PC: Moving Forward

I can't deal with drama, especially not now, so i'll make it quick. The main problem I have is the secrecy. I feel like more should be said to the members, and lower staff. However, I love PC too much to just let go, so.. I'll do anything in my power to help, just let ne know.

L'Belle said:

I can't deal with drama, especially not now, so i'll make it quick. The main problem I have is the secrecy. I feel like more should be said to the members, and lower staff. However, I love PC too much to just let go, so.. I'll do anything in my power to help, just let ne know.

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I can say that going forward, we will do our very best so that this will be more prominent throughout the community. Transparency seems to be a common theme going around, with good reason.

A sensible approach would be to move on, naturally. PC is full of memories. Its not easy to let go of this place. I'm hoping that I can do what I can for the good of this platform

Alright. I am not sure how to say this, so I am just going to type and see what comes out.

I haven't been active for a while, probably about two years, now that I think about it. I have been busy, and it makes me sad to think that I have kind of forgotten about this forum. I grew up on here. I joined when I was having a rough time through the start of high school, and it was finding a place with people who shared my interests that made me happy to be myself. When I logged in today to find the forum in the condition that it is in, my heart sunk. I never really thought about the people behind the scenes. They always seemed kind of immortal to me back then, and now that is clearly not the case. I have taken time to read this entire thread over the past few hours, and I can see how much everyone cares about this place. I didn't experience what has happened over the past few days, and that's probably a good thing. I never got to know the people at the center of this, and nor do I know the people who are preparing to take control. I just hope for the sake of everyone here, and for the kids like me who will come across this place as I did back then, that the community is just as bright and welcoming as it was before this whole thing started.

Good luck to the admins taking the helm, and good luck to the people who are moving on from here. Its hard to separate what is true and false in all this commotion, but what happened in the past is the past, and I honestly feel bad for every single person involved.

I am sorry if this is not my place to speak, but I can't watch this without saying anything.

Good luck guys.

I think this is moving too fast. There are people who have issues with Jake remaining as Administrator and there's not being listened to that. Moreover, there's a lot of people here and still on the Discord asking just what the hell happened. Be fucking honest and transparent for once, new members deserve to know right from the bat what the hell happened that everyone migrated so suddenly.

Do you want to take this habit of secrecy with you to the revived PC? You should let this process take longer. It's too fresh to be immediately continuing; it's like you're trying to brush this off.

I cannot comment on the ER situation.

There's too many trust issues here that I cannot get over. Unlike most people posting here I had zero attachment to PC and I have no reason to overlook the information about Steve and Jake (even if it's just a rumour, too many people have voiced concerns for him to dismiss) for the sake of some sentiment. Good luck trying to regain a strong userbase, I'm out.

Just to clarify things, a lot of the things you may have heard about Steve's handling of financials are a result of a lack of transparency. Being something that ultimately drove PC to the state that it was, it's imperative that we change how things work. In fact, every admin other than Steve was unsure about where the money was going, any issues with financials, and whatnot, and it led to internal turmoil. No, I did not have access to money, and, I did not have access to financial information so I wouldn't even know the condition of PC itself.

There's plenty of reason for the urgency in getting PC back on its feet — with frequent new registrations, members downloading content, and people who just want to keep having a chat — there needed to be staff on board to help users about and keep the site running. Forming a new administration on PC was essential — there's plenty of people, myself included, who simply stick around because it's been a wonderful place — to protect the community, keep people safe, and keep PC moving.

This administration serves to keep everyone involved in PC accountable. I'm no exception. If there was any hint that I would be out of line, then either I'd be removed or the administration would have to simply dissolve, and PC would continue its decline until there's nothing. I don't want that either — and it's why I'm sticking, and why I'm taking up tracking PC's financial data. I've collected data to help build the picture — ad revenues and donations have always been used to fund the server. There's systems in place to ensure that this remains the case — we'll be tracking who donates, how much ad money is paid out, and how much was paid to the server, and any surplus which can be added to the budget for the next month. There's a lot of details that need to be hammered out and a lot of future planning to be made to help PC get consistent funding, but know that being transparent about that is an utmost priority. Funds, by the way, are paid to a business account which I have no access to.

A lot of steps are being taken. It's trying times, but myself and the rest of the administration will do our best to get things sorted out.

Hey Everyone!

I know I've never been in the "in-crowd", never been a mod or any other position of power, but I do believe due to the sensitivity of this topic that even the guy in the background should be allowed to chime in on this situation. I've held off saying anything formally on the topic exactly because I feel I knew less than anyone else. I've spent the last few days reading what others have said and felt in order to divulge my own opinion on what's going on.

