hinatot item assets are still up on the site.
This is here in case the original letter is taken down from Northern Ruins.
Before delving into the details, keep several things in mind.
This all happened because two staff members, Min and Yolk, quit after not being allowed to discuss the idea of compensation for hundreds of hours of work in just the past few months. We just quit after leaving behind a notice of resignation with grievances in only the mod server. The goal was never to hurt Northern Ruins because despite all this, we still dearly loved it and, above all, its community. Northern Ruins contained so many friends that we would not want to hurt just because we were quitting. The only one who had the power to delete the servers was Aug despite what he has been relaying to people. And keep in mind, he has yet to release a comprehensive statement just explaining things to the people caught in the crossfire of his decisions.
Also note, Aug has not made any attempt to directly contact Min nor Yolk after quitting. Min has not been available for contact since the stress of the situation has landed them in the ER so lack of contact with Min might be excusable. However, Yolk has always been open to civil conversation and has told such to each and every messenger Aug has sent his way. Almost every messenger seemed to also think that Min and Yolk were at some fault for the servers being taken down or for the supposed destruction of Northern Ruins. As said previously, we merely quit because of lack of compensation. The only thing that was directly changed was that Min repossessed unpaid decorative code that they wrote and are the rightful owner of. Min left a lot of the code they themselves paid for along with other things on the site despite everything to make sure the site stayed perfectly functional with the database intact.
All destructive actions are by Aug’s hand only.
Plus, it was by his suggestion Yolk quit initially and Min followed soon after.
While Aug will repeatedly say he would have given compensation if he had known, he was the one who did not even want to discuss it in the first place. That is an undeniable fact. The issue is not a matter of money but rather a matter of fairness, transparency, and attitude. Aug does not entertain the idea of compensation in a transparent manner but instead opts to try to push it off till later. Compensation desired wasn’t even necessarily monetary but since he did not even want to discuss it, he would not have known. Min, who spent hundreds of dollars out of pocket, deserves monetary compensation especially considering their personal situation that Aug is completely aware of. Yolk did not want monetary compensation but rather wanted pets, items, and/or slots that were higher than common. But, again, Aug did not want to discuss compensation and therefore would not have known by his own choice. Note, previous staff-wide compensation was a single common slot. The only scaled compensation was a single Aspirith slot for Min. Compensation was not repeated nor otherwise scaled per work time. ONLY slots for compensation is a slap in the face since it requires work to truly get the benefit. Those bogged down by work by Northern Ruins or otherwise or even personal life would not really get any benefit from the slots at all. He also claims that the privilege to do adopts when he chooses to do them is compensation ignoring the fact that creating the adopts in itself is work. The price of an adopt pays for the adopt’s creation. It does not pay for the cost of the assets done. It does not pay for the cost of the site. It does not pay for the time spent on work for Northern Ruins outside of the adopt.
But, these words are nothing without the evidence to back them up. Aug, we know you keep telling people your version of the truth. So, we will tell our truth with the evidence to back it up.
If you wish to know the truth behind the issue at hand, this link will take you there.
If any questions come up, feel free to comment on the linked sheet. Since some of the images may be small, it is recommended to view it in presentation format. Imgur links will be added later to ease reading. For the sake of not overwhelming people, please do not DM any party involved! Additionally, please do not harass Aug. Even if we have issues with him, we do not want to cause him unneeded trouble in that regard. To be transparent, this letter and the attached compilation of evidence have been created and curated by Yolk. In order to ease the reading process, I have been referring to myself in third person. Min has had a limited amount of input regarding this because they have been hospitalized and are still ongoing treatment. Further details regarding their personal health will not be given at this time to respect their privacy.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
〔Edit 9-May-2021〕
Steve from Gumroad finally learns to read.
"If you haven't gotten your refund yet, you purchased through Gumroad, and you are being ghosted or dismissed by Komugitsune, please email [email protected] directly to get your refunds. They will process the refunds for you."
‣ Gumroad is now giving out refunds!
---
! ! ! ONGOING BREAKING OF TOS AND POTENTIAL SCAMMING ! ! !
Aug is currently upselling several designs despite not adding to their value via commissioned work or through any other valid means.
