Public Apology

[Ms.Wrong]

HAHAHA @Asmodeus said he loved Iwaku!
HAHAH

Asmo and iwakuroleplay.com sitting in a tree
K I S S I N G
First comes Love
Then Comes Marriage
Then comes... Tegan ಠ_ಠ

 

[Jorick]

I may be falling into similar paranoia pits, but I feel I should jump on the stage here.

Who is responsible for this

As far as I know, I'm the ringleader of the one giving Brovo shit. Him, along with Windsong, Gwazi and Jorick, have been the targets of at least a half-dozen bait threads, Cbox insults and rants.

My intention: to make them leave.

Why I'm doing this

It was something I did as an Administrator - I pushed trouble-makers and perceived trouble-makers to the point of outburst. For four of the five years it proved an effective tactic. We got rid of egotists, attention-whores, trolls and even the odd sexual predator. Sure, Iwaku may have stood to benefit from some of those people, but I made the call and drove them out. My vindication was the sense of community that remained - the sense of a tight-knit family that thought similarly (thought the way that I could understand).

Why it is escalating

By Year 5, however, the tactic started to break down. People on the internet were getting better with words, better with rules and better with loopholes. It became harder to provoke them and harder to bend the disciplinary code to get rid of them. My frustration grew.

This is how the Internet has changed in recent years. Debates, arguments and public shaming have become the forefront of the culture. And people are evolving to that environment.

Why them

I see Windsong, Jorick, Brovo, Gwazi and others of the Great Migration as products of this new culture. The perception is that they thrive on debate for its own sake, and would rather divulge their opinions at length than truly have fun or use their creativity. I'm accustomed to people defining their online personae through creation, not through breaking down others.

In a time of social justice warriors, public shaming and hipster desperation - this results in a complete exhaustion of Iwaku's spirit.

The real why

And that's the real why. I've spent seven years of my life hanging around Iwaku. I fell in love with it, and met some of the best people I've ever met. Many of those people are gone now, and a few of them have left on account of the worsening situation in General Chat. It's the end of an era. It's change - and it's depressing change. I know there are better things to come - as there are from any change - but I have yet to see them.

It saddens me that I'm the old man ranting about things not being like they used to. But just because that's a cliche doesn't make those feelings invalid.

Alright shut up and tell us what you're going to do about it

So, I'm going to abandon my belief that you guys will eventually "snap", because it's clear that no one does that anymore. And I'm going to dispel the image of you all as an organized Skype cadre who plot their moves and talks about Iwaku as them rather than us. That's in my head.

A note about the staff

I also want to add that, since I left, there are no power-hungry asshole staff members. The last one was me, and let me tell you - I REALLY PUT THEM OFF that way of life. Being an ego-driven Machiavellian alpha was exhausting for everyone, including me - which is why I resigned.

It is far, far, far easier to be kind, regulated and chillaxed. That is an abiding truth about the Iwaku staff room.

Diana is the best you will find out here, and the mentality she instills in the staff room is exemplary. Do not ever associate my behaviour with hers. She was the shining light that even a dark dickhead like me trusted to take the reins.

What now bitch tits

I'm gonna try and run a Pathfinder Campaign and stop being a master-baitory cunt. And when I see debates spring up, I'm gonna accept that there is no right or wrong answer, just as there are no right or wrong members.

This apology gave us all room to reflect, @Brovo - thanks for that.

In Pathfinder they say that ferrets are immune to Basilisk stares. Let me never try to turn the world to stone while you're around.

Hah, well, some people will feel their suspicions have been confirmed by this post. I thought you were just dicking around and poking fun at the new people because we were all fresh targets and didn't fit in with the ideals of your group of friends, didn't really see it as anything like a coordinated attempt to push us away, but maybe that's just because I'm too damned stubborn to have given any ground so I didn't really notice the shove attempt. Good on you for being open about it though.