As to Rukario's situation, I feel very bad for him. I cannot even begin to say I know the details surrounding his legal situation other than it was near 30 or 30+ years ago. Part of me morally is upset by it, but another says regardless of what he did all that time ago, he is still a human being and deserves a fair chance at redemption. I also do believe that it's best for him to step down as Admin and as much as it probably hurts to relinquish control over something he helped build, that it is for the good of the community. I would like to personally thank him for his part in bringing all of us together, as well as seeing the light when it comes to stepping away for the good of the community.

As to the accusations against Jake. Once again I've never pretended to be part of the "in-crowd", but does anyone have any sort of proof of his guilt? Yes, Rukario's predicament is documented and proven and far more juicy than a financial scandal, but IF it's true it's just as illegal. Were talking about different currencies and monetary amounts from all over the world. Does anyone understand the severity of the crime Jake is being accused of? In my county someone is INNOCENT until proven GUILTY. If there is no proof of Jake's guilt, the accusations should cease until you have something concrete. If you don't feel comfortable donating then don't, but for the good of our community STOP the allegations. Nothing good can come of throwing shade at someone without evidence.

I've been a part of this community for oh... five years now? I've had two shops in the Trade Corner and made many friends, many of whom have come and gone again. It would be a shame to see this community die so suddenly or change for the worse. The only evidence I've seen consistently is Jake was accused of something and someone seems to have been upset by it (Not saying it was Jake, so excuse me if it looks like I'm also making accusations, because that is totally not the intent) so they brought up Rukario's past. Does this not seem like a he said-she said that went waaaay out of control?

In summary, It sucks for Rukario that he is being asked to step down surely much earlier than he had planned to do, but you can't argue with the FACTS and what people want. It is a shame that this is the way it has to go and not 100% on the terms or the way Rukario thought he'd go. This forum has been ran by some of the best Mods I've ever seen though and I'm sure will continue to do so, even under new Administration. I fully support the new Admin team and hope they will be an essential part of restoring PC's status. I hope many of the friends we've lost in this set of circumstance's will eventually return as well, but for those who do not, I'll see you on the other side. I personally hold ALL of the friends I've made here in high regard, so I will be between both forums and Discord's, and will see you all again be it here or Escape Rope.

Thanks for reading! See you soon!

-Mikazuki

Hey.
So I know that I'm fairly new to these forums, and I've not gotten much information gathered on this specific topic, but I'll go ahead and say this:

Only time will tell what happens. I bid everyone good luck, and I hope that PC will get through this as best it can moving forward.

Well this has sure been a crazy few days. I'll just keep this short and sweet.

These are definitely steps in the right direction. No doubt, the situation could've been handled better but thats in the past now, time to live in the present and look to the future and fix all of these issues. I look forward to seeing what the new leadership does and hope for a very smooth and quick as possible transition so that the new era of PC can begin. I'll gladly help in any way I can!

As for those who are leaving permanently, I'm sorry it has to be this way but I understand why you feel the way you do. I wish you all the best and the success of the new site!

Why do you keep mentioning being transparent with everyone yet you won't say what information was brought to light as to why all this is happening. I would feel a lot more reassured if instead of empty words, you practiced what you preached.

Strike the Blood said:

Why do you keep mentioning being transparent with everyone yet you won't say what information was brought to light as to why all this is happening. I would feel a lot more reassured if instead of empty words, you practiced what you preached.

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I personally believe that the incident with the pervious owner has his right to have his personal history remain his personal history. Putting it out in the open If you would like to know more, don't hesitate to PM me and I'll absolutely explain it to the best of my ability.

Strike the Blood said:

Why do you keep mentioning being transparent with everyone yet you won't say what information was brought to light as to why all this is happening. I would feel a lot more reassured if instead of empty words, you practiced what you preached.

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I asked an admin yesterday morning basically if I could publicly elaborate on what started all this and provide some of what staff was presented with when we first found out. They said that it would be better for the admins to handle that, and that they would bring it up with the rest of the admins. I do not know why it has not been done yet.

We do not want those who have decided to rejoin us and re-associate themselves with PC to have the information be posted publicly on the forum. Many people took drastic measures to avoid being associated with the revealed information and we don't want to jeopardize ourselves or those individuals by making a public post of the matter.

However, we are committed to transparency and obviously cannot control word of mouth indefinitely. If you would like to know, contact myself, other admins, or any of the moderators who have volunteered to explain and we will fill you in to the best of our ability in private. We only ask that you respect everyone's continued privacy and avoid discussing the details publicly so that we can put this matter behind us for everyone's sake.

We've let every comment in this thread stand as-is, whether it's in support of us or against us, and we hope in that respect you can see that we aren't trying to too strongly control the message of this situation. But it is a delicate situation that many people understandably do not want to be associated with, so we hope that can be the case going forward.

