Deeply disturbing

[jamestroll]

fwiw, keep in mind I am  not in the best mental shape and I get scared of ticking people off.

[Lambsbread]

Oh yeah, Invaligate. What a weird time. Maybe I should run for Governor again.

[Associate Justice PiT]

fwiw, keep in mind I am  not in the best mental shape and I get scared of pissing people off.

     I'm the same way. I end up feeling intimidated by really minor stuff sometimes, because my attitude is strongly non-confrontational.

[jamestroll]

fwiw, keep in mind I am  not in the best mental shape and I get scared of pissing people off.

     I'm the same way. I end up feeling intimidated by really minor stuff sometimes, because my attitude is strongly non-confrontational.

exactly, this should be a fun game.. I do not think someone who was more normal would have felt intimidated in that situation.

[Mike Thick]

fwiw, keep in mind I am  not in the best mental shape and I get scared of pissing people off.

     I'm the same way. I end up feeling intimidated by really minor stuff sometimes, because my attitude is strongly non-confrontational.

Yeah, I sometimes feel attacked by things that I realize were really stupid and minor later on. Partially because I have a hard time telling whether people are kidding or not sometimes.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

lock 'em up!! lock 'em up!! lock 'em up!!

[Leinad]

From what I understand, this is what happened: Jimmie voted for Yankee in the original election, Labor contacted him and persuaded him to vote for Blair, and this was brought up in IRC, where Jimmie changed his mind after hearing the arguments for voting Yankee. Ted apparently didn't even know Jimmie had voted until the end of the conversation.

They shouldn't have talked to someone about their vote--I've told and will tell them as much in private--but the three of them are ultimately inexperienced players, and they made a mistake. They learned from it. To say it's "bullying" or a "felony" is nothing but a partisan witch-hunt, unless I'm being told a drastically inaccurate version of events.

Also, I'll add that I was not in at the time and, more importantly, Yankee (the actual candidate here) was not in at the time, either--as of me typing this post, he actually hasn't been online since well before Jimmie's vote.

And why on earth is Adam bringing up Tmth, as if that's any scandal at all? Yeah, he came into IRC one night and Facebook messaged a couple people he knows from Atlas. That's been the extent of his involvement in the game since he left.

[Classic Conservative]

Why the hell do you people care so much about this damn game. It's a game.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

I would like to apologize for my borderline cursing earlier. I was angry in the heat of the moment. Simply put this is one of the funnest games I have ever played (granted some may not understand that) and I do not want to do anything to jeopardize that. That being said I do not think what I did was illegal, I did not force or intimidate Jimmie into changing his vote and I really do resent the charges of cyberbullying.

[Lambsbread]

I would like to apologize for my borderline cursing earlier. I was angry in the heat of the moment. Simply put this is one of the funnest games I have ever played (granted some may not understand that) and I do not want to do anything to jeopardize that. That being said I do not think what I did was illegal, I did not force or intimidate Jimmie into changing his vote and I really do resent the charges of cyberbullying. I have felt suicidal before over cyberbullying and I wouldn't force the pain of being bullied online upon anyone.

1. Never use "funnest" when you mean "most fun"
2. Don't take Atlasia so seriously. Is only game.

[Goldwater]

I would like to apologize for my borderline cursing earlier. I was angry in the heat of the moment. Simply put this is one of the funnest games I have ever played (granted some may not understand that) and I do not want to do anything to jeopardize that. That being said I do not think what I did was illegal, I did not force or intimidate Jimmie into changing his vote and I really do resent the charges of cyberbullying. I have felt suicidal before over cyberbullying and I wouldn't force the pain of being bullied online upon anyone.

1. Never use "funnest" when you mean "most fun"
2. Don't take Atlasia so seriously. Is only game.

Because DFW is obviously the one overreacting in this situation.

[Enduro]

Let's all calm down a bit, obviously this is just a big misunderstanding.

90% of the time, when typing, the tone and intentions of a text/PM/post is mistaken.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

For the record I don't really see the point in sending out a "roar PM" or whatever to people who don't vote your way as if that's meant to convince them to invalidate or change their vote.

That's not to say anything of the current situation per se, but it is something for our neckbearded selves to consider in the future.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

To say it's "bullying" or a "felony" is nothing but a partisan witch-hunt, unless I'm being told a drastically inaccurate version of events.

