I'm gonna get this out, up front:
Running this giveaway is a job. Everything else about my position on recent events follow that.
Everyone must understand that when you post here, you're bringing me work. I'm not looking for sympathy; I volunteered for this insanity... but that doesn't change that it really _is_ work. In order to keep things flowing and make sure people have searchable data in case something goes wrong, I try to keep all basic communication in the thread. I generally reserve PMs for pre-working large donation lists, nudges for tardy draws, and other minor person-specific inquiries. I quote everything I process, partly as error correction routine, and partly to make it easily searchable. Random chatter and thank yous don't trigger any work in the OP, so they don't get quoted.
If anyone wants to think I am a tyrant for trying to make sure my job runs smoothly... if it makes them feel better, go for it, I guess. If I was
really that strict, about three quarters of all the entrants would've had to make two attempts (or more) at initial sign-up. That would be a huge pain in the ass; that's why I don't do it.
So... no, not a tyrant.
Returning to the matter at hand:
A donation offer was made in the middle of a confusing discussion. There was no indicator to humour, but the timing was poor; with much of the confusion around where the "two"s were, it seemed very plausible that the offer was deadpan sarcasm. That's why I asked for confirmation. 100% serious, no joking at all, request for confirmation.
After that, I literally forgot about it. Data processed; it's not data again until I get a reply.... which never actually happened. The implicit conclusion is that the offer was, in fact, deadpan sarcasm (even though I didn't consciously think about it).
Fast forward a week. An attempt is made to sign up for donator-only gifts and denied, based on searching the OP for the entrant's name and finding no donations. I interpreted the "add me to all those things!" wording as ignorance of the rules, and I wasn't particularly nice in my choice of words. My follow up regarding the inquiry-that-was-never-replied did not achieve nice either, but was not attempting to be "shaming" or anything similar. It was a dry accounting of what happened, as it relates to the dry business of administrating the giveaway.
Then other folks involved themselves, and things got messy.
I'm not going to split hairs over all that was conflated in the aftermath, as it serves no purpose. I am not going to hold a grudge over any of it, but I will also not be making any apologies for doing my job.
If anyone feels I'm being hostile to them, they need to take the initiative and PM me, civilly addressing the matter. I don't go out of my way to irritate people, but my sense of humour will disappear quickly if you bring the hostility to me, or if you make my job messy. I will continue to use public posts and PMs as outlined above.
Effectively immediately, anyone attempting to backseat moderate will get themselves nuked out of the giveaway, no warnings given beyond this one.
Don't try to do my job for me.
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Couldn't Vector re-donate her game, then sign up for the donators-only thingy?
If there was more interest for the title, yes... but there isn't. We already have 3 copies, and only 2 people interested.
I need to stand by my previous statement about refusing low-interest offerings. :/
Vector is certainly welcome to donate another title to get her donator's badge, however.
Meanwhile, in an alternate universe...
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While your interpretation isn't _wrong_... it's really not helping. I'd appreciate it if you'd expunge it.
Aristabulus: If you're having trouble keeping up to date with the giveaway due to personal issues, I'm more than willing to take over if you'd like.
I'm doing fine on keeping up with the data flow... thank you for the offer, though.
Are we done playing backseat moderators yet, or is there a good reason that people are perpetuating the drama from days ago after the parties involved have apparently let it drop?
Oh yes, we are _definitely_ done playing backseat moderators, and I am definitely done talking about it. ^___^
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Added!
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Added!
Torchlight went to me
Huzzah!
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Looks like I'm last guy to draw today... Cargo Commander!
There were 2 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
Ukrainian Ranger
10ebbor10
Timestamp: 2014-12-11 05:06:13 UTC
Ukrainian Ranger wins! Huzzah!