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Originally I was not planning on even saying goodbye, just allowing the fact that I've been posting less and less to say so, and finally letting myself disappear, but that clearly didn't work and isn't going to work.

When all of this began unfolding, I was at work. It wasn't until I went outside for fresh air that I got bombarded by messages: Scapegrace calling me an awful person who needs friends who will, I quote "rock you back and forth in the puddle of your own endless f***ing self-pity" and telling me to leave the PPC. Desdendelle who had kept messaging me to go 'they're talking about you in the Discord' and apologizing, and trying to make sure that I was okay once the post had gone up on the Board.

I've been on the internet since well before I was eleven years old. The PPC was the first place I got a death threat. Only place to have small groups decide they need to get rid of me whatever the method. Now it's the first place to dox me, unintentional or not.

Clearly this isn't a safe place for me. I won't kill or hurt myself over the perceptions that others have of me here, but you are not a safe place for me- for my mental health, my happiness, and now possibly even my career.

Tomash already apologized to me. But plenty of the people in the Discord saw nothing wrong with their behavior until Huinesoron said he saw the logs and pointed that part out. Until someone else pointed out the potential illegality. Only then did the apologies begin to pour out, and with plenty excuses and reasons attached to them. Until the logs became public, people were still in full agreement with what they said and did in the Discord and saw nothing that they had done as wrong. The timing and mentality with all of this should be very, very concerning to all of you.

So, here's the official 'goodbye' so many of you demanded. You guys win.

I'm not withdrawing anything I added from the shared universe, but I don't want my characters to be used or anything from my stories to be referenced.

I am not interested in being contacted further by anyone here regarding this, so please don't. To make this clear, I will be removing my contact information from the wiki.

1. I vote no mods, per this post. I will also note here that the Discord, which has moderators, was the centre of both the GlarnBoudin incident and the doxxing one. Moderators are not the solution; the community taking responsibility is the solution.
   
   2. I vote no bans, per this post.
   
   3. I'm still thinking about this one.
   
   hS

I think it would be better to say not just bans in your second point but also any other reprimands that are being handed out as well.

Also in addition to the third point, Discord mods (although that seems to have been all but decided)

The Discord ban sounds just like right. So, my idea would be:

- A medium term "global" ban for Tomash (3-6 months). One year bans are usually reserved for those who don't come to their senses and apologize, while Tomash did - but, at the same time, apologizing should not be a "get-out-of-jail" card when very serious offenses are made.

- A short-medium Discord ban as per Scape's idea (1-3 months), but coupled with a short Board ban as well (2 weeks - 1 month?), with the same reasoning as above.


Mind you, this is not meant in constrast to the second chance granted by the the Constitution, but as a matter of consequences: One must accept the consequences of their own mistakes, as mistakes can have long-lasting consequences on other people.

July was mass-backstabbed. Just like the wounds to her soul will take time to heal, I believe everyone involved needs to take some time off the Board to reflect deeply on what happened.

As everyone's votes are scattered about in the big post, I thought we should conglomerate them all in one place. If I've missed something or you just want to shout at me, email is clickable.

Firstly, on the subject of mods.
Should we have them?
If we do, who will they be?

Secondly, bans. Are we banning anyone? For how long?

And thirdly, the Discord. Any proposed changes, please say so.

Ok, I think that's everything, so, vote, i guess :/

First up, as you've probably noticed (and the main reason this is a separate post), I've changed my name. This has been something I've been thinking of doing for almost 6 months now, in some ways I've grown out of Storme Hawk, and in others I just prefer Novastorme. Also you can still contact me on stormehawk@gmail.com and thestormehawk@gmail.com, my Novastorme gmail is full of spammy emails from various games I have and I'm too lazy to change it.

Now, if you'd asked me on Wednesday, or even Thursday, what doxxing was I'd of honestly replied, "no idea." Before the actions of the Discord made its way onto the Board I had no idea about it, that there was a law against it, or anything like that really. I mean it was always one of those unspoken rules in my other community, but I never ran into any problems with it there, although then again we didn't really do idle chatter.

