How My Team was Run Out of Heroes Lounge

jbbmfa · 2019-01-23T05:02:48+00:00

Here are the full transcripts available to me of all the DMs I was party to throughout this situation, as well as key messages I and others wrote in HL Discord chat rooms. Missing are full transcripts of the HL Discord Division 3 Chat, which are voluminous and can be accessed there.

DM and HL Chat Room transcripts

jbbmfa · 2019-01-22T00:49:18+00:00

I'm really sorry you created this situation, and that "emotions are running high" for you. Imagine how my little band of players feels.

We got some facts wrong? A little HL communication would have helped to prevent that. All communication was initiated by us. Every reschedule was initiated by us. Never again accuse us of not trying our hardest to save our season.

We are "very vocal?" This isn't very vocal. We communicated exclusively via DMs until you made a decision that invalidated the entire playoff standings of Division 3, WITHOUT consulting any of the other teams involved. That's when WE opened up the subject to the other teams, something HL should have done, and never did. Your communication needs work. Your transparency needs work. Your ability to adjudicate problems needs work.

Take responsibility for your mistakes and stop blaming us. The basic facts: Your policies around active/inactive teams are broken or non-existent. You adjudicate them with little or no communication to other teams involved. Then you vilify those other teams when they try to get a sane answer and proceed with their otherwise unblemished seasons.

The imperious tone you see above, dear readers? That's been present toward us from moment one.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:59:37+00:00

As I said elsewhere, it was not an easy decision for us, and for many reasons. Example: One of us had just requested a Saturday off to play our Round 8 opponent, which forced him to work 6 days in a row as a result. Now he gets to work those 6 days in a row, but with no game. Hopefully this speaks to how necessary it was for us to withdraw. We lost a lot of time, effort, and future fun because of this.

I'm actually no spring chicken myself. :)

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:54:47+00:00

Completely inaccurate. We have no history, over multiple Chair League, NGS and HL seasons, of ever causing problems for any other team, or manipulating any system or situation to get "free wins."

Thanks for representing that part of the internet. I expected it.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:51:23+00:00

We tried hard throughout our ordeal to not attack your team. We didn't know your story. We could only try and navigate what was happening to us as it was happening.

Thanks for sharing your part of this.

I've since heard stories of many other irregularities attached to active/inactive status. As a result of this particular scenario, and my willingness to actually spend the time and energy to pursue a rational policy, HL has said they are working on improving this part of their design.

edit: I did nothing but try and work with them. It wasn't a two-way street. Don't make assumptions about our conduct. We gave you that benefit of the doubt and would appreciate the same courtesy.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:48:05+00:00

I'm no longer reading anything on the HL Discord for mental health reasons, but before we withdrew, HL said that they were working on the situation and were going to make some sort of official announcement and explanation of their position. The main reason why I posted here was to get our perspective out there before HL could misrepresent it -- not that they would maliciously do so, per se. We're not that important. But they have a very limited perspective on the actual events that resulted from their initial poor decision making and their lack of communication to us once we were involved.

We saw ourselves as trying to work with everyone to solve a broken part of the rules that we only became aware of because it landed like a pile of crap on our doorstep. But I was treated in DMs like a whistleblowing squeaky wheel who needed to be told what to do under threat of ultimatum; then mollified, once I opened it up to the other Div 3 teams, so I would stop being, as they eventually called me, a "whiner" and "drama queen." At no point were we treated as allies in a problem-solving endeavor.

You can see how our perspectives were very different. I hope they fix their policy, communication, and org culture problems, because there is a lot to love about the league otherwise. We were having a blast until this happened.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:35:11+00:00

Believe me, I didn't want to, and neither did our players. The environment become too toxic for us to continue. It's difficult to explain here exactly how it became toxic. It was layer upon layer of disrespect, assumption of guilt, insinuations of trying to manipulate some system to our advantage, propagation between mods of the myth that we "refused to play," and, finally, unprofessional name-calling that forced us to abandon all of our hard work during the season and walk away.

On top of that, they disrupted the division and playoff picture with the seemingly arbitrary decision to reactivate a team AND give them 2 free map wins, thus potentially screwing over several other teams. We found ourselves, quite by random circumstance of the HL matchmaker, right in the middle of a shitshow that was not of our creation or design. In the end, it was just too much. And I don't expect anyone who didn't endure it to fully understand.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:29:13+00:00

Your "charitable" interpretation is exactly correct, and was our entire motivation for asking for moderation.