Windsong wasn't part of the so-called "Great Migration" (I've come to hate that stupid egotistical name, tbh) by the way, he joined the site a few months before that went down. Gwazi was a later arrival from the same site of origin, but it was because of someone else moving their roleplays over to Iwaku and I think you'll find that most of us that came along with Brovo's migratory trip would prefer that he hadn't come along, so it'd be nice to not be lumped in with him. Hell, I'd prefer that we were all judged individually rather than lumped together as if we're all part of some organization, because that just promotes silly and unhelpful group conflict dynamics, but that's kind of a pipe dream because the human mind definitely tends toward doing that sort of group categorization.

You are right about the "organized Skype cadre" thing being all in your head though. At most we'll talk about what's going on in General Chatting after things have already gotten underway, not like coordinated efforts of attack. There wasn't really any "us vs. them" mentality until after you and your friends started antagonizing a bunch of us, and then it really only came up in the midst of baiting and debating threads whenever the silly conflict was in play again. Whenever that's not going on our Skype group talks about roleplays and video games and TV shows and all sorts of other shit, just a place where we hang out and talk about whatever. It's a pretty chill group for the most part.

Anyway, I can't really fault you for being protective of your online habitat without being a hypocrite, because I've done the same elsewhere. I get the motivation behind it. Damned new kids coming in and ruining the place need to be shown their place or get the fuck out, because this is your online stomping ground, what fucking right to they have to come in and change things? Well, I've come to terms with the malleable nature of online communities in the past few years, and maybe you will too.

As for the debate stuff, if it's any consolation I've grown tired of it as well and intend to minimize my involvement in them in the future. They just end up being stupid headache that evoke pointless negative emotions toward people on the internet that I will never meet and are not worth such effort and annoyance, and I probably end up looking like a jackass because of them. For instance, I bit down hard on your last bait thread because I made a snap judgement that you were being serious with it, and it wasn't until a little later on that I realized I'd horribly misread the tone of the thread and fell for the trap. I've spent too much time lately looking at stupid crap extremists of various social justice movements say and do, and I've painted you (and the rest of the ring that you lead) with a broad brush from that same can of paint. That's really stupid to do, and as I've said elsewhere I'm working on changing how judgmental I often end up being.

I hope some time in the future we can all just be relaxed and have fun and say fuck it to the whole veterans versus newbies mentality, but that's probably another pipe dream. For now, thanks for sharing your thoughts and motivations on the whole thing. I bear no ill will toward you or any of the others I've gotten into little e-scuffles with here, because I just see them as clashing ideals and ideologies, and that ain't worth holding grudges over.

Oh, and to keep this sorta on topic, Brovo eat shit, I refuse your apology you ferret fetishist freak. <3

 

[Windsong]

By @Asmodeus saying he hates me, it means I'm thought about!

Hooray positivity!

Should I throw in my public apology too? Everyone else seems to be..

Edit: @Jorick , yeah screw that migration! Came of my own random accord when googling roleplay!

 

[Darog]

Let's cheer up this mass apology and hugs thread with some funk! 8D

 

[Windsong]

Aaaaalright! My turn!

A whole lot of things I've said have probably--- nah, they've offended folks. It's normal in this day and age where we communicate through the Internet and through texts more than voices.

So I am sorry for anything I've said that hurt folks in one way or another. Usually there are good folks to set me straight and tell me how I'm wrong.

Most of the time my memory is so short I don't remember anything I've said beyond closing the tab and standing up from my PC. If that makes any sense.

Love you all! Iwaku has been my favorite forum that I've been lucky enough to be an active part of even though I'm not part of the small circles of friends and often feel like I'm on my own along here.

 

[Dervish]

I'm choosing to pretend this is all in a bar with drunken apologies and crying that will end with some wonderfully off tune and obnoxiously loud karaoke.