I'm saying this, not because I want to try and dodge some of the blame, or the 'disappointment' or whatever we're calling it now, but to give you some idea of, perhaps, why I didn't try and stop it as much as I could have done. Not that I really could have done a lot sitting in my Uni library at the time if I'm completely honest, although part of me is wondering where I would be in all this if I hadn't logged on to Discord and had simply concentrated on my work (my answer to that will come at a later point, probably not even in this post at all).

Still, I want to formally apologise to July. I tried not to get caught up in the witch hunt that occurred, not that I knew that that was what it was at that point in time. I tried to have some discussion surrounding the current rules, and in typing those out and through just generally not paying enough attention to the Discord I made the mistake of perhaps not sticking up for you, or your rights as much as I perhaps should have tried to do. I didn't realise what was fully going on, I didn't realise that sitting back and not really concentrating on it was not okay, hell I didn't even realise it was your full name at the top of the screenshot or your picture attached to your messages in it. But that doesn't excuse me, I should have realised that what was going on wasn't right, and as much as I wanted your side of things, just to look at and compare (for I always try and look at all sides of an argument before making a decision), I should of tried to stop what did happen from happening at all, and I should know from previous times that even in the pursuit of knowledge some things are inexcusable.

Ix, I'm sorry. I can't really form anything else into words, or how I feel into words. Just know you're not alone, if you ever need to talk to someone (and this goes to everyone reading this as well), and I'm around, let me know and I don't mind. I will listen and, if you want me to, I will help, I will contact and talk to whoever you want me to talk to, or I will keep what you want a secret to my dying breath (if it comes to that), I don't mind.

Novastorme, signing off
(Man it feels weird yet so nice to say that)

I feel that Tomash's doxxing of July was outside the remit of the Constitution. If someone commits a potentially endangering act, we are under no obligation to let them say 'sorry, mistake, won't happen again'.

But that doesn't mean we can't say that. I have spoken with July, and she doesn't feel that it's necessary for Tomash to be banned. Therefore, I vote that Tomash not be banned.

Instead, I propose that he and everyone else involved consider this thread as an emphatic explanation under Article Seven that their behaviour was wrong. I think most of the people from the chat have admitted this by now anyway, and there are several apologies floating around.

Therefore, for everyone who is a first-time offender, they should be requested to make an apology, and commit themselves to not repeating their mistakes. Then they should be allowed to move on. That's what our Constitution allows for, and I happen to think that it's a very fair way to deal with people who have acted badly once.

hS

Thanks for the response, and I forgot about the writing samples. Besides, I've decided that I should spend a little more time here before I start properly writing. As to your feedback, which is greatly appreciated:

Conrad:The short but painful/humiliating revenge would be something like pictures of Borat plastered all over your RC's door (That actually happened to someone in my dorm at uni) or your internet search history publicly displayed on noticeboards. Nothing physical, but very embarrassing and painful in a loss of face sort of way, since he's toned it down since becoming an agent. As to humour, think Frankie Boyle or Bill Hicks, but with less swearing.

Elly: The regret is mostly jokingly, though it hides a bit of doubt about if the PPC is a long-term option for her, since she pretty much chose it over higher education. She loves her job, but she can't see herself as an agent in ten years.

RC #819: I get where you're coming from, but I quite like the idea of an RC as a home. You're also right about the old model, so what do you think about it having been converted from a set of storage rooms. It seems like the Flowers would have built a cupboard bigger than an RC.

It seems like we can hardly go two weeks without some big conflagration like this, and every time it goes the same way. People are hurt, maybe someone gets thrown out, it gets abruptly dropped as if nothing ever happened and if people start talking about improving things in the community so it's less likely drama gets so out of hand, it's "No, let's keep everything the same just for the sake of everything being the same."

I agree that we do need to work together to make the PPC a good place and all that, my concern is we often don't.

