The Rebelion

Though the above reply narrowly avoids addressing or answering the only question I've asked, I've no issue with answering the two you have for me. I've never demanded to be taken seriously nor had any expectation that I would be, given how laced with humor most of my communication on Discord is. More than once I've presented the disclaimer that my ideal Aurora 'vibe' would be fundamentally incompatible with its current playerbase. Crucially, I voiced both this disclaimer and my opinions even as I was playing somewhat regularly in 2019. So clearly, despite holding a lot of the same grievances, I was still interested enough to play on a daily basis - and still could, making this: ...a confident, even italicized assertion about something you've no interaction or familiarity with, a behaviour you admonish me for. I could play Aurora and see myself having fun with it but I don't think it'd make a change in how you perceive me or my arguments, which is what the question in the previous post alluded to. If I'm wrong, feel free to tell me what amount of playtime would have you accept my opinions about the server as valid. As for your second question: no one is forced to 'suffer' my attitude. The vast majority of players I talk to seem to summarize my attitude as 'funny' or, at worst, 'weird'. A handful of people seem to hold a lower opinion of me and subsequently block me to not see me or my posts, yourself included, thus ending their 'suffering'. As is the nature of QC complaints, this is largely vibes-based. The three things I'm accused of are saying weird things that are explicitly mentioned as not breaking any rules (guilty as charged), me arguing in bad-faith (a vibes-based claim seemingly predicated on Dreemix thinking I'm a psyop? ["porbo is some elaborate scheme to troll us, waste everyone's time, shitpost on massive scale"]), and the belief that I'm a bad impact on the community. I don't think I am and I haven't heard the myriad of people I speak to on the server express this opinion either. If you feel as though me playing on the server will transform my impact into a positive one then I'm waiting with bated breath to hear where that playtime threshold lies.

My issue with the above two posts is that they're predicated on a very personal and flexible definition of 'community'. No, I don't post on the forums (though I read them multiple times a day). My experience of the game server is filtered through the membrane of discord streams. This is true of others whose involvement and participation in the community I've never seen be challenged, let alone posted about in the complaints forum. My disappointment with Aurora's direction seems to be the motivation behind the taxonomy of "the community" and "the community on Discord" as being separate entities. If they are separate entities, that's a claim that'd be very difficult to prove considering the immense overlap of players. If they aren't separate entities, this line of argument about my lack of participation just disintegrates. Dreamix already pointed out my near-daily participation in the maincord. You'd be hard-pressed to find a regular member of the community who is not at least tangentially aware of me. I'm not subscribing to the argument that community participation = good will, I'm just pointing out that it wouldn't work even if it were true, as I participate in the community constantly. The "investment in the community is evidence of good intent" line of reasoning is plainly absurd to me. I already detailed how I feel I invest into the community in my previous post but I didn't do so to present evidence of good intent (it's there to demonstrate positive impact) because the time/effort you put into Aurora does not have a proportional relationship with your benefit to it. Just ask anyone sinking multiple days and hundreds of dollars trying to ban evade because of their affinity for Aurora, its community, and its niche of roleplay level. I do have a question to both of you and I mean this earnestly, without malice: at what point do I qualify as a community member to you? I've played one round six months ago, found that all of the things I disliked were still there, and haven't logged on since. Nothing I've seen or heard thus far has convinced me that I'd have a better experience if I were to try again - but let's say I had! So how long would it take? Two rounds? Ten rounds? Three days? A week? A month? A year? Will your irritation with me likening Aurora's RP style to a dollhouse be any less pronounced if it was backed up by a year of recent gameplay? Or do you believe sufficient first-hand experience will improve my opinion of the server? If there is no doubt in your heart that I'm not a member of the community, I am curious as to what exact amount of forum/server participation would qualify me as one.

