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Posted (edited)

Hello,

I am very disappointed in the recent conduct within the VP community. I've witnessed dog-piling in a now-restricted topic by both members and staff of VPU. I respectfully called it out and asked we keep things civil and focus on the topic at hand. Yet the disrespect continued, including attempts to shut the (legitimate) conversation down. I once-again respectfully re-iterated my disappointment and asked that the discussion not be shut down. And I came back to no-longer having access to the topic (aka. the conversation was shut down when I clearly stated it shouldn't be because it's a legitimate debate/discussion about an important topic) (EDIT: Dazz informed me the topic was auto-hidden due to being reported several times; it was not hidden by a staff member).

As such, I am taking a leave from the VP community for an undetermined amount of time. I cannot support a community where members and even staff engage in this kind of unacceptable conduct. Unless the staff decide to ban me, I will probably return in the distant future. For now, I'm discontinuing all VPX development including on Saving Wallden until I return.

 

This may be for the better because this has been one of the worst months of my life. Aside from this, I've lost a family friend to COVID I've known all my life. I've lost other online friends due to a rogue admin in another community banning me for no good reason. I've had to discontinue another long-term hobby of mine. I'm in a financial crisis as I scramble to find a new job. My plans to go to a resort to de-stress from all of life have fallen through for the third time in a row. And I'm faced with an identity crisis. I need a break from just about everything because my mental capacity to handle BS is extremely low.

 

Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and civil throughout this matter and to those who have been supportive of the development of Saving Wallden.

Edited by ArelyelKrele
Posted

Yeah, I have also decided to cease any and all VPX development I was planning with a homebrew that I wanted to do as both a physical pin and a virtual pin, it is now going to be only a physical pin. This has also come as part of a rough week at home for me, witnessing the behavior of an admin and a contributor during that time has soured me greatly on contributing any further.

Posted
1 hour ago, makmak said:

I dont know whats going on, but sad to hear it leads to people leaving the community. All the best to you.

So basically, seeing grown adults in admin roles setting the gold standard for professionalism—especially when that includes being rude to new users, dismissing civil conversation, and labeling most of the community as 'freeloaders.' Apparently, unless you’ve been here for half a decade and cranked out a library of custom tables, your presence is more tolerated than welcomed. It's an interesting strategy for community building—alienate the majority of your user base while catering to a tiny inner circle. It's a bold move and why people are leaving such a toxic environment.

Posted

I'd just like to say Personally what i witnessed was dog-piling towards the talented table developers and long time contributors ,,,and was pretty gobsmacked by the level of unappreciation toward the very people who are effectively letting us play their tables for free ,,,,, i'm quite new to posting on here due to recently finishing my cabinet and would of thought everybody would appreciate the fact they can come here and download a table in a few minutes and play a game that took probably hundreds of hours to code and wot not ,,i'd of thought people would be happy about that ...

 

i guess we all have different perspectives in life.

Posted (edited)

Maybe looking at https://vpuniverse.com/top-downloads/ might put a few things in perspective? There are literally many thousands of people downloading tables and presumably thoroughly enjoying the work of creators. True, it would be even better if they all left a word of thanks, but still many do, and even more at least give a like :) So don't get too hung up on a few isolated discussions and know that many, less vocal people, really enjoy all your hard work. I know I do - even if I don't always manage to explicitly say thanks. All creators have my eternal gratitude and know that your work brings joy in our family on a daily basis!

 

image.thumb.png.2ffd90372f574cb62bc48670a83bc143.png

Edited by tjaf
Posted
5 minutes ago, stevemontuno said:

I'd just like to say Personally what i witnessed was dog-piling towards the talented table developers and long time contributors ,,,and was pretty gobsmacked by the level of unappreciation toward the very people who are effectively letting us play their tables for free ,,,,, i'm quite new to posting on here due to recently finishing my cabinet and would of thought everybody would appreciate the fact they can come here and download a table in a few minutes and play a game that took probably hundreds of hours to code and wot not ,,i'd of thought people would be happy about that ...

 

i guess we all have different perspectives in life.

