Hi everyone! It's certainly been a while, no?
I recognize that I haven't posted here since 2013, and that was nearly three years ago. It seems that with WH's activity dying down, the blogs went as well. Anywho, I recently resigned from staff, which was somewhat emotional for me. I wanted an outlet to express my feelings about my decision, why I did so, and my opinion on WH's current standing.
Also, a foreword: I am not here to write malicious things, to rat anyone out, or to share staff secrets.
One of my primary reasons for leaving staff was my own inactivity and the site's inactivity. It's unfair for me to keep a position that I'm not contributing to, and as hard as it was to let go, I have come to recognize that WH simply is no longer what it used to be. The site that I joined and the site that I left are two completely different places. From the day I joined, it was my biggest dream to become a Moderator. I made so many friends here and I genuinely had a good time. I was pretty well-known among the community and I never really had any particular spouts with anyone, except maybe one over SunsetGuardian. I became a Moderator when WH 1.2 was released. Unfortunately, this was the worst time for WH. There was the hack where everyone lost days' worth of XP and many of my friends quit, leaving nasty messages on their profile and getting banned because of Stormgaze's huge ordeal (man, I really miss that guy!). So I went into 1.2 without a large majority of the userbase that I had grown to love. All my Chatbox friends got fed up with Karlos's inactivity and found other places to go. I was very hopeful that WH would transform into something new, but I really never saw it become the same site that it was back then.
I'm sorry, but I cannot see why so many people are logged on at once. What do people even do here anymore? Half of the Map artwork has been missing for two years, Karlos has other projects and his real life to take care of, everything is left incomplete for months and months... the atmosphere just is not one that I enjoyed. This site went from teenagers having a good time to 10-year-olds threatening to kill each other over their virtual mates. Every single report I got was someone just being a complete dickwad over private messages, a bunch of squeakers trying to dirty RP with people, wolves "cheating" on each other... what the actual fuck? Lol. Also, did you know that if you live in the USA and you're under the age of 13, you're not even allowed to play WH because of COPPA restrictions? I wonder how many kids I banned for checking that box when they joined only to plaster their age on their profile.
In addition, I'm really salty that I was a staff member for so long and saw three people become Administrators before me, when I put in the same amount of time and dedication as them. Though I was never that close to Karlos, so I can understand that, but I really just felt swept under the rug at many points. When we selected new moderators, I was the only moderator who wasn't new.
There was one Administrator that I didn't see fit as a Moderator, let alone someone above me. I complained about their behavior and several regular members did as well, but nothing was ever done. They can't even write a coherent sentence without spelling something wrong, but... -insert Kermit meme-
But even one of them has said it themselves, "Sea, you're too nice to be a moderator." I was very lenient; I'd PM someone over banning them for art theft and I'd really try to correct their behavior and give them another chance. I never saw the point in going straight to a mute or ban. How is someone going to learn what they did wrong if you never informed them? I'd send a PM explaining that they committed art theft, why taking pictures off of Google is art theft, and how they could create their own artwork or use a free base to design their character. I got scolded for that.
I just got sick of dealing with petty little issues between kids that shouldn't be on this site in the first place. I got sick of not being able to look at topics that were reported because the button was broken. I got sick of other staff being assholes and getting away with it. I got sick of being treated like garbage and Karlos not being around to see it. They were quick to get that staff list updated though, weren't they? ;p
In the end, I was no longer comfortable working with both Administrators. But maybe they're both right and I am too nice, and my punishments were too kind. Maybe that's why I'm not an Administrator, why I always got kicked back, because I didn't find some sick joy in banning someone who didn't even know where the rules were. To be honest, I don't even know who the other moderators are! I know Laomi and LunaLuna, both of which log on less often than I do. I have never spoken to the others.
I never liked the A/R. I never liked that people with "Good" standing had custom advantages over anyone with "Normal" standing. I never liked the account standing thing, though, because I felt it would create bias between members and staff. I know that users with negative standing were likely treated differently by other staff, and I don't think it should be like that. :/ Maybe a warning or infraction system, but not a standing system.
My goal as a staff member was to break the separation between staff and member, and I think that separation grew even larger throughout my time here. I didn't have a colored name for people to be afraid of me. I wanted people to look up to me, to seek guidance from me. I really wish Karlos was around more, but unfortunately his activity has been a problem for years so I cannot see that happening. He's a wonderful person but is not active enough to sustain this site, and he handed that power to the wrong people.
Krasus/Gren is super cool though. I would have stepped down right then and there if she hadn't been chosen during the last staff applications.
In short, I loved WH but it's no longer a site that I enjoy coming to. I miss my friends and old times. Please respect that. And while I do not agree with the things that some people do here, please respect them as well. I am allowed to have my own opinion, but they are still lovely people and I have nothing against them as individuals.
