The Long-Overdue Saga of VF4 - A Tale of Three Cities

VintagePC

GodModePC
VF4-S (Server Operator)
Forum Operator
Minecraft Operator
Global Moderator
Staff Member
Hello Vaultians!

It's finally time to tell the tale of how we got to be where we are today, from the early, early days as FUG, through FFN, and now as VF4. We've spent quite some time editing, drafting, and revising the tale below for your enjoyment!

So... grab a cup of something (tea, beer, whathaveyou), settle in, and enjoy!
 
Act 1: How Free Frag Was Won - The Rise And Fall of Forum Nations
(Credit to @African Grey for the primary writeup, @Carcajou , Roland Daemon and teslatitan for contributions, reformatted by VintagePC)

Original source here: http://www.freefrag.com/threads/how-free-frag-was-won-the-rise-and-fall-of-forum-nations.8010/)

Chapter 1: The Regicide

Come children, gather 'round. 'Tis time to hear the tale of how our mighty nation came to be.
Long before this nation there was a mighty kingdom. It rose up from a single server on the endless Convoy plains where the mighty King Fug and his followers battled for a place at the top of the server list. They waged epic battles and built a great forum abundant with servers, and for a time the people were happy, most of them anyway. For deep within the kingdom’s forums rose discontent.

You see, the King Fug and his loyal Sergeant, Snoodler, did not build the kingdom on their own as many of the people might have believed. It was their friends and allies, the elite among those who administrated servers, and who built the very walls of the grand forums of black and gold. They were the Omega Knights.

The king had promised them power, he had promised they would be his equals, and so they built him his kingdom, governed the servers, fought hordes of savage trolls, and all for the kingdom and its people. All for the promise of better world, where every voice could be heard and respected.

Disagreements were had. The king had not kept his promise. The knights were not given the promised equality and were ignored as the king assumed total control for him and his Sergeant. The knights watched as one after another the king made poor judgments and caused unrest in the land.

They had to act. On a cold wintry night they struck; taking the keys they were tasked to hold they locked the king outside the inner walls of the forum. They already governed the kingdom, they held the keys and in their number had greater control over the magical power of the Internets, there should have been no problem. They had hoped to simply remove the king from power, to take their promised places as rulers and for that to be all, the people would hardly notice the difference. The kingdom was theirs to take and take it they did.

They knew deep down that if they had not acted they would have left on their own and taken their own and the nation would be left divided and broken, and they hoped to prevent such grief. “After all,” they had said, “this is for the people. Fug has betrayed them as well as us and abused his power.” But despite their intentions they could not prevent the chaos that would ensue.

The one major flaw in their plan was in opening the public forums that day so soon after the king was tossed out. Instead they all went to their homes and jobs, wishing for anything but to think of what they had done, their betrayal against a former ally. People everywhere woke up to find their kingdom bearing a new name (a really stupid name at that) and flying different colors. Fug was no more, now there was District Gaming (see, stupid). What was this? where was their perfect land? Where was their king? Though he had distanced himself from the people long ago, some never even seeing him, his sergeant and second in command, Snoodler, was much loved by the people. The two of them entered the forum and told their tale to the people, of being betrayed by those they trusted, of losing everything. Many people sided with them and civil war broke out within the city walls.


Chapter 2: Reforming a shattered Kingdom

Lines were drawn, words were spoken (some screamed even), and flame wars broke out all over the city. Attempts were made by a number of the admins to resolve the problems, to even make peace between the Omegas (now DG) and the king Fug, but they were drowned by others, even among their own ranks, who chose to incite chaos. Whether out of frustration or even to further the cause of their side they shouted and argued, trolled and raged. There was nothing that could be done to save the kingdom. It was time to end the madness once and for all.

Acting alone NeT, the keeper of the kingdom’s keys, entered into the heart of the forum keep and shut everyone else out before unleashing his powers over the internets and single handedly destroying the entire forum (click). The city was silent, servers collapsed, the kingdom had fallen.

