After a lot of reflection, I feel it's time to publicly admit that I've been a less than exemplary staff member for the site and community. Because of a lapse of judgment, I performed an act that is nothing but detrimental to the site's security as a whole and brought down my trust within the community.
On September 4th, 2018, I was paid to leak a specific thread from the staff forums. The incident occurred while I was only a section manager/music moderator, and has never happened before or since. I won't disclose who asked for this, though they are free to reveal themselves. Though I can't say the leak was anything dangerous or top-secret, I do understand that the issue is the implication that a staff member, much less an admin, can be potentially bought off. All I can do to (try to) explain my actions is to discuss the context on why I was desperate enough financially to make the decision to comply, but I feel that all that would boil down to is me making excuses.
Currently, the admins are deliberating what exactly to do and how it should be handled, but in the meantime I feel it's best I should come forward to the community. I'm honestly deserving of whatever comes my way, both in whatever the admins deem suitable as punishment and whatever the community has to say about me. All I can say is that an incident like this involving me has never happened before then, and has never happened since - as an admin, there is a lot more dangerous stuff I could potentially leak, but the thought of doing it has never crossed my mind, nor will it ever again.
It hurts to admit that I did something bad, and it's certainly not relieving when I still have to face said consequences. But, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I compromised security on the site, and likely lost a lot of face to my fellow staff and to the community. Whatever happens will happen, and I will accept the consequences that come with it. My actions most certainly do not reflect on the other admin team members - I don't know what they would do if put in the situation, but judging by the fact they've told me how wrong I was for saying yes in a myriad of different ways, I'm certain they would have held a bit stronger than I did. I'm sure our regular staff members would likely feel the same way.
If you're down here now, though, thanks for reading this wall of text. I admit I've caused my share of problems within the community as a user, especially in my younger days, and the fact I'm continuing to make some form of headache for the staff to deal with is all I need to feel the guilt and weight of my actions. I like to think that I've made up for my past actions by striving to be a better person, and if Mosts results have anything to say about it people would seem to agree. However, the fact I'm causing trouble in a much different way, even if it was an isolated incident, shows I've still got a ways to go, and I'd like to see it as another chance to admit my wrongs and try to make up for them. And please, if you're ever staff anywhere, don't leak stuff, seriously.
Thanks again for reading. Carry on with your day, now.
That uh... That certainly took me by surprise.
I guess all I can really say is that while it's disappointing to hear that you've done this, I appreciate your transparency and humility on the matter. Staff and non staff alike have engaged in similar and/or worse behavior and have barely shown a lick of remorse for their actions, so it's refreshing to hear someone who's done wrong being upfront and handling this whole situation in a mature manner. I do believe that you mean what you say and I hope the staff take the way you've handled the matter into consideration while reaching their verdict.
Lemme just say that if you can be bought to do things such as this, I have to question if you even are capable of managing power responsibly. Being bought off to do unethical things such as this is a sure sign that you arent able to handle your duties responsibly. Even tho I have my criticisms of the site and its community, this is low even for you, and SMWC. The site needs people who have the integrity to make sure the security is in place, and who knows what can happen if it's in the hands of a person who would drag it down. Selling out the site is tantamount to betrayal, and I would never trust power be given to a person who does that, ever. It's harsh, but it is something that I think needs to be said.
I do appreciate that you are being forward about this as it's the right thing to do, but you should have never taken the money to begin with (in the absence of whatever mitigating factors that have played a role in this lapse of judgement). Hopefully, you do learn from this.Modern Redrawn Mario Bros. 1.5 (last update - February 14, 2023, some new bonus frames, tons of minor touchups to various poses)
On Pixel Art Requests: Depends on what it is and if I have the time for it. If its complex and I don't have the time, don't expect me to accept it.
Projects I support:
Originally posted by StrikeForcer
Lemme just say that if you can be bought to do things such as this, I have to question if you even are capable of managing power responsibly. Being bought off to do unethical things such as this is a sure sign that you arent able to handle your duties responsibly. Even tho I have my criticisms of the site and its community, this is low even for you, and SMWC. The site needs people who have the integrity to make sure the security is in place, and who knows what can happen if it's in the hands of a person who would drag it down. Selling out the site is tantamount to betrayal, and I would never trust power be given to a person who does that, ever. It's harsh, but it is something that I think needs to be said.