‣ NotDamien's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
‣ SnorkMaiden's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
‣ Heelies's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
If you wish to keep track of what he is attempting to sell and to see if anything might have inflated sell values, the link to his trade/sell thread is below. If you find something that may have inflated value, please report it and make a comment on his thread about it so more people can know. If you wish to, you can also comment here and I will add it to the list here.
〈Komugitsune's Trade/Sale Thread〉
EDIT: Image Transcription of Slides
PDF Version of Slide (Note: this will not be updated as fast but will be updated alongside the original.)
〔Edit 3-May-2021〕:
I'm adding this edit here since Aug decided, in a relatively confusing move, to lie blatantly on his site about the situation. Considering that, the following links will be added for ease of access to emphasize what he has had a direct hand in. This has gone beyond an issue concerning former staff since it has deeply affected many people unrelated to the original grievances I wrote. I sincerely hope this will help open more eyes to the issue.
I will preface with two important links.
This form is to collect formal evidence against komugitsune (Aug). As of right now, we are prioritizing gathering evidence of financial malpractice in order to strengthen cases against him in PayPal and Gumroad. However, if you have evidence of him doing any unsavory acts, we welcome that as well.
〈Please share this twitter link on the issue.〉
I have been informed that the issue is not well known outside of TH so it would be wonderful if you can spread the word outside.
Please note for posterity that this was done in a midst of a spike in anti-Asian crime. Both Min and I are Asian. Threats of police, in itself, is not a joke. But threatening it in this climate is horrendous especially considering he knows both of our addresses as well as the addresses of many others.
‣ Min's statements against Aug's allegations
‣ Persistent lack of communication
I would like to note that Aug has still never attempted to directly contact me and has blocked me everywhere instead.
‣ Cutting off communication avenues
It has been documented that Rook has been aiding with refunds as well as trying to be an avenue of communication between Aug and everyone else since he refuses to communicate directly. Since they have been cut off, Aug has effectively decided he would rather not face the allegations against him. Aug seems to have been using them as a scapegoat for failed refunds.
‣ Proof of selling traced Picrew design
He sold this to me when we were still friends and he had the picrew image hidden.
‣ Chargeback issues as well as Aug's indecision regarding NR
I don't know why Aug doesn't seem to be settled on what will happen to NR. But I will note his waffling on it seems to correlate with his waffling on refunds.
‣ Proof Aug said despeciesing applies to Official designs
‣ Aug lying about refund issues
I, and others, have experienced this. Aug has repeatedly been trying to lie on paypal about "nobody" trying to communicate with him. He's blocked most people seeking refunds so the only avenue of communication is PayPal where he, again, seems adamant on lying.
‣ Aug blocking those requesting refunds
It should be noted this wasn't a chargeback but a formal request for a refund. Basically, chargebacks seem to be the only valid avenue at this point.
A lot of his news statement on the site could be disproven or contested but I'm in disbelief at him listing our Christmas mod exchanges as a form of compensation. It's a once a year thing, the equivalent to doing a big art trade between friends, not a form of actual compensation. Not to mention that the actual creation of those designs is Work. Designing and drawing an Ordi is work even if it's work that's going to be gifted to someone else!
Edit: fixed some wording to make it less confusing 😭
just read his statement on the site. interesting how he didn't even try to address the pedophilia or art theft accusations. or the spending hundreds of dollars on genshin, which i am pretty sure is not therapy, medication, food, or the website. also, him implying that screenshots are clipped when majority of the ones posted here are long af specifically to give context, is ironic. i'm not surprised that he's not trying to actually refute anything with evidence, since that's his m.o.- making threats but never actually having solid evidence to back it up
i've screenshotted the statement and saved it, in case it gets changed or taken down past this point- if that happens, feel free to contact me for it
i have a lot of specific (very frustrated and disgusted ) thoughts on his statement, but i'm not sure how much that would actually contribute to the conversation since i think anyone who's made it to 14 pages into this thread wouldn't need it explained to them why this is so disgusting (and yet, sadly unsurprising )
(also, i am genuinely wondering if he thinks the species will have people who want to be part of a community he runs after this. like what does he expect to happen? let alone him ever getting new mods, seeing how little input he gave with events of his own species, and how basically the entire site was put together by someone else )
I am attempting to reach out to aug once again to process my refund and have gotten the response that it was "already refunded" (despite the fact that my bank statements dont reflect that and i havent gotten any notifications anywhere).
