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Formendacil · 10-25-2006, 10:22 PM

So what do we do now?

I’d love to say that we could fix this with a nice unbanning of Davem, and mutual apologies all around. But I’m no idiot- whatever some people may seem to think- and I know that won’t work. Davem does not really want back, he’s said so numerous times. Quite frankly, I don’t blame him. And in light of pride, I doubt that anybody could REALLY make themselves WANT to apologise in this situation.

I don’t know what to do. I wish I did. There were some serious mistakes made that brought us to this impasse, and I would place the blame squarely on both parties. Davem moreso in the pre-banning era, and the Administration in the process of banning, and in the explanations in the post-banning era.

As Lalwendë has said, and as I think most of us would strongly agree, the ‘Downs is very much a community- very much a village. And to continue this analogy, when the village council exiles a prominent merchant, keeping things in the dark as possible is only going to say one thing: Conspiracy. And then giving explanations that do not seem satisfactory smacks of cover-up. Especially when the villagers who are uneasy and in the dark about something have contact with the exiled party.

The way this banishment was handled was poorly done. Once people started sending PMs and posting on the “Coming of Age 2” thread, there should have been a better public relations campaign. That things were allowed to get so far as to have over a dozen highly prominent ‘Downers all sign a Statement of Disapproval ought to show this. The fact that such a high number of committed, prominent ‘Downers are talking of deliberately drifting away from the forum ought to be an even stronger sign. Whether Davem deserved banishment or not, once public interest was aroused, full disclosure was a better way to go that stilted press releases.

All the past is now explainable, to my mind. The big issue is moving forward. There has been a lot of trust broken here- not in the banning, but in the aftermath. We all WANT to move forward, but CAN we?

Finally, I hope all the above is clear. Due to the extreme length, this discursus was written in three seperate sittings and may not flow the way I'd like it to. However, it's late, and I have things to do tomorrow, but I thought it best to get this posted. As always, I hope no offence is taken, but it's a sign of the times that such a reminder seems necessary here at the bottom of the post(s).

Confused, tired, and yawning,

~Michael A. Joosten - Formendacil~

10-25-2006, 10:22 PM	#46
Formendacil Dead Serious Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perched on Thangorodrim's towers. Posts: 3,328	Part IV: So what do we do now? I’d love to say that we could fix this with a nice unbanning of Davem, and mutual apologies all around. But I’m no idiot- whatever some people may seem to think- and I know that won’t work. Davem does not really want back, he’s said so numerous times. Quite frankly, I don’t blame him. And in light of pride, I doubt that anybody could REALLY make themselves WANT to apologise in this situation. I don’t know what to do. I wish I did. There were some serious mistakes made that brought us to this impasse, and I would place the blame squarely on both parties. Davem moreso in the pre-banning era, and the Administration in the process of banning, and in the explanations in the post-banning era. As Lalwendë has said, and as I think most of us would strongly agree, the ‘Downs is very much a community- very much a village. And to continue this analogy, when the village council exiles a prominent merchant, keeping things in the dark as possible is only going to say one thing: Conspiracy. And then giving explanations that do not seem satisfactory smacks of cover-up. Especially when the villagers who are uneasy and in the dark about something have contact with the exiled party. The way this banishment was handled was poorly done. Once people started sending PMs and posting on the “Coming of Age 2” thread, there should have been a better public relations campaign. That things were allowed to get so far as to have over a dozen highly prominent ‘Downers all sign a Statement of Disapproval ought to show this. The fact that such a high number of committed, prominent ‘Downers are talking of deliberately drifting away from the forum ought to be an even stronger sign. Whether Davem deserved banishment or not, once public interest was aroused, full disclosure was a better way to go that stilted press releases. All the past is now explainable, to my mind. The big issue is moving forward. There has been a lot of trust broken here- not in the banning, but in the aftermath. We all WANT to move forward, but CAN we? Finally, I hope all the above is clear. Due to the extreme length, this discursus was written in three seperate sittings and may not flow the way I'd like it to. However, it's late, and I have things to do tomorrow, but I thought it best to get this posted. As always, I hope no offence is taken, but it's a sign of the times that such a reminder seems necessary here at the bottom of the post(s). Confused, tired, and yawning, ~Michael A. Joosten - Formendacil~ __________________ I prefer history, true or feigned.