Often, in order to avoid upsetting the people involved in bad behavior, the statements the Crestfallen staff make are vague and indistinct. These statements undermine confidence in the Crestfallen staff’s stance toward these actions.
Chaz recommended that the statement I requested for continued work with Crestfallen be written as follows in order to make it more palatable to Beren.
My actions in the past damaged the trust and respect between Scott and me, and harmed Scott’s character, which I had never intended. I have only ever known Scott to act with integrity in his work, and any rumors to the contrary are reprehensible.
Moving forward, I will endeavor to support and lift up my staff and defend them when necessary against any unsubstantiated accusations. I would like to publicly apologize for my actions, and I will strive to do better.
Notice how the new statement does not name the behavior and describe what was done. It states that “something bad” happened and “something better” should happen in the future.
The update in this Buttondown newsletter is another example.
During the course of the event, we had a breakdown in our safety procedures and responses. A good portion of this was caused by the heat and humidity. Tensions ran high and disputes occurred on multiple levels.
At the event that Brittany Perry was running, Vince Errico verbally abused Mike Fife because Vince let himself get too hot in his fursuit. The post simply says that “disputes occurred on multiple levels” taking any blame or away from Vince and leaving Mike undefended by the Crestfallen staff while the folks at the event watched him get verbally abused by an overheated Vince Errico.
This Facebook post follows the same style.
We have had a person come forward, share appropriate information, and are moving forward with making decisions regarding everything that has occurred.
What happened? What was shared? I have no idea what was going on here.
For an example of this behavior on a larger scale, look at how American news media outlets cover the Palestinian genocide. This article does a great job of showing it.
When the Israeli army kills Palestinians (as it often does), we read that “protesters have died.” The passive voice is the favorite rhetorical tool of propagandists worldwide, who “regret the mistakes that were made” without having to admit who made them.
In each of these instances, the bad behavior is not publicly addressed, it is treated as a private matter while the harm happens in public. The way that it looks from an outside observer is that the harm cannot be named. For a game that claims to provide a safe environment for its players this a a very telling stance that shows the true character of the people involved.
I hope that in the learning journey that Chaz has told me that Beren is on, he learns to speak clearly when injustice and harm occurs and defend the staff and players of his game.
As the game currently stands, attending the game is not a good idea.