This is definitely a great start, but I am wary for a few different reasons. First and foremost, while in the first post you mentioned the level of shock when the information was presented among staff, it has been confirmed that some staff members and former staff members have known the information for over a decade. Frankly those individuals should probably not be involved in the running of the site, but that's not my judgment to make. I am more disappointed in the people who continue to dramatize the "site vandalism" that occurred following the reveal, as if the site were utterly and irreparably destroyed. Given the nature of what was revealed, the reaction from the community was pretty reasonable. You might not be personally upset by the news, but many people were. And if you say you were upset by it, but you don't think it justifies the reaction that followed - everyone is going to deal with news like this differently. It was not dramatic for people to ask for their accounts to be deleted - you have no idea what kind of inappropriate behavior these people have dealt with in the past. I don't like that a few (not many, but a few) people have rushed to defend totally indefensible accusations while continuing to chastise those who reacted negatively.

I am not sure Jake will gain the trust of the community, though I do think we should be open minded in that regard. To the extent that he can improve transparency I'm here for it.

So you can be transparent but only on the stuff you choose to let be transparent, seems mighty hypocritical to me. I've found myself having issues with PC in and around it. This situation honestly doesn't surprise me.

I just feel like you're trying to do damage control while blanketing it with a "We promise to be open with you except you can't know the reason why we're making this promise".
From the whole situation it seems like it's big enough to warrant more details instead of the vaguer stuff that's been mentioned.

How can you want us to trust things will change when we don't know what change is needed and why.

Strike the Blood said:

How can you want us to trust things will change when we don't know what change is needed and why.

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I don't think I'm wrong when I say that a lot of the turmoil sprouted internally. That the public are involved and questions about finances have been asked only emphasises that it's an area that we need to be a hell of a lot more transparent about it.

The PokéCommunity is a community, and the staff serve to maintain it. If the black box needs to be broken — if we need to be super open about things from here on in because the community demands it — then we're going to smash it.

Laslow said:

I don't think I'm wrong when I say that a lot of the turmoil sprouted internally. That the public are involved and questions about finances have been asked only emphasises that it's an area that we need to be a hell of a lot more transparent about it.

The PokéCommunity is a community, and the staff serve to maintain it. If the black box needs to be broken — if we need to be super open about things from here on in because the community demands it — then we're going to smash it.

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While I fully understand where you're coming from, it still seems like you're trying to hide it, You've acknowledged the financial thing, probably because it was very public knowledge but this other information you won't even be vague about, you just flat out won't say what it is. Again it's hard to trust words when it's "Well we'll be transparent but you can only know stuff we want you to know".

I'm in no way trying to bring the hammer down on the staff or PC itself but I've seen very little people actually really question or push anything, instead it's all just acceptance. Which while may lead to a peaceful moving on, might not allow for anything to change at all.

"Please message us if you would like to know and we will tell you everything we can" is pretty transparent.

I realize that means it's not out in the open but there is a reason it's not. We've already had people wanting their entire accounts deleted, with near decades of history, just to avoid association with PC over this. Please respect their decisions and the decisions of those remaining when we say we don't want this particular part to be posted publicly. Not only do we want to be discreet about it, but I believe those leading the charge away from PC wanted to be more discreet as well, hence only mentioning it on the Discord where they linked to their alternative to PC.

While we will not publicly go into why Steve had to be removed from staff (and ownership of the site, although that has not yet changed hands), we tried to address that he was removed in our first post. I believe it is enough for people to know that he was deemed unfit to be in charge in any capacity if PC was going to continue as a community, and if you would like to know more about why, PM me. The other issue that caused people to leave was the finances and the suspicion that they were used by the administration for profit--this was untrue, and once we have full control of the finances, we plan to be very clear about what PC earns in ad revenue (and especially donations), what it pays in upkeep, and how profits (if any) will be funnelled back into the site.

But, fact of the matter is, we are doing damage control. We want PC to be able to prosper and that means moving past this and on to better things. We don't want to necessarily brush this under the rug, because it's resulted in a big turning point for PC, but rest assured it is not a thing we want to publicize, for the sake of everyone associated with the community, past and present.

Edit: I should also mention it's understandable if you don't trust the administration quite yet, so if you'd rather PM one of the mods/members who have volunteered it for an explanation, you might personally feel they can be more impartial.

Don't ask for rushed changes, people. This kind of stuff isn't changed in a week, perhaps not even a month, much less in a day or two.

If you expect stuff to be done properly, then let the staff work on it with time.

Gabri said:

Don't ask for rushed changes, people. This kind of stuff isn't changed in a week, perhaps not even a month, much less in a day or two.

If you expect stuff to be done properly, then let the staff work on it with time.

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You have to understand where people are coming from though, they've just found out things which have caused them to have big trust issues with the people who run and are associated with this site, You can't blame anyone for not having an ounce of trust left for anyone left with power at the moment, as innocent and trustworthy as many of them are, Trust is lost and respect is lost but it is also re-earned. I do agree that changes won't come immediately but you have to know people are going to be skeptical every single step of the way.