[User Complaint] emudude13

Hello, I will be reviewing this situation.

@Emudude13 - Can you explain your side of the story of what happened here?

Left open for 24 hours pending response.

 

Yes. I did have an auction that was up and pending. As I was going towards the end my auction I was interrupted by a very large and active auction. I could not visibly see any more bids. At that point I made a judgement call to postpone the auction and I informed bandgeek of this. He spammed my personal messaging and the global chat with demanding that I continue the auction in the midst of an extremely active better auction than mine. I also informed bandgeek at the time that I would continue the auction after the other one ended. He flipped out after this completely logical and rational proposition. He slandered my name in the global chat and called be some variety of the message of being a scammer or cheat or liar. I do not remember or have proof for this wording... But many mods/admins/ecoleaders saw this comment. After being greatly insulted that this person would dare attack my good name like this I refused to sell the pole to him. He attempted to hurt my good name and I personally do not enjoy selling my hard earned merchandise to somebody who implies that I am a scammer or cheat. I then made the judgement call to continue another auction at the starting price of 100. He could very well have bid again on my other auction but he chose not to, thus I did not actually cancel the auction completely. The fact that he would expect me to sell my product to him directly after he slanders my name is preposterous and insulting to say the least. If you do choose to consider this a cancelation of an auction I fully understand and will accept the punishment but I still stand next to my decision and have no regrets. Thank you for your consideration of my explanation.

 

Seeing as you do not read minds you can not EVER see my intentions. I litterally had no idea how much that pole was worth. I joined 3 days ago. I would have been happy with 200$. The auction chat was flooded with other bets and I was becoming confused....and seeing as several mods called what you were doing slander, I consider what you were saying to be slander. Good day.

 

Well, The point is that it was very offensive to me that you would dare try to say some sort of negative thing about me with absolute no idea of my intentions. I would have continued the auction with you in it 100% guarenteed. If you would have used some patience instead of bullying me into giving you what you wanted you could have seen that I would have given you equal opportunity to earn the rod. e

 

I am also confused on why you are making an issue out of this....I started another auction with the same exact item and you had the complete ability to bid on my item again. Instead you sat there taking screenshots and didn't bet just to get me in trouble....that is illogical. You could have won the item if you wanted to.

 

I apologize for not catching up on this matter sooner, as I was preoccupied. Before I get into the purpose of this complaint, I want to address your banter toward one another:

I am very disappointed in the attitudes both of you have displayed. The purpose of the complaint's forum section is not to simply bandy crooked words at one another. It is an opportunity for plaintiffs to look at the situation, review their actions, consider what could have been done differently, and learn from the incident. I want to be clear on content of your responses: Both of your reactions to one another are overtly hostile. It is clear you both chose your words very carefully, and without much wisdom or forethought involved as to the general consequences of your words. You both have been flaming, raging, insulting and disrespectful to one another. It is unbecoming, entirely unnecessary, and against the rules of EcoCityCraft. I truly hope you can both objectively analyze your reactions. You both seem to be astute individuals. How does the use of choice words reflect on your character? How does hostility breed cooperation? Though I can not say for certain how the entire incident transpired, I believe that if you both had cooler heads you may have saved yourselves an amount of grief and strain. Please consider this a caution to the both of you to watch your conduct.

On the matter of the complaint:

@Emudude13, I understand that you felt that the situation was fast-paced and that you thought postponing the auction may have been wise. I can not fault you for your assessment beyond the fact that we have rules regarding the auction system...

Once you have heard any bid, you must follow through with the auction to the end. Once you hear an individual person's bid, you must continue to hear bids from that person. You failed to follow through with this. If I were in your shoes as this situation progressed, I would have questioned if I had done something wrong, perhaps seeking the advice of my peers or staff members.

I can understand that at times, the many rules that govern EcoCityCraft may not be entirely obvious or familiar to new players. Sometimes even veteran players have issues recalling or understanding the rules. However, most things on ECC do have rules that apply to them or we can take inspiration from the rules as for how to conduct ourselves. An expansive ruleset results in confusion if one does not take the time to explore into them, appreciate them, and ask for assistance when not understood. If you have not taken the time to read through the rules, I suggest that you set some time aside to do so. It's also never a bad idea to check through the rules when you are doing something new or that you haven't done in awhile to familiarize yourself with them. Here's my general rule of thumb: If I do not know for sure what is right or wrong, then I need to find information to know what is right - If I must assume anything, then I should only assume when there absolutely no information can be attained.

@bandgeek12345, the original purpose of your grievance is a legitimate one. The way you have carried out your actions is folly. You both confirm that something was shouted. I do not know what it is you shouted after @Emudude13 sent you a notice of his intentions in that PM, but any public display of rage or anger like that is foolhardy. It is not your job to be the 'public assailant' no matter how right or just you think you are. To everyone else, that act alone is of a bully. I can entirely appreciate the wide range of implications and inferences about language. Intent does not absolve you of responsibility of the consequences of your communication. You know to bring your grievances to the complaints section. Pointing out a mistake, though important, is not well intended without offering advice. As you clearly cared about the situation enough to screenshot it while it progressed, I am wondering if you thought about taking the time perhaps to calmly inform @Emudude13 of the rules regarding auctions. I wonder if that could have brought a more favorable resolution to the matter than assuming the worst of those around you.

Please also be aware, things that are posted on the forums stay for long periods of time. The declarations and displays you make on forum threads are windows that prospective traders or businessmen can take advantage of to learn more about you. I suggest you both keep this in mind. I have made some strong remarks. I honestly hope you both consider them.

Locked
@Emudude13 warned about following through with auctions.
@bandgeek12345 and @Emudude13 warned about flaming, raging, insulting, and disrespecting users.