Here's the difference, I was rude to Anthias.  I apologized and moved on to try and have a civil discussion about the topic.  Then long time creators and admin came in and said newbies are not allowed to have opinions here, and that unless you have dozens of tables you've made for this site then you're a freeloader who isn't welcome here.  Seeing as you have no content that includes you, the admin here don't want you here because you're new and haven't created anything.

 

I called out 2 creators, and apologized for being overly rude to both.  There was no dog-pilling on talented table developers and long time contributors.

It's not a different perspective.  I think you were missing the full picture.

Posted
1 minute ago, citrus333 said:

Here's the difference, I was rude to Anthias.  I apologized and moved on to try and have a civil discussion about the topic.  Then long time creators and admin came in and said newbies are not allowed to have opinions here, and that unless you have dozens of tables you've made for this site then you're a freeloader who isn't welcome here.  Seeing as you have no content that includes you, the admin here don't want you here because you're new and haven't created anything.

 

I called out 2 creators, and apologized for being overly rude to both.  There was no dog-pilling on talented table developers and long time contributors.

It's not a different perspective.  I think you were missing the full picture.

I'm just looking in with eyes wide open  ,,,,, If this "Calling out creators" is your thing ,,,,, you crack on mate and do whatever floats your boat,,,,

 

 just looks to me like your demanding your own mental rules and reg's base on a personal gripe ,that being AI,,,,,,,,,,,as though someone has assigned you to be the new virtual pinball police..

 

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, stevemontuno said:

I'm just looking in with eyes wide open  ,,,,, If this "Calling out creators" is your thing ,,,,, you crack on mate and do whatever floats your boat,,,,

 

 just looks to me like your demanding your own mental rules and reg's base on a personal gripe ,that being AI,,,,,,,,,,,as though someone has assigned you to be the new virtual pinball police..

 

You aren't though.  The actual facts and reality prove you wrong.

Did you miss the part where I said I apologized for calling out those creators?  Or do you struggle with reading comprehension?

I wasn't demanding anything, I was suggesting we label AI content when it is used, and wanting to have a discussion about that.  I proposed the idea in a civil manner.

 

Is English your second language or something?  Or do I need to use commas,,,,,,,,,,, the wrong way,,,,,,,,,, like you do for you to be able to understand my posts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?

Edited by citrus333
  • Administrators
Posted
12 hours ago, ArelyelKrele said:

Hello,

I am very disappointed in the recent conduct within the VP community. I've witnessed dog-piling in a now-restricted topic by both members and staff of VPU. I respectfully called it out and asked we keep things civil and focus on the topic at hand. Yet the disrespect continued, including attempts to shut the (legitimate) conversation down. I once-again respectfully re-iterated my disappointment and asked that the discussion not be shut down. And I came back to no-longer having access to the topic (aka. the conversation was shut down when I clearly stated it shouldn't be because it's a legitimate debate/discussion about an important topic).

As such, I am taking a leave from the VP community for an undetermined amount of time. I cannot support a community where members and even staff engage in this kind of unacceptable conduct. Unless the staff decide to ban me, I will probably return in the distant future. For now, I'm discontinuing all VPX development including on Saving Wallden until I return.

 

This may be for the better because this has been one of the worst months of my life. Aside from this, I've lost a family friend to COVID I've known all my life. I've lost other online friends due to a rogue admin in another community banning me for no good reason. I've had to discontinue another long-term hobby of mine. I'm in a financial crisis as I scramble to find a new job. My plans to go to a resort to de-stress from all of life have fallen through for the third time in a row. And I'm faced with an identity crisis. I need a break from just about everything because my mental capacity to handle BS is extremely low.

 

Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and civil throughout this matter and to those who have been supportive of the development of Saving Wallden.



I'm not into banning people for the hell of it, unlike other sites. People are allowed to voice their opinion. However, the thread had been reported enough times to hit the automatic moderation thresholds that are in place. The thread was automatically moved by the system because of that. We have auto thresholds in place for reasons. I can easily restore the thread, but is it really necessary to continue beating a dead horse? Why can't admins be allowed to voice their personal opinions? We are mere humans as well, our comments, don't and shouldn't, reflect upon the site or a whole hobby.  My opinions don't necessarily line up with other Admins or Mods, but they have their rights to voice their opinions just like any member does. Our opinions are just that, our opinions, they don't represent the direction of the site. Would you rather Admin just sit back and not say anything?

