Open Letter to Staff

[Blueangelman36 250]

I spent a lot of time debating sending this as a PM or a forum post, and decided on a forum post to get the feedback from others. This has been bothering me for awhile, but if I'm the only one that feels this way this will be the best way to find out. If I'm not, maybe it will be a good forum to raise these issues to the level I think they deserve. I also realize this could get me banned, which would be a damn shame since I've been playing here since 2014 and 1. enjoy my time here and 2. have never been banned in that time.

Over the last few weeks Olympus has been under intense siege, scrutiny, and rumor. With staff leaving and security issues, it was a real issue with real consequences. The admins did a great job working to get the servers back online, with forum upgrades and to keep the community somewhat intact. Their good effort here should not go unnoticed. However, these good efforts are threatened by oversight issues and poor decision making, much of which was called out in a previous post but got swept under the rug with all of these other issues.

@Ryan was kind enough to post an update this past Sunday that was fairly comprehensive, which was appreciated. However, there was one part that caught my attention. Under the section The Elephant in the Room nothing was actually done to address the issue, and the way I read it, the issue was strictly swept under the rug. The full text:

Well as most of you may assume or hear, there has been staff members accused of selling money, in which has resulted in a possible report to Bohemia. I wont go into detail about this until we hear back from Bohemia itself but I can say that Olympus Entertainment does not condone the selling of money/items. If anyone is caught doing so they will be dealt with appropriately on the administrative side. This is against Bohemia's policy and any solid tangible evidence to prove someone doing it will result in administrative action. Now if a report to Bohemia was submitted and they feel there's a need to question, they will temporarily turn off the servers until we resolve it with them, so dont get spooked if that ever does happen.

Note in here there is no description or knowledge that the internal staff issue has been dealt with. Based on the rumor mill, these staff members are still in positions of power and are still active in the community. The way the paragraph reads, it's basically stating that "we know there is an issue but we aren't going to take preemptive action. Instead we're going to wait to get shut down." While I view this answer as unacceptable, it's made even worse by the fact that the next two paragraphs in the post ask for additional donations due to the overhead costs of getting these issues resolved and stating that Olympus isn't going anywhere.

If senior staff have been made aware of these issues (and it seems pretty clear that they have) they need to address them swiftly and decisively. As a community, we're trusting all of OS to have good, fair judgement. I would argue that is not happening here, and the future of the community is being put at risk because of it. I encourage OS to hold themselves accountable and take action based off the needs of the community, even if they're hard decisions to make. As owners and senior staff especially, that's the faith we put in you as a community.

It's clear from the hard work and Ryan's post that there's a lot of passion to make this work. The staff have put in countless hours to provide an enjoyable experience to our toxic community, which I know many of us appreciate and don't vocalize nearly enough. But there is one more section that Ryan mentioned that needs to be addressed: "This isn't the first time Olympus has taken a hit like this..." I'm not sure that's true. But it falls on everyone to call out poor decision making and inaction when we see it, to prevent this community from taking another hit like this.

Anyways, if you made it this far thanks for reading and I welcome your feedback. 

Blueangelman36

[F U L T 52]

First

[Deluxe 34]

4 minutes ago, Blueangelman36 said:

I spent a lot of time debating sending this as a PM or a forum post, and decided on a forum post to get the feedback from others. This has been bothering me for awhile, but if I'm the only one that feels this way this will be the best way to find out. If I'm not, maybe it will be a good forum to raise these issues to the level I think they deserve. I also realize this could get me banned, which would be a damn shame since I've been playing here since 2014 and 1. enjoy my time here and 2. have never been banned in that time.

Over the last few weeks Olympus has been under intense siege, scrutiny, and rumor. With staff leaving and security issues, it was a real issue with real consequences. The admins did a great job working to get the servers back online, with forum upgrades and to keep the community somewhat intact. Their good effort here should not go unnoticed. However, these good efforts are threatened by oversight issues and poor decision making, much of which was called out in a previous post but got swept under the rug with all of these other issues.

