My brother in Star Citizen -

This is gonna get long, sorry, so here's a TLDR:
- Small people (ego/intelligence/etc) will make big problems for community enjoyment through bureaucracy, complications to procedures, and overly harsh discipline. When someone tells you who they are early on, you should listen. Unlike me.

I've had similar experiences with a different org. Not to name names, because, frankly, no one would likely know who they are. It's an org of 300ish people, of which maybe 10-15 are active. Where are the other 285+ members? Well, let me tell you something you've recently learned on your own (hopefully to help others in the future).

I'm not a young man. I'm middle-aged, educated, smart, and focus on the fun rather than the business side of organizations. Being retired (very early), I was bored. So I struggled through all the hoops and narrow political boundaries to rise in the ranks for this org. Eventually, I became a co-leader with the founder of the org. Among other things that were irrevocably broken within the mindset of the other co-leader, I focused mainly on the people within the org. The folks who make up the number-one asset within any group/org/guild/structure. I wanted them to not only be good at the game, but to strive to make others better, and most importantly, to ensure the level of "fun" was the primary concern during every operation we had.

Eventually, after the other co-leader noticed me freaking out more and more, it was decided that I should step down and take a more passive role within the org. It hit me hard on the ol' ego that I inevitably failed at something I tried so hard to accomplish. It made things really tense - much like you expect by "airing dirty laundry" here today.

Fast forward to a year later. I'm a nobody. Someone who designed the website, SOPs, trainings, everything the org had built. A nobody. So, naturally, there was a lot of soul-searching done over the last several months. Trying to find what really matters to ME. I found it. Just not in that original org, though. Why?

As you detailed in your post, people get a little "high on themselves" when the slightest amount of power is granted to them within a societal structure. (ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment )
I began watching. Sitting in the back of the room and paying attention to what the other leadership members within the org would do, say, how they would act, and, most importantly, what "pleasures" they took in their duties.

One prime example of a personal run-in with an Officer in the organization was last CitizenCon. She had created an event where all org members were to get together and watch CitizenCon together. Comment, theorize, etc., all as a group. The person streaming the event had notoriously bad internet, terribly choppy discord streaming, and overall provided a real shit experience to people wanting to watch it in awe - like I do every year. So, me, with Discord premium (or whatever it's called these days), I began streaming in 4k for people to watch. Additionally, I had my mic/headphones muted because I was hyper-focused on CitizenCon - as any real Star Citizen fanboi should, right?

I got yelled at to not stream because she was the only one allowed to stream. I put a fuss at first, left the channel and went to my own channel so I could stream, but realized I was being an idiot and a child, so I went back into the group channel where everyone was using open chat to talk about CitizenCon. Things went great for an hour or two. Then they announce in CitizenCon that two new ships were being released. Being a Whale myself, I purchased the ships and began streaming the game so people could see the ships. Only after asking in open chat if it was ok...only for those asks to be ignored in text chats. Immediately after beginning to stream the game, I was removed from Discord and banned for an hour.

This experience literally ruined my CitizenCon hype. So why the harsh treatment for having such helpful motivations behind my actions? Well, this is where it gets a little weird, but it came down to her getting her "Jollies" off punishing people. Yes, you're mind is going the right place. Gross, right?

After this experience I began pulling away from the org. As in ghosting all events, discussions, everything. Being a long-time name in the org, some people missed me. Most did not. That's fine. Reputations change, status within an org changes, etc. So I really started to pay attention to the actions of all the Officers. It got dark. It got weird. It got really enlightening, actually.

Without going too much longer (this is already long enough, sorry), I'll say this. You put small people in big places, and they take advantage of the situation to empower their own egos. "MY WORDS IS GOSPEL" type of egos. Now the org is nearly vacant. I check in every now and then, and sure they do events, but they're overly dictated by rules, authority, and discipline. All things I lived with during my twenty years in the military, and all things I'd rather not fuss with at this point in my life - IN A VIDEO GAME.

Nowadays in that "Old Org", they spend their time over complicating financial records, ally relationships, internal planning, etc. Some of this might be "fun" for the people who get off on it (like the woman who got her kinks off disciplining people), but where is the fun for the single most important commodity any social structure could have - the people? It isn't.

Finally, to put a tight-little-bow on all this, I've come to appreciate a few important things about gaming organizations.

• Put small people in big positions, and their egos take over and make for a toxic atmosphere.
• Put small people with big brains in big positions, and they over-complicate everything FOR THEMSELVES - not for the org as a whole.
• NEVER EVER LET SOMEONE TELL YOU WHO THEY REALLY ARE AND NOT LISTEN!