Aprone risked absolutely nothing to do what he did. He had nothing to lose and only reputation to gain, which he apparently has. The worst that was going to happen is that the team he'd just left was going to disapprove of his actions, which it seems that at least a few of us do. That's something he obviously doesn't seem to care much about. So please, let's not delude ourselves into thinking Aprone was brave or showed balls. Neither is the case. Bravery and guts only matter if you have something that you're likely to lose, or are putting yourself at risk in some way.
Ethin, there is a huge, huge difference between wanting to pretend stuff never happened and wanting to deal with it in a way which minimizes backlash. I firmly take the latter stance. I am absolutely not going to forget what this situation has taught us, both in the community sense and in a more personal one. I am not wholly satisfied at the differences in the stories of Aprone and Dark - there are bits on both sides that don't make sense to me - but I was, and am, prepared to get into details in a personal setting rather than trying to stir up more drama, if I do so at all. If you believe that any of us are trying to pretend that this strife never existed, or that everyone's hands are wholly clean, you are sadly mistaken. The issue here is that you feel that Aprone's actions constitute some sort of justice or truth or whatnot, and they don't. Or rather, they do, but the much, much bigger subtext is the harm that might be done. Both I and the rest of the mod team are pretty understandably shaky in the wake of what's happened. We are as new to this, as unused to this, as the rest of you. By doing what he's done, Aprone has essentially turned up the heat at a moment where we can ill afford it. It is disrespectful, if nothing else. You seem to believe that in order for us to be transparent, to be accountable, this means divulging every dirty detail. That's...kind of not how the world works. In real life, when a higher power of any kind is found accountable, they make an apology (done), they make promises to be better (done) and then the community either damns them anyway or gives them a chance to make good on what they've said. Aprone hasn't really allowed that to happen. In a real-world setting, the sort of thing Aprone did here is the kind of thing some companies would try and bring a lawsuit for. No no no, we are not talking legal action here, as that's ridiculous; it's being cited only as an argument against the sort of tell-all that Aprone has performed. That's not how the real world runs. That's not how you fix a forum. That's not how you treat a team of people who, by and large, are upstanding and are volunteering their time and effort to ensure that a community continues to grow, adapt and improve to suit its members. Aprone had nothing to lose and, knowing this, decided to air his issues publicly. It's really nothing more or less than that.
Now, I'm bowing out of this topic. If any of you want to continue to say unkind things about the way I'm handling this, I kindly ask you to bring them to me personally. Rest assured, I will talk to you, I will respond, and I will listen. however, any of us (self included) continuing to post in this thread merely brings further attention to an issue which should've died days ago. I want this to go away. I want this forum to get back to the task of healing itself. I want to be an active part of that healing, in fact. And the first step, in my estimation, is cautery. Help me out here. Let this go. Let the public furor fade. Shout all you want in private message if you so desire. But we've tossed this around, we're fairly clearly not going to agree. Really, the only way forward is to heal damage. We aren't doing that by bickering.
Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1