Best Of

Also worth noting that at the time the owner of said server removed everyone who was 'toxic'. Most of those players have been removed. You removed yourself. I'm a little confused on the tea, but you removing yourself at the same time Zima did, Zima's attachment to Sryaen, Sryaen's constant passive aggressive interactions, Zima's colossal meltdown, etc etc, all start to paint an incredibly clear picture.

Only semi-related, but: Some of my friends from Imperian once told me about a unique artifact in Imperian. It wasn't one you bought with money or credits. It was something you happened upon by fate. The artifact is known as The Bottomless Well Of Cause. I think I've found it in Aetolia, and I should probably use it.

I have no idea what the implication is here. But uh, my guy, I'm not part of anyone's alt army. I don't particularly enjoy interacting with you because you seem to be incapable of seeing other people's viewpoints, especially if they're opposite your own. But am I gonna go out of my way to.. I don't know what this post is even implying.. make alts to vote in a Dominion election or you think I think about you outside the confines of these ridiculous forum posts or the Aetolia discord? I mean, don't flatter yourself, boo.

My LOL reacts to this entire thread is because this is seems to accomplish nothing in the grand scheme of things. Sure, it may shine some visible light on some probably very real, very valid problems, but the manner in which it was done so (and the subsequent dogpiling by a handful of the same people) makes this whole thread seem like a circlejerk. I think if the issues really wanted to be addressed, an e-mail to Ictinus or a mass message between Icti, Callidora and any other pertinent individuals would've been the better way to handle it.

@Zethrie

Two people in that server are permanently shrubbed. One consistently bounces back and forth between Aetolia and Haven depending on how bad they've been ostracized by the respective community they belong too at the time for being stalkerish/uncomfortably attached (and a *laundry list of things in between*), and several other are known sex pests. I would sincerely appreciate it if you never, ever, EVER, so callously and negligently compare that list of players to an entire tether again.

Also worth noting that at the time the owner of said server removed everyone who was 'toxic'. Most of those players have been removed. You removed yourself. I'm a little confused on the tea, but you removing yourself at the same time Zima did, Zima's attachment to Sryaen, Sryaen's constant passive aggressive interactions, Zima's colossal meltdown, etc etc, all start to paint an incredibly clear picture.

Only semi-related, but: Some of my friends from Imperian once told me about a unique artifact in Imperian. It wasn't one you bought with money or credits. It was something you happened upon by fate. The artifact is known as The Bottomless Well Of Cause. I think I've found it in Aetolia, and I should probably use it.

Alright, I'm coffeed and I feel like this thread has gone off the rails a little. I'm going to see if I can steer it back, which, I'll be honest, is going to mostly be me repeating myself a little. Unfortunately, I think some of the core issues going on have been overlooked in favor of petty personal insults or attempts to obscure the conversation using "both sides" arguments that minimize the problems with metagaming while inflating the problems with ingame roleplay. I'm going to bullet point this, however, and if you want more details I'll suggest scrolling back through the post.

Problems with the Dominion:

• Strong OOC ingroup/outgroup mentality
  
• Major problems regarding running the guild through out-of-game mediums, including discord servers
  
• Nepotism and filling leadership roles with people who are OOC friends
  
• General favoritism toward people who are OOC friends
  
• Ostracization of people who don't fit in with that group until they either quit play or leave the guild, entrenching the current meta group in place
  

Examples of metagaming I personally have direct evidence for:

• Screensharing in-game interactions in a voice chat to more or less group thinktank IC interactions
  
• Inguilding someone and accelerating OOC friends through in-game advancement that other people had to work for (further exascerbated by leaked screenshots of said person "jokingly" asking for an Emperor position. Would be a little cringy on its own, but in the context of being advanced to full guilded status in 15 minutes just a few days later, it is kinda damning.)
  

The hard-and-fast evidence is hard to get long receipts for, because if nothing else, the strong ingroup/outgroup mentality going on here does a great job to insulate leadership from infiltration. There's snippets, however, and what's more, it becomes particularly evident if you spend any time in the guild and even pay attention. Most of the leadership has been pretty lackadaisical, and people who show initiative and leadership potential are given few, if any, opportunities to actually do leadership stuff. This leads to a general lack of enthusiasm even among those who would ostensibly be gung-ho about making amazing stuff happen. Getting blacklisted is exceptionally easy, and once you are, your experience in the guild tank and your opportunities dry up. This is largely an OOC problem, and as such, is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to solve via roleplay. The slow extraction of anybody who doesn't fit the group over what appears to be years essentially makes dealing with this in any in-game way a massive headache to say the least. I actually don't think it's fixable by players, if I'm being honest.

As for everyone else's opinions of 'vampire RP', I will simply point you to your own advice on the matter when asked about Bloodloch's RP. "The group wants this, you are the odd one out, get over it or leave."

I didn't want to, but I feel like I have to address this. First of all, it's pretty much a straightforward confession that the current MO of the Dominion is to drum people out of the guild. I honestly can't think of a more blatant example than this, and I'm a little surprised anybody thought it was a good idea to be this explicit about it in public.

But what's more, this is a false equivalency to what some of the people earlier in the thread have said. Both Abhorash and Chakrasul have sent pretty strong signals that border on fourth wall breaking that the Dominion is not fitting within the expected window of guild culture and theming. Telling people who are essentially doing what they can to bring the org into this window to "love it or leave it" is missing the forest for the trees, here.

Aetolia is a game that definitely allows for player agency, and this may seem like the Administration is stamping down on that agency, but there are acceptable ranges for exploring that agency that don't completely violate the themes and core conceits of different organizations, and the Dominion currently steps outside that box, and it's willing to use any number of shady OOC tactics it feels it can get away with to keep the guild that way. I don't like to be this overtly confrontational. This post is not fun for me. It's not like I was having a thrilling time playing in the guild as it was, and this (clearly, as seen above) has more or less sealed my IC fate in that regard. I'm alright with that. But this behavior is only going to continue unless it's brought to light. It might even continue in spite of it.

But the basic fact of the matter is that the "odd one out" dynamic here has been completely contrived via malcious OOC methods. It's very easy to create a situation where you're the majority if you do your level best to demoralize and evict people who don't fit into your group over years.