RuneVillage - Removed as gold status because owner is a sex offender

[The Observer]

Yeah, as the title says, that's exactly what happened.

 

[qfc]254-255-119-63164459[/qfc]

 

 

Hi everyone,

 

REMOVAL OF SUPPORT FOR RUNEVILLAGE.COM

 

Recently Jagex was made aware that the owner of the RuneScape fansite RuneVillage.com is registered on the sexual-offenders list in Tennessee, United States. In light of this information Jagex has decided to immediately remove all support for this fan site and try to inform all members of the RuneVillage.com community of our decision and the reasons behind it.

 

Jagex is committed to creating safe and fun online experiences, we take our moral and social obligations extremely seriously. Although Jagex does not have any direct influence over fan site ownership or administration we do maintain very strong views on who and what sites should be supported by us.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that Jagex takes individual and community safety very seriously, we’d encourage all players to familiarise themselves with the in game tools we have created such as chat settings, ignore and report buttons.

 

For more information on chat settings click HERE and for information regarding reporting click HERE.

 

We also have a dedicated team of Community Safety moderators working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure Jagex remains industry leading in its Community Safety efforts. For more information on what the Jagex Community Safety team do click HERE and for access to help or to contact us for online safety advice click HERE.

 

Regards

 

The RuneScape Community Management Team

 

I’m sure most everyone has seen the news, so I am going to just get straight to the point and keep it short. It is time to move forward and start a new chapter of RuneVillage. To do that we need to come together as a strong (small) community that we still are. We need to get rid of the image we have on us by getting rid of the information on our own site for starters. No the information will not be forgotten, but we do not need to fuel the fire any longer. I have already removed the news post off the main site and forums and I will be moving the topic away soon, everything that could be said has been said already.

 

We are still a (RuneScape) community like we was for eight years before the gold fan-site support from Jagex. We can still earn that reputation back if we want, but we’re going to have to work together.

 

And while many of us have drifted away from RuneScape too have stayed around because we grew strong together--like a family. We will still have that. We may even broaden our horizons by opening up to more of a gaming community, but that is for later discussions.

 

A global announcement on their page about the issue.

 

The site admin also responded and announces his resignation...

 

[hide=Long Quote]

well... first, let's talk a little bit about that.

 

firstly, that document posted is not entirely accurate, nor does it give all the details. that particular document was put together by a probation officer who was trying to revoke my probation, so it shows everything in it's worst possible light, and stretches the truth in a few areas.... and any of you who have had a brush with the legal system (and i know a couple of you have) can attest to the way that works....

 

the truth itself is bad enough... and my point being, that none of you know, or ever will know, the truth about all of this. you can read that document, and i can point out a few things that are not true ... and you can say, well he's just lying.... or you can look back at my eight years here, and think over what you *do* know about me and the way I have treated people over the last eight years of RuneVillage.

 

one comment that i'd certainly like to dispute is one of you referred to "Forced sex with a defenseless, innocent child." No way. I've never, and would never, force *anything* on anyone-- man, woman or child. yes, i was accused of it once. but the charges were either dismised or 'nolle pros', meaning it was not prosecuted. other charges against me were dropped entirely. all of those charges went to trial, but after the prosecution's witnesses testified, a recess was called and i was offered a deal. if i would plead quilty to an "unspecified" misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, everything else would be dropped and i would be given a year of unsupervised probation (meaning i did not have to report to a probation officer). i took the offer. an "unspecified" offense is one that does not specify who or what the actual offense was. this was in 1984.

 

in that case, i was basically in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong person.

 

Now.. the big case.. .the one that got me on the registry...

 

i was guilty.

 

but it makes me sound like some big-time porn distributor... when in reality, i sent one person 10-12 pictures that involved teens and that was it. no porn was found on my computer or in my possession (which would have resulted in additional charges), nor were there any other instances of me making any sort of distribution.)

