and ridiculous ban, regardless of what community they roleplay or pvp within. The whole community should come together here in solidarity and take a stand against what can only view as injustice. 

[mmat 7460]

I did nothing wrong. Everyone in the community knows. I know. You know.

 

And yet I have had no response, only ignorance and disregard.

[Drop Koala 332]

man, banning all the interesting, cunty players sounds great. I'd love a server with the 5 players who've never called someone a *** on here...

[shortchangehero 4217]

 

Don't give in admins. They'll stop eventually

[Farryn 860]

Everyone right now.

 

 

 

[ThatWeirdGirl 432]

Doesn't he get banned and lash out at staff members near constantly? There's a difference between being short tempered and reactive (I can admit I am both) and being toxic.

[winterblood 11181]

I agree with Drone, Matt, and everyone else making these well-constructed posts and comments on this situaiton.  The Admins of the server, especially the veteran ones, need to step up and do their job properly.  That job isn't just tweaking the rules here and there and making hallowed promises about plug-ins for the server, or even allowing someone to come onto the server and role-play as a duck for YouTube.  Your job is to listen to your players and take their feedback, literally listen to it, and find a way to improve the flaws of the server and yourself so that the server doesn't collapse.

 

Lord of the Craft isn't perfect, I know.  The community can be toxic at times and everyone always has their own opinion on how the server should be, but we don't listen to one or two people's opinions and move forward from there.  That isn't how something like this will continue progressing forward.  I understand that it's difficult to take in the opinion of everyone since everyone has their own unique idea, but this is a situation that shouldn't be difficult to solve.  It is evident that a large group of the players agree that Matt's ban was uncalled for.  Listen to your players, Admins.  Admit that you were wrong.  #FreeIMattyz