I also don't have anything to throw into the apology pile. I'd like to think I get along with pretty much everyone here. I do want to reiterate I always say the whole Great Migration thing as just some kind of goofy and fun thing to describe a horde of us leaving a broken site that was pretty much collectively making us sad and picking a new home to touch down on. I thought, like myself, most others fully intended to integrate and befriend our new community of choice because like a bunch of refugees, it's home now and you guys took us in. It wasn't until somebody pointed out that a bunch of people using the whole Great Migration label for themselves made us kind of unapproachable and intimidating because of a variety of reasons, mainly that it made us look like we only wanted to associate with ourselves, joining Iwaku's culture be damned. It was a sobering revelation and I decided to stop using the title, which I had always thought as a fun and harmless joke, because the last thing I wanted to do was alienate people or seem elitist. I always intended to blend in and befriend the crowd here. I'd like to think I did just that.

C'mon. Bring it in for a hug and drunk karaoke!

Also, for the chorus of apologies, NOT ACCEPTED.

I honestly never felt anybody did anything apology worthy. You're all grand in my book. Even Asmo, who I always wondered why he was being a crotchety dinkus towards the Great Migration crowd. Now we know! Everyone just thinks everyone's a dick. Now, hopefully, we all think we're jolly dicks, floppin' in the breeze.

 

[Jorick]

C'mon. Bring it in for a hug and drunk karaoke!

Ask and ye shall receive.

 

[Kagayours]

Windsong wasn't part of the so-called "Great Migration" (I've come to hate that stupid egotistical name, tbh) by the way, he joined the site a few months before that went down. Gwazi was a later arrival from the same site of origin, but it was because of someone else moving their roleplays over to Iwaku and I think you'll find that most of us that came along with Brovo's migratory trip would prefer that he hadn't come along, so it'd be nice to not be lumped in with him.

Oh well then I guess while we're all apologizing for thi-

Hell, I'd prefer that we were all judged individually rather than lumped together as if we're all part of some organization,

Actually yeah let's all just do that.

I mean, honestly the idea that the "Great Migration" was a tight-knit group led by Brovo kind of bugged me from day 1. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who moved here upon deciding that RPing was kind of impossible on a site that was constantly suffering from downtime, thus leading them to move their games here. You know, people like me, and, by extension, Gwazi, since I was RPing with him. So like, if anyone should get lumped with him, it should be me. But like no one ever does that for any reason so like... yeah.

A website turned to shit so a lot of people left. And a lot of those people who left came here. No reason to see all of us migrators as some organized team of people with some weird-ass agenda to do... something. I don't fucking know what.

Also I forgot where I was taking this rant. I think I was gonna say "Well if I'm a migrator then I should apologize for something too, riiiight?" even though I'm pretty sure I've done nothing.

Actually, if I have done something, feel free to say so! I'm now honestly quite curious what sort of mental category everyone's been lumping me into if I don't fit with Gwazi or Jorick or Brovo or anyone else I knew from that other site with the name that I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to say or if that's frowned upon or something. Especially since the only reason I wasn't mentally grouped with them is probably just because of my weird-ass join date that makes me look like I've been around for a lot longer, even if I only ever really joined for a short while at first, then left, then came back like 8 or 9 months later when I moved my RP here and stuff.

But yeah wow this whole post is really disorganized. I probably shouldn't rant when I'm off my meds, although I felt some things needed to be said. Even if I'm not even totally sure what exactly I'm trying to say.

Looking back on it, this whole post sounds really angry. Though that wasn't my intention. I'm actually mostly chill about all this. So, if possible, see if you can manage to interpret everything I just wrote in more of a sort of derpy tone than an angsty one.

I am still legit curious as to how people here categorized me, though. If at all. But I should probably stop rambling.

Ta-ta~

 

[Kagayours]

C'mon. Bring it in for a hug and drunk karaoke!

I will totally accept this offer of drunk karaoke, though.

 

[Diana]

You have all made me very happy. :D Threads like this are wonderful.