 

At the time, child porn had fairly recently been made illegal-- previously it had always been legal, and you could even buy it in adult bookstores. This led me to think that even though it was illegal now, it was sort of like running a stop sign, not the big deal it turned out to be.

 

And remember, in all legal cases, it's the Judge who determines what the facts are, and how serious the case is.

 

In my case, i was out on bond in another state. i was still out on bond after being convicted. i was still out on bond for three months after being *sentenced*. (the Judge ruled that this was a "victimless" crime and i was given the minimum allowable sentence. the Judge also said he wished he could have given me probation.) and in fact, i was allowed by the Judge to "self-surrender", meaning i actually drove myself up to the prison, knocked on the door and said "here i am!" -- me and Martha Stewart are about the only ones who get to self surrender. this was in 1995.

 

now let me fast forward a bit and cover one other thing so that all the legal things are done with. the 2005 offense that some of you asked about.

 

for those of you outside the US, you have to remember that we do not have a unified government. each state pretty much gets to make it's own rules and laws (at least on the small stuff), and that most states are different from each other.

 

at that time, Georgia, where i was living, did not require registration for my offense. It was considered an "obscenity" offense, not a "sex" offense, especially because there was only one person involved. so i was not required to sign the registry, even when i was on probation.

 

i checked before moving up here, and Tennessee was the same.

 

however, somewhere around 2002 Ga. and Tn. both changed their laws and made distribution a "sex" offense, subject to registration. somewhere around 2002-2003, Ga. ran the list of persons released from prison against their registry and discovered that i was not on the Ga. registry. duh... i'd not lived in Ga. for about 3 yrs at this point. But Ga. was not aware that I no longer lived there, and issued a warrant for my arrest for not signing up, sending it to the national listing.

 

ok.. so the nashville police, as they occasionally do, ran the national list against water and electric customers and turned up my name at the electric company. so they came out and arrested me on the Ga. warrant. as soon as it was discovered that i did not live in Ga. at the time the warrant was issued, the charges were dropped.

 

however, all of this also turned up the fact that i was not registered in TN, which had also changed it's law since the time i moved here. i guess i didn't get the memo on that.

 

so it took a good bit of the next year to show that the law had changed, and even testimony from the woman i was living with before i moved here about how she remembered me checking and us discussing it at dinner.

 

but the fact still remained that i was not signed up, even if i had a good reason not to be. and the law does not allow for good reason. however, the felony charge of not being registerd was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of "attempting to fail to register." I was given 11months and 29 days of probation.

 

and just for you kik-- RV did not pay my court costs on that. there were none. the judge found that i was too poor to pay a fine or the court costs so he waived all fees.

 

Now the money thing. I am still not going into details and specifics. This has always been because RV is a business that belongs to me, and i'm the one who shoveled cash around to make it work. also, sometimes it looks like we have more money than we do... for instance, you could see that we may have an extra $25 this month, but not know that we were $50 short last month. I just don't have the time nor the inclination to be micromanaged by 100 or so people-- or even the one or two who actually ask about that.

 

But I will point out that I have always said, since the beginning, that if RV ever made any cash i would pay myself some. but it just has never made any significient amount. there was a time that we were pretty flush, and i let RV pay for my internet connection, but that's about the most it's ever been, and that was only for a short period of time.

 

If i ever asked for donations for me, i have tried to make that abundently clear-- that's where the "FOH" thing cane from. There have also been folks from time-to-time who would send donations with an earmark for me.

 

i will say that i have never asked for donations when we did not actually need it, and have put out more than what has come in over the years. So none of you who donated should feel bad.

 

moving along... a couple of you asked the offensive question had i ever solicited anyone at RV... and the answer is absolutely not... not even made a suggestive comment to anyone.

 

some of you have wondered why i, as an adult, would play runescape? to quote an ex-admin's sig: We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw

 

when i moved to Tn. in 2000, i wanted to make a new beginning. i gave some thought about my actions of the past few years, and even painted in the *best* light, it was not who i am. it was not how i was raised to be. it was not who i had been for most of my life. so i wanted to return to "normal." of course other people will not allow that to happen.

