I will put this as simply as possible - you are saying the discord and the zeitgeist it presents has zero effects on the game?
Of course not, that would be absurd.
I'm saying that Discord and the zeitgeist it presents has a
positive effect on the game.
In the case of Sigrid, that I didn't read on discord "someone talk to Sigrid so she can flip Bruck"?
I don't know if you read that, but that's not what happened.
I am curious what the official directive is on the limits of this. As long as the note is written in BM proper, anything is justifiable?
If two or more people discuss on Discord an RP situation they want to play out in-game, then play it out in-game, that is fine.
If two or more people discuss on Discord a battle plan they want to enact in-game, then they lay it out in-game and give the orders, that is fine.
If two or more people discuss on Discord a betrayal of a realm, then have the situations that lead up to it play out in-game, that is fine.
If two or more people discuss something on Discord and then have that trigger in-game events with
zero in-game justification, that is, at best, not fine. But that's not what happens in 99% of cases—and, again, you not knowing about the in-game justifications does
not mean they do not exist. (Though I would very,
very strongly encourage players to make at least the barest hints of in-game justifications for events like major betrayals ahead of time—which, in the cases at hand, did happen, so, no problem!)
For the entire life of BM, people have planned certain events outside the game. Some of these plans have been healthy, some have not, but if we banned planning in-game events on Discord, those who genuinely
want to create unrest by doing so would have no problem taking it to Discord PMs, email, IRC, WhatsApp, or (as some groups have in the past) just talking to each other in person, if they're in close physical proximity—while those who just want to plan something fun and interesting without having to go through the much-more-cumbersome in-game message system to do so would be punished for it.
The second point also concerns the devs so I will present it - I have never claimed you are at the beck and call of a tier of players.
You may not have. Some have, and there have been enough similar discussions in the recent past that it is possible I inadvertently mixed you up with some of those who did. If so, I apologize; I have no desire to put words in anyone's mouth.
I will say when the devs can put a "give feedback" button on the account pages to get a broad perspective, why wouldn't they? The question is not an attack.
We have invited feedback over every medium available to us, and here you are, giving feedback over one of those media. I suppose we could add a "feedback" subforum or something, and link to it...? But that wouldn't really give any more options than currently exist...
I have never said you are opinion less and totally manipulated. I've asked are you infallible and immune to persuasion?
Infallible? No.
Immune to persuasion? Well, maybe you could convince me I am...
Of course no one's
immune to persuasion, but 99% of the time, when Player X is complaining that I've been influenced to do things a certain way, either a) I was already planning to do the thing before Player X's in-game enemies suggested it, b) the thing they wanted me to do made sense and was the right thing to do regardless of its impact on a particular in-game situation (which I was fully aware of), or c) the incident in question was a Titan case or other matter of rulebreaking, where, y'know, the person had actually
broken the rules.
My final point was elaborated on by Gildre. I urge everyone to take a moment and think about it. What has been written on discord already about this?
Gildre and I—and the Titans, more generally—have begun discussing this, and I have asked for specific examples, because personally, I cannot recall specific instances of this happening, but I am genuinely concerned about it—not just that it has been happening without my realizing it, but that I could have been among those leading people to feel unheard and invalidated. That is definitely not the atmosphere I want to create here.
I want to be clear, though: While I want to ensure people feel accepted and heard in the Discord as in the game, I still will not tolerate blatant disrespect for other players, volunteers, or Vita and me. Conspiracy theories, casual accusations of bias, and other forms of insulting behaviour are and will remain completely unacceptable.
