Let's have a talk about censorship

Let's have a talk about censorship is a thread on the official FeralHeart forums started by now-guest l3irdie (Birdie) on Jul 17, 2020, and around the same time several long time players left the game and forum. This thread has seven pages of replies and brings to light some of the problems that faced the community in Jul 2020. The topic was a discussion about how a thread on mental health started by xSpirit (the creator of FeralHeart Unleashed) had been deleted without any apparent given reason from staff. It is an archive of the event and stands as a list of grievances by forum members towards the staff members of the game. Grievances are especially focused on the sever host Razmirz ("Raz") and forum admin LordSuragaha ("Sura"), though the staff were also criticized as a whole.
==The Post==
The original post in its entirety by Birdie is below.
==Responses==
A response from a forum admin named LordSuragaha ("Sura") stated that the staff had nothing to do with the deletion of the original post discussing mental health, but rather the site's owner, Razmirz ("Raz"), deleted it without giving a reason. Sura said that a new forum thread on mental health and suicide hotlines was going to be made in the wake of xSpirit's thread deletion. However, other members didn't find this response satisfactory and believed the original thread should not have been deleted in the first place. Other members began blatantly criticizing the staff in general, while a handful took to defending them.
LordSuragaha responded again after a barrage of comments on the thread, stating that they had now been receiving death threats and hateful comments due to l3irdie (who they were also claiming of using an alt named Apple Cider, but some players stated that they were different people who lived in the same area) talking about the issue on the FeralHeart Discord. Sura also accused l3irdie of lying about the staffs' involvement with the deletion to purposefully cause drama.
Some members saw this response as a way for the staff to dismiss the players' and l3irdie's concerns in the thread, arguing that though l3irdie may have been wrong about the staff as a whole censoring the original thread (as opposed to just Raz), that l3irdie had a right to be concerned and address the staff despite the tone of the post(s). Other members just stated that the thread was a "train wreck." An admin named PrettyReckless said "FeralHeart does not want to be responsible if something was to happen to their users," then said they were no longer planning to remake the thread and told them to go post a thread about it on FHU's forum instead. Immediately members became upset, in part due to the staff changing their mind about re-creating the thread. At least one member began questioning the mod LordSuragaha's claim of death threats, and even those who had previously defended the staff decisions (such as Dark_heart) began begging for Raz to make an appearance on the forums to sort things out. Sura was unable to produce any proof of death threats. However, another staff member named Bloo also mentioned getting threatening responses, specifically in staff evaluations, though its unclear if these were responses to this specific event or in general.Chat with Bloo "aLittleProzium", Discord. (Accessed 9/1/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022)
The final response was from the moderator Ame88 on Jul 20, 2020, who then locked the thread. They said:
Despite Raz's reported fear in hosting a thread with links to suicide hot lines, the legal disclosure of the website in actuality protects them from any repercussions that could possible have arisen from the thread, implying that there may still have been a different motivation for the thread's removal. Other forum members had similar ideas.FeralHeart Site Terms and Conditions, FeralHeart Forum. (Accessed 8/16/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022)It's time to stop, page 3, FeralHeart Forum. Falconry: "The only real reason it was deleted was because XSpirit wrote it." Jul 22, 2020 (Accessed 8/16/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022)Member comments are implying that they believe the thread could have been removed because it was by xSpirit, the owner of FeralHeart Unleashed (a competitor) and because "as of February of 2020 xSpirit is in charge of enforcing KovuLKD's rights in his name." The site's legal disclaimer states "Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements," meaning some forum members believe that Raz's eventual statement about liability was an excuse. (Patchlamb 8/16/2020)
===Aftermath and Final Response===
This issue seems to have caused a rift within the community and may have constituted the wave of old time players leaving FeralHeart in Jul 2020 for the fan-made server FeralHeart Unleashed. Two days after the thread was locked Azura made a thread that stated " I'm watching everything I love crumble before me." Though the thread was calling for the forum to come back together and be unified once again, it also solidified the issues the community had with the staff, such as soft doxxing l3irdie and Apple Cider, claims of Sura banning several people for questioning staff, and Raz removing xSpirit's original post without any initial communication.It's time to stop, FeralHeart Forum. Jul 22, 2020 (Accessed 8/13/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022) 
Several other threads were posted directly about the Jul 2020 forum drama such as Imagine Proving a Point,Imagine Proving a Point FearlHeart Forum. Jul 21, 2020 (Accessed 4/15/2022) (Archived 4/15/2022) Not Involved,Not Involved, FearlHeart Forum. Jul 21, 2020 (Accessed 4/14/2022) (Archived 4/15/2022) and A Message.A Message, FearlHeart Forum. Jul 21, 2020 (Accessed 4/15/2022) (Archived 4/15/2022) "A Message," which was posted on Jul 21, 2020, began calling for Raz and Sura to leave the community, step down as staff, remove themselves from game involvement, or post an apology. The staff did not respond to the thread, but they did post a separate one.
Staff's final response came in the form a thread titled "To clear a few things up.." made on Jul 24, 2020 by admin PrettyReckless. Prettyreckless simply reiterated Raz's reasoning for the removal of the thread then denied any illegal practices regarding privacy policy (as some players accused Sura of breaking the law). Sura commented on the thread directly afterwards and apologized for their actions. Player response to the two admins' thread were varied. Some were happy that Sura apologized but still found issue that the problem happened in the first place. Others remained upset and continued to question the staffs' actions. Another mod named Bloo accepted the apology despite also being on the staff. Many players continued to question Raz's decision to remove xSpirit's thread and criticized his reason as to why he did it. Though other staff members got involved Raz never once directly responded to the players about the controversy, instead speaking through the admins, even as members (including xSpirit) continued to accuse the staff of breaking the law.To clear a few things up, FeralHeart Forums. Jul 24, 2020 (Accessed 8/17/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022)
14 members made threads in the "Leaving" section on Jul 2020, compared to 4 in Jun and 8 in May.Leaving, FeralHeart Forum. (Accessed 8/13/2020) (Archived 4/15/2022) This makes the amount of players abandoning the game/community in Jul more than those in Jun and May combined.
==References and Notes==
===References===
===Notes===
Category:ScandalsCategory:FeralHeart
Category:2020 Events