 

as to "why" i created RuneVillage, it's pretty simple. I was looking for an idea for a website to use as a showcase for my business and i like to play runescape... so i put the two together. i wanted to be just a little "normal" myself. a place that would be a safe haven on the web for anyone and everyone.

 

and the involvement of kids was just what it had been in my more distant past-- creating an opportunity for kids to learn and grow from the tasks of working as mods or creating guides, etc. for the site. the 'family friendly' atmosphere was just that- to help insure that there would be NO misconduct on the site and that it would truly be a safe place for all, including kids.

 

the suggestion that i would make a site to meet or solicit anyone for sex is just the product of an over-active imagination that pretty much is out of it. do you seriously believe that me, or anyone, would create a website and run it for eight years in the hopes of meeting someone from down the street?

 

well.. this thing is getting too long and too out of hand.... many of you have already tried and convicted me of "something" and i doubt there is much i could say that would change your minds at this point. i'm not here to defend everything i've ever done. feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

 

i guess the big thing is that i will be leaving. as Burks has already posted, the admins are coming up with a plan to assume the ownership and management of the site.

 

i contacted Jagex today and asked if they would renew their support under these circumstances. i am awaiting their reply, which i do not expect until monday due to the weekend.

 

i hope that all of you can come together again behind these three guys and help put things back together again in the Village.

 

i will be around for a few days until some of the details in changing ownership are worked out, but as of today, the management of the site rests with Henner, Glode and Burks.

 

i was proud and happy to see that many of you supported me personally in this crisis. even a few of you that have had a bit of tension between us. it really has been both difficult and hurtful to me, and will continue to be so for some time to come in the future. for those of you who have considered the Village as "home", it was not only my home, but my "baby" as well. i have lost both along with many friends.

 

RuneVillage may have been the best thing I have ever done. I hate that this happened.

 

for those of you with nothing but bad to say about me, i'm sorry that you can't look at my actions over the past eight years and see who i really am.

 

many of you know me, and know me pretty well -- at least you know how i treat people-- you've seen me doing it for eight years.... go by what you have seen and what you know... not what you can imagine or accusations made years ago.

 

hiker

[/hide]

 

I also found a recent newspaper article from 2010 about the specific person in question - it probably drew attention to the issue:

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/fairgrounds-activist-sex-offender

[Assume Nothing]

Rather old news. It is interesting how JaGex removes the affiliated content though.

[Arthu]

Chances are RuneVillage only gets more users and visitors because of this. People hear about another fansite and it's community and check it out. Going to do that, brb.

[Danqazmlp]

I fully support their actions.

 

I will not judge anybody, including the owner of the website, however, I do not believe a sex offender should have support to be in control of a site which can potentially give them the ability to get in contact with thousands of children, especially one which has a large child-based user-base.

[Star_Fox]

Chances are RuneVillage only gets more users and visitors because of this. People hear about another fansite and it's community and check it out. Going to do that, brb.

 

 

Sadly I have to agree with this. Everytime something goes public either for good or worse, it always seems to get more popular.

 

I remember that one thread about Timmy (Hellslayer H) who got hacked after RWTing 140 dollars and when someone announced it was on news on a Youtube video,

Timmy suddenly becomes a RS celeb. Even when he clearly broke the rules and showed how stupid he is for buying gold and then losing it

at a phishing scam.

[Nanaboy]

Well this is the first time I've ever heard of that site...

[BioIce]

"Yes, I made a mistake 15 years ago," Watson said. "The idea is that you're supposed to pay your penalty and go and sin no more. You know, try to get back involved with community and citizenship again. Well, that's what I've been doing."

 

From that Nashville article.

[Laura]

'Sexual offender' is such a broad term that it makes it difficult to gauge the severity of what was done. You can get labeled as a sexual offender from urinating on a tree.

 

What actually happened?

[Danqazmlp]

Chances are RuneVillage only gets more users and visitors because of this. People hear about another fansite and it's community and check it out. Going to do that, brb.