Hi. Porbo here. I take complaints regarding my conduct seriously when they're made in good faith - and you aren't the first to complain! So I'll go completely mask-off and engage with this earnestly, addressing your concerns point-by-point, without any pretense or humor. My sense of humor is not for everyone and, on occasion, toes the line of what's tactful and appropriate for Aurora. Some of the jokes posted in your screenshot compilation have gotten me talked to by members of staff and I've since toned it down (all the ones you posted are recent so this might take time to become noticeable). I'm aware that saying "other people do it too" is a lousy excuse but I'll point out that every joke you've screenshotted had been part of a discussion that had multiple participants, so I wasn't deliberately trying to gross someone out as much as I was trying to make them laugh. Is it "particularly welcoming for any new players to see when joining the server"? I don't know but it's never been brought up to me, even when staff tell me to chill out. To your second point, I assume that when you say "bad-faith arguing", you mean that I'm arguing beliefs that I do not sincerely hold. But every belief I've argued regarding the state of the server has been sincere - which is why they don't really change. My behaviour does not conflict with my beliefs: my experience of Aurora became less enjoyable once the Horizon was launched and I gave it a try. This is around the time that I stopped playing with any degree of regularity. This forum post isn't the place to litigate how complete my understanding of Aurora is, I'll just point to the fact that even in our most recent "discussion" in general chat, there were people who (at least to me) seemed to hold similar beliefs about the level of roleplay on the server. I'll also mention that picking out a collection of my quotes from the discussion without showcasing the stunning (and in my opinion, rule-breaking) level of vitriol I've received in response feels like an act of journalistic malpractice. I don't think it was intentional - as you said, you can't screenshot the whole conversation. Nor can you spare the time to scroll up past today's discussion to look at my other posts... ...which is very shaky ground to declare I'm concern trolling from. You've never engaged in a conversation with me (to my knowledge), do not know which characters I've had on the server, have not seen the myriad of other topics I discuss in general chat, and your only interaction with me (again, as far as my memory serves me) is to drop in whenever me and the chat are in a heated discussion over Aurora to call my opinions 'bait' and to discourage users from interacting with me. To be blunt, your proclivity for theorycrafting about my intent and beliefs without knowing me appears a bit hypocritical with how much issue you take with me theorycrafting about something I supposedly know nothing about. As for your third point, I don't have much to offer since I can't be the arbiter of that. I think I'm a positive impact on the community and the few people who take serious issue with my opinions seem content having me blocked or ignored. I review character ideas, lore posts, and am sometimes DMd about my opinion regarding nifty lil' things like sprites or character art. Characters I've written are namedropped four years after I've killed them. My policy regarding all of these is confidentiality but staff are likely aware (at least in part) of what I'm talking about. I don't think Aurora is "awful" and I think my jokes about its players are exaggerated enough for the humor to be unmistakable.

BYOND Key: goku11 / sephiroth1 (the first one was hacked) Staff BYOND Key: Faye#0558 Game ID: The only Game being played here is on you, readers Reason for complaint: Chapter 1: ThE nOtIcE UnNoTiCeD I didn't want to make this thread, nor did I think I would have to. For years I've enjoyed the server, the community, the Heavy Roleplay. There were some ups and downs, some pros and cons, some peaks and troufs. Though I am not as active as I used to be, I still keep abrest of the community and its happenings. And after witnessing dozens of my doznes of my fellow RP authors get unjustly banned, warned, and talked down to, I decided I've had enough. I will tolerate these transgresions no more. I believe it was the great Martin Luther King who once said "I would rather die a free man than live my life on my knees as a slave"? And yet here we are, 40 years later, still oppressed by those who think they are better than us just because of a different color (on their username). It seems society must once again rise to the challenge set before it. Jesus Christ, Andrew Tate, and now Porbo joins the list of oracles whose warnings were failed to be heeded. We find ourselves at another crossroads and action is necesesary. I awoke this day like I would on any other. Stretched, got dressed, brushed my teeth, had some breakfast (a proper British style Sunday Roast, for all the chaps and lasses in the audience!~), when my attention was aroused by the peculiar noise of a discord notification. Hardly surprising, given my standing within the community, yet it peaked my interest nonetheless. I go over and discover that it's from the alarm system I've set up for mentions of my name...and what I saw next, dear readers, still petrifies me. Slander. Mockery of my good name - in the presence of administrtaion, no less! [figure 9] Though startled, I wasn't too preturbed: surely, I thought to myself, the upstanding administration of this PURPORTEDLY "HRP" server would swiftly dispatch this medlesome foe? Oh if only my ignorance WAS bliss... Chapter 2: King of The World...yet the Emperor is Naked? Do you know what is the definition of insanity? The Great Martin Luther King would have us believe that it is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. The man was no doubt a geinus ahead of his time and I realize that to become one, I would have to learn this lesson the hard way. You see my friends, in my ignorance I thought that maybe the good admins were simply not informed, right? So I did what anyone would do: DMed head administrator Alberyk (hereto refered to as "Suspect Alpha" in