An effort was made to find refuge for those lost after the fall. A few of these fragment nations are worth recording. There was Erika’s refugee camp, which only lasted a short time before it was no longer needed; the already existing guild of doctors known as The Firm offered a temporary refuge during this time; Former Omega Mak lead a small number to his own property, a forum known as Rage of Fire, it was the main location for those siding with the Omegas before FFN; there was of course the new kingdom of Fug, from which was built Fug World, a new kingdom, though far less glamorous than before; next to them were the group known as the All Originals (AO), mainly supporters of Fug they were thought by many to be nothing more than another branch of the king’s army, they are still around today; last of all was the legendary Glorious People’s Republic of Convoy (GPRoC), formed in the endless canyon from which the old kingdom drew its roots, and lead by the fearless Chairman Chao, the tale of this nation is best saved for another time, though they were important for being a temporary connection for between the two main sides for those not wishing to choose a side.

It was in this time of healing that the plans were drawn for the spectacular Free Frag Network. A land where all respectful persons can game and have their voices heard.

Below is the eyewitness account of @Carcajou, the angry, wielder of the frying pan of death:

"12/9/2009, I log onto the Fug shoutbawks, like I normally did at that time to see if there was any issues on the servers. I log on to see total chaos, turmoil and finger pointing! Of course, being only a lowly level 2 admin at the time, I was totally perplexed at what was going on.....There were a few times that I had a finger pointed at me going "YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS YOU ARE AN ADMIN!!!!!!!" I was totally and utterly blown away at the accusations that some of the now current Fug members put on me! The name calling, the LOLUMAD?, the sheer negativity drove me away from the shoutbawks for a while till I found the "newfug" forums which were tempie....I stupidly joined their ranks after all the smoke cleared, became a lvl 2 admin again and then next thing I know I have fingers pointed at me again this time from the head hanchos....."You are tryin to single handedly bring Fug down!!" A few of us who are amongst the FFN admins are former "NewFug" admins....I had my title stripped of me just because I was being an idealist, trying to make things easier on the admins, the staff, the mods, as a whole but they didn't see it that way...

So here I am now, a Level 2 FFN admin (yes yes I will start doing my job again) and I think by far this is the best community I have ever seen....I am actually listened to, my ideas are taken and I am not being accused of being the Harbinger of doom that NewFug accused me of being!"

Many others witnessed the same... and here is written the account of Tesla Titan, the tallest:

"Dec-3: The take over of fug from fug and snood
Dec-5: Net pulls the plug on the District Gaming
Dec-6: Rage of fire forums run by mak become the temporary home for those of us who decided to leave fug in general.
Dec-17: The Free Frag community is released to the world.

Their were 2 main factions ROF/FF and fug, with 3-5 other factions trying to hold their own too.
The republic of convoy kinda became the haven for a lot of non-aligned folks for a little while too. nubz, Dr. and I forget the rest who were hosting their own servers as well.
The prime reason about the split if I recall correctly was just getting way to much push back from fug and snood over plans to expand the servers, what games to add and probably the straw that broke the camel's back... The reversal of bans issues by other top level admins.

I remember clearly the game on granary where the shit hit the fan, A friendly pub match and one person who was wall hacking. We had a demo taken and then posted and discussed to great length in the admin forums. In the end it was decided that a ban was in order. the ban was issues, it was appealed by the then standard process and the bad was upheld until it was reversed by either fug or snood. At witch point everything blew up. A few admins made power plays and other resigned. An ugly time it was... I wish things had been more mutual, but a breakup is never mutual.

So after the dust had settled, and both sides were rebuilding, fug was rather particular that no one who was ranked within free frag would be ranked within fug and thus set it so that everyone had to also chose sides. This move probably did more harm than anything else. In the first few weeks we tried to keep the sentiment free of anything spiteful or needless greifing, But we had our less than proud moments too... "LOLUMAD?" But I know that we tried very hard to develop a thick skin as part of our attitude. (I think we did a Good job of keeping cool and calm)

So that's my recollection of events as I remember. A little patchy, but I watched the demo of that fateful game over a lot too, Trying to see how the player was wall hacking in the first place.