Part of this site’s appeal to me is that the community cares for itself, and that the Nameless Admin is nameless because somebody must hold the keys, but they don’t actually want the authority. Having mods, and elections, and impeachments for mods who don’t do their jobs wouldn’t really solve any problems, it would just insert a new layer. We would still all need to work on making this the place we want it to be.

I’m not around as often as I would like to be, and I can’t react to situations I’m not aware of, but I’m personally guilty of not caring enough in at least one case, so I’m not exempt from having to work on that. Thus, here’s a promise: I solemnly swear that I will not act rashly, but that I also will not just sit around shaking my head and waiting for people I’m looking up to, when it’s up to me to call somebody out or – which may more probably be the case – dissolve a mutual misunderstanding.

This may come off as being too forgiving again, but after reading up, I honestly can’t see any bad intentions in this whole mess. Some of us overreacted and were carried away on Discord, and some of us may now be overreacting to this overreaction. Yes, Tomash screwed up big time, but amends have already been made and I trust that what else might be possible to do will be done soon, and there’s also this second chance thing in the Constitution. What could actually be accomplished by banning Tomash – or anybody else – other than telling them that we perform a symbolic act just so they know that they have been punished? I think our collective opinion has been made clear enough, everybody involved in the unintentional witch hunt is already repenting, and banning is far too serious to be used in a symbolic act. Sometimes, banning is necessary to get rid of unbearable nuisances, and if it is not made permanent, this just expresses hope that the person concerned doesn’t need an infinite amount of time to reform. This is certainly not applicable here.

Now, muting people on Discord is something I can get behind. If they are prone to talking before thinking things through, and have shown that they can’t be trusted to behave in an online chat, let them stay silent for a while. If we need to hand out punishments, this is what we should vote about.

HG

Count me in!

First, as Iximaz said, you're missing writing prompts, and a badfic you intend to spork, too. Everything else is here, so if you've got 'em and just forgot to post them, I'll wait before giving a verdict. Otherwise, the writing samples are really the most important thing we need to see, so without them I will have to deny Permission for now.

In the meantime, comments on what you've got:

1) Conrad. I know several people have standing concerns about agents from the 40k universe due to its grimdark nature, and I'd like it of one or two of them weighed in. I don't personally see too much of that in Conrad's profile, but I am concerned about the "short but painful/humiliating revenge" bit. What does that actually mean in practice? Also, to a lesser degree, the dark sense of humor. Lots of agents indulge in a bit of black humor now and then, but given the 40k factor, how dark is dark here?

2) Elly. Mostly looks fine, but she regrets joining the PPC? Seriously, or jokingly? Cuz I'm sure a lot of agents would moan about not knowing what they were getting into when they signed up, but most of them wouldn't quit if you paid them, either. Since they, er, don't get paid, it's really love and/or devotion that keeps most of them going.

3) RC 819. This is where I have the most serious concerns. First of all, if you read enough older spin-offs, you'll note that a standard RC back in the day was no bigger than a college dorm: one room and a closet, maybe a toilet if you're lucky. If this is an older RC, it was built to that design, and there's no way even the most dedicated reconstructionists force that into the two-bedroom apartment shape you describe.

I also object to the two-bedroom apartment RC on principle. I know there's precedent at this point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You're not supposed to spend time in your RC; it's just for crashing in during the few scant hours between missions. Also, HQ was originally built by sapient Flowers with little to no understanding of the needs of mammals. It just doesn't work for me, and it never will.

I'm also not a huge fan of non-standard BEEPs, but heck, Dies Irae is cool. Not particularly funny, IMO, but oh well.

I actually like the thought you put into the RC's history, though. That's a welcome bit of added depth that I don't often see.

~Neshomeh, holding her PG hat at the ready.

I was not aware of most of the matters with Ixi save for the GlarnBoudin incident, and my refusal to help was due to the fact that I didn't want to risk my friendship with him elsewhere, plus my busy life meant I didn't know about it until relatively late into the incident. I'm sorry that I did not jump in sooner, and that I didn't do enough to help resolve the matter.