Everyone needs to understand... This is a hobby. This is an outlet for many people. Creating for others is an outlet for people. But after all is said and done, this is still JUST A HOBBY. If you are able to use this hobby to escape reality, then more power to you. I hope that things in life start picking up for everyone. 

Real life is much more important. I have a real job that I work 12-14 hour days with. I have a real family that I actually like to spend time with when I'm not working. No one should be expected to sit here and baby sit conversations all day every day. Or to sit here and watch people bicker over whether or not Ai should be used in a FREE hobby. It's not up to me to say what and what cannot be used. This Ai debate is going to be something thats never going to go away. It doesn't matter if you are for it, or against it. It's not going to go away and your opinion isn't going to change someone elses opinion on the matter. If you feel that you need to use Ai to help you create something, then use it. If you feel that you don't need Ai, then don't use it. Personally, back when I was designing and releasing games, I wish I had something that could help with the artwork. Artwork is what killed my progression on a lot of projects. 

It's just as tiring to see the following, over and over, "I'm working on blah blah blah, but because of someone elses comments... I'm taking my ball and going home".  If something makes you so upset, then take a step back and re-evaluate. Put yourself in the other persons shoes. If you feel the need to stop working on something because of someone elses opinion.. then your heart isn't into it for the right reasons. 

 

  • Administrators
Posted
6 hours ago, citrus333 said:

You aren't though.  The actual facts and reality prove you wrong.

Did you miss the part where I said I apologized for calling out those creators?  Or do you struggle with reading comprehension?

I wasn't demanding anything, I was suggesting we label AI content when it is used, and wanting to have a discussion about that.  I proposed the idea in a civil manner.

 

Is English your second language or something?  Or do I need to use commas,,,,,,,,,,, the wrong way,,,,,,,,,, like you do for you to be able to understand my posts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?


What exactly would adding a check to say that AI was used in the creation of something add? I can add it to this existing system, but it takes time to do so. I'm already working on a major upgrade, just debating on when to take the site down for a couple days... As well as a whole new system eventually, so it could be something I can add in the upgrade.

I want to know, and no one has ever given a reason.. What value would someone get out of knowing if Ai was used in a creation? None of this is being sold, or shouldn't be. What exactly would adding an "Parts created using Ai" check/confirmation when uploading a file accomplish? 

BTW - I simply said... If you don't like the use of AI, then don't download it. No one is forcing you to.

I'm not at an authoritarian and I'm not going to tell people what they can and can't create. As long as it follow our community standards that we have in place. Not accepting, and rejecting, files is very subjective. If we don't accept specific files, then the user will find another place to upload to. That's how you get pop-up sites and places that loose interest real quick and the content dies. 

Personally, my cab is very personal, there are only a couple table authors that I will place on my machine.  

Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Dazz said:

The thread was automatically moved by the system because of that. We have auto thresholds in place for reasons. I can easily restore the thread, but is it really necessary to continue beating a dead horse?


Okay that makes sense. Thank you for clarifying that Dazz; I had no idea reporting a thread automatically hides it after enough reports. I was making a judgment call, based on the behavior of another staff member, that the thread was restricted by them in an attempt to silence the discussion. But that's not what happened, it appears.

 

3 hours ago, Dazz said:

Why can't admins be allowed to voice their personal opinions? We are mere humans as well, our comments, don't and shouldn't, reflect upon the site or a whole hobby.


While I see your point, the staff of this website (and any website) represent the website community as a whole whether they like it or not. When a member sees a staff member, they automatically see them as a representation of the site since they are moderating / working on behalf of the site and deciding what is allowed and isn't. Therefore, we members have the expectation that the staff will hold themselves to a high degree of standards and civility. Monkey see, monkey do: when members see staff dog-piling on someone, other members will [often] hold the staff member's word as the truth and do the same thing, because they believe that is what is acceptable in the community.