But we ought to keep in mind that what happened long before the split is also a large part of our history too.
"
And finally we conclude with the retelling by Roland Daemon:

"I don't remember the exact dates it all happened, all I remember is that it started roughly around the time of the tf2 war. Everyone was excited that there was an update happening for soldiers and demo-men at the same time and that there was a competition for a 4th item ((in which the soldier had won by about a million kills if I remember correctly))

The war aside, I was busy, or rather.. not-so busy with dealing with a war brewing closer to home. I believe a few days before the 'war' I had been getting some really weird feeling that something was about to go down. I not 100% sure who it was I talked too, but there was some words said that really made me think '.....somethings gonna happen soon...' Seeing the rest of the omega's aside from fug and snood also brought some flags... the guys spent nearly all their time in the TS channel, privately.. talking.. one night I Could of sworn they were in there for hours, but I'll never know for sure.

Anyway, the day it all hit was a day I won't completely forget ever. I read the post Eldredd ((now Makatiel)) had said that they had taken over and renamed it to District Gaming. I took the time to actually read the post ((Which I really wish everyone had done, cause it detailed WHY they did it in the first place)) and understood their objective.

A community of the people, for the people, lead by a group of many instead of just one.

It was something, in my mind, to be the right thing and something that everyone should aspire to be a part of.

I was happy to see this, I wanted this and I was quick to inform people. The first person I informed was Zidders...

That's when... for me.. shit started getting bad and stressful. Zid flipped the fuck out and I was shocked... He seemed like a reasonable guy that would want something like that...

But all he did was bitch, whine and complain.. much like everyone else.

I distanced myself just a bit and got the full picture from everyone's point of view. 99% of them were fucking retards and people with power/internet issue's. I stand by this statement and will always stand by it. I lost nearly 80% of my friends list that day, and you know what?

I don't fucking care. People started treating people like shit that didn't even deserve it... Friends or not, you don't talk that way to people.

...anyway. At the time, I did still care and was hurt by what everyone was saying. When the forums went down, I did my best to keep in contact with all the groups. GPRoC, The firm, Erika's, RoF and FuG. The five big groups that I remember, I was on all of them for awhile. Talking to all of them, trying to keep in contact. I even went so far to make a plead for all the groups to come back together and get something talked out.

Rediculed, being accused of things, I decided it wasn't worth it and I Found my home on the RoF forums ((funny, that yet again.. I have a home there again)). We got back together, and we started forming what was supposed to be district gaming. We had a group of about 20-25 of us on the forums and we got things going.

All I knew is that I just wanted to do what I had been doing, Admin'ing for the servers... I still want to do more for this community, but I need the know-how.

We started up a few of the popular servers, B2B, 2fort, payload at first, saying that we'd only have about 5 servers while we waited for BC2 to come out.

Shows how long that lasted now that we have nearly what, 15-20 servers? XD

....What a long, strange trip it has been... But would I do it again if we had to? Yeah.... I still believe that our community is the best there is out there. I would be happy to be on FFN for the next 50 years if such a thing would happen. ^_^
"
One might think the story ends happily ever after... but alas, "ever" was such a long, long time... and the old unrest had never been truly vanquished.
 
Act 2: The Chronicles of @Nightshde

Chapter 3: The Early Days
Here is my recollection of everything that has happened since the start of FUG.