As for today, I could've avoided being involved with what little information I had, but I jumped in regardless because I had a lot of feelings on the matter that I felt I had to express. Venting is fine and all, but it does nothing without taking actions, and I should've been stronger with mine. More importantly, I should've stopped the doxxing at the source and called out the ones who were calling for it to be brought up immediately and publicly. July, I am so sorry that I didn't do more to put a stop to this matter, and also that I didn't nip it in the bud no matter how much effort I put into halting it as it was. I talked to the wrong person, I tried to solve the wrong issue. Had I known the true extent of what was happening I could've done both of these differently and made more of a difference in the aftermath of this matter. And for that, July, I am truly sorry.

Regarding bans, I agree that Tomash doesn't deserve a six-month ban, let alone a year-long ban, because he was genuinely trying to help and feels guilty over his actions. That doesn't change the fact that they were serious, but I think two months would be ideal so that he could take the time off and pull himself together. Nobody else deserves to be banned, though, because I've stated more than once that such actions solve nothing and drive people away from this community. Is that what we want people to see the first time they come across the Board?

Jay- Awesomeness Central, you're still relatively new, and getting a feel for the community; I think what happened was that you came in close to a very bad time and didn't know better. I don't blame you for feeling guilty - I've done some of the same things as you have in the past - but I can also say that outright leaving the community and its problems won't solve anything, and this is coming from someone who seriously thought at one point that if it weren't for his unfinished story plots, he'd actually consider it. I too am ashamed of what's happened, but that doesn't mean I can't learn from it, and the same goes to you. I hope you and everyone else can learn from their mistakes and that we can be better prepared for future incidents of this caliber should they arise (I personally pray that they don't but knowing the Internet, and human society, I don't think any promises can be made about it).

I must also state that both you and hS have valid points. Mods are indeed a good idea to keep people in line, but at the same time this is a community where everyone is expected to uphold the Constitution. Higher-ups aren't necessarily required for the latter, but we must also be careful about the former. To reference an Aesop fable, we don't want a King Log who can't effectively manage the pond, nor do we want a King Stork who abuses their power and picks on the frogs he lords over. In light of this, however, there's a bit of a dilemma in that we could be content with our lot and try to sort through the sheer amount of suggestions about how to better handle the community as a group, or we could try to find the most reasonable authority figures and operate based on at least a small degree of subjectivity. I don't know if there's any way we can resolve all of this that doesn't have at least some disadvantages, but at the very least, we should try to minimize potential problems when selecting mods, if we do, and the rest of us should still continue working to uphold the community standards going forward.

I'd certainly be interested, although my knowledge of D&D is sparse. I'm more used to Black Crusade, though I'm always up for expanding my horizons.

I'd definitely be up for this. We'd have to figure out a few rules, decide which sites are off limits (There's a few sites out there which while they would have most of the things on any given list, need brain bleach to enter, read and exit), set a start and end date and come up with some really interesting items for the list.

... that it has to be from a fic posted/updated in the last seven days? Or 'more recently than seven days before the game starts', to allow for stuff posted during the game. That lets you filter out stuff people already know, and I'm sure most archives let you sort by date. (Could be a month if you want to allow for smaller fandoms.

You could also ask people to name one fandon they'll be hunting in. Bonus points (no actual points included) go to people who choose smaller fandoms.

Looks interesting.

hS

1) Sweet Ghezen, was that a mistake. We decided to delete some of the posts she made in chat too and I was the mod who carried that out. That's not the right way to deal with someone saying things they might regret later. I did a bad job as moderator and will do better in the future.

Applicable to misc. other numbers) I have been overconfident in my understanding of PPC dynamics. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing -- I used I knew the important parts of what was going on, and have realized I do not. I will be more humble in the future.

--Key

Not sure this really means all that much coming from me, but Maslab and Delta Juliette are rational individuals as far as I can see. So, assuming I get one and they accept, consider my vote cast for them.

I've been reading what's been going on since I last posted, and everything I said was pure idiocy. I am not qualified to make suggestions here. Please disregard what I said above; I no longer think it's a good idea.

-- Key

'Course it looks like you've got more than enough players already.