 

 

Sadly I have to agree with this. Everytime something goes public either for good or worse, it always seems to get more popular.

 

I remember that one thread about Timmy (Hellslayer H) who got hacked after RWTing 140 dollars and when someone announced it was on news on a Youtube video,

Timmy suddenly becomes a RS celeb. Even when he clearly broke the rules and showed how stupid he is for buying gold and then losing it

at a phishing scam.

 

 

I doubt Jagex's intention is specifically to limit Runevillages visitors. I'm sure Runevillage will/has get rid of the admin in question and do whatever they can to distance themselves with the whole thing. Jagex will have done this so people know that they don't accept this sort of thing and to get the news straight to the community. Knowing the Runescape community, the userbase would definitely have spread some nasty rumours if Jagex hadn't come out and said their reasons.

[Sy_Accursed]

I have an irl friend who is a sex offender because he was 18 with a 16 year old girlfriend and her parents hated him. With that in mind I think that this is [cabbage], unless this person is a real predator.

 

Judging by the news article that cites him as being 62 and the conviction being 1995 we are talking about someone in his 40s having dealings in child pornography.

So not exactly just a case of small age gap of 2 or so years that spans age of consent boundaries yet both parties are of simialr age.

[Assume Nothing]

'Sexual offender' is such a broad term that it makes it difficult to gauge the severity of what was done. You can get labeled as a sexual offender from urinating on a tree.

 

I believe the charges were related to an unhealthy obsession with young children.

[Alg]

I have an irl friend who is a sex offender because he was 18 with a 16 year old girlfriend and her parents hated him. With that in mind I think that this is [cabbage], unless this person is a real predator.

He was in his late 30s-early 40s at the time, and "As part of a nationwide crackdown on distributors of child pornography, he was charged with "activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of children."" Apparently they convicted him, he served 15 months plus 3 years of supervised release, and then was arrested again for failing to register as a sex offender.

[foofoomagoo]

I have an irl friend who is a sex offender because he was 18 with a 16 year old girlfriend and her parents hated him. With that in mind I think that this is [cabbage], unless this person is a real predator.

 

If you read the fairgrounds article it details his offenses.

[The Observer]

Chances are RuneVillage only gets more users and visitors because of this. People hear about another fansite and it's community and check it out. Going to do that, brb.

 

 

Sadly I have to agree with this. Everytime something goes public either for good or worse, it always seems to get more popular.

 

I remember that one thread about Timmy (Hellslayer H) who got hacked after RWTing 140 dollars and when someone announced it was on news on a Youtube video,

Timmy suddenly becomes a RS celeb. Even when he clearly broke the rules and showed how stupid he is for buying gold and then losing it

at a phishing scam.

 

 

I doubt Jagex's intention is specifically to limit Runevillages visitors. I'm sure Runevillage will/has get rid of the admin in question and do whatever they can to distance themselves with the whole thing. Jagex will have done this so people know that they don't accept this sort of thing and to get the news straight to the community. Knowing the Runescape community, the userbase would definitely have spread some nasty rumours if Jagex hadn't come out and said their reasons.

 

It is a bit difficult considering he's the main owner of the site. It would be as if Silverion was in the same boat. However, it doesn't really matter since he plans on stepping down anyway.

 

Reply by the person in question on RuneVillage...

 

[hide=Long Quote]

well... first, let's talk a little bit about that.

 

firstly, that document posted is not entirely accurate, nor does it give all the details. that particular document was put together by a probation officer who was trying to revoke my probation, so it shows everything in it's worst possible light, and stretches the truth in a few areas.... and any of you who have had a brush with the legal system (and i know a couple of you have) can attest to the way that works....

 

the truth itself is bad enough... and my point being, that none of you know, or ever will know, the truth about all of this. you can read that document, and i can point out a few things that are not true ... and you can say, well he's just lying.... or you can look back at my eight years here, and think over what you *do* know about me and the way I have treated people over the last eight years of RuneVillage.