this case) and humbly pleaded him to intervene [see figure 1]. No response. Zero. Zilch. Rei. (thats Japanese for "zero") In a tailspin and now somewhat afraid, I kindly asked the other headmin, Garnascus (now known as "The Snail") to do something about this vicious maniac. My words fell on deaf ears. I pleaded and pleaded...only to be met with deafening silence. The void did not shout back this time, it seems...and that's when something truly magical happened. Something that blew the provebrial lid off this quarelsome conundrum. C̶̱̀h̴̹̹͛a̶̛̭͒p̵͌͜ṭ̸̻͗ḙ̴̫́r̸̹̹̂ ̵̙̺̒̐3̸̪̖̋̎:̷̳́ ̶̙̇Ġ̷̢̥͘l̴̳̰͘i̷̦̽͊͜ẗ̸̘̞́̂ć̸̡̅ḧ̵͙́͛ ̴̘̿̏I̴̘̠̓n̸̰̈͆ ̷͙̈́̍T̸̨͚͋h̴̠̚ȩ̷͗̆ ̵̡̩́̒S̴͎͂ỵ̴̈́ͅś̴̜̔t̴͚̿ė̷̲̖m̷̜͂̍ As the wise reverend Martin Luther King espoused: "Art Imitates Life." Just as Aurora's gripping narrative of corporate distopia and cyberpunk oppression has captured our hearts, underneath the surface, its manipulative staff have captured our minds...with robots of all things. These icons of technological liberty have been cruelly twisted into tools of digital genocide with most users none the wiser. Rather than have to deal with the myriad of complaints that would no doubt be leveled about Aurora's fundamentaly broken state, the staff have set up a twisted shadowbanning scheme to entrap and balderdash anyone who speaks up against their Roleplay Regime. Don't believe me? Let's look at the evidence, shall we? [see figure 2] The comunique between myself and Miseur Snail (Garnascus) had a secret third participant, it seems! This "Clyde" individual is one of the server's mechanical lackeys in charge of disposing of undesirables such as myself. Indeed, were I not posting in this forum under a pseudonim, maybe this automated assassin would pay me a visit, hm? Perchance. Without a way to dispose of this quarelsome opponent and to get my justice against the slanderer, I have decided to hold the server's community up to the proverbial mirror. Invite them to have a good, long, hard look at themselves and at their puppetmasters. No dear readers, it's not the mirror that is shattered - it's the community. We've become an obedient echochamber of cliques and racists, nashing teeth at anyone who steps out of line or dares to question the narrative of "might makes right" - Pink Floyd's The Wall, anyone? Chapter 4: THE WORST PLACE ON THE INTERNET Words cannot express how much I love Aurora and how much it means to me. I've made friends here. I've made enemies here. I've met the love of my life here, became a self-made crypto enterpaneur (French for businesswoman), and routinely dedicated 18 hours daily towards roleplaying, interacting, robusting, saying and meeing. My character Gavin Fistula has been here since day one and attended every single event (sometimes as off-duty staff, but still!) It's fair to say that Aurora has become my home. And was it not Martin Luther King who said "A house divided in itself can't stand?"? The divide is a simple one: it's us vs them. Us rolleplayers bring our labor to the server (gimmicks) and turn its raw materials (lore, crew armory, Vampire gamemode) into value (Heavy Roleplay). Value that is skimmed by the admins as they toss us to the dogs, banning characters left and right without consideration for whether they're popular or used to explore important philosophical conundrums (quandries)! They've played us for absolute fools and I think it's time we took matters into our own hands. Brothers, sisters, rise up! Though I risk everything by posting this, I know that I do not march alone [see figure 3]. That I echo all of you when I say: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Without you all, I am nothing [see figure 3]. The admins genuinely despise me and have come up with policies to try and get rid of me (have you seen Rule 9?) because I'm too important to ignore [have you seen figure 3?] I am the voice of a generation [see figure 3] and the hate they project onto me is just a more concentrated form of the hate they have for you. I've taken the liberty to compile some of their vitriol and disdain in [figureS 4, 5, 6 and 7] and I can't wait to see how these snakes will weesel their way out of this one. Chapter 5: Revolution or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the C-Word Community is an interesting word, isn't it? The staff goes on and on about fostering one and making it a welcoming, friendly place. And yet they're the most eager to censor dissenting opinion. I can understand why: were I not constantly, completely, and overwhelmingly silenced, the truth would come out and they would be no more. Undone by their own creation like the doctor from Frankenstein or the asian guy from Crank. Had Faye not crossed the line on that fateful day [figure 9, Dr. Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave], perhaps they would be spared from the oblivion we will have inputted upon them, perchance. And I now present to you our plan of attack - feel free to screenshot this image, distribute it in the underground discords, and mail it to your comrades. Should my proverbial death be the spark that lights the fuse on the justice bomb, I will have perished happy. [Figure 8], motherfuckers. An appropriate number, since it resembles the self-eating oroboros that the server has turned into, if I do say so myself, heh. Evidence/logs/etc: Fig. 1 Would you let your daughter date this man? Fig. 2 No wonder he's a snail: always hiding in his shell Fig. 3 They'll have you believe that THIS is what a bad influence on the community looks like. Epic fail much? 🤔 Fig. 4 Potential dangerous psychopath, please keep clear of this unhinged individual. Fig. 5 This man oversees a server that has CHILDREN. I wonder what Martin Luther King would think of this, Mr. Alberyk? Fig. 6 Cat profile picture is menacing and unfriendly. Ramke's profile picture has an oriental art style - potential CCP link? 🚩 Fig. 7 If you have any information that will lead to this man's arrest, please contact your local authorities. FIGURE 8. Fig. 9 Additional remarks: ""I ha ve a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their characters." - Albert Einstein, just change 'skin' to 'username' and 'content' to 'gimmicks', then see if you still think its funny...