When people ask me "Why hasn't ____ been banned by now?!" this thread is a good example of why. >> Most of the time it's just misconceptions and bad choices. All it takes is for people to relax, let things go, and rethink actions.

Then we get nice threads like this!

You guys... ;________; you actually did make me cry. I was getting kinda worried for awhile there and thought maybe I was wrong and Iwaku is too big now to have my brand of sparkles and community hugs work. This REALLY REALLY makes me happy.

REALLY HAPPY OMG now I want to run around and do so much Iwaku work. O____O

 

[Dervish]

You have all made me very happy. :D Threads like this are wonderful.

When people ask me "Why hasn't ____ been banned by now?!" this thread is a good example of why. >> Most of the time it's just misconceptions and bad choices. All it takes is for people to relax, let things go, and rethink actions.

Then we get nice threads like this!

You guys... ;________; you actually did make me cry. I was getting kinda worried for awhile there and thought maybe I was wrong and Iwaku is too big now to have my brand of sparkles and community hugs work. This REALLY REALLY makes me happy.

REALLY HAPPY OMG now I want to run around and do so much Iwaku work. O____O

Your tears are the lubrication Iwaku needs to operate.

Please donate generously! :D

 

[Brovo]

It saddens me that I'm the old man ranting about things not being like they used to. But just because that's a cliche doesn't make those feelings invalid.

We can co-exist, if that means I need to change, then I don't mind. Quite frankly I'm humbled by what you've said, and I thank you. If you, or anyone else ever wants in the Skype group, just feel free to ask. It's an open place for anyone, not just my cadre.

Hell, I'd prefer that we were all judged individually rather than lumped together as if we're all part of some organization,

Mind you, if we're going to be compared to an organization, I hope it's at least a ferret themed version of this.

Oh, and to keep this sorta on topic, Brovo eat shit, I refuse your apology you ferret fetishist freak. <3

Yeah yeah, you bloody yankee bastard. <3

I mean, honestly the idea that the "Great Migration" was a tight-knit group led by Brovo kind of bugged me from day 1.

Long story short is I'm the one who made the Great Migration group and pushed the label for fun. I intended to gather the role players in my RP's who came with me (15-20 odd people) and instead a horde of 50+ people came. I was in no way responsible for anyone beyond the initial twenty, but people like to look for figureheads as their targets. It's a lot easier to say "curse you Brovo, leader of the Migratonauts!" Rather than, say, going through 50+ people one at a time.

I'm sorry if my great migration shenanigans caused you any trouble on the site Kaga. 'Twas never the intention.

You guys... ;________; you actually did make me cry. I was getting kinda worried for awhile there and thought maybe I was wrong and Iwaku is too big now to have my brand of sparkles and community hugs work. This REALLY REALLY makes me happy.

As I said months ago.

Didn't have to look far though. I love this community, I really do. There's a little something for everyone here it seems.

I like this place. I'll protect this place. If I have to change or conform to some degree, I will do exactly that in order to keep this place safe. Even from myself. Hell, especially from myself, since I can't really control anyone else now, can I.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

I may be falling into similar paranoia pits, but I feel I should jump on the stage here.

Jorick already did a great job explaining most of this, but I feel I should fill in some of the blanks.

Mainly when I joined the site it was strictly because I was in an RP with Kaga.
And after a day or so with that, I looked at the rest of Iwaku and went "Hm, I kind of liked doing OOC stuff on the Guild, I wonder what Iwaku's is like" and that's what sent me to General Chat.
I was very shocked to find old faces like Brovo or Jorick present on Iwaku.

Then for Joricks 'confirmation' for the Skype Group? That really only holds true for him and Brovo (last time I saw).
Basically there is a Skype group as Jorick confirmed, which I used to be in (I joined it about a month after joining Iwaku mind you). But it's really just people having fun, not the "Plotting to cause chaos" stuff that was suspected.
And it was a group I never saw Windsong take part in, and a group I had eventually ended up leaving myself.

