First off, I'd like to apologize for making you take the time out of your schedule (as I can only imagine that you're kept quite busy with all the antics of the headstrong denizens of Gaia), but seeing as I just got off a plane and come home to find a verifiable shitstorm waiting for me in IM windows, PMs, and guild threads... I quite honestly feel the need to ask:
"Who complained?"
It's a simple question, and it carries more meaning in it than any other argument. We've been doing this for three years now, using the same format, and many of the same participants. If there was something wrong with it people wouldn't continue to come back... they wouldn't continue to get hyped up about the idea of HoH coming up at the end of the year... they wouldn't be getting teams together months in advance because they want to play the game that badly.
There are a few bad apples, yes. There are always a few bad apples... especially when it comes to something like free-form roleplaying where you're basically playing cowboys and indians with the "bang bang, you're dead" / "no I'm not, you missed".
In the three years I've been working with this tournament and in the four and a half years I've been roleplaying on this website there is no truth more clear than the one that tells us that the 'top dog' from wherever thread or guild they come from doesn't win like they expect to and are used to, they tend to complain. From December 2005, the only complaints Heaven or Hell has had raised against it were from a small handful of individuals that weren't happy because they performed embarrassingly (ask anyone in the guild and you'll get the same response) and received a poor score because of it... and then the one who was angry because in our obscenely long list of rules we still haven't managed to have one for every situation.
Please note that I'm speaking purely on behalf of the
participants of Heaven or Hell. I honestly don't care worth a fart and two shits what complaints are raised by people who aren't even willing to play the game. We hold Heaven or Hell for the joy and entertainment of the dozens (this year around 80) users who wish to participate.
One bad apple spoils the bunch? Not if they refuse to even get in the bushel.
Noraboo
This PM is being sent to the guild captain of the GGN Heaven or Hell, as well as to several staff members involved in the reason behind the guild's recent disabling.
This past month you were approached by Gaia moderating staff who informed you that your tournament was in violation of Gaia's guidelines. Specifically, staff members involved in hosting the contest had also entered themselves into it. This action creates a conflict and is considered to be scamming, and as such it is strictly prohibited. However, we note that as of this time the crew members have not been removed and that the guild has not aided by the earlier staff request. Accordingly the guild has been shut down as it is in violation of Gaia's Terms of Service.
I believe that you are mistaken in this regard. We received a message close to that, but we do have the exact thing quoted on the front page of the recruitment thread if you'd like to take a look at it. We posted it publicly as soon as it was given, and we have not changed anything about how we run Heaven or Hell because of that notice.
Why? The answer is simple: We were not in violation of anything in that statement. We were not at the time, and we are not now. We were
not informed that our tournament was in violation of Gaia's guidelines, we
were informed that our tournament was going to be watched by some unseen eye so that in the event that something was in violation of Gaia's guidelines we would be informed of it.
Here is the complete (unedited, unabridged, just as it was sent to us) notice from Arretsu:
Arretsu
Hey!
HoH has come to the be noticed by both moderators and admins. I am to notify you of the rules that are to be put in place, in order for the tournament to occur.
Anyone who is participating in the tournament, cannot be a judge. Those who are judges cannot participate. That means no mules are allowed as well. Users who are fighting can put in mules to participate, but people who are staff/judges cannot enter via mules.
If these rules are not followed, the tournament will be shut down. If you have any furthur questions, please feel free to contact Doji Kurohito, or Arretsu.
Thank you,
Arretsu
Now if you'll notice, nowhere in there did it say that we were in violation of any rules. Also, I'd like to point out that this continues both today and yesterday (before you decided to drop the hammer on us for doing nothing wrong).
"
Anyone who is participating in the tournament cannot be a judge."
There is no violation here. The Judges for Heaven or Hell are myself (themightyjello), Kraun, and Maximos. This year we will be posting official statements through a mule Judge account (-HoH- Judge) that was created for the purpose of making the Heaven of Hell event seem more colorful, and to help us segue into the storyline event we are planning for next year's Heaven or Hell tournament.
