Orlanth

"Something Mouselicious is brewing." spoke Coin.

Gimme Guard RP Gimme Open Gates Gimme Goblin

While in some cases this may be true, in others it's most definitely not. Indefinite bans were more recently used as a tool for OOC gain rather than used to prevent OOC. I'd each ban be considered individually, as I asked, instead of casting a blanket statement that indefinite bans are only used to prevent bad players and ooc schemers because that's simply not true. Also I'm glad you missed me.

As I’m sure many people have noticed recently, (including the administration) LOTC’s server population has been in a gradual decline for several months. While there are a multitude of reasons for this, objectively one of the core reasons is excessive bans of players, especially community leaders. In the past 3 months alone we’ve seen the ban of no less than half a dozen nation leaders banned indefinitely. Spanning even further back, the number enters well into the double digits. Every one of these players was cultivating a community on LOTC, and what happens when you lose a leader is the community falls apart. I want to make it abundantly clear that I do not endorse the actions that led up to these bans, however I believe I know enough about them to say definitively that they should not be as harsh of bans as they are. LOTC’s stance has gradually shifted away from the reasonable position of banning players as punishment, to banning players to get rid of them. It is a true shame that every time someone who leads a community is sincerely told “We do not want you on your server.” To show the full scope of what exactly is going on, take into consideration that Hughbertimus, Twi, and Nectorist all have been given ‘indefinite’ bans, which are effectively permanent, for wildly different offenses. In each case I believe the players don’t deserve the length of ban they’ve been given. Without going into too much detail about what each of them is banned for, I believe that none of these players would have received such a high level of bans if they weren’t community leaders. Not only is this a double standard, but it’s also generally harmful for the server. The solution to this issue is that the administration must go back and examine every single (non-TOS) indefinite ban and determine an exact length of time for which each single player must continue serving their ban. Above is a screenshot from the new infraction system created by @itdontmatta. Each of these situations, on first infraction all the way up to third are to be handled by regular moderators. Only after three infractions are major player conduct infractions meant to be handled by Leadership, which implies Moderation Management. Indefinite bans are directly attached to administration and admin bans. Whether for virtue signaling or just bias, the administration has completely ignored this system in favor of handing out excessive bans on their own. Why is there an established standard that is not followed?

[A Warning to King Odin Freysson] 13th of The Deep Cold 86 SA ~ In regards to the Adunic peoples ~ As the Adunians of Cartref Mor now reside under the lands and jurisdiction of Malin’or, they are considered civilians and members of our state, and welcomed as our distant kin. Any aggression made against them will be considered an affront against all Mali kind. Therefore, let this warning be issued loud and clear to King Odin Freysson of Norland and his entourage of flame worshipers: Let the Adunic Peoples go, for they never should have been yours to begin with. Vyllaenen Daemyr, High Prince of Malin’or

The Conference of Malin’or The 11th of Snow's Maiden, 86 SA "In division, we found weakness; in weakness, we found defeat and hardship. Now - in hardship, we have found unity; and in unity, we have found strength." - Vytrek Tundrak ~ The Call to Gathering ~ It is the will of the new High Prince of Malin’or, as well as the other Princes that there should be a gathering of all Mali within the newly constructed city of Nor’Asath in three months' time. All citizens of the High Princedom, and foreign diplomats are welcome to attend and speak with the Princes. [OOC: Sunday the 24th at 4pm EST in Nor'Asath] ~ A Farewell From Vytrek Tundrak ~ "Nearly half a millenium ago, Malinor - the primordial heartland of the Elves - was extinguished in blood. With it died the hopes and dreams of the Elven people for centuries, lifted only by interspersed revivals of unity so that the children of Malin might serve as puppets and war-fodder for their cousins. Thirty years ago, I set about to change this. A decade ago, thanks to Princess Ivarielle of Celia’nor, Prince Netseth of Nor’asath, and Prince Evar’tir of Amaethea, the Elves put aside their differences to reforge our homeland. Two wars we have fought; two great victories we have won, and both at minimal cost. The realm has learned to fear Elven steel. Malinor has been reborn in blood, and it is stronger than ever before." "As promised before my election as High Prince, my part at Malinor’s helm has come to a close. I leave a Malinor at peace, its principalities prosperous or on the verge of revival. I have nothing left to offer the Elven people but my steel; for that, I need not reign further. Malinor is in good hands. In parting, I would only reiterate the lesson of these centuries past: we are stronger together. I retire to the north, to live out my days fishing and hunting in my boreal homeland until once more called home to serve at arms." Ilusirame, Vytrek Tundrak Vyllaenen Daemyr, High Prince of Malin’or

Where is the trouble in toon town response @Anore? It's been almost 2 years since you said "I'll write a response tonight."

This is an entirely reasonable take, but if we apply it to the situation at hand we see that Twi and Ryan were mostly banned because they were community leaders. Leading a group that combined makes up near 15% of the server (in terms of activity) is a threatening thing when it comes to wars, and the admins know this. If a random player had made the same supposed threats of destroying nations, then the admins wouldn't have batted an eye because that player doesn't have the individual authority to make it happen. What happened here is that two people with authority made frustrated statements that administration found as a threat, and they acted upon it before even seeing if it would happen or not.