In May of 2008 FUG started a simple server for his favorite map, convoy. Some where around there Snood came into the picture and they ran the server together. In June I discovered the server and started spending every waking moment on there when I wasn't looking for work. Over the summer the server gained huge popularity and Fug and Snood started needing admins to help regulate the server when they were not around. So I along with a few others became the first admins of FUG. It soon got to a point where the server was always full and you would have to queue up for about a half hour before you could get in so in September I decided to create a forum where people could hang out while they waited to get on the server. It was a simple phpBB forum with just a few simple categories and after a few weeks I added the first shoutbox(which I now wish I never did). So for the next few months I ran the forums while Snood and Fug ran the server.

About Nov/December that year Mak, Net, and Flik join the fray and help us expand beyond just the single server to about 4 servers and in January we start upgrading to a better forum system. Its at this time that we created the Operators level which consisted of all six of us; Fug as the figure head, Snood as the character everyone loves on the server, Me as head of the forums and graphics, Net and Flik as the server guys, and Mak as another server guy/community manager. Things were good until November 2009 when shit hit the fan...

Chapter 4: Unrest by Royal Edict
So in November 2009 things started getting a little rough in the Fug community. The community was getting huge; we had our regulars but we had new people coming in every day and of course some of these people like to bring trouble with them. Well there was a small group that came in and started causing some major issues on the forums, the usual trolling. Mak, I and the mods would of course step in and squash any issues along with slapping people with warnings. Soon it got to a breaking point and a couple people started an all out trolling war. I can’t remember the exact details of what the war entailed, but needless to say it was pretty bad and people needed to be perma-banned. So the dust settled and we thought things were good again, that was until Snood decided to step in and reverse the bans. This of course made us and the mods a little irate and when asked why Snood responded with saying he could do whatever he wanted. This is when it started to fall apart.

It was at this time that we asked to have an emergency meeting to figure out wtf just happened and to discuss the future of the community. This was the meeting where Fug and Snood told us they didn’t see the other operators as equals that we just worked for them and that it was no longer a democracy. Whatever Fug or Snood wanted they could do and none of us could question it. This of course did not go over well with me or the other operators so after Snood and Fug left we had our own meeting to discuss what we wanted to do. We were all miffed and talked about just quitting, but we had put so much work into the community that we didn’t want it all wasted. So we discussed our options along with a couple of the top admins and we came to the conclusion that the only option was to take over the community that we had built. Everything was in the other operator’s names; the only thing that had Fug’s name on it was the community itself.

Chapter 4: Usurpment and a Shattered Nation
After about a week or two of planning we put the plan into action and started locking Snood and Fug out of everything. Although Snood and Fug thought they were the top dogs they forgot that the other operators were the actual ones that have been maintaining/building everything; Fug was too busy playing L4D and Snood was usually drunk whenever he was on. So the passwords were changed and Mak posted a long letter to the community about what was going on and the change in management. As you would think this created a schism in the community, those who knew and understood why this was happening and those who thought Snood and Fug could do no wrong. Soon Snood and Fug found out what was going on and they of course were royally pissed. Soon another war broke out and the LOLUMAD BRO? with a Dr. Doom image was being plastered all over the forums in support of the change. Eventually the community was ripped apart and the forums were taken down along with the servers and all was quiet for a time…

So it is now about the End of November ’09 and the FUG Community as it was is no more. The community had become divided into separate groups, some talking to others while some wanted nothing to do with anyone else. For example one community, SMG, which was made up of mostly trolls would actually auto ban anyone that talked about supporting the takeover of FUG or have tags from some of the other communities. While other groups like GPRoC just wanted civility and peace between everyone.

During this time Mak changed his name to what we know him as today, originally he went by Eldredd, and opened up his old guild forums RoF for the old operators and the supporters. I myself was going between some of the communities helping support them and get their servers/forums up and running. I had been working on streamlining the Convoy map and had made a night version so I passed what I had along to some of these communities to get them on their feet. Soon we had an alliance between some of the communities and talked about making a single place again where everyone can just have fun and play together; so the talk of creating FFN started.

