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@Parhelion - I'm sorry that a decision we made has affected you so negatively and drawn all this attention towards you. I'm sorry we put you in this position. It was likely unfair of us to do so, but we were simply trying to make the best decision we could and felt it important to get input outside the administration. For all of that, I'm sorry.

It's extremely disheartening that an issue we've decided to rectify because we feel it is what is best for Lusternia moving forward is creating such toxicity and hatred towards other players. Take it out on me all you want, I can handle it, but to turn on other players because they disagree is something those of you who did should feel ashamed of. 

This decision was never about taking anything away from anyone. We're not discounting Glom/Celest/Halli's work here - they put the work in and it shows. Everyone on their side knew what to do. We're not buying into the complaints about Creeping Doom and how it 'won' them Ascension (Ixion holding it for 56 mins against that strategy shows otherwise). Everyone understands and acknowledges that both sides worked incredibly hard and were prepared for this. 

What this is about is saying that 'hey, this lag that -everyone- complained about, that -everyone- agrees was a problem' had a major effect on this outcome. That isn't Glom/Celest/Halli's fault. That isn't Mag/Gaudi/Seren's fault. That's our fault. 

Hindsight is 20/20 - maybe we should have delayed Ascension. Certain players were pushing for delaying Ascension further before it even began. Maybe that was the right choice, but regardless of if it was the right choice or not, it's not the choice that was made. We can only move forward from here.

I know what it means to win Ascension. I know what it takes to win Ascension. I know how it feels to have that victory attributed to lag and not to the efforts I and others around me put in. This isn't something that is foreign to me and yet, from what I observed, this lag was something else entirely. This lag being something else entirely seems to be a common perception among all the players - not just the 'losing' side, but the winning side as well. This lag having a real effect on the outcome is all but certain here. It doesn't really seem that anyone is or has argued against that point.

I understand that this course of action is different than anything that Lusternia has done in the past. 

I fully understand that there are those of you on the winning side that would not have complained had Ixion won originally. I've seen those of you during the entire Ascension maintain this attitude throughout each victory or loss that you faced, even when you personally lost in the last few seconds. I hear and appreciate your willingness to roll with the punches and forge forward regardless of the outcome. I know that this decision may upset you and make you feel like your efforts weren't worthwhile. We do not mean to make you feel that way.

I also know that there are those of you who said you would not complain that absolutely would (and have) complained when your side lost. I've seen those of you who have gone off on your tirades and arguments when things didn't end up your way and blame the administration for 'allowing' it to happen. There are even those players who are saying we should have included the playerbase as a whole in this decision arguing to us that players can't be trusted to vote 'for the good of the game' in things that aren't going their way. To these players, I also know that this decision may upset you and make you feel like your efforts weren't worthwhile. We also do not mean to make you feel this way.

I also fully understand that this will open us up to further criticism down the line when players don't think we made the right call. We're already seeing that in regards to the War Seal event. If you want to know the reason why we didn't enforce it there, feel free to message me and I'll give it to you. I'm not interested in starting a debate on our decision there in this thread though. What I promise is that we will strive to make the best decision for Lusternia, as a whole, that we can. I won't promise it will always be the right decision because we can and do make mistakes. I will promise to try and learn from those mistakes as we move forward.

I know the decision made today has upset a lot of you. I really do feel that it is what's best for Lusternia moving forward, and I do hope that those of you who are upset will continue to stick around and trust that while you may not agree with all the decisions we make, that we are earnestly trying to do our best for -everyone- as a whole. We will continue to listen to your views and criticism and opinions.

I think admins are doing something that Lusternia, by its history isn't really used to. And no, it's not the 2xTA necessarily, but rather owning up to the managerial mistakes and making compensations to the disappointed players. Now, this does put them at a tough spot for the future, where they are going to be expected to be held to this same standard if things go awry. And I am sure that time will come, because nothing is perfect and Lusternia is no exception to that. If players' frustration on that day meets with inconsistency, the resolution today will do nothing but raise questionmarks in admins' direction. But I appreciate the attempt, speaking from experience, we could have definitely used more of this in the past.

A final advice from a pseudo-retiree, whose opinions shouldn't hold much weight: 

Jaspet said:

Parhelion said:

I fully support this action. If you're on the side that helped me win, and this makes you want to retire or stop playing, you are no better than the other side that said the same thing, and you can consider our friendship in any capacity ended no matter how long we've known each other. End of story.

 I will not accept anyone dictating my feelings to me.

Given how many people are pissed off at me because they feel like I owe it to them to share their opinions on whether Ixion deserves to be ascendant or not, I understand completely. 

Saz said:

A final advice from a pseudo-retiree, whose opinions shouldn't hold much weight: 

Disconnect yourself from discord channels, guys&gals. I understand that almost %99 of the current competitive/engaged playerbase is constantly interacting there, OOC. My personal opinion is that it's making everything worse simply due to the fact that the event itself and consequences/discussions around it are purely mechanical and never in character. So the frustrations are coming in players' directions instead of characters and that's removing a protective layer ("Oh, it's their character that's a jerk, not the player." ). Lusternia is a truly unique experience that you feel down when you lose, then you feel down again when you win. And it's been a hectic few weeks, but it has been for everyone involved and not just you. So you might want to keep your attitude in check, dear reader.

I'm not normally one to step up and talk, but since you brought it up, I 100% agree with your view on discord. I can't count the number of times I've had to console different people having rough experiences based solely (seemingly) off of discord interactions rather than IC ones, and the skewed view definitely does not tempt me to participate. It might leave you at some theoretical disadvantage, sure, but it's much easier to treat the game as just a game when you unplug completely at logout, and when nothing pertaining to the game happens outside of your direct game client. Jo would not be Jo if I played otherwise.

I for one applaud this decision, it felt like it was lag that beat our side moreso than being outplayed, and I think it reflects well on the admin to own up to the fact that it was an issue and reach a hand out to support somebody who also put a ton of work into ascension and preparing for it (lets be honest multiple years of work on Ixion's part) only to not have the contest be one outside of any player's control.

Kudos to the admin for owning up to it and seeking to address it.

I will comment on the lag post mortem. Thank you for the break down. I've seen some things are already migrating / being migrated (mostly due to some of my gmcp related scripting breaking and being fixed). Thanks for addressing the technical issues and giving us a breakdown on what they were and how they're going to be addressed.