Of the members who are
crew in the guild and are participating in the tournament, there are Vahn Fah (contributing to writing the storyline updates), [..X..] (creating HoH banner art), and Chaplain Fenix (operating our mini-game thread 'HoH Square'). None of these individuals are involved in the Heaven or Hell judging in any way. Any argument you could possibly have against them is that because they have crew status they are able to view the judge decisions before they are made public... but they are going to be made public anyways as soon as all 3 judges have their numbers put in, so the point is largely moot.
"
Those who are judges cannot participate."
This is just a repeat of the above, but it's been a Heaven or Hell rule since the very beginning. We do not allow our judge staff to participate in the tournament.
"
That means no mules are allowed as well."
Heaven or Hell official policy is that if we catch any user using a mule to enter the tournament (this is both for judges and participants) all of their accounts will be ejected from the tournament. Heaven or Hell is a one-user-one-character event. To our knowledge, the only mules involved in Heaven or Hell (other than the ones belonging to users who have contacted us in regards to temp-bans) are the -HoH- storyline NPCs; which are not involved in the flow of the tournament and are simply used for posting flavor text.
"
Users who are fighting can put in mules to participate, but people who are staff/judges cannot enter via mules."
No. We do not allow users to enter multiple characters, regardless of how many accounts they do so with.
Now it seems silly to me that the only one of these rules that was actually violated was the last one... which is an even more effective measure to reduce the possibility of cheating or scamming than following it would be.
In summary: I am not pleased at all with the decision that your staff has come to in regards to how we are to run our event. We have followed all of Gaia's rules, as well as our own, as well as catering to the wants and needs of our participants in order to create a setting that is both fair and fun for everyone. By your earlier decree our guild was shut down, causing a complete flood of complaints in the OOC and even talk about moving the tournament off-site. I guarantee that doing so would be a terrible loss for the Gaia community and for our users because Heaven or Hell generates a lot of posting over the course of the tournament, which translates both into hits and advertisement views for the site and into gold for our participants via posting.
Additionally, requiring that we throw out 3 members of the tournament simply because they are volunteering to help make Heaven or Hell more enjoyable for everyone is downright criminal.
If every Gaia mod wasn't allowed to open a charity or Exchange shop simply because of their status, you would feel the same way that I do right now about your decision in this matter. I
respectfully request that you reconsider this, as I have no interest in seeing the experience of Heaven or Hell lessened for anyone... even the haters.
Noraboo
This PM has been sent to both the guild captain account as well as the accounts which have access to it, are staff members, and are involved in the conflicting entry/staff roles. However, for the sake of simplicity in communications, I would ask that only the guild captain account reply with the decision regarding reenabling the guild.
Thank you for your time,
Noraboo, Gaia Admin
Please take note that this response to your PM is following all guidelines, is in the most polite tone that I can manage considering the circumstances of these pointless accusations, and does follow your request. This PM is not in regard to the re-enabling of the guild, as that has already been done. This PM is of my own concerns both as a member of the Gaia community and as an administrator of the Heaven or Hell franchise.
Thank you for your time,
themightyjello, Heaven or Hell administrator
P.S. While you are all having a pow-wow about the state of our affairs, can you at least get me a response to the issue that Doji promised me he would bring up to the lot of you? If I were to refund ALL the entry fees to ALL the participants and fill the space with (another) donation could we just drop this entire issue and let everyone get back to the fun of roleplaying?
Not that everyone involve isn't having a HOOT at this whole "the MAN is keeping us down" thing.
If there's no gold involved then it obviously can't be a scam, which means that any site rules have no place within a friendly roleplaying event held in good humor between compatriots and new faces alike in which there just
happens to be a substantial cash prize divided a dozen or more ways which is furnished by the tournament admins themselves and a few friends who wanted to contribute to the pot in the hopes of stirring up more excitement for everyone involved.
...cripes that's a lot to say in one breath.
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