Chapter 5: The Birth of the Promised Land
It was around the middle/end of December that we opened the FFN Forums and Servers. Everyone started flooding in and it wasn't long before the community felt whole again. During this time Fug and Snood started up FUGWORLD and a lot of the old admins flocked to them at first, which was until Fug/Snood started doing to them what they did to us and they saw why things happened the way they did so many came to FFN, like Carcajou and African Grey. We had an open arm policy, we didn't care if you were or weren't with FUG, all were welcome; which was a drastically different treatment you got if you went to the FUG forum or servers. Finally the dust settled and we thought we were finished with the FUG fiasco…

It was about January ’10 that Fug started giving us trouble again not just online but in real life. Fug went so far as to call/write a letter to Net’s employer who was supplying the servers to the community and actually got Net fired; not only that but the employer also demanded Net pay back what we were getting in discount on the servers. It was a pretty dick move to mess with someone’s real life over something that happened on the internet and is the sole reason why we could never work things out with Fug and Snood. So we tried to help get Net back on his feet with the help of MrPantsDown and the new FFN community.

For the next year things are good; people and admins come and go but the community continues to build requiring us to invest in better servers and forum software.

Around the winter of ’10-’11 things on the internet got a little crazy. Some companies were attempting to sue forums because of forum users posting content from their site without their permission and were holding the forum owners liable. This got us a little worried and started looking into how we could protect ourselves from being sued in case they ever attempted to come after us; this is when the LLC talks started. After a couple months of deliberation we decided to move forward with the LLC.

Chapter 6: The Unrest Returns...
With the LLC now in place things slowly started getting a little weird and people started to get very serious with how everything was managed. Along with becoming a LLC we had to give operators actual job titles/positions which created a little tension and started to make things complicated. For the longest time we all had access to everything; if a server needed updating anyone could do it; if I wanted to change the map rotation on the fun server I could, but now only one person had full access to a particular thing. The change made sense, but with everyone’s weird schedules it made it harder to change things quickly when there was an issue that needed fixing.

Another thing that came with change to a LLC was how serious some were about making money. Talks about how we could make more money became a regular discussion. This is of course was no longer the FFN we started, with just the idea of having fun loving community and place where people can escape from reality. Now FFN had become a job for some and they wanted to find ways to get paid.

This is the start of the long fall of FFN…
 
Act 3: March of the Penguins
(Various excerpts from @Reechard, @LavaRed, and @VintagePC)

Chapter 7: Industrial Espionage
At this point Freefrag was a *company* that had 3 or 4 owners, and money was on the table. Ad revenue from the site, donations from members for eye-searing effects in-game, fake player counts to fill the servers, and general well being. Alas, this was not to last, for once things are autonomous... they are often left to their own devices by their creators... and such was the case. A skilled, efficient team of staff meant things went well enough for a while, but in the contentment, certain events went unnoticed...

For one of the operators was in a relationship with an admin, who sought to gain more power. Personal defenses had been breached and a line of communication between them was formed. Personal ties resulted in an abuse of those communications, and complaints went unheeded for far too long. As all fuses are wont to do, things smoldered unnoticed until it was too late, and once again the nation was blasted to pieces, for this operator inflicted significant damage to the fortress walls, and departed with an army of unknowing, questionably loyal followers known only as "the Freezetag Group". This army rivalled in size that of the remaining faction, the "Primary FFN Group" and its loss was devastating.

The Freezetag Group were lured to distant lands with promises of key giveaways, a new forum, and new servers in which to play, and gathered themselves under the banner of "SeriousPants". To further the divide, their leader was one who reigned over the FFN servers, and in his absence they languished. Their leader continued to pilfer his former land, returning to remove many of the great scriptures he had built, in an effort to destroy reputation with the deity of Google.

Karma, however, was a hellish mistress... and in time the followers of Serious Pants were informed that their distant lands would be no more. Their home vanished, and their leader had realized the error of his ways. Having nowhere else to turn, he returned to his homeland and asked forgiveness for his transgression. As a token of faith, leadership of his followers was ceded and returned to their birthplace.