Leinad, I think you know me well enough by now to know that I don't use either of those words lightly. To call the concerns raised a "witch hunt" is dismissive and ignores the serious nature of what went on this afternoon. Attempting to pressure a voter into editing their ballot after it has been cast is a crime, plain and simple. It is furthermore abundantly clear, from the testimony presented by Jimmie in this thread and elsewhere, that he did not simply "change his mind" after "hearing the arguments" of the other candidate. He was approached by three prominent Atlasian Federalist minutes after he voted who proceeded to interrogate him about his ballot. It is not hard to see how that would be intimidating, or why Jimmie would have felt pressured to change his vote. You of all people should know what it feels like to be in the crosshairs of that kind of an exchange.

Whether the intentions of dfw and the others were intentionally malicious or not is beside the point. The fact is that they did come of as confrontational and threatening, to the point where a poster felt he needed to change his vote to make it stop. That should never have happened. We can argue about what they 'meant to say' until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, the onus is on the speaker to make sure their words are understood. Jimmie should never have been approached about his vote, and he should never have been put in a position where he was defending his choice against three people at once. That is the kind of atmosphere that drives people away - and after what happened in Bloody July, it would be morally corrupt of me to stand silently by when one of my constituents feels they are under siege. I've spoken out against this sort of conduct when it occurs within my own party, and I have complete faith that you will do the same.

What dfw, Santander, and Ted did was wrong, period. I'm glad that Ted, at least, seems to have taken responsibility for that (it's not clear to me if dfw's most recent post is an apology for what he said to Jimmie, or merely for his reaction to Griffin's post); but the facts are what they are. This afternoon, a poster was made to feel that they had done something wrong by voting their conscience, and that's a reality that should never be tolerated or excused.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Look, I think I'm done with this thread. I know that you will take great glee ( at least one of you will) in blasting out PM's to Vote for Blair to arrest these Criminals !!!!11!!!, but It doesn't matter what you think of me or my actions, do you have any actual evidence that I intimidated Jimmie? No? Great, then you can shove your accusations. If you want to keep these accusations up then I will consider suing the both of you for Slander in front of the Supreme Court and ask for YOUR removal from the game, if you want to keep this up. Again, have a good night Gentlemen!

[jamestroll]

I do not think anyone purposefully tried to intimidate me to change my vote. The only wrong I can see is that being asked why I voted for someone after I voted, especially if it is someone of the same party I am registered with. But still, it really is not a big deal, they were likely curious as to why I originally voted for Yankee and then in the Runoff Blair (before changing my vote).

So it is really just all a misunderstanding in my view.

Lets be honest, I have my own issues, and being in front of these people.. I did not want to tick anyone off. dfwlibertylover seems friendly to me, and I do not think there was any purposeful wrong doing. It is not his fault that I have my own issues.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would point out that last night, Jimmie complained of "taking heat" for his vote in the original election. That was my last interaction with him once the voting booth was delayed being opened.

It prompted a discussion that someone else recently brought up to me and that is taking a possible look at secret balloting again. As difficult as it maybe to implement in a way that is trustworthy, I think we should at least discuss the possibility. Because whether it is people getting bitched at five days ago for how they voted, or bitched at now the end result is still the same. People are being mistreated because the votes are 100% public. If it would be practical, secret balloting would remove a lot of the aspects that invite misbehavior and tension, as well as the personal element.

It has long been my policy, to not contact people once they have voted. Simply because I have seen this happen way too many times for comfort. I wish that had been followed here.

And at the same time, I would say to Jimmie that I too plan to make this game as fun as possible.

[jamestroll]

This game is taken way to seriously.

I have a few suggestions,

1) Someone needs to explore a practical way to create private voting.

2) No more asking people why they voted for someone, after that person voted. It is over and done.

3) No posting of PM's or anything related to Atlasia in public. Posting of PM's is not acceptable unless they are hostile or threatening.

4) Most of all.. this should be a fun game, not a serious game. People have been banned or disciplined on this forum over this game before.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This game is taken way to seriously.

I have a few suggestions,

1) Someone needs to explore a practical way to create private voting.

2) No more asking people why they voted for someone, after that person voted. It is over and done.

3) No posting of PM's or anything related to Atlasia in public. Posting of PM's is not acceptable unless they are hostile or threatening.

4) Most of all.. this should be a fun game, not a serious game. People have been banned or disciplined on this forum over this game before.

I agree on points one and two.

Posting PMs is a TOS violation.

No one has been banned from the forum for actions in the game. People have been banned from the forum for TOS violations aimed at manipulating the game, such as socking/trolling etc.