Dude, chill.
Nameless made a shitty decision, but this is a Mario website, not the US Government. Its not like she leaked anything extremely important that could cause problematic people to compromise the site, and even if she did, it's not like anyone's lives are at stake here. Again, this is a Mario website. It feels like your post is fueled more by a grudge towards Nameless than genuine concern for the site's safety.
Lemme just say that if you can be bought to do things such as this, I have to question if you even are capable of managing power responsibly. Being bought off to do unethical things such as this is a sure sign that you arent able to handle your duties responsibly. Even tho I have my criticisms of the site and its community, this is low even for you, and SMWC. The site needs people who have the integrity to make sure the security is in place, and who knows what can happen if it's in the hands of a person who would drag it down. Selling out the site is tantamount to betrayal, and I would never trust power be given to a person who does that, ever. It's harsh, but it is something that I think needs to be said.
Dude, chill.
Nameless made a shitty decision, but this is a Mario website, not the US Government. Its not like she leaked anything extremely important that could cause problematic people to compromise the site, and even if she did, it's not like anyone's lives are at stake here. Again, this is a Mario website. It feels like your post is fueled more by a grudge towards Nameless than genuine concern for the site's safety.
I don't have any grudges towards Nameless tbh as I barely have any sort of interactions with her for me to have any impressions, nor am I treating it as if she leaked things to the government. I'm just speaking in terms of the fact that the decision made that led to this point is morally and ethically unacceptable for anyone to do. I did appreciate the fact that she acknowledged her mistake there and taking accountability for her actions tho anyone with a reasonable mind would have the same kind of opinion I expressed on the use of power therein, Mario hacking community or otherwise. I hope what I said clarifies. If it doesn't, we can talk in DMs if you so choose.Modern Redrawn Mario Bros. 1.5 (last update - February 14, 2023, some new bonus frames, tons of minor touchups to various poses)
On Pixel Art Requests: Depends on what it is and if I have the time for it. If its complex and I don't have the time, don't expect me to accept it.
Projects I support:
I don't disagree with your sentiment but you took it farther than you needed to.
My own opinion is kind of somewhere in the middle between Samantha and StrikeForcer.
I do appreciate that you're stepping forward and admitting your faults, and I do appreciate that you're willing to make amends for them. This site needs transparency, as without it, I've seen the ugly of what this site can be like. I'm at least thankful on that front.
I've done some shady things before as a staff member somewhere else (15 years ago, in fact), and each time I look back at it, I can't help but think to myself how much of a moron I was. So I know how it feels to perform less-than-ethical things on a site and immediately feel remorse for it.
On the other hand, I've seen staff members do worse things and not feel any type of remorse for it whatsoever.
The fact you feel remorse over your unethical actions at all just tells me how human you are. I can respect that part. However, there is something else that's bothering me about all of this:
This was done as recently as barely a year ago.
While I won't ignore the work you have done behind the scenes since that incident (which, by the way, has been godlike to this point), I do have a small issue with leaving this site in the hands of an administrator who has done a dirty deed as recent as this.
If you have truly reformed as time has passed, and if you have truly bettered yourself both as a staff member, and as a leader, then I have no issues with you still being at the helm. On the other side of the coin, I can see why the other admins might not want you to retain your position.
With all due respect, I just find it hard to place my trust so soon after an incident like that has happened.
-----------
STELLA!
I don't know what to say.
I'm not sure how did you bother to fall for that person's lack of honesty, since it's in the staff rules that you can't leak anything from the staff forums, but I'm glad that you admitted to your unethical actions. Hopefully you have learned from all this - I believe you're being honest here.
Well, this was certainly something different to wake up in the morning to. I don't have much to contribute aside from a question: Unless I've managed to somehow overlook something very obvious in your post, you never went into detail about the context as to why you did what you did; so, why did you do it?