Chapter 8: The Penguin Signal is Lit

This is the part where I (VintagePC) began my quest. I became a knight of the table not long before the departure, followed the Honor Code, and worked my way up the ranks from FFN-1 to FFN-2 in a month. Things were well... or were they? Over time... small things began to fester... a broken plugin here, an empty server there. They slowly bloomed into an avalanche of problems which the current leaders of the Order could not combat. As a lowly knight, ones influence was limited, and the servers turned to an untended wilderness wasteland. The leaders of the order were often traveling abroad, returning home briefly only to set out again immediately after. A great divide formed between them and their loyal knights, and this divide only grew in size.

Having been raised in the land of FFN, on the corner of Doublecross St. and 2Fort Avenue, I'd grown to love this land. I'd occasionally ventured elsewhere to other nations but as I visited them I realized they never felt the same as home, and so I would always find myself returning to the familiar comforts of home. This was not a home one could stand to lose, and when it became glaringly apparent that all was not well in the land of FFN... I hailed the leaders of the order by messenger and offered my services. The time was nigh for change, lest things topple over the cliff of despair never to be repaired.

Chapter 9: A New Order

Not long after, a messenger returned from the leaders requesting to make my acquaintance. They were interested in my services and issued a royal challenge to prove my worth. "Compose us some code", they declared, "for it shall show your true worth and abilities so that we may judge thee worthy." None are quite sure of the impact the proffered code had, but rumors are abound that on inspecting the craftsmanship, the Honorable Reechard felt a most unusual stirring in his loins (a fact which would come to haunt him ever after) and Razer the Elite was said to shed a tear. To this day, Reechard's illicit witch mistress, the bent crone Lavared from the shack just beyond the midden-heap, still harbors deep hatred for a particular penguin and his beguiling code....

After much jousting, the dust settled and only Sir VintagePC, Cackling Lavared, The Honorable Reechard, and Commander-at-Arms Debo were preset to fight for the people. The Lords and Ladies of House Makatiel, Razer, and Arcy watched on as their nation struggled to regain its former glory.

Alas, the Sword of LLC still hung over the heads of our heroes, and there was some dislike that the gentry could stand to fill the royal treasury on the backs of their unpaid servants. It was then that these servants were approached by the house of NeT and informed that the rulings of the LLC were to be disbanded, and that there was much desire for a new government - once in which there was to be equal treatment for all of the same rank, and none of the hated culture of Corporate.

Chapter 10: Repetition of The Past

The new government of VF4 took effect in the year 2012, and with it there was much happiness and joy - for it was a chance to start anew, to become greater than before, and to do things as they ought to be done for the people of the land. The first month marked the feast of VaultOberFest, and there were prizes and ale for all, amidst much celebration to christen the new city.

Alas, this joy was not to last, for once beyond the point of no return, it was discovered that this new government was formed on mutiny. The former allies of the House of Net were completely uninformed of the plan to usurp the ruling of the LLC, and there was much unrest. The knights which fought so honorably for the people were horrified that this new nation was built on deceit and mutiny. They did not like it one bit, but having passed the last turnabout some months back, there was no choice but to forge ahead - for the people must have a place to call home. Yet as a result of this unrest... the land did not prosper as originally hoped. It merely continued to exist, as it always had.

On the tail of this deceit, the knights reached out to the former government and groveled for forgiveness - for they had been misled and felt much remorse for their actions against them. All agreed to remain on amicable terms, yet each would take their own path down the forks of the road.

After much travel, the House of Makatiel formed a new village, known as OperatingAsIntended - a gathering place for sharing ale with old acquaintances and friends from shattered kingdoms of yore. For a brief period, all was well, and the citizens were pleased in a short time of peace. But the scriptures of OAI were built on the underpinnings of the former land, particularly the document known as the "vBulletin License", and this was the cause of much upset amongst one particular House. It was of minimal consequence, as this House had spent from the treasury to locate and obtain the Scripture of Ownership for "XenForo", a similar national foundation, but with sturdier walls and well-oiled door hinges.

