Quoth the Ravin'...

In a distressing short length of time, FooPets has gone from a new sense of hope and progress to being once more a place of fear, suspicion, and restriction. We were told by our new/old team that they valued us as members, welcomed our input, and were not intimidated by criticism, as it provided useful input into what might need to be done to improve the site and insure its place as a treasured and enjoyable place to be online.

This frightening reversal was brought about by a relatively small number of members exploiting code-repair glitches that allowed them to acquire item and tender assets in disproportionate quantities, putting honest players at a disadvantage (if they value such things - I personally do not, but obviously others do) and further damaging an already shaky site economy. The lion's share of the damage was done via the Gifting glitch, which the management team, in the form of Traci, our Community Manager,  responded to by suspending/banning what I believe was originally a total of 28 people. The staff being as limited in time and numbers as they are, it was almost inevitable that some sheep get swept up with the goats, and that there would be grey areas of culpability.

Subsequently, members who felt they were included in the roundup in error - and I have little doubt that those who were indeed guilty did so as well - approached Support to restore their accounts (and assets and good names). For whatever reasons, the situation began to escalate out of control. Threats, abuse, and vituperation proliferated on both sides of the conflict, and it has now reached the point where those who were declared innocent of deliberate wrongdoing, after doing their best to comply with all conditions and requests made by  Support, are being penalised again for the crime of returning. For unknown reasons, a gag order was imposed on them forbidding them to admit their accounts were restored - an odd measure, as their return was sure to be noticed, and their innocence clearly implied thereby - and apparently now members totally uninvolved in the glitch pogrom are being suspended for simply welcoming friends back.

Additionally, any and all criticism of the site, anywhere, seems to be once more grounds for suspension as well. Criticism is NOT "bashing". It is as valid, and often more useful and constructive, as praise. While I and all sensible people deplore insults and namecalling, pointing out an obvious problem and asking that it be addressed is not destructive - far from it. Sweeping an issue under the rug by forbidding discussion does nothing to solve it. Nor does it prevent word from spreading. You do not heal a wound by sealing in the poison : you open it, and thereby heal it.

At this point, there is a horrendous amount of resentment and hurt feelings on BOTH sides. Traci has only been on Foo since the middle of February and "active" as Manager for a little more than a month. She had almost no time to get to know the site and community before this bomb went off, nor they her, which may well be contributing to the way she is handling this ugly situation. It is time for all parties involved to step back, take a deep breath, and reapproach this in a fresh, cooperative state of mind.

There is no sin in making a mistake - only in refusing to admit it. A person who apologises for an error and makes it good as best they can is respected. One who rants and lashes out to defend a wrong action even after it is recanted will never be seen as a responsible community member or leader. We have what should have been a minor problem getting rapidly out of hand and threatening to tear FooPets apart as more and more people get involved and choose up sides. THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE. We are all FooPets! The New Foo Crew is understaffed, overworked, and overstressed even without this additional headache, and the surviving members are already shellshocked and sensitive from a long, hard road. Those of us still here after all the site has gone through are here for love - and we were told that Ron, Scott, and Eugene feel the same way. Let's find a way to fix this...together.
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