 

If staff members want to be able to express their opinions without these implicit high level of standards, I suggest they create a secondary non-staff account and use that instead. That's been the rule in other communities which I've been a staff; use the staff account for staff matters, and use the non-staff account for personal matters. This will create a separation so that staff can still express their opinions without it being implicitly taken as a representation as the community as a whole.

 

3 hours ago, Dazz said:

It's just as tiring to see the following, over and over, "I'm working on blah blah blah, but because of someone elses comments... I'm taking my ball and going home".  If something makes you so upset, then take a step back and re-evaluate. Put yourself in the other persons shoes. If you feel the need to stop working on something because of someone elses opinion.. then your heart isn't into it for the right reasons.


I have an expectation in every community that I join that the staff will do the right / ethical thing. Dog-piling on members because they believe AI should be cited / disclosed is NOT that. It's not an opinion at that point, it's hate speech, especially because I've witnessed insults being hurled at this member by other members and even staff. And I have the freedom to say that isn't acceptable, I am not going to be a part of a community where the staff implicitly condone this because they engaged in it too. My heart is in the right place, but we disagree on what is "right".

 

Referring back to what you said before this, I agree, this is a hobby. Life comes first. And my life right now is in shambles. That's part of the reason why I'm making this decision. Had I been in a better position, I would have been more tolerable of what happened and would have been able to absorb the blow and continue contributing. Right now, I can't do that. I don't have the spoons. So I am stepping back for a while, but I don't intend for this to be permanent. It's just until my life is situated and until I have faith the community has a better attitude towards people who express legitimate concerns and who apologize / fix their previous mistakes.

 

2 hours ago, Dazz said:

What exactly would adding a check to say that AI was used in the creation of something add? I can add it to this existing system, but it takes time to do so. I'm already working on a major upgrade, just debating on when to take the site down for a couple days... As well as a whole new system eventually, so it could be something I can add in the upgrade.


Citrus and I expressed our reasoning in the now-restricted thread, if you wish to refer back to it. I'd rather not repeat myself again unless you aren't able to pull that up. But in short, this boils down to my overall belief that all third-party assets which are not Public Domain nor Creative Commons 0 should be cited. Even if this is a free hobby, it does not excuse us from the civil responsibility to cite our sources. Every table that fails to do so increases the chance someone will get sued someday, no matter how small that chance is. AI is considered a third-party asset because many countries determined the media created by the AI cannot be copyrighted by the one who generated it. Essentially, you made the prompt but not the image/music/etc. So it must be cited / disclosed.

 

Additionally, AI often trains on copyrighted assets against the author's will without contributing any royalties back to them.

 

I suggested simply putting "AI" in the relevant "Artwork By" field or whatever as a temporary work-around. Or, just put it in the download description.

 

2 hours ago, Dazz said:

I want to know, and no one has ever given a reason.. What value would someone get out of knowing if Ai was used in a creation? None of this is being sold, or shouldn't be. What exactly would adding an "Parts created using Ai" check/confirmation when uploading a file accomplish?

 
Transparency. It is easy (and gets more easy over time) to be fooled into thinking something created by AI was actually made by someone when it was not. And once again, AI assets cannot be copyrighted in most countries. So those assets do not belong to the table author / the one who generated them.

 

It could also be problematic if people start using AI to put realistic pictures / Deepfakes of other people in their tables.

 

2 hours ago, Dazz said:

I'm not at an authoritarian and I'm not going to tell people what they can and can't create. As long as it follow our community standards that we have in place. Not accepting, and rejecting, files is very subjective. If we don't accept specific files, then the user will find another place to upload to. That's how you get pop-up sites and places that loose interest real quick and the content dies. 


I agree. I'm not arguing to forbid AI created tables. I'm not even suggesting rejecting tables completely created by AI or who use very poorly-made AI assets. I'm only arguing that AI should be disclosed on the download / in the table.

(Since I can't quote in an edit)
"Is English your second language or something?  Or do I need to use commas,,,,,,,,,,, the wrong way,,,,,,,,,, like you do for you to be able to understand my posts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?" - Citrus

@citrus333 please don't; that's rude. It could very-well be they have a faulty mobile device or something which does that.

