Greetings! I was just informed that the region of Avaldonia is closing relations with us due in part over years-old accusations from a third region and in part due to the events of last year's split in our community. Of course, regions and communities have a perfect right to withdraw relations for any reason, or even without a reason, but given the nature of these matters I wanted to take a moment to reiterate some things since many people were not around during those events and might be understandably concerned:Regarding Katie/katiebirb We previously made a response to this matter here back in January 2021: https://wintreath.com/forums/index.php?topic=6978.0However, I want to reiterate that nobody in Wintreath was aware of her attractions until the events that led to her banning, and the allegation that we knowingly harboured her, much less sent her to another region knowing this about her, is simply false.Regarding Last Year's Split The handling of the so-called Furry 9/11 situation that lead to last year's split was terrible, and I am to blame for that, as I am to blame for mishandling other incidents in the community in the several years prior to that. The past year since then has involved a lot of learning (starting with recognizing the difference between the intent and impact of what people say) and hopefully a lot of bettering. I am personally proud of the progress we've made as a community to offer a better-moderated and safer community, including a vastly updated and more comprehensive ruleset, a moderation oversight body (the RSS) and transparent moderation reports that highlight not just why someone was banned, but where we need to make further improvements in the future.I understand that there may be further questions about these matters, and if so feel free to bring them up here or to DM me. I certainly hope that our Citizens, residents, and friends outside the community are happy with Wintreath where it is now, but we are as always happy to address concerns and take in ideas for further improvement.
