An Apology

[Edge]

In light of the events of the last week, and in tandem with the posting of the new updates to the rules regarding behavior and conduct on Discord, I am also taking this opportunity to address my own part in the current situation and the necessity for the new rules.

As is probably a surprise to no one, I have been particularly active and vocal within almost all parts of the community Discord, and most of the opt-in areas of discussion are no exception. I am highly involved with the community and with the various goings-on and conversations that happen there, and in many ways and many cases I feel it is an important part of my job as an admin to serve as a participant and representative to the community in many of those discussions, to be an example and a present point of communication to the player base and all participants in the community.

However, in the past week, that has been a task I have not accomplished successfully. And in the process of failing to meet that standard, I crossed some if not several lines that were neither acceptable nor tolerable for any participant in the community to bypass, and especially not someone in my position. I failed to set an example by my behavior, enabled those who likewise were taking advantage of an under-moderated cooperative discourse, and crossed boundaries that are absolutely necessary to keep upheld for the well-being, safety, and health of our community, and hurt several people in the process.

Disagreements are part and parcel of some of these places of discourse, which is an extremely important reason many of the ones in question are opt-in only and why the new rules are so thoroughly focused on keeping the boundary between these discussions and the open-participation majority of the community server intact and respected. The process of airing those disagreements and engaging in discussion and debate about them, however, must be handled in a respectful manner, both towards others participating in the discussion and, more importantly, with regards to those who have chosen to exclude themselves from the discourse. And by choosing to overstep those boundaries and engage in discussion and commentary that crossed those lines and broke the separation between the opted-in portion of the community and those who have chosen to remain outside those conversations, I not only violated that trust and respect but also as an admin encouraged others to do likewise by my example.

I owe the community as a whole an apology for failing to live up to the standards expected of our staff and of those who participate in this community, and an expression of understanding of why and how what I did was wrong and unacceptable and how that is working to be remedied in the future.

In addition to my contributions toward the new rules updates that have been posted, I have accepted a time of being banned from the opt-in discourse on the Discord, as a recognition of my failure to abide by its rules and restrictions and live up to the expectations of a participant in the discussion.

As an admin of this community, it is my responsibility to serve as an example for all of our community members, in my behavior as a member as well as in my duties as a staff official. I will be taking this experience to heart and memory going forward, both in the creation of the new rules updates as well as my daily interactions on the Discord and the community as a whole, to ensure this sort of misstep never occurs again, and that I can continue serving as a representative of this community in years to come.