 

one comment that i'd certainly like to dispute is one of you referred to "Forced sex with a defenseless, innocent child." No way. I've never, and would never, force *anything* on anyone-- man, woman or child. yes, i was accused of it once. but the charges were either dismised or 'nolle pros', meaning it was not prosecuted. other charges against me were dropped entirely. all of those charges went to trial, but after the prosecution's witnesses testified, a recess was called and i was offered a deal. if i would plead quilty to an "unspecified" misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, everything else would be dropped and i would be given a year of unsupervised probation (meaning i did not have to report to a probation officer). i took the offer. an "unspecified" offense is one that does not specify who or what the actual offense was. this was in 1984.

 

in that case, i was basically in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong person.

 

Now.. the big case.. .the one that got me on the registry...

 

i was guilty.

 

but it makes me sound like some big-time porn distributor... when in reality, i sent one person 10-12 pictures that involved teens and that was it. no porn was found on my computer or in my possession (which would have resulted in additional charges), nor were there any other instances of me making any sort of distribution.)

 

At the time, child porn had fairly recently been made illegal-- previously it had always been legal, and you could even buy it in adult bookstores. This led me to think that even though it was illegal now, it was sort of like running a stop sign, not the big deal it turned out to be.

 

And remember, in all legal cases, it's the Judge who determines what the facts are, and how serious the case is.

 

In my case, i was out on bond in another state. i was still out on bond after being convicted. i was still out on bond for three months after being *sentenced*. (the Judge ruled that this was a "victimless" crime and i was given the minimum allowable sentence. the Judge also said he wished he could have given me probation.) and in fact, i was allowed by the Judge to "self-surrender", meaning i actually drove myself up to the prison, knocked on the door and said "here i am!" -- me and Martha Stewart are about the only ones who get to self surrender. this was in 1995.

 

now let me fast forward a bit and cover one other thing so that all the legal things are done with. the 2005 offense that some of you asked about.

 

for those of you outside the US, you have to remember that we do not have a unified government. each state pretty much gets to make it's own rules and laws (at least on the small stuff), and that most states are different from each other.

 

at that time, Georgia, where i was living, did not require registration for my offense. It was considered an "obscenity" offense, not a "sex" offense, especially because there was only one person involved. so i was not required to sign the registry, even when i was on probation.

 

i checked before moving up here, and Tennessee was the same.

 

however, somewhere around 2002 Ga. and Tn. both changed their laws and made distribution a "sex" offense, subject to registration. somewhere around 2002-2003, Ga. ran the list of persons released from prison against their registry and discovered that i was not on the Ga. registry. duh... i'd not lived in Ga. for about 3 yrs at this point. But Ga. was not aware that I no longer lived there, and issued a warrant for my arrest for not signing up, sending it to the national listing.

 

ok.. so the nashville police, as they occasionally do, ran the national list against water and electric customers and turned up my name at the electric company. so they came out and arrested me on the Ga. warrant. as soon as it was discovered that i did not live in Ga. at the time the warrant was issued, the charges were dropped.

 

however, all of this also turned up the fact that i was not registered in TN, which had also changed it's law since the time i moved here. i guess i didn't get the memo on that.

 

so it took a good bit of the next year to show that the law had changed, and even testimony from the woman i was living with before i moved here about how she remembered me checking and us discussing it at dinner.

 

but the fact still remained that i was not signed up, even if i had a good reason not to be. and the law does not allow for good reason. however, the felony charge of not being registerd was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of "attempting to fail to register." I was given 11months and 29 days of probation.

 

and just for you kik-- RV did not pay my court costs on that. there were none. the judge found that i was too poor to pay a fine or the court costs so he waived all fees.

 

Now the money thing. I am still not going into details and specifics. This has always been because RV is a business that belongs to me, and i'm the one who shoveled cash around to make it work. also, sometimes it looks like we have more money than we do... for instance, you could see that we may have an extra $25 this month, but not know that we were $50 short last month. I just don't have the time nor the inclination to be micromanaged by 100 or so people-- or even the one or two who actually ask about that.