Granted I'm now in another Skype group of Iwaku people, but neither Windsong, Jorick or Brovo are present in it.
They and you are all welcome to join if you all want to, the invite is open. It's just that none of you have shown an interest/desire to.

---------------

Though we also seemed to have turned this thread into everyone apologizing, so I should probably say something as well.

I'll admit that during my first few weeks on Iwaku I was still in a very Old Guild "Debate! Debate! Debate!" attitude and mindset. Sure I was willing to start relationships fresh with Old Guild members, but I never actually did anything at the start to alter or change my behaviour to something people could get along with. However, over the time I spent on General Chat (and away of the Guild's circle jerk culture) my eyes began to open up as to how troublesome I really was once I was in an environment where I was perhaps the only person doing such things, rather than among a crowd of others like I used to be.

This realization happened a while ago mind you, and I've been working on not getting as confrontational and conflict prone now for a bit. But I should apologize about the earlier behaviours (and any slip ups I have on the way) publicly, rather simply keep it to myself like I had been. So in a nutshell I'm apologizing for being such a argumentative prick in the past and expecting such arguments to be a norm.

 

[Gonzo]

PSH. All this public apology and whatnot. You all are pansies.

I'm kidding. I'd like to just say that if I have offended anyone as well, I apologize.

What I could say has been said already, so I'll refrain from restating two pages of explanation as to why I'm apologizing.

 

[Flame]

Wait nobody has said anything mean to Brovo? Somebody should quickly insult Brovo to balance out all this happiness... Err, umm... B-Brovo, you're smart, and that's dumb or something. Where does that guy get off being so nice all the time? Jeeeez.

Kidding aside, I do some lurking here, and I've never seen Brovo do anything apology-worthy. There are some RPG migrators that should apologize for their embarrassing behavior, (and some have), but, I don't think Brovo is on the list of people I'd say need to apologize for anything.

I always come in to say something stupid or mean to let off a little stress. I'd apologize, but what is an apology if you don't plan on changing your ways?

*crawls back into nonexistance*

 

[Atlas Child]

Jorick already did a great job explaining most of this, but I feel I should fill in some of the blanks.

Mainly when I joined the site it was strictly because I was in an RP with Kaga.
And after a day or so with that, I looked at the rest of Iwaku and went "Hm, I kind of liked doing OOC stuff on the Guild, I wonder what Iwaku's is like" and that's what sent me to General Chat.
I was very shocked to find old faces like Brovo or Jorick present on Iwaku.

Then for Joricks 'confirmation' for the Skype Group? That really only holds true for him and Brovo (last time I saw).
Basically there is a Skype group as Jorick confirmed, which I used to be in (I joined it about a month after joining Iwaku mind you). But it's far more of just a group of friends socializing than anything else.
And it was a group I never saw Windsong take part in, and a group I had eventually ended up leaving myself.
Granted I'm now in another Skype group of Iwaku people, but neither Windsong, Jorick or Brovo are present in it.
They and you are all welcome to join if they want, the invite is open. It's just that none of you have shown an interest/desire to.

---------------

Though we also seemed to have turned this thread into everyone apologizing, so I should probably say something as well.

I'll admit that during my first few weeks on Iwaku I was still in a very Old Guild "Debate! Debate! Debate!" attitude and mindset. Sure I was willing to start relationships fresh with Old Guild members, but I never actually did anything at the start to alter or change my behaviour to something people could get along with. However, over the time I spent on General Chat (and away of the Guild's circle jerk culture) my eyes began to open up as to how troublesome I really was once I was in an environment where I was perhaps the only person doing such things, rather than among a crowd of others like I used to be.

This realization happened a while ago mind you, and I've been working on not getting as confrontational and conflict prone now for a bit. But I should apologize about the earlier behaviours (and any slip ups I have on the way) publicly, rather simply keep it to myself like I had been. So in a nutshell I'm apologizing for being such a argumentative prick in the past and expecting such arguments to be a norm.