If you asked for a refund and your slots are now voided (and you're banned on the site...) there may be some refund processing, but as i was not given anymore information beyond "its already been redunded", i have no guess as to where the money would be going if it's going at all.
Pay with things on gumroad through paypal, folks! Dont be like me.
he updated his statement, saying that him threatening to call the police was a misunderstanding. sure are apparently a lot of those that happen with him- it can't possibly be that he's the liar and the problem, no it's obviously literally every other person he comes in contact with. and again, this is ignoring the fact that calling the police at all over online interactions is super sketchy, we have no way of knowing if he's lying rn (which he obviously has a very long history of ), and he has a history of threatening police action on people in the past (i believe it was mentioned earlier in this thread- also him lying about having a restraining order. he is not above lying to use the fear of law enforcement in his favor )
like the last time, i've screenshotted and saved this update, if he changes it again. i'll do this for any one that i notice, though i'm just one person so i may miss something
I think it is rather telling that instead of facing accusations on an even playing field, he chooses to post something "addressing" people with what appears to be questions regarding accusations on a platform where he has absolute and total control. All people who may respond to the post are banned meaning we cannot post comments. Even if we did have the ability to post comments, he could delete comments. His desire to manipulate and control the truth of the situation is really showing with this inane post on the NR site.
Aug, if you're reading this. Stop. It's genuinely concerning that you seem to want to avoid the truth so much you're pushing a false narrative this far. I've tried to be open to communication with you but you were always the one to avoid it. It was you who started spreading lies that I only found out because people started confronting me in my DMs about what you told them. It was your lies that caused me to write the post in defense of myself and my dear friend. Please. Stop. Look at your own behavior.
And yes, I am STILL open to talking. Despite everything. I am open to communicating with you.
EDIT: I won't be saying more about this tonight since I'm currently in the midst of a paper for a grad final. May have more later but I have two more finals after this one so no guarantees. However, I am sure my colleagues in this matter will handle this plenty well in my absence.
Alright babes, I'm here to swing my sword around because I have permission to post some damning evidence thanks to Aug deciding to publically point fingers at certain people.
Part 1: He claims he wasn't going to call the cops on Yolk and Min because of this situation and that Red is lying to save face, but here we are. "They are literally at my mercy" is such a WILD thing to say when you're supposedly this magnanimous benign person who is soooo willing to talk things out! Extremely funny. I would also really love to know what crime he was a victim of given that this was fairly early on in the happenings!
Part 2: Here's some miscellaneous absolutely awful shit that he's done and how he's treated someone who he always claimed was his best friend behind closed doors, and sometimes even just in public tbh. There are several people who were uncomfortable with how he interacted with Damien, and when we saw this we were horrified. Who treats a friend like this? EDIT: A note that Damien is NOT his only victim, this is just one example of his egregious behavior towards people he claimed to see as friends.
I think this is where I'm personally gonna stop, but there's a lot going on here.
just to let folks know, i also was forced to escalate my paypal refund request to a chargeback after, as with witnyess, aug responded to my claim insisting the items were still usable and he was under no obligation to refund. i escalated to paypal and they should get back to me soon; i was not as thorough with providing them screenshots as i perhaps should have been, so i am unsure i will be successful with my chargeback, but i did want to let y'all know that it's definitely not just the people who "wronged" him that are getting fucked over—he likely has no intentions of refunding anyone that does not force the issue, as CHR0NOSTASIS suggests.
Gucumatz Apologies that I don't have anything terrifically constructive or helpful to say, but I'm absolutely GOBSMACKED at the nasty, cruel chat log with Damien that you have shared here, and how brazen Aug is - in every single one of the chatlogs and interpersonal interactions that have been shared throughout this documentation process - about viciously verbally pummeling people, and then gaslighting them with declarations that they are in fact the ones being confrontational, nasty, or criminal in their actions. Thank you all for bringing this information to light and allowing people to avoid a genuinely abusive personality.
considering multiple people are filing chargebacks on him, paypal might look at this as his fault. they usually favor the customer rather than the seller, but it would help if you DO have evidence...
I'm also gonna say this again, but those of you who were manipulated to pay as 'friends & family' so he could avoid being taxed, PLEASE REPORT HIM. he shouldn't have a Paypal account anymore, he's a scammer.
all of this is astonishing and like... what the fuck, those convos are disgusting. I'm really sorry for anyone who had to deal with his shit. :(