I play forum games and draw furries. I'm mostly active on Discord and Twitter.
It takes a loooooooot of courage to make a public apology like this, especially with that wording, and I respect that. I think the damage to the site was minimal based on what was disclosed internally and the shame and guilt you've been through plus coming out publicly and facing the entire userbase for your actions feel like enough punishment for me. However, to make things fair as I called out people in the past for leaking, I think it's only adequate I bring this up: all of us staff members have to follow rules. I'm required to follow them and it's only fair to expect that others follow them too. Also, it was your responsibility as Section Manager to enforce the staff rules and that stops making sense when you break them yourself, as you hurt your exemplary image and the very place you frequent.
With that said, I'm willing towards favoring for forgiveness due to the reasons I pointed out at the beginning of my post.
Quote
All I can do to (try to) explain my actions is to discuss the context on why I was desperate enough financially to make the decision to comply
I'm sure you've had your personal reasons. Whatever reasons there are, people need to remember that this is a hobby website and that staff members are basically volunteers (unless staff gets paid now, in which case, add me back to staff!!) and are staff because they love this community in some way or form. I'm sure Nameless didn't feel great after leaking the thread and even right now wants the best for our community.
Quote
I like to think that I've made up for my past actions by striving to be a better person. (...) However, the fact I'm causing trouble in a much different way, even if it was an isolated incident, shows I've still got a ways to go
I'd say don't let one incident discourage you. Everyone can make bad decisions. The fact that this thread exists means that you publicly have acknowledged your mistake and are indeed striving to be a better person. I admire your honesty/courage to write a public apology like this (even though the damage appears to be minimal according to Gloomy).
Quote
On September 4th, 2018
That was over a year ago. Did the staff find out about this only recently? Although I guess it's confidential info. I'm just slightly surprised at that date.My blog. I could post stuff now and then
That was over a year ago. Did the staff find out about this only recently? Although I guess it's confidential info. I'm just slightly surprised at that date.
All I want to say right now (I don't want to be mistaken for making any sweeping statements on behalf of the admin team) is that I only learned about this happening late at night on the 9th. It was news to me.
First of all, I feel like some people are biased enough to trying to minimize this situation the most possible, but I'm trying to give my opinion for the most objective position.
This is a very serious situation. When I see people saying "lol don't worry, it's not that important" or "just forget it" I feel like people is forgetting that this could potentially have affected themselves. Yeah, sure, it actually didn't, but what if the information leaked would have been something actually important? What if it could have been something about a specific user? Or even worse, about internal site information? They're hypothetical cases, I know, but considering most of us NEVER expected something as big as this, it could have been anything, honestly. And if you were affected due to the leak, wouldn't you want at least some kind of action taken?
Secondly, I'm sure there has been cases where ex-staff members have been penalized due to wrong acts, which are of course a lot less severe than this one. I recall a music mod being demoted (years ago) because he shitposted in a legitimate help thread of a regular user. And there's even a recent case, where also a music mod was demoted due to constantly breaking rules, despite being good and active is his own dutie. Isn't this much worse than both cases?
And finally, I'm sure that historically all previous site leaders (head admins, site owner) were extremely carefuly and strict when it came to information leaked. Even if years ago the staff enviroment and management wasn't that transparent as it is now, I'm aware they would take action inmediatly, as it is a directly infringement to the staff rules.
So yes, I'm sorry, but I don't feel this should be left as if nothing happened. Sure, we can forgive and forget, but this isn't something that should be exempt of a penalty, in my really humble opinion. I think there's enough objective reasons to take actions for this, so if the admins doesn't do anything, it's demonstrated that, or they are biased, or they just can't/don't want to handle this siatuation properly.
Taking StrikeForcer and Shiny Ninetales' side on this one. Sorry, not sorry.
Originally posted by Shiny Ninetales
First of all, I feel like some people are biased enough to trying to minimize this situation the most possible, but I'm trying to give my opinion for the most objective position.