 

But I will point out that I have always said, since the beginning, that if RV ever made any cash i would pay myself some. but it just has never made any significient amount. there was a time that we were pretty flush, and i let RV pay for my internet connection, but that's about the most it's ever been, and that was only for a short period of time.

 

If i ever asked for donations for me, i have tried to make that abundently clear-- that's where the "FOH" thing cane from. There have also been folks from time-to-time who would send donations with an earmark for me.

 

i will say that i have never asked for donations when we did not actually need it, and have put out more than what has come in over the years. So none of you who donated should feel bad.

 

moving along... a couple of you asked the offensive question had i ever solicited anyone at RV... and the answer is absolutely not... not even made a suggestive comment to anyone.

 

some of you have wondered why i, as an adult, would play runescape? to quote an ex-admin's sig: We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw

 

when i moved to Tn. in 2000, i wanted to make a new beginning. i gave some thought about my actions of the past few years, and even painted in the *best* light, it was not who i am. it was not how i was raised to be. it was not who i had been for most of my life. so i wanted to return to "normal." of course other people will not allow that to happen.

 

as to "why" i created RuneVillage, it's pretty simple. I was looking for an idea for a website to use as a showcase for my business and i like to play runescape... so i put the two together. i wanted to be just a little "normal" myself. a place that would be a safe haven on the web for anyone and everyone.

 

and the involvement of kids was just what it had been in my more distant past-- creating an opportunity for kids to learn and grow from the tasks of working as mods or creating guides, etc. for the site. the 'family friendly' atmosphere was just that- to help insure that there would be NO misconduct on the site and that it would truly be a safe place for all, including kids.

 

the suggestion that i would make a site to meet or solicit anyone for sex is just the product of an over-active imagination that pretty much is out of it. do you seriously believe that me, or anyone, would create a website and run it for eight years in the hopes of meeting someone from down the street?

 

well.. this thing is getting too long and too out of hand.... many of you have already tried and convicted me of "something" and i doubt there is much i could say that would change your minds at this point. i'm not here to defend everything i've ever done. feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

 

i guess the big thing is that i will be leaving. as Burks has already posted, the admins are coming up with a plan to assume the ownership and management of the site.

 

i contacted Jagex today and asked if they would renew their support under these circumstances. i am awaiting their reply, which i do not expect until monday due to the weekend.

 

i hope that all of you can come together again behind these three guys and help put things back together again in the Village.

 

i will be around for a few days until some of the details in changing ownership are worked out, but as of today, the management of the site rests with Henner, Glode and Burks.

 

i was proud and happy to see that many of you supported me personally in this crisis. even a few of you that have had a bit of tension between us. it really has been both difficult and hurtful to me, and will continue to be so for some time to come in the future. for those of you who have considered the Village as "home", it was not only my home, but my "baby" as well. i have lost both along with many friends.

 

RuneVillage may have been the best thing I have ever done. I hate that this happened.

 

for those of you with nothing but bad to say about me, i'm sorry that you can't look at my actions over the past eight years and see who i really am.

 

many of you know me, and know me pretty well -- at least you know how i treat people-- you've seen me doing it for eight years.... go by what you have seen and what you know... not what you can imagine or accusations made years ago.

 

hiker

[/hide]

[Tim]

I fully support their actions.

 

I will not judge anybody, including the owner of the website, however, I do not believe a sex offender should have support to be in control of a site which can potentially give them the ability to get in contact with thousands of children, especially one which has a large child-based user-base.

My thoughts exactly.

[tripsis]

Chances are RuneVillage only gets more users and visitors because of this. People hear about another fansite and it's community and check it out. Going to do that, brb.

Yes they will get more users and visitors.. but not the kind anyone wants. Apparently they had to disable registrations because people were joining just to flame and troll them. It might help their ad revenue for a while, but that's about it.