Chapter 11: Repetition, Repeating oneself, and Redundancy

For a while, it was thought that all was well and that these two nations could coexist peacefully. Sadly, the House of Net continued to stir the pot. It fondly remembered the glory that was FFN, and wished to relive the past... first by placing a sign at its former location directing all to the new land of VF4, and then proposing to remove the sign and restore the former city from the dead. The knights suggested that this was not a proper decree, as there were potential problems. Firstly, there might be much anger from the rulings of LLC, and secondly, the people who had lived in and loved FFN had resigned to its demise. It still held a dear place in their hearts, but one minus the latter chapters - such that it was remembered fondly as the glorious place it had once been, not what it had become before vanishing.

A fortnight and a half upon receiving this advice, the House of Net departed the land of VF4 and ventured forth into the unknown. All was still peaceful, and VF4 forged ahead to continue expanding its nation. This peace would only last another two fortnights, for one day when the knights were away, there were rumblings of a new town. Gradually the news filtered in that someone had re-opened FFN, and was attempting to repopulate the city!

The people were in uproar - rumors and accusations flew wild in the air, insults were hurled, and when the knights returned from the land of "Real Life" they found the land in shambles. As they knew nothing of the machinations, it was all they could do to attempt to quell the tide of unrest. With no knowledge of the emergence of the old city, and fearing repercussions from the rule of LLC, the sole path remaining was to deny any knowledge and affiliation. Many hurtful things were said in the absence of the knights, and the land of FFN temporarily disappeared in light of the anger... yet it promptly returned with vengence - and those that dared venture back for a look found the land plastered in billboards, and automatons delivering "news" in an effort to seem populated and bustling, and to fill the coffers of its ruler.

Chapter 12: The Empty Treasury

Prior to the departure, the treasury of VF4 was in dire shape. Many times the debt collectors' requests were barely grantable from its contents - and often thanks to an anonymous donor. Times were difficult and much stale bread and hard cheese was had, but ends were close enough to meet... until the unrest caused VF4 to fall out of favor with its former House. The House returned and claimed its remaining belongings, namely the Scripture of Xenforo and indicated it wished to also regain its favour lent for the purposes of renting land from the owners of the continent known as "Server"-ia.

Faced with dwindling morale and empty coffers, the knights decided that the nigh feast of VaultOberFest must continue, but in an effort to prevent the city from collapsing and keep morale high. The citizens of VF4 came to aid, and with a great sigh of relief, a second Scripture of XenForo was located and obtained - for the masters in charge of these were kind and understanding when told of the situation. Similarly, much joy was had at the purchase of land - for no longer were the knights indebted to the continent of serveria for rent each month; they could call their ground their own, and proudly built their own communications infrastructure, so not as to be indebted to any, save the keeper of the Domains, and those who ensure the Scripture of Xenforo is up to date.

Chapter 13: Present Day

On the heels of this celebration, the land of VF4 was safe - it had retreated from the brink of destruction, and continued to exist as it always had. In time, many improvements were made, and the former knights-now-Architects of VF4 continued to work to improve the city and land for all the people involved. Billboards were banished from the land, and there was so little debt that taxes from the citizens were not required to ensure its well-being. The sole purpose of the treasury is almost symbolic and while a shadow of its former glory, still serves to occasionally provide funds when the land must be repaired. The Architects savor what has been built, and continue to strive to run the land for the people, with no thoughts of taxes or profit for themselves. What little does trickle into the coffers is saved for when it is needed, and always put to use for the good of the citizens - either in infrastructure or in celebration for things the villagers deserve. And yea, it is a village, for changes in rulings from the overlords of Valve-ia prevented the land from prospering to its former glory as rapidly as had been hoped. Yet, without its citizens, there would be no village, and with no village to live in, many would be homeless to this day.