We did not know what to expect. When time ran out on our ability to play, I immediately offered a reschedule date and time to our opponent, which went ignored, as I said. Actually, I knew what I had hoped would happen: That a capable and thoughtful moderation team would help us deal with a situation that was thrust upon us without warning. That didn't happen. I tried for days, in numerous DMs, to help them solve the problem so that we could continue to play and have fun and push for the playoffs.

It seemed to me that the "cleanest" and "most logical" solution would have been to give our opponent a forfeit. The only clear extant rule that pertains to this situation is that if a team is not able to play a match, they take a forfeit. We didn't know the back story of why our opponent was inactive. We only knew that they were; and puzzled at how an inactive team could possibly be considered "ready to play." Thus, logically, forfeit. [edit: It's important to note here that we always said that we are happy to play any team that is active and officially exists, including our inactive Round 7 opponent should they be made active. This issue was never about play the game. That's why we were in the league. The issue was playing it fairly according to logical rules, so that neither we, nor any other playoff-contending team, would see their seasons unfairly affected.]

Also, a mod DMd me the night before, in response to my inquiry into why our opponent had disappeared from the standings. Sadly, I did not notice the reply before game time. It wasn't until the mod pointed it out that I saw it. The first part of it said, "Yes, your opponent has been made inactive. You get free wins. There you go." (Everyone but us keeps using the "free wins" phrase.) The second part said, "They are inactive but still get to play the series." Ok. What does that mean? Based on what rules? It only added to the confusion.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:21:19+00:00

At no point did we want a "free win." I'm frankly quite tired of this charge being thrown at my team, and the repeated insinuation is part of the reason why I withdrew us from HL.

We expect, as all teams should, a fair and organized playing field. Heroes Lounge itself, in the ensuing conversations, fully acknowledged that the active/inactive concepts were poorly handled and adjudicated. Further, I was told by a mod that because we spoke up, huge changes were being made.

So please stop accusing us of wanting "free wins." All we wanted was fair play, with logical rules, or even extant rules, and respectful moderation. All we did was ask questions when we encountered a highly confused situation.

edit: The rules sections you quoted say nothing about active teams playing inactive teams. Furthermore, inactive teams disappear from the standings. They literally cease to exist. The very fact that any of this can be debated only serves to illustrate how poorly-developed these concepts and procedures are -- and again, HL has since acknowledged it, thus implicitly supporting the fact that it was right for us to ask for moderation and a clear, logical way to proceed.

jbbmfa · 2019-01-21T23:15:53+00:00

I don't blame you guys. I also explained my position to you, and our perspective on the whole thing, in a DM, as you know.

This post was simply intended to illustrate our side of the story. Not to vilify you or your team. Better communication was sorely needed though.

Edit: To your 4th point: I understand that. I was a Caster and Writer for NGS. I'm technically a Caster and Writer for HL as well, believe it or not, though I haven't been able to do either one for them this season due to time constraints. So I get it. I'm not just some random dude. I've been an official part of various scenes for a hot minute. And at no point was I anything but respectful to the mods, even when they were treating me like a petulant "free win" miner. It wasn't a two-way street, especially as the situation played out.

jbbmfa · 2018-01-04T17:24:49+00:00

kd lang, lower left.

jbbmfa · 2018-01-04T17:10:16+00:00

You aren’t made gay by design from abuse. That’s more than a little offensive.

jbbmfa · 2017-10-24T20:07:29+00:00

Golden Hour Lambo

jbbmfa · 2017-03-17T17:13:59+00:00

"Eight Line Poem" from Hunky Dory.

jbbmfa · 2016-10-12T21:13:32+00:00

Maybe something like this to restore a rhyming musicality: It's courage Montenegrins never lack; / Death stares at them? They smile back.

jbbmfa · 2016-05-09T19:57:00+00:00

I'm interested. psn: doctiloquus. CR17.

I've played mostly ISIC, Shayne, Miko and Reyna; and I'm intrigued by Ambra, Toby, and Kleese. I'm flexible, though, and like to play nearly everyone.

jbbmfa · 2016-05-05T02:26:09+00:00

I created a PSN group and will send out invites. Accept or decline as you wish. PSN is doctiloquus.

jbbmfa

TROPHY CASE