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For the sake of clarification & in the hopes of bringing understanding of the events of the night of April 14th to the HAVOC family as a whole, I would like to spell out, as best I can, what exactly happened, and to the best of my ability, explain why. (Settle in folks, this is gonna take a while).
The events to which I refer of course are the expulsion of approximately 70 HAVOC members by then-Vice Host SpikeStrip & the subsequent frantic effort to contact & re-invite all those members who had been expelled. First of all, I want to make it absolutely clear that Spikey herself had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with those expulsions. At that time her account was under the control of her mother's live-in boyfriend, "b-c" (more about him later). Spikey herself has been grounded from using her computer for several weeks now (for reasons that are unclear to me and irrelevant to what happened in-game anyway). She was NOT, I repeat, NOT in any way responsible for HAVOC members being expelled from the alliance.
For the sake of filling-in those of you who were not with us back on Server 30 several months ago, "b-c" was a player initially in our alliance. He ran numerous accounts with similar names: "bonecrusher", "b-crusher", "b-crushed", "CRUSHED", etc. (obviously not a very creative individual). His one good contribution to our alliance there was bringing in SpikeStrip as a player, otherwise we would not have had the pleasure of her company all these months. "B-c" came into personal conflict with a number of our other members, due in part to his multiple accounts and also his lack of tact in dealing with people in general. This lead eventually to his expulsion from the alliance and an ensuing grudge against all the remaining members (Juma in particular). He tried repeatedly to destroy that alliance (and failed), but obviously the grudge continues on to this day.
During her absence, Spikey charged me with keeping an eye on her account - mostly just keeping her troops from starving. At some point over the past weekend, her password was changed & I could no longer log into her acct. A day or so later, a HAVOC member contacted me and told me that someone was logging in as Spikey, but it was not her. Later that same evening, Spikey herself logged in and told me she had permission to get on for a few minutes. She also told me that "b-c" had "jacked" her acct and that it was he that changed the password. This was the last I heard from Spikey.
In retrospect, we should have demoted SpikeStrip from Vice Host at that moment, and I apologize to all those inconvenienced by the expulsions for not doing so. I suppose we were naive in thinking that even someone like "b-c" wouldn't stoop so low as to cause harm to Spikey & her alliance in-game. Obviously we were woefully wrong. It is a mistake that will not be repeated.
On the night of April 14th, shortly after 10 pm Server time, I was contacted via Yahoo by Scythes, who simply told me, "HAVOC is falling apart. They're down to 25 members." After trying to get ahold of Juma and failing, I logged into her account to find that "SpikeStrip" was busily expelling everyone. I immediately demoted "her" to Member to prevent any further expulsions. "SpikeStrip" then quit the alliance and formed a new alliance called "Punished" (for more insight into b-c's pettiness and cruelty, I recommend that you look that alliance up on Stats and read the intro).
I immediately set about trying to get everyone who had been expelled re-invited and contacted by mail. At this point, I would like to commend & extend my personal thanks to the following HAVOC Family Members: Scythes (for alerting me to the expulsions & helping with mails), Greatwest (for sending all those invites) and mitre & VON (for helping with even more mails). Once again, thank you Gentlemen. Your efforts made cleaning up b-c's mess go far more smoothly & quickly than I could have dared to hope. The HAVOC Family owes you all a debt of gratitude.
So, in the end it appears that b-c's attempt to destroy HAVOC not only ended in complete failure, but proved just how strong the bonds between the members truly are. Everyone's patience & understanding throughout the entire ordeal is also to be commended. You have all shown that we are truly a Family, not just an alliance.
I would like to wrap this up with a pair of "open letters" to the 2 principal actors in this little drama.
