Re: Alter Aeon: a credit lottery started by the night people
No malice? Well, let's see, shall we? Deconstruction time.
4.6 - Thou shalt not run financial scams
This includes any kind of scam where a player asks other players for
loans of money, gold, or credits in-game with a promise to pay it back
with interest in a short time period.
Dentin does not screw around with money. If you run financial scams, you will be removed from the game and your account may be auctioned to try to recover the debt.
The assumptions in this part of the post are brutal. First, why is there an assumption that this is a scam? Second, why is Shadowfax presuming to speak for Dentin when Dentin has not actually weighed in yet?
4.7 - Thou shalt not beg for credits, gold, or money
Panhandling might not be illegal in the real world, but it is here on Alter Aeon. If you aggressively panhandle, you will be aggressively
removed from the game and have all your stuff auctioned off.
Aggressive panhandling is when you go and, I dunno, stand on street corners and get in people's faces asking for money. You've got a sign, you're loud, you're visible, you move to maximize visibility. To categorize what Nocturnis was trying to do as panhandling, much less panhandling of an aggressive nature, is just plain inaccurate and, in my view at least, callous.
To be "removed aggressively" from the game also makes me wonder if Shadowfax has it in for people who are seeking donations or help. Why, you ask? Because such a response, in and of itself, was very aggressive. Why the need for it if there weren't personal feelings in volved? Surely, someone in Shadowfax's high position should, while being able to involve himself with such rules, also exercise a degree of candour, particularly if the validity of the situation is still in doubt? The fact that Shadowfax chose not to do this speaks extremely poorly of his character. If it wasn't malice, it was the next best thing.
People usually betray themselves with the language they use, and the indications here as far as I'm concerned is that Shadowfax either 1. really, really doesn't like people experiencing poverty, 2. really, really doesn't like it when people experiencing poverty ask for help or 3. has been really badly burned, either on the game or elsewhere, by a scam artist, and is letting personal biases inform his choice of language. I cannot be sure of any of this, but as someone who endeavours to pay attention to the language we use (self included, of course), it makes me wonder. This isn't just random dude using random language for no reason at all.
I fully recognize that these things are full of gray areas, Dentin, and I understand why you, yourself, are hesitant to endorse the lottery. It does open you up to a bunch of problems that you frankly don't need to deal with...or it could, at any rate. Your own reticence, I completely and totally understand. But to me at least, the way your staff member dealt with this sets an extremely bad precedent for people who are trying to do legitimate things via a means which, in the wrong hands, might be shady. Put bluntly, there were just so many better ways to handle this. I'll outline just one below.
4.6 - Thou shalt not run financial scams
This includes any kind of scam where a player asks other players for
loans of money, gold, or credits in-game with a promise to pay it back
with interest in a short time period.
At this time, we are unable to officially endorse or sanction your lottery, and we are removing the link until such time that Dentin can be contacted in order to investigate further. Dentin is understandably very careful with money. Until such time that Dentin gives a go-ahead, do not post any further links or references to your lottery or to the fundraiser in question.
Boom. Done. Still shuts it off, cuts any harm off at the source, but does not antagonize, belittle or even shame long-time players who are attempting to cover legitimate service animal costs in a creative way which actually may well have made Alter Aeon money in the long run.
To me, this is optics 101, and vital if you want to occupy a position of power. Shadowfax having adopted such a position of power, then misusing it in this fashion, has shattered most of my faith in him as an administrator. It's not just that he jumped the gun; it's how he said what he did. Nah, you can't just sweep this one under a rug and pretend it didn't happen, dude.
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