Edited by ArelyelKrele
  • Administrators
Posted
9 minutes ago, ArelyelKrele said:


Okay that makes sense. Thank you for clarifying that Dazz; I had no idea reporting a thread automatically hides it after enough reports. I was making a judgment call, based on the behavior of another staff member, that the thread was restricted by them in an attempt to silence the discussion. But that's not what happened, it appears.

 


While I see your point, the staff of this website (and any website) represent the website community as a whole whether they like it or not. When a member sees a staff member, they automatically see them as a representation of the site since they are moderating / working on behalf of the site and deciding what is allowed and isn't. Therefore, we members have the expectation that the staff will hold themselves to a high degree of standards and civility. Monkey see, monkey do: when members see staff dog-piling on someone, other members will [often] hold the staff member's word as the truth and do the same thing, because they believe that is what is acceptable in the community.

 

If staff members want to be able to express their opinions without these implicit high level of standards, I suggest they create a secondary non-staff account and use that instead. That's been the rule in other communities which I've been a staff; use the staff account for staff matters, and use the non-staff account for personal matters. This will create a separation so that staff can still express their opinions without it being implicitly taken as a representation as the community as a whole.

 


I have an expectation in every community that I join that the staff will do the right / ethical thing. Dog-piling on members because they believe AI should be cited / disclosed is NOT that. It's not an opinion at that point, it's hate speech, especially because I've witnessed insults being hurled at this member by other members and even staff. And I have the freedom to say that isn't acceptable, I am not going to be a part of a community where the staff implicitly condone this because they engaged in it too. My heart is in the right place, but we disagree on what is "right".

 

Referring back to what you said before this, I agree, this is a hobby. Life comes first. And my life right now is in shambles. That's part of the reason why I'm making this decision. Had I been in a better position, I would have been more tolerable of what happened and would have been able to absorb the blow and continue contributing. Right now, I can't do that. I don't have the spoons. So I am stepping back for a while, but I don't intend for this to be permanent. It's just until my life is situated and until I have faith the community has a better attitude towards people who express legitimate concerns and who apologize / fix their previous mistakes.

 


Citrus and I expressed our reasoning in the now-restricted thread, if you wish to refer back to it. I'd rather not repeat myself again unless you aren't able to pull that up. But in short, this boils down to my overall belief that all third-party assets which are not Public Domain nor Creative Commons 0 should be cited. Even if this is a free hobby, it does not excuse us from the civil responsibility to cite our sources. Every table that fails to do so increases the chance someone will get sued someday, no matter how small that chance is. AI is considered a third-party asset because many countries determined the media created by the AI cannot be copyrighted by the one who generated it. Essentially, you made the prompt but not the image/music/etc. So it must be cited / disclosed.

 

Additionally, AI often trains on copyrighted assets against the author's will without contributing any royalties back to them.

 

I suggested simply putting "AI" in the relevant "Artwork By" field or whatever as a temporary work-around. Or, just put it in the download description.

 

 
Transparency. It is easy (and gets more easy over time) to be fooled into thinking something created by AI was actually made by someone when it was not. And once again, AI assets cannot be copyrighted in most countries. So those assets do not belong to the table author / the one who generated them.

 


I agree. I'm not arguing to forbid AI created tables. I'm not even suggesting rejecting tables completely created by AI or who use very poorly-made AI assets. I'm only arguing that AI should be disclosed on the download / in the table.


I'll add it eventually, it's very time consuming for me to do. However, this version of the site is going away really soon. Right now I'm waiting on some custom modifications to be finished, then it is just a matter of me making the decision on when to shut the site down for a couple days. When I'm setting up the new site and features, I'll ensure that is added as one of the upload fields also there will be an A.I. tag as well.

Posted

You are awesome, @Dazz. Thank you for responding to everything rationally, and thank you for understanding our concerns. No rush on doing it; I've specified ways authors can disclose AI for the time being until the feature is added. Good luck on the upgrade!

Posted
1 hour ago, ArelyelKrele said:


(Since I can't quote in an edit)
"Is English your second language or something?  Or do I need to use commas,,,,,,,,,,, the wrong way,,,,,,,,,, like you do for you to be able to understand my posts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?" - Citrus

@citrus333 please don't; that's rude. It could very-well be they have a faulty mobile device or something which does that.