@Ryan was kind enough to post an update this past Sunday that was fairly comprehensive, which was appreciated. However, there was one part that caught my attention. Under the section The Elephant in the Room nothing was actually done to address the issue, and the way I read it, the issue was strictly swept under the rug. The full text:

Well as most of you may assume or hear, there has been staff members accused of selling money, in which has resulted in a possible report to Bohemia. I wont go into detail about this until we hear back from Bohemia itself but I can say that Olympus Entertainment does not condone the selling of money/items. If anyone is caught doing so they will be dealt with appropriately on the administrative side. This is against Bohemia's policy and any solid tangible evidence to prove someone doing it will result in administrative action. Now if a report to Bohemia was submitted and they feel there's a need to question, they will temporarily turn off the servers until we resolve it with them, so dont get spooked if that ever does happen.

Note in here there is no description or knowledge that the internal staff issue has been dealt with. Based on the rumor mill, these staff members are still in positions of power and are still active in the community. The way the paragraph reads, it's basically stating that "we know there is an issue but we aren't going to take preemptive action. Instead we're going to wait to get shut down." While I view this answer as unacceptable, it's made even worse by the fact that the next two paragraphs in the post ask for additional donations due to the overhead costs of getting these issues resolved and stating that Olympus isn't going anywhere.

If senior staff have been made aware of these issues (and it seems pretty clear that they have) they need to address them swiftly and decisively. As a community, we're trusting all of OS to have good, fair judgement. I would argue that is not happening here, and the future of the community is being put at risk because of it. I encourage OS to hold themselves accountable and take action based off the needs of the community, even if they're hard decisions to make. As owners and senior staff especially, that's the faith we put in you as a community.

It's clear from the hard work and Ryan's post that there's a lot of passion to make this work. The staff have put in countless hours to provide an enjoyable experience to our toxic community, which I know many of us appreciate and don't vocalize nearly enough. But there is one more section that Ryan mentioned that needs to be addressed: "This isn't the first time Olympus has taken a hit like this..." I'm not sure that's true. But it falls on everyone to call out poor decision making and inaction when we see it, to prevent this community from taking another hit like this.

Anyways, if you made it this far thanks for reading and I welcome your feedback. 

Blueangelman36

Very well put, I agree on many levels. I truly think that if enough people care about this than people deserve to know the truth. A suggestion would be telling us exactly what happened. What happened in that meeting? Why did staff go rogue? Why did Jesse take down Asylum forums? Why does Hadi's profile not exist anymore? Why are staff members receiving videos threatening them with blackmail?  @Ryan 

[Mako 3506]

1. The admins did nothing to bring the servers or forums back that would be @ikiled, @Ryan and @Zahzi

2. There was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that any transaction occurred.

3. I'm pretty sure everyone is aware that there is monetary compensation provided for the time spent developing on the servers, @Ryan had to spend money on this shit hole to save us from Ares. Notifying the community that the donation goal got bumped up a bit since there were services purchased to bring the servers and forums back up was transparent and what should be expected of someone in his position. If you expect the owner to cover the operating costs of a server that costs you're smoking meth.

4. This isn't the first or last time Olympus has taken a hit or had an issue, this was probably the first one that you've noticed because it actually took the forums off. 

[Deluxe 34]

Just now, Mako said:

1. The admins did nothing to bring the servers or forums back that would be @ikiled, @Ryan and @Zahzi

2. There was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that any transaction occurred.

3. I'm pretty sure everyone is aware that there is monetary compensation provided for the time spent developing on the servers, @Ryan had to spend money on this shit hole to save us from Ares. Notifying the community that the donation goal got bumped up a bit since there were services purchased to bring the servers and forums back up was transparent and what should be expected of someone in his position. If you expect the owner to cover the operating costs of a server that costs you're smoking meth.

4. This isn't the first or last time Olympus has taken a hit or had an issue, this was probably the first one that you've noticed because it actually took the forums off. 

No proof beyond reasonable doubt? We saw the logs, I still have the screenshot in fact. If you can explain that and the video of confession in ts then please do. 