That, my loyal subjects, is the tale of the rise and fall of great nations, from FUG, to FFN, to VF4 - and it is hoped that from hereon, the tale will continue, but no longer fraught with strife - for VF4 has shown its strength, and shall continue to exist as a rock in the tide of time. Perhaps not as that mighty city, but always as a place for the weary, the travellers, and its inhabitants to spend time with each other over the top of a foaming pint of the Architects' Best.
 
Hmm...

Yes. Everything checks out, and it looks correct. Words are in the right places, t's are crossed and i's are dotted. Punctuation is good...

Yes, this is a story.
 
Speaking of ghosts of vf4 past...missed you spazz!!
 
You guys are taking this way too seriously. I've always been a casual FFN/Fug gamer watching from the outskirts; this looks utterly childish and ridiculous. You're all 20+ years old. You don't need to make a reddit fedora-tip-worthy pretentious write-up in fantasy-medieval prose against someone who does not matter and has no bearing on your lives. It makes you look pretentious and petty to drag these people through the mud. What's it been? Almost five years? Get a grip and let it go. Just play the dang game.

I know I'm being abrasive here, but someone needs to tell you straight up this is immature.
 
It makes you look pretentious and petty to drag these people through the mud.

I know I'm being abrasive here, but someone needs to tell you straight up this is immature.
Whose name was drug through the mud here? The writer's went out of there way to thank the people who were in the old communities and be impartial and understanding about how they left. Also with your Avatar, you seem to have demonstrated that you don't know mature from immature.
 
It's excruciatingly clear from the language of the post who is being dragged through the mud; all this dirty laundry aired needlessly in the public does not reflect well on the moderator team. I don't need to pick through the post and pull up every reference to Fug/Snood."the king"/etc and quote it here. It's all up there and you can read it.

Your defense here is to attack my Powerpuff Girl Him avatar that has a couple of cutesy words in it? Are you trying to say that when someone has a cutesy/immature humor avatar that automatically means what they post is "immature" / not constructive / not welcome? That's the message you just sent with your grasping at straws knee-jerk defensive reaction.
 
Dude... The first entire chapter relating to Fug was pulled word-for-word from a years-old (probably 5 years old by now) FreeFrag post, written by African Grey, Carcajou, and TeslaTitan, who are not on our staff and are simply members. We didn't want the story to get lost in time and space through multiple owners/iterations of what is now freefrag. We chose the formatting because the original post from forever ago was written that way.

I won't apologize for this, it's our history and it's written out, and yes, we *did* go out of our way to not be offensive. There's tons of *actual* mud that we could drag people through, and we chose not to take that road. We wanted our players to know where we came from, and the story has been growing for about 10 years now. We're just expanding on it.
 
"With yo bitch ass" no of course that's not immature, let's check you out on steam and see what comes up... ohh my your most recent alias's, Professional Boob Juggler, Accidental Incest, and my personal favorite Baned (even though you misspelled it). Can't imagine anybody banning you.
 
You guys are taking this way too seriously. I've always been a casual FFN/Fug gamer watching from the outskirts; this looks utterly childish and ridiculous. You're all 20+ years old. You don't need to make a reddit fedora-tip-worthy pretentious write-up in fantasy-medieval prose against someone who does not matter and has no bearing on your lives. It makes you look pretentious and petty to drag these people through the mud. What's it been? Almost five years? Get a grip and let it go. Just play the dang game.

I know I'm being abrasive here, but someone needs to tell you straight up this is immature.
SOMEBODY'S BUTTHURT
 
Now you've regressed to nitpicking at my joke names on Steam? The reference to Bane from Batman? Really? Back a few years ago I used to play FFN frequently. I was the lady known as Stupid Sexy BLUSpy and later on Felix. I never had any problems and was never banned.

Ladies & gentlemen, these are your moderators. This is how they treat players.
 

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