This is a very serious situation. When I see people saying "lol don't worry, it's not that important" or "just forget it" I feel like people is forgetting that this could potentially have affected themselves. Yeah, sure, it actually didn't, but what if the information leaked would have been something actually important? What if it could have been something about a specific user? Or even worse, about internal site information? They're hypothetical cases, I know, but considering most of us NEVER expected something as big as this, it could have been anything, honestly. And if you were affected due to the leak, wouldn't you want at least some kind of action taken?
Secondly, I'm sure there has been cases where ex-staff members have been penalized due to wrong acts, which are of course a lot less severe than this one. I recall a music mod being demoted (years ago) because he shitposted in a legitimate help thread of a regular user. And there's even a recent case, where also a music mod was demoted due to constantly breaking rules, despite being good and active is his own dutie. Isn't this much worse than both cases?
And finally, I'm sure that historically all previous site leaders (head admins, site owner) were extremely carefuly and strict when it came to information leaked. Even if years ago the staff enviroment and management wasn't that transparent as it is now, I'm aware they would take action inmediatly, as it is a directly infringement to the staff rules.
So yes, I'm sorry, but I don't feel this should be left as if nothing happened. Sure, we can forgive and forget, but this isn't something that should be exempt of a penalty, in my really humble opinion. I think there's enough objective reasons to take actions for this, so if the admins doesn't do anything, it's demonstrated that, or they are biased, or they just can't/don't want to handle this siatuation properly.
^ This 100%. Its another part of the reason on my mind on why I said what I said in my earlier post in this thread. The fact that staff leaks and demotion from a staff position have happened for far less is another issue worth examining but I don't think its the right scope to cover for this thread.Modern Redrawn Mario Bros. 1.5 (last update - February 14, 2023, some new bonus frames, tons of minor touchups to various poses)
On Pixel Art Requests: Depends on what it is and if I have the time for it. If its complex and I don't have the time, don't expect me to accept it.
Projects I support:
I just can't imagine how entitled someone must be to do such a thing and then further bother the community they care so little about with this drawn-out, hollow, and egocentric post 1.5 years later. How embarrassing.
goo goo gaa gaa i shit my stinky diaper because of mario forum drama
oh whats that? "financial situation"? probably not important. have you considered maybe someone paid for my user staff log that shows i said the n-word in 2011, cant let that happen
Originally posted by Shiny Ninetales
First of all, I feel like some people are biased enough to trying to minimize this situation the most possible
If you're talking about me, I didn't minimize the situation at all, but my thoughts were rather on the side of Nameless regretting what she did even though it's a serious issue. If a punishment is to happen or not is up to the admins (I don't think it should -not- happen here, no matter what was the leaked info), but all staff must remain ethical regardless of their powers.
If you can't even manage your life enough to make sure you're making ends meet you're definitely not fit to manage a website.
You've been here long enough to know what happens when people get a hold of private information only the staff are privy to and how they can abuse it. Right now the last thing this place needs is another one of those incidents to take place. Sorry if I'm being harsh but you really fucked up.
It's good that you recognize your mistake but it's a pretty fucking big one.
Originally posted by Shiny Ninetales
This is a very serious situation.
The people on the mario website shared the private mario website information
the only people in this situation that understand the severity of what happened is Nameless and the admins that she told. Everybody else is just assuming the worst as an excuse to get angry. Which I guess is fair as we don't have much information to go off of. But when I heard this story my first thought was some pathetic loser that wanted to know if the staff was mean to them behind closed doors.
[e: thinking of the inevitable situation where somebody tells me this is a slippery slope and unironically says "what if they leaked something more important, like contest details, or SMWCP2 news?" Absolute online poisoning.]
The only reasonable person in this story is Nameless lol. Imagine actually pay somebody money to hear the private mario website information, and then imagine getting genuinely angry at somebody for accepting money, real world money, over their code of ethics as the marioman. Though I'm afraid that the person who offered the money knew about Nameless' financial situation, and exploited it, which is downright detestable. Even though Nameless kept this person anonymous, I really hope the admins do the right thing and keep this sociopath out of the community.ask me if i give a f*ck...
The people on the mario website shared the private mario website information