[Pan_Nx]

Not sure i agree with Jagex broadcasting that, should have just been Jagex sending that to runevillage, not to the community. Because no one honestly cares runevillage isn't a "gold" site. They now just care that there's a sex offender that owns it. Makes it look like Jagex just going the extra mile to diss on runevillage.

[I_am_Geed]

"Yes, I made a mistake 15 years ago," Watson said. "The idea is that you're supposed to pay your penalty and go and sin no more. You know, try to get back involved with community and citizenship again. Well, that's what I've been doing."

 

From that Nashville article.

 

While I agree with his quote, the problem is is theres no way to tell weather or not hes [cabbage]ting. I mean Thge past is the past, theres no sense dwelling on it, but at the same time theres no knowing what he'll do.

 

I have sympathy for him. And I know many of you will not agree with me, but whatever.

[Sy_Accursed]

Not sure i agree with Jagex broadcasting that, should have just been Jagex sending that to runevillage, not to the community. Because no one honestly cares runevillage isn't a "gold" site. They now just care that there's a sex offender that owns it. Makes it look like Jagex just going the extra mile to diss on runevillage.

 

If jgaex didn't say anything theories would spread and jagex would get dissed for demoting a site for no reason.

Also they need to make it clear they are no associated with such people, it could effect investment given they are aimed at the teen market.

[tripsis]

I can understand why Jagex did this. Giving a fan site ANY "official" rank (platinum, gold, silver, etc.) is supporting them. If this were to come to light without Jagex's announcement, I'm sure there would be many concerned, upset, and even outraged parents/users that Jagex is supporting a site run by a sex offender. That being said, I'm not totally sure I agree with the way Jagex went about it. Ideally, I think it would have been best for Jagex to have contacted RuneVillage and discussed the issue privately for at least a few days before acting. They could have given RuneVillage the option of having the leader step down to retain gold status and avoid having their name/reputation slandered.

[The Observer]

I can understand why Jagex did this. Giving a fan site ANY "official" rank (platinum, gold, silver, etc.) is supporting them. If this were to come to light, I'm sure there would be many concerned, upset, and even outraged parents/users. That being said, I'm not totally sure I agree with the way Jagex went about it. Ideally, I think it would have been best for Jagex to have contacted RuneVillage and discussed the issue privately for at least a few days before acting. They could have given RuneVillage the option of having the leader step down to retain gold status and avoid having their name/reputation slandered.

 

I agree with Tripsis on this one.

 

To me, it's almost like Jagex went out of their way to publicly humiliate him. I mean, half of the user base haven't even heard of RuneVillage, nevermind knew the person in question. The fact that they had to close registrations because of the shear flow of users joining just to simply troll him shows something. Judging by the fact that his name AND address can be easily found due to the nature of the charge, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't face similar problems in real life.

 

I think that some sort of public notice should have been made, but it should have been made by Rune Village rather than Jagex. They could've made their own announcement about it, so that only the userbase affected will hear about it.

[Danqazmlp]

Agreed with Killerred and Tripsis. I think a public announcement would have been good somewhere such as the forums, but only after giving Runevillage notice of their actions and intentions.

[Jon Arcane]

It's a disgusting matter that's the only way you can see it as, but I just hope that people do not reflect on RuneVillage as a bad place because of one individual. My early days of Runescape started with RuneVillage, it was a decent community and in truth it still is, it's only problem is that it is now pretty much dead and this matter will only hurt it further.

 

I'm glad the person involved could show a bit of honesty, and we'll never know the full truth, but it must have been around awhile and RuneVillage will change, as far as i'm concerned it's done and dusted and shouldn't stigmatised the community that has been built.

 

As far as i'm concerned, things should carry on as they are. [cabbage] happens.

[Helm_Lardar]

Unfortunate, but I won't judge the guy. Jagex are doing the sensible thing on this and withdrawing support, something I think any parents would be happy with.

 

Shame.

[Power20024]

A popular site a few years ago. Perhaps labeling it sex offender is a bit misleading, but nonetheless a crime.