Hogsweat deletion controversy

On October 15, 2005, Hogsweat was deleted after ejecting large numbers of natives from the region of Haven, where it had been UN Delegate for almost a year, in order to refound the region. The Mods were notified that natives were being ejected from Haven, and a Game Moderator deleted Hogsweat after much discussion as to whether or not its actions constituted griefing.

Hogsweat was a very popular nation, and its deletion was met with outrage by many of its allies, and even enemies and those who had had little or no contact with Hogsweat prior to the deletion. Several protest threads were posted on International Incidents, but these were eventually locked by the Mods, which to the opponents of the deletion merely proved their point. NSWiki pages were vandalized with phrases decrying the deletion, sometimes in extremely offensive language. Mods were threatened and cursed for deleting Hogsweat, and one of the Mods' nations even briefly changed its title to "The Fascist Ayatollah Posing as a Mod" in response to an outraged nation whose sig vitriolically condemned the deletion. Many respected nations left after the perceived injustice. Out of the five that left, including Hogsweat himself, only Sanctaphrax actually did not return.

After a few days, the furor itself gradually died down, but many nations still make reference to Hogsweat in their sigs, mostly on International Incidents, usually bearing wording along the lines of "RIP Hogsweat, March '03 - October '05. Unjustly deleted."

Position for the deletion of Hogsweat

Nations supporting the deletion of Hogsweat claim that the rules were violated and that Hogsweat should have contacted the Mods prior to such a radical action in order to refound Haven. Some further claim that their opponents use fallacious arguments such as Appeal to pity and Appeal to popularity when they argue that many of Hogsweat's defenders were leaving and Hogsweat was popular.

Position critical of the deletion of Hogsweat

The anti-deletion position of some was seen as a kind of revolt against the Moderation staff and the current contextual use of gameplay rules. Some of Hogsweat's defenders argue that the griefing rules themselves should be changed. Others, using various lines of argument, claim that Hogsweat's actions did not constitute griefing. Most of these arguments come from the fact that Hogsweat claimed to have had no malicious intent and point out that no rule at that time stated in the "One Stop Rules Shop" had been breached.

Mod position

In the end, the Mods are the ones that make the final decision, much to the chagrin of many on both sides. They decided that Hogsweat did indeed grief, and a few of them were OOC friends of Hogsweat, but felt that the nation must be deleted to avoid a semblance of Mod bias.

External Links

Official Thread on the Deletion of Hogsweat (Now closed.)