To b-c:
Way to go, tough guy, you humiliated a 12 year-old. I'm sure you're quite pleased & impressed with yourself. Once again you have failed to destroy an alliance of ours, and if it was your intention to turn us against Spikey, you failed there as well. I imagine that failure is something you are well acquainted with, however, as in the few months it has been my displeasure to know of your existence, you have succeeded at absolutely nothing. Once again, you have demonstrated your childishness, pettiness, lack of compassion and utter disregard for the feelings of those around you. I would pity you myself, but I see nothing there worth the expenditure of even that much energy.
What goes around does, however, come around, and I am confident that your conduct & behavior will continue to lead you to the place where you belong. When your world comes crashing down around you, no one will care. No one will shed a tear for you, nor even bother to come mock your suffering. You will be alone, forgotten, with only your own self-loathing for companionship. And the knowledge that you drove yourself to that bleak point will haunt you for the rest of your existence. It will be fitting that while you could avoid such a state, you won't. You'll cloak yourself in self-righteousness and tell yourself that you were correct all along, that it was the world, not you, that was cruel and uncaring. You will learn nothing, burrowing only deeper into your own darkness. And the world will not notice.
To Spikey:
First and foremost, Kiddo, understand that we all KNOW you had nothing to do with any of this. You would never do such a thing, and I never for a moment thought there was even the remotest possibility that you were involved. You remain blameless, and whatever it was for which you are being "punished", it did not warrant the application of this kind of cruel injustice upon you.
But we also know that you will overcome this and any other obstacles life puts in your path. You are a strong, intelligent, creative and compassionate young lady who will continue to grow into a confident, promising woman that will make this world a better place simply by being in it. I know it is hard sometimes, but never lose faith on yourself. Remain strong, stick to your principles and do what you know in your heart is right and you will succeed, even should an army of b-c's stand in your way. They are nothing but bumps on the road, and you will one day leave them all in the dust.
Though we will all miss you terribly (and already do), know that wherever you go and whatever you do, we are with you, as you remain in our hearts & thoughts. You are, and will always remain, the Heart & Soul of the HAVOC Family, and no one can ever take that away from you. We will forever be your friends, Your Family.
Hang tough and take care, Kiddo. You will win in the end.
Love,
Vermy
The events to which I refer of course are the expulsion of approximately 70 HAVOC members by then-Vice Host SpikeStrip & the subsequent frantic effort to contact & re-invite all those members who had been expelled. First of all, I want to make it absolutely clear that Spikey herself had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with those expulsions. At that time her account was under the control of her mother's live-in boyfriend, "b-c" (more about him later). Spikey herself has been grounded from using her computer for several weeks now (for reasons that are unclear to me and irrelevant to what happened in-game anyway). She was NOT, I repeat, NOT in any way responsible for HAVOC members being expelled from the alliance.
For the sake of filling-in those of you who were not with us back on Server 30 several months ago, "b-c" was a player initially in our alliance. He ran numerous accounts with similar names: "bonecrusher", "b-crusher", "b-crushed", "CRUSHED", etc. (obviously not a very creative individual). His one good contribution to our alliance there was bringing in SpikeStrip as a player, otherwise we would not have had the pleasure of her company all these months. "B-c" came into personal conflict with a number of our other members, due in part to his multiple accounts and also his lack of tact in dealing with people in general. This lead eventually to his expulsion from the alliance and an ensuing grudge against all the remaining members (Juma in particular). He tried repeatedly to destroy that alliance (and failed), but obviously the grudge continues on to this day.
During her absence, Spikey charged me with keeping an eye on her account - mostly just keeping her troops from starving. At some point over the past weekend, her password was changed & I could no longer log into her acct. A day or so later, a HAVOC member contacted me and told me that someone was logging in as Spikey, but it was not her. Later that same evening, Spikey herself logged in and told me she had permission to get on for a few minutes. She also told me that "b-c" had "jacked" her acct and that it was he that changed the password. This was the last I heard from Spikey.
