souleater007

There was a phrase uttered maybe a hundred years ago, in the distant fields of wheat and barley. When an Empire had overextended it's authority of the rights of the common farming folk. Far north, this phrase was repeated upon the coming news. "No Kings but Us."

MemeSupreme(TM) Productions... Alongside Veletz and the Coalition Present to you, a very special Krugsmass present

Caution: What you are about to see is a preview of a MemeSupreme(TM) product Viewer discretion is advised.

MemeSupreme(TM) Productions, in conjuction with Coalition and League of Veletz, is proud to present... Roof Veletzians

MemeSupreme(TM) Productions presents: The Siege of Brasca

Unit APA ‘Warlock’ Data Log: Apis Mellifera, E-252 [An Example of Apis Mellifera, Subject 6362-C1, identified by head markings, estimated age of one week. Current Status: Wounded] Organism, ‘Apis_Mellifera’, commonly known as, ‘Honey_Bee’, is tagged as [ENTITY_INSECT], identified by presence of, [HEAD], [THORAX], [ABDOMEN] 2x_[ANTENNA], 6x_[LEG], 2x_[EYE] 2x_[MANDIBLE], [STINGER] Define [HEAD] Spaded shaped, containing [ANTENNA], [EYE], connected to [THORAX] Define [EYE] Oval shaped, solid black, light texture Define [ANTENNA] Two Jointed, sticklike appendage DefIne [THORAX] Contains [LEG], connected to [HEAD], [ABDOMEN] Define [ABDOMEN] Large, oval shaped end point. Stripped, Yellow and Black, contains [STRINGER] connected to [THORAX] Report [HIVE] status [HIVE_A1] [ACTIVE] [HIVE_A2] [ACTIVE] [HIVE_A3] [ACTIVE] [HIVE_B1] [ACTIVE] [HIVE_B2] [ACTIVE] [HIVE_C1] [DISRUPTED] [HIVE_C2] [DISRUPTED] [HIVE_C3] [MISSING] [HIVE_C4] [DEAD] [HIVE_D1] [DISRUPTED] [HIVE_D2] [DEAD] [HIVE_E1] [ACTIVE] After execution of, Breakwater Defense, Unit APA preformed assessment of [HIVE] in local vicinity Inspection reveals damage to population of [HIVE_C1], and, [HIVE_C2], with approximately two hundred and fifty six, to, three hundred and thirty eight, individuals of, [APIS_MELLIFERIA], missing. [HIVE_C3] was not in last recorded location. Search Pending [HIVE_C4] was found with catastrophic damage. Nearby unrecovered cannonball is primary suspect. No Survivors Unit APA notation Continued hostilities between organization, Coalition, and, organization, Veletz, is having an extreme effect on local population of [APIS_MELLIFERA]. Use of [SIEGE_ENGINE_T] and in particular, [SIEGE_ENGINE_C], has caused notable stress in [HIVE_C1_QUEEN], as well as, [HIVE_C2_QUEEN]. Standby Potential Solution: Application of Solution [S_43] Theory: Reduction of observed stress in [HIVE_C1_QUEEN], and, [HIVE_C2_QUEEN], resulting in promoted [HIVE] health. Suspected Vandalism of [HIVE_D2]. Individuals [1462_D2], [3752_D2], [4315_D2] [2341_D2], [4927_D2]. [D13_D2], [Q1_D2], found crushed within vicinity. Structure of [HIVE_D2] compromised by sharp implement. Destruction of [HIVE_D2] causes extreme operational distress in Unit APA. Standby Potential Solution: Extermination of responsible entity Awaiting Target Identification.

