OOC synopsis:
tl;dr - An underwater volcano went off, flooding Taiga, and Carnage joined in on the action, creating ‘guardians’ of lava and water who live in the destruction and will brutally attack anyone who tries to cross Taiga’s borders. Taiga is currently uninhabitable and may not be posted in. In one (1) Beqanna year, the land will be opened up as a general land for horses to post in, if they so choose. One (1) Beqanna year after that, we will decide if it will be restored as a kingdom, or destroyed completely.
Here’s why:
This situation has spiraled out of control, and the fairies have opted for the nuclear option. Gryffen was given permission to challenge for Taiga. As he prepared for the challenge, Ruan’s player, Toli, had to repeatedly go out of town, causing the challenge to be delayed. When it was finally issued, Ruan lost by default, in part because of a misunderstanding of the rules and timeline.
During this time, the officers received multiple complaints from both sides of this challenge. These complaints ranged from unfairness, to feeling targeted, to general frustration about how things were being handled. The officers worked together on a daily basis to accommodate all complaints. However, due to the escalating nature of the events, we also decided to implement the Cool Down, hoping players would take the opportunity to reflect.
During the interim, we also discussed changing the challenge rules. As we’ve seen before, the rules for kingdom challenges and takeovers are not crystal clear. Unfortunately, as we cannot anticipate what situations will arise, many of the challenge rules are made retroactively, in response to a situation that arose and caused problem. One of these rule alterations included the potential for immediate post-challenge mutinies, as it makes sense that most characters who lost their kingdom wouldn’t give it up easily. We decided we would allow players who lost a one on one challenge to be able to attempt to mutiny in response (in the spirit of ‘kingdoms do not have to accept a new leader.’).
Because these rules were not in effect at the time Ruan was given permission to mutiny, it was decided among the officers to give Gryffen two weeks to settle into Taiga and establish it as a kingdom, while Ruan could use this time to formulate an IC explanation for his default loss and begin to rally. Unfortunately, that time was not adequately used, and a mutiny post was posted without any real IC acknowledgement of Ruan’s situation prior to the post, as well as powerplaying, which caused the post to be deleted. This, too, sparked multiple complainants, and has led the officers to conclude that there is no way for this to wrap in a manner that is fair to all parties.
We as officers have spent hours trying to put out fires and to address issues in a fair and unbiased fashion, often sacrificing our own enjoyment of the game to do so. Almost every issue is addressed collectively, to remove the potential of any individual’s bias. However, this has reached a point where it is taking an inordinate amount of time to address these issues, and it is no longer feasible to let it continue.
The situation turned far more complex, bitter, and petty than anyone ever anticipated, full of extenuating circumstances and unprecedented issues that we had to constantly address on the fly. No single player is responsible for this, but no one involved is exonerated, either. These issues came from all sides, and from multiple players.
Furthermore, several of the issues dealt with during this time were messages from players regarding another player's’ character motivations or behavior. These issues were brought to us without any attempt to resolve it with the other player(s) first. While officers are always available to help and intervene as needed, if you're questioning another character's behavior, it's best to go to that character's player for discussion first, as they are the one who knows their character best, and will probably answer it better than we could. The only exception to this is if you have had a previous OOC issue with that player, or have otherwise been asked to limit contact.
We remind you, as we have many times before, that most of the players are adults, with families and jobs, who look to Beqanna as a stress reliever. This is just a game, and should be treated as such.
You are welcome to reply and describe your character's escape, or use this as an opportunity to maim or emotionally damage your horse. This applies to whatever timeline(s) your horse is currently honoring. However, any attempt to stay in Taiga will be met with death at the hands of the volcano or one of Carnage's guardians.
tl;dr - An underwater volcano went off, flooding Taiga, and Carnage joined in on the action, creating ‘guardians’ of lava and water who live in the destruction and will brutally attack anyone who tries to cross Taiga’s borders. Taiga is currently uninhabitable and may not be posted in. In one (1) Beqanna year, the land will be opened up as a general land for horses to post in, if they so choose. One (1) Beqanna year after that, we will decide if it will be restored as a kingdom, or destroyed completely.
Here’s why:
This situation has spiraled out of control, and the fairies have opted for the nuclear option. Gryffen was given permission to challenge for Taiga. As he prepared for the challenge, Ruan’s player, Toli, had to repeatedly go out of town, causing the challenge to be delayed. When it was finally issued, Ruan lost by default, in part because of a misunderstanding of the rules and timeline.
During this time, the officers received multiple complaints from both sides of this challenge. These complaints ranged from unfairness, to feeling targeted, to general frustration about how things were being handled. The officers worked together on a daily basis to accommodate all complaints. However, due to the escalating nature of the events, we also decided to implement the Cool Down, hoping players would take the opportunity to reflect.
During the interim, we also discussed changing the challenge rules. As we’ve seen before, the rules for kingdom challenges and takeovers are not crystal clear. Unfortunately, as we cannot anticipate what situations will arise, many of the challenge rules are made retroactively, in response to a situation that arose and caused problem. One of these rule alterations included the potential for immediate post-challenge mutinies, as it makes sense that most characters who lost their kingdom wouldn’t give it up easily. We decided we would allow players who lost a one on one challenge to be able to attempt to mutiny in response (in the spirit of ‘kingdoms do not have to accept a new leader.’).
Because these rules were not in effect at the time Ruan was given permission to mutiny, it was decided among the officers to give Gryffen two weeks to settle into Taiga and establish it as a kingdom, while Ruan could use this time to formulate an IC explanation for his default loss and begin to rally. Unfortunately, that time was not adequately used, and a mutiny post was posted without any real IC acknowledgement of Ruan’s situation prior to the post, as well as powerplaying, which caused the post to be deleted. This, too, sparked multiple complainants, and has led the officers to conclude that there is no way for this to wrap in a manner that is fair to all parties.
We as officers have spent hours trying to put out fires and to address issues in a fair and unbiased fashion, often sacrificing our own enjoyment of the game to do so. Almost every issue is addressed collectively, to remove the potential of any individual’s bias. However, this has reached a point where it is taking an inordinate amount of time to address these issues, and it is no longer feasible to let it continue.
The situation turned far more complex, bitter, and petty than anyone ever anticipated, full of extenuating circumstances and unprecedented issues that we had to constantly address on the fly. No single player is responsible for this, but no one involved is exonerated, either. These issues came from all sides, and from multiple players.
Furthermore, several of the issues dealt with during this time were messages from players regarding another player's’ character motivations or behavior. These issues were brought to us without any attempt to resolve it with the other player(s) first. While officers are always available to help and intervene as needed, if you're questioning another character's behavior, it's best to go to that character's player for discussion first, as they are the one who knows their character best, and will probably answer it better than we could. The only exception to this is if you have had a previous OOC issue with that player, or have otherwise been asked to limit contact.
We remind you, as we have many times before, that most of the players are adults, with families and jobs, who look to Beqanna as a stress reliever. This is just a game, and should be treated as such.
You are welcome to reply and describe your character's escape, or use this as an opportunity to maim or emotionally damage your horse. This applies to whatever timeline(s) your horse is currently honoring. However, any attempt to stay in Taiga will be met with death at the hands of the volcano or one of Carnage's guardians.