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[Todd McCloud]

Long story, lol. But I'm open, good to go, and a little envigorated now after giving things a lot of thought. I guess I'll just repost what I posted over on the old forums. Please bear in mind the audience I'm writing to, so when I say forums, it's the old forums, etc.

2013 is drawing to a close. Since New Years brings aspirations of rejuvenation and (hopefully) positive changes and hopes, I would like to make a few things clear so I can start this New Year off with a few understandings:

First, I have not, nor will I ever be, associated with the Empire. My reason for selecting NK in my mass-telegram was merely an attempt to find fellows with a large influence who I felt would at least fight a coup. More on that later. My reason for attempting a compromise is the following: if nothing is done to reach some kind of understanding, my #1 fear is that one side will rise up in some fashion to subvert any progress made by the other side. This is the fundamental problem that has plagued Osiris for over a year now, and is why we have stumbled each time we tried to do a soft reset - one side gets mad, coups, backtracks the region, and we're back at square one. However, one must realize that there comes a point where compromises no longer seem feasible, especially with how the situation has morphed into what it is currently. And the current situation is the new side is growing while the number of skeptics, bad guys, and hold-outs are dwindling. While I'm unable to see what the community is changing into, it does leave me and the rest of the unaligned hold-outs at a crossroads.

When I saw this coup at first, I more or less shrugged it off. Until I noticed new forums had been created. That was difficult to swallow. As I've said before, I was here when Osiris first became a community, I was here helping to create these forums and develop cool skins and legitimize the start of a government here. I worked the inner workings of these forums, sorted out a few conflicts, tried to wade through a few more, and, like everyone else, probably got involved in it too much, or not enough. When I became the owner of these forums, I figured it was important to remain exterior to the region and attempt to back away from conflicts. Then the conflicts started to move toward me. I more or less didn't understand how bad it got, nor did I understand just how deep the lines had been drawn among those in the community. But that's my fault. Anyway, when new forums were created, I felt like I was a) not trusted and b) essentially "fired" from my job of maintaining the security and well-being of the region off-site. Coupled with some initial bad PR moves by the new faction, it caused me to move from cautiously accepting to take it as something that should be opposed.

So I've been banned for a little over two weeks now. I spoke to some of you one-on-one. I read old posts, from the very beginning to just up to the coup. It's given me a lot of time to think about a few things. I don't want to be an enemy to a region I spent years trying to rebuild, resolve conflicts, take on jobs, etc. That's a difficult pill to swallow. It's hard to look around here and read old posts and think that it was all meaningless or destructive. My intentions, and I think I can speak for everyone here and say our intentions were never bent on destruction. There were a lot of bright spots. There was a lot of promise. It just didn't work out. But in the meantime, it feels unnecessary and inadequate.



My time for holding out and being skeptical is over. It's clear to me, even with the limited viewing I'm able to do, that this new side of Osiris is growing. That's good. I've been told about some positive changes that have occurred over there. That's good. I've been told that the whole thing feels less like a coup and more like a group of Osirians trying to rebuild a region. That's also good. Considering I helped build this region from day one of its formation, that's something that I'd like to be a part of too, if they'd let me.

As for the rest of those who are holding out, I encourage you to come to some sort of semblance of peace. We've spent a year fighting. I'd like for Osiris to have at least a year (hopefully more) of no fighting. You owe it to yourself, too, because you helped build this place. From the one-and-done poster to the guy who's had his hand in every positive thing in the region, you've all shaped this community. Settle your differences, and try to come to grips with what's going on currently.

As of this moment, I'm done holding out. I realize my neutrality is only holding the region back anymore, to a past they no longer want to cling to. And that's okay. It's how a community grows. I'm open to talks of somehow connecting the old forums to the new forums for congruency, and whatever that entails. I will also let the region decide as to what should happen to these forums. As for any loose-ends, I wish to speak to their administration directly, as there's a lot of stuff that needs to be discussed, I'd imagine.

So, good luck. The conflict that plagued these boards for years is now over. Hate to sound cliche, but rest in peace.

Good to see you guys are doing well.

[Lord Ravenclaw]

Welcome back Todd.

[Cormac]

Welcome back Todd. We're glad to have you here.

[Severisen Montresor]

It's a festivus miracle! Welcome, Todd.

[shetef]

Good to see your return, Todd.

[North East Somerset]

Welcome back

[Dennrick]

I'm happy to see you back, Todd!

[Theoden Sebastian]

Welcome back!