[Blueangelman36 250]

3 minutes ago, Mako said:

1. The admins did nothing to bring the servers or forums back that would be @ikiled, @Ryan and @Zahzi  

2. There was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that any transaction occurred.

3. I'm pretty sure everyone is aware that there is monetary compensation provided for the time spent developing on the servers, @Ryan had to spend money on this shit hole to save us from Ares. Notifying the community that the donation goal got bumped up a bit since there were services purchased to bring the servers and forums back up was transparent and what should be expected of someone in his position. If you expect the owner to cover the operating costs of a server that costs you're smoking meth.

4. This isn't the first or last time Olympus has taken a hit or had an issue, this was probably the first one that you've noticed because it actually took the forums off. 

1. Regardless, OS staff/committed people. Doesn't go unnoticed

2. Is that how Bohemia will see it after receiving multiple complaints?

3. Agreed, and donations should be given to help keep the costs down for him considering how much time he spends. Not commenting on the fact that donating is a thing, but that there isn't a clear resolution on the Bohemia monetization issue. 

4. I've heard about several others, but this one had a much larger impact on the overall community (at least from my perspective, which is the only perspective I've ever been speaking from)

[F U L T 52]

The last time server was shut down was because people were selling money  and was just down for half a day. 

 

[MAV 1685]

Yeahhh, not touching this one...

[F U L T 52]

@MAV please come back 

[Noahhh! 3606]

2 minutes ago, FULTKING said:

The last time server was shut down was because people were selling money  and was just down for half a day. 

 

Picture must have been taken with a blackberry.

[Blueangelman36 250]

Just now, MAV said:

Yeahhh, not touching this one...

Love you too Mav 

[F U L T 52]

Just now, Noahhh! said:

Picture must have been taken with a blackberry.

@Kudos

 

[Ryan 6834]

27 minutes ago, Blueangelman36 said:

 

@Ryan was kind enough to post an update this past Sunday that was fairly comprehensive, which was appreciated. However, there was one part that caught my attention. Under the section The Elephant in the Room nothing was actually done to address the issue, and the way I read it, the issue was strictly swept under the rug. The full text:

Well as most of you may assume or hear, there has been staff members accused of selling money, in which has resulted in a possible report to Bohemia. I wont go into detail about this until we hear back from Bohemia itself but I can say that Olympus Entertainment does not condone the selling of money/items. If anyone is caught doing so they will be dealt with appropriately on the administrative side. This is against Bohemia's policy and any solid tangible evidence to prove someone doing it will result in administrative action. Now if a report to Bohemia was submitted and they feel there's a need to question, they will temporarily turn off the servers until we resolve it with them, so dont get spooked if that ever does happen.

Note in here there is no description or knowledge that the internal staff issue has been dealt with. Based on the rumor mill, these staff members are still in positions of power and are still active in the community. The way the paragraph reads, it's basically stating that "we know there is an issue but we aren't going to take preemptive action. Instead we're going to wait to get shut down." 

I can see where you misunderstood this, so ill further explain. My statement wasn't stating that this situation was "swept under the rug", it was basically a small summary without giving out too much detail. What I meant by this is, we dont condone the accused actions, no matter who it is. If someone is caught doing this, we will deal with them appropriately, aka a Perm ban and a removal from their position. If someone in the current positions were actually doing what they were accused to be doing, then they wouldn't be in those positions anymore, simple as that. We arent "waiting to get shut down", we have been contacting Bohemia regarding the situation for the last week, and have yet to receive a response from them. Once this situation was brought to light to us, myself and all the seniors, as well as Rex have looked into it all together and came to our result. 

18 minutes ago, Deluxe said:

Very well put, I agree on many levels. I truly think that if enough people care about this than people deserve to know the truth. A suggestion would be telling us exactly what happened. What happened in that meeting? Why did staff go rogue? Why did Jesse take down Asylum forums? Why does Hadi's profile not exist anymore? Why are staff members receiving videos threatening them with blackmail?  @Ryan 

I promised full transparency, and so far I think I have stuck to that very well. Regarding everything that you guys have missed out on, well again, I have been waiting to hear on Bohemia to give me their response. I don't like to publicly out details while a situation is on going. 