If it makes you feel any better you never really bothered me. sure you start shit sometimes but so do a ton of other people here.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Wait nobody has said anything mean to Brovo? Somebody should quickly insult Brovo to balance out all this happiness...

Kay.

HEY BROVO.

YOU FUCKING SUCK.

 

[Windsong]

Kay.

HEY BROVO.

YOU FUCKING SUCK.

Found the fascist authoritarian megalomaniac mad-with-power-over-a-fucking-forum-of-all-places mod.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Someone's got to be the asshole, at the end of the day.

 

[scribz]

I may be falling into similar paranoia pits, but I feel I should jump on the stage here.

Who is responsible for this

As far as I know, I'm the ringleader of the one giving Brovo shit. Him, along with Windsong, Gwazi and Jorick, have been the targets of at least a half-dozen bait threads, Cbox insults and rants.

My intention: to make them leave.

Why I'm doing this

It was something I did as an Administrator - I pushed trouble-makers and perceived trouble-makers to the point of outburst. For four of the five years it proved an effective tactic. We got rid of egotists, attention-whores, trolls and even the odd sexual predator. Sure, Iwaku may have stood to benefit from some of those people, but I made the call and drove them out. My vindication was the sense of community that remained - the sense of a tight-knit family that thought similarly (thought the way that I could understand).

Why it is escalating

By Year 5, however, the tactic started to break down. People on the internet were getting better with words, better with rules and better with loopholes. It became harder to provoke them and harder to bend the disciplinary code to get rid of them. My frustration grew.

This is how the Internet has changed in recent years. Debates, arguments and public shaming have become the forefront of the culture. And people are evolving to that environment.

Why them

I see Windsong, Jorick, Brovo, Gwazi and others of the Great Migration as products of this new culture. The perception is that they thrive on debate for its own sake, and would rather divulge their opinions at length than truly have fun or use their creativity. I'm accustomed to people defining their online personae through creation, not through breaking down others.

In a time of social justice warriors, public shaming and hipster desperation - this results in a complete exhaustion of Iwaku's spirit.

The real why

And that's the real why. I've spent seven years of my life hanging around Iwaku. I fell in love with it, and met some of the best people I've ever met. Many of those people are gone now, and a few of them have left on account of the worsening situation in General Chat. It's the end of an era. It's change - and it's depressing change. I know there are better things to come - as there are from any change - but I have yet to see them.

It saddens me that I'm the old man ranting about things not being like they used to. But just because that's a cliche doesn't make those feelings invalid.

Alright shut up and tell us what you're going to do about it

So, I'm going to abandon my belief that you guys will eventually "snap", because it's clear that no one does that anymore. And I'm going to dispel the image of you all as an organized Skype cadre who plot their moves and talks about Iwaku as them rather than us. That's in my head.

A note about the staff

I also want to add that, since I left, there are no power-hungry asshole staff members. The last one was me, and let me tell you - I REALLY PUT THEM OFF that way of life. Being an ego-driven Machiavellian alpha was exhausting for everyone, including me - which is why I resigned.

It is far, far, far easier to be kind, regulated and chillaxed. That is an abiding truth about the Iwaku staff room.

Diana is the best you will find out here, and the mentality she instills in the staff room is exemplary. Do not ever associate my behaviour with hers. She was the shining light that even a dark dickhead like me trusted to take the reins.

What now bitch tits

I'm gonna try and run a Pathfinder Campaign and stop being a master-baitory cunt. And when I see debates spring up, I'm gonna accept that there is no right or wrong answer, just as there are no right or wrong members.

This apology gave us all room to reflect, @Brovo - thanks for that.

In Pathfinder they say that ferrets are immune to Basilisk stares. Let me never try to turn the world to stone while you're around.

I accept your apology. You almost had me leave but I didn't want to make that vacuum in this community I hold dear :'E