First of all, let me just say I agree with Mick and his stance 100%. There isn't a single thing on this post that I believe he got wrong. That said, I want to add a lot of my own insight to this situation as I believe there are a couple more things that can be said here. A Simple Thought Experiment: The Empire of Man has been recreated on LOTC by Haense, Balian and Oren joining forces (purely hypothetical) and as is their natural goal, they wish to conquer Norland to unite Humanity. Is this an unjustified action in RP or OOC? Norland, being unable to RPly stand against The Empire on their own, resorts to OOCly ignoring the actions of the Empire. They refuse to RP with the Empire when they show up, act like aggressions never happen, and won't even answer OOC dms. Is Norland in the right for doing this? Are frustrations voiced by The Empire about this justified? If we harken back to an arguably better time on the server, many people will remember that Norland was conquered by The Empire of Man for being 'uncooperative' many times. The main difference I find, is that Norland wasn't a bunch of pansies about it. They took it on the chin, got up and moved on. Why is it that other communities can't be expected to do the same thing? I ask everyone to answer each of these questions in their head and think about how it's any different than this situation. Community Guidelines Violation: By the letter of the ban, the admin team has deemed Twi and Monkee detrimental to the community. Why is it then that so much of the community regards these players as some of the best on the server? If it was such a detriment to the community to have them on the server, then the community themselves would consider this a generally reasonable ban. Instead, the vast majority of the server believes this ban to be unjustified. This point gets even clearer once you realize that a huge part of people who think they should be banned are extremist staff members that think the solution to players they don't like are bans. You know who you are. I'm sure that there are a decent amount of people who are happy with this ban and simply staying quiet because they're satisfied with the current situation. Of course, this begs the question of how many of these people are happy about this ban because of means rather than the ends. Speaking in regards to purely the community, it's safe to say that most of them do not agree with the reasoning behind this ban. From what I understand the admins also unbanned VoxyNoir early so that he could take Twi's place as nation leader, and this is what they believe to have been 'sufficient' to help the community who they were robbing of a leader. It's a fact of LOTC that the majority of nations rely on a strong nation leader to be able to maintain their communities. Celia'nor is quite literally the youngest nation on the map, and in banning their leader they have thrown everything into disarray and chaos. Sticks and Stones: From what I understand, there has largely been no action taken for the extreme harassment against these communities but rather it's based upon threats of actions. Though perhaps a bit of an extreme comparison, I find that the punishment issued in response is comparable to the Josh Pillault case. For those that don't know, he was sentenced to six years in prison for threatening a shooting online with no evidence to suggest he would follow through. If it was a genuine concern of excessive harassment (the basis for which seems unstable to begin with) then surely a lesser ban would have been enough to discourage the actions, and if they persisted then a longer ban could've been issued. A compromise here would've been in the best interest of not only the players, but their communities as well. In Regards to the Admins: I, and I'm sure many others, believe that this is the best administration we've had in a long time (especially @itdontmatta). I won't say for certain that none of this decision was done with malicious intent, as I personally question certain Admins' motives. However, buy and large I think this was a mistake. I implore the admin team to reconsider their decision here, perhaps not the entire punishment but at least the severity of it.

I think you got something else you should be saying chief...

As I have attempted (with little success) to inform @itdontmatta Twi has been more than content to live and let live with pretty much everyone on the server since she got a settlement pasted. She even stopped playing with the Ferrymen as she thought it would reflect poorly if she did it as an NL. Why is it that the focus of Admin team is things like this and small behavior bans like this that ruin communities rather than fixing the TPS that has been utterly shit the past couple weeks, or fixing the active decline in players that's been going for months now?

Coin rummaged through the pockets of the 4 men who he had bludgeoned with his down-scaled warhammer.

A Mouse in a Rat Race It was early evening when the Alliance forces marched down the road to Oren. They had staggered their forces, with few warriors in front in order to conceal numbers. Among these few, a single Musin whose war-torn face hid a scar and missing eye with a single Coin, his namesake. The men and mouse stumbled upon but one Orenian, a clown of most fluffy attire. Warily, they stopped sir John Fleepicus, only for the entirety of Oren's forces to arrive. The Musin gulped, forgetting for a moment the trap they had laid. The war-horns of Balian and Urguan sounded and the reinforcements arrived to support the forward men. The men of Oren were stricken with fear upon realizing the numbers were not in their favor were gifted an idea by god. An idea so cunning it could not possibly fail, and they would surely be able to win the battle. They ran away. The alliance forces were taken aback by such genius, they gave pause before chasing, but not for long. On horses they pursued, running down several of the Orenian men before they could make it to the city. Among these horse riders was Coin, who had leapt upon the rear of Argus Romstun's horse. By the time they reached the front of the city, many had been slain. An olog remained, running through the doors of the city on foot. Without hesitation, Coin gave chase, nimbly weaving past the men and hopping through the door. With speed and grace, he felled the beast inside the city. When the dust had settled the facts remained clear. The Orenians had run like rats and been decimated by the forces of the alliance. And among these forces was a mouse, who had successfully won the rat race.

Coin stacked up 57 coins and put them on The Ferryman's desk.

Sir Cyril Mareno watched as, what he assumed was a toddler, played with action figures.