I apologize for this wall of text.
For about the second half of the game’s duration, I have been contemplating -- and wavering -- between my desires to quit and given the current standing of the issue that is being discussed, I feel that I no longer have any obligation towards the game and neither to the moderators.
Just as Az had said above, let me be frank. While I appreciate your motivation, effort and originality that was put into the game (at least in the beginning months of it’s life), if it hadn’t been for the sole purpose of the members, I would have quit the game a long time ago. My issues with the game do not just stand with certain people that I may or may not have been able to get along with, but mostly in the things that I’ve witnessed and realized when it came to the moderators and their involvement with the management of the game. Personal issues aside, I will say that how said situations were generally handled throughout the game was the breaking point for me.
I’m not here to tell the both of you how to run a game or give you tips and tricks to make things better the next time you two go about moderating a game, but I will tell you the things that dissatisfied me; you can take it how you want it and do what you will with it. These issues are not something that have just recently been brought to my attention and, quite honestly, they have been largely bothering me for a long time; the only reason I have kept silent until now was simply because I didn’t want to be kicked and therefore cease involvement and interaction with the other members of the game.
The biggest complaint that I have is, as you have mentioned, the way you handled the evident drama that has circled in the game. While I appreciate the fact that you have actually owned up to the fact that you did not approach the situation right (because, yes, adults do have arguments; it’s natural for people to not get along), the reasoning behind your statement wasn’t fair to us. You don’t need a master’s degree in psychology in order to mediate an argument, your age has nothing to do with your ability to talk things out, you don’t have to be a mind-reader to understand what the problem is and, since I am being honest here, taking a last-resort-and-necessary measure to ban people only after hearing the full situation by each party and assessing it fairly can be crucial in a game. These tasks are all part of being a moderator; if you take the “hand’s off” approach, then you’re essentially telling us that you don’t give a shit about your members.
Furthermore, given that you stated this early on in the game, I am amazed to think that you actually held out a hand to these people and expected some sort of response. I will tell you now that after putting up a mod post stating “you’re adults, you should sort yourselves out” has prevented many people coming to you about many different situations regarding issues and drama within the game. In fact, the only time you’ve actually addressed anything is if it was unavoidable because it personally affects you or because you’re present during the time. Although I understand that the anonymous comments have themselves to blame for the following drama, please realize that, despite what you think, we are reasonable people and we feel so strongly about the issue that we have to say something despite knowing the consequences of it. It isn’t right, but sometimes strong feelings get in the way of our judgment.
I’m not, of course, advocating the comments and I neither approve of them, but I will say that I understand their frustration and I understand why they did it.