To begin, the fact that there are so many rumors spreading is my fault, because I have been open and listened to many people's council on what options I have and what I ought and ought not do. Had I kept this myself, the rumors would not have spread. Nonetheless, they spread. Most of the people (correctly) messaged me in private or on skype, and have found out that I have been both agonizing over this and working as hard as I can to find a plan to make everybody happy. My job as a staff member is to do just that, and I've tried to be as open of a staff member as I can be. Which is why I am so disappointed that people are accusing me of things without talking to me first to learn the truth. Even so, so many people accuse me for doing things I haven't done, or accusing me for things I could do but haven't. So please, before you go on your witch hunts, hear the truth from my perspective.
The truth is I'm hurt that people jumped so quickly to point fingers, especially because NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. As I noted before, I moved a building that I built because I didn't like it in its present location. That building had no RP significance and was in a place that was closed for RP. ICly, players would not see a castle there, so I felt it appropriate (and very very very expensive) to move it to another location. That's literally all that's been done.
The truth is I've thrown around several different possibilities, ranging from destroying the region entirely to leaving things entirely as is. I think I ought to explain why I've been trying to find a way to consolidate regions and/or do something with Le Havre. It comes from several sources, listed below:
1) Player Deference. As a staff member, when a player and a staff member have similar in-game goals, I try to defer to the player. This is because, as a staff member, it is my responsibility to keep players happy and entertained. Another reason is because doing so allows me to work on other projects that bring happiness and entertainment in other ways. Recently, a player made clear to me that he had the same IC goals that I had but was not generally willing to work with my character to achieve those goals. Rather than contest the issue, I thought it appropriate to defer to the player. My analysis was that the removal of Le Havre, partially or fully, would help that character's endeavors and simultaneously allow me to focus on other ways to keep people happy, bring new content to you all, and take up new staff responsibilities. I contacted that player and told him about it, and that player met my plan with disdain, so I re-evaluated and started trying to find a new way.
2) Legacies and History. It's been thrown around that I don't care about the legacy and history of House Lavoyard and Le Havre. That's nowhere near true. I left Tambry and House Stirling, what some might call "my baby" precisely because I wanted to preserve the legacy and history of the house, the region, and the empire. To show you how much I've done, when I inherited the Turien Empire and Le Havre, I inherited 1 region with almost no building supplies and no money. The Turien Empire historically had 8 or more regions, and I went out of my way to reunite those regions, install trusting players into that region, and rebuild. I got very little actual support for this, especially from those who had previously been prominent in the Empire. I spent somewhere around 500k of my own money and went 300k into debt to preserve the empire. I have to ask you, why would a person who doesn't care about legacy and history put so much effort into saving the empire?
3) RP Connections. For a couple months now, I've been planning to attempt an IC merge of House Stirling and House Lavoyard. I didn't do it right away because I did not want to be accused for doing exactly what I'm being accused of today. This is the IC explanation for a potential downsize or abandonment of Le Havre. The problem is, in the past few weeks the person that Charlotte needs to make contact with has been offline, and then there's the fact that I was gone on my honeymoon. Simply put, we haven't had a chance to carry out the IC explanation because I purposefully delayed it and apparently delayed it too long. The merge between Stirling and Lavoyard might or might not happen. If it doesn't, I promise that if something happens to Le Havre, there will be an IC explanation. For example, Charlotte was raised there and was not allowed to leave the city, and now all of her family is gone. Is it so hard to believe that she might grow to detest the city?
4) Playing with Friends. Not only did I leave "my baby" but I drastically reduced the amount of time I get to play with two of my best friends, who both stood at my wedding and whom I don't frequently get to see or spend time with. Consolidating regions means I have less responsibilities and can spend more time with my friends. I don't think I need to say much more on this
5) More than one Party Wants Le Havre. Two separate groups want portions or all of Le Havre, for different regions. One group are "Lavoyards" known as the Black Banners, while another is Marr. If I sell the region or let either party take it after it is refunded, the other party will be upset. One simple "King Solomon" style ruling is that each group gets part of it or neither group gets any of it. This is where the rumor that the city is being completely wiped came from, and I again say it is only a rumor, because in truth I am no closer to a solution than I was 3 days ago.
