AriesMS Transparency - Prologue

Who are you?

I'm Spyro. I was accepted as a staff member on June 2016 and I announced my initial departure from the team on March 24, 2022 as a Head Game Master. You might have seen countless threads made by me on the Elluel Forums. I spearheaded many of the server's protocols, structure, features and content foundation (e.g. Seasonal Events). Some of which the Administrators couldn't be bothered to establish. I also single-handedly managed the server's content release, content upkeep, moderation, and item tracking for an extended period of time.

What is this about?

This is a transparency post, or at least what I call it, to grant people access to information that would (maybe) change their perspective of the team and its inner culture. One that I had to deal with for a really long time, while bearing the brunt as the position of a 'Community Manager'. Previous staff members who have worked with the Administrators directly may recall being victims of this culture. Even the current staff can relate.

Why are you doing this?

While I truly enjoyed my time working on projects, creating new content, and trying to help the server, Elyx has made the decision to gaslight me and my efforts. You can call it betrayal, distrust, or whatever you'd like, I don't mind. I'll call it whistleblowing.

Before I begin, context must go first.

So let's start with 'Seasons', the supposed "person", if he really is one, that was to take over my position.

Who is 'Seasons'?

I actually haven't got a clue.

Elyx claims that he knows him in real-life and he can be trusted.

Apparently he is free (aka he has time to spare), and played MapleStory "last time".

You and I both know that 'Seasons' has zero knowledge in MapleStory much less any understanding on how to manage it.

But they both have something in common, terrible grammar.

Or perhaps even the same brain, who knows.


(For clarification, my intentions to return and assist on the backend were meant for aspects of Phase 3 that were incomplete. There were several aspects of Phase 3 that were already ready for release.)

One thing for sure is, Seasons is not in the v2.0 Discord.

What happened to the transition of power?

March 24, 2022
I announced my official departure to the server with a farewell post.

Seasons was granted full access to the Project Revelry documentation prior to my initial departure. The documentation includes information from Phase 1 and beyond. Beyond meaning, there were plans even after Phase 3.

March 25, 2022
Seasons mentioned that he "was talking to Elyx" about me and asked if I would return if he offered to help relieve some of the workload and I would retain compensation for my time.

April 9, 2022
Seasons said he looked through the document.

He also spoke to me on the time crunch and the understandable expectations that the players had on Project Revelry: Phase 3. I advised him that because Phase 3 was so huge, it could be broken down into multiple portions, and they can deliver the ones that were ready first.

I provided him with specific instructions on what to do, while having access to the full documentation of Project Revelry.

But what did the players get?

April 18, 2022

"Project Revelry: Phase 3 - We will be continuing to work on Phase 3 in the next week or two. And hopefully, we can get it ready and released it very soon."

Cue endless promises of 'SoonTM'. Imagine having the answer sheet, and still not being able to deliver.

June 5, 2022
I noticed a draft posted on May 25, 2022, sitting idly. I detailed every single thing in my response to the thread on what Nova could work on first for Phase 3.1 and informed the team about it so they could use it as a guideline and a final draft for Phase 3.1's official update thread.

The very person whom I advised had the audacity to laugh about it. You think this guy cares about the players? I'll leave it to you guys to judge.

But wait, wasn't Seasons supposed to be the one working on Phase 3? Unless they're the same person..

June 7, 2022
I offered my assistance with setting up v2.0 Discord, and thanks to the authentication method that the unofficial AriesMS Discord was using, we were able to adopt it onto the official one.

June 10, 2022
Phase 3, or at least, 3.1, was finally announced.

June 11, 2022
I reminded Elyx that my return meant that I was expecting to be compensated for my time. Seeing as he responded, it meant that he became aware of my expectations, whether or not he was able to fulfill them.

During this time, I resumed the tasks that I did as a Head Game Master, those that Seasons were supposed to resolve.

June 13, 2022
The release of Phase 3.1.

July 1, 2022
As for Seasons' current whereabouts, I have no idea. Even Elyx doesn't know.

July 25, 2022
I prompted Elyx and asked if he had intentions to compensate me at all, seeing as there were no compensations for June 2022. I also quoted Seasons, which I would have assumed, as "close friends", Elyx would have been in the loop. At the same time, I reminded Elyx about compensation on June 11, 2022, which he claimed to be unaware about on this date.

The quoted message and subsequent message.

Despite this, Seasons is still nowhere to be found. The supposed 'Head Game Master' that they announced, and can be trusted, hasn't shown himself for months.

Based on Elyx's logic and terms, compensation is only given for work done. Despite work being done for June 2022, no compensation was given. Even for work done before the 'compensation system' was implemented.

Since then, he has not bothered to read my messages at all. He has no intentions to resolve this internally and amicably.

The Administrators will undoubtedly attempt to refute my claims to protect their well-being and reputation. Whether or not you choose to believe, is entirely up to you.

[Part 1] | [Part 2]
[WAAMS Main Page] | [WAAMS Discord]

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Pub: 03 Sep 2022 14:42 UTC

Edit: 06 Nov 2022 18:23 UTC

Views: 870