I see that I've been getting called out recently as still playing the old MafiaReturns by AlabamaWorley, and I've been approached about it in private multiple times. I am a man of my word:

http://mehwhatever.com/profile/pics/holycrapre.png

I don't mind if people are trying to win arguments in the streets, but it is poor form and plain abusive to accuse me of having a character to try and gain an edge. Anyone can ask Anubis or IzzyCreamcheese to verify my master account has had only 2 characters, I don't care.

Frankly, when the need to win an in game argument by slandering someone else's word becomes so great a necessity to prove oneself... It's a sad state.

I am retired, I will remain retired as per my agreement with all of the users.

As if it matters what anyone else thinks or believes. :\

I appreciate the words, Omniscient. However, when you spend 2 years on an account swallowing accusations of cheating, only to retire from playing and STILL get accusations insulting my word... Where does it end?

You need to learn to just ignore it all... The more you address it the more the "trolls", as I like to call them, will want to keep accusing you and keep irritating you. Even if they know for a fact you are not cheating, or playing again, they will insist on accusing you. So just ignore it, don't address it, this thread should be your final word on it.

This proves it. Creative Director < Wise Guy.

WOW!  It really looks like that ThomasRourke guy was a slacker.. :P

*Rolls eyes.*

Can't you just ignore it? Do we really need a retirement thread and a "See guys, I'm really retired?" thread too?

Short answer? No. Not by my own fault, but because folks apparently have no issue with bullying even while I am retired. It's like the movie First Blood when haunted Vietnam vet John Rambo just wants to be left alone while roaming the desolate Pacific Northwest. However, there always seems to be a sheriff looking to pick a fight!

The nice thing is this though, I can defend myself now instead of silently taking the shots from people. I'm not saying I could heave a rock with enough accuracy to bring down a helicopter, but I surely do not need to be a victim any longer!

Can I get some of those explosive tipped arrows? Those things are awesome!

You are just one guy.. lots of people here.. time for everyone to move on I think

Billy is my hero. The better arguement would have been you have had more than one account before the master account was put into to play but whatever. People bitch and rant over the pettiest of things today.

Regardless of whether your motivation was to prove the accusers wrong or to no longer silently take shots from people, all it looks like is that you can't give up the spotlight. I doubt that the guys from Blizzard feel the need to make an announcement every time someone bashes them on World of Warcraft.

Perhaps, as an owner and creative director of MafiaReturns, it would be wiser to simply rise above any petty remarks that come your way as it just makes you seem small and petty yourself in responding to them.

~G~rin.

only a 100hrs on ThomasRourke. Wow

Grin, I 100% agree with you that the guys from Blizzard probably do not spend their time tracking down every negative comment that is thrown their way. The guys from Blizzard are probably billionaires and have millions (?) of users.

Squishy I believe stated that we are trying to not leave any doubt in peoples' minds when it comes to what we say and do. We are not Blizzard, we are a small community of people who enjoy a text-based role-play game. If somebody is accusing me of not holding up my word in public to something as simple as not playing anymore, then it leaves the door open for further, more grandiose allegations.

I love the spotlight, but now my spotlight urges are different. Before retirement I had to make sure I kept 450-500 users happy as Roman, now I just want to keep my lovely girlfriend, Kendra, happy. In all honesty, I just want to be left alone, work on the game with Squish, and if it comes down to me proving to be a man of my word then I'll do it.

If people don't want the Man of Steel, they shouldn't tug on his cape! (Also, I'm trying to get my thread count up so I can rank to Administrator, jkjk)

I'm just telling you how it appears and it 100% appears like you can't give up being the focal point of everyone's attention.

If you respond to accusations, you give attention to those accusations and more people will be inclined to believe them as a result of your deeming them worthy of a response. For example, I hadn't even heard these accusations like the majority of others I guess, so your response to previously unknown accusations is all we have to go on and raises the profile of them, and thus the profile of BillyBathtub, even negatively. But, BillyBathtub shouldn't be the focal point of everyone's attention or care about raising his profile, because he's an owner/creative director of MafiaReturns and it the characters within MafiaReturns that people should hear about.

The Blizzard reference was to demonstrate how a professional company deals with their game. I thought the attempt was to make MafiaReturns seem more professional, grow it and one day emulate a successful company having millions of users of our own. Addressing comments that should be beneath you as an owner/creative director makes you seem small and thus unprofessional, defeating the goal you're working towards.