Regarding selling regions and why I've been doing it, I sold Vallee to Marr to return the IC and the OOC owner. I think this falls under the "keep people happy" category. I started exploring selling other regions because I met so much resistance to selling Le Havre. I even tried to sell Tambry (and tried to sell Tambry BEFORE I talked about refunding Le Havre).
No matter what I've proposed, at least somebody has been upset with that proposition. Somebody's going to be upset no matter what I do, and that's why I've spent so much time thinking and talking about what to do rather than keeping it to myself. Like I said before, I desperately want for everybody to be happy. So here are my options, why it might be justified, and who might be upset by it.
1) Completely destroy the region and revert it back to nature. The justification for this is that two parties want the region and one will be upset if the other gets it. A successful compromise usually means neither party is truly happy. In addition to other parties not being happy, the founders of Le Havre are equally upset with a city being destroyed.
2) Give Specific Buildings to Each Party- As is mentioned, Marr owns Norvus Harlus and has interest in restoring it. I am willing to move some of the builds back to that city, including the original castle. The Black banners want the mansion, so I could give each group the buildings they want. This would make both groups "happy", and preserve the legacy, albeit in a different location. This plan has been "shot down" by claims that buildings with RP significance ought not be moved, though keep in mind that many of the builds were moved there to begin with. This is the plan I support the most because it is a doable compromise.. plus imagine how fun it might be if both groups claim the Lavoyard throne...
3) Refund the Region, then Create a New, Smaller Region. I thought I had finally found a solution until I spoke to one of the founders of Le Havre, who disagreed with this plan. His objection came from the fact that I was going to use the extra money to pay back loans I had incurred from putting the Empire back together. I actually prefer this, too. I began to explore selling other Lavoyard regions to pay for
4) Sell the Region to a player instead of the Server. Simply put, nobody who has the money/regions to trade will agree to a deal, even if it is favorable to them. Believe me when I say I tried. I've been trying for days. If you have an offer for the love of the Pantheon, please contact me.
5) Keep the Region and Everything How it is. I hope that the above section explains why I personally am unhappy with how things are in Lavoyard and why I want out. I want to do more for this server, and I want to play with my friends, and yet I also want to preserve the legacy of the town.
6) Let Marr or the Black Banners reclaim the city once it is refunded. Marr and the Black Banners only have 150k or so to preserve some of the builds, which is nowhere near enough to save the whole city.
7) Give the City Away. To whom? Which party will be pleased? No matter what, somebody will be upset. Even in its current state, Le Havre is more valuable than it was when I got it because it is the home of a legitimate Empire. That's why so many people want it. I don't think it's fair for me to not receive at least /some/ sort of compensation, nor should I just choose one group over the other. I took over the city from people who left the server and I could have done any of these things without talking to anybody. I did so because it's the right thing to do, and I've been trying for days to find the right thing to do.
8) Loan the City to One of the Parties and let them pay me back over the long term. I have considered this closely, and one of the other parties is at least interested. Once again, the other party will be upset and made their concerns clear.
As you can see, I've put a ton of work and thought into this. I've tried and tried and tried to find a solution. The parties actually involved in the discussion know that I've been agonizing over this and now you do, too. I know kindly ask you to stop your witch hunts because they are indeed based on rumor, and I kindly ask you to stop commenting on this thread. If you have concerns or you want to propose a solution or even an offer, please message me in PRIVATE or ask me on skype or TS.
I want to stop one more rumor in its tracks. There's no other staff members directly involved in my decision. I consulted some of them with what I have posted here and received advice. Clearly, I didn't actually take anybody's advice yet.
Thank you all again for allowing me to respond without letting this thread get too out of hand.
