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Changelogs

Spring Rollover

Seasonal rollover is complete and it is officially SPRING in Midveil!

Trees have been cut down for the season and orchards cleared for lumber.
Seasonal seeds/saplings/starters are now appropriately purchasable from the Farmer's Market!


By The Strudel Team | Posted 2024-03-18 23:53:18

Addressing Further and Apology

In an attempt to clarify things and make our stance and approach to moderation known, and in not wanting to delay a response further, we neglected to address the more personal reasons as to why things have been so slow, or how decisions were made, or why there was a delay not only in this, but in other site functions.

We're sorry for that! The most recent announcement may seem confusing to many users not involved in the conflict or aware of the issues discussed therein. It's easy to forget certain context isn't universal.

 

For context to those unaware;

Our previous announcement was made to address concerns about an unspecified user, and our collective response (or lack thereof) to the issue as it evolved. These concerns focused on content hosted off-site, and the worry about how the interests shown there may, or had already, overlapped with SC both on the site and in the community discord.

When reports about concerns of this nature are made, we treat it very seriously. In this instance, we initially investigated and found that the concerns were indeed valid, but not immediately a threat - the user that had been reported was contacted, and changes were made to make their profile safer and attempts to keep an eye on the situation were made. The user in question actively worked with our team to make changes as we deemed necessary, to create additional layers of separation between their personal interests and SC.

Harassment of any kind is not permitted in this community. It never has been, and never will be. This goes both ways - we encourage users to block those who make them uncomfortable, or to report any actual offenses to our team to review, not to confront directly. This is relevant here, as the reports started to go both ways.

In all of the reports we received, the issues presented were either ones we had already addressed with the user, were outdated, or on separate sites beyond our jurisdiction. What started as interpersonal communications breakdown and a lapse of judgement became something much larger through our involvement. Accusations became a game of telephone, and our team found it difficult to track down what was current, relevant, and reliable. To us, it seemed there were appropriate levels of separation being made. It sounded more like interpersonal frustration, rather than something necessitating further team involvement - a block would do, or so it felt.

 

Our stance on this matter has not, ultimately, changed.

It is ultimately up to the users - or their guardians - to monitor what sites they access beyond our borders. We have dealt with similar reports before - in other cases where the threats were genuine and immediately clear, our action has been swift and decisive. Therein lies the crux of the issue.

Our communication and efficiency about these choices has been severely lacking. To be completely transparent with you all, our team is very worn out. It has been difficult for us to keep up with these reports as they have evolved over time.

Most of the team are actively going through many different forms of major life changes - some brief, some ongoing - and it has left our ability to communicate effectively as both a team and to you, the community, in disarray. We have always done our best to keep up, but things have fallen behind due to our personal life circumstances. We can't pretend they haven't!

We want to extend an apology, for the delay in communicating these issues to you all, and in the general silence while we have taken the time to tackle them. We are still human.

Please be patient with our volunteers and mods as we work to try and tackle the backlog of approvals and enlightened prompts!


By The Strudel Team | Posted 2024-03-11 19:12:23

Clarifying Our TOS

In light of recent events, the team would like to clarify some lines of our Terms of Service, as well as our stance towards dealing with community concerns.

“NSFW (not safe for work) artwork, writing, and discussion is not tolerated in the Strudel Cafe servers or any public area accessible to minors outside of the website. This project is PG-13 and meant to be a safe space for members of all ages and backgrounds.”

Public area accessible to minors outside of the website” in this instance refers to our various Discord servers, which are areas under our direct control. The Discord is made available via our website, allowing us to reserve the right to revoke access if the terms are violated. Websites like Toyhou.se, DeviantArt, etc, are outside of our jurisdiction.  Terms and Conditions vary by website. We cannot control the content that our members post off of our direct website and community. If a member posts inappropriate content to another website in violation of their TOS, please reach out to the appropriate website’s staff with your concerns.

When members agree to our Terms and Conditions, they are agreeing to conduct themselves in a proper manner within the spaces we dictate. If they do not abide by our terms, their agreement to the conditions allows us to remove them from that space.

“This NSFW clause also extends to “SFW” fetish depictions.”

As stated above, we do not tolerate any manner of fetish art posted to our website or servers. Context is important in these situations, so this clause is a bit open-ended for a case-by-case basis. The design in this instance was based upon a stomach medicine. The design was evaluated, and it was decided that without context, it was not offensive nor dangerous on its own.

Our Terms of Service are a tool to protect our community. We operate within the guidelines that we have set forth. Members agree to these terms when they use our website. No member is above the rules, and each incident is assessed from an unbiased point of view. We have received every report brought forward regarding the recent events, and each time we evaluated them, we found that they were not in violation with our TOS. In order to prevent dangerous misinformation or slander, we evaluate all screenshots in their original contexts.

After reviewing all evidence in its original context, then speaking with the member in question, we determined that this person was not a threat to our community. The accusations were formed from a misunderstanding involving screenshots taken out of context. The evidence should have been clarified before being used to spread serious accusations and slander.

Our team takes an unbiased approach to conflict resolution . The member in question had been previously warned about violations in the Terms of Service, and afterwards, acted in accordance with our site’s guidelines. This member was never a threat to anyone in the community. However, repeated attempts and requests to reevaluate the evidence against the member were brought forward, beginning to border on harassment. These members were warned and advised to block the member in question.

This situation should have been discussed and resolved privately between the members involved. All members were advised to block each other and discontinue communication. This is our team’s recommended advice for any conflicts between members. In order to treat all of our members fairly, we will not get involved in interpersonal conflicts unless they are in violation of our TOS, or an immediate threat to the safety of one of our members (such as threats of doxxing, physical harm, etc.)

If at any point, you would like the Terms of Service to be clarified by the staff, you are welcome to reach out. That being said, we are always willing to address and evaluate concerns that involve the safety of our members. We have dealt with known predators by issuing IP bans should they ever enter this site and removing them from the servers.

Lastly, we also ask that the boundaries of our staff are respected. We have multiple community members and workers available to answer questions, but mental health and personal triggers may affect one staff member’s abilities to deal with certain situations. In these instances, you will be directed to another moderator who is in a better position to help you. Our team is not required to disclose personal information or reasoning as to why they are uncomfortable with certain topics.


By The Strudel Team | Posted 2024-03-07 14:36:12

March Newsletter

Happy March!

As per usual, please check out our Winner’s Showcase to see last month’s winners.

EVENT: Enlightened Event

The annual Enlightened Event has returned! Complete prompts with art or literature, or even via roleplay with a friend! Each of the main prompts reward a Golden Pupa, with the final main prompt also awarding an Ancient Sprout! Once you’ve completed the main prompt there are also bonus prompts if you’d like to earn some extra special prizes. This event will run from 03-02-24 until 05-03-24 11:59PM (until next month's rollover day!)

 

All activities have been rolled over and are ready for the new month!
Featured Midveilers to be added once we hear back from this month’s winners.


By The Strudel Team | Posted 2024-03-02 17:03:42

February Newsletter

Happy February!
As per usual, please check out our Winner’s Showcase to see last month’s winners.

No announcements this rollover!
All activities have been rolled over and are ready for the new month!


Featured Midveilers to be added once we hear back from this month’s winners.


By The Strudel Team | Posted 2024-02-03 19:23:20