This seems tyrannical and pointless.
A. You use the excuse that if anyone posts a link to any forum that they control, that forum also needs to follow your rules because you want to protect people in your forums. However, the purpose of a discord link outside of your forum is specifically to avoid the rules of your forums.
B. You said it yourself, “In January, we removed the link to Aura Clash’s Discord, and we hoped that would be enough. It was not enough; the Discord has, if anything, gotten worse.” So, it is clearly the people that get into his Discord no longer from your forum, so whatever he is doing there has nothing to do with you. If you don’t want anyone whom you disapprove of use your forum, then put those rules in the rules or user agreements. Say it clearly: “when using our forums, you are not allowed to have A, B, C, … behavior in or outside of our forum, if you violate this rule, you will be banned”
C. Why would anyone new from your forum purposely come over to his Discord when the link is no longer there, and if they had problem with his Discord before why return?
Actually, a significant amount of the problem is not people going to his discord from here, but people coming here from his discord and bringing the associated behaviors, including harassment coordinated on that Discord against writers (especially ones who aren’t cisgender white men).
Seeing people rejoicing over this is kind of making me sick to be honest.
I hope this decision can be reversed, I need a shower…
Glad y’all did this. That kind of behavior has no place here.
Except it was not here
If this was anything like the shitshow I suspect it was behind the scenes, I commend you and all other moderators and staff for trying to keep a handle on it for so long before taking this step. Having to ban new users for their first post only to see them replaced by either a second new account you know is from the same person or a different person just like them must be incredibly frustrating. I don’t think people who’ve never been mods properly appreciate just how much you all do to keep the forum a positive and inclusive space. Keep up the good work.
You’re sick to your stomach that people don’t want racists and homophobes in this community? Standing up for the guy posting hitler memes may not be the bridge you want to die on.
How is that your takeaway from this mess? Good grief, the victim complex is astounding.
They sound like a bunch of weirdos, but from what i’m getting is that you are forcing your rules onto a different platform not owned by you…
Good riddance, the homophobe is finally getting what he deserves.
I did not know such disgusting stuff was on his discord(because im barely on discord on anyway),but since I know now,I have left their discord.Thank you,for bringing this to our attention.
You probably have needed one for a while.
Probably best to lock this thread before it degenerates even further. The announcement is there, people can read it, but it’s not like there’s anything constructive being added.
It’s funny since I vividly remember a certain user in this very chat making a joke about stanning and supporting a racist character, on this very forum. No bans then tho…
It might have been a joke, but if we’re taking a hard stance against bigotry, kinda seems hypocritical.
Unfortunately this is one of those actions that will see both extensive praise, and absolute condemnation. I suspect this thread will not be productive, but that if closed would see other threads bombarded.
Personally I say its understandable to take some form of action, but the retroactive nature of the forum ban is wrong. Its unfortunate for all those who have supported and read it in the past, and especially so for those like myself who don’t use discord and had no knowledge of the issue.
No they are just staying clear of the shitstains you get, when you get associated with Nazis and racists.
If 10 normal people go to dinner with a nazi, well you have 11 nazis.
Saying nothing is supporting.
“Keinen Meter den Nazis!”
And greetings from germany
i find it rather funny how many of the people that probably share those same views are on this thread decrying how unjust such action is “he’s innocent he’s not a nazi sympathizer its all his buddies that nazi sympathizers” bud that just mean he’s also a nazi sympathizer
At the end of the day, it should not come as a surprise that COG is going to come after you if you’re an author who doesn’t actively manage your feral fan sites that are connected to a title on their hosting page.
Aura Clash was a big WIP title. And a minority of its most active readers are writing crazy shit on a discord that the author feeds into.
It was always going to come to this—regardless of the lack of queer romances.
You literally did this to yourselves.
Listen, I already have to hear about the shit talked about in those screenshots in real life, the last thing I or anyone on this forum should want is an author who allows that kind of vile speech to go on in a Discord they have a responsibility to moderate and who might bring those people into the forum because they think since this guy tolerated or enjoyed it, everyone here also would.
Genuinely surprised by how many people are blatantly or purposefully missing the point and reason for the ban. This isn’t mod abuse of power, if anything only deleting the Discord link the first time was generous.
To be fair, thats where they could have gotten the screenshot from.
I’ve got my head in my hands because now I’m on Reddit reading all the threads about him and the game and I realize how much of this shit I missed the last time I played the game, what the hell.
Yeah, which I actually found in a thread with Leekyo. And apparently there’s an alt-right term in the code for that. EDIT: Included clear photo of the code.
“One of the most popular” my ass, the amount of hoops you people are jumping through to defend him, like a trained dog in the Westminster Kennel Dog show. And despite the Discord not being linked, people were still coming here from the Discord so yes, it DOES have bearing on the forum. Aura Clash is not going to fuck you for defending him.
No, creating a story that doesn’t give you shit for wanting a gay-romance, that doesn’t apparently have alt-right terms in the code meant to prevent that, and that doesn’t have characters and races in the story that are apparently antisemitic caricatures. Just because he worked hard on it, doesn’t mean it deserves to be here, especially when we know this guy at the very least tolerates racist and homophobic ideas. Who gives a shit about the story then? You’re acting as if the skin color is the only problem, that people only care because the author isn’t “woke enough” or whatever. Did you not see those screenshots? Did you not read the part in the original post about how the people on Discord are coming over here and acting the way they do in his server? How are you missing the problem this badly?
This isn’t prison, what rehabilitation? This was his server. No, he cannot control what they type, but he can ban people spreading hate speech in his server. He could have stopped it but he didn’t because he either tolerated it or enjoyed it. And making the discord private would not stop those people from coming over here and trying to act like the forum is 4chan.
I kind of thought the new rule would be the final ultimatum for him to try to unfuck the server before banning him if he failed but it instantly happened.