No thats just how i type ,,,,maybe you and your mate could get a system implemented into the forum that "Calls Out" anyone who types like a non native English speaker ,,,,either way i wont spit the dummy out of the pram or start a thread acting like ive been victimised or anything ,,,oh and feel free to dot the eyes and wot not guys..

 

I wasn't going to reply but after the 3 hours it took for citrus to edit his post with his usual derogatory tripe i didn't want to be living rent free in his head for the foreseeable future..

Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, stevemontuno said:

No thats just how i type ,,,,maybe you and your mate could get a system implemented into the forum that "Calls Out" anyone who types like a non native English speaker ,,,,either way i wont spit the dummy out of the pram or start a thread acting like ive been victimised or anything ,,,oh and feel free to dot the eyes and wot not guys..

 

I wasn't going to reply but after the 3 hours it took for citrus to edit his post with his usual derogatory tripe i didn't want to be living rent free in his head for the foreseeable future..

So then you just type poorly and are purposely ignoring the main points of my post so you don't have to adjust your own perspective on the matter.  I see.

 

And also you weren't going to reply yet you came back to reply and are keeping track of my post times and my edit times, sounds like I'm living rent free in your head, mate.

Edited by citrus333
Posted (edited)

The only reason you edited your post was to drag me back in here ,,,and then your buddy re-highlighted it for you just to make sure id read it ,,,,your both a real piece of work guys ,,,playing tag team,,nice one.

Edited by stevemontuno
Posted (edited)

Agreed, this is the kind of thing that led to the other topic getting reported enough times it got hidden. Let's bring it back to a civil discussion so this thread doesn't get hidden as well.

 

@citrus333, I had your back because you were bringing up some very good points about AI disclosure. But I can't support you if you're not going to remain civil at all times. Please be more respectful.

 

@stevemontuno, you mentioned you felt like members were dog-piling against content creators and not showing enough appreciation for them, especially in a free hobby. I get you; and I encouraged in the other thread that when we criticize sub-par things about the table, we should also praise the good things and still thank the author for their contributions. But we can't take your criticism seriously if you're also bouncing back fire with fire.

The point of this thread was that I want to see more civil discussion in the community and less dog-piling, especially by staff. The debate about AI disclosure is a secondary point, but I think that's been resolved as Dazz said a feature will be implemented in the future.

Edited by ArelyelKrele
  • Administrators
Posted

Just an FYI - *If* anyone needs to be threatened by not disclosing the use of AI, or hell even registered IP's... It's the site owner that hosts the content. Not really anything anyone else should be worried about. Authorities/Legal would come after me before anyone else here. I also do a lot of development using AI. I'm spending about $300 per month in tokens for personal use and work development. For the most part, I do stay up to date with most things AI. 

Posted
10 hours ago, Dazz said:

My opinions don't necessarily line up with other Admins or Mods, but they have their rights to voice their opinions just like any member does. Our opinions are just that, our opinions, they don't represent the direction of the site. Would you rather Admin just sit back and not say anything?

 

The Admin of course should be allowed to voice their opinion, but as Admin they should be respectful about it and not rude and offensive.  That was the core issue.  It's the difference between saying, "Your idea is stupid and so are you for suggesting it" and saying, "I don't think that idea fits very well with our site but I appreciate the suggestion."  Admin represent the site as a whole and set an example of behavior for the rest of the community, if the Admin don't act professional and regularly insult users, then why should the rest of us act civil towards each other or to the Admin?  Leadership means leading by example.

Posted

i had the impression you wanted to take a break, seems you changed your mind?!

It's understandable that sometimes spoken and written words have different meanings and the internet is a place where misunderstanding is a common issue. let things settle a few days and all will be good.

points have been told and i see no benefit at this point to stretch the conversation.

 

let it settle.

Posted (edited)

I am / will be taking a break once I feel this thread is "resolved" (which I think we're close to that point now, but I don't feel the issue of rude admins has been resolved yet). I didn't want to post this forum thread and immediately scram without reading and addressing anything that came up in the thread. Otherwise I would have missed being clarified or making clarifications on any misunderstandings that happened.

Edited by ArelyelKrele

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