~G~rin.

As we hopefully grow, Grin, the manner in which we respond as Admins will change until eventually it will be done through intermediaries so that we are completely removed from the game in any capacity other than change announcements and IRC banter. That's the goal and dream, but the reality is we are still small to a degree that our word is important. When I fall under a personal attack, I will still absolutely respond, because I feel there needs to be a trust between myself and the users. If someone comes to the street using their IG rank of Godfather to try to sway public sentiment against me, BillyBathtub - Admin extraordinaire, then I will respond in kind.

I don't mind if people refer to my playing characters as assholes, tyrants, etc. but the second someone makes something up about me as an Administrator of MafiaReturns I will respond. To everyone who takes offense to that, then avert your eyes and you have my apologies. I truly hope this is the last time I have to address anything like this in the future.

I don't mind if people are trying to win arguments in the streets, but it is poor form and plain abusive to accuse me of having a character to try and gain an edge. Anyone can ask Anubis or IzzyCreamcheese to verify my master account has had only 2 characters, I don't care.

I don't really think anyone cares, to be honest. The comment was made with regard to Fuji being the son of Roman because 2 people that know Roman very well advised it was him. I don't think we really need an admin comming out to the crowd advising its not him, the onus would more so be on the in game person to deny being from the lineage he was accused of being. It frankly had nothing to do with BillyBathTub.

And really your master account means nothing to anyone, that picture proves nothing to anyone. I don't see the point in this at all other than an attempt to get people to listen to you for some odd reason.

As others suggested, rise above it and ignore it. There is no real need to come into the OOC section everytime your name is mentioned in game.

Here's the thing, I posted in my initial retirement thread that I was not playing several hours before your fateful post, Alabama. Had you taken the time to read that before levying accusations at me, then ALL of this would have been averted. I understand getting bad advice from people, but I don't have an IG account to stick up for myself under those types of attacks, especially after I've refuted what you said PRIOR to you even saying it.

So to recap:

1. Retirement thread posted
2. Re-iterated in retirement thread I have no account and would remain retired
3. Despite everything to the contrary including you not being courteous enough to send me a PM or mobmail to clarify if it was me, you, Warrior, used your in game account, AlabamaWorley, to falsely accuse me of bandying about in the realm of MafiaReturns
4. I make thread re-re-iterating I am still not playing

For someone who is a credit to our game's in game posting aspect, it is actually a bit stunning you didn't fact check. Was your PM broken? All it takes is, "Hey Billy, are you Fuji perchance?" Then I would reply, "Why no Warrior, I am not, but thank you for inquiring before lobbing ill-advised grenades at me."

Here's the thing, nobody personally attacked you, BillyBathtub, nobody tried to sway public sentiment against you, BillyBathtub, nor were any ill-advised (?) grenades thrown at you, BillyBathtub. AlabamaWorley, an in game character, speculated about Roman, an in game character, and his offspring. Where is the personal attack that concerns BillyBathtub, owner/creative director of MafiaReturns?

You fought hard to make distinctions between the two entities for pretty much the entire tenure of Roman and beyond, culminating in the recent OOC post. You can't have it both ways. Either, you're BillyBathtub and Roman, in which case the whole pretense of denying yourself revenue and an admin account is pointless because everyone will see through that, or you don't let anything concerning Roman become the business of BillyBathtub and ignore it.

If Fuji is not the son of Roman, Fuji can say that - a completely separate third party shouldn't need to make a thread decreeing that it is not him. There should be no onus on AlabamaWorley, an in game character, to ask BillyBathtub, owner/creative director of MafiaReturns his in game identity because BillyBathtub is an owner/creative director and not a player nor ever has been.

~G~rin.

I think if you put yourself in Billy's position this thread really doesn't seem as unreasonable as it's being made out to be. I understand that Warrior didn't intend any malice in his comments but he did publicly put Fuji's words in Billy's mouth. I think Billy has a right to respond to it at that point. Not having an in game character he couldn't respond in the thread on the streets so this was his way of doing it. At this point I think it's being blown up to be more than it has to be. All that was needed was:

Billy: "It's not me"

Alabama: "My bad. I got bad info."

And it would be over at that point.