<Snipped quote by The Spectre>
That is a very large question, Spectre. But here is my brief observations based on my time there and what I’ve noticed, and I by no means am innocent as I was just as involved for a large amount of time.
Alright, I am going to respond to every point that you made since I have been in that discord for a while. And I know about the blacklist that you are talking about.
- An emotional outrage due to Ruby’s pre-moderator behavior that led for members to call for Ruby’s demotion. Statements like “I have plans.”, “Ruby isn’t going to be punished?” among other things created the precedent to inform staff of what appeared to be the beginnings of a witch hunt.
And that's a fair point. Several members (including me) were calling for Ruby's demotion because of her actions. And I don't think that it was bad. People were rightfully upset by Ruby's action and demanded that she was punished. It sounds fair to me. It isn't bad to ask why the staff isn't doing anything about the whole Ruby situation. Do you think it's bad?
- Normalizing combative and antagonistic behavior that has influenced the actions of several minors on the site.
Wait, what? I hope that you have some examples that directly links to Valhalla? I can understand if you are talking about Grim but it sounds like you are talking about other people besides Grim. I think that everyone on the server won't want to normalize bad behavior on minors. Plus, I am not a minor. I am nineteen years old, just in case you think that I am one. And
@Nytem4re is doing a good job of explaining it for me so I don't have to write more.
- Gossiping about members in a rather deplorable manner, fixating on members rather than simple venting.
Some users do treat members harshly because they have reason to do so. But, we haven't never talked shit about them beyond our server. We have formed our own opinions on several based on proof. Please tell me an example where someone was targeted by members of Valhalla.
- Such behavior leaking onto the site in the cases of Grimhildr’s departure and those who involved with the community created accounts to circumnavigate the rules of the guild to re-post said thread which was locked and deleted for significant reasons.
That whole situation was Grim's doing. None of us made Grim do what they did. Almost everyone disagreed with Grim on what they did and said; but, that doesn't mean that they didn't raised several good points. Like what I said in the private message to Mahz:
"...In that thread, he highlighted important matters about the staff members including you. However, the thread was immature and contained statements like: "deadbeat fuckface" and "i hope you all die." The staff members banned him and removed the thread because he broke the rules. I agree that the thread was rude and inflammatory but it raised points that should not be ignored..."At the end of the day, Grim is their own person. They can do whatever they want to and no-one can stop them.
- Hosting a 'blacklist' describing users on the site people were discouraged with due to various reasons; essentially normalizing ostracizing people of the community.
Yes, you are right about the blacklist. The server used to have a blacklist where we had a list of users to not trust. However, they were only used for roleplaying purposes. They listed users who had caused drama on purpose, left roleplays without any explanation, and so on. We didn't make falsely accused anyone and we always provided a link to back our claims. However, the blacklist doesn't exist anymore. Odin removed it since no-one used it. If you want to ask him why he made a blacklist in the first place, then go ahead because I don't know why.
- Influencing community politics in a problematic manner.
Like I said earlier, please name one thing that we have influenced. I agree with what Nytem4re said. I think you are trying to upset someone so the thread can be locked. Especially with statements like "Valhalla causes minors to do and say bad things!!!" I don't want the thread to be locked at all and upset Cyndyr, who wants this thread to be peaceful and open for discussion. So, please stop baiting people into writing long rant posts. It will not get us anywhere and it will just get this thread locked.
EDIT: Fixed somethings that I missed.