The simple fact of the matter is IRC allows for rapid response, including not only voter intimidation, but vote buying as well. Short of secret balloting, I don't know how else one could put a lid on this and even then. I saw first hand some of the sleeze that went on in October 2015.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I would point out that last night, Jimmie complained of "taking heat" for his vote in the original election. That was my last interaction with him once the voting booth was delayed being opened.

It prompted a discussion that someone else recently brought up to me and that is taking a possible look at secret balloting again. As difficult as it maybe to implement in a way that is trustworthy, I think we should at least discuss the possibility. Because whether it is people getting bitched at five days ago for how they voted, or bitched at now the end result is still the same. People are being mistreated because the votes are 100% public. If it would be practical, secret balloting would remove a lot of the aspects that invite misbehavior and tension, as well as the personal element.

It has long been my policy, to not contact people once they have voted. Simply because I have seen this happen way too many times for comfort. I wish that had been followed here.

And at the same time, I would say to Jimmie that I too plan to make this game as fun as possible.

This is an election simulation game where shenanigans happen all too often.  A secret ballot means that accuracy cannot be adequately assured.

There will be nothing but accusations of shenanigans followed by the "supreme court" assuring us nothing is wrong...

I understand your reasoning NCY but secret ballots just won't work unless we literally have a computer compiling the results for us.  Where is beep boop when we need him?

[jamestroll]

I would point out that last night, Jimmie complained of "taking heat" for his vote in the original election. That was my last interaction with him once the voting booth was delayed being opened.

It prompted a discussion that someone else recently brought up to me and that is taking a possible look at secret balloting again. As difficult as it maybe to implement in a way that is trustworthy, I think we should at least discuss the possibility. Because whether it is people getting bitched at five days ago for how they voted, or bitched at now the end result is still the same. People are being mistreated because the votes are 100% public. If it would be practical, secret balloting would remove a lot of the aspects that invite misbehavior and tension, as well as the personal element.

It has long been my policy, to not contact people once they have voted. Simply because I have seen this happen way too many times for comfort. I wish that had been followed here.

And at the same time, I would say to Jimmie that I too plan to make this game as fun as possible.

This is an election simulation game where shenanigans happen all too often.  A secret ballot means that accuracy cannot be adequately assured.

There will be nothing but accusations of shenanigans followed by the "supreme court" assuring us nothing is wrong...

I understand your reasoning NCY but secret ballots just won't work unless we literally have a computer compiling the results for us.  Where is beep boop when we need him?

Yes.. I did not think about that..

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would point out that last night, Jimmie complained of "taking heat" for his vote in the original election. That was my last interaction with him once the voting booth was delayed being opened.

It prompted a discussion that someone else recently brought up to me and that is taking a possible look at secret balloting again. As difficult as it maybe to implement in a way that is trustworthy, I think we should at least discuss the possibility. Because whether it is people getting bitched at five days ago for how they voted, or bitched at now the end result is still the same. People are being mistreated because the votes are 100% public. If it would be practical, secret balloting would remove a lot of the aspects that invite misbehavior and tension, as well as the personal element.

It has long been my policy, to not contact people once they have voted. Simply because I have seen this happen way too many times for comfort. I wish that had been followed here.

And at the same time, I would say to Jimmie that I too plan to make this game as fun as possible.

This is an election simulation game where shenanigans happen all too often.  A secret ballot means that accuracy cannot be adequately assured.

There will be nothing but accusations of shenanigans followed by the "supreme court" assuring us nothing is wrong...

I understand your reasoning NCY but secret ballots just won't work unless we literally have a computer compiling the results for us.  Where is beep boop when we need him?

Snowguy, I didn't suggest it originally. But whether it it is this thing in #SouthernChat or vote buying whatever you want to call what happened last October in #Atlasforum, we have a broken system now as it is.

Perhaps there is another way, but we need to have an open discussion to fix this. The last thing I want to see is us lose another player over bullsh**t. 

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

This runoff is a sham.

Give it to Xahar already.

[jamestroll]

I know I have a minority opinion here, apparently, but there are more important things to life then this game.

[Wisconsin+17]

The only way to set up a secret ballot would be to have a moderator for the forum conduct the election.

He would receive the votes, tally them up and announce the winner. He could also determine poster validity, etc.

Poster could not be affiliated with either major party etc.

That IMO would be the best way to do a secret ballot.