For transparency's sake, let me just say that I am posting here as I am not officially a member of staff, nor am I a GM, but I am someone who had invested significant time in this game as well as being an active developer whose job duties include "design and maintain a path forward for the longevity of Discovery". In addition, I have not been involved in any staff votes since December 2018, nor am I a lead developer at this time. I do not have access to any staff voting forums or chats.
I echo the previous sentiments posted. The handling of the XA officialdom request was not well thought through and it's consequences are going to be dangerous to both the constantly precarious standings that the administration team (or the Game Masters, as we've decided to rename them at some point in an attempt to save some face for the newcomers to the tainted position) and the community as a whole. The precedent being set here is not the focus -- we all know that Discovery is, at its core, run as a top-down organization where a small group of people maintain the power, regardless of how they choose to distribute it in theory or in practice internally. Fundamentally speaking, the GMs can do just about whatever they want, as long as it doesn't conflict with development.
What I am primarily concerned about is the ability of this administration to act in the best interests of the community and the future of the game. What we have seen from this is a clear indication that there is an internal preference of punishing specific players at the cost of entire groups in some cases without considering the environmental impact it has. This is a problem, especially when it conflicts with the work being done to try to hold this place together for another few years. It is going to shatter the already cracked confidence that the community has in the game's unified development and administration team, and it will be irreparable.
I do not have the authority to force the game masters to grant the Xeno Alliance officialdom. Not do I have the ability to force them to take another vote. However, I do have the benefit of hindsight, as should they, and I can say that it would be in the interest of the team to take another vote with the events of the past 24 hours in mind, for the sake of there still being a community and a game for them to be the caretakers of.
We did not burn out a number of our key people in a several months long fight to regain a future for this game only for the new administration to make the same mistakes as the old one.