In retrospect, we should have demoted SpikeStrip from Vice Host at that moment, and I apologize to all those inconvenienced by the expulsions for not doing so. I suppose we were naive in thinking that even someone like "b-c" wouldn't stoop so low as to cause harm to Spikey & her alliance in-game. Obviously we were woefully wrong. It is a mistake that will not be repeated.
On the night of April 14th, shortly after 10 pm Server time, I was contacted via Yahoo by Scythes, who simply told me, "HAVOC is falling apart. They're down to 25 members." After trying to get ahold of Juma and failing, I logged into her account to find that "SpikeStrip" was busily expelling everyone. I immediately demoted "her" to Member to prevent any further expulsions. "SpikeStrip" then quit the alliance and formed a new alliance called "Punished" (for more insight into b-c's pettiness and cruelty, I recommend that you look that alliance up on Stats and read the intro).
I immediately set about trying to get everyone who had been expelled re-invited and contacted by mail. At this point, I would like to commend & extend my personal thanks to the following HAVOC Family Members: Scythes (for alerting me to the expulsions & helping with mails), Greatwest (for sending all those invites) and mitre & VON (for helping with even more mails). Once again, thank you Gentlemen. Your efforts made cleaning up b-c's mess go far more smoothly & quickly than I could have dared to hope. The HAVOC Family owes you all a debt of gratitude.
So, in the end it appears that b-c's attempt to destroy HAVOC not only ended in complete failure, but proved just how strong the bonds between the members truly are. Everyone's patience & understanding throughout the entire ordeal is also to be commended. You have all shown that we are truly a Family, not just an alliance.
I would like to wrap this up with a pair of "open letters" to the 2 principal actors in this little drama.
To b-c:
Way to go, tough guy, you humiliated a 12 year-old. I'm sure you're quite pleased & impressed with yourself. Once again you have failed to destroy an alliance of ours, and if it was your intention to turn us against Spikey, you failed there as well. I imagine that failure is something you are well acquainted with, however, as in the few months it has been my displeasure to know of your existence, you have succeeded at absolutely nothing. Once again, you have demonstrated your childishness, pettiness, lack of compassion and utter disregard for the feelings of those around you. I would pity you myself, but I see nothing there worth the expenditure of even that much energy.
What goes around does, however, come around, and I am confident that your conduct & behavior will continue to lead you to the place where you belong. When your world comes crashing down around you, no one will care. No one will shed a tear for you, nor even bother to come mock your suffering. You will be alone, forgotten, with only your own self-loathing for companionship. And the knowledge that you drove yourself to that bleak point will haunt you for the rest of your existence. It will be fitting that while you could avoid such a state, you won't. You'll cloak yourself in self-righteousness and tell yourself that you were correct all along, that it was the world, not you, that was cruel and uncaring. You will learn nothing, burrowing only deeper into your own darkness. And the world will not notice.
To Spikey:
First and foremost, Kiddo, understand that we all KNOW you had nothing to do with any of this. You would never do such a thing, and I never for a moment thought there was even the remotest possibility that you were involved. You remain blameless, and whatever it was for which you are being "punished", it did not warrant the application of this kind of cruel injustice upon you.
But we also know that you will overcome this and any other obstacles life puts in your path. You are a strong, intelligent, creative and compassionate young lady who will continue to grow into a confident, promising woman that will make this world a better place simply by being in it. I know it is hard sometimes, but never lose faith on yourself. Remain strong, stick to your principles and do what you know in your heart is right and you will succeed, even should an army of b-c's stand in your way. They are nothing but bumps on the road, and you will one day leave them all in the dust.
Though we will all miss you terribly (and already do), know that wherever you go and whatever you do, we are with you, as you remain in our hearts & thoughts. You are, and will always remain, the Heart & Soul of the HAVOC Family, and no one can ever take that away from you. We will forever be your friends, Your Family.
Hang tough and take care, Kiddo. You will win in the end.
Love,
Vermy
Oh, and by the way, Make sure b-c sees the letters to him, let him see who he's up against.
)