What actually happened - To be announced soon

What happened in the meeting - We discussed the disagreements the staff had internally with some decisions and promotions, and after the discussion has finished the staff have decided to step down from their position due to those same disagreements.

Why did staff go rogue - I mean... Those staff only made meme videos and posts like every player on here... What happened to the forums and servers cant be placed on all the retired staff

Why did Jesse take down Asylum forums - I got no idea timing was just perfect I guess lol

Why does hadi's profile not exist anymore - Also got no idea I had no part in it

Why are staff receiving threats - Only person to receive a threat was ikiled... Guess someone isnt a big fan of him

13 minutes ago, Deluxe said:

No proof beyond reasonable doubt? We saw the logs, I still have the screenshot in fact. If you can explain that and the video of confession in ts then please do. 

So like I said im gonna go more into detail on everything in the near future, but tldr if we banned every person for sending money within logs to others then we wouldnt have players on the server lol, video was also edited to make us look bad TBH.

[silton 4174]

I reckon Hadi is paying big money for transaction logs cy@ losers hehehehehe

[Noahhh! 3606]

"There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light".

[F U L T 52]

https://plays.tv/video/5d3a25e330b1fe8a1c/qwe

[Blueangelman36 250]

1 minute ago, Ryan said:

I can see where you misunderstood this, so ill further explain. My statement wasn't stating that this situation was "swept under the rug", it was basically a small summary without giving out too much detail. What I meant by this is, we dont condone the accused actions, no matter who it is. If someone is caught doing this, we will deal with them appropriately, aka a Perm ban and a removal from their position. If someone in the current positions were actually doing what they were accused to be doing, then they wouldn't be in those positions anymore, simple as that. We arent "waiting to get shut down", we have been contacting Bohemia regarding the situation for the last week, and have yet to receive a response from them. Once this situation was brought to light to us, myself and all the seniors, as well as Rex have looked into it all together and came to our result. 

I promised full transparency, and so far I think I have stuck to that very well. Regarding everything that you guys have missed out on, well again, I have been waiting to hear on Bohemia to give me their response. I don't like to publicly out details while a situation is on going. 

What actually happened - To be announced soon

What happened in the meeting - We discussed the disagreements the staff had internally with some decisions and promotions, and after the discussion has finished the staff have decided to step down from their position due to those same disagreements.

Why did staff go rogue - I mean... Those staff only made meme videos and posts like every player on here... What happened to the forums and servers cant be placed on all the retired staff

Why did Jesse take down Asylum forums - I got no idea timing was just perfect I guess lol

Why does hadi's profile not exist anymore - Also got no idea I had no part in it

Why are staff receiving threats - Only person to receive a threat was ikiled... Guess someone isnt a big fan of him

So like I said im gonna go more into detail on everything in the near future, but tldr if we banned every person for sending money to others then we wouldnt have players on the server lol, video was also edited to make us look bad TBH.

Appreciate the response and additional context. Looking forward to additional updates when you're ready to release them

[ChillX 408]

1 minute ago, FULTKING said:

https://plays.tv/video/5d3a25e330b1fe8a1c/qwe

Nice adaptive crosshair 

[Noahhh! 3606]

1 minute ago, ChillX said:

Nice adaptive crosshair 

Thank you for reviewing the evidence in this matter. The correct administrative action has been taken. Fult has been demoted from Sergeant to Recruit.

[ChillX 408]

Just now, Noahhh! said:

Thank you for reviewing the evidence in this matter. The correct administrative action has been taken. Fult has been demoted from Sergeant to Recruit.

Thank you mr admin sr

[ChillX 408]

Just now, rabeed said:

you seriously can't be that retarded

Erm, welcome to olympus  

[CIA JOSH 2895]

36 minutes ago, Ryan said:

I mean... Those staff only made meme videos and posts like every player on here... 

Just @ me next time retard

[Ryan 6834]

Just now, KGB JOSH said:

Just @ me next time retard

u a bot AHAHAHA

[CIA JOSH 2895]

22 minutes ago, Ryan said:

u a bot AHAHAHA

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[Ryan 6834]

Just now, KGB JOSH said:

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You’re a bully, I’m telling!