The entire argument hinges on two things from what I can see- Whether the map can 'legitmately' be used by LOTC for the purposes they are using it for, which is using it as a multiplayer map for their public server- And a moral argument, of whether we should be using the map from a third party that probably didn't give us permission to use it in the first place. Now, I can't speak on the legitmatcy too much- I don't exactly have my own awnser to supply. What I can say is the 'Mojang' EULA doesn't really cover it- The cited passage specifically refers to whether or not Mojang themselves can use assets created by the community freely, and, as far as it's been seen here, doesn't cover how players react to eachother in terms of using eachothers assets. As for the 'Paid for' argument, that holds no water. If the Author has stated previously that his product isn't to be used in any commercial sense, only a private matter, that's noteworthy. The argument of 'Well I paid for it so I get to use it how I want' doesn't generally hold water in that regard. Go grab a Disney movie and start showing it to people enmass, for free even. Won't be long before you recieve a cease and desist letter from Disney, despite you having personally paid for it. Because you paid it for your own private use, but that doesn't allow you to dilute their product by displaying it enmass. There's a reason you can't upload movies to youtube and expect it to stay up. Again, that only applies so long as that was specified when the transaction was made. Moral wise? Well that just depends on your cup of tea, so there's no awnser there that'll make everyone happy. Best I can do is supply my own. Provided it was legitmately gained, long as they give credit to the artist, yeah, that's fine. It's how that works. However, the context I've gathered about this situation is telling me that LOTC, or atleast individuals responsible for the interm map, claimed it's soley their work. That's very much no beuno. Doesn't matter how much effort you personally put into it, you took someone elses effort and claimed it as part of your own.

There is an additional component to frustration held against both administration and moderation. These indefinite bans are generally made all the more worse by a critical lack of transperancy. To date, myself and others do not actually know the 'offical' line of reasoning behind say, Hugh's ban. Everyone 'knows' the excuse behind his particular indefinite ban, but this is more guess work and hearsay from everyone whom isn't an admin, from either camp. Administration, and Moderators themselves, don't seem very willing to discuss these bans. I've never actually seen the report that is apperently responsible for putting crosshairs on Hugh, nor have I seen any relevant evidence. Administration has yet to, themselves, come out and state the reasoning behind an indefinite ban, and have failed to back up the ban with their evidence. That's a problem, and there's several reasons why it's a problem. A. You are preventing the banned player from even forming a responce. They have no means to justify, defend, or speak for themselves, as they have no actual idea what the opposing argument is. Any community member whom is banned is constantly on the backfoot because they have no clear picture of what they've been accused of in detail. B. You're preventing considerable diaolog. LOTC, like any other minecraft community, or like any other gaming community, or generally, any community at all, is a community preciesly because it's made of up of individual people whom share some common hobby or ground. It is very much worthwhile to allow the very community that the admins themselves are apart of glean just what is driving these decisions. Seperating the community entirely from the process seperates the administration team from everyone else irrevocably. We can't tell what you're thinking. We can't see what leads up to these decisions- So when these bans occur- Hugh, Ryanark, and others mentioned in this thread, to us they come out of nowhere. And because they come out of nowhere, the logical deduction is that Admin/Moderation has royally screwed up. C. It creates a very strong Us Vs. Them mentality. Strong enough that people will inevitably isolate themselves into cliques. Anyone whom knows me knows me from two places. Acre, and my Characters. I can count the amount of times I've so much as posted a message anywhere else except a private chat on my hands. Maybe three messages in the Oren discord- A small handful in the LOTC discord, and very rarely even in the Acre Discord General chat. This is quite frankly because I don't trust other people. In the realitively short time I've been on LOTC, I witnessed an ic conflict suddenly flip into a completely OOC affair due to the suspisions of one side. Both during and at the conclusion of this conflict, from my perspective, my group seemed to draw targeted fire from Admin/Moderation team, with either seemingly faulty explanations, no explanations at all, or very mixed, very contradictory statements from different members, which have thus far justified my strong mistrust and suspision of LOTC staff, to the point of often avoiding talking publically where possible, and only ever /modreq when the breach of rules have been crystal clear. Afterall, in my mind, speaking to, or even talking of, LOTC Admin/Moderation brings the naggling posability that I will log in one day to find myself banned, specifically with no explanation given and no means of recourse, something that Administration has routinely, and agressively, demonstrated that they will do. === With that said Since I am already putting myself out of my normal clique already, I might as well ask a few questions Directly towards Administration and Moderation since they are no doubt keeping an eye on this thread, and would surely be prepared to respond. 1. What is the exact, offical stance of banning Hugh. What reasoning was there that was so extreme, it required an indefinite ban against a well liked community leader. 2. What is, and where can I see, the evidence that contributed to this decision. 3. Various members even outside of the Acre community have noted sourly that Hugh's banning had all the markings of a political ban. Given that his ban was near immediately after Acre and Allies victory in the Oren Revolution war, what is Administration/Moderations comment?

Oh did the drums of war sound so fine, as the bellows and chants of many a man began to haunt Blackvale. . . A single Butler's hand gently began check where his blade was...